Christina Lai, Piano:
Recent soloist with the FSU University Philharmonia, Christina Lai, from Plantation, FL,
began her musical training at the age of five. She is pursuing her Doctorate of Music in piano
performance under the guidance of Professor Read Gainsford and is a teaching assistant at
Florida State University.
Christina was one of four chosen as a William R. Kenan Jr. Music Scholar at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music and a
Chemistry minor. Among several achievements, Christina debuted with the UNC Symphony
Orchestra performing the Ravel Left Hand Piano Concerto. In the past, she attended the Aspen
Music Festival and School as a Thomas S. Kenan Fellow. She placed in various competitions
including the National Association of Negro Musicians Piano Competition, Florida MTNA
Competition, Rosen-Schaffel Competition, and Young Artists Piano Competition of the North
Carolina Music Teachers Association. Christina competed in the Ettlingen International
Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen, Germany, was one of nine national recipients of the
Chopin Foundation of the United States’ scholarship awards, and was chosen to receive the
Marilyn Caldwell Piano Solo Award from the National Federation of Music Clubs. Additionally,
she has also performed in master classes for Nelita True, John Perry, Phillipe Entremont, Gerard
Schwarz, Ian Hobson, Winston Choi, Daniel Shapiro and Molly Morkoski.
Complementing to her musical ventures, Christina was an avid volunteer in the music
therapy department of the North Carolina Memorial Hospital. She also enjoys teaching and is
piano faculty at Good Sam Arts. She has also given lessons for UNC’s Musical Empowerment, a
non-profit organization designed to provide free lessons to underprivileged children, and Aspen
Music Festival and School’s Passes and Lessons Scholarship Program. In the summer of 2014,
she and a fellow Kenan Scholar, travelled to France to work with student composer YuyingWeng
on a collaborative piece synthesizing Chinese and Western Classical music elements.

Nicholas Hatt, Violin:
Nicholas Hatt, native to the Pittsburgh suburb of Beaver, Pennsylvania, began playing the violin
at the age of seven and quickly developed a unique passion for the instrument. He received his
Master of Music degree from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston and his
Bachelor of Music from West Virginia University. Currently, Nicholas is a doctoral candidate at
the College of Music at Florida State University, where he serves as the teaching assistant to
Shannon Thomas. His principal teachers have included Lorinda Troxler, Christie Kecskemethy,
Mikylah Myers McTeer, Andrzej Grabiec, Paul Kantor, and Shannon Thomas.
In addition to his private studies, Nicholas has had the opportunity to work with well-known
violinists such as Midori Goto, James Ehnes, Giora Schmidt, Noah Bendix-Balgley, and William
Preucil, as well as members of various orchestras across the United States. He has also had the
honor of working with renowned violin pedagogues, such as Lucie Robert and Shirley Givens,
and has performed for legendary violinist Ida Haendel.
Nicholas has given numerous solo, chamber, and orchestral performances across the United
States and Canada, where some of his engagements have included performances at venues such
as Heinz Hall, the New World Center, and Françoys-Bernier Hall. As an orchestral musician, he
is currently an active section violinist of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, Pensacola
Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Panama City Pops Orchestra, Northwest Florida
Symphony Orchestra, Villages Philharmonic, and Ocala Symphony Orchestra. He is also an
alumnus of the Eastern Music Festival and one of the orchestral fellows at the Immanuel and
Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival and the Miami Summer Music Festival.
As a chamber musician, Nicholas is a founding member of the ensembles Post Lucernum and
Trio Azul. His other chamber performances have included collaborations with Max Mandel,
Kenneth Slowik, Brain Suits, and Lynn Stodola. He is also an alumnus of the Young Artist
Program at the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as the chamber music
and solo programs at Le Domaine Forget International Music and Dance Academy.
Outside of the concert setting, Nicholas has also been invited to the set of KHOU-11’s Great
Day Houston and NBC’s Studio 6 of Miami, Florida, where he was featured as a guest
performer.

Jordan Galvarino, Cello:
Jordan Galvarino, of Greenville, South Carolina, studies at Florida State University where he
maintains an active career throughout the southeastern United States. He is currently a teaching
assistant and doctoral candidate in the studio of Greg Sauer. He earned a Master of Music in
Performance degree from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education
from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. His primary teachers have been Greg Sauer,
Kim Cook, and Dr. Robert Jesselson.
An active chamber musician, Jordan is a member of Tallahassee based Trio Azul and founded
the Nome Quartet. He has worked with members of the Emerson, Badke, Brentano, and Calidore
String Quartets.
Jordan maintains an active performance schedule and has attended prominent music festivals to
further his studies: Music Academy International, Orvieto Musica, Scotia Festival of Music,
Duxbury Music Festival, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, the Insnsbrook Institute, and
Miami Music Festival. He has concertized throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, and
as a guest performer on Burlington, VT’s 105.9, The Radiator radio station.
Outside of his studies, Jordan has performed in prestigious venues like Alice Tully Hall, and has
won awards at Avery Fisher Hall and in Duxbury Music Festival’s solo and chamber
competitions. He has had many influences from participating in master classes with Alan Harris,
Michael Haber and David Halen. Jordan is a section member of Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Northwest
Florida Symphony, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and The Villages Symphony Orchestra. He
was awarded principal cello for the Scotia Festival Orchestra and Florida State’s Opera and
Symphony Orchestra. Jordan made his solo debut in January of 2018 with the Panama City Pops
Orchestra, performing David Ott’s Concerto for Two Cellos.