Guest Artists

SOPHIA KIM COOK

GUEST PIANIST

Born in Montréal, Canada Sophia Kim Cook pursued piano studies first at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, and finishing at McGill University, Schulich School of Music, receiving both her Bachelors with Honours and Masters of Music there. Described as ‘a steadying presence at the piano’ (Washington Post) and a ‘virtuosic piano backbone’ (DC Arts Beats), Ms. Kim Cook is a sought out collaborative pianist and orchestral pianist, having played for a myriad of soloists and ensembles, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. She is also a collaborative pianist for many conferences and workshops including the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the American Trombone Workshop, the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, and the Fredericksburg Brass Institute. In 2018, she joined the Boulanger Initiative as a Performance Ambassador promoting works by women composers. Sophia was invited to record a CD with the principal trombonist of the San Francisco Symphony, Timothy Higgins which was released in spring 2013. “To talk about the trombone or the pianist individually doesn’t do this recording justice. Their collaboration transcends to another level of beauty and artistry. Absolutely Breathtaking.”

COOPER VERONA

GUEST CHOREOGRAPHER

Cooper Verona is originally from Connecticut. He received his early training from David Lawrence and Wendy Fish-Lawrence at Connecticut Concert Ballet. He received further training from Ethan Stiefel at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Claudio Muñoz and Andrew Murphy at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. He joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) in 2011. He has been featured as Tybalt in Derek Deane’s Romeo and Juliet, the title role in Ben Stevenson’s Dracula, Bernardo in Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite, the Mad Hatter in Derek Deane’s Alice in Wonderland, and Cavalier in Terrence S. Orr’s The Nutcracker. He has also been featured in William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night, Dwight Rhoden’s Ave Maria, and Julia Adam’s Ketubah. Other memorable performances include Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, James Kudelka’s The Man in Black and Mark Morris’s Maelstrom, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eye,s and Sandpaper Ballet. Cooper also has a passion for choreography. He has been commissioned by PBT to create brood, Walking With, Gravitational Embrace, and Thick White Sheets. He has also created works for PBT School and Point Park University. Photo by Tanya Green

RACHEL MALEHORN

GUEST VIDEOGRAPHER

Rachel Malehorn is a photographer and videographer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During her 13-year career with the Milwaukee Ballet, Rachel developed a strong interest in photographing dancers. She relishes the challenge of capturing a sense of movement through still images, while also celebrating the inherent sculptural nature of ballet. Through her work as the president of the nonprofit Milwaukee Dancers’ Fund, she expanded her work into the videographic medium, collaborating with local musicians, directing, and shooting videos as meditations on her interest in time, memory, history, and growth. As a first-time collaborator with Chamber Dance Project, Rachel is excited to help make it possible to continue to share great dance with audiences around the world. Rachel filmed filming Berceuse in Milwaukee with Luz San Miguel and Davit Hovhannisyan.

OWEN SCARLETT

GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER

Long Island native Owen Scarlett is a performing artist, choreographer, photographer, videographer and visual designer based in Los Angeles. He attended Point Park University studying jazz dance and arts management, but also explored other areas of art and design. He was a founding member of Visceral Dance Chicago, and performed with the company for four seasons. He’s performed and explored work by Ohad Naharin, Fernando Melo, Sidra Bell, Mónica Cervantes, José Limon, Erica Sobol, Marguerite Donlon, Robert Battle, Toru Shimazaki and Shannon Alvis. Owen has created works for several companies such as DanceWorks Chicago, Dance in the Parks and Visceral Dance Chicago. He has a great passion for dance, and enjoys giving back to others in the dance community. In 2015, he founded Owen Scarlett Productions, a design and film-production company. Since then, he’s been able to create digital work for nonprofits such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, BodyTraffic, Visceral Dance Chicago, Rivernorth Dance Chicago and the American Cancer Society.

JENNIFER ZMUDA

GUEST VIDEOGRAPHER

Jennifer Zmuda is an Emmy Award-winning director and creative artist specializing in telling stories through visual content. With both stills and film, Jennifer is known for using her craft to capture the beauty in movement, people, and the world. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Pointe magazine, Dance magazine, Columbus Dispatch, CityScene, and many other local and national outlets. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine. She launched her photography business in 2006 and has captured all visual content for BalletMet, Columbus’ professional dance company and academy, since 2011. In 2017, she won an Emmy for her dance on-film-project, Vaulted. She has both commercial and creative clients, including Tulsa Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Scott’s Miracle-Gro, Worthington Industries, OhioMaster Gardeners, Otterbein University, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Opera Columbus, and Ohio State University. Jennifer filmed In the Silence in Columbus with Grace-Anne and Austin Powers.

Photo by Holly Hildreth

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Header Photo

Shacara Rogers in Songs by Cole
Mariah Miranda Photograph