GUESTS: THE ELLA SISTERS, (FIORELLA VULTAGGIO and GABRIELLA VULTAGGIO)

GABRIELLA VULTAGGIO

Gabriella Vultaggio is one of the strongest up and coming young dancers on the west coast. She has been awarded numerous scholarships from organizations such as Dance Educators of America, Hollywood Vibe, Titans of Dance, West Coast Elite Dance, and Radix Dance Convention. She has had the honor of being recognized, called out of hundreds of dancers in class, and asked to perform in select groups of elite dancers by amazing world-known choreographers like David Moore, Jojo Gomez, Brooke Lipton, and Alexa Anderson.

Gabriella has been chosen to be a member of Art of Movement’s 2018 – 2019 Academy, where she will travel across the country to assist some of the best choreographers in the nation at their various conventions in cities such as Dallas and Minneapolis. Gabriella was selected to dance in Spotlight Dance Cup’s Elite performance where she worked closely with Andre + Leah who are choreographers from Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE show in Las Vegas. Gabriella has also been a  critical group member to Element Dance Studio’s four-time nominated Industry Dance Awards performances.

Before officially choosing dance as her main focus in life, Gabriella was a record setting swimmer, winning several top awards in the pool. It is quite an accomplishment for Gabriella to already be recognized as a stand out dancer, because she has only been training and performing as a soloist for less than half the amount of time as her competition. It is a testament to hard work, determination, and tenacity that anyone can achieve their goals, because during this time Gabriella has had to learn all of the technical and strength aspects of dance while growing twelve inches over the past two years.

Gabriella is excited to be attending Arizona’s Conservatory for Arts and Academics where she will continue to develop her love of the arts. Her creativity in the arts also extends to photography, painting, music, and acting.

FIORELLA VULTAGGIO

Fiorella Vultaggio is the epitome of what hard work can accomplish. She is a straight-A high school student, as well as a highly accomplished, award-winning dancer. Fiorella has always juggled a busy schedule. She began playing piano at 4 years-old, along with participating in various sports activities. By the time she was in grade school she was state ranked in the long-jump, qualified for regional championships in swimming, and adjudicated top in the state in piano.  As she continued to explore her budding passions in life, however, two main loves clearly rose to the top—horses and dancing.

Fiorella has been chosen out of some of the best dancers in the country to be a select member of Art of Movement’s Academy program, where she will travel the country assisting world-renound choreographers in various styles of dance at each of their conventions. She has also been chosen as a part of Chloe & Maud Arnold’s #NoFilter SoleTalk Youth Tap Company based out of Los Angeles, which often performs annually at the sold-out Syncopated Ladies Tap Shows, and DC Tap Fest. In addition, Fiorella is a multiple Hollywood Vibe National Scholarship Winner, as well as a five-time Industry Dance Awards nominee for her group numbers while dancing at Element Dance Studio. Most recently Fiorella placed in the top 10 overalls for her tap solo, choreographed by Chris Rutledge from The Edge Dance Studio in L.A. and Universal Studios, at Spotlight Dance Cup Nationals.

As much as Fiorella loves dance, her other passion is horses. She is lucky enough to be attending Arizona Agribusiness and Equine Center Early College High School in Paradise Valley this coming fall. She is looking forward to working along side other animal enthusiasts as she studies the care and wellbeing of our furry friends. The ultimate fusion of her two passions would be to be a member of Cirque du Soleil’s Cavalia show where the artistry incorporates horses into the magic!

One of Fiorella’s favorite quotes is, “It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer,” by Shanna LaFluer. Fiorella’s natural strength and athleticism is only matched by her musicality and grace on stage.

THE ELLA SISTERS

The Ella Sisters, made up of Fiorella and Gabriella Vultaggio, is a culmination of years of dedication and hard work between two sisters determined to follow their passion of dance. These sisters were a bit late to the dance training scene, but in four short years they have risen to the top of the West Coast dance scene winning numerous convention scholarships with organizations such as Hollywood Vibe and Spotlight Dance Cup, top ten national solo performances, and coveted spots on Art of Movement’s The Academy.

CAMERON O’CONNOR

Cameron O’Connor, whose playing has been described as “stunning and emotive” (Eugene Register-Guard), enjoys a diverse career in solo, chamber, contemporary, and popular music. Recent highlights include performances with LA Opera singers in the premiere of Neely Bruce’s “Circular 14: The Apotheosis of Aristides;” solo and duo recitals throughout Japan; chamber music and opera appearances with musicians of the Oregon Symphony and Eugene Opera; as a chamber music soloist at the New World Symphony in Miami (for which the South Florida Classical Review noted that he was “especially effective in the quick and diabolical figures”); appearing as a guest artist and performing duos with Sharon Isbin at the Aspen Music Festival and School; performing with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony; and appearing under the baton of Chinese composer Tan Dun in his Eastern-tingedConcerto for Six, for which the New York Times reviewed that “O’Connor fluttered on his guitar strings in a manner reminiscent of a pipa player’s technique.”

Additionally, O’Connor is a prizewinner in ten international competitions, including the Tokyo and Frances Walton. His performances have been featured in films, from James Franco’s Don Quixote to Some Kind of Spark (a documentary made on The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program) to Scott Tennant’s instructional classic Pumping Nylon, and on radio broadcasts such as KPFK’s Global Village, KingFM’s Northwest Live!, Portland All-Classical, and American Public Media’s Performance Today. His articles and music are published by LACG Editions. O’Connor also performs regularly in musical theatre productions on electric guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and now serves on the faculty of Oregon State University. O’Connor was a full scholarship recipient at CSU Northridge, where he studied with Ron Borczon; the Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied with Sharon Isbin; and at the USC Thornton School of Music under William Kanengiser. Upon completion of that degree, the Thornton School designated him as Outstanding Doctoral Graduate. 

KIMBERLY FITCH

Violist Kimberly Fitch’s solo appearances include the Carl Stamitz Viola Concerto with the Rogue Valley Symphony in Ashland, OR and the Bartok Viola Concerto with the University Symphony Orchestra in Santa Barbara as a first place winner of the Concerto Soloists Competition. Fitch was a semifinalist at the 2005 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, winner of the 2002 Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon Concerto Competition, and recipient of the John Celentano Award for Excellence in Chamber Music at the Eastman School. Kimberly studied with world-renowned teachers in the United States and Europe including Helen Callus, Phillip Ying, James Dunham, Jeffrey Irvine, Mikhail Kopelman, Carol Rodland and Richard Wolfe.

An enthusiast for contemporary music, Kimberly performed music by composers such as Beat Furrer, Matthias Pintscher, Steve Reich and Wolfgang Rihm, as well as works by faculty members and students of Eastman as a member of Musica Nova, OSSIA, and The Cape Cod Ensemble.  Kimberly studied with new music expert Brad Lubman as well as period music scholars Christel Thielmann and Kristian Bezeidenhout. As a scholarship recipient, Fitch attended the Aspen Music Festival, Fontainebleau Schools in France, The Britt Institute with the Cavani and Pacifica Quartets, Soundfest Quartet Institute with the Colorado Quartet, and the Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival with the Tokyo Quartet.

Fitch performed as a violist and string coach for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2014 production of Into the Woods, and as a violinist in the 2015 world-premier musical by Jeff Whitty, Head Over Heels, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in 2017. Kimberly Fitch holds a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and Master of Music in Viola Performance from UC Santa Barbara; and she shares her home in Pasadena with her two cats, Mister and Saké.