band bios
Jacob Ashworth (Co-creator & Violist), stepped into the role of Artistic Director for Heartbeat in the summer of 2022, after eight seasons as Co-Music Director. A conductor and violinist, Jacob has also been the “impressive Artistic Director” (New York Times) of Heartbeat's sister company, the baroque and modern “crack ensemble” (New Yorker) Cantata Profana, which he founded in 2012 at the Yale School of Music. As an Artistic Director, Jacob has become increasingly well known as a curator, always telling a new story of the history of music and opera; his vision for crafting rarely-heard masterpieces into theatrical, genre-bending chamber music shows earned Cantata Profana the 2016 CMA/ASCAP National Award for Adventurous Programming. See more here.
Yu-Ting Cheng (Clarinetist) is hailed for her “extraordinary virtuosity” (CHIMEI Arts Award), as well as for her “sublime playing” and “radiant tone” (Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Corigliano), Dr. Yu-Ting Cheng is an artist of uncommon musical versatility. She has earned recognition as a solo artist by winning numerous top prizes in her career, including the 32nd Chimei Arts Award, the American Prize National Competitions in Instrumental Performance and the Ernst Bacon Award of American Music.
Yu-Ting frequently performs across the US, Europe and Asia. Her recent highlights include Webern Symphony and Boulez Polyphonie X with Lucerne Contemporary Orchestra at Berlin Philharmonie and Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre, The Chinese Now Music Festival Concert at Alice Tully Hall, Schubert Die Verschworenen with Maestro Phillip Nuzzo and Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra at Wien Musikverein, Butterfly Lovers Clarinet Concerto (world premiere) with BCO, off-Broadway opera "Watch Night”, album “Unseen” by composer Michael Torke.
A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Yu-Ting received two master’s degrees from Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and Manhattan School of Music. She also holds a doctoral degree from Stony Brook University. Yu-Ting serves as Principal Clarinet of the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra. She is currently the Music Director of the MusicON Festival.
Nikki Pet (Clarinetist) is an artist who specializes in multimedia performance. By choreographing imagery to reinforce and enhance musical nuance, Nikki seeks to engage unfamiliar audiences with a wide variety of classical repertoire. In collaboration with her sister, data scientist and music technologist Kaitlin Pet, Nikki has created live and digital music performances that use A.I.-enhanced technology to automatically synchronize live music with animated visual projections, producing an immersive, multi-sensory experience. Their collaborative work has been presented in concerts and conferences worldwide, including at the Yale School of Music, Indiana University, and Oxford University.
Multimedia productions Nikki has created include Igor Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 5 (created at the request of the composer). These performances, among others, can be found on Nikki’s website: claripet.com
Nikki is currently a D.M.A. student in clarinet performance at the Yale School of Music, studying with David Shifrin. Festivals Nikki has participated in include Interplay at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Kneisel Hall.
Jen Augello (Clarinetist) is a producer and consultant who loves finding ways to connect music, children’s media, and science. She is currently a freelance musician based in New York City and Chicago and has enjoyed performing with a variety of ensembles and for tv/film, including West Point Band, Netflix’s Go, Dog, Go, YouTube Originals’ Jam Van, Paper Mill Playhouse, Orchestra Iowa, and with members of the Detroit Symphony and Houston Grand Opera. Jen has many years of experience as a teaching artist, and has made guest appearances both as a performer and teacher at Colorado Mesa University, University of South Alabama, University of Iowa, Bard Prep, and Middle Tennessee State University.
Jen also currently serves as the Production Manager for Sesame Street and is a freelance Production Manager at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In the past she served as a booking consultant for Broadway Pops International, Director of Operations at Tertulia Chamber Music, and was a former D’Addario Woodwinds Method Clinician. She also produced concerts & workshops for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, for Carnegie Hall’s educational programming, and Music Academy of the West.
Louis Arques (Clarinetist), born in the French Alps, has now been ascending musical heights in New York City for eight years. As a clarinetist, he performs solos with orchestras (B. Marsalis Blues, M. Gorecki Trio Concerto, Mozart Concerto), is a sought-after chamber music partner (Bridget Kibbey Trio, Diálogos Brazilian Duo, Quintet of the Americas) and orchestra principal.
Believing in artistic creation, he commissions and champions new works by European and American composers. He also performs as a saxophonist and singer, and you can hear him with Afro-Cuban and Jazz ensembles across the city.
As an artistic director and orchestral conductor, he created the Avalanche Orchestra to cross musical boundaries and foster education through music and arts. Louis Arques is also co-directs the Brooklyn Orchestra and is an active artistic production consultant.
Passionate about education, he has taught clarinet at Ithaca College and saxophone at Cornell University and is on faculty at Diller-Quaile School of Music.
David Valbuena (Clarinetist) is based in Queens, NY, and has established himself as a versatile and compelling woodwind artist and educator. As a passionate chamber musician, he is a member of the Quintet of the Americas and Sugar Hill Salon. David’s diverse collaborations span ensembles such as the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Heart-Beat Opera, On-Site Opera, West Point Band, S.E.M. Ensemble, and ShoutHouse. Notably, he regularly performed as a substitute in the 2018 Off-Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, both in the pit and on stage as a klezmer musician.
