DR. ANGELIKA MACHNIK-JONES - CELLO
DR. JORDAN GALVARINO - CELLO
DR. DOYOUN KIM - DOUBLE BASS
ERIN RIPKA - VIOLIN
HEATHER WICKERSHAM - VIOLIN
ORLANDO RAMIREZ - VIOLIN AND VIOLA
ROYCE MCLARRY - VIOLIN AND VIOLA
JEFFREY KIRBAS - GUITAR
BLAKE HILLIGOSS - PIANO
DR. KATHERINE OSTROSKY - PIANO
RUIRUI OUYANG-JOHNSON - PIANO
TATIANA STRATENCO - PIANO
cello and double bass department.
dr. Angelika Machnik-jones, cello, OCM DIRECTOR
Known for her versatile and thought-provoking performances, Polish-American cellist Angelika Machnik-Jones combines artistic mediums in order to achieve memorable experiences and bridge the gap between the artist and the audience. Her recent concert presented at the Oklahoma Contemporary in collaboration with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, entitled “From Darkness”, took the audience on a journey from darkness to light. The intimate setting setting of the Te Ata Theatre, combined with lighting complimenting the music of Krzysztof Penderecki, Arvo Part, Peteris Vasks and poetry written by Machnik-Jones, created a unique multi-sensory experience. In 2022 Angelika established the Soluna Concert Series, a chamber music concert series which explores the immersive nature of music and arts.
In addition to a multitude of special projects and concerts, Angelika holds a busy schedule as a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, recitalist and chamber musician. Her performances have taken her through many concert halls in the United States, her native Poland, and Germany. She has been featured as a soloist with such orchestras as Fort Smith Symphony, Hays Symphony Orchestra, Delta Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, Norman Civic Orchestra and Oklahoma Community Orchestra. She has performed in multiple summer festivals, including the Texas Music Festival, National Orchestral Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival and Łancut International Music Festival. She has also been a winner of such competitions as Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition, Crescendo Music Awards, Gordon Parks Concerto Competition, Eastern Music Festival Concerto Competition, Hubbard Solo and Chamber Music Competition and Hays Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition.
Dr. Angelika Machnik-Jones is a passionate pedagogue and entrepreneur. In 2013 she founded the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music, which provides exemplary music education to over two hundred music students. In addition to her duties as Director of OCM, she also teaches cello, chamber music and solfege. The cello students of the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music have been featured as National Finalists and South Central Division Alternate winners in the Music Teachers National Association Junior and Senior Strings Performance Competitions, as top chair winners with the Oklahoma All State Orchestra, and prize winners of Oklahoma City Philharmonic Young Musician Competition, Oklahoma Orchestra League Buttram and Keith Competition, Ad Astra Strings Competition and South Kansas Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. In 2020, Angelika was awarded the Private Studio Teacher of the Year by the Oklahoma Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.
Dr. Machnik-Jones holds degrees from University of Oklahoma, Southern Methodist University and Oklahoma City University. Her doctoral dissertation, completed in 2021, concerns the research of the Grazyna Bacewicz and Feliks Nowowiejski cello concertos.
dr. christine craddock - double bass
Dr. Jordan Galvarino is an internationally acclaimed cellist and educator. He has performed Canada, Europe and the United States in prestigious venues like the New World Center and New York City’s the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He is currently the Co-Artisitic Director and Artist Faculty of Cello of the Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival.
Jordan has performed as a contracted member with many symphony orchestras along the American East Coast and the Southwest. He made his solo debut with Columbia Baroque Ensemble and has also performed as a soloist with the Panama City Symphony Orchestra. Jordan is an active member of Sinfonia Gulf Coast, where he has performed both as guest Principal and Assistant Principal Cello. Internationally, he additionally served as the Principal Cello for the Scotia Festival Orchestra, where he collaborated with members of Symphony Nova Scotia and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and for the Music Academy International Festival Orchestra.
An avid music educator, his own students have flourished as successful performers and educators in the field. They have been accepted to study at prestigious music institutes such as the Mannes School of Music, Florida State University, Columbus State University, and others. In addition, they perform at summer music programs such as the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. Jordan taught lessons, directed string ensembles, and assisted in various administrative duties on the staff of the University of South Carolina’s community program, the USC String Project. He has served as faculty member at colleges and universities in Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma, and taught at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Coming from an Argentine-America background, Jordan Galvarino grew up Greenville, South Carolina. Jordan earned doctoral and master’s degrees in String Performance from the Florida State University, a Professional Performance Certificate from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. His principal teachers have included Robert Jesselson, Kim Cook and Gregory Sauer.
dr. doyoun kim - double bass
Dr. DoYoun Kim graduated from Hanyang University with Bachelor’s Degree in Double Bass Performance. In 2019, he received a Master’s Degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and in 2022 he earned his Doctoral Degree from University of Texas at Austin.
