Emma Frucht and Miho Saegusa, Violins
Brian Hong, Viola
Caleb van der Swaagh, Cello 

Praised by The Washington Post for “astounding” and “captivating” performances that draw from its notable “meld of intellect, technique and emotions,” the Aizuri Quartet was named the recipient of the 2022 Cleveland Quartet Award by Chamber Music America, with other honors including the Grand Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition and top prizes at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan and the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London. 

Born in Sidney, MT, Tom Mattingly began his dance training in California's Mojave Desert. Following full scholarships to the summer intensives of San Francisco Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, and the Rock School for Dance Education, Tom completed his studies at Virginia School of the Arts and is the 2005 recipient of the Dame Margot Fonteyn Award for Artistic Excellence.

Tom’s professional career included Richmond Ballet, Chautauqua Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet before joining Ballet West in 2008. There he tackled many leading roles under the watchful eye of industry experts such as Cynthia Gregory, Anna Marie Holmes, and Sir Anthony Dowell. Proving to be a versatile and dynamic performer, Tom quickly rose through the company ranks and by 2013 was promoted to principal dancer.

In 2014, Tom relocated to Chicago to join the newly formed contemporary ensemble Visceral Dance Chicago. After two years, he was hand picked to join the first national tour of “An American in Paris”, the four time Tony Award winning musical directed & choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. In 2019, Tom joined Madison Ballet as Ballet Master.

Now retired from the stage, Tom is a passionate teacher, choreographer, and coach. To date he has created world premieres for National Choreographers Initiative, Ballet West, Ballet West II, Ballet West Academy, Dance in the Parks, Richmond Ballet, Madison Ballet, Utah Arts Festival, Ballet Arkansas, Charlottesville Ballet, Elite Choreographic Initiative, Arova Contemporary Ballet.

Dr. Douglas-Jayd Burn, a native of Richmond, Virginia, began serious musical study at age 18 and holds degrees in performance from the University of Arizona, the Hartt School, and Virginia Commonwealth University, studying with John Milbauer, David Westfall, and Dmitri Shteinberg respectively, and studying organ with Ardyth Lohuis. He has appeared in masterclasses with Eric Larsen, Sonia Rubinsky, and Edward Newman. He previously served as an instructor at the University of Arizona under the guidance of Lisa Zdechlik, and as a Teaching Fellow at the Hartt School. Burn has adjudicated for the Tucson Music Teachers Arizona Study Program and the Reno Tahoe Piano Competition. In Europe and the United States, he has performed with members of the Zürich Opera Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Deutsch Oper Berlin, Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony Orchestra.

Burn is a prizewinner of the 2023 Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Artist Competition. He was selected as the Academy Fellow Pianist for the Talis Festival’s 2018 and 2019 seasons. Since 2019, he has performed with Richmond Ballet and accompanied works choreographed by Salvatore Aiello, Jerome Robbins, Tom Mattingly, Mate Szentes, and Ma Cong. He appeared as the Guest Piano Soloist with the Richmond Symphony for Richmond Ballet’s production of Ben Stevenson’s “Dracula” in February 2024. He will return to Richmond Ballet in March 2025 to perform Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain” with violinist Karen Johnson.

Burn currently resides in Pittsburgh where he is active as an organist, director, freelance pianist, and ensemble singer. He has previously served as Collaborative Piano faculty at Westminster College in New Wilmington and Director of Music at Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill; currently, he serves as Director of the Pittsburgh Compline Choir, Organist and Choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mount Lebanon, and he is a member of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh and Voces Solis.

To hear performances and to learn more information regarding upcoming engagements, visit www.douglas-jaydburn.com.

Ballet Des Moines company dancer Noah Klarck will make his choreographic debut during See The  Music. After being selected from 2024 Choreographic Workshop participants, Klarck's Orthodoxy portrays dancers as cogs in an Orwellian machine, exploring both structure and fluidity against a  backdrop of piano works by Bach, Brahms, and Chopin. 

Hailing from Dearborn, Michigan, Noah trained and danced with Ballet Memphis, Interlochen Arts Academy, the University of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma City Ballet Studio Company. Noah has enjoyed roles such as “Oberon” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peter Anastos) and “Mr. Hyde” in Jekyll & Hyde (Mattingly). This is Noah’s fourth season with Ballet Des Moines.