The Fifth Floor Collective

Amy Gollins is an oboe and English horn player from Mount Prospect, Illinois.  She recently toured South Africa, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest with the Lehigh University Philharmonic in 2010.  Amy is currently attending The Boston Conservatory for a Graduate Performance Diploma after receiving her Master’s degree in oboe performance in the spring.  Amy Currently studies oboe and English horn with Robert Sheena, English horn, of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  Past teachers include David Diggs, a New York recording artist and Pedro Diaz of the Metropolitan Opera.  Amy received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Kenneth Siu-hang Mok received a Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance from The Boston Conservatory in May 2010 under the tutelage of Irina Muresanu, Ronan Lefkowitz and Markus Placci.  Kenneth completed his Bachelor of Music at Hong Kong Baptist University under the tutelage of Michael Ma, Lily Koh and Scott Homer in 2006.  He has studied with Lau Yin Pui at Central Conservatory of Music at Beijing during an exchange program in 2005.  In 2003, he was awarded a diploma in violin performance by the Associated Board of The Royal Schools of Music.  Kenneth has also participated in masterclasses with Eva León, Timothy Eddy and Amadi Azikiwe.  Currently, Kenneth is a resident artist in the Suzuki Institute of Boston and violin faculty in Dedham School of Music. 

Kenneth serves as the concertmaster of Calliope and Umass Boston Chamber Orchestra in Boston.  He served as the concertmaster in Hong Kong Institute of Education Graduate Orchestra (1996-2001) and Hong Kong Baptist University Orchestra (2005-2006).  He also joined the Hong Kong International Youth Orchestra and Hong Kong Medical Association Orchestra (1998-2000).  In 2005, he was invited to perform as a soloist with the Hong Kong Baptist University Symphony Orchestra. In 2007, he appeared as a soloist with the Collegium Musicum Hong Kong in the Harlaxton Chamber Music Festival in England and the Central Conservatory Annual Music Festival in Bejing.  Kenneth gives performances regularly with orchestras such as Boston Civic Symphony, Boston Chamber Orchestra, Boston Opera Collaborative and Hong Kong City Chamber.  Currently, Kenneth is  serving as the concertmaster in Calliope and the principle of second violin in the Video Game Orchestra in Boston.  Kenneth has been giving performances in places such as Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, Central Conservatory in Beijing, Ely Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral in the UK, Berklee Performance Center, Hynes Conventional Center in Boston, Jordon Hall and Boston Symphony Hall.

Kenneth not only active in Classical field, but also in popular music.  He has performed with many pop singers in Hong Kong, including Chet Lam, Wada Hiromi, Blezz, 2R.  In Boston, he participated in Eli Reed’s album “Come and Get it”.

 
Nicholas Place holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance from The Boston Conservatory, and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance with a Collaborative Emphasis from Ithaca College. During his time at IC, Nick performed in collaboration with vocalists and instrumentalists as well as
in solo and chamber music concerts. In the summer of ’08 Nick participated in the Bowdoin International Music Festival at Bowdoin College. Nick has accompanied many choirs and shows including Giacomo Puccini’s “Suor Angelica”, ’09; Pauline Viardot’s “Cendrillon”, ’09; “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, ’03; the Boy Singers of Maine, ’03-’04; Windham Chamber Singers, ’01-’04; and the Best of Broadway at Merrill Auditorium in Portland, ME, May of ’02 and assistant music directed in ’03. Nick is currently attending The Boston Conservatory in Boston, MA and is expected to graduate in May, 2012 with a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano. Nick is
also an active member of the New Music scene in Boston, premiering many new works and has performed throughout New England. He also holds the position of Music Director for the “Inspired Voices “ chorus in Maine and Music Director and Co-founder for the Open Theatre Project based in Boston, MA.

Based in the greater Boston area, french hornist Megan Riccio is a  passionate  performer  and  educator.  She  has  performed  with  a variety of symphony and theatre orchestras throughout New England such as the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Mercury Orchestra, Plymouth Philharmonic and Neponset Valley Philharmonic, among others. She is also an active chamber musician. Ms. Riccio earned Bachelor of Music degrees in music education and french horn performance in 2006 from the  University of  Massachusetts Amherst, where  she  studied  with Laura Klock. In 2010, Ms. Riccio earned a Master of Music degree in french horn performance from the Longy School of Music, where she studied with Jean Rife. She is currently studying with Kevin Owen.

As a pedagogue, Ms. Riccio now maintains a large private teaching studio. She has been a faculty member at the South Shore Conservatory  in  Hingham  since  2006,  where  she  teaches  private french horn lessons and chamber music. She also teaches privately at Derby Academy, as well as in the Belmont, Duxbury and Franklin Public Schools.

Originally from Michigan, Joseph Turbessi is active in the greater Boston area as a solo and collaborative pianist, organist, and chamber musician.  He is a strong advocate for new music and has premiered a number of works by young  composers, especially in the Boston area.  He has performed at new music festivals in Oregon and Italy, with new-music groups Boston New Music Initiative and Juventas, and appeared on the Jamaica Plain concert series.  He was recently featured on the Equilibrium concert series in a solo recital pairing the music of George Crumb and J.S. Bach.  Turbessi also accompanies choirs at MIT and the Boston Conservatory, and serves as music director at Belmont United Methodist Church.

