Concert Series
Avila Home Care is delighted to share the talents of internationally acclaimed classical and jazz musicians
with senior citizens in our local communities.
Enjoy the glorious music of our Avila Music Makers musicians and
see the beautiful smiles of residents as they delight in our concerts- watch our new video here!
Avila’s partners at Brightwood Club, Blakehurst Senior Living, Brightview Severna Park, Autumn Lake at Ruxton, North Oaks, Aventura at the Heights, Trinity House, and many more Senior Living Communities are graciously hosting Avila Music Makers’ classical and jazz music concerts. During the concerts, residents and their friends and family enjoy incredibly moving music, as well as delicious treats and beverages. As the Avila Music Makers concert series continues to blossom, we look forward to our musicians performing at the twenty-seven Senior Living Communities where Avila serves clients, and beyond!
The inaugural Avila Music Makers concert in December, 2023 by South African cellist Jacques-Pierre Malan accompanied by pianist Clinton Adams received a standing ovation! Scroll down to take a gander at the bios of all of our wonderful Avila Music Makers musicians.
The idea for Avila Music Makers was inspired by Avila’s inaugural Senior Citizens’ Prom in April of 2023, where Avila staff, volunteers, sponsors, caregivers, and seniors were abundantly blessed to bear witness to the Power of Music. The laughter, the memories, the tears, and the love uplifted us all. The experience was simply transcendent!
We asked ourselves, “How can we bring the melodic joy of that special day to seniors where they live?” And so the idea for Avila Music Makers was born!
We would be honored to perform for your independent or assisted living community, as well as for your memory care, skilled nursing, and hospital residents and patients. If you would like for Avila Music Makers to perform for your community, please contact Gretchen Maneval, Director of External Affairs at gretchen@avilahomecare.com, or call 410-826-6100.
Meet the Avila Music Makers Musicians!
World-renowned and based right here in Baltimore, we are grateful to these accomplished musicians for sharing the gift of music with seniors in our community. The Avila Music Makers musicians are not only talented, but they are genuinely kind human beings who have experience performing for seniors in a variety of settings. Many of our musicians are educators as well, and so audience participation is an important aspect of the concert series. If you are a musician interested in performing with Avila Music Makers, please contact Gretchen Maneval, Director of External Affairs at gretchen@avilahomecare.com, or call 410-826-6100.
Classical
“South African cellist, Jacques-Pierre Malan is taking the classical music world by storm with his unparalleled performances, innovative projects, and uncompromising dedication to energizing and uplifting both audiences and musicians alike.” His impeccable technique, endless energy, and unifying personality has allowed him to perform on stages across the world from Africa to Europe to the United States. www.creativecello.com
“She began with three movements from the Bach third solo-suite in which she impressively demonstrated her artistic excellency and high level of musicality most impressively.” Frances Borowsky grew up in an exceptionally musical family, and has performed in more than 400 concerts in over thirty countries throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, in major venues such as the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, and Penderecki European Music Centre. www.francesborowsky.com
“He brought forth a celebration of fire and temperament, as well as immense sensitivity, wonderfully flowing chants and a pliant tone. He is a remarkable talent.” The German Heidelberg Rhein-Neckar Zeitung's assessment of American violinist Emmanuel Borowsky has been echoed by audiences and media around the world. To date, Dr. Borowsky has toured 37 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, performing as soloist with orchestras. www.emmanuelborowsky.com
A cellist known for her “solidity and verve” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Molly Aronson enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and educator. She has performed across the U.S. and internationally with highlight engagements including performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the Embassy Series (Washington, DC), Chamber Players International (New York), the Luzerne Festival Series, Chateau Festival in Paris and Berlin, among many others. www.mollyaronsoncellist.com
Benjamin “Benni” von Gutzeit, Violist
A jazz violist and composer, and member of the Grammy-award winning Turtle Island Quartet, Benjamin “Benni” von Gutzeit has been playing the viola since age 5. In 1992 and 1994, he won first prize in the German National Jugend Muxiziert competition, and was invited to tour Japan. In 2001, Benni began studying jazz at the Bruckner Conservatory, and then moved to the Netherlands in 2004, earning a BA in Jazz at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. There he became an integral part of the Dutch jazz and improvisation scene. Benni played in countless concert halls in Europe, and in 2010 received his master’s degree at The Manhattan School as the first violist ever to study jazz there. In 2012 he joined the world-famous Turtle Island String Quartet, and has been based in San Fransico ever since while touring in the United States and abroad.
Dr. Rok Palčič is a piano soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, masterclass clinician and competition juror. After studying piano for a few years beginning at age 5, Russian professor and pianist Sigavush Gadjiev invited Palčič to study with him. He then continued studying with International Chopin Competition laureate Pavel Gililove at the Hochschule für Musik in Germany, where he graduated in 2009. He then moved to Austria to pursue a graduate degree in chamber music performance, and after briefly teaching in Russia, he emigrated to the United States. Dr. Palčič received a master’s degree at the University of Florida, taught there for 2 years, and then conducted his doctoral research at the University of Maryland, focusing on rediscovering forgotten music by Late-Romantic composers. Dr. Palčič has won numerous national and international competitions, and has performed at prestigious festivals in Slovenia, Italy, France, Croatia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. He manages Chevy Chase Music LLC, and Music School 21 LLC, which cater to the musical and educational needs of various audiences. Palčič is also a passionate philanthropist, and he is the founder and artistic director of the Cultural Arts Society Ars Haliaeti, and President of the Art Music Society, both of which are focused on providing support and opportunities to young musicians, as well as making music accessible to marginalized populations.
