Mona Cliff, 2024 Shooting Stars 2D Judge

Mona Cliff (Aniiih) is a multidisciplinary indigenous visual artist, she explores the subject of contemporary Native American identity through her use of native cultural materials. 

Her upcoming Exhibits 2024 she will have a large-scale beaded piece at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C for the Women to Watch exhibition and a large beaded at the Autry Museum in L.A.

Mona is married and has 3 children ages 13, 14, & 16 years old. She currently resides in Lawrence, Kansas.

Hector Casanova, 2024 Shooting Stars 2D Judge

A native of Mexico City, Héctor Casanova graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1998 with a double major in Illustration and Art History. He has been working as an illustrator and fine artist in Kansas City for over 25 years, doing work for magazines, newspapers and private collectors nationally and abroad. His work ranges from editorial illustration and comics to large mural projects and multi-media collaborations with other artists and musicians. As a staff artist at The Kansas City Star (’99-’15), he illustrated hundreds of articles and magazine covers, winning a handful of awards and accolades. He was co-founder and curator of the Green Door Gallery, an alternative art space dedicated to showcasing the work of established and emerging artists from Kansas City and beyond. His comics work includes Screamland with writer Harold Sipe (Image Comics), and The Lurkers with writer Steve Niles (IDW), as well as his weekly comic strip Guffman & Godot. Héctor has received awards from American Illustration, Print and Society of News Designers, and was the recipient of The Pitch’s 2008 Mastermind Award for his artistic contributions to Kansas City. In 2020, he was appointed by the Office of the Mayor of Kansas City to the Municipal Art Commission, whose mission is to serve as a catalyst for artistic growth and aesthetic excellence in Kansas City.
Héctor is Assistant Professor of Illustration and Social Practice at the Kansas City Art Institute.
You can keep up with his work on Facebook or Instagram
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hectorcasanova/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/therealhectorcasanova

Phillip Elrich, 2024 Shooting Stars 3D Judge

Philipp Eirich was born in Wurzburg, Germany. He came to the United States in his early twenties and lived in Chicago for 20 years before moving to Kansas City. He now owns and runs Cerbera Gallery, a contemporary fine art gallery located at the heart of Kansas City’s Crossroads Art District. Eirich serves on the Kansas City Artists Coalition’s Board of Directors – from 2021-2023 as Board President. He also is a Board Member of the LUMI Neon Museum, a member of KCUR’s Gen Listen Leadership Circle and serves on the judging panel of Art Westport

Rodrigo Carazes Portal, 2024 Shooting Stars 3D Judge

Rodrigo Carazas Portal was born in Lima and raised in the Callao Province of Peru. He studied in the art department at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and later relocated to the U.S.A in 2009. Carazas earned his BFA from George Mason University’s School of Art in 2015. Also, he holds a MFA in Curatorial Practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art/MICA (class of 2020). Recent awards include the Graduate Merit Scholarship MICA (2018-2020), the Meyerhoff Fellowship (2019), [R.A.T] Fellowship -Mexico City (2019), the Best New Project Prize -Lima Biennial Art/“ABLi” (2016), and the Academic Excellence Distinction in Sculpture (GMU, 2015).

Lisa Maione, 2024 Shooting Stars Photography Judge

Lisa J. Maione is a designer, artist and educator. Born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in California and Texas, her creative practice investigates the nature of the screen as a material and mode of perception in relationships between images, reading and memory. Her visual research-based work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including galleries in New York, Texas, Missouri, Rhode Island, Korea and the Netherlands. She runs for instance, a design practice, working on collaborative projects in the arts, architecture, publishing and education. Lisa holds an MFA and BFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design and a post-graduate certificate in Typeface Design from Type@Cooper NYC.

Since 2008, Lisa has been teaching, leading and collaborating in higher education within private and public institutions. She has taught design in undergraduate and graduate graphic design and visual communication programs at Parsons School of Design, Queens College City University of New York (CUNY), Marymount Manhattan College, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Oklahoma State University, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) prior to her time with Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI).

