Board of Directors
Our Team
Soprano Anush Avetisyan is an exciting rising soprano who has “proved to be a gifted singer and interpreter, beyond her years” (German World Magazine). She made her debut in a 2017 performance as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte; 2017-18 Season, sang same role with Metropolitan Opera Studies in Sicily. Her awards include: Founder’s Prize in Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition 2012; Mario Lanza Competition 2015-16; Richard Gaddes Career Award; Deborah Voigt finalist International Competition 2016. Ms. Avetisyan received her B.A. at UCLA with a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Education and completed her MM. degree in Opera at the Yale School of Music, 2018.
Ray Adams received his Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Fine Arts, and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iowa. He received his Bachelor of Sacred Music degree from Wittenberg University. He studied at the famed Berliner Kirchenmusik Schule. His concert organ studies were under Karl Hochreither. He was Director of Music/Organist at Community Church of Vero Beach for 20 years. During that time he founded the Vero Beach Choral Society, the Indian River Symphonic Association, and the Academy for the Performing Arts. For the past 18 years, he has been the founding Artistic Director/Assistant Director of the Indian River Charter High School, Schumann School for the Visual and Performing Arts. On March 31 of this year he will premiere his conducting skills at Carnegie Hall with a performance of John Rutter’s Gloria.
Our Teachers
Classical Guitarist Miguel Bonachea is originally from Cuba and now lives in Vero Beach. He studied classical guitar at the National School of Music and the University of Arts in Havana. As a soloist, he has performed around the world in international guitar festivals, in symphonies and chamber orchestras, and has performed in dual performances with other musicians. He has also served as professor at the University EAFIT and Dean of the Colombia Conservatory of Music. Miguel has taught master classes, and in 2018 he and Gretchen Cover, a Vero Beach harpist, released a CD with world premier recordings of works for harp and guitar and solo guitar.
Our Students
Matthew Pearsaul is a senior at Indian River Charter High School who intends to major in music composition for his undergraduate studies. He is a talented musician, theorist, and composer. He has scored “superiors” consistently on his Music Performance Assessment entries, he received the highest score on the AP Music Theory exam, and he composed an original work for an IRCS production this school year.
Connor Kroll is a senior at Indian River Charter High School. He moved to Vero Beach from South Carolina before his junior year and restarted his orchestral studies after a two- year break. He is also a member of the IRCHS jazz program.
