Songs of the Heartland

Featuring Lisa Wolynec, flute, Daniel Petrocelli, guitar, and Brian Lorett, cello

Get your Saturday going with these incredible musicians performing music that celebrates the rich heritage of America. Featuring composers who have influenced our musical traditions, the music captured the spirit and landscape of our nation and incorporated the sentiments of folk songs with the rhythms of jazz and fiddle tunes.

Presented by Forrest County, with support from the City of Hattiesburg, Southern Miss College of Arts and Sciences, Southern Miss School of Music, Payne Companies, and VERB Architecture

About Lisa Wolynec

Lisa Wolynec serves as principal flutist of the Paducah Symphony in Kentucky and previously held the position of principal flute with the Gateway Chamber Orchestra for 17 years. She has performed with ensembles including the Nashville Opera, Owensboro Symphony, Orchestra Kentucky, and Knoxville Symphony. As a guest soloist, Wolynec has appeared with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Gateway Chamber Orchestra, and Paducah Symphony. Her accolades include first prizes in the Texas Flute Society Concerto Competition, the National Flute Association (NFA) Orchestral Competition, and the NFA Convention Performers Competition, as well as recognition as a semi-finalist in the NFA Young Artist Competition.

Wolynec currently teaches flute at Jones College, following 37 years of collegiate-level instruction in Middle Tennessee. Her students have achieved success in national competitions, hold teaching positions in public schools and universities, work in flute manufacturing and the flute industry, and perform with regional orchestras. At the Vienna Summer Music Festival, she directs the woodwind chamber music program.

Wolynec has held leadership roles in the Mid-South Flute Society, including service as President, Competition Coordinator, and Program Chair on the Board of Directors. She directed the William Bennett Summer Flute Academy for nine years and currently chairs the National Flute Association High School Soloist Competition.

Wolynec earned both the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Flute Performance from the University of Illinois, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Flute Performance from Louisiana State University. She completed additional flute studies in Manchester, England, at the Royal College of Music with Trevor Wye and with William Bennett.

About Daniel Petrocelli

Daniel Petrocelli is a leading Venezuelan guitarist of his generation, recognized for his achievements in national and international competitions. Winning first prize at the 2014 III Alirio Díaz National Guitar Competition in Carora, Venezuela, and has earned third prizes at the 2015 XVIII Alirio Díaz International Guitar Competition, the 2020 Rust International Guitar Competition in Austria, and the 2024 Florida Guitar Competition and Festival in Tallahassee, Florida. In Fall 2024, Petrocelli won the William Gower Concerto Competition (Strings Division) held at The University of Southern Mississippi, awarding him with the opportunity to perform Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez with USM Symphony Orchestra in March 2025. He has performed at festivals in Venezuela, Mexico, the USA, Russia, and Saint Lucia, captivating audiences with his charisma and energy.

Petrocelli has premiered works such as Variaciones Lumière by Luis Ochoa and Cita Concertante by Eduardo Martín, performing with notable musicians like José Luis Lara. As part of the Amalgam Guitar Duet with Wolfgang Salazar, he played major works, including Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Concerto for Two Guitars and Orchestra, Op. 201, and Piazzolla’s Tango Suite. Most recently, he premiered Juan Erena’s Heart of Earth, featured in the album The World We Build. Petrocelli also composes for solo guitar and ensembles, with works like Tensión Líquida and Waltz Impromptu available on Spotify and Apple Music.

His education includes a Performance Diploma with honors from the Carlos Afanador Real Conservatory, a bachelor’s degree in Classical Guitar Performance (summa cum laude) from the Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Artes, and a bachelor’s degree in education from Universidad Nacional Experimental Simón Rodríguez.

With fourteen years of teaching experience, Petrocelli has mentored students who achieved national recognition. In 2024, he received a graduate assistantship at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he pursues a Master’s in Guitar Performance under the guidance of Dr. Nicholas Ciraldo. He continuously performs at national and international competitions in the United States and also offer public performances in various communities in Hattiesburg bringing some of his Venezuelan heritage within his repertoire.

About Brian Lorett

Brian Lorett is a versatile cellist, arranger, and composer from Pamplona, Colombia. He began his musical training in Cúcuta, where he studied under violinist Rafael Pineda at the Cúcuta Youth Symphony Orchestra. Immersed in the pedagogical principles of Antonio Abreu, founder of Venezuela’s renowned “El Sistema”. In 2016, he pursued a Bachelor of Musical Arts at the Adolfo Mejía Conservatory in Cartagena, Colombia, studying with cellist and arranger Jorge Nordmann. During this period, he began arranging and composing for small ensembles and incorporating Latin American and African folk rhythms into his academic compositions. He also explored electronic sampling and live looping, layering cello sounds to create intricate, rhythmically dense structures. In 2020, Lorett released Acercamientos Op.11, a self-produced album of programmatic music inspired by visual artworks from young Colombian artists. That same year, he won the Convocatoria de Estímulos award twice for his compositions Bambuco No.1 Op.2 and Fantasy No.2 Op.17, both rooted in Colombian folk traditions. In 2021, he moved to the U.S. to study at The University of Southern Mississippi under Dr. Alexander Russakovsky. The following year, he joined the Colombian Youth Philharmonic, performing in world-class venues such as Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Currently pursuing a Master’s degree at USM, Lorett serves as principal cellist of the USM Symphony Orchestra. He continues to expand his work in live looping composition and performance, blending classical cello with modern technology to push creative boundaries.