ELAINE DAIBER, soprano

Praised by Hudson Housatonic Arts for her “spectacular vocalism,” soprano Elaine Daiber is a sought-after interpreter of contemporary music, known for her powerful stage presence and virtuosic vocal range. With a commanding presence and a gift for storytelling, Elaine draws audiences deeply into every piece she performs.

Elaine has appeared on multiple occasions at the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, collaborating with pianist Gilbert Kalish and performing works by György Ligeti, Earl Kim, Claude Vivier, and György Kurtág. She has also performed with leading ensembles and festivals including Emmanuel Music, the Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra Prelude Series, the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, the Bard Music Festival, the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and the Albany Symphony, among others.

Recent highlights include a concert of American songbook selections at the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy; Poulenc’s La voix humaine and Mozart’s Idomeneo at Boston’s Jordan Hall; Bach’s Magnificat with Counterpoint Concerts; the role of Dede in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place at Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall; and the U.S. premiere of Helen Grime’s Bright Travellers. She has also appeared as a soloist with Cambridge’s Coro-Dante in Vivaldi’s Gloria, with The New England Symphony in an all Bach program, and in recital with pianist JJ Penna, including a rare performance of Messiaen’s Harawi.

In addition to her musical training, Elaine is a student of the Meisner acting technique and has appeared in numerous theatrical productions at venues including the New London Barn Playhouse in New London, New Hampshire and Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland, Ohio.

Later this year, Elaine will make her role debut as Amahl in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors with Seaglass Theater Company, and in 2026 she will return to the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival for a concert of contemporary music to be announced.

Elaine makes her home in Boston with her husband, baritone Thomas West. Away from the stage, she serves as Vice President of Human Resources at PSG, a growth equity firm that invests in software and technology-enabled services companies.She holds music degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, Bard College, and the New England Conservatory.

More information about Elaine can be found at www.elainedaiber.com

THOMAS WEST, baritone

Thomas West is an American baritone and citizen-artist whose rich, expressive voice and thoughtful interpretations have brought him to stages across North America and Europe. Hailed for both his artistic and civic leadership, he was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts by President Barack Obama in 2014 and is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he was a Career Advancement Fellow and studied under Sanford Sylvan and Marlena Malas.

West’s previous engagements include Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles at the Rome Chamber Music Festival, Brahms’ Vier Ernste Gesänge with the Kennett Symphony, and appearances with Caramoor, Tanglewood, the Mississippi Symphony, and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Operatic highlights include covering Silvio in Pagliacci (Opera San José), Morales in Carmen (Chattanooga Symphony & Opera), and Bill in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place (Tanglewood Music Center). West has also performed extensively with the New York Festival of Song, with Music on Norway Pond, Cantori New York, and gave the world premiere of Wayne Oquin’s Meditation at Alice Tully Hall. His competition accolades include winning the Kennett Symphony Vocal Competition and being named a finalist in both the James Toland Vocal Arts and Joy in Singing competitions.

In addition to his singing career, West is an experienced nonprofit leader, having previously served as the founding Executive Director of The Peace Studio, an organization developing artists and journalists seeking to inspire hope and bridge divides. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Buller Family Foundation. He also consults to small nonprofits on fundraising, strategic planning, and board building, with past clients including The Conversationalist, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Foundation, and Columbia University’s ERA Project at the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law.

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, West began his musical journey at age nine with the Atlanta Boy Choir, touring internationally in the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Austria, and Germany, and performing alongside artists like Josh Groban and Elizabeth Futral. He now lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts with his wife, soprano Elaine Daiber. Together, they have served as co-music directors at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Milton, MA, and remain active in the musical life of their community.

SOPHIA STOYANOVICH, violin

Hailed as "spectacular" (Bernard Jacobson, Seattle Times) and an artist commanding "superb musical instincts, a lustrous tone, and exemplary technique" (Huntley Dent, Fanfare) American violinist Sophia Stoyanovich has captivated audiences since her 2010 debut with the Seattle Symphony, and performs internationally today in solo, collaborative, and orchestral roles.

As recitalist and soloist, Ms. Stoyanovich has performed throughout the United States and Europe. In 2026, she will make her recital debut in the UK with performances in Edinburgh, Manchester, and London. Winner of the New York International Artists Association First Prize, she made her solo recital debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in January of 2023. The following summer, she made her European debut in the Vienna Konzerthaus with the Wiener Opernball Orchestra. Her solo performances span a diverse spectrum of cultural institutions and curated series, including the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series and Musicians Club of Women in Chicago; Great Music LA, the Crocker Art Museum Classical Concerts, and Encinitas Music by the Sea in California; the University of Washington Women’s Society Recital Series in Seattle; and Project: Music Heals Us, The Sonora Collective, New York University’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò Series, Music in Midtown, and the Next Festival of Emerging Artists in New York. Most recently, she was invited to perform Alban Berg’s Kammerkonzert at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City, in a collaboration with the dynamic rising conductor, Tengku Irfan.

Ms. Stoyanovich has distinguished herself with her leadership and sensitivity as a chamber musician. As a Fellowship Artist with La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, she has collaborated with artists including Carter Brey, James Ehnes, Clive Greensmith, Alexi Kenney, Anthony McGill, Tessa Lark, Cynthia Phelps, Masumi Per Rostad, and Caroline Shaw. In Europe, Ms. Stoyanovich is a recurring guest artist at the Rome Chamber Music Festival, held at Teatro Argentina in Italy, and has collaborated with members of the Berlin Philharmonic at the Zermatt Music Festival in Switzerland. Additional chamber music highlights include performances at the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival (Greenville, NC.), Olympic Music Festival (Port Townsend, WA.), Norfolk Chamber Music Festival Yale School of Music (Norfolk, CT.), Sarasota Music Festival (Sarasota, FL.), and the Aspen Music Festival (Aspen, CO.)

