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Cape cod conservatory Faculty
PIANO
Roy Campbell - B.M., U. Mass. Lowell; Principal trombone for Cape Symphony; trombonist for Boston Opera; faculty of Brown University, South Shore Conservatory; toured with Los Angles Opera a la Carte; music director, Monomoy Theater. After graduating from UMass Lowell with performance degrees in piano and trombone, Roy toured as principal trombonist with Milton Berle in a two-year vaudeville review. Returning to Boston he worked as trombonist with Sarah Caldwell's "Boston Opera Company" and as house trombonist for the Colonial Theater, South Shore Music Circus, and The Cape Cod Melody Tent. Roy has also performed at the Shubert and Wang Theaters and with the Boston Pops "Adventures In Music" concerts. Roy has taught at Brown University, Norwood High School, and South Shore Conservatory. He is currently professor of music at Bridgewater State University. He has directed shows at Monomoy Theater in Chatham, Harwich Jr. Theater, and was conductor and director of bands at Bridgewater State University .
Mirela Chisbora - D.M.A., SUNY at Stony Brook; M.M., New England Conservatory; B.M., Gheorghe Dima Conservatory.
Jimmy Craven - Bachelor of Music in Composition from Hartt School of Music. He graduated cum laude and the faculty voted him Composer Of The Year. Teachers include guitarist Art Ludemann, pianist Laurence Honan, and NYC jazz pianist Lou Stein. Jimmy has recorded in dozens of studios including Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and has shared the stage with Dread Zeppelin, Roomful of Blues, The Coasters, Jake Rooney, Mary Travers, Lily Tomlin, and Vanilla Fudge.
Kaeza Fearn – Bachelor of Arts, Music, Haverford College, PA; Master of Music, The Hartt School, CT.
Kaeza Fearn is an accomplished pianist, musical director, and composer. As an enthusiastic educator, Ms. Fearn has held teaching positions from elementary school through college. A highly skilled pianist, she frequently accompanies choral groups, musical theater productions and provides music for Sunday services.
Ms. Fearn is currently the Music Instructor at Plymouth South Middle School. In addition to her vast music accomplishments, Ms. Fearn speaks German, Italian and French! She is accepting students in West Barnstable on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Sylvia Karkus Furash - Boston University, College of Music (BMus Perf) with certifications from Northern Illinois University (group piano) and Amherst College (Taubman technique). State- and nationally-certified in piano and theory by the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). Mrs. Furash has taught private and group piano students at Tulsa, Jr. College in Oklahoma, Duchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She teaches all levels and all ages. She has presented workshops for teachers on the national, state and local levels, and published articles in national music teacher magazines. She has also adjudicated for auditions and competitions throughout the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region. Mrs. Furash served on the executive boards of Oklahoma-Tulsa Accredited Music Teachers Association, New York State MTA, and founded and chaired the Poughkeepsie, NY, chapter of the National Guild of Piano Teachers. Her affiliations include Massachusetts MTA, Piano Teachers Congress of NY and the National Guild of Piano Teachers.
Her teachers include Grete Husserl, Alfredo A. Fondacaro, Edith Stearns, Aldo Mancinelli and most currently Robert Durso of the Golandsky (Taubman) Institute of Piano. Mrs. Furash has performed solo and chamber works, most recently with Rudolph Efram, violin and in duo pianowith Florence M. Grenis, both in the Hudson Valley, New York.
Gary Girouard - President and CEO of Galileo Music Corporation, a company that focuses on technology-enhanced pianos and music-learning systems for recreational music makers. In March of 2004, Girouard released his debut album, The Naked Piano, a tribute to the timeless nature of the piano. The style combines classical, new age and pop influences into what the editor of Boston Live hails as "a masterpiece...a testament to the gracious sounds of a fluid live recording". Following up on the critical success of the Naked Piano, Girouard released The Naked Piano, Volume II in March of 2006 and The Naked Piano - Christmas Album in November 2007.
Brittany Haskell - Ms. Haskell holds a Master’s degree in organ performance from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where she studied organ with Alan Morrison. She received her Bachelor’s degrees in Organ Performance and Music Education from the U. of So. Maine, studying organ with Ray Cornils. She also studied piano with Robert Noyes, of Durham, ME. Ms. Haskell has won numerous awards including the 2007 Joan Lippincott Competition for Excellence in Organ Performance, the 2005 & 2006 Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ Memorial Scholarship, and the organ award in The Maine Federation of Music Club’s Anne Gannett Scholarship Competition (2003).