Carlos Morena, 2024 Shooting Stars Photography Judge

Carlos Moreno has spent all his adult life as a photojournalist. He has a degree in journalism with an emphasis in photography from the University of Texas at Austin. But he also has a master’s degree in mass communication from Eastern New Mexico University and a Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction writing from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He will tell you he is often the most educated person in a room but never the smartest. 

Along the way, he has owned a video production company, taught a variety of classes at different colleges, and freelanced as a writer, photographer, and videographer. Currently Carlos works as a photojournalist and newscaster at KCUR Public Media. He lives in Lee’s Summit with his wife and two daughters.

Grace Suh, 2024 Shooting Stars Literature Judge

Grace Suh was born in Seoul, South Korea, survived 20 years in New York City, and loves living in Kansas City. Her work has received awards from the Hedgebrook Writers in Residence Program, Edward F. Albee Foundation, Overbrook Foundation, Djerassi Resident Artist Program, the National Endowment for the Arts USC Arts Journalism Fellowship, and (in Kansas City) the Charlotte Street Foundation Rocket Grants program and Crossroads Artboards program.

Sarah Aptilon, 2024 Shooting Stars Literature Judge

Sarah Aptilon is a playwright, translator and educator. Her plays have been produced and developed at The Living Room Theatre, The Fishtank, Just Off Broadway Theatre, Rising Tide Productions, and Potluck Productions, and she serves as a playwright mentor for Young Playwrights Live! at Spinning Tree Theatre in Johnson County. Her full-length play Deep Dark Nothingness was selected by Kansas City Public Theatre as part of its Theatre Lab series and will be presented in a staged reading in February 2024. Sarah is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Johnson County Community College, where she teaches courses on world religions, Asian religions, and Japanese culture. As an intercultural trainer and consultant, Sarah has conducted hundreds of training and teambuilding courses for global Japanese companies  throughout the U.S. and Mexico. She earned a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Stanford University. Sarah is originally from Johnson County and returned to the Kansas City area with her family in 2012.

Jordan Malone, 2024 Shooting Stars Production & Design Judge

Gary Mosby, 2024 Shooting Stars Production & Design Judge

Gary Mosby is a full-time faculty member at Kansas City Kansas Community College heading the Theatre Technology area of the department. As well as his teaching responsibilities, he serves as Scenic and Lighting Designer. and Technical Director for all activities in the Performing Arts Center. He continues to stay active in thriving Kansas City professional theatre community working with several companies; KC Public theatre, where he is a board member, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Actors Theatre and the Unicorn Theatre, just to name a few. I am very pleased to, once again, participate in the Shooting Stars program. Congratulations to all the talented students participating in this valuable program.

John Rensenhouse, 2024 Shooting Stars Theatre Performance Judge

John Rensenhouse is an actor, director, and producer based in Kansas City.  Nationally, his credits include the Broadway tours of The Lion King and Noises Off, as well as work at some of the major regional theatres, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage, St. Louis Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Arena Stage D.C., McCarter Theatre, and our own Kansas City Rep.  His film and television credits include a role in the original Candyman and a year long stint as Hector Wilson in the bygone soap opera The Edge of Night.  Here in town, Mr. Rensenhouse serves as President of Kansas City Actors Theatre, and has played leading roles at the New Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.  He is currently appearing in the KCAT production of Gaslight (Angel Street) at City Stage in Union Station. 

Jessalyn Kincaid, 2024 Shooting Stars Theatre Performance Judge

Jessalyn Kincaid has been a professional actor, stage manager and director in the Kansas City area for 24 years, including turns at Music Theater Heritage, KC Repertory Theatre, The New Theatre, Kansas City Actors Theatre, The Unicorn Theatre, The Coterie Theatre, Quality Hill Playhouse, and American Heartland Theatre. She has had the distinct honor of working on new works with Harry Connick, Jr. and Stephen Schwartz and was an original company member of the world premiere productions ofThe Happy Elf, Disney’s Geppetto & Son, and Seussical. 