Emily Wilson has worked for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras as the Operations and Intensive Community Program Coordinator since November 2009.  She received her MM degree in flute performance from the Boston Conservatory in 2009 and her BA in music from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2007.  During her time at UMBC, Emily had the opportunity to study music history and flute at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland and participate in the contemporary music festival soundSCAPE in Pavia, Italy (formerly the Cortona Contemporary Music Festival).  Performances include concerts with the Equilibrium Concert Series (Boston, MA), Youth and Muse Boston International Music Festival, Cambridge (MA) Symphony Orchestra, Fifth Floor Collective (Boston, MA), and the Boston Conservatory Orchestra and Wind Ensemble.

Alexandra Dietrich, originally from Freeport, Maine, is a mezzo-soprano who is being praised for singing with “passion and understanding”. She is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a Bachelor’s in Music Performance, and attended the Longy School of Music for her Graduate Performance degree in Opera. Her 2011-2012 began with performing as a soloist with the Longwood Opera summer concert series, and singing the alto solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy with the Paul Madore Chorale Summer Sing. Her performance, in December, with the Harvard Early Music Society in Cavalli’s “La Calisto”, as both Linfea and La Natura, was called “compelling” by the Boston Music Intelligencer. In 2012, Ms. Dietrich will return to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in March, with the Brown University Orchestra, under the baton of Paul Phillips. She will also be covering the role
of Bobilykha in the Russian language premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Snegurochka” with Lowell House Opera. She is thrilled to have recently joined both the faculty of the North End Music and Performing Arts Center music directing their musical theatre classes, and the music ensemble at Church on the Hill in Boston, MA. Ms. Dietrich will also be joining the artist roster of the Boston Opera Collaborative for their 2012 season.
Her 2010-2011 season began with her portrayal of Sally in “A Hand of Bridge”, featured on the closing night of Longy’s Septemberfest concert series. She immediately followed this with her Metro Stage Company debut as Mrs. Anderssen in “A Little Night Music”. At Longy, she played Madame Flora in “The Medium” by Gian Carlo Menotti. In the spring of 2011, she performed in Massenet’s “Cendrillon” with MetroWest Opera as the sixth Esprit, and both covered and performed in outreach performances as Madame de la Haltière. Ms. Dietrich attended BASOTI, and performed the role of Maurya in “Riders to the Sea”, the tragic Vaughan-Williams opera based on the short play of J.M. Synge, conducted by Mark Pinzow. Additionally, she appeared in selections from “Falstaff” as Mistress Quickly, and “Bèatrice et Benedict” as Bèatrice.
As a soloist, she has sung with the Portland Symphony Pops, the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra, the Charlemagne Orchestra of Belgium, the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra, the Longy Chamber Orchestra, and the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra. Just having recently relocated to Boston, she was a featured soloist with the Diva Day Foundation for their Diva Day ’10 concert, a fundraiser where she sang selections as Bizet’s Carmen and Strauss’ Octavian. She appeared as one of PORTopera’s Maine’s Emerging Artists, for the second time, in the summer of 2009, singing the role of Fidalma in Cimarosa’s “Il Segreto Matrimonio”. The same year, she also sang on the mainstage in PORTopera’s Sparkling 15th Anniversary Gala in selections from “Carmen” as Mercedes. Her first appearance as an MEA was in 2007, singing Apollonia in Haydn’s one act opera, “La Canterina”, and as Little Buttercup in
selections from “H.M.S. Pinafore” with the Portland Symphony Pops for their Independence Day concert series under the baton of Maestro Lawrence Golan. In 2008, she traveled to Bruges, Belgium to sing as one of the Intermezzo Foundation’s Young Artists. While there, Ms. Dietrich sang both the Dritte Knabe in “Die Zauberflöte”, and as the fifth Esprit in “Cendrillon”. Other performances
include singing the Mother in “Amahl & the Night Visitors”, Third Knitter in Barab’s “Game of Chance”, and Prince Orlofsky in “Die Fledermaus”, all at the University of Southern Maine. She recently finished a successful run of “Suor Angelica” as La Zia Principessa, and “Gianni Schicchi” as Zita, where her performance was toasted as “deliciously bitchy” (Portland Phoenix).
Equally at home on the musical theatre stage, Ms. Dietrich has performed such roles as Sarah in “Company”, Lucy in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”, Asaka in “Once on This Island”, Eve in “Children of Eden”, Lulu in “Cabaret”, Mrs. Taylor in the Maine premiere of “Bat Boy: The Musical”, and, her favorite, Mrs. Johnstone in “Blood Brothers”, for which she was awarded the KCACTF Irene Ryan Award Nomination. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra singing the alto solos in “Messiah”, and the alto solos in Haydn’s “Stabat Mater” with the Granite State Choral Society. In 2009, Ms. Dietrich was awarded both 1st place in the Professional Division of Maine NATS, but also the coveted Lillian Nordica Award, where she sang a recital in the Lillian Nordica Auditorium on the date of the famous soprano’s last recital in the auditorium named in her honor. In the fall of 2008, she was picked as a finalist in Lake Region Opera’s Opera Idol competition, and placed 2nd in the Professional Division of Maine’s Musical Theatre NATS competition. Ms. Dietrich has studied with tenor, David Goulet.