Ms. Haskell teaches in the Digital Music Lab at Cape Cod Conservatory in Falmouth. She is also the Music Director for the Church of the Messiah, located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where she directs the adult and children's choirs and plays the organ. In addition, she is the Artistic Director for the Falmouth Mostly Men's Chorus, is the assistant accompanist for the Falmouth Chorale and Chamber Ensemble.
Dorothy Lortie – B.S. Ed., Worcester State College. Graduate study, Assumption College; faculty, Worcester Public Schools; currently Music Director, Our Lady of Victory Church, Centerville.
Jared McMurray – B.M., Hartt School of University of Hartford.
Chris Morris – B.M. and M.M., Oberlin Conservatory. Young Artists Piano Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Winner of the Carol Nott Piano Pedagogy Prize. Presenter, Music Educators National Conference, Washington, D.C. Faculty, Academy of Performing Arts, Orleans. Chrous Master, Cape Cod Opera. Music Director, Brewster Baptist Church.
Anne F. Perrault – B.M., Oberlin Conservatory, M.M., New England Conservatory. Ms. Perrault is a well known piano soloist in the New England area and has performed extensively throughout the area. She also served for six years as Piano Department Chair for the Longy School of Music in Boston.
Ms. Perrault is one of New England’s most sought after soloists. Her performance career as soloist and collaborative pianist have taken her to concert halls in this country and Europe, performing locally at Jordan Hall, Gardner Museum, Tsai Center at B.U., Boston Fine Arts Museum, New England Conservatory and others. She has performed Beethoven Piano Concerti with the New England Philharmonic and the Vermont Philharmonic orchestras. She has also collaborated with international artists such as singers Paul Mathen, Robert Honeysucker and Dana Fortunato as well as with various members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She often performed on WGBH.
Norma Perron - Ms. Perron started piano lessons at 5 years of age. She grew up in a musical household with her mother playing the piano and her father playing the trumpet. Ms. Perron studied piano through high school, where she was an accompanist for an orchestra, singing groups, theatre groups, and a soloist. Because of an illness in the family, Ms. Perron was unable to attend college full time. She was accepted at the New England Conservatory as a special student, where she attended school for seven years studying piano, theory, counterpoint, and harmony. Her piano teacher prepared her for a concert career. During summers she attended Yale University’s summer program. She won the audition for young musicians in Worcester County and was presented in a concert there and other concerts quickly followed. Ms. Perron has taught piano since attending N. E. C. and she continues to accompany singing groups and instrumentalists. Several of her students have gone on to receive music degrees.
SharonRose Pfeiffer - B. Mus., Westminster Choir College, summa cum laude; Masters Degree and Doctorate in organ performance at the Eastman School of Music. Dr. Pfeiffer has concertized extensively throughout the United States and Europe, including organ solos, recitals and radio broadcasts in New York City, at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, and Wheaton College in Illinois. The winner of a Fulbright scholarship, Dr. Pfeiffer spent a year in Toulouse, coaching with the late composer and organist Xavier Darasse, and researching organ restorations in southern France. During that year, she won first prize in the prestigious Concours Internationale des Arts Renaissance. In 1989, the French government sponsored Pfeiffer on a concert tour of southern France, where one reviewer described her playing as "exuberant...profoundly sensitive" La Depeche.
As a distinguished harpsichordist, Dr. Pfeiffer has performed with the Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, Phoenix Bach Choir, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and the American Embassy in Paris.
Dr. Pfeiffer began her career as a church musician at the age of 13. She has served as organist/choirmaster for several major churches, implementing and developing extensive choir programs. Currently, she is an Artist-in-Residence for Gloriæ Dei Artes Foundation.
Jacqueline Schwab – Bachelor of Music, New England Conservatory of Music. Jacqueline enjoys teaching beginning and experienced music students - from age 6 to 92 - to play with gusto, flow, confidence and joy. She has taught privately, at dance and music camps for adults and families, and at residencies in public and private schools and colleges.
Jacqueline's signature style defies easy categorization, fitting somewhere in the crossover between folk, traditional, classical and new age music. Although many people connect improvisation with jazz, Jacqueline's inspirations are traditional music of England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, blues, vintage tangos, Bach's dance suites, nineteenth-century parlor piano, and the turn-of-the-twentieth-century sounds of Satie, Debussy and Bartok for starters.
