Malesha Jessie              soprano

Pianist Yih-Mei Hu is presently on the faculty of two colleges in the greater Los Angeles area, Chapman University and Scripps College. Her recital experience includes performances in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, the United States and Canada. Dr. Hu has also performed as a concerto soloist with the Hunan ChangSha Symphony Orchestra, the Surabaya Symphony, the Seattle Philharmonic, the University of Victoria Orchestra, and the New Eastman Symphony. Equally in demand as an artist and teacher, Dr. Hu has given masterclasses for young pianists throughout China, Singapore, Indonesia, and the United States. Prior to her current appointments, Dr. Hu was a faculty member at Syracuse University and the University of Southern California. Dr. Hu is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Nelita True, and also completed a Master of Arts in Music Theory Pedagogy. In her spare time, Dr. Hu actively pursues opportunities to fund charities, and has given numerous benefit recitals to support Grace Haven Orphanage of Lashio, Burma.

Jenni Brandon (b. 1977), a composer, conductor, and mezzo-soprano has received a variety of commissions, awards, and grants for her music.  Among these commissions is The Wildflower Trio, a piece to honor the life and work of Lady Bird Johnson and a piece for children’s choir to honor the Marquis de Lafayette on his 250th birthday.

Also active as a conductor and vocalist, Jenni has sung under the direction of a variety of conductors and has appeared in concert with the Boston Pops, Pacific Chorale, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, and at the Hollywood Bowl.  As a choral conductor she is currently the music director of The Concert Singers, a community choir based in Westchester, California.  

Jenni received her B.M. Composition from West Chester University in Pennsylvania, and her M.M. Composition from UT Austin.

Her pieces Five Frogs for woodwind quintet, Earth Grown Old for SATB choir and piano, and The Dark Hills for SATB choir, oboe, and piano are published by Boosey & Hawkes. The Dark Hills appears on the recording “Welcome the Time”, the Yale Glee Club’s live highlights CD from their 2006-2007 season.  The Wildflower Trio will be distributed as a single on the Longhorn Music label in June 2008.