Gifted Music School Preparatory Division Esteemed Faculty Yelena Bates Elementary Piano Yelena Bates joins the Gifted Music School with over 20 years of teaching experience. In 1985 she became the choir director of the Children s School of Arts and the Community Cultural Hall in Bratsk, Russia. Since arriving in the U.S. in 1998 she has been the music teacher, choir and musical director of The Colby School in Park City 2008-2010; and on the piano faculty of the Utah Conservatory Park City 2004-2007. Ms. Bates is also choir director at Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran Church and maintains an active piano and voice studio. Melissa Draper Violin and Viola Brittany Gardner Cello
Brittany Platt Gardner began her cello studies at the age of eight after receiving a cello as a birthday present. A Suzuki student from the beginning, she has had the opportunity to study with some of the Suzuki Program s most prominent teachers, including Mr. Nakagima, Tanya Carey, Carol Tarr, Rodney Farrar, and Richard Aaron. Ms Gardner has held the position of principal cellist with many orchestras, including the Orchestra at Temple Square, Young Artist Chamber Players, the University Circle Orchestra at Case Western Reserve University and the University Philharmonia Orchestra at the University of Michigan. Ms Gardner also participated with the Rocky Mountain Youth Camerata as Assistant Principal on their European Tour in 1998. She continues to perform in the community both as soloist and collaborative artist, appearing with such groups as the Orchestra at Temple Square, and the Sylvan, Silver Strings and Fortissimo string quartets. Ms Gardner has been the winner of various competitions held by the Utah Symphony Youth Guild, the Utah State Fair Music Competition, the Joan Terr Ronis Music Competition, the Marrowstone Music Festival, the University of Utah, and the Michigan Music Teachers Association. As a result, she has appeared as soloist with the Marrowstone Festival Orchestra, the University of Utah Philharmonia, the Young Artist Chamber Players, and the University Circle Orchestra. An avid teacher, Ms Gardner has maintained a private cello studio for nine years, as well as teaching with the Salt Lake Youth Chamber Society (Salt Lake City, UT), the Gifted Music School (Salt Lake City, UT), the Barbara Kehoe Music School (Mayfield Hts, OH), the Carey and Elliott Cheney Cello Studio (Salt Lake City, UT), Peaks to Plains Suzuki Institute (Broomfield, CO) and as a guest teacher with the Preparatory Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music (Cleveland, OH). Ms. Gardner has also used her teaching skills in assisting with the Young Artists Symphony Orchestra (Salt Lake City, UT), the Cleveland Music School Settlement (Cleveland, OH) and the Huron High School Orchestra (Ann Arbor, MI). She currently serves on the board of the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute. Ms Gardner holds a Master of Music degree in Cello Performance from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Anthony Elliott. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance, graduating summa cum laude from the joint degree program between Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Aaron. Ms. Gardner plays on a 2001 cello, affectionately known as Henry, made by contemporary luthier Lawrence Wilke. Rachel Bower Karr - Violin MM, Bachelor s Degree, Cleveland Institute of Music Rebecca Moench - Violin Concertmaster of Ballet West. Master s Degree, San Francisco Conservatory Joanna Oshida Musicianship and Piano
Pianist Joanna Oshida performs regularly as chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and soloist. She currently maintains a private piano studio in addition to teaching at Utah Valley University as a Adjunct Instructor of Piano. Ms. Oshida is the first- prize winner of the California statewide Young Pianists Beethoven Competition, the Olympiad of the Arts Piano Competition, the Music Teachers Association of Northern California Piano Competition, the California Association of Professional Music Teachers Concerto Competition, the Brigham Young University Concerto Competition, the Campbell Country Women s Club Music Competition for four consecutive years, and was the recipient of the award for the Best Performance of a Required Piece in the National Matthay Association Clara Wells Piano Competition. Ms. Oshida has also appeared as a guest soloist with the Pacific Talent Education String Orchestra, The CAPMT Orchestra, and the Brigham Young University Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. Oshida has been awarded the Thera Rabinowitch Scholarship for Musical Achievement and Humanitarian Consideration, the Vladimir Kochanski Scholarship for Piano Excellence, the Brigham Young University Dean's Excellence Award, an award from the American League of Pen Women for Musical Achievement, the Bank of America award for Music, and Lifetime Membership in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Ms. Oshida has appeared in musical collaboration with the Pacific Talent Education, the San Jose Strings Academy, the Suzuki Association of Northern California Summer Institute at Stanford University, the Music Teachers Association Convention, UNICEF chamber music winners recitals, the Yehudi Menuhin/Helen Dowling Music Competition Winners Recitals, the Baroque Sinfonietta, and the Orpheus Winds. Ms. Oshida has accompanied musicians throughout the United States for 23 years, including a special performance tour to Berlin, Germany in 1992. She was a faculty member of The Jenny Rudin Chamber Music Workshop, held in Palo Alto, CA. Principal teachers include Aiko Onishi, Dr. Irene Peery, and Ellen Mack. Ms. Oshida has appeared in masterclasses with Yefim Bronfman and Leon Fleisher, and has studied chamber music with Marian Hahn.