Dr. Raymond Feener, 2024 Shooting Stars Classic Voice Judge

Dr. Aidan Soder, 2024 Shooting Stars Classic Voice Judge

Dr. AIDAN SODER, mezzo soprano, enjoys a diverse career as artist, educator, and scholar. Dr. Soder is an Associate Professor of Voice at the UMKC Conservatory where she teaches applied voice to undergraduate through doctoral students pursuing degrees in Performance, Music Education, and Music Therapy. A graduate of Rice University’s esteemed Shepherd School of Music in Houston, TX, Dr. Soder has performed extensively in concert, opera, and recital, throughout the US and abroad, with diverse repertoire that includes Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Britten’s Albert Herring, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Symphony #2, and the Requiem masses of Mozart, Duruflé, and Verdi. An advocate of contemporary music, she has premiered and recorded two song cycles by Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand: Tagore Love Songs and Orange Torches Against the Rain. Well-regarded as a pedagogue and technician, Dr. Soder is in demand as a masterclass clinician, and she has served on the faculties of the University of South Dakota, the International Performing Arts Institute (IPAI) in Germany, and Michigan’s prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp. She is the recipient of several awards, including one for her book on vocal performance practice in Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire; Conservatory and University awards in Teaching, Service, and Research; and most notably, the Fulbright Scholar Award, which allowed her to teach, research, and perform in Kolkata, India during the 2014 -15 academic year. Dr. Soder’s current and former students are enjoying successful careers as opera singers and professional choristers, as teachers and music therapists in the Greater KC area, and as professors at colleges and universities around the country.

Destiny Mermagen, 2024 Shooting Stars Strings Judge

Pioneering Musician and American Violinist Destiny Ann Mermagen is the first-ever artist alongside pianist Heather Adelsberger to record the complete works of Henri Vieuxtemps’ Bouquet Américain—A collection of charming, witty, and virtuosic pieces based on popular American and Irish folk tunes that are written in the typical “Classical Music” style, while at the same time giving a nod to the “American Fiddling” tradition. These works are featured on her 2018 world premiere album, Classical Cowgirl ~ Bach to Barn Burners™. As the winner of international competitions and performance awards, Destiny Ann has appeared as violin soloist and chamber musician in many prestigious venues across the United States, in Russia, Prague, and elsewhere in Europe. More information can be found on her website, www.destinyviolin.com.

Michael Mermagen, 2024 Shooting Stars Strings Judge

Cellist Michael Mermagen (M.M. The Juilliard School, B.M. The Peabody Conservatory of Music) is Professor of Cello at UMKC Conservatory and Head of Strings. He was formerly Associate Professor of Cello and Chamber Music and Head of the Instrumental Division at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America.

Michael made his debut at the age of sixteen with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after receiving the Young Soloist’s Award. Michael began his studies at Peabody Preparatory where he studied with Paula Skolnick-Childress and Mihaly Virizlay. Principal teachers in college were Stephen Kates at Peabody Conservatory, and Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School. As the Juilliard School’s concerto competition winner, he performed with Juilliard Orchestra under Otto-Werner Mueller in Alice Tully Hall. He was soloist with National Orchestra of New York, where he held the prestigious Emanuel Feuermann principal cello chair and performed in Violoncello Society of New York Master Classes lead by Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Starker, and Bernard Greenhouse.

Michael toured regularly with The Aspen Ensemble, the American Chamber Players from 1997 to 2003, and with Arista Piano Trio (named Chamber Music America’s Artists to Watch) from 1987 to 1995. During his tenure at The Catholic University of America, he joined violinist Jody Gatwood and pianist Marilyn Neeley in the Rome Trio. He collaborated with the San Francisco Ballet and was featured as the cello soloist for the New York premiere of two works by the renowned choreographer Mark Morris. Michael is currently performing around the country with the Aspen String Trio, formerly the ensemble in residence at the University of Baltimore.

