2023 Festival Artists

Adji Cissoko was born and grew up in Munich, Germany where she trained at the Ballet Academy Munich and graduated with a diploma in dance. Cissoko attended the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in New York City on full scholarship, before joining the National Ballet of Canada in 2010. In 2012 she was awarded the Patron Award of Merit by the Patrons’ Council Committee of The National Ballet of Canada. Cissoko joined LINES Ballet in 2014. Since then she’s originated many central roles and guested for galas worldwide. Cissoko has given multiple masterclasses and taught classes around the world as part of the company’s outreach program. In 2020, she became certified in health/life coaching and ABT’s National Training Curriculum. Cissoko choreographed her first piece “AZIZ “ for Ballet X in 2021. She also is a 2022 recipient of the Toulmin fellowship.

Olivia Bell is a member of New York City Ballet's Corps de Ballet. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, she trained locally before being accepted to the School of American Ballet in 2018. While a student, Olivia performed in the New York Choreographic Institute, the Virginia B. Toulmin Female Choreography Program, and the 2022 SAB Annual Workshop, originating a featured role in Gianna Reisen’s Signs. Olivia was selected for Rising Stars Weekend at Kaatsbaan Summer Festival in 2022, where she performed works by George Balanchine, and originated a role in Haley Winegarden’s Reminisce for Tomorrow. As an apprentice with New York City Ballet, Olivia has performed works by George Balanchine, including a featured role in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.

Adji Cissoko was born and grew up in Munich, Germany where she trained at the Ballet Academy Munich and graduated with a diploma in dance. Cissoko attended the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in New York City on full scholarship, before joining the National Ballet of Canada in 2010. In 2012 she was awarded the Patron Award of Merit by the Patrons’ Council Committee of The National Ballet of Canada. Cissoko joined LINES Ballet in 2014. Since then she’s originated many central roles and guested for galas worldwide. Cissoko has given multiple masterclasses and taught classes around the world as part of the company’s outreach program. In 2020, she became certified in health/life coaching and ABT’s National Training Curriculum. Cissoko choreographed her first piece “AZIZ “ for Ballet X in 2021. She also is a 2022 recipient of the Toulmin fellowship.

Mr. Chan born in Guangdong, China, and he trained at the Guangzhou Art School from 2004 to 2010. In 2010 he was a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne, which earned him a full scholarship to study with Houston Ballet’s second company, Houston Ballet II. In 2012 Chan joined Houston Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet and he was promoted to principal dancer at HB in 2017. Mr. Chan joined NYCB as a soloist in August 2021, and in May 2022 was promoted to principal dancer.

His repertory with Houston Ballet included the Nutcracker Prince in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker; Mazurka boy in Ètudes; Lucentio and Hortensio in John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew; the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty; Aminta in Sylvia; the lead male in Paquita; Emerald in David Bintley’s Aladdin; Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. Leading roles that Mr. Chan has accomplished include Tapestry, Clear and Sons de L'âme by Stanton Welch; ONE/End/ONE by Jorma Elo; In the middle, Somewhat elevated by William Forsythe; Serenade, The Four Temperament by George Balanchine; Petite Mort, Wings of Wax, Sinfonietta and Svadebka by Jirí Kylián; Dyad 1929 by Wayne McGregor; and The Concert, The Cage by Jerome Robbins. He created the leading roles in Zodiac by Stanton Welch; Murmuration by Edwaard Liang; and Reveal by Garret Smith.

Born in New York City, Catherine Hurlin joined the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis school of American Ballet Theater at the age of 12 under the direction of Franco DeVita. She joined ABT’s Studio Company in 2012. She joined ABT as an apprentice in December 2013 and the corps de ballet in June 2014.  She was promoted to Soloist in September 2018 and to Principal In 2022. Her repertoire with the Company includes principal roles such as Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Myrta in Giselle, Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon, Lead Maiden in Firebird, Princess Florine in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, and created the principal role Calirhoe in Alexi Ratmanski’s Of Love and Rage. As well as leading roles in works by Twyla Tharp, Wayne McGregor, Jessica Lang, Mark Morris, Michelle Dorrance, Benjamin Millepied, Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky. Ms. Hurlin was nominated for a 2015 Clive Barnes Award and is a 2018 Princess Grace Award recipient and Erik Bruhn Prize winner in 2019.

