Summer Music Series
Gayane Fullford, Ishan Wang, & Maria Schleuning
Cellist Gayane Manasjan-Fullford is a versatile and prolific performer. She has performed as a soloist and chamber music artist throughout the United States, including in such cities as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Houston, Austin, Birmingham, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. She has also performed throughout Japan and Iceland. Since 1981, she has performed extensively in Vermont, where she co-founded the Killington Music Festival. An active teacher, Ms. Manasjan maintains a private studio and has given masterclasses at Rice University, the Sakuyo College of Music in Japan, and the Reykjavik College of Music in Iceland. Born in Hollywood, California, Ms. Manasjan holds degrees from the Juilliard School and California Institute of the Arts. Her principal cello teachers include Channing Robbins, Ron Leonard, and Leonard Rose. She has also worked with members of the Juilliard, Hungarian, Cleveland, and Vegh String Quartets. A former member of the Ft Worth Symphony, she was also principal cellist of the Dallas Chamber Orchestra from 1982 through 1995. Ms. Manasjan is a frequent performer with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and has joined them for their tours and recordings.
In 2011, in collaboration with leading artists from throughout Texas, she created Art Music, an annual chamber music concert series in Dallas.
Ishan Wang - Piano
Born and raised in Taiwan, Ishan completed her master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Taipei in Taiwan and her master’s degree in Collaborative Piano at the University of North Texas. Ishan is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of North Texas under Steven Harlos and Elvia Puccinelli.
In addition to vocal and instrumental areas, Ishan is also interested in orchestral music. She is now the principal keyboardist in the Richardson Symphony Orchestra in both Classical and Pop series. She serves as a graduate teaching assistant in Collaborative Piano at UNT, and also maintains a private teaching studio in Richardson, Texas.
Ishan believes music is a platform for sharing joy and love. Her enthusiasm for collaborative music comes from the work itself and the connection between other artists. By embracing everyone’s differences and providing positive communication between people, a better musical partnership can be shaped.
Ishan has performed in numerous concerts, competitions, and festivals in Taiwan and the United States. Recently, she performed in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Dallas Wind Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto for violin and piano with the UNT Symphony Orchestra. Ishan also won the 2nd Prize for Ensemble in the Music International Grand Prix Competition and performed at the Winners Concert at Kaufman Music Center in New York.
Maria Schleuning, violinist, has been a member of the Voices of Change Modern Music Ensemble since 1996 and Artistic Director since 2009. An advocate of new music, she has worked with many of the leading composers of our day, including the legendary Witold Lutoslawski, George Crumb, Aaron Kernis, John Corigliano, Augusta Read Thomas, Sebastian Currier, Bright Sheng, Samuel Adler, Donald Erb, David Dzubay, and Pierre Jalbert. She has premiered many new works, including “Dream Catcher”, a solo violin work written especially for her as a gift by Augusta Read Thomas. The world premiere performance was on May 3, 2009, in Dallas, TX.
An active chamber musician, Ms. Schleuning has performed in venues such as New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Museum of Modern Art, as well as at numerous festivals throughout the United States and Europe. From 1993 to 2012, she was a faculty member and performer at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine and served in the same capacity at Idyllwild Arts in CA from 2007 to 2010, and the Bennington Music Festival, VT in 2012. She has recorded with Continuum modern music ensemble in NYC, as well as in Dallas with GRAMMY®-nominated Voices of Change, and the Walden Piano Quartet. In addition, she serves as Principal Second Violin of the New York Women’s Ensemble and Principal Second Violin of the Classical Tahoe Orchestra, where she was a guest concertmaster in 2014.
A member of the Dallas Symphony since 1994, she has been featured as a soloist with the orchestra on many occasions. Other solo highlights include appearances with the Oregon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Abilene Symphony, Laredo Symphony, Bozeman Symphony, and with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra on a tour of Eastern Europe, including concerts at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and the Rudolfinum in Prague, in addition to a tour of China in 2015. She studied with Josef Gingold at Indiana University, where she was awarded a performer’s certificate; with Yfrah Neaman at the Guildhall School in London, with a grant from the Myra Hess Foundation; and with Joel Smirnoff at the Juilliard School, where she received her master’s degree.