In Ken Burns' words, "Jacqueline Schwab brings more feeling and intensity to music than anyone I know. Her playing is insistent, physical, heartfelt and ... unusually moving." Chatham-based pianist Jacqueline Schwab has been heard on a dozen of Burns' documentaries including Lewis and Clark, Baseball, Mark Twain’s America, Civil War, and The National Parks.
Valerie Schultz – M.Ed. & B.A. Music, Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Certified Commonwealth of Massachusetts Music, Pre-K-9; music teacher, Dennis-Yarmouth School District.
Loretta Slovak – M.S. & B.S., Juilliard School of Music. Awarded Phi Beta Scholarship for Chamber Music Study at Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood; Carl Friedberg Scholarship, Carnegie Hall, New York; Artists Diploma, The American College of Musicians; Certified Judge, American College of Musicians. Soloist with Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestral Society, and Berkshire Music Festival.
Maria Snyder – M.A., Columbia University and B.M., Catholic University. Studies, Juilliard School, Aspen Institute, Berkshire Music Festival and Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
Elizabeth Tipton – M.S. and B.S., Juilliard School. Post-graduate studies, Columbia Teachers College; soloist and chamber player in New York and New Jersey.
Frank Toppa - M.M. Music Education and Organ Performance, U. Mass, Amherst. B.M. Music Education and Voice, Hartt College of Music. M.M. Musicology, Boston University. Current Positions: UU Meetinghouse of Chatham - Music Director [Choir, Organ, Piano]; Belmont Day School - Classroom Music Teacher [Chorus, Musicals]. Former positions on Cape Cod include Cape Cod Symphony - String Bass; Nauset Regional Schools - Chorus and Strings. Full Resume at toppatoons.blogspot.com.
Laurie Uguccioni – M.F.A., New York University Tisch School for the Arts, B.M., University of Miami.
VOICE
Lucy Millar Brett – M.M. Eastman School of Music and B.F.A., Carnegie-Mellon University. Soloist, St. Peter’s, Osterville; soloist with Chatham Chorale, New Bedford Symphony, Pro Arte, Royall Noyse; recitals in Boston area, South Shore and Cape Cod.
Elaine Burkly – M.A., Fitchburg State University; B.M. Music Ed., Minor in Voice and piano, Boston University.
A vocal coach and voice teacher for several decades, Ms. Burkly has performed in Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall and soloed with choral groups in MA, RI, FL, and SC. She has performed with Leopold Stokowski, Arthur Fiedler, Louis Armstrong, Arthur Miller and Fummerfelt of Westminister Choir at Spoleto events.
Ms. Burkly is the choral Director of the Music Theater Youth Singers and Choraliers. She was also the Fine Arts Director K-12 for the Falmouth Public Schools (11 years) and Music and Choral Director, Falmouth Schools (17 years).
In Florida, Ms. Burkly was responsible for the Sarasota Youth Opera chorus, the Anna Maria chorus and orchestra, Choral Master as well as the Anna Maria Island Youth Choir and the adult Repertory Singers. Ms. Burkly also taught at the Longboat Education Center where she started a choral group that presented concert versions of Broadway musicals as well as light classics.
In Charleston, SC she was a member and section leader of the Charleston Symphony Chorus and the Cathedral Choir, which are audition-selected choirs as well as a voice and piano teacher.
In Rhode Island, Ms. Burkly taught in the Lincoln school where she was responsible for the chorus and band in grades 7 -12. She organized, directed and arranged music for the Veritones, a semi-professional chorale that performed extensively in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
In Falmouth, the Choraliers have presented concerts at the Conservatory, performed in nursing homes and for various clubs at their meeting/holiday gatherings.
Joseph Dudzinski - Master’s in Music, George Mason University, Virginia. Second master’s degree from the Catholic University of America.
Joe has also studied with Dr. Stan Engebretson (Stanford U.), conductor of the National Philharmonic Chorus, and Dr. Laura Mann (Eastman School); Dr. Mann has performed more than 40 opera roles in Europe and the U.S., and now tours with her recital “Operatunity.” Joseph was awarded the Melton Music Teaching Scholarship at George Mason University in 2000 in recognition of his experience as an educator on the elementary, secondary and adult levels, and his proficiency in piano, organ and voice.
