Valentines Special & Fundraiser w/ Special Guest: Pianist, Danny Wright

Soprano Youna Jang Hartgraves

Connect with Youna on social media! (Youna Hartgraves – OperaMyWay on Facebook, Instagram, tiktok, and Youtube) Her content showcases her unique and refreshing take on classical vocal music with impeccable storytelling. Featured as a “piano playing opera singer mama who lost 100 lbs” she strives to communicate with her fellow music lovers and advocates for a healthy lifestyle.

“Youna Jang excelled in the role of Susan B. Anthony—she has a big voice, large range, and well developed vibrato.” – TheaterJones

“Youna Jang displayed a voice of beauty and power that was more than adequate to convey the emotional turmoil of her character in Menotti’s “The Consul” and the needed vocal agility for a fine rendition of Marguerite’s “Jewel Song” from Gounod’s Faust.” -Annapolis Patch

“Mirroring Onegin’s tragic descent into desperate loneliness, Tatyana conversely blossoms into womanhood before the audience’s eyes. It is fascinating to watch how actresses confront this challenge of transitioning from youth to maturity. Youna Jang met this challenge adeptly, singing the famous “Letter Scene” with manic hormonal shifts from lovesick despair to ecstatic bliss. In the final scene, when Onegin begs her not to reject him, Ms. Jang expertly balanced Tatyana’s tortured pathos with a self-assured grace. Her powerful voice effortlessly filled the room, yet her soft singing immediately commanded attention. With a controlled and heart wrenching diminuendo, her exclamation, “Ah, happiness was in our reach. So close…” encapsulated a lifetime of suffering within a single phrase.” – InstantEncore

Acclaimed for her electrifying and passionate performances, soprano Youna Jang Hartgraves has sung leading operatic roles throughout the United States, including the title role of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which she sang when she was 23 years old at Opera Delaware. She was then invited to sing Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème as well as many recitals and concerts.

At Temple University in Philadelphia, she performed Natalia Petrovna in Hoiby’s A Month in the Country, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mimì in La Bohème, Climene in L’Egisto, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. A rare opportunity to sing the role of Susan B. Anthony in Thomson’s The Mother of Us All was given to her at The University of North Texas.

Youna has participated in the young artist programs at Opera Saratoga (formerly Lake George Opera) for two seasons and sung the role of Louise in La Vie Parisiènne and covered the title role of Madama Butterfly. She participated in the apprentice and studio programs at Sarasota Opera and sang the title role of Madama Butterfly at the Sarasota Chalk festival. As a resident artist at The Academy of Vocal Arts, she sung the roles of Amelia in Un ballo in maschera and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin.

She has recognitions from the Fritz & Lavinia Jensen Foundation, two-time awards from The Annapolis Opera Competition, Gerda Lissner International Competition, and New Jersey State Alfredo Silipigni Vocal Competition. She was also invited to participate in Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, Elizabeth Connell prize for Dramatic Sopranos (New York and San Francisco) Compositione dell’opera in Germany and Hariclea Darclée Competition in Romania. She received the Boyer Merit scholarship in recognition of her musical excellence and was the soprano soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum at the Kimmel Center – Verizon Hall.

Youna earned a Master of Music degree and a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice and Opera Performance from Temple University before appearing as a resident artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. She received a Doctorate degree in Voice Pedagogy from University of North Texas and held teaching positions at UNT, Texas State University, Tarrant County College, and University of Mary while maintaining her successful private studio for singing and piano.

Dr. Alice (Jeong-A) Lee is the Principal Cellist in the Richardson Symphony and currently teaches cello at Texas Women’s University. She earned her doctorate and master’s degrees in cello performance from the University of North Texas under Eugene Osadchy. 

Dr. Lee has extensive experience in solo, chamber music, and orchestra in the United States, Canada, South Korea, and Taiwan. Over the years, besides giving numerous solo recitals, she has performed professionally at numerous events and venues as a soloist, a chamber musician as well as  an orchestra player. She has played with the Trans Siberian Orchestra and also performed alongside the following famous artists: Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Yoyo Ma, and pop artist Kanye West. Her cello playing can be heard on recordings of famous Korean pop music artists, Seung Hwan Lee and Jun Seun Kim. In 2017, She appeared as a featured concerto soloist within the Northeast Orchestra in Texas. In addition, her cello solos are frequently heard on national and international broadcasts of the Insights for Living radio program and she was a featured musician on the Insight for Living website in October 2013.

