Michael Toulouse
Michael is the Program Director and the host of Classical Music Indy’s signature 24 hour syndication program, Anytime Classical. He has a B.A. in music from Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN and continues to play piano and study foreign languages for his own pleasure and artistic growth.
A 2006 Spectrum Award recipient from the Indiana Broadcasters Association, Michael has also served as radio broadcast host for the International Violin Competition Indianapolis’ 2010 and 2014 quadrennial competitions, has emceed American Pianists Association concerts, and frequently hosts the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s “Words on Music” pre-concert discussions. Most recently, he has launched the new podcast, Key Principals with Michael Toulouse.
Angela Brown
International opera star Angela Brown’s multi-genre career has been lauded on the front page of The New York Times, CNN, CBS, in Oprah Magazine and Reader’s Digest. With performances spanning six continents, Angela has graced the leading opera and symphonic stages of the world. She is the founder of Morning Brown, Inc., a nonprofit that bridges the gap between accessible music programs and underserved communities.
Okara Imani
Okara Imani is a Daughter of the Moon, Libra, vocalist, and writer. She studied music classically for a bachelor’s degree and has been raised under the influence of all manner of funk, jazz, alternative, and punk sounds.With these influences, accompanied by the moods, motivations, and moments of her 28 years on Earth, she is so grateful to hear and be heard by you, teach and be taught by you, to inspire and be inspired by you in the hopes that she may serve as your mouthpiece and mirror into self.
Nicholas Johnson
Dr. Nicholas Johnson, Assistant Professor of Musicology and Director of Graduate Studies at the Jordan College of the Arts School of Music at Butler University, is a rising star in classical music’s creative culture. While preparing hundreds of college students for careers in music each year, his academic appointments also take him around the world to capture contemporary classical music artists and their latest works and performances. Nicholas is the author of Classical Pairings in NOTE magazine, which he brilliantly transformed from print to podcast, and soon to be launched two-minute public radio vignettes.
Clare Longendyke
Clare Longendyke is an award-winning pianist whose dazzling musicianship and colorful interpretations delight audiences wherever she performs. Recognized by colleagues and listeners for the expressive energy and originality she brings to new and traditional classical music, the effervescent soloist and chamber musician won four national competitions and was a finalist in several others during the past decade.
Before earning master’s and doctoral degrees at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Longendyke completed degrees at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, and the École Normale de Musique in Paris. The ardent Francophile and French-speaking pianist received the Harriet Hale Woolley Award in the Arts to study music in France as an undergraduate.
Longendyke blends a passion for music’s classical tradition with an equal affection for what she calls “the music of our time.” Her efforts to bring innovative musical experiences to public places and historic sites earned her a nomination for the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Women of Influence award in 2019.
Andrew Martin
Andrew Martin, a choral conductor, clinician, and arranger based in Indianapolis, Indiana is in demand as a choral clinician and adjudicator and his arrangements are performed by high school and university choirs throughout the country. Martin currently serves as Web Producer for Classical Music Indy.
Joshua Thompson
Pianist and music sociologist Joshua Thompson combines his passions for social advocacy and music education to catalyze social change in classical music. Joshua was recently in residence at the Africana Studies Center for Music and Society at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Named a Beckmann Emerging Artist Fellow last year by the Arts Council of Indianapolis, Joshua is an accomplished pianist with a personal mission to exclusively program and perform classical masterworks by composers of African descent.
