FREE Courtroom Concert: ‘Trios in Motion’ with Miryana Moteva, piano, and Friends

Program: Trios in Motion
’Trios In Motion,’ a program featuring four 21st-century classical trios, reflects on the evolution of the traditional piano trio from its original form to the various shapes it takes today. Each work explores the concepts of time, movement, and continuity, offering the unique perspectives of four modern voices, setting ‘in motion’ new paths for Western art music.

Musicians: Alejandro Drago, violin; Audrey Q. Snyder, cello; Hannah Peterson, flute; Allison Akins, French horn; Anna Keiserman, piano; Miryana Moteva, piano

Alejandro Drago is a violinist, conductor, composer, and educator. Hailed by music critics as “a superb musician” with the “classical virtuosity of a Heifetz or Perlman,” his discography includes string quartets, concertos, and avant-garde tangos distributed internationally by EMI International label and Naxos Music Library Japan. Alejandro received a scholarship to study at the Moscow State Conservatory, where he obtained his Master of Fine Arts in Violin Performance and Pedagogy. In 2008, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi. As a soloist and chamber musician, Alejandro has performed in world-class concert halls and toured extensively in Asia, Europe and the Americas. From 2005 to 2008, Alejandro was the Assistant Conductor of the Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Southern Mississippi Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared as a guest conductor with professional and youth orchestras in the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Romania. Presently, he is the Music Director of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra (GGFSO). Alejandro’s symphonic and chamber arrangements of Argentine music have been performed extensively in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Highlights of recent seasons include recording his own Violin Concerto with the Chihuahua Philharmonic Orchestra in Mexico. His works are published by Filarmonika.com (Fort Worth, TX) and Eurindia Edizioni (Switzerland). He conducts masterclasses, seminars, lectures, and lecture-recitals extensively in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Alejandro teaches and performs regularly in festivals in Latin America, the US, and Europe. He has been a member of the jury in junior and senior international competitions in Russia, Europe, China, and the US. In July 2008, Alejandro joined the faculty at the University of North Dakota (UND) Department of Music as the Professor of Violin and Viola and Director of the UND Chamber Orchestra.You can follow Alejandro Drago on Instagram (@alejandro.drago.music), Facebook (@alejandrodragomusic) or YouTube (@AlejandroDrago).

Audrey Q. Snyder is a cellist, songwriter, and arranger based in the Twin Cities. She is an advocate of contemporary instrumental music. As a former core member of the Chicago-based Zafa Collective⏤ _a new music group founded with the idea of inclusivity (both in programming and performance) at its core⏤ _she performed at Constellation, Poetry Foundation, Fulton Street Collective, and others. In December 2019, Snyder produced, performed in and coordinated the live performance of New Music//New Film Collaborative, a year-long project that facilitated the creation of 5 new pieces with corresponding video art; all audio with video was released in 2020. She continues to play chamber music (both new and old) with Lake Pepin Chamber Music in Red Wing, MN.

As a pop and rock musician, Audrey performed with The Who as touring principal cellist on their Moving On! tour in 2019, for The Who Hits Back! 2022-2023 tour, and during their Teenage Cancer Trust shows at Royal Albert Hall in 2024. Under the simpler moniker Audrey Q, she has also written and recorded three of her own EPs, and in June of 2025 she released her first full length album, titled The Universe is Expanding and So Are You. Snyder also enjoys covering her favorite albums, and has presented live performances of her arrangements of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush, Carole King’s Tapestry, and Peter Gabriel’s So.

As a theater musician, Audrey has played in professional productions of The Lion King, Mary Poppins, The Bridges of Madison County, Oklahoma!, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Oliver!. Audrey also subbed regularly on Hamilton: An American Musical during its 3-year stay in Chicago, and later toured with two other companies of the show from 2021 to 2023. In the Twin Cities, she has most recently appeared in pit bands at Artistry, History Theatre, and Children’s Theatre Company.

Audrey holds a B.M. and M.M. from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Alan Harris.

Hannah Peterson is Principal Flute of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and Adjunct Professor of Flute at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. She recently performed in the orchestra for Snoop’s Holiday Halftime Party on Netflix during the 2025 Christmas Day NFL game. She has previously held positions with the Des Moines Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, and the Duluth Superior Symphony. She maintains a busy chamber music calendar, which in the 2025-26 season include recitals at The Schubert Club, Marine Candlelight Concert Series, and Schmitt Music. She also appears regularly with the Minnesota Orchestra, including the 2022 recording of Mahler’s 8th Symphony and 2024 This is Minnesota Orchestra broadcast. In 2018 she was awarded first prize in the Upper Midwest Flute Association Young Artist Competition, and has won prizes in all three age divisions of the Bruce P. Carlson Student Scholarship Competition. Hannah has been selected twice as an MPR Class Notes Teaching Artist, and maintains a private teaching and audition coaching studio in Saint Paul, where she’s helped students prepare for auditions of all levels; from regional honor bands to professional orchestras.

