Maria Serkin

Maria Serkin is the Associate Professor of Horn and the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Previously, she held teaching positions at the University of Virginia and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. Dr. Serkin served as principal horn with the Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, and the Charlottesville Symphony, and was a fellow with the New World Symphony. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Eastman School of Music and New England Conservatory, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music.
 
Dr. Serkin has performed Boston Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Spoleto Festival USA, National Repertory Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, and was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. Her New York and Miami recording credits include work with The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, Gloria Estefan, and ESPN.  Recent performance highlights include extensive work with the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, Palm Beach Opera, and the North Carolina Symphony. In July, she premiered Kenneth Frazelle’s Hearken (Blue Ridge Airs III) at the 50th International Horn Symposium. An avid educator, Dr. Serkin has taught horn master classes extending from the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School, to the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival.

www.mariaserkin.com

Hayden Abercrombie

Hayden Abercrombie is a horn player and aspiring music educator from Concord, North Carolina. He will graduate high school from the UNCSA Horn Studio in May of 2023 and plans to pursue his doctorate in music, teach high school band, perform in professional ensembles, and eventually go into the college education & professional clinician field. Hayden's educators and instructors, both present and previous, include Emily McNeil, Dr. Maria Serkin, Nicolee Kuester and Jennifer Merry. In the past, Hayden has been chosen as an attendee for the North Carolina Governor's School (West, 2022), a finalist for the South-Central District All-District Band, served as a drum major of the marching band, and received the John Phillip Sousa award for musical excellence. Since attending UNCSA, Hayden has performed with the school’s Wind Ensemble, Amadeus Orchestra, Chamber Winds and Nutcracker Orchestra. At present, he is also the second-chair horn for the Winston-Salem Youth Symphony. Hayden has performed numerous Easter church services, school graduations and the Carolina Renaissance Festival. In November, Hayden was selected to perform in the High School Honors Performance Series Symphonic Band, which will take him to the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, in August of 2023. When not in the practice rooms or on stage, Hayden enjoys spending time with his friends and family. He finds great interest in performance, music in healthcare and using the horn as a jazz instrument.

Elijah Barclift

Elijah Barclift is from Greensboro, North Carolina and a high school senior at UNCSA. Elijah is a fellow with the Piedmont Wind Symphony and has performed as a substitute with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra and Salisbury Symphony Orchestra. Last summer, he toured Europe with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States (NYO-USA). In 2022 and 2021, he participated in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute French Horn Workshop. Additionally, Elijah was named the winner of the NCMTNA Senior Brass division (2020 and 2021), the Northeast Horn Workshop High School Solo Competition (2021), the Northwest High School Low Horn Excerpt Competition (2021), and was runner-up for the Northwest High School Solo Competition (2021). In 2022, he won the Southeast Horn Workshop High School Solo Competition and was a finalist for the North Carolina Symphony Junior Division Concerto Competition. Elijah was the principal horn of the North Carolina All-State Honors Band in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades. Elijah’s parents are band directors and were his first music teachers. Before coming to UNCSA, he studied with Dr. Maria Serkin and Dr. Mary Burroughs. When not playing the horn Elijah enjoys drinking coffee and going on walks. 

Ethan Mash

Ethan Mash is from Durham, North Carolina and is a high school senior at UNCSA. Prior to coming to UNCSA, he has was selected for the East-Central District Wind Ensemble, the North Carolina All-State and the Triangle Youth Philharmonic. At UNCSA, Ethan has performed with the UNCSA Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds, student brass trio, and the Nutcracker Orchestra. In addition to his studies with Dr. Maria Serkin, he has been a student of Rachel Niketopoulos and Christopher Caudill. Ethan currently repairs and restores instruments with the help of his twin brother, Ryan. He intends to pursue a career as a horn maker with his brother.

Ryan Mash

Ryan Mash is a high school senior at UNCSA. Last summer, he was selected to participate in Carnegie Hall’s NYO2 orchestral horn section. Throughout his senior year, Ryan has performed with the UNCSA Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds, Symphony Orchestra and a wind quintet. Prior to coming to UNCSA, he has studied with of Rachel Niketopoulos and Christopher Caudill. Passionate about horn repair and construction, he aspires to establish himself as a premier horn maker with his brother.

Andrew McGee

Andrew McGee is a first-year graduate horn student at UNCSA. Prior to his studies at UNCSA, he received his Bachelor of Arts from Elizabeth City State University. He has enjoyed performing with the UNCSA Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds. Andrew aspires to have a multi-faceted career as a performing artist and educator. He was recently selected to teach horn at Separk Music—a local music academy.

Myles Moore

Myles Moore is from Charlotte, North Carolina and a second-year graduate horn student at UNCSA. Myles was a featured soloist at the North Carolina Choral Directors Association Conference in Raleigh. He enjoys performing with the UNCSA large ensembles and the graduate wind quintet. Prior to coming to UNCSA, he studied music education with a concentration in horn at Winston Salem State University. Myles plans to pursue his doctorate in music performance, and aspires to teach at the college level.

Chase Oncken

Chase Oncken, from St. Louis, Missouri, is a first-year undergraduate horn student at UNCSA. He has been an active member of numerous ensembles including the Missouri All-State Band, the St. Louis Metro-8 District Honor Band, St. Charles County Youth Orchestra and the Young People Symphony Orchestra of Webster University. In addition to being an instrumentalist, Chase is a vocalist who has participated in the Missouri All-State Choir, the Bayer Fund Artist-in-Training program for Opera Theater St. Louis and the St. Louis Metro-8 District Honor Choir. He has performed at Carnegie Hall twice with Distinguished Concerts International New York featuring Ola Gjeilo and Eric Whitacre. In high school, he was the recipient of seven gold medals and two silver medals at the MSHSAA State Solo and Ensemble Contest, competing on horn and voice. Chase has recently been a featured hornist and vocalist guest artist for the Gateway Men’s Chorus. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano, hiking and practicing yoga. 

Alex Partridge

Alex Partridge is pursuing her master's degree in music here at UNCSA. She is a classically trained French hornist, visual artist, voice/piano/guitar hobbyist and cosmetologist with special interests in make-up, hair coloring, cutting and styling. Her passion and determination to live authentically has led to years of experimentation within many mediums. In her career, Alex aims to break boundaries by freelancing in multiple areas of creative work. She believes the more outlets one has for self-expression, the freer and more joyful a life they will live. This is a big motivator in her pursuit as a freelance artist for shared interdisciplinary workspaces that encourage community involvement. Currently, Alex works as one of two graduate assistants for the horn studio and as an integration team member for ArtistCorps, a UNCSA based community outreach group. She received her B.M. from the University of South Florida in May of 2021 and post-graduation she attended Alexander Paul Institute of Hair Design for one year, to grow her skills in cosmetology.