Lauren Lovette personifies the intertwining of dance and choreography, moving seamlessly from one to the other. Her work has been commissioned and performed by leading dance companies and festivals, including the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Vail International Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Nevada Ballet Theatre, as well as a self-produced evening entirely of her own work in which she also danced, Why It Matters.

Born in Thousand Oaks, California, Lovette began studying ballet at the age of 11 at the Cary Ballet Conservatory in Cary, North Carolina. She enrolled at SAB as a full time student in 2006. In October 2009, Ms. Lovette became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in September 2010. Promoted to soloist in February 2013 and to principal dancer in June 2015, she stepped down from her position at the company in 2021 in order to embark on a career devoted to dance and choreography in more equal measure. She is now the choreographer in residence at the Paul Taylor Dance Company and performs as a guest principal dancer around the world.

Ms. Lovette received the Clive Barnes Award for dance in December 2012 and was the 2012-2013 recipient of the Janice Levin Award.

Dario Natarelli is a performer, choreographer, and dance educator specializing in tap dance based in NYC. He is honored to be a part of the Vail Dance family since 2016. Some of his credits include: The Tap Dance Kid (New York City Center Encores!), Tappin' Thru Life (Off-Broadway), assistant choreographer to Michelle Dorrance (Vail Dance Festival), Dance Captain for Justin Peck (Broadway labs), a 2023 Netflix film with Bradley Cooper and Justin Peck, Newsies (Gateway Original Broadway Choreography), The Kennedy Center (soloist/choreographer), Radio City Christmas Spectacular (National Tour), national commercials, and more. He recently directed and choreographed his first tap dance short film: Lonely World. He is grateful to all friends, family, and mentors for their unconditional support. Respect the dance; go in rhythm. IG @dario_natarelli.

Mira Nadon was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Inland Pacific Ballet Academy in Montclair, California.

She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of NYCB, in 2014 and 2015, before entering SAB full-time for the 2015 winter term.

In November 2017, Ms. Nadon became an apprentice with NYCB. She joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2018. Ms. Nadon was promoted to the rank of soloist in January 2022 and principal in February 2023.

Ms. Nadon has danced as a guest at the Vail Dance Festival and Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival and has performed as a member of Ballet Collective. She is also a part-time student at Fordham University. She is the recipient of the 2021 Clive Barnes Award for dance and is a 2022 Princess Grace Award winner.

Tiler Peck has been a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet since 2009. She made her Broadway debut at age 11 as Gracie Shinn in The Music Man and was seen on Broadway as Ivy Smith in the Tony Nominated On The Town. She originated the title role in Susan Stroman’s newest musical Little Dancer at the Kennedy Center and is attached to star in the Broadway production. Tiler made her choreographic debut at the Vail Dance Festival in 2018 and has gone on to choreograph and appear in episodes of Tiny Pretty Things and Ray Donovan, for the Boston Ballet and the box office smash hit film John Wick 3. She has also appeared on Dancing with the Stars, the Kennedy Center Honors and Live From Lincoln Center’s The Nutcracker and Carousel, Disney+’s The Hip Hop Nutcracker, and Josh Groban’s Great Big Radio City Show PBS special. As a guest star, she was the first ballerina ever to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In film she has starred in "Ballet Now", a Hulu documentary that followed her as she became the first woman to curate and star in The Los Angeles Music Center’s presentation ofBalletNOW, "Ballet 422", "A Time for Dancing", and "Donnie Darko". She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Statue Award, The Dance Magazine Award and was named one of Forbes 30 under 30.  Most recently, she curated and directed the highly anticipated inaugural Artists at the Center for New York City Center that will make its European debut this summer as Turn It Out With Tiler Peck & Friends. This program marked her NYC choreographic debut and featured premieres from William Forsythe, Alonzo King, Jillian Meyers and Michelle Dorrance.

