Ensemble Mycelium
A Chamber music collective Rooted in Expansion
Ensemble Mycelium is a chamber music collective dedicated to the performance of new and existing works, expanding the presentation of their field and engaging new audiences through an interconnection of multi-disciplinary mediums. Founded in 2022 by cellist Molly Aronson, Ensemble Mycelium creates eclectic programs that weave together music from a diverse array of styles and time periods, often alongside media such as film, dance, and live painting. Since its inception, Ensemble Mycelium has been active in the commissioning of new works by composers including Nick Virzi, a NYC-based composer whose work includes chamber music that uses original film and sound recordings, as well as trio works by Anne-Marie Keane and Asher Komor. Past concerts have included an ongoing collaboration with the Sheep Meadow Dance Theatre, a NYC-based dance company that explores movement through socially engaged dance practice and repertoire ranging from site-specific performance art, film works, and classical ballet. This collaboration with SMDT has received support through organizations such as the Queens Council for the Arts, including grants dedicated to the creation of new works. Ensemble Mycelium recently performed a program called Sinister Soirée in collaboration with Classical Keys Concert Series, which featured music alongside silent horror film projections, performed on the Saratoga Salon Series with painter Gerald Stulc, and were Artists-in-Residence for AVID Dance Company’s inaugural season. In programming adventurous and wide ranging concerts, Ensemble Mycelium creates live experiences that bring together a mélange of musical works which speak to larger themes. The resulting concert programs appeal to both seasoned classical music audiences and members of the general public who otherwise have not had access to such music. As such, Ensemble Mycelium aims to reach a broad audience through the promotion of both traditional and contemporary chamber music.
2024-2025 Roster
Taisiya Pushkar - Pianist
Described as 'a graceful pianist', with an 'impeccable sense of timing', Taisiya Pushkar enjoys a vibrant career as a collaborative pianist. Having performed extensively in Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Canada and the United States as a recitalist and in collaboration with many leading singers and instrumentalists, Taisiya is in demand as a dynamic performer and a sensitive collaborator. She is currently the official pianist of Melodia Women's Choir of NYC and the first full-time collaborative pianist of Young People's Chorus of NYC.
Mialtin Zhezha- Violinist
Hailed by The Hartford Courant for his “expressive and warm sound, and faultless intonation,”Mr. Zhezha concertizes extensively as a soloist and chamber musician. Mialtin Zhezha serves as concertmaster of the Mozart Orchestra of New York, New York Classical Symphony Orchestra, and Radio City Music Hall Orchestra as well as Viola principal of Metamorphoses Orchestra, guest Principal violist and violinist with The Orchestra of St Lukes, substitute violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He serves as a Principal Second Violin of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra as well as a member of the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra.
Laura Manko Sahin - Violist
Laura Manko Sahin has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Following her concerto debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2005, she has soloed with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, New England Repertory Orchestra, Oure Pleasure Singers, and University of North Carolina School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra. Laura was formerly the Principal violist of the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra and violist of the Boston Harp Trio.
Lily Holgate - Violinist
Lily Holgate performs with the String Orchestra of New York City (SONYC), the Harrisburg Symphony, the Saratoga Chamber Players, the Trinity-Wall Street Orchestra, and in the pit orchestra of Wicked on Broadway. Lily frequently collaborates with horn player Ann Ellsworth, and is one half of sibyl, a duo with her sister, singer Chloe Holgate. Lily is deeply committed to bringing chamber music to audiences beyond the concert hall. Through participating in Ensemble Connect's Audience Engagement Institute, she has performed in schools, veteran's homes, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, homes for adults with disabilities and centers for addiction treatments.
Molly Aronson - Cellist & Founder
With a passion for collaboration and expansion, cellist Molly Aronson looks to bring people together through the arts. Finding common ties between disciplines, she works with esteemed visual artists, dancers and choreographers, writers, filmmakers, actors, and composers to discover innovative takes on presenting classical music and the arts. She enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and educator, performing across the U.S. and internationally.
