Oklahoma Conservatory of Music

LAST DAY to submit applications for the 2026 Oklahoma Summer Chamber Music Institute. To apply and for more information, go to www.ocmschool.com

Immerse yourself in six days of chamber music, working with amazing faculty through daily coachings, private lessons, masterclasses, seminars. The Institute also features a faculty concert and two student concerts.

For any questions, reach out to OSCMI Director, Dr. Angelika Machnik-Jones at [email protected]

Spotlight on the OKLAHOMA SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTE faculty, Polish-Amerian cellist and Executive Director of the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music - Dr. Angelika Machnik- Jones.

To study this Summer with Dr. Angelika Machnik-Jones and the rest of the institute faculty, students between the ages of 15 and 20 can submit applications with video recording audition until June 5th. Announcement of accepted students will happen by June 10th.

Honored for her “excellent musical instincts”, “great emotion, sensitivity, temperament” and “wonderfully committed playing”, Polish-American cellist Dr. Angelika Machnik – Jones has performed extensively as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician throughout Poland, Germany and United States. As a soloist, she has performed with Delta Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City University Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma Community Orchestra, University of Oklahoma Civic Orchestra, University of
Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra, Fort Smith Symphony and Fort Hays Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared in several music festivals including Lancut International Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, Eastern Music Festival, Texas Music Festival and Mimir Chamber Music Festival. Mrs. Machnik-Jones performed on OETA - a local Oklahoma PBS television station and her performance was featured in the FOX 25 News. She was featured in Daily Oklahoman, Greensboro News, Jonesboro Sun and the City Wire in Fort Smith. As a guest artist, Dr. Angelika
Machnik-Jones has presented masterclasses, lectures and recitals at Missouri State University, University of Arkansas, West Texas A&M University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Washburn University, and University of Central Oklahoma.

Angelika won several prizes both in Poland and United States. In Poland, she received the Fourth Prize in Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition, playing with Pratum Trio. Since moving to United States, she received the First Prize in Delta Symphony Concerto Competition, Third Prize in Gordon Parks Concerto Competition. She was a winner of Eastern Music Festival Concerto Competition and Oklahoma City University Concerto Competition. Angelika also received Second Prize in Crescendo Music Awards and the First Prize in Oklahoma Community Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the First Prize in Hubbard Solo and Chamber Music Competition.

Known for her versatile and thought-provoking performances, Angelika Machnik-Jones has combined artistic mediums in order to achieve memorable experiences and bridge the gap
between the artist and the audience. Her 2021 concert presented at the Oklahoma Contemporary in collaboration with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, entitled “From Darkness”, took the audience on a journey from darkness to light. The intimate setting setting of the Te Ata Theatre, combined with lighting complimenting the music of Krzysztof Penderecki, Arvo Part, Peteris Vasks and poetry written by Machnik-Jones, created a unique multi-sensory experience. Since then, she has presented “From Darkness” on tours in Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. In 2022 Angelika established the Soluna Concert Series, a chamber music concert series which explores the immersive nature of music and arts.

In addition to a multitude of special projects and concerts, Angelika holds a busy schedule as a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, recitalist and chamber musician. She is a passionate pedagogue and entrepreneur. In 2013, Dr. Angelika Machnik-Jones founded the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music, which provides exemplary music education to almost two hundred music students. In January 2026, OCM became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In addition to her duties as Executive Director of OCM, she also teaches cello, chamber music and solfege. The cello students of the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music have been featured as National Finalists and South Central Division Alternate winners in the Music Teachers National Association Junior and Senior Strings Performance Competitions, as top chair winners with the Oklahoma All State Orchestra, and prize winners of Oklahoma City Philharmonic Young Musician Competition, Oklahoma Orchestra League Buttram and Keith Competition, Ad Astra
Strings Competition and South Kansas Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. OCM students were admitted to university programs at Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University Bienen School of Music. In 2020, Angelika was awarded the Private Studio Teacher of the Year by the Oklahoma Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

Dr. Machnik-Jones holds degrees from University of Oklahoma, Southern Methodist University and Oklahoma City University. She also studied at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk, Poland, and the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany. Her doctoral dissertation, completed in 2021, concerns the research of the Grazyna Bacewicz and Feliks
Nowowiejski cello concertos.

Spotlight on the OKLAHOMA SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTE faculty, Ruirui Ouyang Johnson - piano instructor at Oklahoma Conservatory of Music.

To study this Summer with Ruirui Ouyang Johnson and the rest of the Institute faculty, students between the ages of 15 and 20 can submit applications with video recording audition until June 5th. Announcement of accepted students will happen by June 10th.

A native of Tianjin, China, Ruirui Ouyang Johnson has been piano faculty member of the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music since 2017. She received her undergraduate degree in piano performance at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in 2002 under the supervision of Alexey Sokolov and Svetlana Sokolova. For several years thereafter, she taught piano at the Tianjin Conservatory. In 2008 she first came to Oklahoma City for advanced music studies, where she received her Master’s in Music with honors in piano performance at Oklahoma City University in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Sergio Monteiro. After serving as a piano teacher in and around Macau, China for three years, Ruirui returned to the United States for her doctoral studies. After a year of study with Dr. Kevin Chance at the University of Alabama, she transferred to the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 2015, where she is completing her work towards a DMA in Piano Performance with Dr. Jeongwon Ham.

