Special Events & Guest Artists

The Drake University Department of Music has hosted numerous guest artists who are leading performers and pedagogues in their respective fields of music. 

The following is a list of some of the individuals and ensembles Drake music students have collaborated with in recent years:

• Mattia Ometto, piano, international soloist
• Matthew Murchison, euphonium soloist
• Elisso Virsaladze, piano, international soloist
• Quentin Kim, piano, Pusan National University (South Korea)
• Jason Crafton, trumpet, Drake alum, professor, Virginia Tech
• Marc Reed, trumpet, Drake alum, Director of the School of Music, University of Akron
• Rose Bishop, flute
• Michael Heaston, Drake alum, Artisitic Director, Metropolitan Opera
• Daniel Velasco, flute, professor, University of Kansas
• Peter Zimmer, jazz drummer
• Adam Levin, guitar
• Robert Weirich, Emeritus Professor of Piano, University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Sergei Babayan, piano international soloist
• Chad Eby and Ariel Pocock, jazz duo
• Gordon Ostrowski, Director of Opera, Manhattan School of Music
• The Emerson String Quartet
• Cornelius Chiu, violin, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Jesse Orth, low brass, Professor, Texas A&M University
• Gohar Vardanyan, guitar
• Rebecca Folsom & Johnathon Pape, Professor of Voice & Director of Opera, Boston Conservatory of Music
• The Miro Quartet
• Emanuel Ax, piano, international soloist
• Derek Brown, saxophone
• Lisa Bost, flute
• Benjamin Pierce, tuba/euphonium, University of Arkansas
• Maria Serkin, french horn, University of North Carolina School of the Arts
• Resonant Projection, Trombone Quartet
• Hanna Weiss, flute
• Adam Larson, saxophone, University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Eva Beneke, guitar
• Michael Daugherty, composer
• David Gompper, piano, and Wolfgang David, violin
• Matt Haimovitz, cello, international soloist and Professor, McGill University
• Wesley Ferreira, clarinet, Professor, Colorado State University
• Katharine Goeldner, mezzo-soprano, and Eric McEnaney, piano
• Pamela Frank, violin, international soloist and Avery Fischer prize winner
• John Miller, bassoon, Minnesota Orchestra
• Bruce Brubaker, chamber music
• John Sampen and Mark Bunce, saxophone/electronics
• Maria Zouves, opera star and businesswoman
• Sherrill Milnes, Drake alum, opera star
• James Valenti, operatic tenor
• Ryan Truesdell, The Gil Evans Project
• Edward Auer & Junghwa Moon Auer, piano
• Clive Geensmith, cello, Tokyo String Quartet and Professor, Colburn School
• Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra
• Narek Hakhnazaryan, Cello, Gold Medalist for International Tchaikovsky Competition