Faculty & Staff — Alphabetical
A | B | C | D | E| F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Associate Professor of Music Music Therapy Undergraduate & Graduate Coordinator 973-655-3458 abramsb@mail.montclair.edu Brian Abrams, Ph.D., MT-BC, LPC, LCAT, and Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery, has been a music therapist since 1995, with clinical experience involving a wide range of populations. Dr. Abrams completed undergraduate studies at Vassar College and SUNY New Paltz, and graduate studies at Temple University. Prior to his current position at Montclair State, he served on the faculty at Utah State University (2001-2004) and Immaculata University (2004-2008). He has published and presented internationally on a wide range of topics such as music therapy in cancer care, music psychotherapy, and humanistic dimensions of music therapy. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous journals, such as Music Therapy Perspectives and Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. His current interests include contributing to the development of the global, interdisciplinary area of Health Humanities. He has also recently helped create a music therapy program at Trinitas Comprehensive Cancer Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. From 2005 to present, he has served on the Executive Board of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), including as President from 2007-2009. On a national level, he serves on the AMTA Board of Directors as Speaker of the AMTA Assembly of Delegates.
Adjunct Professor Oboe 973-622-7212 adelsona@mail.montclair.edu Andrew Adelson can be heard playing both oboe and English horn in orchestras, chamber music ensembles and as a soloist in the U.S. and abroad. He has been the solo English horn/oboe with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 2000. He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Riverside Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Mexico City Philharmonic. As a chamber musician, Mr. Adelson has performed with the Aspen Wind Quintet and Bargemusic. He can be heard playing on recordings on the Delos and Koch labels. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Juilliard School, where he studied with John Ferrillo and Elaine Douvas. His connection with Juilliard has continued through teaching master classes in Interpersonal and Ensemble Skills for the Orchestral Player as well as master classes in instrument repair. He has also taught at New Jersey City University, Drew Summer Music and Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Adelson has played on Broadway in the pit orchestras for King and I, 1776, and the Sound of Music. He has spent summers playing in Tanglewood, Interlochen and Waterloo Music Festivals and as a chamber music coach and performer at Rencontres Musicales Internationales at Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, France.
Adjunct Professor Piano 973-622-7212 aizawar@mail.montclair.edu Rieko Aizawa - Website Praised by the New York Times for her “impressive musicality, a crisp touch and expressive phrasing”, Japanese pianist Rieko Aizawa has performed throughout the US, Canada and Europe, including Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall and Vienna's Konzerthaus. At thirteen, she performed with conductor, Alexander Schneider at the opening concerts of Tokyo's Casals Hall, and made her US début concerts at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall with his New York String Orchestra. Rieko was the last pupil of Mieczyslaw Horszowski at the Curtis Institute and also studied with Seymour Lipkin and Peter Serkin at the Juilliard School. Rieko is an active chamber musician. She has performed at the Marlboro Music Festival and as a guest with string quartets including the Guarneri, Orion and Shanghai quartets. She is a founding member of Duo Prism with a violinist Jesse Mills, which earned the 1st Prize at the Zinetti International Competition in Italy. Rieko became the artistic director of the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Colorado in 2010. Her solo debut recording of Scriabin and Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes was released by Altus in Japan.
Michael Albaugh Michael Albaugh recently served as the Director of Music at Interlochen Center for the Arts. From 2001 to 2008, he oversaw all musical and educational programming for the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Interlochen Arts Camp, as well as teaching composition and music theory. He received the National Teacher Recognition Award in 2005 from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts on behalf of the United States Department of Education. His composition students are currently studying in the top music programs in the country and include two Presidential Scholars in the Arts in the last four years. A ProMusica International Grant recipient, he has also conducted field research in West Africa, studying Ewe music and culture in Kopeyia, Ghana. He holds a B.A. from West Liberty State College in music education and guitar performance, studying with Nels Leonard. He holds an M.M. in composition from Bowling Green State University with an emphasis in music technology, studying with Marylin Shrude, Burton Beerman and Samuel Adler. He holds a D.M.A. in composition from West Virginia University, with an emphasis in music theory, studying with John Beall and Andrew Kohn.
