The Henry Mancini Institute is a comprehensive, multi-genre graduate training institute for aspiring professional musicians at the Frost School of Music in Miami, Florida. HMI's mission is to nurture the future of music through professional opportunities for its students, and to impact the lives of others through inspiring community engagement programs. The institute is made up of writers, arrangers and musicians who play a multitude of musical styles, including classical, jazz, latin, world music and others. They often work with artists and composers on the cutting edge of today’s music to create unique and contemporary blends of these genres.

Misty Drake - violin

Smiley face and digital marketing guru, Misty Drake began violin at the age of 3 and is a native of Southwest FL. A three-time soloist with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, Misty is the recipient of many awards including: the 2014 Artis-Naples Vitelli Memorial Scholarship Award, the Naples Music Club 2014 Turiel Award, and the SWFL Young Artists Morton Leventhal Violin Memorial Scholarship. Highlights of her chamber accomplishments include: Quarter Finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2014, and featured on the 2013 Heifetz International Music Institute Stars of Tomorrow Chamber Radio Concert Series.

During the summer months, Misty enjoys performing in music festivals around the globe, including: 14th International Music Workshop and Festival Akademie Schloss Kirchberg in Germany, New Mexico Chamber Music Festival, Castleman Quartet Program, Heifetz International Music Institute, and Robert McDuffie Labor Day Festival.

In 2016, Misty was selected as an Eastman School of Music Arts Leadership Certificate Fellow. In addition to cultivating entrepreneurship skills, this program offers internships to exercise leadership training and promote arts engagement. Working as the Educational Intern for the Sarasota Youth Opera Summer Camp and as the Marketing and Education Outreach Intern for the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra combined both of Misty’s passions: youth outreach and digital marketing. Misty is currently sharpening her content promotion and web-designing skills working on the Social Media and Marketing Team for the Henry Mancini Institute.

Ms. Drake received her BM from the Eastman School of Music in 2018, studying under Charles Castleman and Federico Agostini. Misty is a full scholarship recipient pursuing her MM in Violin Performance at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, and is a Teaching Assistant to Charles Castleman and Henry Mancini Fellow. Mistyviolinist.com

Angela Kratchmer - viola

A native of Iowa, violist Angela Kratchmer maintains an international career as a teacher, performer, and arts administrator. Committed to socially-motivated artistic practice, Kratchmer was selected to join the Global Leaders Program as a member of the 2018 Cohort and is currently finishing a certificate in social justice, teaching artistry, cultural agency, and social entrepreneurship with teaching artist residencies in Chile, Paraguay, and Tanzania.

 Recently completing degrees at Luther College and the Eastman School of Music, Kratchmer served as the principal violist of both institutions’ top symphonic ensembles. Additional study has included summer festivals such as the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Institute, Music Mountain, California Summer Music, and the International Orchestra Institute Attergau with the Vienna Philharmonic. An avid student of chamber music, Kratchmer has participated in coachings and masterclasses of the Juilliard, Ying, Brentano, Parker, and Avalon string quartets, with additional instruction from eminent chamber musicians such as Colin Carr, Violaine Melancon, and Kim Kashkashian. Kratchmer has performed in the viola sections of the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Tri-City Opera, Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Merced Symphony, Silicon Valley Philharmonic, and Symphony Napa Valley. 

 Before beginning graduate studies at Eastman, Kratchmer was granted a fellowship with Orchestra Institute Napa Valley, a post-graduate program emphasizing performance, arts outreach, and professional development. As an OINV Fellow, Kratchmer was engaged in diverse teaching experiences, providing instruction in an El Sistema initiative, coaching the Napa Valley Youth Symphony, and developing curriculum for a Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning elementary school.

Based in Miami, Kratchmer is currently pursuing a DMA in viola performance at the Frost School of Music as a teaching assistant to Jodi Levitz. Her previous teachers include Spencer Martin and Carol Rodland."

Jasmine Wei-Ting Chang - cello

Jasmine Wei-Ting Chang received her Master of Music degree in Cello Performance this past Spring at the Frost School of Music and attended Frost as a Henry Mancini Institute Fellow and full scholarship recipient. Originally from Taiwan, Jasmine started studying music on the piano and began playing the cello at the age of eight. She began her musical career in the USA at the age of fifteen, moved to Bloomington, Indiana at the age of seventeen, and began her studies with Professor Emilio Colon at the Jacob School of Music, Indiana University for her undergraduste degree. This year, Jasmine has returned to the University of Miami to pursue an Artist Diploma at the Frost School of Music with Professor Ross Harbaugh and to continue her fellowship with the Henry Mancini Institute. Over the past few years, Jasmine has had the opportunity to attend such prestigious music festivals as the Summit Music Festival, Round Top Music Festival and Castleman Quartet Program (Fredonia & Lindfield).