 Nikolai received a Master of Art Degree in Music with a concentration in Jazz Guitar from the University of Arts in Russia, and he is currently working towards his Post-Graduate Degree in Classical Guitar Performance at USC in Columbia, SC. Mr. Svishev's musical background includes both film and television soundtracks, numerous music festivals and recordings in Russia, Europe and the United States. He has performed prestigious events for President George W. Bush, and the Governor and South Carolina Speaker of The House. Nikolai currently performs both jazz and classical genres with his jazz ensemble for receptions and corporate events as well as performing as a soloist for wedding ceremonies around the Charleston area.
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Ben Wells |
Jazz - Upright Bass |
 Ben Wells was born and raised in Asheville, NC where his interest in music developed while studying piano at an early age. He was first introduced to Jazz while attending the Fine Arts Center of Greenville under nationally recognized instructor Steve Watson. Ben studied Jazz Bass with Frank Duvall at The College of Charleston earning a Bachelors Degree and an Artist Certificate in Jazz Performance. Since then, Ben has made a career out of playing music in venues throughout the Charleston area. His musical career has taken him to cities along the east coast including New York City and Washington DC. He has performed in Paris, France with the United States Musical Ambassadors and also received two "Outstanding Soloist" awards as well as "Outstanding Musicianship" at the 2008 and 2009 Athens Twilight Jazz Festival. Ben currently performs the upright Bass in the Market Street Trio. The jazz ensemble performs Sunday Brunch at Charleston's Tristan Restaurant on the Market.
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 Born in Atlanta, GA, Stuart White developed an interest in music at an early age, and started playing drums when he was 12 years old. After participating in middle and high school band programs (along with some extracurricular punk rock), he moved to Boone, NC to study classical percussion at Appalachian State University. While at ASU, Stuart performed with the wind ensemble, percussion ensemble, and the Steely Pan Steel Drum Band. In 2004 he transferred to the College of Charleston to study jazz drums with Quentin Baxter. During his time at CofC, White became highly involved with the Charleston music scene, and performed with numerous artists like Leah Suarez, The New Groove Quartet, The Pulse Trio, Kevin Hackler, Havanason and many more. In 2007 Stuart played drums on Kevin Hackler’s latest CD release, Absalon. In April of 2008 he received an outstanding soloist award at the Athens Twilight Jazz Festival at the University of Georgia. Stuart graduated in 2008 with a B.A. in Music as well as Arts Management, and continues to perform professionally in Charleston and the Southeast. He can currently be seen performing with the Pulse Trio, Frank Duvall, Cameron Harder-Handlel, Entropy Ensemble, Weigh Station, Organ Donor, Kevin Hackler, Quasiphonics, The Jordan Gravel Trio, Elise Testone, The Freeloaders, and many others.
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Frank Duvall |
Jazz Keyboard/Piano |
 Born and raised in Rome, Georgia, Mr. Duvall began his musical training in the fifth grade playing trumpet in the middle school band and went on to perform on the electric bass in his high school years. Mr. Duvall was accepted as a trumpeter in the US Army where, and after basic training attended the Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. Upon leaving the Army, he applied and was accepted at the University of South Carolina as a jazz and commercial music major on bass studying primarily with the late Dr. John Emche, an accomplished jazz pianist, arranger and composer. During Mr. Duvall's sophomore year, he took a semester off to be part of an eleven week US tour with a group out of Opryland, USA. After graduating magna cum laude, Mr. Duvall began his Master's degree at USC in Music Composition with an emphasis in jazz studying with Dr. Dick Goodwin. It was after one year of his Master's studies that Mr. Duvall left school to tour the US with pianist/singer/entertainer Buddy Greco who began his career in Benny Goodman's band. After returning to USC to finish his graduate studies, Mr. Duvall relocated to New York City where he performed in jazz clubs, off-Broadway shows and worked in music studios primarily with guitarist/producer Joe Taylor. Mr. Duvall returned to South Carolina after nearly two years in New York and soon thereafter relocated to Charleston, SC where he eventually began performing as a jazz pianist with good friend Robert Lewis, a highly regarded jazz saxophonist and composer, who heads the jazz department at the College of Charleston. Mr. Duvall is currently a professor in the College of Charleston Jazz Program.
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 Tyler Ross currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina where he performs, composes, and teaches jazz guitar at the College of Charleston. He completed his undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a master’s at Western Illinois University both in jazz performance. With eclectic tastes ranging from folk to jazz to rock, Tyler continues to acknowledge and explore his broad musical interests through a variety of projects.
