Noted for his “expressive warmth” (Chicago Classical Review), San Antonio-based violinist Brendan Speltz serves as Director of Artistic Programming for Chamber Connexions at The Orchestra San Antonio. A former member of the internationally acclaimed Escher String Quartet, he has appeared at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Savannah Music Festival, and Wigmore Hall.

Committed to expanding the reach of classical music, Speltz has created innovative concert experiences across the U.S. and Canada, described by The New Yorker as “thrilling, poignant, unexpected, and utterly DIY.” He has toured with ensembles including A Far Cry, Ethel, Harlem Quartet, and the Manhattan Chamber Players, and has performed with the Mark Morris Dance Group, American Ballet Theatre, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He holds degrees from the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music, and plays a 1925 Carl Becker violin.

Grammy® Award-winning clarinetist Mark Dover is a man of many horns, maintaining firm roots in classical music while ever-expanding into the vast world of improvised music. Since 2016 he has served as the clarinetist of Imani Winds, and has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Albany Symphonies, and the American Composers Orchestra. Most recently, Mark was awarded a Grammy as a player and producer for “Best Classical Compendium” at the 2024 Grammy Awards for Imani Wind’s latest release, “Passion for Bach and Coltrane.” His debut album with Imani Winds, “Bruits,” was nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance at the 2022 Grammy Awards. In 2023 Mark also joined the chamber ensemble yMusic. 2023 highlights include appearances at Carnegie Hall Presents with both Imani Winds and yMusic, NPR’s tiny desk with yMusic, and debuts at La Jolla Music Society and Tippet Rise Arts Center.

Mark has performed throughout the United States and abroad, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center, the Elbphilharmonie, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to performing with Imani Winds, Mark is the clarinetist with Manhattan Chamber Players. He has performed with the Detroit Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra at Kent Blossom Music Festival, The Knights, Nu Deco Ensemble, and has performed at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Spoleto, Chamber Music Northwest, and many other Chamber Music series and festivals throughout the country and abroad.

Mark joined the chamber music faculty at Curtis Institute of Music in 2021. He is on the clarinet faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, and Queens College, CUNY. Mark has conducted masterclasses at numerous academic institutions throughout the country, such as University of Michigan, Manhattan School of Music and the University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to his work in the classical world, Mark has an extensive background in jazz and improvised music. He formed the multi-genre duo Port Mande with pianist/producer Jeremy Jordan in 2017. Their debut EP “Is This Loss?” was released in July of 2020.  A frequent collaborator with American funk band, Vulfpeck, Mark was featured as a performer and arranger on their highly acclaimed album “Thrill of the Arts,” and in 2019, played to a sold-out Madison Square Garden. He has performed and/or recorded with musicians of many different genres, including Jason and Alicia Moran, Chris Thile, Edward Simon, Brian Blade, Scott Colley, David Binney, Bernard Purdie, Cyrille Aimée, Lawrence, Darren Criss, Theo Katzman, Joey Dosik, Charlie Rosen and his 8 Bit Big Band, ETHEL, Dave Malloy, Phillipa Soo, Kris Bowers, Michael Thurber, Tessa Lark, Louis Cato, Charles Yang, and many more.

A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Mark received his Masters of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and his Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan. His teachers include David Krakauer, Deborah Chodacki, and Jay DeVries.

Mark is a Buffet Crampon and Vandoren Artist. He lives in New York City with his wife, soprano Faylotte Joy Crayton, and their daughter Lulu.

Daniel Anastasio is a soloist and chamber musician based in San Antonio, Texas who combines an intellectual curiosity with “technical prowess and emotional sensitivity” (San Antonio Report). As Artistic Director of several organizations including Agarita and the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, his innovative programs have included collaborations with dancers, writers, museums, photographers, glass-blowers, and more. As a performer with a diverse skillset, he has performed Bach’s Goldberg Variations on harpsichord one week, and premiered a multimedia work by Rome Prize-winning contemporary composer Christopher Stark on MIDI keyboard the next. An active proponent of new music, he is the co-founder and pianist of Unheard-of Ensemble, a group that creates engaging interdisciplinary works in direct collaboration with emerging artists and composers across the United States, and tours actively. An Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Keyboard Studies at San Antonio College, Anastasio received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Philosophy from Cornell University under Xak Bjerken, a Master of Music degree from Juilliard under Jerome Lowenthal, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, where he studied with Gilbert Kalish and Christina Dahl.