The Lancaster Trio: Biographies

Elizabeth Grunin cello

Elizabeth Grunin was born in Ukraine where she began taking cello lessons at a special music school. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was six years old and settled in Sacramento, California. From that point on, Elizabeth became an active member of the Sacramento and Bay Area musical communities. She has performed with symphonies including Camellia Symphony, San Francisco Youth Symphony, Merced Symphony, UC Davis Symphony, and the North Bay Opera orchestra.

 Miss Grunin also performed regular solo recitals in Sacramento. She has participated in many chamber music festivals such as Mendocino Music Festival, Youth Music International Oxford, England, CSU Summer Arts Fresno, and the Zephyr Chamber Music Festival in Courmauyer, Italy.

 Elizabeth is a founding member of the Lancaster Trio along with Jelena Dukic and Nicaulis Alliey. Miss Grunin holds a Bachelors and Masters of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied in the studio of Jennifer Culp. Elizabeth teaches regularly at Navarro River String Camp in Santa Rosa, CA and she holds a faculty positions at Union College and Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is also a member of the Lincoln Symphony. Currently, Miss Grunin is working on her doctoral degree in the studio of Dr.Karen Becker at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Jelena Dukic piano
Born in Novi Sad, Serbia, Jelena Dukic, received her Bachelor of Music Degree at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia in the studio of Professor Vladimir Ogarkov and her Master of Music Degree from Florida International University in the studio of Professor Kemal Gekic.

 She has been the winner of several competitions and awards including: the Glen Korff School of Music Concerto Competition 2013, the Florida International University Concerto Competition 2009, the Concorsi internazionali di musica-Citta di Stressa, Italy, the International Competition of Pianists "Nikolai Rubinstein", Paris, France, and the award of the County Council of Vojvodina Republic of Serbia. In 2010, Miss Dukic became a member of The Golden Key International Honor Society.

 Jelena has performed with FIU Symphony Orchestra under conductor Huifang Chen. She has also participated in ensembles such as UNL University Choral, the Wind Ensembles, the New Music Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra at Florida International University and at other venues in the South Florida. Miss Dukic has recently joined the Music Teacher National Association. Jelena is a founding member of the Lancaster trio. Currently, she is working on her Doctorate of Musical Arts in the Glen Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the studio of Dr. Paul Barnes.

 Nicaulis Alliey flute 
First Prize of the Ville de París –Unanimous- in 1994, and First Prize at the Latin American Flute Competition (Caracas, 2000), Nicaulis Alliey is regularly invited as a soloist, chamber musician and flute teacher by presenters, institutions and festivals, performing in prestigious venues in France, Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean Area.

As soloist, Nicaulis has performed with most of the major orchestras in Venezuela, with conductors such as Eduardo Rahn, José Luís Castillo, Arnaud Pairier. Her experiences in chamber music include performances with Armand Simon, Ney Alliey, Marlon Titre, and Luis Quintero. Nicaulis Has been Flute Solo at the Orchestre International de Paris and Assistant Flute at the Orquesta Sinfónica de Lara and and at the Orquesta Sinfónica de Maracaibo.

 Nicaulis’ pedagogical career in flute includes Universidad de Los Andes (Faculty), Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira (Visiting Professor), and at the Music School of the Universidad del Zulia (Faculty), where she was appointed Founder Director (2005-2009). She has also been featured teacher at “El Sistema”, Venezuelan youth orchestras. Her work was recognized in 2011 with the Rafael Rincon Gonzalez Award, offered by the Universidad del Zulia. 

Nicaulis Alliey holds a Maitrise en Musique at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne (1995), Etudes Superieures de Flute (1994) in Flute with M. Raymond Guiot at Hector Berlioz Conservatory (Paris), and the Degree of Profesor Ejecutante at the Escuela de Musica Jose Reyna, in Caracas. She currently attends the DMA program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she has been granted a Graduate Teaching Assistantship and a Hixson-Lied Fellowship.