He has conducted choral groups for twenty years, mainly in Washington, DC. He currently lives in Hyannis, MA, and serves as music director at Christ Church Plymouth. Prior to joining the Conservatory, he taught piano, voice, chorus and vocal workshops at the Nantucket School of Music. He is also active in studio teaching, performing, and choral adjudication. As bass/baritone, he has sung the role of the Count in Figaro and has twice performed a recital of Moses Hogan Spirituals.
Joan Kirchner - appears regionally as a soloist for oratorio, opera, and recital repertoire from medieval works to the American Songbook. She has appeared with the Masterworks Chorale, Chorus North Shore, the Chatham Chorale and a number of other groups on the Cape, and has been a professional chorister with the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston and Toronto's Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. A co-founder of the Cape Renaissance group OYEZ!, she has a strong interest in early music, working with leading names such as Ton Koopman, Nicolas Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt. While at Indiana she sang in the renowned Early Music Institute under Thomas Binkley. A native of western New York, she holds two bachelor's degrees from Houghton College, one in Church Music and another in Business Administration. She earned a Master's degree in Church Music and Organ Performance with distinction from Indiana University, Bloomington, where she studied with Larry Smith and Marilyn Keiser, and also studied at the Eastman School of Music with Russell Saunders. She has served churches in Indiana, North Carolina, Nantucket, and the Cape, and has her home studio in Brewster.
Lesli Loosli - M.A., Music Education Montclair State University, B.F.A. Opera Theater Boston University.
Ms. Loosli has had a varied career as a voice teacher and coach, as well as a singing career as a soloist in opera, concert and oratorio. She has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch and the Boston Pops conducted by Arthur Fiedler and Harry Ellis Dickson. Lesli was a soloist for Leopold Stokowski in the American premier performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.
Ms. Loosli was a scholarship student at Boston University Opera under the direction of Sarah Caldwell where she received her B.F.A. with a major in voice. While a student she won scholarships for two summers at the Tanglewood Opera Department under Boris Goldovsky.
After completing her degree she performed for two seasons as the prima soprano with the Boston Comic Opera Company in Milwaukee with leading roles in operas of Mozart, Strauss, Gilbert and Sullivan, to name a few. Her career continued to flourish and Ms. Loosli was a Foundation recipient to perform at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina and at the Chautauqua Music Festival.
Lesli was the Artistic Director of the Bloomfield Opera Theater in Bloomfield, New Jersey for 12 years. The National Council of the Arts and New Jersey Council of the Arts funded the Bloomfield Opera Theater.
Ms. Loosli is currently the Artistic Director of Treasure Time Productions in Falmouth. She is accepting voice students in West Barnstable and Falmouth.
John Murelle - B. M. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Voice Performance; M. M. Boston Conservatory, Voice Performance Artist's Diploma, Boston University, Opera
Baritone John Murelle is a versatile singer with a wide range of musical interests, including art song, opera and oratorio, Broadway and popular songs. He holds Vocal Performance degrees from the University of Michigan and the Boston Conservatory, and a Diploma from the Boston University Opera Institute. John Murelle’s keen interest in song literature has earned him accolades as a concert singer. His diverse programs include song cycles of Schubert, Beethoven, Schumann, Fauré and Ravel, and highly acclaimed theme recitals including The Way You Look Tonight, The Songs of Jerome Kern, With A Song In My Heart, The Songs of Rodgers and Hart, You’re The Top! The Songs of Cole Porter, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Songs of George and Ira Gershwin, Let Yourself Go! The Songs of Irving Berlin, La Serenata Italiana- Love songs of Italy, and Cuban Passion, The Songs Of Ernesto Lecuona, If I Loved You, The Great Love Duets with soprano Joan Kirchner. Upcoming performances include, The Songs of Travel and other songs by English composers with pianist Lucy Banner, Sea Songs at First Night, Chatham, and Love Songs at Historic Highfield Hall in February.
In great demand as a voice teacher, John has private studios in East Sandwich and Falmouth and proudly conducts the Falmouth Academy Chorale. Mr. Murelle is an active member of, NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing, AGO (The American Guild of Organists) and The Chatham Music Club and Arts, Falmouth. When not performing or teaching, John spends many mornings in the pool with the Sandwich Master Swimmers and he is a dedicated student of yoga. For more, visit John's web site at jmurelle.com.