Allison Akins, a Kansas City, Missouri native, holds a Masters degree in Horn Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree in horn performance from The University of Kansas. An avid performer, she has worked with the Kansas City Symphony, Rochester (NY) Philharmonic Orchestra, and Opera Baltimore, and has been third horn of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra since the 2023-2024 season. Ms. Akins enjoys a rich freelance performance career in the Twin Cities, performing regularly with such local ensembles as The Minnesota Opera, The Minneapolis Pops, Music St. Croix, and 10th Wave Chamber Music Collective.

Russian-born pianist Anna Keiserman is known for her creative programming, expressive freedom, and singular vision. Performance credits in New York City include Le Poisson Rouge, the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Fête de La Musique. Other notable venues include the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts (Toms River, NJ), the Nash Theatre (Raritan Valley Community College) the Strand Theater (Hudson Falls, NY) and the Ateneu Barcelonès (Barcelona, Spain).

Anna has toured through Italy, Spain and Russia. As a soloist she performed concerti with the Volgograd Symphony Orchestra (Russia), the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and the Somerset Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has been awarded top prizes in piano competitions in Russia, and 2nd place in the 2019 American Prize Competition.

Anna has served as faculty at the NYU Steinhardt School of the Arts, at the Rutgers University Extension Division, and at William Paterson University. Having earned degrees from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow and the University of Minnesota, Dr. Keiserman completed her Doctorate in Piano Performance at Rutgers University, where she earned the Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham Award for academic distinction and excellence in piano performance. In 2020-24 Anna served as an Assistant Professor of Piano at the Raritan Valley Community College before relocating to GA and joining the Music Department at the University of North Georgia as a Part Time Faculty member.

Miryana Moteva enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. She has recently appeared with Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra and Buffalo Community Orchestra. This season, she also makes her debut with Golden Valley Orchestra performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Moteva collaborates regularly with musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra and SPCO. She has performed at Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concerts in Saint Paul, the Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York City, New Jersey’s Mozaika Music Series, University of Minnesota’s Balkanicus Series, University of Wisconsin, Hamline University, and the Basilica of Saint Mary. She has concertized with the Isles Ensemble and 10th Wave Music Collective. Her performances have been featured on Classical MPR and NPR’s ‘From the Top.

Moteva has dedicated a significant part of her career to commissioning and performing music by living composers. Recent highlights include the Midwest premiere of Clarice Assad’s Piano Concerto ‘Lilith’ and the commission of Marc Migó‘s Sonata for Violin and Piano ‘Death and Spring,’ which was met with great acclaim at Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concerts and led to an invitation to record a Catalan Music CD on the IBS Classical Music Label.

Moteva has appeared at festivals such as ‘March Music Days,’ and ‘Music and Earth’ in Bulgaria, and ‘San Daniele International Piano Meeting’ in Italy. She serves on the faculty of MacPhail Center for Music and on the Music Education Committee at Schubert Club.

Moteva holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance, and a Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from the University of Minnesota. Her principal teachers include Emma Tahmizian, Lydia Artymiw, and Timothy Lovelace.

Composer Biographies

Marc Migó’s fascination with music and composition blossomed during his teens after his grandfather gifted him a big classical CD collection, with Mozart’s Requiem remaining a personal favorite. Born in 1993 in Barcelona, he studied piano privately with Liliana Sainz and music theory with Xavier Boliart, leading to his acceptance in the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya where he continued his studies with Salvador Brotons. In 2017, Marc was accepted into The Juilliard School as a CV Starr Fellow to pursue his master’s in music. While at Juilliard, he was awarded the 2018 Orchestral Composition Prize, and would win the prize again in 2021. Following his enrollment in Juilliard’s inaugural Opera Lab program (2020), Marc received a commission from UrbanArias in Washington DC to compose an original opera with librettist John de los Santos as part of the Decameron Opera Coalition. The resulting work, The Roost, premiered later that year and was inducted into The Library of Congress’ Performing Arts COVID-19 Response Collection. After receiving his master’s degree, Marc continued his compositional studies with John Corigliano in pursuit of his doctorate, which was awarded in 2024. Marc’s other commissions include The Fox Sisters (2022, libretto by Lila Palmer) for The Liceu, Concerto Grosso “The Seance” (2022) for Verità Baroque, L’Illa Deserta (2023) for the Foundation for Iberian Music at CUNY, Faust [working title] (2021) for Dutch National Opera, and his first symphony (2024) for Metamorphosen Berlin. In addition, he has received the Pablo Casals Award (2019), the George Enescu Prize (2020), Organ Taurida Competition’s First Prize (2021), the inaugural Dominic Argento Fellowship for Opera Composition (2021), and the Leo Kaplan Award (2023.) Marc’s music has premiered and been performed in prestigious venues around the world, including Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo), Alice Tully Hall and National Sawdust (New York City), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Palau de la Musica (Barcelona), L’Institut de France (Paris), and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow). Moreover, he has worked with prestigious soloists, conductors, ensembles and orchestras, such as Osmo Vänskä, Salvador Brotons, Verità Baroque, Marisa Gupta, Mark Prihodko, Max Tan, Oliver Triendl, the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Barcelona Symphonic Band, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Metamorphosen Berlin, and the New Juilliard Ensemble, among others. Marc Migó currently divides his time between Barcelona and New York City.

