Crosswinds Chamber Ensemble

Gail D. Vehslage, Flutist, received her Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music, studying with William Hebert and her Master's Degree in Performance on flute from San Diego State University, studying with Roger Stevens. She has performed as principal flute with the Hidden Valley Chamber Orchestra in Carmel California., Santa Cruz Symphony, San Diego Opera Orchestra, Hawaii Philharmonic, and the Hawaii Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Vehslage has taught flute privately for 28 years and conducts two flute choirs for the Chesapeake Youth Symphony. She also leads the South River Flute Consort. In addition to performing with Crosswinds, she performs locally with the Annapolis Wind Symphony, and Classical Faire, a flute and classical guitar duo.

Phyllis Crossen-Richardson, Clarinetist, received her Doctorate in Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland where she is a student of Loren Kitt. She holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Maryland and Bachelor of Music degree from The Peabody Conservatory of Music. She spent many years in Philadelphia teaching and performing with The Tyler Chamber Players, and Trilogy. Currently, Dr. Crossen-Richardson is a Co-Director and faculty member of the University of Maryland's Clarinet Connection. She has taught clarinet privately for 25 years and has coached chamber music ensembles at the University of Maryland and at South River High School. Besides performing with Crosswinds, she plays in the Crossen Duo, performs with the Annapolis Wind Symphony, and free-lances in the Baltimore-Washington area. Ms. Crossen-Richardson has done extensive work on the ICA score collection catalog and Daniel Bonade Papers.

Kari Krueger Shea, Bassoonist, holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Illinois, Master of Music from SUNY at Stony Brook and a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Shea has performed throughout the United States and Europe with such ensembles as the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Opera, Forest Philharmonic in London, England, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Festival Orchestra in Eisenstadt, Austria, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed on chamber concert series in France, Sweden and Nova Scotia and has served as a faculty member of Millikin University in Illinois. Currently she performs with the Maryland Chamber Orchestra, the Annapolis Wind Symphony, and for the Baltimore Composers Forum. In addition to freelancing in the Baltimore-Washington area, she teaches at Frederick Community College, Music and Arts and Musical Expressions.

Sayuri Itoya Johnson, Pianist, spent her early years listening to her mother teach piano and started her own training at three, in Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from the Toho Music College Preparatory School in 1987 and enrolled in The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston that same year. She studied piano under Gabriel Chodos and chamber music with Louis Krasner. In 1989 she played in the Aspen Music Festival’s Young Artist Concert. In 1992 she gave a concert in Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Johnson received a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory, where she studied piano with Patricia Zander and ensemble performance with Benjamin Zander. In 1995 she started the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at the University of Maryland, studying with Anne Koschelny and Raymond Hanson. In addition to performing with Crosswinds, she has a thriving private studio in Annapolis, Maryland.