JUSTIN PECK is a Tony Award winning choreographer, director, filmmaker, and dancer based in New York City. He is currently the acting Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet. 

Peck began choreographing in 2009 at the New York Choreographic Institute.  In 2014, after the creation of his acclaimed ballet EVERYWHERE WE GO, he was appointed as Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet.  He is the second person in the institution’s history to hold this title. 

After attending the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center from 2003-2006, Peck was invited to join the New York City Ballet as a dancer in 2006.  As a performer, Peck has danced a vast repertoire of works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Benjamin Millepied, Christopher Wheeldon, and many others.  In 2013, Peck was promoted to the rank of Soloist, performing full-time through 2019 with the company.

Peck has created over 50 dance-works -- more than 20 for New York City Ballet.  His works have been performed by Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Australian Ballet, Dresden Semperoper Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Boston Ballet, Juilliard, National Ballet of Canada, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, LA Dance Project, Dutch National Ballet, the School of American Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Bordeaux, Finnish National Ballet, Ballet MET, Royal Danish Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, University of Southern California (USC), and Ballet Arizona.

Working on a wide array of projects, Peck's collaborators include composers Sufjan Stevens, The National, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, Dan Deacon, Caroline Shaw, Chris Thile, Stephen Sondheim, M83, Dolly Parton; visual artists Shepard Fairey, Marcel Dzama, Shantell Martin, John Baldessari, Karl Jensen, George Condo, Steve Powers, Jules de Balincourt; fashion designers Raf Simons, Mary Katrantzou, Humberto Leon (Kenzo, Opening Ceremony), Tsumori Chisato, Dries Van Noten; and filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Sofia Coppola, Damien Chazelle, Elisabeth Moss, Frances Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Jody Lee Lipes.

In 2014, Peck was the subject of the documentary BALLET 422, which presents Peck's craft and creative process as a choreographer in great detail, as he creates New York City Ballet’s 422nd commissioned dance.

Peck has worked extensively as a filmmaker. In particular, his focus has been exploring new innovative ways of presenting dance on film. Peck choreographed the feature films RED SPARROW (2016) starring Jennifer Lawrence and directed by Francis Lawrence; WEST SIDE STORY (2021) in collaboration with director Steven Spielberg; and MAESTRO (2022) in collaboration with director/actor/writer Bradley Cooper. Peck's work as a director-choreographer for music videos include: THE DARK SIDE OF THE GYM (2017) for The National; THANK YOU, NEW YORK (2020) for Chris Thile; and THE TIMES ARE RACING (2017) for Dan Deacon. In 2018, Peck directed the New York Times GREAT PERFORMERS Series (starring Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Lakeith Stanfield, Glenn Close, Toni Collette, Yoo Ah-in, Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, Regina Hall, Yalitzia Aparicio, Elsie Fischer, and Rachel Weisz).

Peck choreographed the 2018 BROADWAY revival of CAROUSEL.  The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and stars Jessie Meuller, Joshua Henry, & Renée Fleming.

Peck has been awarded the National Arts Award (2018), the Golden Plate Honor from the Academy of Achievement (2019), the Bessie Award for his ballet RODEO: FOUR DANCE EPISODES (2015), the Gross Family Prize for his ballet EVERYWHERE WE GO (2014), and the Tony Award for his choreography on Broadway’s CAROUSEL (2018).

Born in Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines and raised in Los Angeles, CA Norbert De La Cruz III is recognized for his versatility in performance and choreography. He is a performing and collaborative artist with roots in classical and contemporary dance. After moving to New York, he received a BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School followed by an MFA in Dance from Hollins University. He is a New York and Los Angeles based freelance dance artist.

Norbert's movement practice has brought nationwide attention to dance companies and educational programs. His physicality is shaped by his training experiences from the Gabriella Foundation, LA County High School for the Arts, Marat Daukayev School of Ballet, The Juilliard School, and through his performance career as a professional dancer. He started training in classical dance at age 11 (Cecchetti and Vaganova) with ballet masters Vera Ninkovic and Marat Daukayev.

Professionally, Norbert has performed as a soloist with the Metropolitan Opera's production of Aida, Aszure Barton & Artists in Germany & Austria (Blue Soup & Busk), Balletto Teatro di Torino (Italy), Joe Goode Performance Group, Sydney Skybetter & Associates, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet. As a pre-professional, he was honored the Music Center's 17th annual Spotlight Award, the Emerging Young Artist Award, Youth America Grand Prix 2nd place in non-classical, and represented the Juilliard School at Kodak Theatre’s first annual Dizzy Feet Foundation Gala in Hollywood, CA. Norbert recently been casted in Warner Brothers Pictures film adaptation of Tony-winning musical In The Heights.

