Violinist and composer Evelyn Petcher Brandes brings a passion for innovation and community to both her performing and teaching. Her work frequently blurs the line between performance and workshop; she has performed all over the US and abroad at venues from international concert halls to community spaces like hospitals, museums, and coffee shops. She is a co-founder of Leadlights Ensemble, a community focused string quartet based in Washington Heights, and East Lake Expression Engine, an El Sistema inspired music education program for underprivileged youth in Chattanooga, TN. Evelyn performs regularly with the Bronx Arts Ensemble and Leadlights around NYC, and has been awarded several grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for musical projects. She has served as a teaching artist for organizations such as the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers program, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the Little Orchestra Society, the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and LEAP NYC.

Cellist, Eliana Mendoza, has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Winner of the Artists International Competition, she debuted at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. She also performed a solo recital broadcast live on WGBH, National Public Radio, in Boston. Praised by critics, her reviews have read “Fire and flash…rich pathos and refreshing singularity,” The Washington Post. “She is a total artist …with fluid touch, an impassioned mood and a notable bearing,” The Enterprise, Brockton, MA. A long-standing member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble, she is a tenured member of the American Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Westchester Philharmonic. A versatile musician, she is a member of the Lion King Orchestra on Broadway and has toured the US as soloist performing the Paganini – Lloyd Weber cello variations in venues such as the Universal Studios Amphitheater, the Blossom Music Center, and Radio City Music Hall. Along with recording for movie soundtracks, commercials and television, she has recorded chamber music with labels such as New World Records, Sound Spell Productions, and Centaur Records. Born in Chile into a family of professional musicians, Eliana Mendoza, began her musical training at age 3, studying piano with both parents. She then began studying cello at age 8, and later came to the United States. As a scholarship student, she studied with the late principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Samuel Mayes. She received a Diploma in performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with pedagogue Alan Harris. She also studied and coached with cellists Lynn Harrell, Timothy Eddy, and Ronald Leonard.

Sally Shumway has been a member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble since 1991. With the BAE she has recorded music by Carlos Surinach, Robert Baksa, Meyer Kupferman, Soong Fu Yuan, Allen Brings, and Roberto Sierra. She has also played on movie soundtracks, TV jingles, Broadway soundtracks, and with the American Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Shumway is a graduate of the University of Kansas and the Manhattan School of Music. She is on the faculty of The Ridgewood Conservatory.