Jihong Adams-Park, Piano
Jihong Adams-Park, D.M.A., has always displayed remarkable musical talent. Since childhood, he has collaborated with various musicians. Born in South Korea, Dr. Adams-Park commenced his piano journey at seven. Initially self-taught, he formally began his training at 17 under a piano teacher in South Korea. In 1995, he pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at Chung-Ang University. As a highly accomplished pianist known for the emotional depth of his performances, Dr. Adams-Park has earned numerous awards and accolades in piano competitions across countries. He reached the final stage of the American Prize Competition. He secured second place in various Korean piano competitions, including the Korean Youth Piano Competition, the Chang-won University Piano Competition, and the Chon-nam Piano Competition. His musical prowess earned him a full undergraduate scholarship for piano performance.
In his role as a chamber musician, Dr. Adams-Park participated in the Chamber Music Institute at the University of Nebraska, where he received a full fellowship to collaborate with esteemed musicians. His performances have graced national and international venues, including the Gyeongnam Culture & Art Center in South Korea, the Steinway Gallery, Clarke Recital Hall in Miami, Isidor Bajic Music Academy in Serbia, Evangelical Covenant Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire, and the Clarice Performing Arts Center in Maryland.
Dr. Adams-Park completed his doctoral degree in the collaborative piano program at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is an associate lecturer at Nova Southeastern University and a collaborative pianist at the Luzerne Music Center and Festival in New York. His contributions extend to the Palm Beach Symphony in West Palm Beach and the New World Symphony in Miami. Certified by the Music Teachers National Association, Dr. Adams-Park has received notable recognitions, including the 2017 Piano Technician Guild Scholarship, the 2022 UMD Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, the Summer Fellowship, and the 2022 Broward Cultural Division Artist Support Grant. He co-founded the Las Olas Chamber Ensemble. He also holds the position of artist-in-residence at Sunshine Cathedral, where he annually organizes a chamber music series.
Throughout his musical journey, Dr. Adams-Park has benefitted from the mentorship of renowned pianists and pedagogues, including Rita Sloan and Judith Burganger.
Bill J Adams, Voice
Bill J. Adams, D.M.A., is a Professor and Program Director of the Music and Theatre Programs in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts at Nova Southeastern University's Halmos College of Arts and Sciences. He is a Certified Master Trainer of Estill which is a speech language pathology-based voice pedagogy integral to more than 800 voice instructors in 33 countries worldwide. As a Certified Master Teacher of Acting and Singing with Archetypes, Dr. Adams exposes students to ground-breaking performance training and influential theatre educators from Wales to Washington State. Tasked with exploring effective delivery of academic theatre programs at the national level, he is the Vice Chair of Southeastern Theatre Conference’s (SETC) College & University Division. Dr. Adams spearheaded the development of THEA 2500 Healthcare Theatre and team-teaches the course with Melissa Morris, Patel College of Healthcare Sciences’ Director of Simulation. For this inter-professional innovation, ongoing efforts to promote student success, and outstanding service, Dr. Adams was honored as the College’s Distinguished Professor in 2019.
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Since 2013, Dr. Adams has served on grant panels for the Broward Cultural Division recommending $4,424,480 to support community artists, and in 2018, he served as Principal Investigator for the creation of Facing Forward, a health awareness docudrama funded by the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation ($43,899). The project exposed hundreds of students to important health information, and a panel discussion, “Health Awareness: Grant-Funded Theatre Devised to Educate Audiences” was presented, with Mark Duncan, at SETC in Knoxville.
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Dr. Adams has also been the Artistic Director of the Renaissance City Men’s and Women’s Choirs in Pittsburgh as well as South Florida Chorale Arts, Inc. Under his leadership, both award-winning community choruses commissioned and premiered major works such as Mementos of Millay by James Mulholland, Eight Candles by Bruce Lazarus, and an arrangement of Melissa Etheridge’s “Tuesday Morning” which was performed as a tribute to American hero Mark Bingham at the United Flight 93, 9-11 crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Specializing in the effective synthesis of acting and singing technique, Dr. Adams’ performance resume is character driven. While living in New York, he premiered the role of Ariel in The Rape of the Lock and performed Vašek in The Bartered Bride with the Bronx Opera Company. Other notable roles include Ciccio in Most Happy Fella with William Michals and Jessica Hershberg at Palm Beach Dramaworks, Loutzenheiser the mad trapper in Cannibal: the Musical with the Promethean Theatre, Mike in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge with Opera Theatre of Pittsburg, the Mayor in Albert Herring with Orlando Opera Company, and Zangara in Sondheim’s Assassins with Orlando Civic Theatre.
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Kyle Mechmet, Saxophone
International concert saxophonist Kyle Mechmet brings his "clear, thrilling sound" (Florida Weekly) to audiences in his home state of Florida, as well as across the globe, performing a wide range of repertoire with the goal of cajoling listeners into welcoming the saxophone as a serious classical instrument.
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As a prize-winning soloist, Kyle earned a performance spot at the 22nd Hamamatsu International Wind Instruments Academy & Festival in Hamamatsu, Japan for their Premier Student Concert. He also won Florida Atlantic University's 2012 Concerto Competition. Kyle has also given solo performances at various conferences, including those hosted by the North American Saxophone Alliance, the US Navy Band, and the Association of Concert Bands. In Florida, he frequently performs as a guest soloist with various community and school bands, including with the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches, where he also serves as the associate conductor.
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In various ensembles, Kyle has performed on stages such as the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana IL, the World Performing Arts Center in Boca Raton FL, a temporary stage set up for the World Streaming Show at Place Kleber in Strasbourg France, the New World Center in Miami FL, and the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton, FL. He has performed in saxophone quartets, concert bands, orchestras, jazz bands, reed quintets, trios, and saxophone duos all over the US, and has worked with conductors such as Dr. Richard Mark Heidel, Dr. Kyle Prescott, Anthony Maiello, Michael Haithcock, Lt. Col. Alan Sierichs, and Teddy Abrams.
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While studying at the University of lowa, Kyle Mechmet was a part of the saxophone studio's Iowa Saxophonists' Workshop to record a CD consisting solely of saxophone ensemble music (Contemplation, Jeanne Inc. CD 2282), the first of its kind published in the United States. Since then, he has produced various ensemble transcriptions dedicated to the Iowa Saxophonists' Workshop. In addition, he has transcribed Heinrich von Herzogenberg's Trio Op. 61 for soprano sax, tenor sax, and piano (originally oboe, horn and piano) published by RCEditions, and an adaptation of Bach's Chromatic Fantasy, soon to be published by Reed Music.
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When not performing, Kyle teaches saxophone across South Florida at such nationally-recognized schools as the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Dillard Center for the Arts, Cardinal Newman High School, and Seminole Ridge Community High School. He also has a studio of private saxophone students. Together with Michael Garasi at North Broward Preparatory School, he formed the South florida Saxophone Festival in order connect the area's saxophone community and to help bring world class classical saxophone talent to the area.
Kyle holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance from Florida Atlantic University and a Master of Arts degree in Performance and Pedagogy from the University of lowa. Kyle's primary saxophone teacher, Dr. Kenneth Tse, is a world-renowned soloist whose name "has become synonymous with excellence of the first order when it comes to playing the saxophone" (Saxophone Journal). He has also studied with other top internationally-recognized saxophonists such as Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Otis Murphy, Timothy McAllister, Dale Underwood, Lars Mlekusch, Carrie Koffinan, Chien-Kwan Lin, Nobuya Sugawa, and James Umble.