TEAM: Artists, Scholars, and Cultural Leaders Shaping the Future of Music
Board of Directors
Nikka Gershman
Founder, Executive, and Artistic DirectorNikka Gershman is a flutist, composer, and Juilliard Kovner Fellow who has performed as at venues including the Wiener Konzerthaus, Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Lincoln Center. She has premiered her transcriptions of Shostakovich, Beethoven, Smetana, Schnittke, and Mendelssohn, and her compositions and arrangements are published by the Theodore Presser Company. Her passion for preserving history while championing innovation inspired her to found the Music Society of the Future.
Johannes Fischer
Director of Research and MediaJohannes Fischer is a Vienna-based musicologist, journalist, and musician dedicated to deepening public engagement with classical music through research, criticism, and media. He brings an international perspective shaped by his German-American upbringing and experience as a writer and performer. His journalism and program notes have appeared through major German cultural institutions, including BR-Klassik, the Elbphilharmonie, and the Laeiszhalle, and he has interviewed artists including Camilla Nylund, Günther Groissböck, and Lawrence Brownlee.
Regina Davidoff
Director of Venues and PartnershipsRegina Davidoff is a distinguished music professional with an extensive background in the classical music community. She has built a longstanding career with Steinway & Sons, where she has worked closely with renowned musicians and institutions. Regina also serves on the Board of Directors of the Scriabin Society of America, alongside leading figures in classical music. Her vast professional relationships and knowledge of New York's musical landscape bring valuable experience to the Music Society of the Future.
Zhenya Gershman
PresidentZhenya Gershman is an artist, art historian, and educator. She is the Founder of Zhenya’s Art Academy and Project AWE 501(c)(3), and is a World Ambassador for Royal Talens. Gershman’s groundbreaking finding of a hidden Rembrandt self-portrait was published by Arion, Boston University, and was brought to European audiences by Le Monde. In 2022, she launched the art movement Brushes Over Bullets after her portrait, “First Face of War”, was sold for $100,000 at Heritage Auctions to benefit Ukraine. Her expertise in art history, research, and entrepreneurship provides a diverse curatorial perspective.
Advisory Board
Elliott Forrest
AdvisorElliott Forrest is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, producer, and director. He can be heard on 105.9 FM WQXR, WQXR.org, and WNYC in New York. He has hosted national broadcasts from Carnegie Hall, where he has appeared more than 60 times. As a producer and director, he creates projections, lighting, and theatrical elements for major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and New York Philharmonic. He is the Producer and Projection Designer for the national tour An Evening with Itzhak Perlman and the Michael Feinstein concert celebrating Judy Garland at 100.
Prinzessin Irina zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
AdvisorPrinzessin Irina zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg is an international arts patron and cultural ambassador dedicated to advancing cultural diplomacy through music and the arts. She is the founder of the IMAGINE-Culture Without Borders festival, an international initiative promoting artistic exchange, and serves as an Advisor to the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF). A longstanding supporter of the Easter Beethoven Festival in Poland and numerous international cultural initiatives, she has devoted her work to fostering dialogue, education, and artistic collaboration across Europe and the Middle East.
Jerome Lowenthal
AdvisorJerome Lowenthal is an American pianist and one of the foremost interpreters of the central piano repertoire. A longtime member of the faculty at The Juilliard School, he has maintained an extensive international concert career for over six decades while shaping generations of pianists through his teaching. His artistry spans the core Romantic tradition and major works of the twentieth century, with a reputation for breadth, depth, and uncompromising musical integrity.
Polina Osetinskaya
AdvisorPolina Osetinskaya is an internationally acclaimed pianist known for her distinctive artistic voice and interpretive individuality. She appears regularly on major international stages as a soloist and chamber musician, with a repertoire spanning from Baroque masterworks to contemporary music. She has collaborated with leading artists and conductors including Kirill Petrenko and Maxim Vengerov, and is widely recognized for performances of exceptional clarity, intensity, and artistic conviction.
Mike Greene
AdvisorMike Greene is an American arts executive who served as head of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) from 1985 to 2002, and the president and CEO of Artist Tribe and myMuse. Under Greene’s leadership, the Grammy Awards ceremony grew from being syndicated in 14 countries to over 180. He founded MusiCares, establishing programs supporting music professionals, education, and the preservation of musical heritage.
Harry Maslin
AdvisorHarry Maslin is an American record producer, recording/mixing engineer, and studio owner/designer. In the mid-1970s, he engineered No. 1 hits for Barry Manilow and Dionne Warwick & The Spinners. As a producer, his chart hits include David Bowie's "Fame" (US No. 1) in 1975 and "Golden Years" (US No. 10) in 1976, as well as seven singles in the Top 5 for Air Supply from 1980 to 1982.
Artistic Collaborators
Elliot Lippy
CelloElliot Lippy is a cellist, composer, and Juilliard Kovner Fellow. He has performed as a soloist with the Anchorage Civic Orchestra, and has been invited to participate in the Aspen Music Festival and School. As a composer, he seeks musical syncretism, from Bach in 17th-century Germany to Prokofiev in Soviet Russia, with an emphasis on counterpoint. The intensity of expression lies at the core of his performance philosophy.
Isaac Parlin
PianoIsaac Parlin is a pianist and C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School dedicated to performance and artistic depth. He has performed at major New York venues including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. Isaac holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Russian Language and Culture from Columbia, where he was awarded the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts upon graduation. He has a particular affinity for the music of Franz Liszt and Alexander Scriabin, alongside a broad engagement with the piano repertoire.
George Ng
ViolaGeorge Ng is a violist who made history as the youngest viola soloist at Carnegie Hall. He is the sole recipient of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's 2024 Bernard van Zuiden Music Fund, supporting his studies at The Juilliard School. Dedicated to using music as a force for good, George founded Music Blesses Hong Kong, a charitable initiative recognized and broadcast internationally for its community impact. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia while pursuing a career that unites artistic excellence with meaningful cultural engagement.
Kento Hong
ViolinKento Hong is a violinist recognized for his artistry and interdisciplinary vision. He is a laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and the Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition. As a soloist and chamber musician, Kento has collaborated with renowned artists including Maxim Vengerov and Jaime Laredo, performed with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and participated in festivals including the Kronberg Academy. Alongside his musical pursuits, he explores the intersection of music and biomedical engineering as a student of the Columbia–Juilliard Exchange.
Scholars
Dr. Steven G. Laitz
Chair Emeritus of Music Theory Department at The Juilliard SchoolSteven Laitz is a music theorist, educator, and Chair Emeritus of the Music Theory and Analysis Department at The Juilliard School. Widely regarded as a leading pedagogue in the field, he is the author of The Complete Musician: An Integrated Approach to Tonal Theory, one of the most influential music theory textbooks of the past several decades. His work has shaped generations of musicians through its integration of analytical rigor and artistic expression.
Dr. Wayne Oquin
Chair of Ear Training Department at The Juilliard SchoolWayne Oquin is a composer, educator, and Chair of the Ear Training Department at The Juilliard School. His music has been commissioned and performed by leading orchestras and ensembles including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Equally devoted to composition and pedagogy, he is recognized for fostering deep musical understanding through the study of theory, analysis, and the classical tradition.