Clinton Adams has toured extensively, performing as a concerto soloist and as a collaborative artist throughout North and South America, Europe, and Africa. Acclaimed for his “elegant, sensitive, colorful, and meticulous” playing, he has recorded on the Summit and Leonarda labels. Adams has won numerous awards and competitions. www.peabody.jhu.edu/faculty/clinton-adams
Jazz
Ed Hrybyk is an upright and electric bassist, composer, arranger, and educator from the Baltimore/DC area. Amidst his busy performance schedule, Hrybyk is also the jazz instructor for the Baltimore School for the Arts. Hyrbyk launched The Charm City Porch Concerts and The Baltimore Pop-Up Jazz Jam in his efforts to bring live music to the people of Baltimore City, and he has been recognized by the Kennedy Center, Maryland State Arts Council, Baltimore Office of the Promotion of the Arts, and the Baltimore Jazz Alliance. Hrybyk has the distinct honor of being a featured performer with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. www.edhrybykbass.com
Named as one of the top 200 living guitarists by All About Jazz Magazine, Charlie Ballantine is also a composer and an educator. After graduating from the Jacobs School of Music under the direction of David Baker, Ballantine moved to Indianapolis and began performing at clubs. After releasing two solo albums, Ballantine was able to attain global recognition with his award winning third album “Life is Brief: The Music of Bob Dylan”, a Top Ten Jazz Album of the Year by All About Jazz. Ballantine tours independently at venues such as The Indianapolis Jazz Festival, The Winnipeg International Jazz Festival and The Elkhart Jazz Festival, and also has an extensive list of side man credits with musicians like Rob Dixon, Emmett Cohen, and Amanda Gardier. www.charlieballantine.com
Aaron Hill is a multi-talented individual, proficient in music, audio engineering, philosophy, theology, psychology, psychotherapy, mindfulness, meditation, business, and entrepreneurship. Educated at Berklee School of Music and Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts, he's a piano artist, composer, producer, audio engineer, talk show host, educator, and entrepreneur. Hill showed early promise as a poet and hip hop artist, and later discovered his talent for composing original music and mastered piano with mentor Dr. Maurice Johnson. In 2007, he founded Fruition Music Inc., and has touring acts including "Street Serenades," as well as his "Aaron Hill Trio." His music has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network and praised by Oprah herself. www.aaronhillsworld.com
Derrick Michaels, Tenor Saxaphonist
Baltimore-native Derrick Michaels is a tenor saxophonist and improviser with a bold and imaginative presence in the creative music community. He has been described by Jazz Weekly as a “thick-toned tenorist,” and by Downbeat Magazine as wielding a “Large sound and free flowing style.” The Baltimore Jazz Alliance says: “Derrick Michaels’ saxophone playing comes right out of his soul; the instrument sounds like a human voice.” He has released acclaimed albums, and has launched concert series which positioned his own tenor saxophone playing amid 28 brilliant improvisers from Baltimore and New York City. Michaels also currently leads two primary Baltimore-based ensembles, and is a co-leader of several jazz groups. www.baltimoresaxophone.com
Shaquim Muldrow is a Baltimore-based jazz saxophonist and composer, and is a music teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools. A native of South Carolina, Muldrow is paving a way for himself in the worldwide jazz scene, starting with RDU. He has made appearances at the Shed Jazz Club, Dizzy’s Coca Cola, and the 2015 JEN conference as a featured soloist. A graduate of North Carolina Central University, he has been seen with the world-renowned North Carolina Central Jazz Band behind Branford Marsalis and many other notable musicians. www.facebook.com/slmjazz
Savino Palumbo is a Baltimore-based jazz/improvising pianist and a composer, with an enormous range of musical influences. Savino began his musical studies at Peabody, studying classical piano. He then graduated from Towson University with a degree in jazz piano performance, and has been a full time musician ever since. Palumbo plays in venues in Baltimore, Washington, DC and beyond. He is also featured on a variety of studio recordings. Palumbo is an active composer, with a tour and recording planned for a new trio, featuring entirely his own original compositions. www.savinopalumbo.com
Gregory Thompkins has been a saxophonist, performer, educator and philanthropist for over 30 years. He is an early jazz and commercial music graduate of Towson University, receiving his Bachelor of Science in 1989. Mr. Thompkins has studied music with Hank Levy, Glenn Cashman, Ron Diehl, George Garzone, Sara Nichols, and Denis Karp. He has performed with David Murray, George Garzone, Dave Ballou, Michael Formanek and many others, and has performed and recorded with Lafayette Gilchrist, the All Mighty Senators and his own groups. As a saxophone teacher, his students have performed in first chair positions in their local school bands, and several have received music scholarships from Eastman School of Music, Towson University, University of Michigan, University of Maryland, and University of The Arts. Mr. Thompkins is the Music Director of The Baltimore Jazz Education Project (BJEP), a nonprofit founded in 2007 that raises funds to musically educate underserved youth in the greater Baltimore area. BJEP has taught students at Winston Middle School, Patterson Park Public Charter School and select private students, purchased over $10,000 of musical instruments and supplies, and raised over $150,000 in support of its mission. www.gregthompkinsjazz.com
Spoken Word
Judith Krummeck, Writer & WBJC 91.5 Broadcaster
Judith Krummeck is a writer and broadcaster living in Baltimore. She has been the evening drive-time host for the classical radio station WBJC for over twenty years, and she is the author of two books. Her memoir in essays, Beyond the Baobab, is about her experience immigrating from Africa to America. Her biographical memoir, Old New Worlds, intertwines the emigrations of her great-great-grandmother and her own. Judith’s debut novel, The Deceived Ones, is forthcoming from Apprentice House, and her screenplay, Philida, based on the Booker-nominated novel by André Brink, is in development in South Africa. Judith holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore.