Our Founders
With equal passions for early and new music, Rachel Smith is a freelance musician, a substitute teacher at Chicago Public Schools, an arts administrator and a full-time hustler based in Chicago and Rochester, NY. She appears regularly as a violist with the Camerata Chicago orchestra and a baroque violinist with Martin David’s Bella Voce Sinfonia. Most recently, she joined the Concert Opera of Greater Chicago for their first opera with a full orchestral ensemble. She is the director of Ensemble Meliora, which recently performed their debut project in June at the Boston Early Music Festival’s Fringe Concert Series. Rachel holds a BM in viola performance and a Certificate of Achievement in Performance Practice from the Eastman School of Music, and is a recent alum of the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto. She was a member of Eastman’s Musica Nova ensemble, where she worked with conductors Georgia Mills, Luke Poeppel, and Brad Lubman. She is also a member of the 2024 Bang on a Can Summer Festival fellowship cohort, where she worked alongside musicians and composers such as David Lang, Sahara von Hattenberger, Jack Beal, Vashawn Aurora, Ruben Høgh, and many more. Rachel enjoys performing both on violin and viola in many different styles, and loves the collaboration between colleagues for old music, new music, and everything in between!
Hailed for her “natural musicianship, boundless musicality, and genuine joy for music” (EMW, ’25), Juliana Kauls-Kilcoyne is a Russian-American violist based in New York City. She earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in viola performance from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Grammy Award-winning violist Masumi Per Rostad. While at Eastman, she also completed an Advanced Performer’s Certificate in Early Music after discovering her true passion: historical performance. She studied under the mentorship of Paul O’Dette, Christel Thielmann, and Brandon Chui (Tafelmusik).
Juliana has appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Ver Sacrum Consort, and a variety of NYC opera companies and early music ensembles. At Eastman, she served as principal violist of Collegium Musicum and performed with the Eastman Philharmonia. In 2023, she was featured in the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concerts and selected for the American Bach Soloists Academy, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. Performance highlights include world premieres of works by Anthony Davis and Libby Larsen, and masterclasses with Yo-Yo Ma, Kenneth Slowik, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Jeffrey Irvine, and Matthew Lipman.
Core Members
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Emma Milian holds a Master’s degree in Violin Performance from the University of North Texas and is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance, a certificate in Arts Leadership, and a certificate in Performance Practice. Emma is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Violin with the Juilliard Historical Performance program.
As a soloist, Emma has been featured with the UNT Baroque Orchestra, and recently recorded composer Charles Peck’s work for solo violin, Filament. As an ensemble musician, she has performed in the Rochester Early Music Festival with the Eastman Collegium, and served as concertmaster in the Eastman Bach Cantata series, Eastman Philharmonia, and Empire Film and Media Ensemble. In the summer of 2024, she toured Brazil with the UNT early music chamber ensemble, Fantasmi. She was a member of the Dallas Bach Society orchestra and played on their album recording of Handel’s Messiah, and the Saint John’s Passion album which will be released soon. In addition to her work in Rochester and Dallas, Emma has performed in venues across New York City, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Dimenna Center, Symphony Space, and the National Arts Club.
James Marshall joined the viola section of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2023, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, with a Certificate of Advanced Achievement in Early Music. Although primarily a violist, James is also an avid performer on Baroque violin and viola d’amore, and was the leader of Eastman’s Collegium Musicum ensemble for three years. James has received primary early music studies from Eastman Professors Paul O’Dette, Christel Thielmann, and Roger Freitas, as well as additional studies with Cynthia Roberts and Julie Andrijeski. He has performed in Rochester with Publick Musick and Pegasus Early Music, and at recent festivals including the American Bach Soloists Academy, Boston Early Music Festival Fringe, Berwick Academy (Oregon Bach Festival), and Baroque Performance Institute (Oberlin).
Ariel Walton is a passionate violonist who believes music has the power to uplift the spirit. With a blend of precision and curiosity, she brings the deep voice of the bass to life, offering both foundation and expressive depth within any ensemble. Her love for early music began through a serendipitous opportunity at the Eastman School of Music’s Collegium Musicum. When the regular bassist was unavailable one semester, Ariel stepped in and was captivated by the ensemble’s collaborative spirit. This experience eventually led to the partnerships that inspired the creation of the Meliora Ensemble.
Ariel went on to study at Juilliard’s Historical Performance program, where collaborations with renowned artists including Rhiannon Giddens, Masaaki Suzuki, and Lionel Meunier shaped her artistry. A defining moment came when she chose to pause her studies to work with violone specialist Margaret Urquhart at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. This mentorship profoundly influenced her approach to historically informed performance and basso continuo. Under Professor Urquhart’s guidance, Ariel also became principal bassist of the Theresia Orchestra, gaining invaluable performance experience and professional skills.
After graduating from Juilliard in May, Ariel returned to The Hague as a contract student to continue her studies with Professor Urquhart. She also recently joined the Paris-based orchestra Insula Camerata. With a growing focus on the violone, Ariel aims to explore its expressive possibilities within the broader landscape of early music performance.
Current Collaborators
Jackie Hager is a Rochester-born cellist whose work spans both modern and historical performance practices. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Baroque Cello with Phoebe Carrai at The Juilliard School, where she previously earned a Master of Music in Cello Performance under the tutelage of Natasha Brofsky. She also holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in cello performance and neuroscience from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Professor Richard Aaron.
As an active performer, she has appeared as a guest soloist with ensembles including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Finger Lakes Symphony, Penfield Symphony, and Genesee Symphony; she is happy to be joining the American Classical Orchestra for their upcoming season.
Passionate about connecting to audiences, Jackie hopes to share her voice by giving both meaning and story to the music that is important to her. To her, music is one of the most direct connections to life, and it helps her to understand the human experience.
William Rehwinkel is an organist, harpsichordist and composer living in New Jersey. He has completed his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees at Oberlin College and Conservatory majoring in Organ Performance and Computer Science and will graduate from the Juilliard School as a Historical Performance Harpsichord major in 2026.
William is passionate about performing anonymously transmitted chamber music found in manuscripts, overcoming the challenges of programming these works, and expanding the canon of early music. To this end, he actively conducts research into anonymous music, including finding scans of manuscripts which have been made available online by libraries around the world and inspecting manuscripts in person at locations such as the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University. He also prepares editions and retouched facsimiles of this music for performance.
In addition to performing, William also composes music, combining modern styles with aspects of baroque music including ensemble playing and keyboard figured bass realizations. He also combines his undergraduate majors by operating several websites dedicated to other organists, musicians and artists. These include a wiki dedicated to the organ and its composers, a video-sharing website for artists to share their works, and a file-sharing website with other information useful to organists. William is the music director and organist at Our Lady of Perpetual Help / St. Catherine’s Church in Pelham, NY.