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 Trey Eaddy was born in Charleston, South Carolina where his early interest in music lead him to study instruments such as trumpet, piano and settling on guitar. He was introduced to Jazz through a Duke Ellington album given to him upon graduating high-school. Trey has studied Jazz Guitar with Lee Barbour, Frank Duvall and Tyler Ross. He earned a BA in Jazz Performance from College of Charleston in May of 2010. Since then Trey has performed in and around the Charleston area in a wide variety of musical settings and teaches music lessons on a regular basis.
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Heather Emrich "Heddy Rae" |
Jazz Vocals |
 Heddy Rae is a Charleston,SC native who returned to the city after a five years in Munich and a 2 year stint in Boston. She began her musical studies in classical voice under the highly respected Ambrose Holford and continued in Munich with opera singer Gedvidas Lazauskas. She has performed in prestigious choral groups such as Munchen Akademischer Gesangverein and Boston's Chorus Pro Musica. In 2004, she began studying jazz at the Berklee School of Music Workshop in Umbria, Italy and continued her studies at the New England Conservatory. There she studied with with jazz vocalist Rebecca Shrimpton and performing in various jazz ensembles. Currently she studies with Frank Duvall. She has played numerous high profile events such as The Historic Charleston Foundations annual Young Advocates Soiree, Charleston Garden Festival, South Carolina Historical Society and the Building Arts College annual Gala. Heather currently performs for Sunday Brunch at Charleston's Tristan Restaurant as lead vocalist of the Market Street Trio.
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Joe Clarke |
Jazz Keyboard/Piano |
 Joe Clarke has had a life long love affair with Big Band music. As a child, he would spend hours listening to Sinatra, Henry Mancini, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller just to name a few. As a youngster, Joe studied percussion and then the trumpet and piano while in high school and college.
While obtaining a degree in psychology at the Citadel, Joe pursued his own musical interests and dreams of leading his own big band. He was musical director for all the yearly talent shows while at the Citadel and while serving as the band director for the College of Charleston, he began writing his own 3 and 4 horn arrangements. While working at the college, he began gathering musicians and finally organized his own big band. Being a child of the 70s and 80s and it’s music, Joe brings a new twist to the fine art of singing the big band and jazz standards. He often says, "I like a little rock & roll in my jazz and a little jazz in my rock & roll." In the past eight years, Joe Clarke has served as musical director for several shows; "Swingtime Canteen," "Behind the Rainbow-The Harold Arlen Story" (He played Harold Arlen in this production.) "Stardust Man - The Hoagy Carmichael Story," "The Wild One" the life and times of Louis Prima. Keely Enright, Producer and director of these shows has given Joe his first taste of the stage. I think he's hooked. In 2009 Joe played in "Splish, Splash" another production at The Village Playhouse. This was a review of the the music and life of Bobby Darin. Joe sang all the greatest hits that Bobby Darin made famous: Splish Splash, More, Mack the Knife, Beyond the Sea, etcetera.
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Adam Parrot |
Jazz Percussion |
 Adam Parrott has been a professional percussionist since age 16. With a growing number of jazz, world, theater and pop music performances he has quickly become a first call musician for the south east and beyond. His formative years as a musician were a combination of classical instruction with a raw desire to perform and explore all that the music world has to offer. In college he performed under multiple Broadway Conductors, as well as studying jazz under Charleston great Quentin Baxter. He also studied West African drumming with Pascal Younge (from Ghana) and Jim Donovan (from Rusted Root). After finishing his undergrad in percussion performance, Adam has toured the South East with such highlights as the Savannah Blues Festival, Jazz After Hours Combo Concert in Myrtle Beach, a head-lining slot at Clemson University, a production for Charleston Stage and a performance for Piccolo Spoleto.
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Jake Holwegner |
Jazz Upright Bass |
 Jacob Holwegner began his journey as a musician at age 12. After leaving North Dakota for South Carolina, Jake attended the College of Charleston jazz program, studying from and performing with world class musicians. He later traveled to Cuba to immerse himself in Cuban music. Jake's musical flexibility and curiosity allows him to play diverse genres ranging from classic jazz to salsa, gypsy swing to Bulgarian galduka, bluegrass to rock n' roll. He has collaborated with performers such as Quentin Baxter, Taras Koval, Joe Beck, Tommy Gill, Fernando Rivas (Grammy Winner), John Ellis, Frank Duvall, Stephan Rambault (acclaimed French Gypsy Swing artist), Gino Castillo and Angel Gadev. Jake's jazz ensembles include the Quentin Baxter Trio, Rudy Waltz Jazz Ensemble, Havanason and Caravan. He has appeared on numerous studio recordings and released "A Night in Samos" with the band Caravan, featuring Kris Woodrum and Lee Barbour. Jake has performed all over the United States, in the Caribbean, Western Europe and Cuba. His art festival appearances include the Piccolo Spoleto festival (SC) and Jazz Artists of Charleston (SC) events.