Robert Aldridge Robert Livingston Aldridge has written over sixty works in many musical genres that have been performed worldwide. His honors include awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Among his many works are Leda and the Swan (2003); Clarinet Concerto (commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and premiered by David Singer in 2005; Naxos recording 2010), and his opera, Elmer Gantry (premiered by the Nashville Opera in 2007). Elmer Gantry received unanimous praise from the New York Times, Wall St. Journal and Opera News. Recent performances have taken place in Milwaukee, Houston and Minnesota. His music has been performed at New York City’s Lincoln Center and has recently been conducted by Keith Lockhart and performed by Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich. His oratorio, Parables, was premiered by the Topeka Symphony in 2010. He was a founder of the Composers in Red Sneakers (Boston, MA), an internationally recognized composer consortium. He received a Doctorate in Composition from the Yale School of Music, a Master's Degree from New England Conservatory. He has been composer-in-residence at the Brevard Music Festival (NC) since 2006 and at CU NOW (Boulder, CO). He served as Founding Director of the Cali School of Music from 2006-2009. Geri Allen
Shelley Axelson McCauley Before coming to the Cali School, Shelley Axelson held a similar position at the University of Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Indiana, where her responsibilities included teaching conducting, clarinet, and a variety of instrumental music education classes. Prior to her appointment at Indianapolis, Prof. Axelson was the Director of Bands at Central College in Pella, Iowa, Pasco Middle School in Dade City, Florida (co-author of Secondary Music Curriculum), and Richardson Junior High School in Richardson, Texas. Prof. Axelson received an undergraduate degree in Music Education from the University of South Florida, a Master's Degree in Conducting from the University of Michigan, and the Doctor of Music degree in Conducting from Northwestern University. Her principal conducting teachers were Mallory Thompson and H. Robert Reynolds. Val Azzoli B
Adjunct Professor Piano 973-655-7212 baczewskam@mail.montclair.edu Magdalena Baczewska - Website Praised by the American Record Guide for her “world-class playing,” Polish-born pianist Magdalena Baczewska holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music and holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Mannes College New School for Music. Dr. Baczewska started piano instruction at the age of five and at twelve made her orchestra debut. Her performances, hailed as “eloquent and technically flawless” (The Washington Post), have been broadcast internationally on radio and television. In addition to her work at the Cali School, Dr. Baczewska serves on the faculty of the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City. She was among the jurors of the International Chopin Competition at Columbia University and the Pulaski Scholarship Committee in New York. She is a published music critic (New York Concert Review).
Seth Baer Seth Baer attended the Juilliard School and Princeton University where he graduated with honors while studying with Frank Morelli. At the age of 19, Seth won a substitute position with the Philadelphia Orchestra. During the 2003-2004 season, Seth served a one-year position with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. He has performed with ensembles including the Pennsylvania Ballet, Haddonfield Symphony, Opera Orchestra of New York, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He won First Prize in the Hewlett-Woodmere Young Artist Competition and was featured on the Mcgraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase on WQXR radio. Seth has performed at Bargemusic and is a member of the Fountain Chamber Music Society, with whom he maintains a residency for the Carnegie Hall education department, headlining their CarnegieKids and Musical Explorers series. He has performed at the Music Academy of the West, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Spoleto Festival in Italy, and at the Altenburg Music Festival in Germany. He has performed as principal bassoon of the Mark Morris Dance Group Orchestra and the Key West Symphony and is a member of Amici New York, the resident orchestra at the OK Mozart festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Seth has taught classes at the Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music; he has also coached the New York Youth Symphony and New Jersey Youth Symphony.
