Pianist

Ansel Mapp is currently a MM Piano Performance degree candidate and student of Dr. Min Kwon at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He received a BA in Applied Music and Philosophy from Baylor University in 2022 and was a student of Dr. Terry Lynn Hudson.  

On December 4, 2021, Ansel performed his first solo recital, featuring all Black composers with works written by Valerie Capers, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Robert Nathaniel Dett, and arr. Dr. John L. Cornelius II, Associate Professor and Collaborative Pianist at Prairie View A&M University.  

On May 4, 2022, Ansel organized and performed in “A Requiem to bell hooks” with advisory from Dr. Lenore Wright. This program celebrating the life and works of feminist, social critic, and author bell hooks, sharing the inequities in concert programming, and performing works by Margaret Bonds and Florence Price.  

Ansel Mapp was a participant in the Inaugural Nina Simone Piano Competition in June 2023. 

By doing the work to promote Black composers in spaces that lacks Black representation, he hopes to change attitudes surrounding minority composers and show that there is truly deserving and amazing music that needs to be showcased.  

Ansel has been teaching piano since 2017 and has experience working with students of all ages. As a teacher, Ansel is committed to a personalized approach, encouraging each student to reach their musical potential.

Thirty years ago, a group of 18 singers performed its first concert as the Cantabile Chamber Chorale under the direction of Rebecca Scott “to provide the challenge of singing the repertoire for small ensemble with all its difficulties, nuances and special performing problems, while providing the love and good fellowship of joining with close friends in an artistic endeavor.”  Now three decades later, they are proud to celebrate Cantabile’s 30th anniversary, a significant milestone in their history and a testament to their passion for performing new music.