Theater as a
lens for music.

Minyi Zhang is a pianist and the founder of CIRA Repertory Ensemble. She has performed as soloist with the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and the Hunan Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as a semifinalist at the Liszt Utrecht International Competition at TivoliVredenburg, and given performances at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Concert Hall, The New York Times, New York Fashion Week, and Grand Central Terminal. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree from The Juilliard School and is currently pursuing her doctorate at Stony Brook University under Gilbert Kalish. In addition to her career as a pianist, she is also an actor and filmmaker.

Clara Steeves is a Canadian-American actor based in New York City. Recent select credits include Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (Netflix), Hudson & Rex (Citytv), and the films Color of Thread and Life in USA. She has also appeared onstage with The Tank in New York City and at the Stratford Music Festival in Ontario. Clara graduated cum laude from the BFA Acting program at SUNY Purchase College and proudly hails from Newfoundland.

Kathryn Goshorn is an actor and visual artist originally from Atlanta, GA. She recently graduated from The Acting Studio – New York's two-year Meisner training program, culminating in an industry showcase. Her recent performance credits include This Property Is Condemned (Willie) at The Acting Studio NY and Here (Melissa) with Chelsea Rep Summerfest, as well as showcase work including Fool for Love, Saint Joan, and Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven. In addition to acting, Kathryn brings a background in visual art and theatrical production. She holds an MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art and a BFA in Painting from the University of Georgia, and has worked as a scenic artist, director, assistant director, and props and costume designer. Her multidisciplinary practice allows her to approach storytelling both from the perspective of a performer and through the visual language of a production.

Michael Kowalski is a Brooklyn-based actor, musician, and visual artist. He regularly performs with the Chelsea Repertory Company and has studied at T. Schreiber Studio and The Acting Studio New York, where he completed their two-year Meisner Conservatory Program. Michael has played roles ranging from Marcus Brutus in Julius Caesar to Murray Burns in A Thousand Clowns to Father Flynn in Doubt. Recent theater credits include McManus: Fall of a Tyrant with Nomad Theatrical Company and Burying Al as part of the Chelsea Rep Summerfest. He can be seen in the feature film Blue Hour and stars in the feature film Beyond the Drumlins, which he co-wrote.

Violinist Yuyu Ikeda made her debut at the age of ten with the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra. Currently based in NYC, her work encompasses orchestral performance, chamber music, and education. She regularly performs with ensembles including the New York Classical Players and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and during the 2022–23 season, she served as concertmaster of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Yuyu is a first-prize recipient of the Ruth Widder String Quartet Competition and has appeared at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Chelsea Music Festival, EAMA's String Quartet Residency, Juilliard's 37th Annual Focus Festival, and the Sarasota Music Festival, where her performance was featured on WQXR-FM. Dedicated to expanding access to classical music, Yuyu also regularly programs outreach concerts with Concerts in Motion and Project Music Heals Us. She is equally committed to music education, currently serving on the faculty of the Geneva Conservatory and Musical Mentors Collaborative. Yuyu holds degrees from The Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, and Manhattan School of Music.

Ryan Soeyadi is a pianist based in New York City and a staff pianist at The Juilliard School. He was the 2018 and 2020 grand scholarship winner of Music for Humanity and the first prize winner of the 2018 Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition in Washington, D.C. Soeyadi earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from The Juilliard School in 2021 and a Master's degree in Collaborative Piano from Juilliard in 2023. His additional honors include awards from the NY Steinway & Sons Competition and the Mieczysław Munz Competition at Juilliard. He has received piano fellowships to the Manchester Music Festival, Pianofest in the Hamptons, and the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and has performed for artists such as Stephen Hough, Emanuel Ax, and Matti Raekallio.

Helen Dempsey is a screenwriter, film photographer, and creative technologist based in New York City. She currently works at The New York Times as a software engineer and recently attended NYU Tisch for screenwriting. Helen's photography has been featured in The VSCO 100, Photodom's inaugural zine, and has been showcased at The Village's salons and at Greenpoint Gallery.