Drusilla Welt Sunderman – B.S. in Music Education, University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Ms. Sunderman has been the Vocal Music teacher and Choral Conductor with Barnstable, Cambridge, Dennis-Yarmouth, and Brewster public schools for over 22 years. She is the Vocal Director for Knights Theater Co. in Sandwich and Barnstable, presenting the musicals, Guys & Dolls, Crazy for You, South Pacific, Carousel, Once Upon a Mattress, Grease, The Wiz, Funny Girl, and The Wizard of Oz.
Ms. Sunderman's professional singing career includes Church Soloist and Choir Director, Master Singerss vocal ensemble, and several musical roles including The King & I and No, No, Nanette. She has toured with the vocal duo Sisters Too.
Currently, Ms. Sunderman is teaching Broadway Vocal Music at Cape Cod Conservatory, where she has taught for 15 years. Her students have performed on and off Braodway in New York and Disney World in Florida.
Ms. Sunderman also does piano accompanying for students and musicals.
Howard Whitmore – B.M., Ashland University; M.M., Kent State University.
STRINGS
Pierre d’Archambeau (violin & viola) – Winner, International Competition in Geneva; laureate of Queen Elizabeth Competition of Belgium; winner of Medal of Eugène Ysaye. Soloist in major cities of the U.S.A., Europe and Asia Minor. He studied with Richard Burgin in Boston, Edouard Dethier in New York and Jacques Thibaud in France. Fritz Kreisler bequeathed him his famous Daniel Parker violin (1715). He is celebrated thoughout the world both as a recitalist and a soloist, having appeared with Symphony Orchestras in Brussels, Paris, Bucharest, Istanbul, Athens, Beirut, Cairo, Sarajevo, Naples, San Remo, Monte Carlo, Lausanne, New York, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, and many others.
Larry Chaplan (violin & fiddle) - Bachelor of Fine Arts, City University of New York. Master of Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston.
In 1954, Mr. Chaplan started studying and playing violin in Los Angeles with Ben Berzinsky, a previous member of the New York Philharmonic and teacher of Albert Einstein. Mr. Chaplan joined the California Jr. Symphony in 1959 where he remained a member for 9 years. He attended UCLA for
3 ½ years, studying violin and chamber music with Stanley Plummer. He then moved to New York City where he attended CUNY and received a Bachelor of Fine Art degree.
Mr. Chaplan studied and performed with John Lewis, Joel Lester, Tiny Grimes, and Albert Hirsh. He played as a free lance violinist in New York for 18 years, working with various symphonies, pit orchestras, rock bands, and jazz bands. In 1989, Mr. Chaplan moved to Cape Cod and joined the Cape Symphony Orchestra, the Plymouth Philharmonic, the SMU Symphony, and Woods Hole Choral Society. Mr. Chaplan attended U. Mass Boston where he received Master of Education.
Certifications:
Grades Pre K – 6: Music Education, Strings Education
Grades 7 – 12: Music Education, Strings Education
Grades 5 – 9: Mathematics
Grades 9 – 12: Mathematics
Bo Ericsson (cello) - Mr. Ericsson, a native of Skovde, Sweden, graduated from Gothenborg Conservatory of Music and the Swedish Radio School of Music in Stockholm where he studied with Erling Bengtsson. Further studies included Anthony Pini and William Pleeth in London and the Amadeus String Quarter in Cologne, Germany.
Mr. Ericsson has performed with the Gothenborg Symphony, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Upsala Chamber Soloists and served for six years as the principal cellist with the Bergen (Norway) Philharmonic. A founding member of the Berwald String Quartet, he toured all over Europe with that group in performances that included the premiere works of many of the Continent’s top composers. Mr. Ericsson is the principal cellist for the Cape Cod Symphony, the Simon and Cape Sinfoniettas and is an active and much sought-after performer of chamber music, including his work with his wife, Liz, in the Schultze-Ericsson Cello Duo. Mr. Ericsson and Ms. Schultze live in East Orleans where he operates a workshop repairing violins and cellos.
Clayton Hoener (violin) - Clayton Hoener is a dynamic and versatile violinist who has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is principal second violin of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and also performs with Boston Baroque and the Handel & Haydn Society. With eight musicians of the Handel and Haydn Society and the vocal group Chanticleer, Mr. Hoener participated in the 2002 Grammy Award winning recording of John Tavener’s compelling composition Lamentations and Praises.
