Music on the River

Douglas Dyer began his violin studies at the age of 4, in West Palm Beach, FL.  Fluent in both Russian and English, the next year he studied at the Central Music School for the Gifted of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, in Moscow, Russia.  A year later he came back to the USA and began studying with an alum of The Tchaikovsky Conservatory,  Dr. Alvaro Gomez, (Stetson University) and continues to study with him since that time.

In November of 2013, at the age of 9, he was featured as a soloist with the Space Coast Orchestra, under the direction of Clair Christy.   In the summer of 2013 Douglas participated in the IBLA competition and music festival in Sicily.  He won second prize and the title of “Distinguished Violinist”. In 2015 at the age of 10, he won first place in The American International Piano & Strings Competition in New York. He then performed as a soloist in the winners recital at Carnegie Hall. Last year he competed at the  Baryshnikov Center in New York, making it to the semi-finals of the NYCA, New York Concert Artist and Associates. Douglas is now 13 years old and a 9th grader at Rockledge High School.

Bethany Davis is 17 years old and lives in Melbourne. She is currently a senior at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School and is a member of the IB program. Bethany has been playing piano for eleven years and currently studies with Mrs. Irina Wolynez. She has participated in the Florida Federation of Music Clubs Junior Convention (FFMC) on both state and district levels and has received a superior rating at the district level for various solos, duets, and concertos every year. In 2016, she won 4th place in the Brevard's Got Music Talent Competition, sponsored by the Creative Arts Foundation. She also enjoys playing piano as accompaniment for her school’s chorus as well as for friends in her school’s orchestra.  Besides playing piano, Bethany plays principal cello in the Creative Young Artists Philharmonic Orchestra and has participated in the Brevard All-County Orchestra and Florida All-State Orchestra since the 7^th grade. Bethany enjoys making music very much and plans to continue with music all through her future.

Claire Perlee is 10 years old. She started her musical journey with piano right after she celebrated her fifth birthday. Under the instruction of Ms. Irina Wolynez, Claire not only studies piano, but also strives to build her character. She loves to listen to all classical music - from the Renaissance to the Modern Era.

To give back to the community, she plays for the special music and offertory in church, and also shares her music in nursing homes. Reading and computer programming are the other hobbies she enjoys. She is in 5th grade and studies at home with her siblings.

Sasha is 16 years old and is a Junior at Edgewood High School. She has been playing the harp for 10 years. She currently studies with renowned harpist Jan Jennings in Orlando and most recently participated in the Summer Harp Academy in North Carolina.

Sasha has played in All County for the past 4 years and has played in All State every year since ninth grade. She balances a 4.0 GPA at a demanding high school and she figures skate and is a member of a competitive team of Theatre on Ice.

Alyssa DeNardis is 18 years old and a freshman at the University of Central Florida. She is currently working on earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre. Alyssa graduated from Viera High School and was an active member in the school’s choir and theatre department and served as vice president for both departments. Notable performances at VHS include Hairspray (Tracy), Grease (Rizzo), and Into the Woods (Witch). At last year’s District Individual Events Thespian Festival, she won Viera’s Troupe 7083 two superior ratings with her duet and choreography piece and a best of show rating with her solo. She feels fortunate enough to have done all of these things because of her experiences at the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse. Alyssa is a gold star performer at HCVP and has been an active performer at the playhouse for the past 11 years. She has performed in many mainstage shows (ranging from Ragtime to the world premiere of Sherlock In Love), was active in the Stars of Tomorrow program since the age of 6, and a member/soloist of the Fermata Stars acapella group for four years. Before leaving for UCF, she was seen in the Stars production of Rock of Ages: High School Edition (Sherrie) and the SMTP production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Wife). Alyssa is very excited to be back from Orlando to represent HCVP at Music on the River and she would like to thank Staci, Jason, and Anita for giving her this opportunity!

Christina Sayut is a junior at Viera High School who has been singing and dancing since she was a toddler. She is a proud and active officer of Viera High's Troupe 7083 where she has appeared in "Grease", "Into the Woods", and "Elf Jr. the Musical".  Christina is thrilled to be representing the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse today - you may have seen her onstage recently as Lonny in "Rock of Ages", as Phyllis Dale in "42nd Street" or as a Silly Girl in last year's blockbuster "Beauty and the Beast".  She would like to thank Dr. Anastacia Hawkins-Smith, Mr. Jason Crase, Ms. Anita Rigsbee and the Creative Arts Foundation of Brevard for the opportunity to sing for you and hopes you enjoy all of today's performances!

Darya Chaharom is a Sophomore at Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School. For the past four years she has been studying piano under the instruction of Mrs. Irina Wolynez. She started learning to play the piano at the age of 6 with Mrs. Rachel Kouam in Massachusetts. This year Darya has had the privilege to perform in the District Honor's Recital. In addition, she has participated in Federation and Student day multiple times. Darya greatly enjoys being part of the music community in Brevard County. She is so grateful to have had the opportunity to perform several times in recitals at Atlantic music. Darya has also performed in many fundraisers to support the Children’s Hunger Project. In addition to piano another passion of hers is ballet. She is studying ballet at Galmont Ballet under the direction of Mr. Frank Galvez and Mrs. Lucia Montero. For the past 3 years she has performed in the Nutcracker at Cocoa Village Playhouse at Christmas time. In addition she works part time at Mathnasium tutoring mathematics.

Caspian Chaharom is originally from Boston and is a 17 year old junior at Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School. He has been playing piano since the first grade. His interest in music was so strong that he started playing cello by the third grade. Since his move to Cocoa Beach, FL in 2014, he has been studying piano under the instruction of Mrs. Irina Wolynez. He continued with his cello study with Mrs. Joan Markstein. He has been playing in the CYA philharmonic orchestra for the past 4 years and in school chamber orchestra, in addition to playing in quartets. Caspian has had the privilege to play piano in the District Honor's Recital, various fundraising events, Federations, and cello in the Brevard All County Orchestra. In addition to piano and cello more recently, he is teaching himself to play the accordion. His main interests other than music includes mathematics and physics. He also works at Florida Solar Energy Center of UCF in Cocoa on research in building energy use.