As an artist-faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Michael has held the prestigious position of principal cellist of the Aspen Chamber Symphony for over twenty-five seasons. He has performed chamber music in Aspen with such artists as Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Jeremy Denk, Vladimer Feltzman, Lynn Harrell, Robert McDuffie, Susanne Mentzer, Anton Nel, Nadja Salerno- Sonnenberg, Gil Shaham, The Takács Quartet, and the Weilerstein family. He has also collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Comissiona, Conlon, Levine, Maazel, Marriner, McGegan, Robertson, Skrowaczewski, and Zinman.

Michael has toured and given recitals, concerto performances, master classes and chamber music performances around the world. He has participated in Grand Canyon Music Festival, Prince Albert Music Festival in Kauai, and Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine. He has been heard on WQXR’s Concerts Plus, WNYC’s Around New York, and regularly on NPR’s Performance Today. Michael performed live with Richard Westenberg’s ensemble Musica Sacra on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor and performed as a substitute cellist in the New York Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Orchestra of Saint Lukes, 92nd Street Y Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Long Island Philharmonic. Michael recorded and performed the Patrick Zimmerli Piano Trios for Arabesque label, after a celebrated debut of the same pieces at Seattle Chamber Music Society. He made the premier recording and critical edition of composer and Holocaust victim James Simon’s “Arioso” for solo cello. He performed and recorded for the documentary film featured on PBS and Netflix, Defiant Requiem, a film about a most dramatic example of intellectual and artistic courage in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp during World War II. Upcoming commercial releases include the Music of Martinu for Naxos label with the Aspen String Trio. Recent appearances include the performance of Brahms Double Concerto with violinist Livia Sohn and Stockton Symphony, again with violinist David Perry and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and the Prince George’s Philharmonic, Beethoven Triple Concerto with Elisabeth Adkins and Edward Newman and the Maryland and Fairfax Symphonies, and Vivaldi Concertos with conductor Nicholas McGegan. He performs on a Nicolo Gagliano cello, Naples, 1774. 

Allegra Wolff, 2024 Shooting Stars wind & Percussion Judge

Allegra Wolff is the Assistant Director of Bands at Blue Valley Southwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas. She assists with all aspects of the instrumental music program and is co-director of the winter guard. Influenced by her mentors, Dr. Joseph Parisi, Steven D. Davis, and Dr. Julia Baumanis, Allegra enjoys getting to teach musical instruments daily to students sixth through twelfth grade. Her staff experiences include working with the Pride of Branson High School Bands as a woodwind and guard instructor, the Blue Springs South Jaguar Pride as a woodwind and visual instructor, and the University of Central Missouri as a graduate teaching assistant and director of color guard programs. Allegra holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Missouri – Kansas City, a Bachelor of Music Education from Missouri Western State University, and a Master of Arts in Music in Conducting from the University of Central Missouri. She is a consistent performer in the Crossroads Wind Symphony and judges for local district and state auditions and solo and ensemble contests. Most recently, Allegra performed in the Band Director’s Marching Band in the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Will Briggs, 2024 Shooting Stars Wind & Percussion Judge

Will Biggs is currently a PhD student in the Music Education Music Therapy program at the University of Kansas. He received his Bachelor’s in Music Education from KU, a Master of Music in Trombone/Euphonium Performance from Emporia State University, a Master in School Leadership from Pittsburg State University, and an Educational Specialist in School District Leadership from Pittsburg State University. Will has held numerous positions in Kansas Music Educators Association and is currently serving as the East Central District President. He brings over 20 years of public school teaching experience to Shooting Stars. Will is the proud father to Gabe and Eli and is ever thankful to wife Annie for all of her support.