Clayton Hoener was a founding member and first violinist of the Boston Composers String Quartet winning a silver medal in the 1993 Osaka Chamber Music Competition, a Chamber Music America Three-Year Residency Grant, and the 1995 CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. As solo violinist and chamber musician, he has also participated in the Cleveland, Taos, and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festivals, and the prestigious Internationale Sommerakademie-Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
For over a quarter century, violin and pedagogical instruction has held a special place in his career. Mr. Hoener is Community Programs Chair of Strings at Longy School of Music and also on the faculty of Cape Cod Conservatory.
He holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Boston University as a student of Roman Totenberg. Mr. Hoener has recorded for Albany, Koch International Classics, Master Musicians Collective, Music and Arts, and Northeastern Records. He performs on both period and modern instruments. Carl Becker and Son of Chicago made his modern violin in 1925.
Charles Sherba (violin) - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, assistant to his principal professor, violinist Leonard Sorkin; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, teaching associate and first violinist in the university’s first graduate string quartet; the Chicago Conservatory College, a special student who, at the age of 15, performed the first movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with members of the Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. He also studied at the Aspen Music School, as a Fellowship student and a first violinist in the Aspen Festival Orchestra; and at the Aspen Institute for Advanced Quartet Studies, which he attended as first violinist of the Charleston String Quartet. He has had chamber music coaching with the Juilliard Quartet, the Fine Arts Quartet, the Cleveland Quartet, the Chicago Symphony String Quartet, Eugene Lehner, and Earl Carlyss.
Mr. Sherba holds the Heidi and Chester Kirk concertmaster chair of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, where he has served as concertmaster since 1987. He is a founding member of the Rhode Island-based ensemble Aurea, and teaches at Brown University and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School. He serves as concertmaster of the Simon Sinfonietta on Cape Cod, and has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, the New Hampshire Symphony, the Vermont Symphony, the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Charleston String Quartet, and served as concertmaster of the West Virginia Symphony, the Atlanta Ballet, and the Atlanta Chamber Orchestra. In the fall of 2008, he was appointed concertmaster of the Boston Festival Orchestra, which performs with the Chorus of Westerly, George Kent, music director.
Find out more about Charles Sherba on the Brown University website.
Sandy Spencer (cello) – B.A., Vassar College. Studies at Mannes College of Music; member, Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra; member, Gravitas (cello/bass duo) and the Brentwood Consort (recorders, oboe, cello, harpsichord) playing Baroque and earlier music.
Judy Yaldatel (string bass) - Judy Yaldatel is a member of the Cape Cod Symphony and Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestras. She also holds the position of Principal Bass with the Simon Sinfonietta and Cape Sinfonietta/Chatham Chorale Orchestras. Additionally, she has performed with the San Antonio Symphony and the orchestras of the Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera. Ms. Yaldatel is a much sought-after chamber musician and soloist who has won both first place and finalist status in concerto competitions. A native of Massachusetts, this highly engaging young woman holds performance degrees from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and the University of Michigan.
GUITAR
Jimmy Craven - Bachelor of Music in Composition from Hartt School of Music. He graduated cum laude and the faculty voted him Composer Of The Year. Teachers include guitarist Art Ludemann, pianist Laurence Honan, and NYC jazz pianist Lou Stein. Jimmy has recorded in dozens of studios including Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and has shared the stage with Led Zeppelin, Roomful of Blues, The Coasters, Mary Travers, Lily Tomlin, and Vanilla Fudge.
Joe Baer Magnant - Joe has enjoyed making music since the age of 5 when he first started to play guitar. Since then, music has provided him with fortunate experiences, such as traveling to China, performing during the 2000 4th of July celebration in Washington D.C., and attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. Specializing in traditional genres such as blues, traditional country, jazz, rock and folk music, he has studied songwriting, performance, composition and storytelling. He has been teaching professionally since he was in high school and offers a wide range of musical styles.
Will Pfluger - Will began playing the guitar at age ten, studying Classical, Contemporary Fingerstyle, and Ragtime Blues. He attended Berklee College of Music and received a Bachelor's degree from Skidmore College.