Billy Blanken - Choreographer-in-Residence
Billy Blanken is a distinguished professional in teaching dance and choreography, boasting an impressive track record of over two decades in the industry. Currently serving as a sought-after instructor for Adult Ballet at the Peridance Center in New York City, Billy has solidified his expertise through both national and international performances with a diverse array of esteemed companies. As a highly versatile dancer, Billy transitioned from a principal guest artist in 2016, leaving an indelible mark on stages worldwide. In 2016, he founded Sheep Meadow Dance Theatre, for which he is a choreographer and director. In 2022, Billy further expanded his impact by joining the respected faculty at SUNY Purchase College. He became certified as a GYROTONIC Certified Instructor in 2024 working with Master Trainers Carla Rigon, Juergen Bamberger and Justine Bernard.
Nick Virzi - Composer
Nick Virzi is a composer from New York City whose work includes acoustic, electronic, and electro-acoustic music, as well as intermedia pieces and multichannel installations. His recent pieces explore the relationships between humans and the natural world, numerology and rhythmic structure, and ethnography and identity. Nick’s music has been performed around the world by leading artists including Séverine Ballon, Tony Arnold, the JACK Quartet, Splinter Reeds, Ensemble Liminar, Distractfold, the Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, the TAK Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, and Wild Up. Dr. Virzi completed his D.M.A. in Composition at Stanford University, where he studied with Mark Applebaum and Brian Ferneyhough. He recently completed the H&S Dean’s Fellowship at Stanford, where he was a Lecturer in the Department of Music and the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).
Sheep Meadow Dance Theatre - Ballet Company
Billy Blanken founded SMDT in 2016 as a medium for exploring movement through a socially engaged dance practice. The project creates repertoire ranging from site-specific performance art, film works and classical ballet with a mission to provide the highest quality in dance theatre performance for all. SMDT has performed at the Dumbo Dance Festival, the Plaxall Gallery, Dixon Place, Peridance Center, Pennington Day, The Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, Brooklyn School of Music, No One Can Survive Alone Benefit, the LUNGS Dance Festival, The Moving Beauty Series, Sans Limites Spring Season The Dance Festival Lower East Side, The Hudson Guild Theatre, The White Wave Solo/Duo Festival, NACHMO, the Queens Museum, The Actors Fund Art's Center, Triskellion Arts, The Queensboro Dance Festival, among others. In 2022, they completed a year long collaboration with Highline String Quartet at the Irondale Center called “Tchaikovsky and More.”
Oded Geizhals - Composer & Percussionist
Oded Geizhals is a multi-disciplinary musician who specializes in contemporary classical music, improvisation and has played in many premieres, including works written especially for him. He has been the principle percussionist of the Israel Contemporary Players since 2010. As a composer, he writes concert chamber music, music for dance, film and animation. Oded is part of the artistic directing team of Opening festival for contemporary sound-art, Trier. As a percussionist he has played with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Sinfonieorchester Aachen, Neues Orchester Basel, Collegium Musicum Basel, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, and The Israeli Camerata Jerusalem. He performed with early music ensembles as Profeti della Quinta, Barrocade, Phoenix, Mezmor LeDavid and Tourterelles.
Einat Aronstein - Soprano
Israeli soprano Einat Aronstein divides her time between Opera, Contemporary and Early music. She has sung with Ensemble Modern and regularly performs with different Baroque ensembles, including her own Ensemble Arava. Aronstein has sung with orchestras such as the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest The Hague and the Philharmonisches Orchester der Stadt Trier. She sings regularly in Die Donaueschinger Musiktage, Ultraschall Festival, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Festival Classique Den Haag, Aldeburgh Festival and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. She performed at the Israeli Opera, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Theater Trier, Stadttheater Fürth, EntArteOpera, Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, Théatre D’Esch, Prinzregententheater München, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Konzerthaus Wien, Liederhalle Stuttgart and Museum of Modern Art in Salzburg.
REcent Collaborators:
Edward W. Hardy, violin
Kyle Walker, piano
Daniel Colalillo, piano
AVID Dance Company
Anne-Marie Keane, composer
Asher Komor, composer & flute
Laurin Federlin, filmmaker
Gerald Stulc, painter
American Composer’s Alliance