Dr. Lee currently is a member of Stonebriar Quartet. Her passion for chamber music is evident in her playing and she has had many international experiences, performing in various string quartets. While in South Korea, she was a member of the Euphonia String Quartet that performed in Seoul. She also toured Taiwan and Korea with the Kyung-won String Chamber Group, recording a CD. While in Vancouver, Canada, she won First Place in the Elsje de Ridder Armstrong Chamber Music Competition and the CDMF Performing Arts Festival. Dr. Lee was also the recipient of the Liberace Scholarship while pursuing her graduate studies at the University of North Texas. As a member of the Liberace Graduate String Quartet, she performed throughout Texas representing the University of North Texas.

In addition to playing as the Principal Cellist  in the Richardson Symphony Orchestra, she has performed with many other professional orchestras in the DFW area, including the Plano Symphony, East Texas Symphony, Lewisville Lake Symphony, Irving Symphony, and Abilene Phillharmonic. In Canada, she played with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra. In South Korea, with the Royal Symphony Orchestra and New Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also Principal Cellist at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, where she frequently appears as a soloist.

Presently, Dr. Lee also has her own cello studio in Denton, Texas where she teaches a number of talented young musicians who have won chairs in UIL regional orchestras, UIL state orchestras, the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra (GDYO) and Fort Worth Youth Orchestra.

Violinist and violist Dr. Timothy Angel is a dedicated performing artist and instructor/violin lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Dr. Angel has previously been invited to act as a guest concertmaster for the Amarillo Symphony and won the Principal Second violin chair in the Lubbock Symphony. In the past, he has also won section violin positions with the Las Colinas Symphony and the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. He has also won numerous competitions, including the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra National Young Artist competition in January 2015, where he performed the Glazunov Violin Concerto in a minor with the symphony the following May. Angel’s other solo engagements include works by Sarasate, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Jean Sibelius. In 2022, Dr. Angel performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Mesquite Symphony.

In the spring of 2018, Angel completed his Doctorate of musical arts in violin performance at Texas Tech University. There he held a prestigious position in the Graduate String Quartet, was awarded concertmaster in the University Symphony Orchestra, and was a graduate teaching assistant for his instructor, Dr. John Gilbert. Additionally, during his time in Lubbock, Angel also directed the Ramirez Suzuki Violin Program at Ramirez Elementary School and worked with the Suzuki Talent Education of the Lubbock Region program.

Each summer, he continues his studies by attending training institutes and music festivals around the country, including the Brevard Music Center, Meadowmount School of Music, Suzuki Teacher Development Training, Bravo String’s Institute, and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific.

Dr. Angel has won additional awards, including the American Suzuki Institute’s John and Catherine Kendall Memorial Scholarship for 2016, the CodaBow International Scholarship for 2017, and the Most Outstanding Graduate Student at the University of Texas at Arlington for the 2014-2015 school year.

His first performance with Timeless Concerts was in April 2019. Dr. Angel is also a licensed realtor. He resides in Arlington with his wife, Erin, and two young children, a boy and a girl.

Cellist Oliver Bennett Schlaffer joined Timeless Concerts again in 2021 after having performed with Timeless earlier in its development. Having pursued performance work, Oliver has now created a business that not only involves teaching cello lessons, but coaching other teachers of music instruments in teaching techniques and other forms of mentoring that help aspiring artists gain success in the performing arts and beyond, using simple strategies for mastery. His website is oliverandcello.com.

An expert in teaching the science of achievement through the study of excellence in the performing arts, Oliver helps ambitious young people transform their unique gifts and vision into extraordinary achievement and mastery, through his lessons on life, leadership, and excellence. As a mentor to youth, Oliver’s students learn the true skills for achievement and mastery, consistently ranking within the top 1% of students in the state of Texas for music as well as the top 10% academically, and are regularly accepted into many of the nation’s top learning institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, and MIT.

From conformity to Carnegie Hall, Oliver discovered that the journey to mastery in the performing arts reveals the true secrets of living a purposeful life through passion and excellence, which often requires one to become a “non-conformist” in order to be truly exceptional. 

He has performed in over a dozen orchestras across the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and on stages around the United States, Europe, and Asia, including seven appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York City. A versatile performer, he has collaborated with a variety of genres and mainstream artists, including live concerts with Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli, in addition to nationally televised appearances with rappers P. Diddy and Snoop Dogg on MTV’s Video Music Awards.