Laura Logan Brandenburg - Christmas in July
Laura Logan Brandenburg, DMA, served as Harp Instructor on the Texas Christian University School of Music faculty from 2001 to 2020. In addition, she maintained an active pre-college studio through the TCU Music Prep Department, teaching Suzuki harp students aged five through young adults. She currently coaches private students of all ages in her home studio. A highly regarded freelance harpist, Laura enjoys a wide variety of collaborative performance opportunities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She was a frequent sub with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for over thirty years, and has most recently served as Principal Harp with the Lewisville Lake Symphony. She held the position of Principal Harp with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra from 1990 to 2010, as well as Principal Harp in the Oklahoma City Philharmonic from 1995 to 1997. She is the founder, director, and member of the Octavia Harp Ensemble, performing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and beyond for more than twenty-five years. Laura delights in performing with Cindy Horstman and Kimberly DeRosa as The Dallas Jazz Harp Ensemble, presenting concerts and educational programs of original tunes and jazz standards arranged for harp trio. Other adventures on harp include collaborating with Jeff Walters as The Logan/Walters Harp Duo, performing all original transcriptions and arrangements for two harps. Partnering with flutist Don Bailey, their new recording entitled Hypnosis was released in 2022 on the Albany label. The CD features works from standard flute and harp repertoire as well as fresh new transcriptions, and has been hailed as “sparkling,” “charming,” and “entrancing.”
Ms. Brandenburg will be joined by four harpists on this special Sunday. Each year, we celebrate Christmas in July with familiar carols in worship alongside a collection for school teachers at a neighborhood elementary school.
Gayane Fullford & String Quartet
Cellist Gayane Manasjan-Fullford is a versatile and prolific performer. She has performed as a soloist and chamber music artist throughout the United States, including in such cities as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Houston, Austin, Birmingham, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. She has also performed throughout Japan and Iceland. Since 1981, she has performed extensively in Vermont, where she co-founded the Killington Music Festival. An active teacher, Ms. Manasjan maintains a private studio and has given masterclasses at Rice University, the Sakuyo College of Music in Japan, and the Reykjavik College of Music in Iceland. Born in Hollywood, California, Ms. Manasjan holds degrees from the Juilliard School and California Institute of the Arts. Her principal cello teachers include Channing Robbins, Ron Leonard, and Leonard Rose. She has also worked with members of the Juilliard, Hungarian, Cleveland, and Vegh String Quartets. A former member of the Ft Worth Symphony, she was also principal cellist of the Dallas Chamber Orchestra from 1982 through 1995. Ms. Manasjan is a frequent performer with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and has joined them for their tours and recordings.
In 2011, in collaboration with leading artists from throughout Texas, she created Art Music, an annual chamber music concert series in Dallas.
Don Bailey & Donald Sulzen
A 20-year resident of New York City, Don Bailey returned to Dallas in 2013, where his career began with Voices of Change and the Dallas Bach Orchestra and Dallas Chamber Orchestra. He has enjoyed a diverse career as a performer, professor, festival planner, and board member for several arts organizations, including the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and his own Voyage Unlimited, Inc., which publishes and presents music for flute and strings.
Don was a solo flutist for Cunard Cruise Lines and has toured extensively with pianists Dianne Frazer, official pianist of the National Flute Association, and Donald Sulzen of the Munich Piano Trio, with whom he has recorded. He has appeared at festivals in Aspen, Colorado; Nice, France; Spoleto, Italy; Belfast, Northern Ireland, among others, as well as at numerous National Flute Association conventions. He has recorded for Summit, Genuin, Albany, and Parnassus labels, among others. His newest release, Hypnosis, features Good Shepherd’s own harpist, Laura Logan Brandenburg.
Don completed his graduate studies at the University of North Texas and continued advanced training at the Aspen Music Festival and the Académie d'été in Nice, France. His teachers include the distinguished flutists Julius Baker, Harold Bennett, Michel Debost, Charles Delaney, Geoffrey Gilbert, Alain Marion, Judith Mendenhall, George Morey, Marcel Moyse, and Albert Tipton. Don plays a handmade 14K gold Brannen-Cooper flute. (https://donbailey.net)
Donald Sulzen is one of the few pianists to achieve international recognition in two realms of classical music. He is not only a sought-after collaborator with some of the world’s most celebrated singers—including Anna Caterina Antonacci, Laura Aikin, Julie Kaufmann, Thomas E. Bauer, Thomas Cooley, and James Taylor—but also the pianist of the renowned Munich Piano Trio. His extensive concert career has taken him to many of the most prestigious recital halls across Europe, the United States, South America, China, and Japan. Numerous radio and television broadcasts, along with more than forty CD productions, attest to the high artistic level of his work.
