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Atlas Music Academy

Yezu Elizabeth Woo

Violon ( Violin )

Violinist Yezu Elizabeth Woo made her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2004, where she became the youngest performer to play all 24 of Paganini’s Caprices for solo violin. Since then, she has been invited to perform at the United Nation and traveled extensively for performances at Lincoln Center, Smetana Hall, Musikverein, The Concertgebouw, Berliner Philharmonie, and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, amongst others.Her awards include « Outstanding International Musician of the Year » (2002) by the Arts Critics Association and « Artist of the Year » (2005) by the Gangwon Talent Support Foundation of Korea. Yezu was a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship (‘19-20) and pursued her project ‘Discovering Isang Yun and his World’ in Berlin, as well as being a member of Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt. Yezu co-founded Shattered Glass, a conductor-less string ensemble in NYC, and is currently the Artistic Director of NY in Chuncheon Music Festival in her Korean hometown of Chuncheon, where she was appointed Honorary Ambassador to the city. Yezu recorded for EMI Classics Korea, ECM Records, Ensemble Modern Medien, and MOOK sound, and hasenjoyed collaborating with other genres such as Hip-hop and Korean traditional music. She has also had a rare chance to perform with the Pyongyang Symphony Orchestra in North Korea in 2008. Born in Freiburg, Germany, Yezu was brought up in Korea until the age of 10, when she moved to the U.S. to study with Albert Markov.She received her degrees from Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School, Bard Conservatory, and recently completed her Doctorate Degree at the Stony Brook University. Her principal teachers include Albert Markov, Catherine Cho, Laurie Smukler, Arnaud Sussmann and the members of the Emerson Quartet.

Hanan Aseelah Davis

Chant / Chorale (Vocal teacher and Chorus)

Hanan Aseelah Davis is an Atlanta-based performing artist and educator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Psychology from Spelman College and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Ohio State University. Throughout her career, she has been a featured soloist, performing such works as Vivaldi’s “Gloria”, Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater”, Mozart’s “Requiem”, and Handel’s “Messiah”. She has participated in several young artist programs.

Hanan is currently pursuing a Master of Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her educational interests are centered on culturally responsive pedagogies and highlighting the contributions of marginalized groups in classical vocal repertoire, with an emphasis on composers who are women and composers of African descent.

John Willis

Piano ( Piano )

John Willis is an instructor of AP Music Theory and applied piano and assistant director of choral studies at Pulaski Academy, Little Rock, Arkansas. He also leads music at Argenta United Methodist Church and St. Nicholas’ Episcopal Church in Maumelle, Arkansas. John holds a Master of Arts in Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has served as musical director or pianist for numerous musical theatre and operatic productions in Central Arkansas. As a singer/songwriter, John has performed and recorded regularly since 2008, and his music was featured in the 2019 Pureflix film, Sweet Inspirations. John is an Artist, Inc. fellow (2013) through the Mid-America Arts Alliance and former advisory board member of the ACANSA performing arts festival (2016). He is the music director of the annual, interfaith Love Thy Neighbor peace event (2012-present) and sits on the board of its sponsoring organization, Arkansas House of Prayer. John is a member of ACDA and NAfME and is interested in the intersections between culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogies and music education.

Shoshi Gottesman

Violon / Alto (Violin / Viola)

Shoshana has enjoyed a wide array of experiences in making music across musical genres and styles, including Western European Classical music, Arab music, and popular music, as well as producing music. She began her musical career on the violin at the age of six and transferred to the viola while studying music performance at the Frost School of Music of the University of Miami. Over the years, she has studied violin and viola performance with members of the Houston Symphony, the Bergonzi String Quartet, and the Daedalus Quartet, and has participated in numerous music festivals in addition to performing in the United States, Tunisia, France, and Germany. Shoshana received her master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she was able to explore the connections between music and music education and peacebuilding and human rights education. Currently, she is a doctoral student focusing on music and music education and curriculum and teaching. This will be her seventh time teaching at the Chopin en Plein Forte music festival.

Jeanel LeBlanc

Écriture de chanson / Chant / Production (Music production / Songwriting/ Vocal teacher)

Jeanel LeBlanc has a B.M. in Music Education from Rutgers – Mason Gross School of the Arts and an M.A. in Music & Music Education from Columbia University – Teachers College. She has performed professionally in and around New Jersey and New York, including Off-Broadway in the New York Black Theater Festival. She has had the honor and pleasure of both performing and directing with the Tony Award-winning Crossroads Theatre Company. She also taught “Voice for Actors” for the Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory, and taught middle school choir and general music for two years. She continues to teach and perform in Chicago, Illinois where she relocated in 2020

Jose Lomeli

Guitare / méditation ( Guitar )

Jose’s interest in guitar began as a child, when hearing family members play and sing Mexican Folk Songs. He continued learning the instrument informally with friends; and later, after being awestruck by classical guitar, decided to formally pursue music studies. This led him to complete a Master’s degree in Guitar Performance from Northwestern University, under Anne Waller, where he performed in master classes with renowned guitarists such as Oscar Ghiglia, Timo Korhonen, and Marcin Dylla. Jose is currently a doctoral student in music education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he is exploring local music history curricula and is enjoying introducing new learners to the guitar.

Atlas launches the 11th edition of Atlas Music Academy. This summer academy, launched in 2009, takes place, like the previous sessions, at the Center of Training and Holidays of Beni-Mtir. It aims to furnish the summer vacations of young people. It gives young professional and amateur musicians from 14 to 26 years old the opportunity to use these vacations to acquire useful and enjoyable training to complement the training and education they receive during their school curriculum. The academy is organized in partnership with the association Cultures In Harmony (U.S.A.). The training is given by foreign instructors coming from great music schools (U.S.A.) and Tunisians of international class.

The number of participants, facilitators, instructors and advisors has evolved to the point where for this session, and like the previous session, we need to reserve the entire Center of Beni-Mtir from July 25 to August 03, 2023.