New York-based Canadian musicians Joenne Dumitrascu and Jelena Cingara teamed up in the spring of 2023 to create Connecting Through Sound, a series of concerts and social events to bring people together who share a passion for music and culture. With a nod to the canonic repertoire of the past while incorporating contemporary works into the same program, this third installment of the series takes the listener from Beethoven, through the French classics of Debussy and Saint-Saens and to the works of modern composers.

The event features a one-hour concert and wine reception to follow where we invite the audience to join in the beautiful St. Benedict’s Courtyard.

Dr. Joenne Dumitrascu

European-born Canadian musical artist Joenne Dumitrascu (born Oana Dumitrascu) began her musical studies in Europe and continued in the pre-college division of the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto, pursuing both violin and piano training. She pursued college training at the RCM’s Glenn Gould Professional School (B. Mus., A.D.), The Boston Conservatory at Berklee College (M.M.), and furthered her training with additional studies at the the Hochschule für Muzik und Theater München, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, as well as the Royal College of Music in London. Additionally, she was admitted to several prestigious summer academies including Meadowmount School of Music, the RoundTop Festival-Institute, the Banff Centre, the Summit Music Festival, and the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy. Dumitrascu recently completed her doctorate in music at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY Stony Brook), where she was a violin major. While a doctoral student, she completed the newly-established Emerson String Quartet Institute program. Her principal teacher was Philip Setzer of the nine-time Grammy-winning Emerson String Quartet, and she trained with the rest of the Emerson Quartet and David Finckel.

Dumitrascu has toured regularly throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and performed at such venues as the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Glenn Gould Studio, Koerner Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Stern Auditorium, the Four Seasons Center’s Richard Bradshaw Amphitheater, Boston’s Jordan Hall, and the Romanian Atheneum in Bucharest, Romania. She has regularly recorded for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and CityTV in Toronto, WGBH in Boston, WFMT Chicago, NBC, ABC, and many others. She has performed frequently in the Noon Hour Concert Series at the National Ballet of Canada/Canadian Opera Company’s Four Seasons Center and has made guest appearances for The Boston Conservatory’s strings faculty chamber series, String Masters, the Aulos Ensemble (one of America’s top early music ensembles), and during Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to the Royal Conservatory in 2009. She was recently a guest artist on WFMT’s Relevant Tones with Seth Boustead: Discovery Series, with performances at National Sawdust and (le) Poisson Rouge. She has collaborated with members of the Emerson String Quartet (ESQ) on several chamber music projects, including the New Music for Strings Festival in Denmark. During the festival’s 2017 visit to New York, she appeared with members of ESQ in a gala concert at Carnegie’s Weill Hall where she also performed acclaimed American composer Joan Tower’s quintet Rising, with the composer in attendance. As an orchestral player, she has performed in the orchestra of the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian Opera Company, Oakville Chamber Orchestra, Boston Civic Orchestra, and Boston Opera Collaborative of which she was also concertmaster.

As a music coach, Dumitrascu was a chamber music coach in the undergraduate program at SUNY Stony Brook and is currently a faculty chair at New York-based pre-college music program, Herald School of the Arts, in Queens, NY, She is also a jury member of the New York International Music Competition for young artists, held annually at Carnegie Hall.​ Other industry credits include editorial work for Taiwanese guitarist Ming-Jui Liu’s new work, Morning of the Sunshine, published through Canadian publishing house Les Éditions Doberman-Yppan. Dumitrascu’s debut CD has been postponed to 2023 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The album will feature an all-American program and will be produced by Parma Recording’s Navona label and distributed exclusively by Naxos.

Dr. Jelena Cingara

Dr. Jelena Cingara is an active performer and artist in the United States, Canada, and European countries such as Italy, and Czech Republic. Her career includes a series of solo, chamber, and collaborative international and national recitals, 16 years of piano teaching, and chamber music. She has performed in concert venues such as: Libby Gardner, Dumke, Abravanel hall, and Kenley amphitheatre in Utah, as well as Arts and Letters Club, Walter Hall, and Ettore Mazzoleni Halls in Toronto. As a collaborative and chamber musician, she has played recitals in Italy, Serbia, US and Canada, and for masterclasses for famous quartets such as: The Bennewitz, Faure, Doric as well as Philip Seltzer from the Emerson Quartet. Jelena is a prizewinner of numerous piano competitions, and throughout her career, she was also a recipient of numerous scholarships and a teaching assistantship. She recently completed her DMA in Piano Performance, with a minor in organ performance at The University of Utah School. Jelena has performed in Carnegie Hall! Her Off-Broadway/Broadway debuts are with: “The Last boy” in the summer of 2021/ April 2022 respectively. Jelena has played in: “The Kiss of the Spider woman” with Scarborough players theatre, “Carrie” with Utah Rep Theatre, “Charlie Brown” with Toledo Theatre. Jelena has accompanied singers in Broadway style at Barnard College (1 class of 10 students), and prepared them for recitals, AADA (4 classes of 15 student a week), U of Toledo, and in person for many years (since she was in her 20’s). She has a good knowledge of Broadway repertoire that she has been accompanying and performing.