Additionally, Norbert has performed works by choreographers José Limón, David Parker, Adam Hougland, Johannes Wieland, Ohad Naharin, Aszure Barton, Jerome Robbins, Larry Keigwin, Jiri Pikorny, Hernando Fernando Magedan, Spenser Theberge, Jeremy McQueen, Camille A. Browne, Dwight Rhoden, Desmond Richardson, Lightfoot & Leon, Crystal Pite, Alonzo King, Zachary Tang, Gregory Dawson, and Jirí Kylián.

Norbert's choreographic career was further mentored by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) Directors, Tom Mossbrucker and Jean-Philippe Malaty. His early career was recognized through the support of the Jerome Robbins Foundation’s NEW Essential Works Grant (2012), commissioning his first large-scale ballet, “Square None” (2012) with ASFB. He was then a finalist of Hubbard Street’s National Choreographic Competition (2013), a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Award under the choreography fellowship (2012), Alvin Ailey New Directions Choreography Lab (2013), finalist for the Joffrey Academy of Dance’s 2014 Winning Works and a recipient for the 2015 National Choreographic Initiative in Irvine, CA. He was selected for the 2017 and 2018 Spring Sessions at the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet, where he created his “Lunar” and "Traces" ballet alongside Juilliard composer and esteemed collaborator, Nathan Prillaman. Additional honorable mentions include the Asian Arts Alliance Jadin Wong Award, McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival Award, and was featured in Dance Magazines Top 25 to watch.

He has since been commissioned to create and premier new works for companies such as Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, Joffrey Academy of Dance, James Sewell Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Big Muddy Dance Company, Eisenhower Dance, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Florida, Peridance, Golden State Ballet, Attack Theatre, Ballet X, Olympic Ballet Theatre, Periapsis Music & Dance, and for Dallas's 2022 TITAS Command Gala at the Winspear Opera House.

De La Cruz has instructed and created works for such schools as The Juilliard School, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Ailey School Fordham University, Point Park University, Princeton University, University of Richmond, Hollins University, Marymount Manhattan College, Barnard Columbia University, Cal State University of Long Beach, Hartford University, Grier Private School, Golden State Ballet, and taught at the International Ballet School intensives at Gdynia, Poland for two summers. He was a former faculty member and New Dances: Edition 2021 guest choreographer at the Juilliard School under the direction of Alicia Graf Mack and Mario Alberto Zambrano.

While navigating a freelance career as a choreographer, performer, and educator, Norbert operates a bi-coastal freelance dance career between NYC and LA. He is in constant search of inspiration; seeking for more valuable collaborations and human connections.

Gabrielle Lamb, winner of a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship, is a New York City-based choreographer and dancer. Born in Savannah, Georgia, she was trained at the Boston Ballet School and joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal in 2000, earning her soloist promotion in 2003. At the invitation of choreographer Christopher Wheeldon she moved to New York City in 2009 to join his company Morphoses.

Ms. Lamb, who began choreographing in 2005, has won a Princess Grace Award for Choreography (2014) and the National Choreographic Competition of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (2009), as well as, in 2013, 1st Prizes in Milwaukee Ballet’s Genesis International Choreographic Competition and Western Michigan University’s National Choreographic Competition. She was named winner of the Banff Centre’s 2014-15 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Prize; and in 2014 she was honored with a NY City Center Choreography Fellowship. Most recently she was awarded the S&R Foundation's Washington Award Grand Prize for 2018. She was also selected to create for David Hallberg's inaugural American Ballet Theater Choreographic Incubator in both 2018 and 2019.

Her movement style and theatricality have been profoundly influenced by the choreographers whose work she danced during her performing career, including George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, and Shen Wei. Since moving to New York she has also created leading roles in new works by contemporary artists such as Pontus Lidberg, Luca Veggetti, Matthew Neenan, Adam Barruch, Shannon Gillen, and Emery Lecrone.

She is also self-taught video artist and animator. Her choreography and dance films have been presented by, among many others: American Ballet Theater, Works and Process at the Guggenheim, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, BalletX, The Dance Theatre of Harlem, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center, Dance Camera West (Los Angeles), ReelDance Australia, New Museum of Contemporary Art (NYC), Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

Hailed as “… a deity of elegance” by the New Brunswick Beacon, Tina Chong is an international award-winning pianist and teaching artist. A native of Banff, Canada, Tina has been described as, “…mature and yet fresh, imbued with tradition and yet inhabited by individuality, the marks of an artist” (The Herald Times).

She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at San Diego State University and performs regularly with the San Diego Symphony as principal keyboardist. Tina’s recital career has brought her to such venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and Sala Chopin in Mexico City. She has been featured in La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest, the Portland International Summer Festival, and the WFMT Series of Chicago. Under the management of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada, Tina has gone on extensive concert tours throughout Canada. She is the prizewinner of several international competitions, including the Montreal International Musical Competition and the Jacques Klein Piano Competition in Brazil.