Gina Balestracci Gina Balestracci has been at MSU since 1988. She came to Montclair from Stanford University, where she had been director of publicity and public information in the music department, and before that from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked in the library system. At the Cali School, Balestracci oversees all of the school of music’s academic administrative needs. She also teaches Freshman Seminar for Music Majors, sings with the Collegium Musicum, and teaches in the University’s Honors Program.
Crystl Baltazar Pianist Crystl Sonomura Baltazar maintains the roles of both performing artist and educator. A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, she is a graduate of the University of Hawaii and holds doctorate from from the Eastman School of Music. As a collaborative arts specialist, she accompanies and coaches in many of the voice and instrumental studios in the department, as well as performing with faculty in recital. As a soloist, Ms. Baltazar won awards in the Young Keyboard Artist's Association and International Piano Recording Competitions. Also notable are collaborations in recitals with International Horn Competition Winner, Karl Pituch, and masterclass studies with Dalton Baldwin and Malcolm Bilson. She has performed in several concert series, as well as seasons with the Honolulu Symphony and Chamber Music Hawaii. Her teaching credits include Nazareth College and the New Jersey School of Arts. In addition, she freelances for various vocal, choral and chamber venues in the New York metro area.
Adjunct Professor; Brass Coordinator Trumpet 973-655-7212 batchelderd@mail.montclair.edu Donald Batchelder is Principal Trumpet of the New York City Opera Orchestra, where he has played full-time since 2000. Recognized as an outstanding free-lance trumpeter in the New York area since 1983, he performs frequently with the Metropolitan Opera, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Symphony, and on Broadway. In addition to his work with the New York City Opera, Mr. Batchelder holds the principal trumpet chairs in the Westfield (NJ) Symphony and the Stamford (CT) Symphony. He earned both a Bachelors and a Masters Degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with William Vacchiano and Mel Broiles. Other influential teachers include Vince Penzarella, Arnold Jacobs and Philip Smith. Among Mr. Batchelder's recent solo appearances: When Speaks the Signal-Trumpet Tone by David Gillingham, with the Ridgewood Concert Band; the Shostakovich Concerto for Piano and Trumpet with both the Stamford Symphony and the New York Virtuosi; the world premiere of Trent Johnson's Concertino for Trumpet and Organ; David Sampson's Triptych with the Westfield Symphony; and Herbert L. Clarke's Southern Cross with the Goldman Band. Mr. Batchelder joined the music faculty of Montclair State University in September 2000.
Stephen Benson Guitarist Stephen Benson is a freelance performer who has remained active on the studio, jazz and broadway scene for twenty years. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT, and a Masters from Manhattan School of Music. He has taught at Hartt School of Music and the Turtle Bay Music School in New York. Benson toured Europe as a member of the Giora Feidman Trio, performed at the Carnevale in Venice, Italy, for two years and at the Grand Canyon Music Festival in Arizona. He has worked extensively on Broadway in such shows as The Lion King, 42nd Street, and Wicked. He performs many styles of jazz from bebop to fusion to blues and R & B and has worked with artists including Phoebe Snow, John Sebastian and Evelyn Blakey.
Valerie Bernhardt New York based soprano Valerie Bernhardt is a 1991 graduate of the MSU music department. She holds two graduate degrees in voice from The Juilliard School, and has trained at the opera programs at Chautauqua, Aspen, the Pittsburgh Opera Center, and the Daniel Ferro Vocal Program. Her many opera and solo performances include Donizetti's Adelia with Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall; Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen with the New York City Opera; Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème with the Pittsburgh Opera and Boheme Opera of New Jersey; Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico; Hélène in Verdi's Jerusalem with the Opera Orchestra of New York; First Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the New York City Opera and Pittsburgh Opera; Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello and the title role of Anna Bolena, with Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall; Mass in C Major and Choral Fantasy with the Summit Music Festival; Rutter’s Magnificat at the St. Louis Cathedral; Deborah Franklin in the premiere of Benjamin, a new work by composer John Carbon; and Electra in Mozart’s Idomeneo with Coro Lirico. She has distinguished herself in various competitions, most recently the 2007 Liederkranz Foundation Competition (Wagner Division) as well as the Metropolitan Opera National Council, Palm Beach Vocal Competition, and Opera at Florham Vocal Competition, and won career grants from the Opera Index and Sullivan Foundations.
