Michigan Philharmonic: Adventuras Latinas Performers

Nermis Mieses is Associate Professor of Oboe at Michigan State University and on the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. A Loree Artist, she maintains an active international career as a soloist, recitalist, and masterclass presenter. Her artistic work reflects a commitment to expressive depth, tonal refinement, and historically informed approaches to repertoire spanning the Baroque to the 21st century.

Alice Gomez has served as Composer-In‐Residence with the award winning San Antonio Symphony, the Midland‐Odessa Symphony, the Performing Arts Center of Gallup, New Mexico, and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, a renowned Chicano music and arts center in Texas. Gomez has received numerous composer awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Internationally recognized for her concert music, compositions, musical talent and creativity, Gomez’s contributions to a multitude of musical genres is widely acclaimed.

Nan Washburn is one of the most innovative and dynamic conductors working in the United States today. A two-time winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Conducting (2013 and 2025), recipient of the 2016 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music, and honoree of 19 ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, she is widely recognized for her imaginative programming and compelling performances. Critics have praised her work for its “perspicacity, nerve, imagination and all-round savvy.” Washburn is currently celebrating her 28th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Michigan Philharmonic, where her leadership has brought national recognition, artistic growth, and expanded community engagement throughout Southeast Michigan. Over the course of her distinguished career, Washburn has served as music director, conductor, and artistic leader for numerous orchestras across the country, including the Women’s Philharmonic, which she co-founded and helped establish as a pioneering force for music by women composers. She has conducted orchestras nationwide and collaborated with many of America’s leading contemporary composers and acclaimed soloists. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara and the New England Conservatory of Music, Washburn has also earned recognition for her advocacy of new music, arts education, and women in the arts, making her one of the most respected and influential conductors in American orchestral music.