People
Miguel Calleja - co-artistic director and so cial media
Described by Gabriela Lena Frank as “a money musician, a virtuoso,” violinist Miguel Calleja moves fluidly between tradition and modernity, continually exploring what it means to be a 21st-century violinist. His performances place classical and contemporary music in ongoing conversation with the audience.
As a member of Orange Road, a string quartet dedicated to new music, he has recently performed at the University of Florida, Duke University, and the Mannes Chamber Music Festival. With the quartet, he has also appeared on the Southern Exposure series in Columbia, SC, at the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and at the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Italy.
A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Calleja has collaborated with composers including Augusta Read Thomas, Matt Stone, Patrick Clark, Stefan Freund, and Michael Riesman, leading the Missouri Young Composers Forum. He premiered a work by Matt Mason at the 24/24 festival at the University of Iowa. In 2021, he created Cloistered, a recital series behind the iron bars of the San Bernardo convent in Granada, inspired by the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2025, Calleja performed Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 1 in Spain. He also taught two violin composition workshops at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Granada in 2024 and 2025, working closely with emerging composers on writing effectively for the instrument.
As a violinist-researcher, he has given lecture-recitals on Spanish music at the University of Granada, the Casa de España in San Antonio, and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
His collaborative spirit extends beyond classical music. He has worked with poets and artists from the pop, flamenco, and traditional music scenes, including Luis Gualda, David Bisbal, Il Divo, and Georgi Andreev. He recently performed for Violins of Hope, a project that brings Holocaust-surviving violins to life in concert.
Recent engagements include a concert with the Quito City Orchestra in Ecuador, a solo recital at the National Museum, and a teaching residency at Takiri, a cultural and social-action project in Otavalo.
Calleja studied violin and musicology in Spain and the United States, under teachers such as Biljana Belloti, Eva Szekely, and Ari Streisfeld. He has also drawn inspiration from Zakhar Bron, Michael Barenboim, the JACK Quartet, and Enrique García Asensio.
Jordan Bartow - Director of Artistic Planning and operations
Jordan Bartow is an internationally touring cellist/improviser based in New York City. Noted for his “booming resonance” by icareifyoulisten.com, He is especially dedicated to the promotion, development, and performance of contemporary music. Jordan has appeared across the world championing contemporary music with groups such as the BlackBox Ensemble, Contemporaneous, Decoda, and Orange Road Quartet. Jordan also appears regularly as “side man” for singer-song writers and improvisers, as well as various interdisciplinary projects. Jordan collaborates with some of the world’s leading artists and composers including Philip Glass, Dai Fujikura, Michael Riesman, Dylan Mattingly and more.
In addition to Orange road, Jordan is the cellist of the Blackbox Ensemble, an award winning New York City-based contemporary music ensemble devoted to using new music as a platform to engage critically with the social and cultural issues of our time. Jordan has appeared with BlackBox Ensemble in performances across the United States in venues such as Roulette, The Smithsonian, The DiMenna Center, The Noguchi Museum, The Clark Art Institute, and many more. Blackbox Ensemble has been a winner of the Mamlok Prize, featured on the Bang on a Can Long Play Festival, and has been featured in The New Yorker Magazine,Timeout New York, New Music USA, icareifyoulisten.com, Steve Smith’s Night after night, and Which Sinfonia.
An in-demand recording artist, Jordan has several self produced albums of new work and improvisations as well as several records on the way playing with various groups to be released on Sony Classical Japan/ Minabel records as well as Nonesuch in 2025/2026.
Holly Workman - Manager of financial planning
Violinist Holly Workman enjoys an international career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. She is a founding member and co-artistic director of Orange Road, the current Cuker and Stern String Quartet in Residence at the Mannes School of Music in New York City. She has also appeared as a guest with the MIVOS Quartet, Ensemble Modern, and Ensemble United Berlin. As a soloist, Holly performed with the Hershey Symphony, OSSIA Ensemble, theUSC orchestras, and was the winner of the Cortona Sessions Competition. She currently serves as Associate Concertmaster of the Aiken Symphony and performs with the CharlestonSymphony, the Greenville Symphony, SC Philharmonic, Augusta Symphony, and others.
Holly’s recent performances have taken her to the Philharmonie Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Konzerthaus Berlin, Carnegie Hall,Lincoln Center, and others. In past years, Holly has performed at festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, June in Buffalo, the CRESC-Biennale, the 180° Laboratory, Creative Dialogue X,Klangspuren Schwaz, and the Bang on a Can Festival. Her 2024-2025 season included performances and workshops at Carnegie Hall, UC Davis, University of Florida, Cortona Sessions, the Southern Exposure Series, and at the Paris Philharmonie.
Holly holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of South Carolina. She was a fellow in the International Ensemble Modern Academy and has a MM in Contemporary Performance from the Frankfurt Hochschule für Musik. She holds a MM and a BM in Violin Performance with High Distinction from the Eastman School of Music.
Nicky moore - Archival Manager
Nicky Moore is an adventurous violist who loves trying new things. Nicky began her chamber music career under the guidance of the Fry Street Quartet at Utah State University. There, her interest in contemporary music was sparked by her mentors’ commitment to new music, as well as the opportunity to premiere two string quartets– Currents by Stephen Mitton and Far From Righteous by Kerwin Young.
When given the choice to play in the contemporary graduate string quartet or the “normal” string quartet at the University of South Carolina, Nicky chose to keep exploring new music. While there have been moments she has regretted her choice (i.e. crying while looking at the score of Tetras for the first time), overall she is grateful for the ways she has grown and been pushed to become a more intentional, open-minded, and versatile musician. She especially enjoys getting to know the minds and music of living composers as Orange Road premieres their works.
In addition to being a violist, Nicky is a certified interfaith leader, a snack enthusiast, a wife, and a mom to a toddler who adores all kinds of music.