Coalesce Trio is a collaboration between Elise Dalleska, Jeff Kowalkowski, and Sam Bradshaw.
Coalesce presents a variety of genres (classical, pop, jazz/blues, American fiddle,
new music and the classics of Cole Porter/Gerswhin/etc) in many venues (concert halls,
classrooms, senior residences, private events, Chicago parks).
Coalesce's current programs for 2014-2015 include:
The Duke - music composed by Duke Ellington
Music from the Beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sinatra's Legacy
A Coalesce Holiday
America's greats - music of Stephen Foster and Scott Joplin
Coming soon: Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley
We have a passion for designing programs for all styles. Let us know what we can play at your next event!
About the Artist
Violinist Elise Dalleska is a versatile musician and has worked with artists ranging from Mary J. Blige to Pierre Boulez.
Elise received her M.M. in violin performance from Florida State University and her B.M. summa cum laude from Boston University.
She maintains a private teaching studio, has been a faculty member at DePaul University in the Community Music Department since 2002,
and teaches violin lessons at Whitney Young Magnet High School.
A chamber musician at heart, Elise is a former member of the Red Riding Hood Quartet and has collaborated with members of the Kaia Quartet.
Her teaching experience includes working one on one with students, chamber music, and orchestral sectionals.
Elise's students play a variety of styles including American, Classical, Jazz, Blues, and Pop.
Her students play in top youth and school orchestras in Chicago and have earned distinctions in competitions.
She is a Citizen Musician, an initiative of Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Composer/pianist Jeff Kowalkowski received his doctorate in composition from Northwestern University.
He is active as a free-lance keyboardist and band-leader performing classical, jazz, and rock music,
with a specialty in "avant-garde" and "new music." Jeff has been on the faculty at DePaul University
since 1996 and at Northeastern Illinois University since 2001. He teaches courses in music composition
and theory, as well as orchestration and form and analysis. Recent commissions for original compositions
include a Meet the Composer/Met-Life Creative Connections grant for a duo percussion concerto, and also a
sound-installation produced by the Experimental Sound Studio (ESS) and the Chicago Park District at the
Lincoln Park Conservatory. Recent work as a keyboardist includes synthesizer and sound-effects for
Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, and piano with the Exploding Star Orchestra (Delmark).
Since the summer of 2013 he has taught theory, composition and improv at the Chicago Piano Festival.
Jeff conducted the 100th anniversary concert of the Chicago Zither Club (1912-2012).
He has co-organized the New Music at the Green Mill Sunday afternoon concert series since 1991.
Sam Bradshaw, double bass, endeavors to expand in all directions simultaneously, and most recently
performed in the colossal experimental and improvised opera Dissecting Norton by Julia Miller and
Gino Robair at the Music Institute of Chicago. A longtime collaborator with composer Jeff Kowalkowski,
he also performs with musicians Mark Fornek, Rick Rzeszutko, and Joey Derus. He attended the DePaul
University School of Music where he studied bass with Warren Benfield and Brad Opland.
Sam was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
When Sam is not performing, he enjoys biking on Chicago's beautiful bike trails with his two sons.