Dr. Yee Sik Wong
Yee Sik, a native of Hong Kong, China, began accompanying ballet classes in 2007 while she was pursuing her D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Iowa. After graduating, she joined the Tulsa Ballet as a Company and Center for Dance Education pianist in November 2011.
In 2012, Yee Sik was the pianist for the Tulsa Ballet's production of Dracula, for which her playing was praised. She was also the piano soloist with the Tulsa Symphony for the Tulsa Ballet's production of Lady of the Camellias in 2013. Tulsa World called her "the true musical hero of the evening."
Yee Sik has served as a dance accompanist at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Dance Department of the University of Iowa, and the University of Iowa's Youth Ballet. During her last year at the University of Iowa, she worked closely with international ballet mistress and choreographer Deanna Carter for the completion of her doctoral thesis entitled "The Art of Accompanying Classical Ballet Technique Classes."
Yee Sik is also an active chamber musician and soloist. She was invited to give a solo performance at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, and a duo-piano recital at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2009. Yee Sik has won a plethora of competitions, such as the University of Iowa's School of Music Concerto Competition. She won second prize in the first Toyama Asian Youth Music Competition, and was the first runner-up in the Senior Chinese Composers Piano Solo Class in the 52nd Hong Kong School Music Festival.
Yee Sik holds a B.A. in Music from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a M.M. in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She also holds a Licentiate Diploma in Piano Performance (LTCL) from Trinity College. Her Major teachers include Dr. Rene Lecuona, Dr. Ksenia Nosikova, Dr. Marian Lee, Dr. Deirdre O'Donohue, Dr. Marc Silverman, and Dr. Wai Cheng.
Stephanie Murrich
Stephanie Murrish was born in Jackson, Mississippi. She grew up in New Orleans where she began her training with Harvey Hysell, Gayle Parmelee and studied privately for one year with Maestro Vincenzo Celli, the last student of the legendary Maestro Cechetti. She is an alumni of the Nutmeg Ballet. As a result of the Prix de Lausanne, she was the first American to train on full scholarship at the Stedelijk Instituut Voor Ballet, directed by Madame Jos Brabants in Antwerpen, Belgium with Maria Metchkarova from Kirov Ballet. As a student she had the opportunity to work with Madame Joy Newton from the Royal Ballet while performing the role of Princess Aurora in the Sleeping Beauty and toured with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. She also received private coaching from Donna Bonasera, Xenia Kosorukov, Sasha Banderenko, and Bella Kovorskaya.
At the age of 16, she was an apprentice with the New Orleans Ballet, has been a Soloist with the Cincinnati Ballet, Principal Ballerina with the Ballet de Santiago in Chile, directed by Ivan Nagy, Charleston Ballet Theatre, directed by Jill Eathorne-Bahr, and for eleven years she and her husband, Daniil Gaifullin were Principal couple with the Sarasota Ballet of Florida, directed by Robert De Warren and coached by Pavel Fomin.
Her repertoire includes the principal roles in Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Chopinana, Coppelia, Paquita, Rayamonda, Walpurgis Night, Natalia Makarova's La Bayadere, Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, the Nutcracker, Four Last songs, Chang Shu pas de deux, Robert De Warren's Madame Butterfly, Firebird, Carmina Burana, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Echo and Narcissis, The Nutcracker, Zal and Rudebah, Jill Earthorne-Bahr's Dracula, Balanchine's Apollo, Rubies, Serenade, Four Temperments, Fleming Flindt's The Lesson, Harold Lander's Etudes, Sir Kenneth MacMillian's Concerto, Jimmy Gammonet's Nous Sommes, Vadim Fedotov's Romeo and Juliet, Forever Mine pas de duex, Christopher Fleming's Rock Opus and Romeo and Juliet, John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Vincente Nebrada's Our Waltzes, Hilda Riveros' Piaf, Recardo Bustemante's Dvorak American, Stephen Mill's Naughty Ones, and Paul Fomin's Homage a Chopin and various Pas De Duex. She has performed in various galas, tours within the USA and abroad.
She was a finalist in the New York International Ballet Competition, during which a documentary was made following her throughout the competition. It aired on the CBS show, "Dancing with a Dream" with Charles Karault. She is in the edition of Who's Who in Entertainment, received the award for "Artistic Achievement" from Personalities of America, competed in the USAIBC, and is the 2007 recipient of the YAGP "Outstanding Choreographer's Award'.
As former Artistic Directors of the Lone Star Ballet and owner's of the Ballet Amarillo Academy, she and her husband have staged/choreographed ballets such as The Nutcracker with the Amarillo Symphony, Firebird, Paquita, Gala of Stars, Alice in Wonderland, Aurora's Wedding, Swan Lake and La Traviata with the Amarillo Opera and numerous outreach performances within the community. She has also been guest teacher with various schools within the USA and was part of the guest teaching faculty at the 2010 International Dance School of the USA International Ballet Competition that is held every four years in Jackson, Ms.
YEE SIK WONG's INSIDE THE BALLET Series of CDs
Each CD is $25.00