He has served as a guest professor of music at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and as head of the Song Department at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich. Donald Sulzen’s passion for uniting the musicians of his trio with his vocal partners is reflected in distinctive CD recordings featuring works by Joseph Haydn, Alberto Ginastera, Ned Rorem, and Astor Piazzolla. Together with flutist Don Bailey, he recorded Tribute, a CD dedicated to 20th-century flute repertoire. A wide selection of his recordings can be heard on his website: www.donaldsulzen.com.
Claire Miller
A native of Garland, TX, Claire Miller received a BME in Choral music (piano principal) from Ouachita Baptist University in 2005. She moved to Faith Academy in the Philippines, where she accompanied for 10 years. She has played for large and small choral ensembles from elementary to high school and accompanied for choir festivals and a tour to South Korea. She has experience accompanying for Solo and Ensemble, UIL, and various church services. She has recently played keys for Sweeney Todd, Mary Poppins, and Chicago. Claire resides in Mansfield with her husband and four children.
W.T. White Orchestra
The W. T. White High School Orchestra, led by Carlos Rengifo—a professional bassist, composer, and educator—brings vibrant energy and artistry to every performance. Under his direction, students have excelled at UIL competitions and presented diverse repertoire, from classical works to Latin American music. The orchestra is committed to musical growth, community engagement, and fostering a lifelong love of music among its members. Their performances reflect both technical skill and a passion for sharing music with the Dallas community.
Mélange Musical
Mélange Musical is a Grapevine, Texas-based unique chamber music ensemble comprised of professional musicians from Grapevine and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. We bring to our local audiences a variety of instrumentation and composers taken from the classical chamber music repertoire. Each concert offers original commentary to enlighten and enrich our listeners’ understanding of the composers, instruments, and compositions. We keep our ensembles small to create an intimate occasion for musicians and attendees.
The two co-founders, Susanna Hilliard and Iris Messinger, who play the oboe and viola, respectively, started this ensemble out of a desire to play high-quality chamber music together and to share their beautiful music with local audiences.
The name Mélange Musical (musical blend) was carefully chosen to describe the ensemble’s variety and blend of compositions, instrumentation, time periods, and international flavor, as well as the connection to the wine industry in Grapevine, Texas, with its blend of local grapes and wines. The inaugural concert was held at Grapevine's Palace Theatre on Jan 18, 2007.
Patriotic Music with Robert Churchill
Robert "BC" Churchill has served as Organist and Director of Music at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Dallas since 1976, a ministry that has spanned nearly fifty years. During that time, he has led generations of choirs, overseen the growth of one of the parish's most respected music programs, and helped shape the musical life of the congregation through worship, concerts, special services, and countless moments of pastoral care expressed through music.
A native of South Dakota, BC's early musical studies began at Huron College in Huron, where he studied organ with Dr. R. Michael Rudd. Recognizing that opportunities for advanced study would be limited as the college faced financial challenges, Dr. Rudd encouraged his student to continue his education elsewhere, advice that would prove life-changing. BC subsequently transferred to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, where he studied organ with David Fienen, who became as much a mentor as a teacher.
Fienen encouraged him to prepare an audition tape for the National Organ Playing Competition in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Much to the surprise of both student and teacher, BC was selected as a national finalist. The experience strengthened his confidence as a young musician and helped pave the way for graduate study at Southern Methodist University, where he earned the Master of Sacred Music degree.
While completing graduate studies at SMU, BC was house-sitting for his teacher, Dr. Robert T. Anderson, when an unexpected telephone call arrived. The caller was looking for another musician, Bob Anderson, but instead reached Bob Churchill. When asked if he might be interested in speaking with a Dallas church that was searching for an organist, BC replied, "I'm Bob Churchill, and I'm available." That conversation led to an interview, an appointment, and what became a lifelong ministry at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.
Throughout his years at Good Shepherd, BC has sought to make music an offering rather than a performance, believing that the organ's greatest purpose is to support worship, inspire prayer, and bring people closer to God. Whether accompanying a congregation in song, directing a choir, or presenting a recital, he has always viewed music as a means of connection, comfort, celebration, and faith.
As he nears his fifty years of ministry at Good Shepherd, BC remains deeply grateful for the congregation that welcomed a young musician in August 1976 and allowed him to grow, learn, and serve among them.
