Meet the Artists
Fire and Flow
Performances May 16 and 17, 2026
Conductors
Dean Whiteside
Praised for ‘‘imbuing each score with idiomatic flair and sensitive interpretive insights’’ (South Florida Classical Review), Dean Whiteside is currently Resident Conductor of the Atlantic Music Festival. A recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S.’ 2022 Career Assistance Award, he has served as the foundation’s Resident Conductor at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Recent and upcoming guest conducting appearances include the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic, and Chautauqua Institution Music Festival.
Mr. Whiteside was winner of the 2018 American Prize in Conducting and the 2021 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music. He received second prize and the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra Award at the Sixth International Competition of Young Conductors Lovro von Matačić. He attended Colorado MahlerFest, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Castleton Festival as a Conducting Fellow. He was selected as the 2015 David Effron Conducting Fellow at the Chautauqua Institution and attended the Bayreuth Festival as a scholarship recipient.
Mr. Whiteside has served as cover conductor to the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, San Francisco Symphony, and The Knights, in addition to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel. He led the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as part of the 6th International David Zinman Masterclass and was a semi-finalist at the Tokyo International Conducting Competition.
He graduated with distinction from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and he completed a three-year position as Conducting Fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL.
Tanya Chanphanitpornkit
Tanya Chanphanitpornkit is a double bassist from Trat, Thailand, and is a conductor focused on inspiring and educating young musicians. As a double bassist, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Kodak Hall, and under the batons of Dr. Sandra Dackow, Jeffrey Grogan, Dr. Mark Scatterday, and Neil Varon.
Chanphanitpornkit received her education from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied the double bass with James VanDemark. Currently, She teaches at LaGuardia High School. She is the conductor of Manhattan School of Music Precollege Symphony Orchestra and is the Music Director of New York Youth Symphony’s Crescendo Orchestra. Her higher education positions include Brooklyn College, Teachers College, Columbia University, William Paterson University, and The College of New Jersey. She is a co-founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Conduct.
Her previous positions include Assistant Conductor of the GRAMMY Award-winning New York Youth Symphony. In 2025, she was named Yamaha’s 40 Under 40 Music Educator and she is a quarterfinalist for the GRAMMY Music Educator Award. Previously, she was awarded the Eastman Centennial Award, where in honor of its centennial year, Eastman created the Centennial Award to recognize 100 individuals who exemplify Eastman’s mission and legacy through their commitment to artistry, scholarship, leadership, community engagement, and/or philanthropy. In 2022, she was awarded the Early Career Award by Teachers College, Columbia University.
Composers
Alex Stephenson
The music of Alex Stephenson has been described as “masterfully orchestrated” and exhibiting “sonic beauty” (San Diego Union-Tribune). His works draw in equal parts from a deep-rooted lyrical spirit, a fascination with the science of sound perception, and a love of music both old and new. With each project, he intertwines these diverse influences in novel ways, curating sonic worlds that feel simultaneously fresh and familiar.
His music has been commissioned and presented by the Tanglewood Music Center, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Breckenridge Music Festival, Royaumont Voix Nouvelles Festival, ISCM World New Music Days, Composers Conference, and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and have been heard at numerous other venues and institutions across the United States and in Europe. Recent and upcoming collaborators include the Bergamot Quartet, Duo Axis, Flux Quartet, Grossman Ensemble at the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, and the La Jolla Symphony. His musical honors include the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Also a committed educator, Alex is currently Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Illinois State University, where he teaches composition, theory, orchestration, and electronic music. Previously, as a doctoral candidate at UC San Diego, he received the university-wide Barbara and Paul Saltman Excellent Teaching Award.
Alex holds a Ph.D. from the University of California San Diego, an M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, a B.A. from the University of Chicago, and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, as a US-UK Fulbright Scholar.