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Mike Wolk |
Jazz Keyboard/Piano |
 Born in 1953 in Boston, Mike Wolk has been performing music in South Carolina since 1995. He moved to New Orleans in 1975 and has been a resident of South Carolina since 1978. He studied jazz for many years with Earl Greene following the Manhattan School of Music jazz curriculum where Greene studied with Thelonious Monk, Tony Aless and others. He currently leads his own group, the Mike Wolk Jazz Group. Along with his band and solo, he has recording extensively and performed at numerous venues and festivals in the Southeast. His band also performed at Mistral Restaurant on Market Street in Charleston nearly every week for over 10 years. Besides jazz, he has been studying classical and other forms of music. Collaborating with three other musicians, Wolk wrote original music to accompany six paintings by artist Peter Scala. They performed these compositions at the South of Broadway Theatre during the 2009 North Charleston Arts Festival.
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William Moore |
Jazz Upright & Electric Bass |
 William is a graduate of the College of Charleston where he studied and majored in Jazz performance. William currently lives in Charleston and works with a variety of musicians across the Carolinas as a session player, songwriter, and arranger.
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Alex Hennessey |
Jazz Keyboard & Piano |
 Alex Hennessey is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after pianists in the Charleston area, recently working as a rehearsal accompanist and coach for Tony Award-winning actress Patti LuPone. Alex majored in Music Theory & Composition at the College of Charleston, where he earned Departmental Honors and Outstanding Student recognition for Composition in May of 2010. At the College of Charleston, he studied classical piano under Dr. Douglas Ashley and participated in jazz ensembles. Alex often works as a musical director and pianist for several theaters in the Charleston area. He has studied classical piano for 13 years and, as a frequent accompanist, is well-versed in jazz and showtunes as well.
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Andrew W. Mille |
Cellist ~ Manager |
.JPG) Andrew Mille began his cello studies in the USC strings project in Columbia S.C. at the age of eight. He went on to play for both the South Carolina Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and All State Orchestra during his high school years and in 2000 was awarded the Harry Lightsey scholarship to continue his studies at the College of Charleston under the instruction of Damian Kremer. Pursuing a Bachelors degree in cello performance, Andrew went on to give performances for Piccolo Spoleto, the Monday Night Concert Series, Music Under the Oaks and for the Bishop Gadsden Community. In the summers spanning from 2001 to 2004 Andrew attended the Meadowmount School of Music in upstate New York and was under the instruction of Owen Carmen. During this time, he also served as principal cellist of the CofC chamber orchestra, and was given the opportunity to be a soloist, performing the J.C. Bach double cello concerto with orchestra. Upon completion of his bachelor’s degree in “05 Andrew went on to study with Natalia Khoma as part of the Artist Certificate program at CofC. Andrew currently performs with and manages Classical Charleston as well as Jazz Charleston. He also teaches cello and is a faculty member of the Charleston Music School.
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 Roman Pekar, Bassist, was born in Ukraine and began his music studies at the age of 5 learning violin. Roman later went on to study the bass which would become his primary instrument. He graduated from the Leontovich Music College in Vinnitsa, Ukraine and the Saint Petersburg State Conservatoire in Saint Petersburg, Russia where he received a Master of Music Degree in Bass Performance in 1998. In 1991-2001 he was a member of State Symphony Orchestra. Since 2001, Roman has lived in Charleston, SC performing with the Charleston Symphony on occasion as well as teaching and performing at various events. Roman has performed around Europe and Asia, and has also recorded a number of CD's.
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 Tomas Jakubek started his violin studies at the age of seven in his native country of Slovakia. He studied violin at the Conservatory in Zilina, then at the Janacek Academy of Music in Brno (Czech Republic) where he received his Masters Degree in violin performance. He has also studied at the Lithuanian Academy of Music in Vilnius under Jurgis Dvarionas, who was a student of David Oistrach. Mr. Jakubek participated in the two year Artist Certificate Program at the College of Charleston, studying under Lee-Chin Siow from the Fall of 2007 to the Spring of 2009. During this time he served as concertmaster for the College of Charleston Orchestra under the direction of Lorenzo Muti. Mr. Jakubek has recently become the violin adjunct faculty at the College beginning in the Fall of 2009. He often performs with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra as well as the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. He has played in various concerts on four continents with the following European orchestras: Junge Philharminie Wien , Europa Philharmonie Magdeburg ,Czech Chamber Orchestra Prague , Czech Philharmony of Brno.
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