WoCo Fest 2023: Awaken
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Founded in 2013, Sound Impact (SI) is a collective of musicians dedicated to connecting, engaging and empowering youth beyond the concert hall through performances and education programs. Its mission is underpinned by the belief that music has the ability to ignite positive social change when employed as a tool for community engagement. SI reaches over 12,000 young people annually through programs including in-school education concerts, classroom curriculum, interactive workshops, a virtual education series, innovative ukulele training, incarcerated youth residencies, international festivals, and cultural exchange opportunities.

SI is proud to partner with the Alexandria City Public Schools, DC Collaborative, DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, FUNSINCOPA (Panama), George Mason University, Hylton Performing Arts Center, Mothers of Northern Arlington, Music at Kohl Mansion (CA), National Orchestral Institute + Festival, National Symphony Orchestra, Orange County Public Schools (VA), Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, San Benito Arts Council and SIFAIS (Costa Rica).

Pianist/composer Sophia Subbayya Vastek moves quietly between musical worlds, seeking out spaciousness in all aspects of her musical life. She has been described as performing with "passion and profound tenderness” (Second Inversion) and “serene strokes and lyrical beauty” (Brooklyn Rail). In all that she does, she aims to create music and spaces for music that are grounded in care. Her newest record, ‘In Our Softening’, features her own compositions and was released in October, 2022. It has been described “as a tender and revelatory balm..." (Editor's Pick's: 2022, I Care If You Listen), “heaven on earth” (Sun 13), and “one of the very best things I've heard all year” (Steve Smith, Night After Night).

Her debut album ‘Histories’ was released on Innova Recordings in 2017, featuring music by Michael Harrison, Donnacha Dennehy, and John Cage. She has also released the EP ‘Lili’, containing the complete solo piano works of Lili Boulanger.

Originally from Washington, DC, and after time spent living in New York City and Baltimore, Sophia found her home in Troy, NY. There, she is an active organizer and co-founder of Organ Colossal, a nonprofit that produces local musical events. Ongoing projects include Troy Street Pianos, placing public pianos throughout the city of Troy, and the Lift Series in collaboration with the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Sophia was a 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Music/Sound. She lives in a converted church in South Troy with her husband and their two cats MagnifiCAT and Bella (from Twilight).

Violinist Masha Polishchuk is a passionate chamber musician and champion of new music. Her performances bring an understanding of contemporary music to modern audiences, while breathing a unique personality and new life into the standard repertoire. Her recent projects include performing and recording works by Cristobal MarYan, Andrii Didorenko, and Niloufar Nourbakhsh. She has performed on distinguished stages such as Carnegie Hall and David Geffen Hall, as well as across the globe, including Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and Switzerland. As a frequent performer and collaborator with MusicTalks, she connects with diverse audiences, making music of different eras accessible to audiences from all walks of life. Born in Moscow, Russia, Polishchuk and her family immigrated to the United States when she was young. She is grateful to her parents for this brave and difficult decision, which has shaped her worldview and identity. Soon after arriving to her new country, Polishchuk began her musical pursuits with her parents, also musicians, and was later trained by esteemed pedagogues, Isaac Malkin and Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider.

Leah Claiborne, D.M.A. promotes diversity in the arts by championing piano music by Black composers in her performances, research, and teaching. She has established the first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion column for American Music Teacher where she regularly publishes articles providing resources and support to music educators across the country. Dr. Claiborne was recently named the inaugural winner of the Stecher and Horowitz Power of Innovation Award through Music Teacher National Association for her artistic excellence, pedagogical leadership, nurturing spirit, and community service. This prize is given to a teaching artist under the age of 36 who is making significant impact in the field of music. In 2023, she was named one of Yamaha’s 40under40 most influential music educators in America. In the same year she was the recipient of the Emerging Artist Alumni Award presented by University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. This award is given annually to a graduate who has made significant impact in their field and who has graduated within the last 15 years.

Dr. Claiborne serves as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Frances Clark Center and serves as the co-chair of the DEI track for the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy. Dr. Claiborne has performed across the United States, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Japan. She is a highly sought-after adjudicator and clinician in national piano competitions. In the past year alone (2022-2023), she has been an invited guest lecturer for master classes, seminars, and recitals in California, Washington, Michigan, Arizona, Minnesota, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.

Dr. Claiborne received early promotion with tenure at the University of the District of Columbia where she serves as coordinator of keyboard studies and teaches History of African American Music.

Percussionist Britton-René Collins has dedicated her artistry to shaping an equitable community for all musicians to thrive equally. Britton-René is a winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, receiving the Ambassador Prize for exceptional musicianship and demonstrating an active passion for creating social change through her music.

A Grand Prize winner of the 2022 Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition and the 2021 Chicago International Music Competition, Britton-René has performed as a soloist in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She has made several concerto appearances, including the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Valdosta Symphony, and the Meridian Symphony. In addition to her active solo career, Britton-René enjoys life as a chamber musician with New York City-based Excelsis Percussion Quartet. She is also the co-founder of Vision Duo alongside violinist Ariel Horowitz. As an advocate for new music, Britton-René's current projects involve premiering new compositions and commissions for multi-percussion and marimba.

Recent highlights include attending the soundSCAPE new music composition and performance exchange in Italy, making her PASIC artist debut, and participating in the Banff Centre's Evolution: Classical program. As an artist, Britton-René proudly endorses Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Zildjian cymbals, Marimba One instruments, and Remo drumheads.

Born in the United States, Britton-René began playing piano at age five. She discovered percussion at eight years old when she became intrigued by the drum set. She quickly fell in love with playing rock, jazz, and pop music on the drum set, which ignited her enthusiasm to explore various percussion instruments and styles of music. She received her B.M. at the University of Toronto with Aiyun Huang, Beverley Johnston, and John Rudolph, where she won the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. She is currently pursuing her M.M. at the University of Michigan. Her primary instructors include Doug Perkins and Ian Antonio.