DoYoun was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. Before coming to the United States, he has performed as a soloist and section member alongside Bach Collegium Seoul, Baroque in Modern Korea, The Seoul Philharmonic, New World Symphony Orchestra, Gwacheon Philharmonic, Seongnam Philharmonic, Coop Opera Association, and the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra. He also has extensive teaching experience with students of all ages and skill levels. He has been a double bass instructor at SaetByoul Middle School, Hanyang High School, and Seongnam Youth Orchestra Association.
In the United States, DoYoun was awarded a fellowship as a double bass teaching assistant to both majors and non-majors at the Butler School of Music for four years. He has performed in various Texas-based orchestras including Abilene Philharmonic, Victoria, New Texas Sinfonia, San Antonio Symphony, Central Texas Philharmonic, and Waco Symphony Orchestra.
DoYoun currently performs with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, and teaches at the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music.
violin and viola department.
erin kathryn ripka - violin
Erin Kathryn Ripka received a master’s degree in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She holds a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the University of Minnesota and also studied violin for two years at the music conservatory in Graz, Austria. Erin completed Suzuki teacher training at the Sato Center of Suzuki Studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music under Kimberly Meier-Sims. While a student, she was a scholarship winner in the Schubert Club Strings Competition in Saint Paul, Minnesota and winner of the Minnesota String and Orchestra Teacher’s Association Solo Competition, and was a national finalist in the MTNA Young Artist String Performance Competition in Los Angeles, CA. She was also selected as the only Minnesota violinist to participate in the Viva Vivaldi! Honors Orchestra performance in Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. in 2000.
Erin’s former teachers include Sally O’Reilly, Yair Kless and Stephen Rose. She has presented numerous professional solo and chamber music recitals as a member of the “Ripka Duo” and the “Ripka-Fleming Trio” with her husband, pianist and organist, Joseph Ripka. Her performances of sonatas by Brahms and Franck in recitals sponsored by the Schubert Club of St. Paul brought her recognition for her depth and beauty of tone and expressive lyricism. She was selected by UCLA composition professor Ian Krouse as soloist on the world premiers of his “On the Beach at Night” for solo violin, baritone voice, and winds, and his “Agnus Dei” for solo violin, English horn and winds. Erin was a member of the Texas Festival Orchestra during the summer of 2009 and has performed with the New Haven and Hartford, CT Symphonies. She was featured violin soloist with the Arizona Bach Festival in 2020, performing with noted soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg and served as concertmaster for performances of the complete Handel’s Messiah with the All Saint’s Chamber Orchestra in Phoenix.
Erin is passionate about teaching at all levels. After joining the Calvary Music School in Stonington, CT in 2011, Erin built the violin studio from three students enrolled, to thirty students in three years. Her young students participate in youth orchestras throughout southeastern CT and have won positions in the CMEA Eastern Region Honors Orchestra. As an artist performer and a registered Suzuki teacher, she is well qualified to work with a wide range of performance levels, from very young beginners to advanced young artists. Erin moved in 2017 to Phoenix, Arizona, where she was the violin instructor at All Saints’ Music School. Erin moved to Oklahoma City in 2021 when her husband was appointed Canon of Music at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral. She is a member of the violin faculty at the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music where she maintains a large violin studio. She is the violinist in the Oklahoma City based “Soluna Concert Series” and recently joined the professional chamber orchestra and vocal ensemble “Tactus”.
heather wickersham - violin
Heather Wickersham began her music studies at the age of 5 on the piano. However, when introduced to the violin at the age of 9 she found her love and passion. Born and raised in Oklahoma City , Heather received a Bachelors of Music Education from Southern Nazarene University in 2004 and Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Oklahoma in 2007. She went on to teach in the public schools for ten years. Mrs. Wickersham taught fourth and fifth grade beginning strings in Putnam City Public Schools for six years and a Kindergarten beginning violin class in Bethany Public Schools for four years. She is certified in the Suzuki Method, Units 1 and 2 and has maintained a private studio for ten years.
As a performer, Heather plays with the Lawton Philharmonic, Fort Smith Symphony, Painted Sky Opera Company, and Oklahoma Haydn Festival. She also occasionally plays with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and has performed for Mannheim Steamroller, Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr. She is an active chamber musician playing weddings, recordings and other events. Heather is grateful for the gifts and opportunities she has received from God and is glad to serve in the Crossings Church Orchestra as well as other churches in Oklahoma City. Her goal as a teacher and performer is to develop the beautiful, God given gift of music to the best of her ability in herself and her students.
orlando ramirez - violin and viola
Orlando Ramirez received a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree with Honors in Viola Performance from the University of Central Oklahoma, where he placed an emphasis on upper strings pedagogy and Baroque historical performance. While completing his studies, he served as a violin/viola instructor at the Central Community Music School at the University of Central Oklahoma. He served as an interim orchestra director at Cashion Public Schools, and performed as a guest artist in a presentation at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research.
