June 7, 2024

Alex Wen

Alex Wen, newly appointed as Interim Artistic Director of the Jackson Heights Orchestra, most recently served as assistant conductor of the Massapequa Philharmonic and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony under the mentorship of Maestro David Bernard, and concluded five seasons as Principal Conductor of the Golden Rose Opera. He has worked with contemporary music groups such as PinkNoise Ensemble and the NYsoundCircuit as their appointed music director. An avid opera conductor, Alex has led performances of La Bohème, Carmen, Suor Angelica, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Madama Butterfly with the Golden Rose Opera, and led the New York premieres of Huang Ruo’s Bound with Fresh Squeezed Opera in 2019 and Eric Moe’s Artwork of the Future this spring of 2023.

Alex has conducted performances with Rhymes With Opera, the Queens College Orchestra, Queens College Opera, Litha Symphony Orchestra, and has cover conducted for the Queer Urban Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic. Recent engagements also include performances with the Sound Symphony Orchestra and guest clinician and conductor for the All-County Festival Orchestra of the National Music Educators Association (NMEA), with regular guest conducting appearances with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra.

A graduate of the Masters program in Orchestral Conducting at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Alex studied with Maurice Peress and managed the Queens College Conductors Workshop collaborating with composers David Amram, Bruce Saylor, and George Tsontakis. Wen was selected as a participant in the 2019 Conductors Workshop of the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music where he worked with Cristian Măcelaru and Octavio Más-Arocas. Alex holds a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from Azusa Pacific University (APU) where he served as an assistant conductor to the APU Chamber Singers, responsible for preparing the orchestra for the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s national conference.

Abram Korsunsky

Abram Korsunsky is one of the most promising young pianists of his generations, performing as a solo and chamber musician in numerous venues throughout the United States. He has appeared as a
soloist with the Queens College Symphony Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra, and in solo and chamber recitals at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts – LeFrak Concert Hall, Carnegie
Weill Recital Hall, and numerous other venues across the Tri-State Area. Internationally, he has
appeared in recitals in Norway and Denmark, including one at the home and museum of composer Edvard Grieg. In 2019, he was invited to perform at the Todi International Music Masters Festival in Umbria, Italy.

Abram has been a champion of new music, appearing in concerts sponsored by the New York Composers Circle and Long Island Composers Alliance playing works by eminent composers including Hubert Howe and Edward Smaldone. In 2013, he was part of a rare performance of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians as part of the Queens Nota Bene Ensemble.

In 2010 and 2015, he was a scholarship recipient at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival where he participated in master classes with noted pianists Alexander Kobrin, Jerome Rose, Jeffrey Swann, Victor Rosenbaum, Mykola Suk, and others.

A native of New York, Abram completed his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees under
the tutelage of Dr. Nina Lelchuk at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College where he is currently an Adjunct Lecturer. During this time, he has had the opportunity to work with a number of renowned musicians including Charles Neidich, Marcy Rosen, Daniel Phillips, and
Michael Lipsey. He also took part in master classes with Robert McDonald, Niklas Sivelov, and
Gerald Robbins. Abram was also the winner of numerous awards and scholarships including the
LeFrak Family Award, the Martha Feldman Award, and the Beatrice Schachter-Myers Award. Since
2018, he has also served as Music Director of the United Methodist Church in Floral Park.