Nancy Billmann Horn player Nancy Billmann leads an active freelance career that includes chamber music, contemporary music, orchestral, operatic, and Broadway experiences. Billmann was a member of the Dorian Wind Quintet for 13 years and is active with chamber music ensembles in the New York area. As an orchestral musician, she frequently performs with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York City Opera, American Symphony, Stamford Symphony, the Manhattan Sinfonietta, and on Broadway. She has appeared at OK Mozart, Tanglewood, the Festival Institute at Round Top (where she was also a faculty member), the Caramoor Festival, and the Monadnock Music Festival. Ms. Billmann grew up in Wisconsin, and received a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she studied with Douglas Hill. She completed both her Master’s Degree and the Professional Studies Program at The Juilliard School, studying with David Wakefield and has made her home in New York City since 1989.
Adjunct Professor Jazz Percussion 973-655-7212 boccator@mail.montclair.edu
Brazilian percussionist and educator Rogério Boccato was a longtime member of the Orquestra Jazz Sinfonica do Estado de São Paulo, where he has played with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal, Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti, João Bosco, Joe Zawinul, among many others. Recently relocated from Sao Paulo to New York, Rogerio is featured on percussion on Kenny Garrett’s Grammy-nominated album Beyond The Wall and on John Patitucci's also Grammy-nominated release Remembrance, alongside Joe Lovano and Brian Blade. He has been playing in projects led by Danilo Perez, Edward Simon, David Binney, John Patitucci, and played also with Ben Allison, Dave Stryker, Steve Davis, Paul Bollenback, Mike Holober, and with top-ranking Brazilian artists, such as Toninho Horta, Dori Caymmi, Moacir Santos, Vinicius Cantuária. He is part of the ÁguaMarinha Trio, with Arismar do Espirito Santo and Vinicius Dorin, two of the most amazing musicians in Brazil. Rogério Boccato has been presenting clinics on Brazilian music, focusing on traditional Brazilian rhythms and styles applied to the drum set and to Jazz combo, which have been enthusiastically received at universities around the United States, Mexico and Portugal.
Jazz Studies Coordinator Adjunct Professor Jazz Saxophone 973-655-7212 bradend@mail.montclair.edu Don Braden - Website Don Braden is a musician of the highest caliber. For many years he has toured the world leading his own ensembles, as a special guest, and as a sideman with greats such as Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, and many others. He has composed music for everything from duo to full symphonic orchestra, in many styles, for recordings, film and television, and worked several years as composer for Bill Cosby. He is also a world renowned educator, having spent over a decade giving master classes at countless schools and universites, and running first class educational programs such as the Litchfield Jazz Camp and Wachovia Jazz For Teens. He is an imaginative, technically excellent, soulful saxophonist, and his harmonic and rhythmic sophistication give him a unique approach to improvising as well as composing and arranging. Most important of all: he has a beautiful sound, and he swings! All this combines with his joyous yet disciplined personality to make him one of the most important musicians working today. Kevin Brown
Matthew Brown Matthew K. Brown won the grand-prize of the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Concerto Competition at the age of 17, and made his concerto debut with the Pennsylvania Sinfonia later that year. The Allentown Morning Call review acclaimed Brown’s performance as “exciting…..a tour de force!” While studying with Sam Pilafian at Boston University, he became a founding member of the award-winning Paramount Brass Quintet. He continued his studies at Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. He has performed with the Washington (DC) Brass Quintet, the Avatar Brass Quintet, Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Miami City Ballet, Ballet Florida, Ann Arbor (MI) Symphony, Alea III, Ensemble 21, and in hundreds of concerts throughout the United States, including weekly internationally televised performances from the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale (FL). Matt is also an active arranger and publishes through his company, Hawkeye Music Publications. Currently, in addition to performing with the Rodney Mack Philadelphia Big Brass, Matt freelances throughout the northeast. Jerry Bryant Adjunct Professor Trumpet 973-655-7212