Since returning to the United States in 2014, Ruirui has won multiple competitions including Donna Turner Smith Memorial Piano Competition at the University of Oklahoma, Piano Four Hands Artist Division of the 4th United States Virtuoso Artists International Piano Competition, University of Oklahoma Concerto Competition, Alabama Music Teachers Association Concerto Competition, University of Alabama Concerto Competition, Alabama Music Teachers Association Piano Solo Competition. She has performed as a soloist such orchestras as the University of Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra and University of Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

In 2017, Ruirui was selected to be a member of the Brighmusic Chamber Ensemble, Oklahoma City’s residential chamber music group, with which she has performed both regular season and festival concerts. In July 2017 she was the senior participant in Klavierfestival Lindlar, an annual international piano festival held in Lindlar, Germany, where she gave recitals in Lindlar and Gummersbach, near Cologne, including the capstone appearance at the final concert of the festival. In 2021, she and her OCU piano professor Sergio Monteiro appeared as the two piano accompanists for the Canterbury Voices’ performance of Johannes Brahms Win deutches Requiem under the baton of Randi Von Ellefson. Her current students have been victorious at state and national piano competitions, including the OMTA piano competition and Sound Espressivo Global Music Competition, and gave been accepted to music programs at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Tanglewood Festival, and Northwestern University Bienen School of Music.

Congratulations to the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music graduates of 2026!

Violinist Tatum Rodriguez, student of Erin Ripka, will be attending University of Central Oklahoma where she will be majoring in Forensic Molecular Science. Although having studied with Erin Ripka for only three years, Tatum was selected as a violinist with the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra.

From Mrs. Ripka: " I know Tatum will thrive in college. She is a kind and caring individual, and it has been a true pleasure teaching her and knowing her for the past several years. You are amazing Tatum, and I can't wait to see where life takes you."

Spotlight on the OKLAHOMA SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTE faculty, Royce McLarry - Principal Violist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic

To study this Summer with Royce McLarry and the rest of the Institute faculty, students between the ages of 15 and 20 can submit applications with video recording audition until June 5th. Announcement of accepted students will happen by June 10th.

Royce McLarry began studying violin at the age of four with his father Lacy McLarry. He made his solo debut with the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve. At age sixteen he was finalist in the International Mozart Festival Competition (Pueblo, Colorado).

McLarry received his Bachelor of Music Degree from Oklahoma City University. As a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he studied viola with Richard Blum of the Pro Arte String Quartet. While there he served as violist of the Strelow String Quartet and performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as Assistant Principal
Violist of the Northwood Orchestra in Michigan.

He has served on the faculties of the University of Oklahoma, Brevard Music Center, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Oklahoma Christian University.

Presently McLarry is Principal Violist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norman Philharmonic, the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, and is violist of the CRUSA String
Quartet. Other performances include Music from Greer as violist of the New Lyric Quartet, Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble of OKC, and as featured soloist in Harold in Italy by Berlioz,
with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra.

Congratulations to the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music graduates of 2026!

Cellist Avery Wiggins, student of Dr. Angelika Machnik- Jones, will be continuing her music studies as a Cello Performance Major at Texas Christian University, studying with Juliette Herlin. Having also been accepted to Cleveland Institute of Music and Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, Avery is grateful to have received a full scholarship offer from TCU, excited to begin her studies in the strong studio of Juliette Herlin, and experience the vibrancy of cultural events, which the Dallas-Fort Worth area has to offer.

Spotlight on the OKLAHOMA SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTE faculty, Dr. Chandler Fadero - Principal Second Violinist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

To study this Summer with Dr. Fadero and the rest of the Institute faculty, students between the ages of 15 and 20 can submit applications with video recording audition until June 5th. Announcement of accepted students will happen by June 10th.

Dr. Chandler Fadero is currently the Principal Second Violinist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and violin instructor in Oklahoma. He completed his Doctor of Music Degree in Violin Performance in 2023 as the acting Mark Allen Everett Fellow of String Performance at the University of Oklahoma School of Music. Prior to his studies in Oklahoma, he completed his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at the Hayes School of Music, and his Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance at Baylor University. His principal mentors have been Ernest Pereira, Nancy Bargerstock, Bruce Berg, and Gregory Lee. Fadero has also participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists and pedagogues such as Kevork Mardirossian, Elisabeth Field, Andrew Jennings, Alexander Kerr, and Rachel Barton Pine.

As an orchestral musician, Dr. Fadero has performed with Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of the Mountains, Waco Symphony Orchestra, and as Principal Second Violin with the Temple Symphony Orchestra and Norman Philharmonic. As a soloist, he has performed with the Cannon Symphony Orchestra, Baylor Symphony Orchestra and Sewanne Summer Music Festival Orchestra.

