Rebecca Metheny Mason graduated from UMBC as a Linehan Artist Scholar under David LaVorgna, winning various awards and honors including the Alumni Outstanding Student in Music Scholarship and the Music Department’s Outstanding Student Award. She spent a semester in London her senior year to study with famed orchestral flutist, Susan Milan, then earned her Master of Music degree under Tim Day at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Mason has participated in various music festivals, including the Las Vegas Music Festival, and worked with Michael Parloff, Thomas Robertello, and Renee Siebert, among others in masterclasses. Rebecca received her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree under the world-renowned concert soloist, Carol Wincenc, at SUNY Stony Brook, where she also served as the undergraduate teaching assistant. While in NYC, Rebecca performed at the Kaufmann Center’s Merkin Concert Hall and The Juilliard School’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, and she played several seasons as principal flute with the Richmond County Orchestra in Staten Island where she was the winner of their Young Musician’s Concerto Competition in 2007.

Dr. Mason has competed as a semi-finalist in the Frank Bowen Competition in New Mexico, won first-place in the San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist Competition while in CA, and has been a prize winner in the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention’s Young Artist and Collegiate Competitions. She was selected to perform at the 2018 and 2023 Mid-Atlantic Flute Conventions, and as a member of DCFlutes, Rebecca performed as one of their featured soloists in 2018. She has played principal flute with the Monticello Chamber Orchestra in Alexandria and is part of the music ministry at Alexandria Presbyterian Church. An avid music instructor, Dr. Mason works with flute sections of several middle and high school bands throughout Northern VA, and as a woodwind instructor for the Adult Extension Program with the Levine School of Music. Her primary musical endeavor has been her “Benefit Recitals” Concert Series, spanning over a decade to raise thousands of dollars for non-profits that fight against human trafficking.

Appointed in 2015 as an Instructor of Oboe and Saxophone with Opus Community Music School (Opus), Principal Oboe with the Freedom Philharmonic, and Faculty Clinician with the Academy of St. Cecilia Youth Orchestra (ASCYO) in Damascus, Mark Runkles completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Oboe Performance at UNLV. In 2013, Dr. Runkles published the culmination of his doctoral research, a critical edition of Gustave Vogt’s 4ème Solo de Concert, with TrevCo Music Publishing. Dr. Runkles became the Artistic Director at Opus in 2018. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in Oboe Performance and Master of Arts in Jazz Studies from the University of Iowa and his Bachelor of Arts in Oboe Performance from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Dr. Runkles has been a featured oboe and saxophone soloist with the Clazzical Project, Carroll Concert Band, Carroll County Jazz Band, Carroll Singers, Freedom Philharmonic, ASCYO, and Liberty High School Symphonic and Jazz Bands. He formed the Twin Arch Duo, which plays a mixture of standards and his own contemporary jazz compositions, with guitarist Charlie Trapp in 2013. In 2008, Dr. Runkles performed a series of Jazz Vespers services in Scotland. He served as the Assistant Principal Oboe with the Chesapeake Orchestra from 1999–2004 and performed on 2nd Oboe with the Las Vegas Philharmonic from the winter of 2009 through 2012. Dr. Runkles is an oboe student of Stephen Caplan, Mark Weiger, and Vladimir Lande and a saxophone student of John Rapson and Don Stapleson. Follow Dr. Runkles on his blog, Dr. Mark’s Music Notes (https://drmarksmusicnotes.wordpress.com), and his YouTube channel.

Oboist Lydia Rose Consilvio’s fearless composure has been described as, "making the impossible seem easy." An avid chamber musician, she has appeared on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center with her ensembles, the Fischoff Competition, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Avaloch Farm Music Institute.

Lydia holds degrees from the Yale (MM) and Eastman (BM) Schools of Music and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland.

