Groupmuse for Hire

Pianist Ian Scarfe enjoys a busy career as an advocate for music. He manages a busy performance calendar that includes solo, ensemble, and orchestra appearances, which take him across the United States and Europe. An entertaining and articulate speaker, Scarfe finds himself equally at home in formal concert venues, halls of higher education, and casual events such as house concerts and jazz clubs.
Scarfe is the founder and director of the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, an adventure-based touring festival that has brought musicians from all over the world to scenic rural Northern California. Since 2011 the festival has presented over 500 public concerts free and open to the public, with a special focus on rural communities and unexpected outdoor venues in scenic wilderness areas.
Scarfe makes his home in the Presidio of San Francisco with his wife and two cats. His sports career was short but spectacular - he enjoyed a position as the starting pianist of the San Francisco 49ers, performing in the stadium club restaurant in Candlestick Park from 2010 until the stadium was demolished a few years later.

Daniel Colalillo is a highly regarded classical pianist based in New York City. He is renowned for delivering powerful and distinctive performances with a high level of musical integrity. He has received critical acclaim from "The New York Times" and has established himself as a sought-after soloist. He has given solo recitals at prominent venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Bargemusic, Symphony Space, Columbia University, Princeton University, and has performed in several cities including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Nashville, Toronto, Montreal, and more. Daniel also serves as the Artistic Director of "Classical Keys," a concert series held in Morristown, NJ and NYC where he actively performs chamber music. As a dedicated educator, he operates his own private studio and was awarded "Top Piano Teacher" by Steinway & Sons in 2022. Recently, he became a Musician Owner and serves on the Council of "Groupmuse," a series of chamber music house concerts in the US and abroad. Daniel graduated with a Master of Music from Mannes College: The New School for Music and began playing piano at the late age of 15.

Melanie Chirignan is a flautist known for her musicality and versatility of repertoire. Her eclectic tastes have led Melanie to collaborate with many different performers and ensembles. As an orchestral player, she has performed with: New York Chamber Players Orchestra, Albany Pro Musica, Octavo Chamber Orchestra, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, Garden State Philharmonic, the Chelsea Symphony, Gateway Classical Music Society, S.E.M. Ensemble, and Hartt Independent Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Melanie has performed with Quintocracy, Stringwynde, jazz bass legend, Nat Reeves, traditional Irish harpist Hailey Hewitt, Philadelphia Fife and Drum Corps, guitarist Oren Fader, and the Alturas Duo. She has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Opera America, the DiMenna Center, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Tenri Cultural Center, for Composer's Voice Concert Series, Cornelia St. Cafe, the Connecticut Guitar Society, at many public library concert series’ including Troy, the Windsor Historical Society, the New Britain Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Windsor Art Center, and the Wadsworth Museum of Art, Proctors, among others. As a soloist, Melanie has been featured with the Chelsea Symphony, performing "Poem" by Charles Griffes.
Melanie believes strongly in being innovative and collaborative with music and has worked closely with many composers and has premiered new works including: Alex Ford's "Berus in the Woods" in collaboration with Electric City Puppets (thanks to a grant from the Schenectady Community Arts Council), Ralph Raymond Hays music to the story "Keller's Heart" by John Gray and illustrated by Shanon Obelenus, used by permission of paraclete press (thanks to a grant from the Schenectady Community Arts Council), Nolan Stolz (Princess Ka'iulani, released on SCI/ Parma Recordings), Masatora Goya, Sean Pallatroni, Kary Contreras Galindo, and made the world premiere recording of the Delian Suite, from a body of international composers in the Delian Society. She has recorded several works for Masatora Goya's album, Dream Of Sailing, available on ITunes and Amazon. She also recorded "Latinos Ni de Aqui Ni de Alla" on the Latin Heartbeat Orchestra album, El Regreso. She is currently recording an album of flute and guitar music by all women composers with guitarist Scott Hill. She is about to premier music to the silent film Nosferatu by Sina Kiai (thanks to the Saratoga Community Arts Grant). In December, Quintocracy will present the music of Women Composer's on the Lift Series at TSBMH thanks to a New York Women Composer's Seed Money Grant.
Originally from Hauppauge, NY, Melanie Chirignan earned her bachelor’s in Music Performance and Music Education graduating magna cum laude from SUNY Fredonia and her master’s degree in Flute Performance at the Hartt School. She has taught general music, chorus, and orchestra, and has taught every level from elementary school to conservatory level students and was adjunct faculty at the College of Saint Rose. With Alturas Duo, Melanie has taught workshops on the "Origins of South American Folk Music" through Hartford Performs. She is currently freelancing and teaching privately. Members of Quintocracy are artists in residence at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Quintocracy offers workshops for schools through BOCES.

American-Chilean pianist Meriette Saglie, is a prize-winning solo and chamber musician. Meriette is the Founder and Artistic Director of WineMusic in Los Angeles, California, an immersive concert and wine tasting series offering a journey for the senses through the forces of both the musical and culinary arts. As an active performer in her home base city of Los Angeles, Ms. Saglie commits herself to the organization of the intimate concert-going scene in Los Angeles through her involvement with Groupmuse and also contributes to LA's cultural community by performing for concert events hosted by and in benefit of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Meriette is also a dedicated educator, running a private-owned piano teaching studio in the Los Angeles area and guest lecturing for Tonebase Live's piano community.
Dr. Saglie has performed on stages worldwide, including the United States, Chile, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Japan. Her accomplishments include performances at the LACMA Bing Theater in Los Angeles, California, Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, and at The National Austrian Radio: ORF (Vienna, Austria) where she was invited to take part in a live broadcast performance and symposium with famed pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Meriette Saglie attended the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music where she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts with distinction. Prior to this, Meriette benefited from a unique and globally-enriched musical upbringing. The Los Angeles native began her musical studies at the age of 4. At age 13, she branched out internationally, with admission to the prestigious pre-college program of the University of Music in Vienna, Austria and, subsequently, the Music Conservatory of the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile. Because of her international background, she offers a versatile and well-rounded array of perspectives on both her musical and entrepreneurial vocational commitments.