Family Concert: Composing our City

Hannah Davis

Hannah Davis, soprano, is a versatile vocalist whose artistry spans classical, jazz, musical theatre, pop, and gospel music. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from West Virginia University and a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.

Ms. Davis serves as a soprano vocalist with The President's Own United States Marine Band, where she performs at some of the nation's most distinguished ceremonial and public events. Her career has afforded her the opportunity to perform throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for high-profile audiences and distinguished leaders, earning recognition for her exceptional musicianship, vocal artistry, and commanding stage presence.

In addition to her performance career, Ms. Davis is a dedicated educator who offers private voice lessons and vocal coachings throughout the DMV area. She is passionate about helping singers of all levels develop healthy vocal technique, musical confidence, and expressive artistry, drawing on her extensive training and professional experience to mentor the next generation of performers.

Known for her expressive performances and remarkable stylistic versatility, Ms. Davis brings both technical excellence and heartfelt interpretation to every performance. Whether presenting beloved classical repertoire, captivating jazz standards, inspiring gospel selections, contemporary pop, or musical theatre favorites, she connects with audiences through artistry, authenticity, and passion.

Patrick Morgan

Patrick Morgan’s playing has been praised by the Washington Post as “riveting” and “...a mystical experience.” He has been performing in the DC area since 2008. Patrick accepted a position with the United States Marine Band and Chamber Orchestra at the age of 22; he was appointed Assistant Principal Clarinet in 2012 and has been the Principal Clarinet since 2015. As a frequently featured soloist he has performed many works, including his live recording of Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto. He was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra in 2019. He was a Featured Artist for the 2021 virtual ClarinetFest.

As a teacher, he has given masterclasses at prestigious universities across the country, including Indiana University, Eastman School of Music, and Louisiana State University. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in 2008, where he was a student of Howard Klug. Patrick is a Yamaha  Performing Artist and performs exclusively on their clarinets.

Meredith Riley

Meredith Riley is a Canadian-American violinist from Ithaca, NY, currently residing in Alexandria, VA. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Music from the University of Texas at Austin, and completed her graduate studies under violinist Andrés Cárdenas at Carnegie Mellon University. Riley studied with Linda Case, Laura Bossert, and Margaret Pressley during her pre-college years.

For five years, Meredith was Associate Principal second violin for the Richmond Symphony in Richmond, VA. While in Graduate school, she was Principal second of the Erie Philharmonic, and she performed as acting concertmaster for the Johnstown Symphony. In recent years, she has free-lanced with Pittsburgh Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philly pops!, Richmond Symphony, Williamsburg Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra. She has been a member of Sphinx Virtuosi for six National tours, recently serving as principal second. Meredith was also excited to join the Gateways Music Festival in 2022, participating in GMF's Carnegie Hall debut with Jon Batiste in 2022, and still continues to collaborate with the Gateways Festival. She joined the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC for a one year contract in the ‘22-’23 season, and will be joining the NSO on their upcoming European tour in 2024.

Riley’s solo performance experiences include solo appearances with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, New England String Orchestra, University of Texas Symphony Orchestras, and in 2022, the Wintergreen and Sunflower Festival Orchestras. Other awards include Young Artist for the Starling Delay Symposium at the Juilliard School, junior semi-finalist in the National Sphinx Competitions, second place in Young Texas Artists Competition. In 2022, and again in 2023, Meredith won first place in the strings division of the Sphinx Orchestra Partners for Auditions [SOPA] competition.

Meredith plays chamber music whenever she can and has appeared twice on the Smithsonian Chamber Players series, as well as on numerous CMSCVA events in Richmond. Her intensive chamber experiences include Wintergreen Music Festival, the Sunflower Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, NewPark Chamber Music Festival, Domaine Forget’s intensive chamber music program, Music by the Sea in Bamfield, BC, Steamboat Strings Music Festival Heifetz International Music Festival, Chautauqua MSFO, the International Music Academy of Plzen in Czech Republic, St. Lawrence String Seminar, the International Musical Enghien Encounters in Belgium, the Boston Festival Orchestra, and Encore School for Strings,

In 2021, Meredith was appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Violin at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. She also teaches a small number of private students in Alexandria and Richmond. She will be joining the faculty of the 2023 Gingold Festival in Miami as part of the Artistic Advising team.

In her free time, Meredith loves to spend time with her husband, family, and dogs. She is constantly sampling new hot sauces, singing and laughing loudly, and improvising vocally or on her violin.

Carrie Bean Stute

Cellist Carrie Bean Stute is co-founder and co-artistic director of the Washington, DC-based Chiarina Chamber Players, a chamber music series and flexible ensemble that has won critical acclaim for its artistry and innovative programming. Carrie’s chamber music performances have been broadcast on Classical WETA’s Front Row Washington. In DC, she performs with the National Symphony Orchestra, has served as an adjunct professor of music at George Washington University, and is currently assistant principal cellist of “The President’s Own” Marine Chamber Orchestra, where she performs in such diverse settings as the White House, area public schools, and for events hosted by the United Nations and State Department.

A performer who seeks out the voices of today, she collaborates with a growing set of composers, including Reinaldo Moya, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Juhi Bansal, and Kennedy Center composer-in-residence Carlos Simon. Carrie authored a doctoral dissertation on the cello works of Pēteris Vasks and in 2021 performed as soloist in the North American premiere of his Cello Concerto No. 2. She took part in the Carnegie Hall workshop “New Voices, New Music” and has performed chamber music at such venues as the Phillips Collection, Zankel Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Roulette, and an in-house educational residency at the 92nd Street Y.

Carrie holds degrees from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York (Doctor of Musical Arts), Indiana University, and the Eastman School of Music. She was a fellow at the New World Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center. Forthcoming in 2024-25 are recordings of chamber music by Carlos Simon (with Domenic Salerni, Efi Hackmey, and Carl DuPont) and clarinet trios by Brahms and Beethoven (with Robert DiLutis and Rita Sloan).

Efi Hackmey

Praised for his highly personal interpretations and “feather-light pianism” (Washington Classical Review), Efi Hackmey is recognized for his lyricism and beauty of tone. As Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Chiarina Chamber Players he performs regularly on Chiarina’s concert series, which has won critical acclaim for its artistry and innovative programming, called “some of the most compelling chamber programs in town” by the Washington Post.

Efi has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio, the Kennedy Center and Bargemusic, and in the Friends of Mozart series in NYC. In his native Israel he performed as soloist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Jerusalem Music Center. Efi is often featured on WETA Classical’s Front Row Washington.

A passionate chamber musician, Efi has collaborated with the Attacca Quartet, Imani Winds, clarinetists Ricardo Morales and Charles Neidich, baritone Randall Scarlata, cellist Marcy Rosen and violinists Catherine Cho, Todd Phillips and Nurit Bar-Josef, among others.

Efi’s recordings include the 2025 release of The Best Cuisine: Music of Carlos Simon on the Azica label, and the 2013 album Polish Violin Music on the Naxos label, among others.

Efi has served on the piano faculty at DePauw University, and he also taught at the Indiana University system. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and degrees in piano and conducting from Tel Aviv University. He studied with Menahem Pressler, Pnina Salzman and Dina Turgeman, and has had additional coaching with Lazar Berman, Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Janos Starker and Jaime Laredo.