Our Team

Krysia Tripp

Flutist Krysia Tripp (B.M. M.M. Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) has concertized in the U.S. and Europe as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. She has collaborated with a diverse group of artists including Luciano Pavarotti, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Brubeck Brothers and Andrea Bocelli. Ms. Tripp has performed with the Southwest Florida Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland Symphony, Opera Maine, Portland Ballet, and the Romberg Pops Touring Orchestra. She has participated in the Spoleto Festival (USA and Italy), Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, New Hampshire Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival.

She has spent the past five summers as an Artist Faculty member of the Interharmony International Music Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy and Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany. Krysia is currently a member of the Artist Faculty at the University of Southern Maine School of Music, Bates and Bowdoin Colleges, and the Portland Conservatory of Music. She also maintains a private studio in Portland. Krysia is the owner/Artistic Director of Goldenwood Ensembles.

Graybert Beacham

Graybert Beacham (Violin and Viola)

M.M. Violin Performance, Cleveland Institute of Music; B.M. Violin Performance, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Meadowmount School of Music (directed by Ivan Galamian).

Graybert Beacham has been an active performer and teacher throughout the United States and internationally. He was the recipient of the Dr. Jerome Gross Prize in Violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Major teachers include David Cerone, Bernhard Goldschmidt, and Emanuel Borok.
As a violinist, he has been a member of the Mexico City Philharmonic, Tulsa Philharmonic (Principal Second Violin), Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, and Kansas City Philharmonic. He has also served as Acting Concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jaime Laredo, and as Concertmaster and soloist for the Cascade Festival of Music in Oregon.

He currently performs with the Portland (Maine) Symphony, and has performed with that orchestra in the past as Concertmaster, Principal Second Violin, Principal Viola, and viola soloist. Recorded performances have been broadcast over public radio stations across the United States and Mexico, and he has recorded for Albany Records.

Mo Nichols

Originally from Machiasport, Maine and currently a resident of South Portland, Mo Nichols is the principal harpist of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. Mo first performed with the BSO in 2005 and has served as principal harp since 2015. They studied harp with Jara Goodrich in Maine, the former principal harp of both the Portland and Bangor Symphony Orchestras. Nichols earned a BA from Carleton College in psychology and completed an MA at the University of Maine-Orono in speech-language pathology. In addition to performances with the BSO, Mo Nichols can be seen with ensembles such as the Portland Ballet, Opera Maine, the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra, and various choral ensembles around the state. When not playing the harp, Mo can be found making the dough at The Holy Donut in Scarborough, performing onstage in musical theatre productions in the area, or singing in the choir at First Parish Portland.

Marisa Solomon

Cellist Marisa Solomon received performance degrees from the Oberlin College and San Francisco Conservatories. She teaches from her private studio in Bangor, as well as at the Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI). Marisa is a member of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the Ceólta Cello Duo with Noreen Silver, and is on the adjunct faculty at UMaine in Orono. She has been on the faculty for the Kneisel Hall Program for Maine Students since 2012, and serves on the board of the Chamber Music Society at the Collins Center for the Arts. Marisa has
participated in many festivals, including Kneisel Hall, the Aspen Music Festival, the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, Spoleto USA, Festival de due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado.

Dennis Smith

Dennis Smith is a lifelong Maine resident. He started playing the guitar at the age of 13 and quickly began performing in local bands, playing pop, rock (lots of Beatles, Stones and Led Zeppelin), and electric blues.
He studied at the University of Maine, where he received performance degrees in both Jazz and Classical guitar.

Dennis has been performing for over 35 years, and currently plays a variety of musical styles including jazz, classical, celtic, folk, rock and pop.
Teaching has always been an integral part of his life’s work. He has taught many students of all ages and ability levels since he opened his private studio in 1980.
Dennis is a gifted arranger, and has completed many charts for Goldenwood Ensembles.