Meet the artists

Gabriel Prokofiev

Gabriel Prokofiev is composer & producer of electronic & classical music, and founder of Nonclassical label & events, where he is resident DJ. Through Nonclassical, he has been one of the leading proponents of presenting classical music in non-traditional venues, & created remixes of classical which are the central focus of his DJ sets. He has composed 9 concertos; his Concerto for Turntables has been performed by over 30 orchestras word-wide. He cut his musical teeth in the 00s producing electronic music & Grime, before returning to his classical roots with a new urban-influenced vocabulary.

Maria Finkelmeier

Named a “one-woman dynamo” by The Boston Globe and Boston’s Best 2018 "Creative Catalyst" by The Improper Bostonian, Maria Finkelmeier is a percussionist, composer, public artist, educator, and owner of MF Dynamics. Maria has created large-scale multimedia events in public spaces from Cincinnati to Northern Sweden, with several locations in Boston, including Fenway Park, DCR’s Hatch Shell, Charlestown Navy Yard, Edison Power Plant, and Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum.

Etienne Abelin

Swiss conductor and violinist Etienne Abelin, Co-Founder of the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra, has been described as a "post-classical pioneer" in the BBC Music Magazine and an "icon of new ways in classical music" by the Musica Viva Magazine Brazil. His gripping, emotionally charged performances have been hailed as "always unforgettably fine" by eminent conducting mentor Jorma Panula. Abelin won the exceptional privilege of being a musical collaborator for 18 years with classical music legend conductor Claudio Abbado, who has been described as one of the three greatest conductors of all time by BBC Music Magazine. As such, Etienne was handpicked by Mr. Abbado to be a founding member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Orchestra Mozart Bologna, where he was the Principal Second Violin for seven years. With these orchestras, he performed in the world's most prestigious concert halls and recorded for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi. Abelin has conducted orchestras such as the Beethovenorchester Bonn, the Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa or the Musikkollegium Winterthur in venues and festivals such as the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Royal Festival Hall London or the Scala Milano. Among his passions and special fields of focus in conducting are education and audience interaction - be it with the digital music visualization software Music:Eyes he co-founded (a.o. project with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2021), in the program "Netzwerkorchester" ("Innovative Orchestra Award" 2019 of the Deutsche Orchester-Stiftung) or in cross-genre collaborations with composers such as Gabriel Prokofiev, Francesco Tristano or Daniel Schnyder. Etienne Abelin has presented on multiple occasions as a TEDx speaker and performer. In 2022, Abelin was appointed as the next Music Director and Conductor of the Empire State Youth Orchestra in upstate New York, USA.

Manuela Isabel Romero

A native Cuban-Venezuelan, violinist Manuela Isabel Romero began her violin performance and education career at the Raimundo Pereira School of Music and the Latin-American Academy of Violin in Caracas, Venezuela. Manuela came to the U.S. to study with Dr. Stephen Redfield at the University of Southern Mississippi where she received her master’s degree in Violin Performance in May 2018. She served as the concertmaster at the University of Southern Mississippi Orchestra from 2017-2018. She has been a prize winner in numerous competitions and performed as a member of the Young Symphony Orchestra of Caracas and the Simon Bolivar Symphonic Rock Orchestra. In 2016 Manuela won a position in Meridian Symphony Orchestra and she has performed with Mississippi Symphony, Allentown Symphony, and Lancaster Symphony Pennsylvania. Manuela has participated in several music festivals including the Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota, the Dali International Music Festival, and the Audience Engagement Intensive at the Carnegie Hall as a member of the Kahlo String Quartet. Passionate about teaching students of all ages, Manuela taught violin in Venezuela for over ten years with the renowned El Sistema program. Currently, she is a full-time string teacher at the Philadelphia school district and she is working on her music education certification at West Chester University where she is also the orchestra’ concertmaster. Manuela enjoys working on her original music and salsa dancing in her free time.