Featuring
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Jimena Burga Lopera
BCA Violin
Peruvian violinist Jimena Burga Lopera is a passionate performer and music educator. In addition to performing with Juilliard415, Bloomington Bach Cantata Project, Washington Bach Consort, IU Baroque orchestra and ARTEK, she has been a soloist with several Peruvian symphony orchestras and is a member of the Arequipa Baroque Ensemble. Some of her recent performances include Brahms violin concerto and Brandenburg 4th concerto with Peruvian orchestras, and being a featured soloist with Juilliard415 in the Festival Internacional de música Renacentista y Barroca Americana, “Misiones de Chiquitos.” With the objective to further connect with her audience, along with members of the Omni Consort, Jimena creates more accessible concerts in unconventional places. She holds a Bachelor’s degree with high distinction from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where she studied with Stanley Ritchie, Ingrid Matthews and Simin Ganatra. This may, she will be finishing a master’s degree in historical performance at The Juilliard School under Cynthia Roberts, Elizabeth Blumenstock and Rachel Podger. Jimena dreams of bringing early music education to her home country and is passionate about the research and sharing of Latin American baroque music. Outside of the field, she enjoys painting with watercolor.
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Lara Mladjen
BCA Violin
Hailing from Australia, Lara Mladjen recently attained a Master’s degree in Historical Performance at The Juilliard School. Recent highlights include being an ARTEK fellow, solo performances at the Joye in Aiken Festival in South Carolina, and touring the UK and China as a featured performer with Juilliard415. During her time at Juilliard, Lara was a Gluck Community Service Fellow with the Omni Consort, where she brought eclectic and creative early music chamber performances to diverse and appreciative audiences throughout New York. She is also a member of Uptown415, a quartet of friends and Juilliard Historical Performance alumni, committed to performing early music in unconventional spaces. Holding a Bachelor’s Degree (1st Class Honours) in music performance from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Lara has also performed with the Australian Youth Orchestra, Ensemble Liaison, iOpera, Melbourne String Ensemble, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne French Theatre Inc., and at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Looking ahead, she hopes to develop innovative pedagogical methods to nurture early music practices among young musicians. Lara is gratefully supported by the American Australian Association Arts Fund.
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Parastoo Heidarinejad
BCA Viola
Parastoo Heidarinejad began her journey as a Baroque violinist with Stanley Ritchie. She earned her Master’s degree and Performer’s Diploma in Historical Performance at Indiana University, where she studied with Ingrid Matthews and also served as an associate instructor. Currently, Parastoo is pursuing a DMA in Baroque Violin at Case Western Reserve University under the mentorship of Julie Andrijeski.
As a soloist, Parastoo performed Vivaldi’s Summer with the Seven Hills Baroque and Corelli’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 2 with Enrico Gatti and the ARTEK ensemble. She has also led the Indiana University Baroque Orchestra in a performance of Corelli’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 1 at the American Handel Society conference in 2023.
Throughout her professional career, Parastoo has performed with major Early Music orchestras, such as the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra (Monteverdi’s Vespers), the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra (Telemann’s Don Quixote), and the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project.
Parastoo’s involvement in Early Music includes performing with the CWRU ensemble at the Early Music America Summit 2024, as well as with The Raritan Players at the Bloomington Early Music Festival 2024. She has also taken part in festivals such as the Oregon Bach Festival Berwick Academy, the Amherst Early Music Opera Project, and the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin, where she studied on a full scholarship with musicians like Marilyn McDonald and Cynthia Roberts. Additionally, Parastoo has attended master classes with Sergey Malov, Marc Vanscheeuwijck, and Robert Mealy.
This summer, Parastoo will perform a program of 17th-century German music at the Boston Early Music Festival with the CWRU ensemble.
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Kosuke Uchikawa
BCA Cello
Kosuke Uchikawa is a Japanese cellist who performs a wide range of repertoire from Baroque to Contemporary music. In 2022, he represented two distinct solo recitals at the University of South Florida: one featuring 11 cello solo caprices by a Baroque composer Joseph Dall’Abaco, and the other showcasing 24 preludes for cello and piano by a living composer Lera Auerbach.
He recently earned a master’s degree in historical performance from The Juilliard School, where he had the privilege of working with esteemed artists including William Christie, Francesco Corti, Robert Mealy, Rachel Podger and Leila Schayegh. Uchikawa has also performed at music festivals, including the Berwick Academy at the Oregon Bach Festival and Amherst Early Music Festival. Additionally, he is a member of Omni Consort, an ensemble that originated as part of the Gluck Community Service Fellowship at Juilliard, and he is dedicated to sharing early music from diverse cultures with local communities through interactive performances.
Since 2024, Uchikawa has served as a guest artist at the Winold Music Festival. In addition to coaching chamber ensembles, he has led a historical performance workshop, where he introduces period instruments and explores performance practice in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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