Lora Al-Ahmad is a pianist and a composer from Sofia, Bulgaria. She graduated with honors from Mannes College in New York City, earning a BM degree in Piano Performance, a Double Major Master’s degree in Piano Performance and Composition, and a Professional Studies Diploma degree in Composition. Her piano studies were under the guidance of Pavlina Dokovska and Vladimir Valjarevic, while she studied composition with Lowell Liebermann. Lora has had the privilege of performing in renowned venues across New York City, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie (annually), The Bohemian National Hall at the Czech Center, The Tenri Cultural Institute, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, The DiMenna Center, and The German House at the United Nations Plaza. She has also given recitals in various locations throughout the United States, such as at the Schubert Club in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the Niskayuna Branch Library in Niskayuna, NY, and the Andy Gato Gallery in Miami, Florida. Lora’s compositions have been interpreted by internationally distinguished musicians, including Stefan Ragnar Hoskuldsson, the principal flutist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra;Billy Hunter, the principal trumpet player of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, MET flutist Maron Khoury, Wolfram Koessel, the cellist of the American String Quartet, and many other performers. She has participated in notable festivals, including The Conservatoire Américain de Fontainebleau in France and Festetics Palace in Keszthely Zala, Hungary, both as a pianist. Lora has also participated as a composer at The Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, USA, and has been featured as both a pianist and composer at The Mannes Sounds Festival in New York, USA. She has actively taken part in the 2023 Gingold Composition Festival in Miami, Florida, working with esteemed composers Chen Yi, Chinary Ung, and Orlando Garcia. In May 2019, the last concert of the series “Musical Treasures from Bulgaria” at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall was dedicated to Lora, showcasing her abilities as both a composer and pianist. In May 2020, her composition “Two Skazkas,” published by the Theodore Presser Company, received the First Prize in the Solo Flute category at the 2020 Newly Published Music Competition by the National Flute Association in the United States. November 2021 marked a significant milestone in Lora’s career when she was invited as the Guest Composer and Lecturer at SIUE (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville), where the premiere of her Piano Trio “Irminden ” took place. This commissioned work was subsequently featured in a new CD release in 2022, titled “Irminden: One Hundred Years of Bulgarian Piano Trios,” featuring performances by Miroslav Hristov (violin), Marta Simitdchieva (cello), and Ilia Radoslavov (piano). Lora is a passionate advocate for new music, often with a particular focus on performing works by women composers. In February 2021, she organized and presented a concert at BCENY, NY, titled “Chamber Music by Young Women Composers,” featuring pieces by her talented colleagues Shahar Regev and Hyejin Cho. Her doctoral recital at the CUNY Graduate Center in May 2023 also highlighted the contributions of women composers. In 2024, her piece “Consolation in Loving Memory of Allan Evans” was selected for the ABRSM’s piano repertoire collection at the post-graduate diploma level. Lora’s work and dedication have led to numerous radio, magazine and TV interviews, including appearances on the Princeton, New Jersey-based radio program “Classical Discoveries,” the BoldJourney magazine, the Bulgarian National Radio “BNR,” “Darik” Radio, and “En-face” on TV1 Bulgaria. Currently a Doctoral Candidate in Piano Performance program at the CUNY Graduate Center, Lora remains an advocate for contemporary music, serving as an executive board member of the Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York and as a resident composer at the Off the Beaten Path Chamber Music Festival in Bulgaria. Her compositions are published by the Theodore Presser Company. Lora has maintained a steady teaching career for over a decade, teaching privately and serving on the faculty of Bard College Preparatory Division for three years. As of 2025, she joined the esteemed piano faculty of the Hoff-Barthelson School of Music and the composition faculty at Mannes College Prep Division.

