Blending lyrical serenity with classical textures, popular rhythms, and technical virtuosity, the Midnight Moon Ensemble is a highly unique performance group on the music scene. Founded by soprano June Suh and guitarist J. Andrew Dickenson, concerts with Midnight Moon feature songs influenced by rock, classical, jazz, folk, and world music. The duo is also frequently seen on stage with dancers, actors, artists, videographers, and other musicians for collaborative performances.
Soprano June Suh began her voice studies in her native city of Seoul, Korea. Following graduation from the prestigious Sunwha Art Middle and High School, whose alumni include Sumi Jo and Young Ok Shin, she was awarded a scholarship to the Chicago College of Music of Roosevelt University where she studied with Carmen Mehta. Following her dream to study in Italy, she was then accepted to the esteemed Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milano, where she was granted a Voice Fellowship to study with admired teachers such as Maria Luisa Cioni, Katia Angeloni, and Stefano Gibellato. Upon graduation she was invited to participate in the Conservatorio’s selective Post-Graduate teaching program.
June has appeared in concerts and opera productions throughout the Italian cities of Milano, Bergamo, Bari, Tocco dei Casauria and Taranto, Sicilia, and recently graduated from Mannes The New School for Music in New York City, where she was accepted in the Opera Program under the direction of Joseph Colaneri, Susan Caldwell, and Ted Taylor and studied privately with Ruth Falcon. While in New York, June has appeared on stage as Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, as Barena in the Vertical Players Repetoire production of Janacek’s Jenufa, as Musetta in the Amato Opera Company’s productions of Puccinni’s La Boheme, as Sandrina in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera with The Little Opera Company, and the lead role of Adina in the New Jersey State Repertory Opera’s production of L’Elisir d’Amore.
June recently returned from Texas, where she participated in the El Paso Young Artist Program as Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. She has also been a finalist in the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition and Camillo de Nardis Competition, and has received third prize in the Mario Lanza Competition as well as an encouragement grant from from the Gerda Lisner Foundation
Founder of the Midnight Moon Ensemble with soprano Yeonjune Suh, Andrew has performed in some of the most celebrated venues in the United States (Carnegie Hall), Korea (KNUA Hall), and England (Penzance Guitar Festival). He is also a member of CoLABorative, the resident faculty company of Cecil College. Andrew was an original founding member of both the New York Guitar Quartet and the guitar quartet 1 East, and has worked with high profile acts such as SONOS Chamber Orchestra and Trio Sorella. An avid protagonist of new music and art, Andrew actively commissions pioneering composers to write music for his performances, including Terry Champlin, Bryan Johanson, Brian Grundstrom, and Judah Adashi, Albert Carbonell Sauri, and Steven Stone. He has also collaborated with many multi-media artists to produce shows at Baltimore's Augenmusik festival, Artscape, the Maryland Institute of Art, and the Academy of Art in Philadelphia.
A scholarship winner from both the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Mannes College of Music, Andrew's primary teachers include Julian Gray, Robert Trent, and Frederic Hand. He has also studied with Manuel Barrueco, Peter Golladay, Sergio Assad, William Kanengiser, Michael Newman, Laura Oltman, Terry Champlin and Carlo Domeniconi.
Now a dedicated teacher himself, Andrew is a music instructor at Cecil College and former String Department Head at Concordia Conservatory. He is the author of the acclaimed Guitar Fundamentals series and has been published internationally in Soundboard and Classical Guitar. Andrew is also editor of NYlon Review, the newsletter of the New York City Classical Guitar Society, where he was President and Artistic Director for 4 years.
Andrew has recently been invited for several conducting engagements, and he is quickly becoming known for his precise directing, inventive programming, and his innovative arrangements. Arranging credits include Carmen, West Side Story, and Man of La Mancha for chamber orchestras as well as numerous pop and rock songs for classical ensembles.
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