Sangsoo Kim & Eric Rau
Eric Rau is a deeply devoted musician, experienced as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. He is currently in his postgraduate studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music pursuing a Master’s in Music Performance, where he studies with Professor Peter Stumpf. Originally from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Eric started playing the cello at the age of five, and previously studied under Nikola Nino Ruzevic, professor of cello at the University of North Texas, and Dr. Elizabeth Morrow of the University of Texas at Arlington. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance for Cello from UNT.
Eric has been featured as a soloist with the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra, the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra, and the Northeast Orchestra of Tarrant County after winning the organizations’ concerto competitions. Other competition experience includes being a finalist in UNT’s school-wide Concerto Competition, placing second in his category at the Rudolf Matz International String Competition in Croatia, and being a semifinalist in the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, also in Croatia. From 2023 to 2025, Eric served as assistant principal in UNT’s Symphony Orchestra, and from 2021 to 2023, he served as co-principal in UNT’s Concert Orchestra. Eric was also an active member of the Kintsugi String Quartet of UNT, a section cellist in the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, and a former member of the award-winning Helicon Trio. He is currently in the principal pool of IU JSOM orchestras.
Sangsoo Kim earned his B.M. in Piano Performance at Seoul National University in South Korea and his M.M. and Performance Diploma in Piano Performance from Indiana University under Emile Naoumoff, where he worked as an Associate Instructor. He is currently a Doctoral candidate at The University of North Texas with Dr. Pamela Mia Paul, where he has worked as a Teaching Fellow. He serves as a piano instructor at Dallas ISD and staff accompanist at the Lewisville Lake Symphony International Competition. He has been recognized as a 1st prize winner at the Petroff Piano Competition, Texoma Piano Competition, and winner of 13th Texas State International Piano Festival Concerto Competition. He has performed Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 with the Central Texas Philharmonic.
Good Shepherd Musicians
Brittany Kerstein, soprano, is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. A versatile spinto soprano, she enjoys an active career in opera, sacred music, concert performance, and musical theatre throughout the United States and abroad. Ms. Kerstein’s operatic repertoire includes the title roles in Madama Butterfly and Suor Angelica, as well as Marguerite in Faust, Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, Susan B. Anthony in The Mother of Us All, Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, and the Factory Girl in Les Misérables. In 2019, she reprised the title role of Suor Angelica with Opera Lucca in Lucca, Italy. Her honors include the Audience Choice Award at the International Lois Alba Aria Competition, the Gail Robinson Musicianship Award, First Place in the Alltech Transfer Award Competition, and First Place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Intermediate Division. An accomplished recitalist, Ms. Kerstein studied and performed Strauss art songs in Germany with internationally renowned accompanists Julius Drake and Helmut Deutsch and worked alongside distinguished European opera artists, including Falko Hönisch, Emilio Pons, and Elena Gorshunova. She has also toured Italy as a soprano with the Schola Cantorum of Bellarmine University, performing in Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Naples, and Amalfi. Beyond the operatic stage, Ms. Kerstein has devoted more than a decade to Episcopal choral ministry and regularly serves as a lay cantor for synagogues throughout North Texas. Her concert appearances include community benefit performances, patriotic celebrations honoring members of the United States Armed Forces, and engagements for weddings, memorial services, and other special events. Ms. Kerstein holds graduate degrees in Vocal Performance and Library Science and is currently a student of Dr. Stephen Austin. She resides in Dallas, Texas, with her family.
Susan Cahoon, alto
A member of Good Shepherd’s choir program since 1992, Susan Cahoon’s lifetime of church choir singing has been accompanied by experience in many concert and chamber choirs, taking her from rural Texas churches to Carnegie Hall. Susan began assisting with her Methodist church children’s choir while in high school, had a blast starting and directing our youth choir for 12 years before retiring from that post, and has served as Interim Director of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Steamboat Springs, CO, where she and husband Colin spend the coldest and hottest parts of the year. They have three adult children – Claire, Paul, and Mary – who grew up singing at Good Shepherd. Susan gives thanks every day for getting to sing alto in the pew with her Grandmama next to her soprano Mama, for the opportunities she’s had to praise God through music here at Good Shepherd (thank you, Robert!), and for the abiding friendships she’s developed while doing so.
Kiel King, baritone, was born and raised in El Paso, TX, where his love for singing began at his home church on Fort Bliss military base. In 2009, he came to Dallas to study classical singing and opera performance at SMU, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance. He continues to work at SMU and enjoys being a positive agent of change for the students he works with. Kiel is excited to join the other talented summer musicians and continue his work with GSEC and the Adult Choir, where he has been an active member for over 13 years.