To keep the dance world connected during the pandemic, Tiler developed a free ballet class #TurnItOutWithTiler that airs on her Instagram. She is the designer of the Love,Tiler collection for Só Dança and the capsule collection Tiler Peck X STATESIDE in collaboration with the popular Los Angeles-based clothing company. She has released two children’s books with Simon & Schuster: Katarina Ballerina and Katarina Ballerina & The Victory Dance.

More on Tiler at www.tilerpeck.com. Tiler can be found on Instagram & TikTok via @TilerPeck.

Unity Phelan was born in Princeton, New Jersey where she studied at the Princeton Ballet School. After attending summer courses at the School of American Ballet, Phelan was invited to attend the school full time and remained at the school for three years. Phelan was invited to join the New York City Ballet in the winter of 2012 as an apprentice and joined the company as a Corps de Ballet member in 2013. In the Winter of 2017, Phelan was promoted to Soloist dancer and in the Fall of 2021, she was promoted to Principal dancer. In her time at New York City Ballet, Phelan has danced numerous ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon and other choreographers. Phelan has been featured in Dance Magazine, Elle Magazine, and People Style Magazine. In the last couple years, Phelan has been found on the silver screen acting in “John Wick 3: Parabellum” and “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”. In 2019, Phelan was awarded the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award for her work at New York City Ballet.

Calvin Royal III is an acclaimed internationally recognized Principal classical ballet dancer. He began his ballet training at fourteen and a half, and received a scholarship from ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of ballet in 2007. Despite his unprecedented late start, he was promoted to the American Ballet Theatre’s Main Company in 2010, achieved Soloist in 2017, and Principal Dancer in 2020. This makes him the third African-American to achieve this honor in the 82-year history of the iconic Company, following Desmond Richardson appointed 25 years ago and Misty Copeland in 2015.

Calvin has performed star turns throughout ABT’s global tours, and at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City - as the title role in George Balanchine’s Apollo, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, The Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, and has worked with notable choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Justin Peck, Benjamin Millepied, Alonzo King, Mark Morris, Wayne McGreggor, Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance, Jamar Roberts, and many more.

Calvin was a finalist at the Clive Barnes Awards, the winner of the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship, a cover star of Dance Magazine in July 2020, and was the 2020/21 Artist in Residence at the Vail Dance Festival in Vail, Colorado. He is represented by IMG Models and has been featured in global campaigns for GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Target, Ralph Lauren, Mavi Jeans, Canali, and has partnered with Deckers Brands, HOKA and The Luxury Collection hotels. Follow Calvin on Instagram & TikTok @calvinroyaliii

Born on Long Island, New York, Cory Stearns began his classical training at the age of five with Mme. Valia Seiskaya at the Seiskaya Ballet. At age fifteen, he participated in the Youth America Grand Prix and was offered a full scholarship to The Royal Ballet School in London. Stearns performed in Madrid, Moscow, Milan, Düsseldorf and London while at The Royal, and appeared with Kylie Minogue in her music video Chocolate in 2004.  Upon graduating from The Royal Ballet School with honors, he received, for the second year, the Dame Ruth Railton Award for excellence in dance.

Stearns joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in September 2004, the main Company as an apprentice in January 2005 and became a member of the corps de ballet in January 2006. He was appointed a Soloist in January 2009 and a Principal Dancer in January 2011.