Heather Buchanan Heather J. Buchanan conducts the 160-voice Chorale, 60-voice University Singers, and 24-voice Vocal Accord. Choirs under her direction have been critically acclaimed for their performances in collaboration with a variety of renowned artists including Meredith Monk, Mícheál ÓSúílleabháin, Tarik O’Regan, and Joseph Flummerfelt; and performed major choral works with conductors Neeme Järvi, Jacques LaCombe, and John Maucceri and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. The University Singers performed Meredith Monk’s Songs of Ascension at the Guggenheim Museum, and their 2011 recording of the work received a preliminary Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance. In 2011, Dr. Buchanan conducted the MSU Chorale and Symphony Orchestra in the East Coast Premiere of the new American oratorio Parables (Aldridge) at Montclair State University. A licensed Andover Educator, Dr. Buchanan specializes in the teaching of Body Mapping and somatic pedagogy for musicians. She is co-editor of the GIA choral series Teaching Music through Performance in Choir (Vol.3. released March 2011), has published a DVD-Video Evoking Sound: Body Mapping & Gesture Fundamentals, and choral octavos in the Evoking Sound Choral Series (GIA). She holds degrees from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University (Australia), Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and a PhD from the University of New England (Australia).
Charles Bumcrot Charles Bumcrot received a B.M. in both Music Education and Performance at San Francisco State University and earned his M.M. at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with William Vacchiano and Alan Dean. He also studied extensively with former NY Philharmonic trumpeter Vincent Penzarella. He is the Principal/Solo trumpet with Orchestra New England (New Haven, CT) and performs with with the American Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Lukes, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Solid Brass, New York Chamber Symphony, the Westfield Symphony, Little Orchestra Society of New York, Solisti New York, and has been heard on NPR and NPTV, as well as Japan National Television and Radio. Recording labels include Sony/CBS, CBS Masterworks, Deutsche Grammophon, Delos, Koch International Classics, New World and CSM. Mr. Bumcrot performed the world premier of William Ryden’s Sonata for Trumpet and Orchestra (commisioned by Orchestra New England). He was a member of the orchestra for the Grammy nominated recording of The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives. He has given masterclasses at universities and other forums in the US and abroad.
Patrick Burns Patrick Burns (b. 1969) teaches courses in orchestration, counterpoint, and music composition at the Cali School, and also teaches instrumental music in the Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools. His compositions for symphonic band are performed by bands of every level throughout the country. The United States Army Band, "Pershing’s Own", has performed his music in Washington, D.C. and at Carnegie Hall. His music has also been performed at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. He has been featured as guest conductor and clinician with public school, community, university and honor bands in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia and has recorded and, as director of Imperial Brass, has concertized with world-renowned brass artists Philip Smith, Warren Vache, Roger Webster and Chris Jaudes. Patrick’s music has appeared on Bandworld magazine’s Top 100 list of band compositions twice and is published by G. Schirmer, Daehn Publications, FJH Music Company, Wingert-Jones Music and TRN Music Publisher. The Instrumentalist and School Music News have also printed favorable reviews of Mr. Burns’ band music and The Classical New Jersey Society Journal has praised his chamber music. His music can be heard at his websites.
Justin Burton
Justin Burton is a musicologist specializing in contemporary US popular music and posthuman theory. He received a PhD in historical musicology from Rutgers University in 2009 and currently teaches at Montclair State University, Rider University, and Rutgers University. He also serves as web editor for the International Association for the Study of Popular Music-US Branch and works as a freelance forensic musicologist. He has forthcoming publications in the Journal of Popular Culture and Oxford Handbook of Mobile Music Studies, and he is working on a book project titled AudioFiles: Hybrid Identity in Popular Music.