An artist of great versatility, Tina performs in a wide range of genres such as classical, pop, Broadway, and film music in orchestra and chamber ensembles, as well as dance collaborations. Her prowess on piano, harpsichord, fortepiano, celesta, synthesizer, and harmonium have led to projects with artists such as Rachel Barton Pine, Inon Barnaton, Anthony McGill, Stefan Jackiw, and Tyler Duncan. This breadth of creative activity continues to inspire Tina’s engagement and cross-pollination with a wide community of musicians and audiences.

Tina is a passionate advocate of alternatively-sized keyboards and is responsible for the acquisition of two reduced-sized piano keyboards at San Diego State University, the first of its kind in a university on the west coast of North America. She is also an active clinician throughout North America, giving frequent guest lectures, masterclasses, and adjudications. Tina earned her Doctor of Music degree at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music with a major in piano performance and minors in music education and historical performance practice. Her mentors were Arnaldo Cohen, Peter Miksza, and Elisabeth Wright. Tina is also a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she studied with Angela Cheng. She has worked closely with artist-teachers Robert McDonald, Jerome Lowenthal, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Julian Martin, Arie Vardi, and Menahem Pressler at numerous international summer festivals.

Dr. Sonya Schumann is an expressive and imaginative pianist, both in solo and collaborative performances. She has performed with orchestras across North America, most recently with the San Diego Symphony and Mainly Mozart. Active as a collaborative chamber musician, she is a strong advocate for new music, with albums and recordings available on Spotify and Amazon Music.
In addition to performing, Sonya is passionate about teaching. Previously she has served on faculty at Fullerton College, Madonna University, Schoolcraft College, and the Levine School in Washington, D.C. She has appeared as a frequent guest lecturer and masterclass presenter at several festivals and colleges across the US, including Keys Fest, Music Teachers National Association, Central Michigan University, Red Rocks Music Festival, Art at Noon at LexArts, and the Cornish-American Song Institute. Deeply involved in a multitude of aspects within the artistic community, Sonya leads the non-profit AmateurPianists, facilitating learning and performing opportunities for adult amateurs, and directs the San Diego International Piano Competition and Festival. Her advocacy work in representation and inclusion in the arts has brought about Keys to Inclusion, a multi-faceted initiative to champion the works of Black American composers. Her publications as an editor, compiler, and producer can be found under publishers such as Hal Leonard, Schirmer, and Schott Music. She also serves as an editor for the virtual CAPMT journal publication. Sonya is also internationally recognized for her involvement as a founding member of Piano Theatre, an artist group formed to engage audiences with innovative combinations of classical music, theatre, literature, art, and technology. Piano Theatre’s opening tours of the US, Canada, and Australia were acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. As champions of equity in the arts, she and her sister, Elizabeth, perform as the Schumann Duo, promoting classical music for children in areas where arts programs and funding have been cut or limited. The Schumann Duo’s incredibly popular concert “Pianimal” was recently featured in a documentary for the Gilmore for Kids Series. Their outreach extends beyond the physical concert hall, and into the virtual world with the free interactive app Piano Carnival, available on all Apple devices.
Dr. Schumann holds her master's and doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor of music from the University of South Carolina. She currently teaches at San Diego State University, where she also serves as Coordinator of the Piano Academy of the Community Music School.

Cellist, San Diego Symphony Orchestra

Artistic Director, San Diego Cello Foundation

Praised for his stunning technique, sensitivity and superb artistry, San Diego Symphony cellist Xian Zhuo is a professional musician whose artistry is recognized by awards and audiences.

Mr. Zhuo first gained national recognition when he won 1st prize in the China National Competition. In addition to the 1st Prize at the prestige 38th Dr. Luis Sigall International Cello Competition in Chile. he won 1st prizes in the Corpus Christi International Competition, Loeb/Louviere International Competition, Redlands Bowl Young Artist Competition, Parness Young Artists Concerto Competition, La Jolla Symphony and Chorus Young Artists Competition and Fé Bland Foundation Music Awards. Additionally, he was chosen as one of the 25 participants for the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Russia in 2011.

In 2013, he was selected as one of the top ten young Chinese cellists and was featured on a CCTV Concert in Beijing with the China Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in Xiamen, China, Mr. Zhuo began cello lessons with his father at age six and made his cello debut at the age of seven. Subsequently, he received professional education at the University of Southern California, Yale University, the Royal Northern College of Music and Shanghai Conservatory on full scholarships. His goal is to share the beautiful musical fabric that he creates with audiences throughout the world.