During the 1970s and 80s, Mr. Pfluger performed as a singer/guitarist throughout New England and Florida. Mr. Pfluger has focused on composition and solo acoustic guitar playing. In 2003, he released his debut CD, Half Moon Bay, which includes nine original compositions for solo guitar. One of his pieces, "Horseman's Pastorale," appears in a compilation book of classical guitar composers from around the world.
Mr. Pfluger specializes in teaching Contemporary Fingerstyle Guitar. An instructor since 1987, he welcomes students of all ages and levels for lessons at the Cape Cod Conservatory in Falmouth and Barnstable.
Pat Ryan – B.M., Ithaca School of Music. Faculty, Falmouth public schools; recipient, Elaine Pear Cohen Award, Falmouth Arts Council.
Joseph Scott – B.M. summa cum laude, Boston Conservatory. Music instructor, Milton Academy; registered Suzuki guitar instructor through Level 5; performances with Cape Symphony Orchestra and Rhode Island Philharmonic.
PERCUSSION
Jesus Andujar - Master Percussionist. Mr. Andujar was born in the Dominican Republic. He developed his timing, rhythm, tempo and his ear for music while working on the farms. He peeled rice, using a big piece of wood with a hole in it, using his hands to smash the rice. This is when he developed his extraordinary talent for playing drums with bands in the Dominican Republic and becoming a great percussionist.
He went to New York City and studied at the New York Collective Drumming School, with Bobby Sanabria, Ricky Sebastian and Mike Clark. Later, he relocated to Puerto Rico, where he played with various, well known, Island groups like Grupo Wao, Bonny Cepeda, etc.
Michael Dunford - B.A., Berklee College of Music, Professional Music.
Sam Holmstock - Bachelor of Music, Composition, Berklee College of Music; Post Graduate Studies, Composition and Improvisation, Creative Music Studio, Woodstock, New York; World Percussion Studies in Djembe; World Percussion Studies in Conga; World Percussion Studies in Shekere.
If you happen to be an ENTRAIN fan you might recognize Sam Holmstock as the guy behind the congas or playing the djembe, timbales or Cajun rub board - when he's not playing trombone that is. He is one of the co-founders of the world fusion ensemble, ENTRAIN, and has performed with this incredible group of talented musicians for 16 years. In addition to his work with ENTRAIN, Sam has had the honor of playing music with artists such as Babatunde Olatunji, Bo Diddley, Gil Scott-Heron, Kate and James Taylor, Bob Weir, and even Bill Clinton.
Jeff Myers — B.S., Northwestern University; MBA, University of Connecticut — For more than 40 years, Mr. Myers has been helping beginning and intermediate students become proficient in drums by teaching them to learn to love music. Each student is provided a highly personalized course of study, one that reflects their individual abilities and interests, including enhancing in-school musical activities. Additionally, his popular “Beat It” class is a fun and engaging introduction to the basics of rhythm; the course provides an outstanding foundation for future instruction in any instrument. He performs regularly with the Outer Cape Chorale, the Falmouth Chamber Players, the Woods Hole Cantata Consort, the Java Swing Band as well as other classical, jazz and musical theater settings across the region. He has performed in more than 20 musicals, on and off Broadway, including Company, Promises, Promises!, Music Man, Camelot, Finian’s Rainbow, Sound of Music, Mame, Hello, Dolly!, Oliver, Peter Pan, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. Mr. Myers studied with composer/percussionist Michael Colgrass, Joe Morello and Jake Jerger and is continuing his love of learning with world-renowned timpanist Salvatore Rabbio.
Robert Rudin - (drum kit, doumbek, conga, bodhran, rhythm bones, classical snare drum) --M.Ed, University of Massachusetts; B.A. in Music & Intercultural Studies, Hampshire College, Amherst. Massachusesetts Teaching Certification, Pre K - 12. Performer, Einstein’s Little Homunculus. Instructor, Music Centers of Cambridge and Sudbury, Marlborough High School.
WINDS
Mark Crociati (clarinet, sax) - B.M. Boston University, M.M. Yale University, Tanglewood Institute. Mark has performed with numerous organizations including performances in Europe, New York City and has been Principal Clarinetist of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and the New England Philharmonic. Mark was the recipient of many scholarships from several music festivals and was a finalist in the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Competition. He has taught clarinet for 25 years on the college level, privately and in the public school system to all ages and ranges of experience. In addition, he has served as an adjudicator for the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Educators Association.