“she energetically bends music to her will and reshapes it with fascinating results.” – Jazz Improv Magazine A powerful communicator renowned for her musical scope and versatility, Brazilian-American Clarice Assad is a significant artistic voice in the classical, world music, pop, and jazz genres. The Grammy Award–nominated composer, celebrated pianist, inventive vocalist and educator is acclaimed for her evocative colors, rich textures, and diverse stylistic range. What motivates Assad? What drives her passion and creativity? Writing and playing music that inspires and encourages audiences’ imaginations to break free of often self-imposed constraints is just the beginning. She endeavors to harness the incredible and intangible power of music to connect people and transform lives through original works, commissions, and education programs that give voice to everything from the impact of climate change to issues of social justice, gender equity, and the empowerment of young voices. With her talent sought-after by artists and organizations worldwide, the polyglot musician continues to attract new audiences both onstage and off. In the recording arena, Assad has released seven solo albums and appeared on or had her works performed on another 34. Her music is represented on Cedille Records, SONY Masterworks, Nonesuch, Adventure Music, Edge, Telarc, NSS Music, GHA, and CHANDOS. Her innovative and award-winning VOXploration education series on music creation, songwriting, and improvisation has been presented throughout the world. The prolific composer has more than 70 works to her credit, including numerous commissions for Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Boston Youth Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, and the La Jolla Music Festival, to name a few. Her compositions have been recorded by some of the most prominent names in classical music, including percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and oboist Liang Wang. Assad’s music has been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Queensland Symphony, and the Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo. She has served as a composer-in-residence for the Albany Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, New Century Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Her works are published in France (Editions Lemoine), Germany (Trekel), Brazil (Criadores do Brasil), and in the U.S. by Virtual Artists Collective Publishing (VACP), a publishing company she co-founded with poet and philosopher Steve Schroeder. Assad recently wrote the soundtrack to Devoti Tutti, a documentary by Bernadette Wegenstein, and is composing the music for a ballet by award-winning choreographer Shannon Alvis. As a performer, Assad has shared the stage with Bobby McFerrin, Anat Cohen, Nadia Sirota, Paquito D’Rivera, Tom Harrell, Marilyn Mazur and Mike Marshall, among others. She has performed at internationally renowned venues and festivals including The Netherlands’ Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Belgium’s Le Palais des Beaux-Arts, Le Casino de Paris, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Caramoor International Jazz Festival. Assad also strives to expand the sonic palette of the voice, including immersing audiences in the music as active participants and by electronically altering sounds, “like one of those cooks who can turn any four random foodstuffs into a feast” (Classical Voice North America). She takes the immersive experience outside of the concert hall with the innovative and accessible VOXploration, which she created in 2015. The program offers a creative and fun approach to music education through meaningful, interactive experiences. It has been carefully curated to work equally well with participants of any age or musical background. It has received numerous grants and awards from Brazilian foundations such as CAIXA CULTURAL and SESC, as well as American organizations New Music USA and the McKnight Foundation. Assad has given master classes, residencies, and workshops throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Clarice Assad is one of the most widely performed Brazilian concert music composers of her generation. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, amongst them an Aaron Copland Award and several ASCAP awards in composition, she holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a Master of Music degree from The University of Michigan School of Music.

Angel Nikolov began playing the piano at the age of five. During his secondary education, he was a student of distinguished professors Boyan Bachvarov, Mario Angelov and Prof. Alexander Vasilenko, under whom he graduated from the National School of Music “Lyubomir Pipkov” in Sofia. He continued his studies at the National Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” in Sofia where he completed a master’s degree in piano with Prof. Dr. Borislava Taneva and a one-year specialization with Prof. Dr. Iliya Chernaev. Additionally, he participated in the master classes of Prof. Lyudmil Angelov and Milcho Leviev at the National Music Academy, Sofia. A highly regarded performer, composer and arranger, Angel Nikolov is a laureate of numerous piano and composition competitions, among which are International Piano Competition “Classics and Modernity”; National Competition for Young Instrumentalists and Singers “Svetoslav Obretenov”; International Competition “Franz Schubert”; International Piano Competition “Liszt – Bartok – Ligeti”; International Festival-Competition “Hopes, Talents, Masters”, International Competition “From Bach to Jazz”, Paris – laureate in the category of classical piano, jazz performance and jazz composition, and winner of the special prize “Natalie Voyyatzis”. He participated with his own composition in the jubilee twentieth edition of “PIANISSIMO” – International Festival for Contemporary Piano Music. In the period 2015 – 2016 he served as a collaborative pianist in the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, actively participating in all stage performances of the ensemble. From 2014 to 2020 he worked as pianist-repetiteur at the Sofia Opera and Ballet and the Sofia Puppet Theater. Currently, he serves on the piano faculty of the National School of Music “Lyubomir Pipkov” in Sofia.