Orlando primarily performs as a freelance musician, and a member of the Enid Symphony and the Painted Sky Opera Company. He maintains a teaching studio with the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music, and is an orchestra assistant in the Edmond Public School District. He has made appearances with the Tulsa Signature Symphony, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and various churches and retirement homes in the Oklahoma City metro area.
royce mclarry - violin and viola
Royce McLarry began studying violin at the age of four with his father Lacy McLarry. He made his solo debut with the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra at the age of 12. At age 16 he was a finalist in the International Mozart Festival Competition (Pueblo, Colorado).
McLarry received his Bachelor of Music degree from Oklahoma City University, where he also studied with his father. As a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he studied viola with the renowned Richard Blum of the Pro Arte String Quartet. While there he served as violist of the Strelow String Quartet and performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as Assistant Principal Violist of the Northwood Orchestra in Michigan.
McLarry has served on the faculties of the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Christian University and the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. He carries on the teaching tradition of his father by teaching viola and violin. He is currently a faculty member of Oklahoma Conservatory of Music.
McLarry is Principal Violist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, and he plays regularly with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Tulsa Opera. As a chamber musician, soloist and member of the New Lyric Quartet, McLarry performs throughout the region. Recent performances include Music From Greer (Greer, AZ) with the New Lyric Quartet, as Principal Violist of the Quartz Mountain Music Festival (Lone Wolf, OK) and a collaboration with guitarist Pepe Romero performing Boccherini’s Fandango Quintet.
guitar department
jeffrey kirbas - guitar
Jeffrey Kirba’s began studying the guitar at the age of fourteen after several years of performing cello in middle school orchestras. In 2013, Mr. Kirbas began teaching guitar lessons at a studio in Naperville, Illinois, and shortly graduated from Elmhurst University in 2014 with a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Business. In 2019, he returned to school and graduated with High Honors from Oklahoma City University. He earned a Master’s of Music degree with a focus in Composition and Guitar Performance. He has held positions at Oklahoma City Community College, where he taught private lessons, classes and directed rock band, as well as Maughan Studios, where he has taught private guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin and theory lessons for over ten years. In 2024, Mr. Kirbas began directing the guitar studio at Classen School of Advanced Studies High School, as well as teaching several theory and guitar ensemble courses.
As a performer, Mr. Kirbas has been invited to perform with the OCU opera department and musical theatre department on numerous occasions. He has also performed as a pit guitarist for Oklahoma Christian University, Southern Plains Productions and the Lyric Theatre, as well as appearing as guest guitarist for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Mr. Kirbas was also featured as guest concerto soloist for the OSSAA Wind Ensemble All-City Festival. Mr. Kirbas regularly performs in jazz clubs and classical guitar ensembles around the metro area.
piano department.
ruirui ouyang johnson - piano
A native of Tianjin, China, Ruirui Ouyang Johnson has been piano faculty member of the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music since 2017. She received her undergraduate degree in piano performance at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in 2002 under the supervision of Alexey Sokolov and Svetlana Sokolova. For several years thereafter, she taught piano at the Tianjin Conservatory. In 2008 she first came to Oklahoma City for advanced music studies, where she received her Master’s in Music with honors in piano performance at Oklahoma City University in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Sergio Monteiro. After serving as a piano teacher in and around Macau, China for three years, Ruirui returned to the United States for her doctoral studies. After a year of study with Dr. Kevin Chance at the University of Alabama, she transferred to the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 2015, where she is completing her work towards a DMA in Piano Performance with Dr. Jeongwon Ham and Dr. Edward Gates.
Since returning to the United States in 2014, Ruirui has won multiple competitions including Donna Turner Smith Memorial Piano Competition at the University of Oklahoma, Piano Four Hands Artist Division of the 4th United States Virtuoso Artists International Piano Competition, University of Oklahoma Concerto Competition, Alabama Music Teachers Association Concerto Competition, University of Alabama Concerto Competition, Alabama Music Teachers Association Piano Solo Competition. She has performed as a soloist such orchestras as the University of Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra and University of Alabama Symphony Orchestra.