An active orchestral musician, Ms. Stoyanovich has performed under the baton of John Adams, Thomas Adès, Sir Mark Elder, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Alan Gilbert, Vladimir Jurowski, Susanna Mälkki, Kurt Masur, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Jaap van Zweden. For the 2024-2025 season, Ms. Stoyanovich performed as a member of the first violin section with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in Germany. Previously, she has toured with the Gstaad Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra in Germany, the Versoi Ensemble in Finland and the US, the Juilliard Orchestra in Finland and Sweden, and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States throughout the US, UK, and Russia.

A dynamic performer of the music of our time, Ms. Stoyanovich led as Principal Second of the Lucerne Music Festival Contemporary Orchestra in 2023, performing works including Mathias Spahlinger’s passage/paysage (1990), Tania León’s Indígena (1991), and Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson's Jim is Still Crowing (2022). As violinist of the Finnish-American Versoi Ensemble (praised for their “excellence” by The New York Times), Ms. Stoyanovich spearheaded the 2020-2022 Versoi commissioning cycle Juurilla, selecting and collaborating with seven emerging composers for a concert of new works at the Musiikkitalo in Helsinki. Her 2021-2022 recital tour of the West Coast featured programs devoted to American composers of today, including composers John Adams, Billy Childs, Jennifer Higdon, Patrick Stoyanovich, Christopher Theofanidis, and Augusta Read Thomas. An advocate for education in new music, Ms. Stoyanovich also has collaborated with the Kaleidoscope Ensemble for the Festival of New American Music, performing, adjudicating, and hosting masterclasses at Sacramento State University.

In June of 2024, Ms. Stoyanovich released her debut album with Bridge Records, Rue Paradis: Chamber Works by Patrick Stoyanovich. Praised as a recording of "extraordinary communication" (Fanfare Magazine), Ms. Stoyanovich was joined by cellist Aaron Wolff and pianist Derek Wang to record chamber music by American-Serbian composer, Patrick Stoyanovich. Ms. Stoyanovich previously collaborated with Wang on American Stories, a podcast that examines American identity through music in performance, illuminated by personal histories and reflections from guests of all walks of life. American Stories was awarded an Ensemble Forward grant through Chamber Music America.

Born to a family of artists, Ms. Stoyanovich grew up on Bainbridge Island, WA. She received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School as a recipient of the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship and the Dr. & Kassie Biros Neuman Scholarship. Additional studies include working with Chaim Taub at the Barenboim-Said Akademie Masterclass Series in Berlin during 2019, and with Anthony Marwood and András Keller at the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove in 2019 and 2022. Ms. Stoyanovich is a fellowship recipient and doctoral candidate at The Graduate Center under the mentorship of Mark Steinberg, and serves on the faculty of Hunter College in New York City. She performs on a 1930 Karl August Berger violin made in New York.

More information on Sophia can be found at www.sophiastoyanovich.com

DEREK WANG, piano

With virtuosity and “enviable idiomatic rigor” (The Wall Street Journal) at the service of “pure poetry” (Seen and Heard International), pianist Derek Wang is drawing increasing acclaim in the roles of soloist, collaborator, curator, and communicator.

Derek first came to international attention with his performances of Liszt, receiving awards at the 12th Liszt Utrecht Competition in the Netherlands in 2022 (Second Prize) and at the inaugural New York Liszt Competition in 2021 (First Prize). Derek is a returning guest artist at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, at the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy, and at the Vail Dance Festival in Colorado. He is also a recital partner to violinist Robert McDuffie; the pair make regular appearances in Rome and at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. A proponent of the music of our time, Derek held a three-summer-long fellowship position as pianist of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble at the Aspen Music Festival under conductors Donald Crockett and Timothy Weiss, performing a total of over fifty works of the 20th and 21st centuries including premieres of works by the festival’s composition fellows.

In 2025, he began a role as Creative Enterprise Fellow at Juilliard, curating a range of programs including sesquicentennial celebrations of composer Charles Ives and poet Rainer Maria Rilke, an interdisciplinary pairing of ecological texts with George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale), and an all-Philip Glass marathon concert on the composer’s 88th birthday.

Derek is widely praised for his ability to speak about music to audiences of all kinds and in formats ranging from traditional pre-concert talks to podcasts and other digital media. In 2023, he served as guest host for WQXR New York’s Young Artists Showcase. Previously, Derek appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk video series for a special episode of From the Top, emceeing, interviewing, and performing with young instrumental soloists. In 2020, Derek partnered with violinist Sophia Stoyanovich to produce American Stories, a series of podcast episodes that examine and celebrate American identity through music, featuring guests including a nurse on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, an adventuresome family of five living in an RV, a poet and founder of a Black artists’ community center, and a long-haul truck driver.

Derek holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard, where he was the recipient of a Kovner Fellowship and the Joseph W. Polisi Prize for exemplifying the values of the artist as citizen. In 2024, he received an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music. His principal teachers have included Stephen Hough, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Matti Raekallio, and Boris Slutsky. He continues his studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany in the studio of Arie Vardi.

For more information on Derek can be found at www.derek-wang.com