David has performed at prestigious festivals like the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, Connecticut Summer Festival, NYC Electro-Acoustic Music Festival, Montreal New Music Festival, and the Endless Mountain Music Festival. He is currently on faculty at Kinhaven Music School and Third Street Music School and works as a bilingual teaching artist at The Hamilton Grange Middle School. Additionally, he holds teaching residencies throughout New York City with Midori & Friends.
A dedicated educator, David coaches chamber music groups at Queens College, Fordham University, and the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program. He holds a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from Queens College.
Nadeen Fankhauser (Clarinetist) is based in Brooklyn, NY, known for her versatile performances in diverse musical settings. She regularly performs with ensembles including the New England Symphonic Ensemble in Carnegie Hall, the Garden State Philharmonic, and in Wicked on Broadway. Nadeen has also held positions with the Evansville Philharmonic in Indiana, Orchestra Iowa in Cedar Rapids, and has performed with the New World Symphony in Florida.
A passionate chamber musician and proponent of new music, she is a member of the Park Slope Chamber Players, where she performs and records both new and classical works.
In addition to her performing, Nadeen has enjoyed teaching clarinet since early in her career, currently teaching at Poly Prep, Brooklyn High School for the Arts, Saint Saviour Catholic Academy and privately.
Nadeen holds a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Lawrence McDonald, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. She earned her Master of Music from Florida State University under Frank Kowalsky and completed a Performance Certificate at Northwestern University with Steven Cohen and Lawrie Bloom.
Doug Wieselman (Clarinetist) has worked with a variety of artists in different fields - from composing for theater, dance, film as well as being a player and arranger for many diverse musical artists. Collaborations include Anohni and the Johnsons, Laurie Anderson, CocoRosie, Jerome Robbins, Robert Woodruff, and Hal Willner. He has co- led Kamikaze Ground Crew for over 30 years and leads his trio - Trio S, with ‘cellist Jane Scarpantoni and drummer Kenny Wollesen He has released two solo records - “From Water” - based on melodies he has heard from bodies of water - and “WA-Zoh” based on and inspired by bird songs. He also was co-composer for the Nickelodeon children animated show The Backyardigans in association with Evan Lurie.
Jasper Shogo Dutz (Clarinetist) is a distinguished multi-woodwind instrumentalist based in New York City, originally hailing from Los Angeles. In addition to playing freelance gigs in the NYC area, Jasper is the lead alto saxophonist in the Grammy-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra directed by Arturo O'Farrill. He also leads his own quartet that blends Japanese folk influences with jazz, combining both his creative background and his heritage. In 2023, Jasper founded the J-Pop/Jazz cover band Catbus Collective, where he showcases his virtuosity on various woodwind instruments alongside several colleagues in a modular configuration. Beyond performing, he serves as the artistic director for VGM Jam Sessions NYC, a role he has held since 2021. A graduate of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he attended on a full tuition scholarship, Jasper has collaborated with renowned artists such as Nels Cline, Joel Ross, Lenny Pickett, Jon Batiste, and Ron Carter.
Katherine Fortunato (Percussionist) is praised for her “passion in every note” (Artburst Miami) and her “expressive, ferocious, and thrilling” performances (La Scena Musicale), Katherine Fortunato is a percussionist based in New York City who has made a name for herself as a lively and energetic performer unafraid of unorthodox collaborations. Katherine has performed and collaborated with Sandbox Percussion, Linda May Han Oh, Heartbeat Opera, Metropolis Ensemble, and Mark DeChiazza. Katherine performed the North American premiere of Linda May Han Oh’s Ephemeral Echoes in August of 2023. The following spring, Katherine was the percussionist on Heartbeat Opera’s THE EXTINCTIONIST, a world premiere by Daniel Schlosberg featuring thirty percussion Instruments.
Katherine was the winner of the 2023 George and Elizabeth Gregory Concerto Competition and she performed Kevin Puts’ Marimba Concerto with the Mannes Orchestra in October of 2023. In May, Katherine performed Marimba Concerto with the Doctor’s Orchestral Society of New York. She kicked off 2025 with a performance of Christopher Cerrone’s In a Grove at PROTOTYPE Festival with Metropolis Ensemble.
Katherine received her Bachelor’s degree from the Frost School of Music where she studied under Svetoslav Stoyanov and Matthew Strauss. She received her Master’s degree from The New School where she studied with Sandbox Percussion.
Stella Perlic (Percussionist) is an educator based in New York City. She has performed all over New York including Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and Broadway. Recently, she has appeared with the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, Princeton Symphony, Hudson Chorale, Roosevelt Island Orchestra, and Ensemble Echappe. As a teacher, Stella believes everyone has the capacity for music making. She currently teaches private lessons and is a frequent guest teaching artist. Stella holds performance degrees from Eastman and Juilliard, and her hobbies include reading and cooking.