Oliver was honored with a distinguished award in 2017 from the National Academy of Bestselling Authors for his contribution to the recently published book, Mastering the Art of Success, which he co-authored with the legendary New York Times best-selling author Jack Canfield. ​A champion for excellence, Oliver has captured the imagination of over fifty-thousand students through his live presentations. On a mission to inspire and empower the next generation to master their passions in order to design a life true to themselves.

Oliver holds degrees in cello performance from Southern Methodist University and Northwestern University, and he has studied under the principal cellists of seven major symphony orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. ​Several of his primary teachers include Orlando Cole of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Japanese cello soloist Ko Iwasaki, and Danish cello pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen, who was highlighted in the book, The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle in 2009. 

This talented artist was born in New York, NY, raised in Dallas, TX, and now resides in Plano, TX.

Simon Petty is a Fort Worth born pianist who holds an active performance schedule in DFW with the top jazz artists in the area. As a recent recipient of the Steinway Top Teacher Award, Simon is a prolific music educator through his lectures, masterclasses, and private lessons.

Violinist LeeAnne Chenoweth began taking violin and piano lessons at age 5, in her hometown of Enid, Oklahoma. By age 12, her father was taking her to Tulsa, weekly, for violin lessons with the concertmaster of the Tulsa Philharmonic. At age 16, she spent a summer studying violin at the Meadowmount School of Music in upper New York state. She graduated from the SMU Meadows School of Arts with a bachelor’s degree in violin performance, having been a recipient of the Meadows Artistic Achievement Award Scholarship.

Soon after receiving her degree, she began working with the Dallas Opera Orchestra violin section; two seasons later, she won a violin audition in Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, working in FWSO until 2007. In early 2007, she imagined a chamber music series like Timeless Concerts and began planning. She produced her first concert in the summer of 2007 Ms. Chenoweth was honored in 2010 by receiving the Legacy of Women of Tarrant County award in the arts division..

During her orchestral career in Ft. Worth, she shared the stage with great classical artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Pavarotti, Van Cliburn, Joshua Bell, and others. Plus, pops artists as diverse as Natalie Cole, Marvin Hamlisch, Wynona Judd, Pink Martini, The Beatles tribute band “Classical Mystery Tour,” and more. She has also shared the stage with artists like Ricky Martin and Depeche Mode, even accompanying members of Cirque du Soleil.

Ms. Chenoweth currently works as a substitute violinist with several area symphonies in the DFW area, but most regularly with the Waco Symphony, where in 2015 she collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, and in 2017 with superstar soprano Renee Fleming.”

In addition to concert performance work, Ms. Chenoweth contracts ensembles for special events throughout Texas; some examples are wine tastings at the Anatole, Christmas parties at the Ft. Worth Club, and weddings in a variety of locations from the Ritz Hotel to a family ranch.

Ms. Chenoweth plays on a French violin (Nicolas Vuillaume), made approximately in 1848. Her passion is to keep beautiful music alive to be heard by future generations. She frequently performs free educational programs in elementary schools, encouraging children to appreciate music of all eras, pointing out that composers of movie music they enjoy were influenced by the classics. Hear more about Ms. Chenoweth’s mission in the promotional video on the home page of Timeless Concerts.

Chenoweth is the president and artistic director of a nonprofit organization; Timeless Concerts. Her concerts offer an evening of beautiful music of strings and piano, often joined by a vocalist. Audience members enjoy a relaxed atmosphere while sipping complimentary beverages. Interesting stories are told about the history of music and composers. A post-concert party offers time to mingle with the musicians, take photos of great memories, and enjoy the comradery with other music lovers.

She married Richard Lawson while still attending SMU. They live in north Arlington and have two grown daughters, Cayla and Jessica. ​

Harpist Laura Logan received her Master’s and Doctorate of musical arts degree in harp performance from Texas Tech University. A native of New Orleans, she earned her bachelor of music in harp performance from Louisiana State University.

She is the founder and director of the Octavia Harp Ensemble, a performing group of 8 professional harpists. They have released two recordings on the Traditional Sounds Label.

Laura Logan Brandenburg, DMA, served as harp instructor on the Texas Christian University School of Music faculty from 2001-2020. In addition, she maintained an active pre-college studio through the TCU Music Prep Department, teaching Suzuki harp students ages five through young adult.

She currently teaches and coaches private students of all ages in her home studio. A highly regarded freelance harpist with four decades of professional experience, Laura enjoys a wide variety of collaborative performance opportunities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Whether harp solo, in a duo with violin or flute, or in a trio setting including cello, she specializes in providing elegant classical music for your special event.