Danielle Harrington, soprano, is a Dallas–Fort Worth–based singer and educator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a concentration in voice from the University of North Texas, and is a member of several professional ensembles, including Orpheus Chamber Singers, Verdigris Ensemble, the Highland Park Chorale, and the Compline Choir. She also sings as a staff musician at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. In addition to her performing work, Danielle is a passionate voice teacher working with young singers in Lewisville ISD, H.E.B. ISD, and at the Music Institute of North Texas. She lives in DFW with her three very spoiled cats.
Sidney Michelle Hopkins currently serves as the Sunday Morning Digital Communications Coordinator at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. Her interest in classical music began at a young age as she frequently attended Dallas Symphony Orchestra performances at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center (which also happens to be one of her favorite places in the world). She began playing the violin at the age of four, and has been involved in orchestral music throughout her life, including participation in Dallas ISD orchestras and UIL music competitions. She studied Communications and Music at Trinity University, where she performed with the university orchestra. Sidney is honored to share her musical gifts in worship.
Sangsoo Kim
Sangsoo Kim is a pianist, collaborative pianist, and educator currently serving as Fine and Performing Arts Specialist and Staff Accompanist at Dallas College, where he collaborates with choirs, instrumental ensembles, and student performers. He also serves as a staff accompanist for the Lewisville Lake Symphony International Competition. In addition, he has taught at the University of North Texas College of Music as a Teaching Fellow, instructing courses such as group piano, functional piano, and applied piano lessons for both music majors and non-majors.
Kim earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University and both a Master of Music degree and a Performer Diploma from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He is currently completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance under Dr. Pamela Mia Paul at the University of North Texas.
An active performer and collaborative pianist, Kim appears regularly in recitals and chamber music performances throughout the United States and South Korea. As a collaborative pianist at the University of North Texas, he performs in more than twenty recitals annually, working with instrumentalists, vocalists, and chamber ensembles. His performances have taken place at distinguished venues including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Harvard University. He has also appeared as a concerto soloist with the Central Texas Philharmonic and the Mozarteum Chamber Orchestra.
Kim is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, including first prizes at the Isabel Scionti Piano Scholarship Competition, Rose Petroff Foundation Competition, and Texoma Piano Competition. Dedicated to fostering musical growth in young artists, he serves as a staff accompanist for the Lewisville Lake Symphony International Competition and as President of the MTNA Collegiate Chapter at the University of North Texas. His work has been featured in American Music Teacher and Piano Magazine, representing UNT’s excellence in piano education. He also teaches piano for the Dallas Independent School District.
Stephen Nielson
Distinguished in both classical and sacred music, Stephen Nielson is widely regarded as one of the distinctive artists of our time. His concertizing has taken him to such cities as Hong Kong, Bogotá, Freiburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, London, Vienna, Brussels, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Prague, Salzburg, Jerusalem, and Chennai, India, to name a few. He has toured major artistic centers in Russia, the Baltics, Japan, and Switzerland, and is an Ambassador of Culture for the World Cultural Alliance. His North American solo and chamber music itinerary for more than a quarter century numbered concerts in the hundreds, from Los Angeles to Boston, Seattle to Naples, Detroit to Mexico City, Miami to Winnipeg and Toronto, and Chicago to Dallas. Hailing a performance in Germany, the Berlin Morgenpost said, “Highly sensitive, articulate artistry,” while Brussels’ Le Soir exclaimed, “Exciting and masterful playing.” His discography includes recordings of the classical repertoire, music for piano and cello, and hymn tunes in the classical style. His writing achievements appear in the catalogues of several American publishers.
For more than four decades, Stephen Nielson was one-half of the acclaimed duo-piano team of Nielson & Young, whose breadth of repertoire and performance venues was virtually without comparison. He continues his ongoing solo activities and is embarking on exciting new musical partnerships in the United States and abroad.
Long committed to the high calling of mentoring and nurture in the teaching profession, Stephen Nielson has served on collegiate faculties in Illinois and Texas and has for many years maintained an award-winning private studio of adult and pre-collegiate students. Underscoring the esteem in which he is held nationally as a renowned teacher, Mr. Nielson was inducted into the inaugural Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in October 2019.
Stephen Nielson and his wife Carolyne reside in Dallas and are the proud parents of daughters Christiana (writer/editor) and Caroline (mezzo soprano and vocalist, U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”).