Taiki Azuma
Clarinet, Saxophone, Oboe, Bassoon
Taiki Azuma currently serves as a Part-Time Lecturer of Applied Woodwinds, teaching chamber music, woodwind methods, and applied woodwinds at Fayetteville State University. He is a Doctoral Candidate in saxophone performance and is dual-enrolled in Post Baccalaureate Certificate programs in Oboe Performance and Music Education at UNC-Greensboro, where he holds a graduate teaching assistantship.
As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed at/with as Carnegie Hall (NY), Smetana Hall (Czech Republic), William C. Byrd International Young Artists Competition (Flint, MI), International Saxophone Symposium, Piedmont Wind Symphony, Florida Wind Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, Durham Symphony, International Double Reed Symposium, North American Saxophone Alliance National and Regional Conferences, NASA Quartet Competition, MTNA Chamber Music Competition, National Intercollegiate Band (principal), Boca Sinfonia, as well as appearing in the inaugural TEDx Delray Beach in 2013 as a featured performer with the Qualia Saxophone Quartet.
He has commissioned, premiered, and performed a number of new works and transcriptions/arrangements for saxophone and woodwinds at various instrumental conferences and clinics as both a soloist and chamber musician as a member of the Ren Duo with Dr. Xin Gao (a saxophone duo that focuses on the performance of renewed and transcribed repertoire) and with the Sirocco Reed Quintet (2017 New Music Greensboro Artists-in-Residence and featured performers of ClarinetFest 2019). His arrangements and transcriptions have been featured most recently on the Chamber Music evening concert at the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 7 Conference in March 2019, as a Guest Artist at Truman State University in April 2019, Carolina Sax Fest in February 2018 and as a performer at both the 2018 North American Saxophone Alliance National Conference and International Saxophone Symposium.
As a multiple woodwind artist, Taiki is in demand as an instructor, clinician and performer across all woodwinds and can be heard in many of the area's musical theatre productions, having performed in 15 different shows in the 2018-2019 season. He has performed twice at the International Double Reed Symposium as a masterclass performer for Alex Klein, former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Dr. Michelle Vigneau, Professor of Oboe at UT-Memphis. His research on the connection of body and sound has been presented at various venues including the 2019 Midwestern Conductor's Symposium in Kirksville, MO.
Taiki obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami on a full music and academic scholarship double-majoring in music and pre-med and an MA in Instrumental Wind Conducting at Florida Atlantic University. His teachers include Dale Underwood (former principal saxophonist of the US Navy Band), Steven Stusek, Mary-Ashley Barret (oboe), Carla-Copeland Burns (flute), Michael Burns (bassoon), and Kyle Prescott (conducting). He has completed additional studies with world-renowned saxophonist, Nobuya Sugawa, as a student of the 25th Hamamatsu International Wind Academy in Japan.
Taiki currently serves as the Global Representative for BREATHTAKING Co., Ltd. Woodwind Accessories based out of Hiroshima, Japan. He is a member of the North American Saxophone Alliance, International Clarinet Association, National Flute Association, and International Double Reed Symposium as well as an alumnus of the Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity.
Starting Fall of 2019, he will be the Part-time Lecturer of Saxophone and Music Appreciation at UNC-Pembroke as well as the Adjunct Professor of Oboe/Flute at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Kristen Daniel
Oboe
A 2021 Music Education graduate of Morehead State University, Kristen Daniel is currently a first-year master's student at the University of North Carolina Greensboro studying Oboe Performance with Dr. Ashley Barret where she sits as second chair in the Wind Ensemble. Before this, she was a Louisville-based freelance oboist and a member of the group Louisville Winds, which is conducted by Nan Moore. While at Morehead, Kristen was a member of the MSU Symphonic Winds and Concert Band where she sat as first chair. She was also a member of the MSU Oboe ensemble, and a woodwind quintet named The Royal Winds. Kristen's primary teacher was Dr. Thomas Pappas, and she has performed for ensembles led by Dr. Jonathan Caldwell, Wilson Wise, Joshua Smith, DuWayne Dale, Susan Creasap, Thomas Singletary, Amy Acklin, Fred Speck, W. Dale Warren, Brad Rodgers. In her ten years as an oboist, she has taken part in many significant performances, including performing at the 2012 KMEA conference, being a featured soloist in both her junior and senior year, premiering a piece at Carnegie Hall, being a part of the 2016 Kentucky Ambassadors of Music and going on tour through Europe, performing with the 2020 Kentucky Intercollegiate Band where she sat the first chair, and most recently performing at the 2022 KMEA conference. She also was the recipient of the Mary Lynne Albers Memorial Scholarship in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Jonathan Goodman
Clarinet, Saxophone
Described by Arts Atlanta as having a “musical chemistry that is on target”, Clarinetist and Saxophonist Jonathan Goodman is no stranger to the New Music realm. He has stayed active as a new music chamber player playing for various groups across the United States, including Atlanta-based GremlinsDuo and Chicago-based Wei Zhongle, as well as having performed at the International Clarinet Association’s Conference in 2014. Active in the Classical world as well, he has performed with Winston-Salem Symphony, Piedmont Wind Symphony, the New Chicago Chamber Orchestra (as a part of the Southern Illinois Music Festival) and Northern Symphonic Winds. As a clinician and lecturer, Mr. Goodman has given masterclasses and lectures at Appalachian State University, Duke University, and University of North Carolina at Greenboro among others.