She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University and her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Vera Oussetskaia-Watanabe Piano Faculty Advisor Russian born pianist and teacher Dr. Vera Oussetskaia completed her entire nineteen years of full time musical training at the Gifted School and Conservatory in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Vera graduated with the highest Russian postgraduate music degree Aspirantura from the Ural State Mussorgsky Music Conservatory. Vera s teachers at the Gifted School and the Conservatory were Natalia Pankova and Natalia Litvinova. A devoted teacher, Oussetskaia s students have been accepted into many of the top music schools including the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory of Music, Peabody Institute, Manhattan School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In the United States, her students have been nationally recognized earning prizes at the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition, The Four Corners Piano Competition and have been invited to participate in leading competitions including the Stecher/Horowitz Foundation s New York Piano Competition and the Oberlin Piano Competition. Her students have garnered the top prizes at all of the most relevant local and state level competitions. Currently residing and teaching in Utah (and also a faculty at the University of Utah), Oussetskaia is a Steinway Artist. Eugene Watanabe Artistic Director American pianist and violinist Eugene Watanabe has established an international reputation as one of the most unique artists of his generation. The only student to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music with double degrees in violin and piano, he has performed with many renowned artists and orchestras in the world including New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, the New Zealand String Quartet, and the Saint Lawrence String Quartet and has collaborated with esteemed conductors such as Joseph Silverstein, Keith Lockhart, Alexander Schneider, Pavel Kogan, Hans Graf, Simon Straetfield, and Mario Bernardi. A native Utahn, Watanabe has performed over thirteen concertos with the Utah Symphony and has performed on concert tours on both instruments in Canada, Germany, Spain, Poland, and the United States. His teachers have included Leon Fleisher, Joseph Silverstein, Claude Frank, and Arnold Steinhardt. A passionate educator, Watanabe is currently director of the Gifted Music School an organization committed to establishing the finest full- scholarship music school for children in the world. He has also worked with the Calgary Honens Foundation, the Piano Six Foundation, and the Gina Bachauer Foundation to present concerts and lectures to thousands of children in Canada, Germany, and the United States. Watanabe s students have been recognized locally and nationally and many have continued their studies at top conservatories.
A laureate of the Calgary Honens International Piano Competition (only American prizewinner) and a two time national winner of the MTNA competitions, Watanabe has been honored with distinguished awards including the first prizes at the Kosciuszko Foundation National Chopin Competition, Gina Bachauer Young Artists Competition, and the Kingsville International Competition. His CD American Excursions featuring works by composers Copland, Barber, and Gershwin was released by the Arktos label in 2001 to critical acclaim. Watanabe is a Steinway Artist. Pegsoon Whang Cello Faculty Advisor Pegsoon Whang, cello, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and the Mannes College, where she graduated as "Most Outstanding Graduating Student. She has performed with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Lawton Philharmonic, and the North Carolina School of the Arts Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she concertized in France, Italy, Germany, and the US. She is a member of Quattro Amici and the Snake River Chamber Players in Colorado. Festival appearances have included the Grand Teton Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, the Roycroft Chamber Music Festival, and the Colorado Music Festival, where she was appointed principal cello. Cherilyn Worthen Choir A native of Chicago, Illinois, Cherilyn Worthen is in her twelfth year as a choral educator in Salt Lake City, Utah. She currently teaches grades 7-12 at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah, where she served three years as a Student Dean and is presently the Music Department Chair. She received a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Brigham Young University, where she directed the BYU Women s Chorus during graduate school. While studying at BYU, she performed with the University Singers, Concert Choir, and Women s Chorus. As both a singer and guest conductor, she has performed with such community ensembles as Canti con brio, the Legacy Chorale, the Deseret Chamber
Singers, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. In 2007, Cherilyn was appointed as the Director of the Choir School for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She serves on the choral committee of the Utah Music Educators Association and is an active member of ACDA and MENC. Cherilyn is presently a Ph.D. candidate in Music Education at the University of Utah where she teaches undergraduate group voice, assists student teachers, and is researching choral music curriculum and resources.