Maho Hisakawa was 10 when she first tried her father’s old Yamaha flute. She played through high school, then returned to music in 2012 after a 15 year break. She founded Windfern in 2016 and plays for weddings, receptions, services, and concerts throughout Maine. Maho will earn a B.M. in Flute Performance at the University of Maine, Orono this May as student of Liz Downing. She currently teaches beginner/intermediate students from her private studio and at Elm City Community Music School and plays with Kennebec Valley Youth Symphony as a mentor. In 2022, she played at the Winter Harbor Music Festival as an Associated Chamber Music Players Fellowship recipient and studied with director/flutist Deirdre McArdle. She has also studied with Nicole Rabata and played with Colby Symphony Orchestra, University of Maine Orchestra, and Odeon Adult Orchestra at Bay Chamber Music School. As a member of the Board of Trustees for Bay Chamber Concerts and Music School, she loves seeing young people find joy and empowerment in music. Collaborating with musicians in the community and nurturing music studies in her two daughters (ages 18 and 14) are integral to her. In addition, Maho values her work as Assistant Kindergarten Teacher at Ashwood Waldorf School and loves to bike around town, trail-run, and hike mountains.
Anne McKee is a dedicated Maine violinist, drawn to connections between music and community. She began playing violin at the age of four in her hometown of Hallowell through a local Suzuki school. In 2020, Anne graduated from Bowdoin College, where she served as four-year concertmaster of the Bowdoin Orchestra and first violinist of the honor quartet. Her principal teachers are Lydia Forbes and Eva Gruesser. She has attended Bowdoin International Music Festival and Point CounterPoint, and has taken masterclasses with Sergiu Schwartz, Alexi Kenney, Stefan Jackiw, Alexander Romanul, and the Ying Quartet. In 2021, Anne won Midcoast Symphony Orchestra’s Judith Elser Concerto Competition and Bay Chamber’s Jean and Harvey Picker Senior Prize. Anne recently completed a two-year community fellowship on Islesboro, where she worked with the community center and school and founded a strings program, teaching 20 violin lessons a week, free of charge, to students of all ages. Outside of music, Anne is an ultra-marathon runner, letter writer, and cat lover. She is currently attending Boston Conservatory pursuing a M.M. degree.
April Reed-Cox has been playing cello for over 30 years. Her primary genre has been classical, and she holds a Masters degree in Music Performance. She has performed and competed throughout the country, and currently performs with the Bangor Symphony and several small chamber groups. Since moving to Maine in 2009 she has expanded her skill set, and has recorded and toured with several Maine Folk Artists including Putnam Smith, Ashley Storrow, Jud Caswell, Caroline Cotter, Connor Garvey, Heather Hardy, Emily Mure (NYC), Pesky J Nixon (Mass.) and many more. She teaches private lessons at Bay Chamber Music School and Woodsound Studio. She is also an avid hand-spinner, and keeps a small flock of sheep at her home.
Sophie Davis received degrees in violin performance and environmental studies from Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she studied with David Bowlin. Sophie is a passionate chamber musician and has participated in the Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Program, as a soloist with Oberlin’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, and with her sister on NPR’s From the Top. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Symphony Hall, the Monte Music Festival in India, and with the Jordan National Orchestra in Amman, Jordan. In 2017, Sophie was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Research Grant to spend nine months in the South Pacific island nation of Samoa where she explored the ways in which the arts can raise awareness of climate change. In addition to pursuing research, Sophie taught and performed with the National Orchestra of Samoa. Sophie divides her time between musical performance and pedagogy, working as a crew member on tall ships, and working for the Pemaquid Oyster Company. She currently teaches strings at two music schools in Maine and is a member of the Halcyon String Quartet - an ensemble dedicated to using music and the arts to cultivate environmental stewardship.
Nora Willauer is a passionate musician, devoted not only to her instrument, but to the relationship between music and community. She has performed as a soloist with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, with the Liceu Cello Ensemble, and most recently performed Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the University of Oregon Orchestra. Recent collaborations include a partnership with Oberlin acting professor Heather Anderson Boll to bring Bach’s music to restorative yoga practice, and a partnership with a Maine-based non-profit to create songs from spoken word stories. Having completed her M.M. at Cleveland Institute of Music with Mark Kosower, Nora is currently furthering her studies with a Doctorate in Cello Performance. When she is not playing music, Nora enjoys outdoor activities such as surfing, running, sailing, and climbing. She has sailed over 5,000 miles offshore, ran a Boston Marathon qualifying time, and completed a sponsored winter thru-hike of Vermont’s Long Trail.
Luke Fatora, violin
Sarah Glenn, violin
Sedona Kmen, violin
Noreen Silver, cello
Marisa Solomon, cello
Linda Vaillancourt, viola
Colin Wheatley, viola
Photo credit: Flax Studios