Lydia played on the Naxos recording of Hannah Lash’s Requiem. She performed the Albinoni double-oboe concerto alongside Roger Cole of the Vancouver Symphony at the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy in British Columbia. Lydia has also played with the Annapolis (MD) Symphony and Rochester (NY) Chamber Orchestras.

Lydia’s positive attitude and creative outlook make her an unconventional musician and an easygoing collaborator in both large and small ensembles, and across musical genres. Her instructing style is equally spirited, open-minded, and accessible.

A native of Russia, Dariya Nikolenko began her musical studies at age seven and made her first concerto appearance at nine performing the C.P.E Bach Concerto in D minor. She has appeared as a soloist with Ransom Wilson, flute, performing Martin Bresnick’s Double Flute Concerto Pan Penseroso with Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale.

Dariya has taken part in the Internationale Meisterkurse with Marina Piccinini in Zürich, Switzerland, and the Moritzburg Festival Academy in Germany, and has performed in master classes for Robert Langevin, Maxence Larrieu, Jeffrey Khaner, Emmanuel Pahud, and Jim Walker. She has also appeared at Kennedy Center Millennium Stage as a part of Yale Percussion Group and at Weill Racital Hall in Carnegie Hall with Yale guitarists.

Ms. Nikolenko graduated with honors from the Moscow Academic College of the Moscow Conservatory, where she studied with Uriy N. Dolzhikov, from Johns Hopkins' Peabody Conservatory with Bachelor of Music Degree where she studied with Marina Piccinini and Yale School of Music with Master of Music Degree where she studied with Ransom Wilson. She also holds a Professional Studies Certificate Program in Orchestral Flute from Manhattan School of Music where she studied under the guidance of principal flutist of New York Philharmonic, Robert Langevin.

Ms. Nikolenko has taught undergraduate minor flute students at Yale University from 2009-2011. She actively teaches in the community and has experience with students of various ages and levels.

Adjunct Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Ensemble at Northern Virginia Community College Loudoun Campus (2019-present)

Saxophonist, Maryland Army National Guard Band (2014-present)

Saxophonist, The Marine Corps Band in Quantico (2004-2007)

Doctor of Musical Arts, Candidate at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (2016-present)

Performed at the Mansion at Strathmore, Johns Hopkins University’s Shriver Hall, the Peabody Institute, Seoul Arts Center, Lotte Hall in South Korea, 2007 Super Bowl XLI, Cherry Blossom Parade and Governor’s Inauguration.

Praised by the Journal of Music, Korea as a remarkably brilliant and elegant flutist, Dr. Grace Wang enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. Having performed worldwide across Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America, she has performed on stages including the Seoul Arts Center, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Musikschule Mannheim, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and multiple appearances at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.

Dr. Wang has appeared as a soloist with the Koreanishe Flute Orchestra and is a prize winner of the American Protégé International Flute Competition, Rochester Flute Association Competition, Baltimore Music Club Competition, Golden Classical International Music Awards Competition, and the South Carolina Young Artist Competition. Selected as a rising young artist by the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, she has been invited to perform at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Amadeus Concert Series, Riversdale Mansion Concert Series, Washington Arts Club, Fairhaven Concert Series, and many more.

An avid chamber musician, she is founder and flutist of Daraja Ensemble, which held the Fellowship Woodwind Quintet Residency at the University of Maryland from 2015-2017. The Ensemble has been featured on Maryland’s Classical Radio Station WBJC and has made television appearances on Fox, ABC and CBS networks. In 2016, the Ensemble traveled to Tanzania to start a new music education program for the students in the TPC (Tanzania Plantation Company) sugar mill area.

She has recently earned her doctorate at the University of Maryland under the tutelage of Dr. Sarah Frisof and Aaron Goldman and has completed a dissertation project commissioning and performing flute repertoire by Contemporary East-Asian Female composers. She has studied with Marina Piccinini for her master’s and Graduate Performance Degree at the Peabody Institute and has received her bachelor’s and master’s degree from Seoul National University.