Sonata as a Statement

 Dr. Sonja Kraus, a native of Germany, is an internationally acclaimed cellist, teacher, and music scholar, whose concertizing and teaching career has taken her through Europe, Asia, Latin America and the United States.

Currently, Kraus holds the position of Assistant Professor of Cello/Bass at the University of South Dakota and is the cellist in the renowned Rawlins Piano Trio. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of South Dakota, Kraus was the cello professor at the Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo as well as the principal cellist of the Orquesta Filarmónica Municipal de Guayaquil in Ecuador. Since 2023, Kraus has been the orchestra manager of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico and the artistic director of the Ensemble Zusammen.

Kraus received her bachelor’s degree in cello performance and pedagogy from the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart (Germany) as well as a master’s and doctoral degree from the Jacobs School of Music – Indiana University Bloomington where she studied with Prof. Emilio Colón.

Kraus is a sought-after performer, clinician, and instructor of masterclasses throughout the US and Latin America with invitations to the Colegio Universitario San Gerónimo de La Habana (Cuba), Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, Jacobs School of Music – Indiana University (IN), Chapman University (CA), University of Missouri – Kansas City (MO), and the University of Oklahoma (OK). Kraus participated in several music festivals around the world including Habana Clásica, the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy, and the California Orchestra Academy.

Dr. Brooks Hafey, has been dazzling audiences with his exceptional musicianship and refined technique since boyhood. He has performed in a wide range of venues in the United States including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Overseas performances include concerts in France, Italy, and Norway. In addition to his career as a soloist, Dr. Hafey is an active chamber musician, collaborative artist, and conductor. In 2008 he made his debut as an opera conductor in Novafeltria, Italy with Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and has returned to Italy in recent summers to conduct Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi.

Dr. Hafey’s wide-ranging repertoire spans from the works of French Baroque masters

Jean-Philippe Rameau and François Couperin to the composers of the twenty-first century. An advocate of contemporary piano composition, Dr. Hafey has presented a lecture recital of Ghost Variations, by American composer and Grawemeyer Award-winner George Tsontakis. In early 2016 he gave the world premieres of Joshua Keeling’s Gravitons and Neutrinos.

Dr. Hafey holds degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Missouri-Columbia and Florida State University and also studied at the Conservatoire Municipale de Mennecy in France under Juan Davila. Former teachers include Dr. Read Gainsford, Dr. Carolyn Bridger, and Dr. Janice Wenger. Dr. Hafey has held teaching positions at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida, and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He is currently Associate Professor of Music at Chadron State College in Nebraska. In celebration of the Debussy centenary, Dr. Hafey performed the complete piano works and chamber works with piano of Claude Debussy in 2018. He was also the curator and principal performer of the 2020-2022 Beethoven Festival at Chadron State College. During the 2022-2023 concert season, he performed a series of 8 solo recitals covering the history of piano music.