Stearns repertory with the Company includes The Man in AfterEffect, Solor in La Bayadère, The Ballet Dancer in The Bright Stream, a featured role in Brief Fling, Her Prince Charming in Cinderella, Conrad in Le Corsaire, Daphnis in Daphnis and Chloe, Basilio and Espada in Don Quixote, Oberon in The Dream, a leading role in Études, Second Sailor in Fancy Free, Colas in Las Fille mal gardée, Kaschei in Firebird. Baron in Gaîté Parisienne, Albrecht in Giselle, Astrologer in The Golden Cockerel, Grand Pas Classique, Her Lover in Jardin aux Lilas, Armand Duval in Lady of the Camellias, The Leaves Are Fading pas de deux, Des Grieux in Manon, Beliaev in A Month in the Country, His Friend in The Moor’s Pavane, the Nutcracker-Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Onegin in Onegin, Iago and a Carnival Dancer in Othello, Other Dances, Man From the House Opposite in Pillar of Fire, Romeo and Paris in Romeo and Juliet, the Terrestrial in Shadowplay, Prince Désiré in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Désiré, the Celtic Prince and a Fairy Knight in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Siegfried and von Rothbart in Swan Lake, Act III, Juliet, James in La Sylphide, the Poet in Les Sylphides, Orion and Apollo in Sylvia, Prospero in The Tempest, Prince Coffee in Whipped Cream, The Awakening Pas de Deux, leading roles in Allegro Brillante, Duo Concertant, Études, Mozartiana Monotones II, Raymonda Divertissements and With a Chance of Ran and roles in The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Citizen, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, Duets, Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, In the Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Overgrown Path, Mozartiana, Rabbit and Rogue, Raymonda Divertissements, Symphony in C and Thirteen Diversions.

Stearns created roles in AFTERITE, From Here On Out, Her Notes, One of Three, Piano Concerto #1, Private Light and I Feel The Earth Move.

Stearns won the 2009 Erik Bruhn Prize for best male dancer.

Devon Teuscher began her ballet training at the age of nine under Deanna Doty of the Champaign Urbana Ballet Academy in Champaign, IL. When her family moved to Vermont, she continued her training at the Vermont Ballet Theatre School in Essex, Vermont under the direction of Alex and Kirsten Nagiba. At the age of eleven, Teuscher attended The Kirov Ballet Academy summer intensive. She also attended the Pacific Northwest Ballet summer intensive on full scholarship for two years.

From 2002 to 2006 Teuscher attended American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive, and was a National Training Scholar from 2003 to 2006. In January 2005 at the age of 15, Teuscher relocated to New York City to dance at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School on full scholarship.

Teuscher joined ABT Studio Company in 2006.  She joined American Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in December 2007 and the corps de ballet in June 2008. She became a Soloist in August 2014 and Principal Dancer in September 2017.

Teuscher was nominated for the Clive Barnes Award in 2014 and received the Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship in 2016.

Melissa Toogood is a Sydney and New York based Dancer, Teacher, Stager, Coach and sometimes Choreographer. She is a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) winning Performer. She is Rehearsal Director, Dancer and Artistic Associate of Pam Tanowitz Dance. She was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, is a 2013 & 2015 Merce Cunningham Fellow, has taught Cunningham Technique internationally since 2007 and is a licensed Stager of Merce Cunningham's work. She has performed with Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Kimberly Bartosik/Daela, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Reiner, the Stephen Petronio Company, Sally Silvers & Dancers, The Bang Group:Tap Lab, Christopher Williams and many others. Her own work has been commissioned by the Boston Ballet and New York Theater Ballet. Dance Initiative brought her to the Launchpad in Carbondale, CO in 2022 to further her choreographic exploration and she received a residency in Sydney, Australia this year as part of Constant Relay. This is Melissa's 9th season at the Vail Dance Festival.