Robert Butts
Robert Butts is the conductor of the Little Opera of New Jersey (Westfield) and the Baroque Orchestra of North Jersey. He has served as conductor with the Skylands Youth Symphony and the Highland Park Recorder Society and Chamber Orchestra. His work with the Highland Pak Recorder Society earned him the 1996 DeMarsh Award from the American Recorder Society. With the Baroque Orchestra of Boonton he presents an annual Vivaldi Festival featuring chamber and orchestral works by Vivaldi and his Venetian contemporaries. He led concerts at the 1999 and 2001 Boston Early Music Festival. He has conducted the Philharmonica de Stat Botosani orchestra in Romania and performances of Verdi's Il Trovatore and Rigoletto with Opera Constatna. He was guest conductor for the Philharmonic Society of St. Petersburg, Russia. His compositions have been published and he has won awards at the Leo Traynor competitions. He has contributed reviews and articles to Opera News, Classical New Jersey, American Music, Continuo, American Recorder, and Lute Society Quarterly. He served as pre-concert lecturer for the New Jersey Symphony Amadeus Festival at NJPAC and Princeton's Richardson Auditorium. He lectures regularly throughout the metropolitan area. He studied conducting at Juilliard School and received musicological training from MSU and the University of Iowa. C
Adjunct Professor Secondary Piano 973-655-7212 carrv@mail.montclair.edu Vincent Carr has become one of the most versatile keyboard musicians in the New York City area. In addition to his work on the faculty of the John J. Cali School of Music, he is the Associate Organist at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, which houses one of the world’s largest church organs. A graduate of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Mr. Carr studied organ performance with Martin Jean and improvisation with William Porter and Jeffrey Brillhart. A native of Philadelphia, he received both the Bachelor of Music Degree in Organ Performance and the Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Spanish from Indiana University (Bloomington). While attending Indiana University, he studied organ with Larry Smith and improvisation and church music with John Schwandt and Marilyn Keiser. Mr. Carr leads an eclectic musical career with interests in chamber music, musical theater/cabaret, church music, jazz, global popular music and studio recording. A recipient of the Charles Ives Prize from the Yale School of Music, he has been an award winner in several national performance and improvisation competitions and is in constant demand as a clinician, lecturer and performer.
Director 973-655-7212 Dr. Jon Robert Cart is Director of the Cali School of Music. He was formerly the Dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts at Rowan University. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland, a Master of Music from Indiana University, a Bachelor of Music from DePauw University, and has attended the esteemed Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeburgh, England. Dr. Cart has sung leading tenor roles with the Baltimore Opera, the Harrisburg Opera, Opera Roanoke, Wolf Trap Opera, the Amalfi Coast Festival and the Shaker Mountain Music Festival, and has performed as soloist at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Mexican Cultural Institute, the Phillip's Collection and the White House. His solo orchestral appearances include the Indianapolis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Albany Symphony, and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, under such eminent conductors as Leonard Bernstein and Raymond Leppard. His discography includes Serenata Mexicana (Centaur Records) and Träume: the Songs of Wagner and Strauss (to be released) - recordings that have been heard on WPRB 103.3 FM, Princeton, New Jersey, and on Contemporary Classical Internet Radio. Dr. Cart has published and presented at the international, national and regional levels on the topics of Latin American music, the music of Richard Wagner, and transdisciplinarity. Professional memberships include the International Council of Fine Arts Deans (ICFAD) where he serves on the Global Task Force, the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA), and the College Music Society (CMS). He has been honored by Who's Who Among America's Teachers (2004-2006), Who's Who in America (2006), and Who's Who in American Education (2007).
Barry Centanni Percussionist Barry Centanni attended Montclair State University before earning Bachelor’s degree in performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. He is the principal percussionist with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and performs with many other orchestras including the New York Pops, the New York Philharmonic, the Westfield Symphony, the Colonial Symphony, the NJ State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. His television credits include Live from Madison Square Garden, Live from Lincoln Center, Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman. As a freelance percussionist, he has performed with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sting, Whitney Houston, James Taylor, Elton John and with the bands Yes, the Moody Blues and Metallica. He has taught at SUNY Purchase, the Mannes College of Music, Columbia Teachers College and the Montclair Kimberley Academy.
