Main Stage

With a celebrated career encompassing five decades, Pinchas Zukerman reigns as one of today’s most sought after and versatile musicians – violin and viola soloist, conductor, and chamber musician. He is renowned as a virtuoso, admired for the expressive lyricism of his playing, singular beauty of tone, and impeccable musicianship, which can be heard throughout his discography of over 100 albums for which he gained two Grammy® awards and 21 nominations.

Shelly Berg is a Steinway piano artist and five-time Grammy-nominated arranger, orchestrator, and producer. His newest album Alegría was recorded with bassist Carlitos Del Puerto and Dafnis Prieto and released July 2024 on ArtistShare. It is described as “buoyant joy” by JazzViews.net and “an instant jazz piano trio classic” by Modern Drummer. Berg’s original song “At Last,” featured on the Alegría album, was nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. Prior albums Gershwin Reimagined: An American in London (Decca Gold), The Deep (Chesky), The Nearness of You (Arbors), Blackbird (Concord) and The Will (CARS) are critically acclaimed. Berg earned three Grammy nominations in the Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) category with jazz singer-lyricist Lorraine Feather and international superstar Gloria Estefan, and a fourth Grammy nomination as co-producer of Gloria Estefan: The Standards (Sony). He earned his fifth Grammy nomination as co-arranger of “I Loves You Porgy / There’s a Boat That’s Leavin’ Soon for New York” from the album Rendezvous (2018) featuring jazz singers Clint Holmes and Dee Dee Bridgewater with The Count Basie Orchestra.

Valerie Coleman is an acclaimed flutist and composer and the founder of Imani Winds; in 2019, she became the first African American woman commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, resulting in Umoja: Anthem of Unity. A prolific composer from a young age-writing whole symphonies by age 14- Coleman is known for blending jazz and classical traditions and earned a Grammy nomination for a classical crossover album featuring her work. Umoja, named for the Swahili word for “unity” and the first principle of Kwanzaa, began as a simple women’s choir song rooted in drum-circle energy, call-and-response, and a memorable melody, later adapted for woodwind quintet as a celebration of Imani Winds’ diverse identities. Featured on the orchestra program at the Vancouver Arts and Music Festival USA in honor of the America 250 celebration, the orchestral version expands this material into a richly textured journey, embodying Coleman’s artistic voice and the enduring American ideal of collective strength.