Adji Cissoko was born and grew up in Munich, Germany where she trained at the Ballet Academy Munich and graduated with a diploma in dance. Cissoko attended the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in New York City on full scholarship, before joining the National Ballet of Canada in 2010. In 2012 she was awarded the Patron Award of Merit by the Patrons’ Council Committee of The National Ballet of Canada. Cissoko joined LINES Ballet in 2014. Since then she’s originated many central roles and guested for galas worldwide. Cissoko has given multiple masterclasses and taught classes around the world as part of the company’s outreach program. In 2020, she became certified in health/life coaching and ABT’s National Training Curriculum. Cissoko choreographed her first piece “AZIZ “ for Ballet X in 2021. She also is a 2022 recipient of the Toulmin fellowship.

Justin Peck is a Tony Award-winning choreographer, director, and dancer based in New York City. He is currently the acting Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet.  Peck began choreographing in 2009 at the New York Choreographic Institute.  In 2014, after the creation of his acclaimed ballet Everywhere We Go, he was appointed as Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet.  He is the second person in the institution’s history to hold this title.

Peck joined New York City Ballet as a dancer in 2006.  As a performer, Peck has danced a vast repertoire of works by George Balanchine , Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, Benjamin Millepied, Christopher Wheeldon, and many others.  In 2013, Peck was promoted to the rank of Soloist, performing through 2019 with the company. Peck has created over 40 ballets-- 20 of those for New York City Ballet.  His works have been performed by Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, LA Dance Project, Dutch National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Pennsylvania Ballet, to name a few.  His collaborators include composers Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner (The National), Dan Deacon, Caroline Shaw, M83; visual artists Shepard Fairey, Marcel Dzama, John Baldessari, George Condo, Steve Powers, and Jules de Balincourt; and fashion designers Mary Katrantzou, Humberto Leon (Kenzo, Opening Ceremony), Tumori Chisato, and Dries Van Noten.

In 2014, Peck was the subject of the documentary Ballet 422, which followed him as he created NYCBallet’s 422nd original dance, Paz de la Jolla. In 2015, his ballet Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes won the Bessie Award for Outstanding Production. Peck directorial and choreographic work on film includes 20th Century Fox feature film RED SPARROW (starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton), the New York Times GREAT PERFORMERS Series (starring Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke Emma Stone, Glenn Close, and others), and the remake Steven Spielberg's upcoming film WEST SIDE STORY.

Peck choreographed the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel.  The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and stars Jesse Meuller, Joshua Henry, & Renée Fleming.  Peck has been awarded the National Arts Award (2018), the Golden Plate Honor from the Academy of Achievement (2019), and the Tony Award for his choreography on Broadway’s Carousel (2018).

Tiler Peck has been a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet since 2009. She made her Broadway debut at age 11 as Gracie Shinn in The Music Man and was seen on Broadway as Ivy Smith in the Tony Nominated On The Town. She originated the title role in Susan Stroman’s newest musical Little Dancer at the Kennedy Center and is attached to star in the Broadway production. Tiler made her choreographic debut at the Vail Dance Festival in 2018 and has gone on to choreograph and appear in episodes of Tiny Pretty Things and Ray Donovan, for the Boston Ballet and the box office smash hit film John Wick 3. She has also appeared on Dancing with the Stars, the Kennedy Center Honors and Live From Lincoln Center’s The Nutcracker and Carousel, Disney+’s The Hip Hop Nutcracker, and Josh Groban’s Great Big Radio City Show PBS special. As a guest star, she was the first ballerina ever to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In film she has starred in "Ballet Now", a Hulu documentary that followed her as she became the first woman to curate and star in The Los Angeles Music Center’s presentation ofBalletNOW, "Ballet 422", "A Time for Dancing", and "Donnie Darko". She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Statue Award, The Dance Magazine Award and was named one of Forbes 30 under 30.  Most recently, she curated and directed the highly anticipated inaugural Artists at the Center for New York City Center that will make its European debut this summer as Turn It Out With Tiler Peck & Friends. This program marked her NYC choreographic debut and featured premieres from William Forsythe, Alonzo King, Jillian Meyers and Michelle Dorrance.

