Riverbrook Trio

Sarah Ghandour is currently a doctoral candidate at Stony Brook University, where she also completed her master’s degree with Cellist Colin Carr. She completed undergraduate education at Bard Conservatory, earning a Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of Cellist Peter Wiley and a Bachelor in Mathematics. Sarah was then the honored recipient of the 2017-2018 Harriet Hale Woolley-Fulbright Scholarship and one year artist residency in Paris, France. She enjoyed collaborating with the Ensemble Calliopée, performing the Korngold Sextet and other repertoire, at the Fondation des États-Unis. In 2019, Sarah participated in the Pablo Casals Festival, where she also won the solo competition, culminating in her performance in 9th century Abbey of Saint Michel de Cuxa, Prades, France. Most recently, Sarah was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in Slovenia where she researched and performed Slovenian folk and classical music.

As a pianist and organist, Samuel Gaskin is interested in music of all kinds. As an improviser, he won 1st prize in the 2023 St. Albans International Organ Competition and received 2nd prize in the 2021 American Guild of Organists’ (AGO) National Competition of Organ Improvisation. As a collaborative pianist, he has performed across the United States and Europe with mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava. As a composer, recent premieres include Chase, for the ~Nois Saxophone Quartet, In memoriam, premiered by the Unheard-of Ensemble, and Psalm 118, for choir and organ. Samuel was assistant organist at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas before receiving a Fulbright grant to France, where he is currently pursuing Artist’s Diplomas in organ and in jazz studies at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Versailles.

From the State of Maine in the United States, Isabelle Pazar is a Doctoral Candidate in Flute Performance at Stony Brook University in New York, where she studies with renowned flutist Carol Wincenc. Pazar received her Bachelor of Arts from Boston College and Masters in Music Performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As the recipient of a 2022-2023 Fulbright scholarship, Pazar worked closely with flutist Patricia Nagle at École Normale de Musique de Paris and observed classes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur to study its pedagogical methods, performance style and techniques, and to better understand how to interpret the French compositions that have been written especially for the internationally recognized Concours de Prix in France. This year, Pazar is a Harriet Hale Woolley scholar currently studying flute in Paris with Jean Ferrandis. In addition to giving concerts as an Artist-in-Residence at the Fondation des États-Unis and in the Paris region, she will be studying the interpretive aspect of musicianship from the view of a flutist trained in the “French flute school” tradition, which is an important aspect of her study of the traditional French training of the flute.