 | Seetha Shivaswamy, Flute has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in concerts throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. She has toured the USA with the Global Rhythms World Music Ensemble, performed as a guest flutist with the Orquesta Sinfonica in Monterrey, Mexico, and was invited in 2001 to present a solo flute recital at the Hong Kong City Centre. She is the featured flutist on the new single 'Pray for Me Brother' by acclaimed music director A.R. Rahman, commissioned as the global anthem for the United Nations Millennium Development Project. Her playing can also be heard on the soundtrack from the UK feature film 'Bombil and Beatrice', released at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, and on various other soundtracks for PBS documentaries and TV commercials. Seetha has also studied Yoga, Alexander Technique, Indonesian Gamelan, Indian Bansuri flute, and various other modalities related to performance and education. Seetha holds a Master's Degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor's Degree from Ball State University, where she studied classical flute performance with Karl Kraber and Julia Larson Mattern. She has also studied contemporary flute technique and improvisation with the Dutch Flutist Wil Offermans. Seetha currently resides in Austin, TX, where she is on faculty at the Armstrong Music School of Austin Lyric Opera and the Austin Chamber Music Society. |
 | Jennifer Bernard, Oboe enjoys sharing her passion for music through performing and teaching. In addition to her position as instructor of music at Texas Lutheran University, she currently serves as Principal Oboist for the Laredo Philharmonic and English hornist for the Victoria Symphony. She has also performed with the Austin Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Air Force Band of the West, and Corpus Christi Symphony. Ms. Bernard graduated from Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music, receiving numerous performance awards along with the Founder's Medal for first honors in 2003. She completed her Master's degree in performance at The University of Texas at Austin in May of 2007. Ms. Bernard is also an alumna of the Aspen Music School and the Hot Springs Music Festival. From 2001 to 2003, she worked as a translator and coordinator under Wayne Rapier to organize the Boston Records Oboe Orchestral Repertoire Festival in France. Her principal teachers include Rebecca Henderson, Bobby Taylor, and Ray Still. She has also studied with Alex Klein, Richard Killmer, Robert Atherholt, and Mark Ackerman. When not using her spare time to make reeds, she enjoys planning her next travel adventure, learning languages, and eating chocolate. |
 | Michael Drapkin, Clarinet was a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, as Associate Principal and Bass Clarinet and the New York City Opera Touring Company and Lake George Opera Festival, as Principal Clarinet. As a graduate from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, he spent summers playing at Aspen and at Tanglewood as a Berkshire Music Center fellow, and continues to perform regularly with fine chamber music groups. Mr. Drapkin has performed with the New Jersey Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Portland Symphony, the Long Island Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and with conductors Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Michael Tilson Thomas, Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Lucas Foss, Christopher Keene, Klaus Tennstedt, Frederick Fennell, and many more celebrated orchestras and maestros. Mr. Drapkin is considered one of the world's foremost experts on the bass clarinet primarily through his series of orchestral excerpt books, Symphonic Repertoire for the Bass Clarinet, Volumes One, Two, Three, and the upcoming Volume Four which is currently in production. His books have been the gold standard for bass clarinet orchestral study worldwide for the last 25 years, and are now referenced as a source for most bass clarinet orchestra auditions. |
 | Cara Luffey, Bassoon has been a freelance bassoonist in the San Antonio area since 2005. She earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of the Pacific and her Master of Music degree from Carnegie Mellon University where her teachers included Dr. Don DaGrade, Mr. David Granger and Ms. Nancy Goeres. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Luffey has been a finalist in both the Carmel and Coleman Chamber Music Competitions as a member of the Siren Trio. She has also performed for "Star Classics" in San Francisco as a member of the E-flat Piano Quintet and for the Shadyside Concert Series in Pittsburgh, PA. Ms. Luffey was selected to the American Institute of Musical Studies Orchestra, which performed orchestral and operatic works in Graz, Austria. Prior to moving to San Antonio, Ms. Luffey held the principal bassoon positions in the USAF Heritage of America Band at Langley AFB, VA and the USAF in Europe Band in Sembach, Germany. As a member of these organizations, she played in various ensembles while touring the eastern states and throughout Europe. Ms. Luffey has most recently performed with the Mantovani Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, San Antonio Symphony and San Antonio Opera |
 | William Wiegard, Horn maintains an active performing schedule, playing with the Temple and Victoria Symphonies in addition to regularly playing with the San Antonio Symphony. A student at the University of Texas at Austin, he serves as the New Music Ensemble Assistant to the Director and is nearing completion of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. While studying with Sören Hermansson at the University of Michigan he earned dual Master's degrees in Horn Performance and Chamber Music. Summers during his master's education were spent in Maine at the Bowdoin International Music Festival on full wind fellowships. After Master's work, William remained at the University of Michigan to pursue a Specialist of Music in Horn Performance. A native of Iowa, he earned the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Iowa, where he studied horn with Kristin Thelander and Jeffrey Agrell. William can be heard as principal horn on Naxos' Grammy Award-winning recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience under Leonard Slatkin and Sony Classical's upcoming release of John Corigliano's Symphony No.3 for Large Wind Ensemble: Circus Maximus |
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Animé Winds at Ruta Maya - Eleanor Rigby
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Animé Winds at Ruta Maya - Cuban Dances
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Animé Winds at Ruta Maya - Russian Folk Dances
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Animé Winds at Ruta Maya - Ibert Short Pieces
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 The Ensemble, at the Gallery Lombardi in Austin
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 Seetha and Michael, at the Long Center in Austin
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 Guru Shivaswami |