To keep the dance world connected during the pandemic, Tiler developed a free ballet class #TurnItOutWithTiler that airs on her Instagram. She is the designer of the Love,Tiler collection for Só Dança and the capsule collection Tiler Peck X STATESIDE in collaboration with the popular Los Angeles-based clothing company. She has released two children’s books with Simon & Schuster: Katarina Ballerina and Katarina Ballerina & The Victory Dance.

More on Tiler at www.tilerpeck.com. Tiler can be found on Instagram & TikTok via @TilerPeck.

Melissa Toogood is a Sydney and New York based Dancer, Teacher, Stager, Coach and sometimes Choreographer. She is a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) winning Performer. She is Rehearsal Director, Dancer and Artistic Associate of Pam Tanowitz Dance. She was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, is a 2013 & 2015 Merce Cunningham Fellow, has taught Cunningham Technique internationally since 2007 and is a licensed Stager of Merce Cunningham's work. She has performed with Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Kimberly Bartosik/Daela, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Reiner, the Stephen Petronio Company, Sally Silvers & Dancers, The Bang Group:Tap Lab, Christopher Williams and many others. Her own work has been commissioned by the Boston Ballet and New York Theater Ballet. Dance Initiative brought her to the Launchpad in Carbondale, CO in 2022 to further her choreographic exploration and she received a residency in Sydney, Australia this year as part of Constant Relay. This is Melissa's 9th season at the Vail Dance Festival.

Shelbie Rassler, recently named Truthspaper’s Young Woman of the Year, is an award-winning composer, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist. Shelbie is globally recognized for her CBS Award-Winning viral production of What the World Needs Now, featured on CNN’s Fourth of July Primetime Special, along with interviews on The Today Show, Forbes, GMA, NYTimes and many others. Shelbie was on the music production team of the Emmy Award-Nominated Celebrating America 2021 Presidential Inauguration Concert, and her production of Georgia On My Mind, featuring countless Tony Award-Winning Broadway performers, landed on the Top 50 Billboard charts. She has since helped to raise over $6 million through musical fundraisers for Covid Relief Funds, the NAACP, the Entertainment Community Fund, the Humane Society and many others, in large part as a Music Video Producer on Seth Rudetsky's hit show, Stars in the House. She has also been featured as a guest on Rudetsky’s SiriusXM radio show, On Broadway. Shelbie has been nominated for an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award and recently won the Eugene New Music Festival Call for Scores. Shelbie's recent commissions include the New World Symphony Orchestra (Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas), Decoda (Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble-in-Residence), the New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute, the Female Quotient, the Broward Health Foundation, University of Kansas and University of Colorado, among many others. Shelbie has written arrangements for notable performers such as Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Lara Downes, and members of the United Nations Chamber Music Society, as well as several SONY Artists. Shelbie has worked on various episodes and commercials for Netflix, HBO Max, PBS, and Lexus. She has had premieres and recognition at notable venues/events such as Carnegie Hall’s Second Sunday Series, Feinstein’s 54 Below, the Female Quotient’s Global Pack, SXSW, the Cannes International Film Festival, and the New York Musical Festival.

After graduating from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2020 as the institution’s Presser Scholar, Shelbie graduated summa cum laude from The Juilliard School with a Master’s in Music Composition, studying with Pulitzer Prize Winner John Corigliano, as a proud Juilliard Career Advancement Fellow. Shelbie has held residencies at the pianoSonoma Music Festival (Composer-in-Residence), the Vail International Dance Festival (Music Associate), the New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute, The Juilliard School (Guest Artist), University of Kansas and University of Colorado Denver, where she will be arranging the institution’s new alma mater. Shelbie is the Co-Founder of the music production company, Jenkins & Rassler, LLC, alongside award-winning composer and producer Katie Jenkins. They are proud Satellite Collective Fellows, and Jenkins & Rassler employs over 40 artists on the J&R Artist Roster, the musicians who record and perform the many film scores, concert compositions and interdisciplinary collaborations composed and produced by Shelbie and Katie. As a motivational speaker, Shelbie served as one of the 19 Featured Speakers at the 2021 Imagine Solutions Conference, alongside individuals such as Robert Langer (co-founder of Moderna) and Cecilia Conrad (CEO of Lever for Change). She has spoken at countless conferences and on dozens of panels at organizations, such as the College Music Society, and has taught masterclasses at organizations and institutions such as Maestra Music, led by Georgia Stitt, Emerson College, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and more. This upcoming summer, Shelbie is greatly looking forward to returning to pianoSonoma as the Composer-in-Residence, and she is incredibly honored to return to Vail as the Music Director of the Vail Dance Festival!