Originally from Syracuse, NY, Jonathan now resides in Greensboro, NC, where he stays active performing as well running his own woodwind repair business Goodman Custom Woodwinds. His primary teachers include Norbert Buskey, Raphael Sanders, and Eric Mandat. He received his Bachelors of Music from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and his Masters of Music from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Amy Karnes
Flute
Amy Karnes is a flutist currently residing in Greensboro, NC. Originally from Pennsylvania, she has taught flute and saxophone privately for 5 years. In addition, she served as woodwind and visual technician for the Blue Mountain High School Marching Band for two years and the Williams Valley Marching Band for one year. She currently maintains an active flute studio through Moore Music Company in Greensboro, NC.
Amy holds a Master's of Music degree from UNC-Greensboro where she studied with Erika Boysen. During her time there she pursued research in contemporary American composers. Amy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with concentrations in flute and jazz studies from Lebanon Valley College where she studied with Robin Lilarose and Tom Strohman. During her time at LVC, Amy actively performed in several shows, including Sweeney Todd, The Pajama Game, and Bye Bye Birdie. In 2015, Amy won the Concerto-Aria Competition and performed as a soloist with the Lebanon Valley College Symphony Orchestra. During her time in Greensboro, Amy has maintained an active performing and teaching career. In addition to music, she enjoys reading fiction books, making homemade baked goods, and enjoying the outdoors.
Julianna Pierdomenico
Clarinet, Saxophone, Flute
Clarinetist and educator Julianna Pierdomenico has performed with the American Chamber Ensemble and is an active participant of the Appalachia Wind Symphony. Julianna was awarded a spot as an Instrumental Conducting Fellow for the University of Miami's Frost Young Women Conductors Symposium in 2020 and was the recipient of the Rhoda Pinsley Levin Endowed Award in Music Performance in 2018. In addition, she is a board member for the 501(c)(3) non-profit Keep Music Alive. Her academic interests include empowering and discovering the voices of minority groups who were erased from the history of Western art music from the late nineteenth through early twentieth centuries.
She is currently pursuing her M.M. in Clarinet Performance at UNC Greensboro where she is a music theory GA. Julianna has also earned her M.Ed. in Music Education from Kutztown University and Bachelor's degrees in Music Composition and Film Studies and Production from Hofstra University.
Daria Poe
Flute
Daria Poe has served as music teacher at Caldwell Academy since 2018. She teaches instrumental music to a large variety of ages, from fourth grade beginners all the way through seniors in the Rhetoric School. In her time at Caldwell, Daria has grown the size of the band ensembles, and she has also been able to add a thriving Ethnic Percussion program. She has had students participate in the NCAIS Honor Band and the Carowinds Music in the Parks Festival.
Originally from Charleston, SC, Daria moved to Greensboro, NC to attend UNC-Greensboro. While there, she studied flute with Dr. Erika Boysen and received her Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education. During her time in college, Daria enjoyed collaborating with the theatre department and other colleagues to record music for projects like James and the Giant Peach and The Icebreaker Cycle.
Outside of music and teaching, Daria enjoys cooking, reading, cross-stitching, and playing with her cat.
Tom Turanchik
Oboe, Bassoon
Dr. Tom Turanchik teaches oboe, clarinet, and bassoon at Elon University, and is Oboe and Bassoon Instructor at Moore Music Company in Greensboro. He has received a DMA in Oboe Performance, a MM in Woodwind Performance and a BA in Music from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA in French from Elon University. He has over 15 years of teaching experience with students aged 10 to 70 and has had students pursue music at institutions such as Appalachian State University, Meredith College, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro. He has given numerous woodwind masterclasses at area middle and high schools.
He is principal and solo oboist with the Elon University Orchestra and the Lee County Community Orchestra, second oboist with the Durham Symphony, and has performed on oboe and English horn with the Greensboro, Western Piedmont, Wilmington, Davidson, Sandhills, and Danville Symphony Orchestras. He has performed on Baroque oboe with the Raleigh Camerata, Greensboro Early Music, Mallarmé Chamber Players, and the Winston-Salem Collegium. As a bassoonist he has performed as principal and second bassoon with the Durham, Western Piedmont, Elon University, and Lee County Orchestras and on Baroque bassoon with the Raleigh Camerata. Dr. Turanchik has performed on oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, and recorder in pit orchestras throughout central North Carolina for over 20 years and performs as a soloist and ensemble musician at churches and with choral ensembles around the state.
In addition to local performances on multiple woodwinds, he is an active arranger and composer and has had several works premiered by the Elon University Orchestra, the UNCG Oboe and Clarinet Ensembles, and a graduate UNCG saxophone quartet. He also sells a line of handmade oboe, English horn, and bassoon reeds to students and performers throughout central NC and teaches reed-making to advancing double reed students.