In 2017, Ruirui was selected to be a member of the Brighmusic Chamber Ensemble, Oklahoma City’s residential chamber music group, with which she has performed both regular season and festival concerts. In July 2017 she was the senior participant in Klavierfestival Lindlar, an annual international piano festival held in Lindlar, Germany, where she gave recitals in Lindlar and Gummersbach, near Cologne, including the capstone appearance at the final concert of the festival. In 2021, she and her OCU piano professor Sergio Monteiro appeared as the two piano accompanists for the Canterbury Voices’ performance of Johannes Brahms Win deutches Requiem under the baton of Randi Von Ellefson. Her current students have been victorious at state and national piano competitions, including the OMTA piano competition and Sound Espressivo Global Music Competition.
Ruirui served as the pianist and assistant conductor of the University of Alabama Opera Theatre, as well as a vocal coach. Her piano teaching in Macau, Tianjin and Zhuhai led to several teaching awards, including the Liszt Memorial Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Hong Kong International Piano Open Competition. She has served as a vocal and instrumental accompanist in the United States and China, a piano competition judge in China and the United States, and a church pianist and organist at the First Christian Church in Stroud, Oklahoma.
Dr. Katie Ostrosky
Dr. Katie Ostrosky is a pianist, educator, and scholar based in Norman and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She completed a PhD in Piano Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma in 2023. She is an active teacher, clinician, and guest presenter and has presented workshops at the Music Teachers National Association National Conference, the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy, and the International Conference for Dalcroze Studies.
Dr. Ostrosky is an experienced piano instructor, and has taught students of all ages and abilities. She has maintained a private piano studio since 2003, with students active in performing at local, state and national events such as recitals, masterclasses and competitions. Aditionally, she has engaged in adaptive pedagogies for students with disabilities to create an inclusive space for all types of learners. Using Dalcroze pedagogy, Dr. Ostrosky incorporates theories of embodies music cognition into music instruction, with the goal of holistic, experiential learning.
She has taught applied and class piano, as well as music theory courses at institutions such as the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, Southwestern Christian University, and Randall University. She is a candidate for the Dalcroze Professional Certificate, completing Dalcroze studies with Dr. Jeremy Dittus at the Dalcroze School of Music and Movement.
Tatiana stratenco - piano
Tatiana Stratenco is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Piano Performance at the University of Oklahoma in the studio of Dr. Igor Lipinski where she has previously earned her BMA in Piano and BA in Marketing. She was born and raised in the Republic of Moldova where she studied chamber music, accompaniment, and music theory classes. She competed in multiple piano and music history competitions in Moldova, Russia, Hungary, and Romania. She graduated high school from Republican Lyceum of Music “C. Porumbescu” in Chisinau, Moldova and United World College in Changshu, China. At the University of Oklahoma, she is a Graduate Assistant and has received numerous accolades including winning the Oklahoma MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition and the OU School of Music Concerto Competition. Tatiana learned from masterclasses with Alexander Paley, Michael Thomopoulos, Ioana Stanescu, Serghei Covalenco, Alan Chow, Sun Min Kim, Alexander Kobrin, and Jennifer Hayghe. Tatiana's teachers include Gaiana T eseoglu, Felix Biriucov, Cornelia Herrmann, and Christoph Genz.
blake hilligoss - piano
Blake Hilligoss has a Bachelor and Master’s degree MM in Piano Performance from Oklahoma State University. During his time there, he taught various undergraduate piano classes and the Greenwood School of Music Preparatory Academy. He also accompanied various ensembles including the OSU University Singers Choir, Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and the Greenwood School of Music Youth Choir. He has participated in multiple master classes with numerous pianists, including Anne-Marie McDermott who is the artistic director of numerous music festivals, as well as a former judge of the Van Cliburn competition, and Eric Huebner, who is the current pianist for the New York Philharmonic. In March of 2023, he was a participant in the New York Philharmonic Educational Partnership, which included chamber coachings from New York Philharmonic violist Song Wu, along with performances with his piano trio at the Aaron Copland School of Music and a recruitment concert at LaGuardia High School. Since2018, he has participated in various OMTA-MTNA competitions, receiving first place in the OMTA competition in 2019 and Alternate positions in 2018 and 2021. In 2022, he received 2ndplace in the Hyechka competition in Tulsa. During that year, he also participated in the Starlight Band as part of their Summer Concert Series. In 2023, participated with the OSU orchestra in their show, “Into the Woods”, and as a soloist with the OSU orchestra as a concerto finalist, performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major. On the weekends, he is employed as the accompanist at St. Andrew’s Church. He is also currently working on a research project that will be presented at this year’s OMTA conference pertaining to the visual and cognitive processes that relate to sight reading ability. On his last Graduate Recital, he made his compositional debut,performing a solo piano work entitled, “Serenity Now, Insanity Later: A 12-tone Prelude and Fugue”.