Cameron Grant is recently retired after 37 years with the  New York City Ballet. As a solo pianist, he performed a vast repertoire for solo piano including the Bach Goldberg Variations, Pictures at an Exhibition, Dances at a Gathering, Polyphonia, In the Night, and numerous other solo premieres.  The concerti he has performed include works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Hindemith, Dohnanyi, Prokofiev, Bartok, MacMillan, Ravel and Gershwin.  He  toured with the company across the globe in theaters in St Petersburg, Athens, Edinburgh, Paris, London, Parma, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul and has appeared in festivals in New Hampshire, Vail and Nantucket. A renowned collaborative pianist, Cameron has worked and/or recorded with Joel Krosnick, Ronald Thomas, Hiroko Yakima, The Leonardo Trio with Erica Kiesewetter and Jonathan Spitz, and Zina Schiff, among others. He spent five years touring with James Winn as half of the Grant-Winn piano duo, a duo that took top honors at the Munich Competition. Cameron was also a member of the New York New Music Ensemble. In 2004, he won an Emmy Award as a soloist in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast, “Balanchine at 100,” and was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center Honors with three other members of the New York City Ballet for President Bush.

Davóne Tines is a pathbreaking artist whose work not only encompasses a diverse repertoire, from early music to new commissions by leading composers, but also explores the social issues of today. A creator, curator, and performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, he is engaged in work that blends opera, art song, contemporary classical music, spirituals, gospel, and songs of protest, as a means to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance that connects to all of humanity. His projects include Recital No. 1: MASS, a program exploring the Mass woven through Western European, African American, and 21st century traditions, which he performs this season at Carnegie Hall and other venues; Concerto No. 1: SERMON and Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM, two programs he conceived for voice and orchestra that weave arias and contemporary song, including arrangements by Tines, with poetry; and Everything Rises, a multimedia musical work exploring artistic journeys and family histories, co-created with violinist Jennifer Koh. Tines is Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale’s Creative Partner and in January 2023 he becomes Artist-in-Residence at Brooklyn Academy of Music. He recently served as Artist-in-Residence at Detroit Opera—an appointment that culminated in his performance in the title role of Anthony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, and he is featured on the world premiere recording of X with Odyssey Opera and Boston Modern Orchestra Project, released this fall on BMOP/sound. Tines is a member of AMOC and co-creator of The Black Clown, a music theater experience commissioned and premiered by The American Repertory Theater. He is Musical America’s 2022 Vocalist of the Year and a recipient of the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University, where he also serves as guest lecturer.

New York based Joel Wenhardt is a jazz pianist, and collaborator. While completing his studies at Juilliard (BM ‘18, MM ‘23) he has become a regular presence on the Jazz scene, as well an active participant in multi-medium productions. He has played or recorded with Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, Veronica Swift, Caroline Shaw, Claire Chase, and Brooklyn Rider as well as dancers from Juilliard, NYC Ballet, ABT, Alvin Ailey and more. Currently, he is Musical Directing at the McKittrick Hotel, where he can be found in the Manderley Bar leading The Nightingales. This will be Joel’s 4th time in Vail for the dance festival, and is grateful to call this community his artistic family.