As a firm believer in chamber music, Fadero's involvement in the chamber music scene is particularly prolific. As one of the founders of the Glass Quartet, an ensemble dedicated to concertizing modern and minimalist works for String Quartet, Fadero oversaw and managed tours with repertoire from composers such as Philip Glass, John Adams, and Steve Reich. In addition, during his Master's studies, Fadero was appointed a position with the Baylor Graduate String Quartet, which focused primarily on performance of 20th century repertoire. Fadero is a founding member of The Nü Quartet, a chamber ensemble based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which performs modern works focusing on local composers.

Fadero regularly performs in early music ensembles, in positions as conductor, concertmaster, and soloist. He served as Concertmaster of the Collegium Musicum of the Hayes School of Music, the Early Music Ensemble of Baylor University, and the Collegium Musicum of the University of Oklahoma. Additionally, Fadero performed with the professional baroque ensemble Harmonia Baroque of North Carolina.
Fadero plays on an 1741 violin by Lorenzo Castaglia, with a bow by Jules Fetique, ca. 1915.

Congratulations to the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music graduates of 2026!

Violist Ella Inman, student of Orlando Ramirez, will be attending Purdue University where she will be majoring in Aerospace Engineering. She is graduating from Edmond North High School, after scoring 35 on the ACT as a high school sophomore. From her viola teacher, Orlando Ramirez: „I’m so proud of you Ella and I can’t wait to see what you achieve!”

Spotlight on the OKLAHOMA SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTE faculty, Polish-American violinist Hubert Pralitz.

To study this Summer with Hubert Pralitz and the rest of the Institute faculty, students between the ages of 15 to 20, can submit applications with video recording audition until June 5th. Announcement of accepted students will happen by June 10th.

Hubert Pralitz began his violin exploration at the age of 7 in his native Poland. He studied the art of violin playing with Henryk Szeryng, Zino Francescatti, Sándor Végh, Jean Fournier, Gérard Poulet, Herman Kienzl, Wanda Popielska, and Stefan Herman. During the course of his musical education, Mr. Pralitz attended the Stanisław Moniuszko Music School of Sopot, the Fryderyk Chopin Music College of Wrzeszcz, the National Supérior Conservatory of Music in Paris, the Academy of Music "Mozarteum" in Salzburg, and Southern Methodist University, in Dallas.

Mr. Pralitz is the winner & laureate of four international competitions, among them the Henryk Wieniawski Junior Violin Competition (Poland), and the Michelangelo Abbado International Violin Competition (Italy). In addition, he has been the finalist of several national and international competitions.

Mr. Pralitz has performed as a soloist throughout Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, including venues such as the Vatican, Sainte-Chapelle, and Carnegie Hall. He has played for dignitaries and Heads of State such as the Prime Minister of Israel, the Presidents of France, Poland, Brazil,
Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, and has held private concerts in the Vatican for the Pope St. John Paul II. In addition, Mr. Pralitz has concertized on national and international television, as well as solo and chamber music radio-broadcasts for Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. He has also recorded
and performed with many pop icons, including Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Kenny G, Barbara Streisand, Patti La Belle, Amy Grant, Michael Martin Murphey, The Scorpions, Enrique Iglesias, Garth Brooks, The Gypsy Kings, Mark O’Connor, and Diana Ross.

While living in Los Angeles, Mr. Pralitz was a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and was highly sought after as a recording artist for Fox Family Channel, Saban Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and SONY.

On May 19th of 2018, Mr. Pralitz was awarded the Knights Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for the dissemination of Polish Culture, Arts and Music, by Polish President Andrzej Duda at Millennial Park in Chicago. He was also
awarded honorary citizenship by the City of Dallas on May 8th, 2019 by Dallas Mayor Michael Rawlings for cultural achievements.

In Texas, Mr. Pralitz is the founder and director of Camerata Dallas, an interdisciplinary arts organization focused on collaborative performances. Mr. Pralitz has performed solo recitals at Southern Methodist University, Rice University, University of North Texas, University of Texas-San Marcos, Houston Baptist University, University of Texas-Dallas, and St. Thomas University in Houston. He is also a member of the Irving Symphony String Quartet, which serves as the quartet in residence at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas through
its Healing Notes program, which strives to bring music to doctors, nurses, hospital patients, and their families.

He also performs regularly as Principal Second Violin of the Plano Symphony Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster of San Angelo Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Concertmaster of Irving Symphony Orchestra, as well as section violin with Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Symphony of
Northwest Arkansas, East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, Lawton Philharmonic, and the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra.

Congratulations to the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music graduates of 2026!

Cellist Ben Peters, student of Dr. Angelika Machnik- Jones, will be continuing his music studies as a Cello Performance Major at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, studying with Michael Mermagen. Ben is excited about this choice for his university studies, and experiencing the rich cultural scene of Kansas City.
The photo features Ben performing at his high school graduation ceremony at Harding Charter Preparatory High School.