Biographies
Alicia Kosack enjoys a diverse career as a performer of both modern and Baroque flute. She has won numerous honors,
including a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award. An active soloist and chamber musician, she regularly
performs with the Fortunata Trio, and has performed with groups such as the Ash Lawn Opera Festival, Inscape Chamber Orchestra,
Washington Bach Consort, Opera Vivente, the Handel Choir of Baltimore, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. She is equally
committed to teaching and is currently on faculty at York College of Pennsylvania. Outside of performing and teaching, Alicia
is the Manager of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras. She has also served as Vice-President of the Flute Society of Washington
and was the program chair for the 2007 and 2008 Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair. Alicia holds a DMA from the University of Maryland,
College Park, and has received an MM from the Peabody Conservatory and a BM from the Harid Conservatory.
Laura Armstrong is a clarinetist and saxophonist currently living in Baltimore, MD.
She is a faculty member of Frederick Community College, where she teaches clarinet and saxophone. Dr. Armstrong has performed in
recitals in the Mid-Atlantic region and has performed as a soloist at the 2012 International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest held
in Lincoln, NE. Laura also performed Weber’s Second Clarinet Concerto with the Frederick Symphony in 2014. As a freelance orchestral
performer, Laura has played with a variety of orchestras including the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Maryland Symphony Orchestra,
Shippensburg Festival Symphony, HUB Opera Ensemble, and the Honolulu Symphony. She is also an advocate of contemporary music and
performs with new music groups based in the Baltimore/Washington region. Laura received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Clarinet
Performance from the University of Maryland in 2010 and presented parts of her dissertation, as part of a research competition, in a
lecture recital at the 2011 International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest in Los Angeles, CA. She also holds performance degrees
in clarinet from Duquesne University and Susquehanna University. Her principal clarinet teachers have been Paul Cigan, Ron Samuels,
and Valerie Martin. She has also studied saxophone with Ron Bixler and Gail Levinsky. For more information, please visit www.lauraarmstrong.net.
Bassoonist Dr. Kimberly D. Buchar Nolet received her degrees in bassoon performance from the Harid
Conservatory in 1997, the Eastman School of Music in 1999, and the University of Illinois
in 2005. Kimberly has taught bassoon and double reed method classes at Millikin University,
Eastern Illinois University, Chestnut Hill College, Valley Forge Christian College, Pennsylvania
Academy of Music, Maryland Conservatory, Messiah College, and at the University of Illinois as
a sabbatical replacement. She has performed in various orchestras such as the Illinois Symphony,
New World Symphony, Palm Beach Opera, Sinfonia da Camera, BACH Ensemble, York
Symphony, and the Allegro Chamber Orchestra, with whom she recently premiered a concerto
by Ralph Lehman. Dr. Buchar is a member of the Dickinson Faculty Woodwind Quintet and
a founding member of Trelumina Trio, Dickinson Double Reed Trio, and Fortunata Trio. Her
major teachers include Phillip Kolker, Arthur Weisberg, John Hunt, and Timothy McGovern.
Currently, Dr. Nolet enjoys teaching private lessons to high school and college students at
Dickinson College, Franklin and Marshall College, and York College of Pennsylvania and
performing the bassoon and contrabassoon in chamber music and orchestras, such as the
Lancaster Symphony, where she has been a member since 2005.
