Jeiven Fellows

✴ Returning Jeiven Fellow

A firm believer in the power of music, Sheng-Ching Hsu created “S-C Sidewalk Performance” where she brought weekly live music to the street corners of West LA during the pandemic. “S-C Sidewalk Performance” brought comfort and hope to many people during the time of isolation, and was featured on KTTV Fox 11 Los Angeles and EliteGen Magazine in Toronto, Canada. Her story was also made into a documentary by “Aria’s Lens” in China.

A native of Taiwan, Sheng-Ching was six years old when she made her first public appearance as both violinist and pianist at the National Cheng- Kung University, Taiwan. She has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center Stage on Holland America Line, Walt Disney Hall, Teatro Municipal de Santiago(Chile), Remonstrantse Kerk in Alkmaar (The Netherlands), Théâtre de l’Île- Saint-Louis (Paris), and National Recital Hall (Taiwan), among others.

Sheng-Ching plays with Delirium Musicum, New Asia Chamber Music Society, as well as Concerts on the Slope, in which many of her performances were featured on WWFM Classical, NY. She serves as concertmaster of Iranshahr Orchestra, as well as the guest principal 2nd violin of St. Matthew's Chamber Orchestra. She is a member of California Symphony and New West Symphony. Sheng-Ching has given solo recitals in Europe, North America, South America and Asia, and has performed with Ensemble 212 and Old York Road Symphony as a soloist. Sheng-Ching enjoys discovering new techniques and sound that she has worked with many living composers, including recent recording of two works by Robert Sirota for commercial release. Her interest in the impact of music on motion picture led Sheng-Ching to perform in the debut of “BBC Frozen Planet Live,” scored by award-winning composer George Fenton.

Sheng-Ching serves as a faculty at California State University - Long Beach, as well as Colburn Community School of Performing Arts. Sheng-Ching is also a sought after music arranger. Her latest commissions include the National Anthem for the New York Knicks’ Lunar New Year Game in Madison Square Garden. She arranges a wide variety of music, and has worked with ensembles such as the New Asia Chamber Music Society, the Amphion String Quartet, the Lincoln Center Stage Quintet and the Manhattan Symphonie Orchestra. In addition, her arrangements have been performed at New York Fashion Week, Times Square Flash Mob, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Sheng-Ching earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from SUNY Stony Brook University, Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and Bachelor of Music from the Mannes School of Music. Her major teachers include Catherine Cho, Christina Khimm, Itzhak Perlman, Aaron Rosand, Philip Setzer, and I-Chen Wang.

Sheng-Ching’s instruments were generously sponsored by CHIMEI foundation in Taiwan throughout her studies. (www.shengchinghsu.com)

Violinist Laurel Gagnon’s interpretations have been praised for their “naturalness that [is] both disarming and distinctive” (The Straits Times, Singapore). Performing as a soloist and chamber musician, she is currently based in New York City and is a fellow of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program for the 2025–2027 seasons. Equally at home performing traditional repertoire and premiering new works, she especially enjoys exploring works written by women of previous centuries.

Gagnon recently won first prize at the 2025 Dallas International Violin Competition, and was awarded top prizes at the Elmar Oliveira and Singapore International Violin Competitions. She has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Flagey in Brussels, and Singapore’s Victoria Concert Hall.

As a chamber musician, Laurel is the founding violinist of Vinola Trio, a clarinet-violin-piano ensemble with an emphasis on contemporary repertoire. The trio received grand prize at the 2025 Plowman Chamber Music Competition and first prize at the 2026 NOLA Chamber Fest Emerging Artists Competition. Recently they competed a residency at UCSD, premiering five new works written specifically for their ensemble.

Passionate about engaging with local communities, Laurel worked extensively with Indiana University’s Center for Rural Engagement, where she collaborated with community partners to present public performances in libraries, schools, and senior care centers. A teaching artist with Yale’s Music in Schools Initiative, she also participated in Indiana University’s Fairview Violin Project, introducing violin to elementary students.

A recent graduate of the Yale School of Music under the mentorship of Augustin Hadelich, she previously studied with Ben Sayevich and Mauricio Fuks.

Laurel performs on an 1809 Lupot violin, generously on loan from Canimex Inc., Drummondville, Québec, Canada.

A native of Princeton, NJ, cellist Zachary Mowitz made his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in July 2018. An artist who wears many hats, Zachary is Co-Artistic Director of the genre-defying collective ensemble132 and the nonprofit Nodality Music, Associated Artist with the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, and member of the SAKURA cello quintet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Having collaborated with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Hsin-Yun Huang, Jonathan Biss, Ida Kavafian, and Peter Wiley, Zachary has an intense passion for chamber music. Zachary has appeared throughout the country in halls like the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall and Perelman Hall, Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, Alice Tully Hall, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, and Johns Hopkins’ Shriver Hall. In recent years he has performed at Caramoor, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, and the Marlboro Music Festival. Zachary attended the Curtis Institute of Music, Royal College of Music, and Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where he studied with Peter Wiley, Carter Brey, Richard Lester, Jeroen Reuling, and Gary Hoffman. Through Nodality Music Zachary has led an array of projects exploring the intersections of music with broader culture, including Nodality’s Climate Commissioning Initiative that prompts composers around the world to write works empowering people to process and address the realities of climate change. Composers he is commissioning include Nick DiBerardino, Elijah Daniel Smith, Rene Orth, and Juantio Becenti. Last season he co-taught a class at the Curtis Institute on social- entrepreneurship. In his spare time, Zachary enjoys exploring the endless world of podcasts and tossing a frisbee.

Bassoonist Tylor Thomas, originally from Anchorage, Alaska, holds a Bachelor's degree from the Boston Conservatory and both a Master's and Professional Studies Diploma from the Mannes School of Music. In New York, he was a fellow with the Orchestra of St. Luke's Chamber Mentorship Program for three years and now serves as Senior Manager of School Partnerships, overseeing the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's and OSL's Mentorship Program. As a freelance bassoonist, Tylor has performed with ensembles such as the American Composers Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the West Point Band.

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From 2018 to 2019, Tylor participated in the Global Leaders Program, teaching and advocating for music education in countries including Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Singapore. This experience reinforced his commitment to global music accessibility. He continued with the Global Leaders Institute to pursue an MBA in Arts Innovation in 2023.

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Tylor is a founding member of the Nu Quintet, a woodwind ensemble known for premiering contemporary works. Nu Quintet has held residencies at Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, Florida University, and Adelphi University.

He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Musical Arts at Stony Brook University under the mentorship of Professor Gina Cuffari.