2024 Credo Boston Faculty

Hailed as a “intensely dramatic” (Cleveland Classical), and praised for his “elegant and expressive playing” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), violinist Thomas Cooper (Credo ’15) has established himself as one of the most dynamic young musicians and leaders of his generation. A three-time winner of New England Conservatory’s Entrepreneurial Musicianship award, Cooper is the Founder and Artistic Director of Fermata Chamber Soloists, an award-winning collective of young artists performing innovative concerts throughout New England and Ontario.

A laureate of the Naftzger, Arlington, Washington, and Cremona International Competitions, Cooper ha¬¬s appeared with several American orchestras, including the Colorado College Festival Orchestra, the Coeur D’Alene Symphony Orchestra, the Du Bois Orchestra of Harvard, and the Middlesex Chamber Orchestra, among others.

As an ensemble player, Cooper leads, as concertmaster, the Du Bois Orchestra of Harvard, and appears with the conductor-less ensembles A Far Cry, and Palaver Strings, and performs with the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Cooper has had the fortune of sharing the stage with such groups and individuals as the Oberlin Trio, the Jupiter String Quartet, Evgueni Sinaiski, Vadim Gluzman, and Per Ennokson.

A native of the Boston area, Cooper received his formal training at New England Conservatory and Oberlin Conservatory with Soovin Kim, Malcolm Lowe, Milan Vitek and Peter Slowik. Cooper resides in Boston with his wife Jessica Tsang, and his newborn son, Thomas Franklin Cooper.

Amy Galluzzo enjoys an active career as both a chamber musician and soloist. As a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, she toured across the US, performing a wide range of repertoire. Amy has collaborated with artists such as Masuko Ushioda, Carol Rodland, James Buswell, and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Amy has been heard in recital and concert across Europe and America and has served as concertmaster under the batons of conductors such as Kurt Masur, Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Christoph von Dohnányi.

She maintains a private violin studio in Boston, and teaches through the New England Conservatory Continuing Education department.

Sarita Kwok has distinguished herself as one of the most captivating and sophisticated performers to emerge from the ranks of Australia’s classical musicians. Described by the New York Times as a “fine young violinist”, she has been enthralling audiences since she was named Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year (Strings) in 1998. Her cosmopolitan musical career has included performances as a solo artist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and as a featured soloist with the major orchestras of her native Australia.

Sarita’s recording of Martin Bresnick’s Josephine the Singer for solo violin was described by Gramophone as “gorgeously executed”. Her CD with Wei-Yi Yang of C20th violin/piano sonatas, ‘Interchange’, released on the German label Genuin was described by Deutschlandfunk as "electrifying". The Arabella String Quartet's album with Naxos "In the Moment" was named Album of the Week by ClassicFM and praised by The Strad Magazine as “a fine disc, the Arabella digging deep to produce performances of great intensity and poise”.

The former director of the undergraduate lessons program at Yale, and a Yale faculty member for 8 years, Sarita is now chair of the Department of Music at Gordon College, Massachusetts. She received her doctorate from the Yale School of Music.

Peter Slowik, profiled by The Strad Magazine as “a man of limitless enthusiasm and purpose” is one of the world’s leading artist-teachers of viola. An active chamber musician, Mr. Slowik has performed with cellists Anner Bylsma and Leonard Rose, the Mirecourt Trio, the Saint Petersburg Quartet, the Vermeer Quartet, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and members of the Cleveland, Chester, Orford and Smithson Quartets. He has been a featured performer at six International Viola Congresses, and recent Master Class trips have taken him to Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, and China. Orchestral experiences include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and service as Principal Viola of the American Sinfonietta and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Slowik has served on the faculty of Northwestern University, the Cleveland Institute of Music and Eastman School of Music. Mr. Slowik has been named to the highest teaching award honors of Northwestern University and Oberlin Conservatory. He has served as President of the American Viola Society and currently is Professor of Viola and String Division Director at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. His students may be found in virtually every significant professional orchestra in the US (many serving in titled positions) and in university appointments throughout the country.

An award-winning recording artist, cellist, Carol Ou has garnered accolades with her “fiery, marvelous” and “meltingly melodic outpourings” (Boston Globe) and her “wonderfully pure cello tone and incisive technique” (The Strad). A former member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, Ms. Ou has performed solo and chamber music works in prestigious concert halls across the globe. Her creative programming regularly combines European masterworks with more eclectic ones. Her numerous recordings include solo and chamber music discs issued by Chi-Mei, Naxos, CRI, and Albany Records.

A much sought-after teacher, Ms. Ou serves on the faculty at New England Conservatory of Music, where she teaches college chamber music students and cultivates a community of music loving cello students of all ages. In addition, she has taught online at CelloBello.org and Virtuosity.online, and travels internationally to teach cello and chamber music master classes, most recently in Hong Kong, Turkey, and Italy.

Actively working to bridge the classical world with other musical genres and art forms, Daniel Tavani’s solo cello performances range from concerti with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra to stadium performances integrating live-looping and other modern music technology. Daniel holds degrees from both Rice University and the Berklee College of Music.

Daniel has performed around the world in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Suntory Hall, and spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and Heifetz International Music Institute. Daniel is a regular performer, session musician, music producer, audio engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and Co-Minister of Music at Church of the Cross Boston.

Praised by Yo-Yo Ma as an “incredibly expressive” player with “great energy”, Megan Carlier Tavani (Credo ‘09, ‘10, ‘11) has performed extensively as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. Past festival appearances include the Sarasota, Heifetz, Bowdoin, Yellow Barn Young Artists, and Credo Chamber Music festivals.

Having received her B.M. from Rice University with Desmond Hoebig in 2019 and her M.M. from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with Andrew Mark in 2021, Megan is enjoying a varied freelance career in Boston and serves as Minister of Music alongside her husband at Church of the Cross Boston.

Alyssa Wang is a passionate and versatile conductor, violinist, and composer. A recipient of the 2023 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award and the 2022 St. Botolph Emerging Artist Award, Alyssa has enjoyed exploring diverse creative paths across several areas, with a focus on audience inclusivity and engagement.

She is the Co-Founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor of the Boston Festival Orchestra, which presents an annual summer festival, chamber music series, and opera project. In 2021, she joined the Boston Ballet as Assistant Conductor, conducting full ballet productions throughout the year and serving as Music Director for the annual Next Generation project with Boston Ballet School.