Dennis Cinelli Dennis Cinelli is active as a soloist and chamber musician on early guitars, lutes and mandolins. He has performed with the American Symphony, Bach Aria Group, Artek, Ars Antigua, the Barros Classical Consort, New York Collegium, Lord Chamberlain's Consort, Ivory Consort and his own Cinelli Duo playing concerts throughout the United States and Europe. He has appeared on artists' series at Yale, Ohio, Wake Forest and Appalachian State Universities. Presented in recitals sponsored by the Philadelphia and Piedmont Classical Guitar Societies, Mr. Cinelli has also accompanied Robert Osborne, Louise Wohlafka, Jeffrey Gall and Pino de Vittorio on lutes and early guitars. Dennis currently performs with the O'Brien/Cinelli Duo. With noted performer and teacher Patrick O'Brien, he has done many recitals throughout North America while researching and developing repertoire for early plucked instruments. Featured in concerts at the Festival de Wallonie in Belgium and the Caramoor and Boston Early Music Festivals, Mr. Cinelli has also spent summers teaching and performing at the International Toscanini Early Guitar Festival/Competition in Stresa, Italy and the Lute Society of America's Summer Seminar.
Amy Clarkson Amy L. Clarkson, MMT, MT-BC, CP is a board certified music therapist and certified practitioner of psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy. She currently provides music therapy services for children on the autistic spectrum at the new Children's Center of Montclair State University, an inclusive setting for preschoolers, toddlers and infants. Amy also provides music therapy and psychodrama services for children and mothers who have been affected by domestic violence through the PALS (Peace: A Learned Solution) Program of Women's Crisis Services of Hunterdon County. Amy has been a fieldwork supervisor and adjunct faculty member at Montclair State since 1998. She has served as the vice president and president of the New Jersey Association for Music Therapy.
Joe Coco Joe Coco is a songwriter, singer and guitarist who has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe since 1970. His many songs and albums (500 songs; 25 albums since 1979) reflect a strong social conscience. He has worked at venues such as New York City's Folk City, L.A.'s Troubador, the Alcomo Blues Festival in Sicily (with duo partner Michelle Lotta) and the Atlantis Club. He has also appeared in all of Italy's premier concert halls during a 1998-99 tour of the the rock opera Tommy. Since 1995, Mr. Coco has collaborated with Michele Lotta in many performances. In 2007 he released Garden State an album about his love-hate relationship with New Jersey. It is a tribute to his native state, receiving excellent reviews in Italy and the US. Silver Lamp - The Full Moon Series, also released in 2007, is an instrumental soundtrack that accompanies his life long painting and drawing series inspired by the moon. In 2008, he released September Sky, a collection of songs about autumn with latin/jazz touches. In addition to his work as a musician, Mr. Coco holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rutgers University. He has held solo exhibits in the US and Italy and his work is represented in museums worldwide.
Paul Cohen Paul Cohen holds an M.M and DMA degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the New Jersey Symphony and San Francisco Symphony. His many solo orchestra performances include works by Debussy, Creston, Ibert, Glazonov, Martin, and Villa-Lobos. He has played in numerous ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Group for Contemporary Music, New York Solisti and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded three albums with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds under the direction of Frederick Fennell, a compact disk of the music of Villa-Lobos with the Quintet of the Americas, and recordings with the Saxophone Sinfonia, Paul Winter Consort, and the New Sousa Band. Recent recordings include an environmental-Jazz CD of solo improvisations and his solo CD, Vintage Saxophones Revisited, featuring the premiere recording of Cowell's Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 18. He has published more than 100 articles on the history and literature of the saxophone. Mary Ann Craig Terezija Cukrov |
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