Sally J. Davol (flute, recorder) – B.A., Syracuse University. Member, Chatham Band; Director, Chatham High School Flute Choir
Roger Gamache (saxophone, bagpipes, clarinet, recorder, piccolo) - Bachelor of Music, Berklee College of Music; Grad student, University of Hawaii; Navy School of Music, Little Creek, VA; Invermark College of Piping, Rome, NY; College of Piping, PEI, Canada.
With over twenty years of music experience both teaching and professionally playing, Mr. Gamache offers an extensive knowledge and an overwhelming passion for music to his students. He is currently a volunteer instructor with the Mashpee Middle School and High School Jazz Ensemble. He facilitated a jazz workshop and clinic at Falmouth High School and a sax clinic with the Sandwich High School Band. Mr. Gamache directs and performs with Stage Door Canteen Big Band. He has provided private instruction for woodwinds and brass with the Brian Boru Pipe Band, along with group lessons with a bagpipe chanter. Mr. Gamache was a member of the 215th Army Band and US Navy Band. He co-founded the Falmouth Military Tattoo, an annual field show featuring Military marching bands and color guards.
Wilfred Harrigan (clarinet, sax, oboe) – B.M. Berklee College of Music. Teacher, Barnstable Public Schools; past member, 567th Air Force Band for 25 years; band director, Sandwich Town Band and Barnstable Town Band; school band director for 25 years.
Berke McKelvey - B.A. Music, Principia College (Illinois); B.A. Music, Berklee College of Music; and M.A., U.C. San Diego. Currently Berke is Asistant Professor at Berklee in the Ear Training Department as well as in their Summer Performance Program. He has 40 years of professional playing experience including the Falmouth Theater Guild, the Conservatory Jazz Band, Monomoy Theater, and performances with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Opera Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Glenn Miller Orchestra, and The Temptations, among others!
Mariellen Sears - B.A., Music and M.M., UMass Lowell. Mariellen Sears has been performing on Cape Cod for over 25 years. Her teachers include Virginia Sindelar, Martha Woodward, and Eleanor Lawrence. In addition to a full time teaching schedule for the Nauset Public Schools, she plays Flute in the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra and is the founding member of the Scorton Chamber Ensemble which has been a featured wedding group for 10 years. Mariellen also maintains a private flute studio in her home in East Sandwich.
BRASS
Roy Campbell (trombone, trumpet, French horn, baritone) - B.M., U. Mass. Lowell; Principal trombone for Cape Symphony; trombonist for Boston Opera; faculty of Brown University, South Shore Conservatory; toured with Los Angles Opera a la Carte; music director, Monomoy Theater. After graduating from UMass Lowell with performance degrees in piano and trombone, Roy toured as principal trombonist with Milton Berle in a two-year vaudeville review. Returning to Boston he worked as trombonist with Sarah Caldwell's "Boston Opera Company" and as house trombonist for the Colonial Theater, South Shore Music Circus, and The Cape Cod Melody Tent. Roy has also performed at the Shubert and Wang Theaters and with the Boston Pops "Adventures In Music" concerts. Roy has taught at Brown. Norwood High, South Shore Conservatory and is Currently professor of music at Bridgewater State College. He has directed shows at the Monomoy Theater in Chatham, The Harwich Jr. Theater, and was conductor and director of bands at Bridgewater State College.
Robert W. Kidd - B.S., University of Massachusetts, Mus.M. Mus.A.D. Pi Kappa Lambda, Boston University. Professor Emeritus and Former Chair of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, Cape Cod Community College, former Teaching Fellow at Boston University, public school teaching at Littleton, MA. Experienced choral and instrumental conductor and performer on trumpet and renaissance and baroque wind instruments (recorder, krummhorn, cornetto) Specialties include 20th century and Jazz, renaissance and baroque (esp. Tudor-Stuart). Several church choir positions. Groups include Royale Noyse, In Praise of Folly, Practicall Musick. Currently: Brentwood Brass, Brentwood Consort, Silver Foxes, Original "Dissonance" Jazz Band and performance in several classical and Jazz ensembles. Concert tours in the United States and Europe. Interest in international education include Fulbright-Hayes Fellowships in China and Poland.
Tony Lujan (trumpet) - please see Tony's Conductor bio below.
Ty Newcomb – Elected Band President at Pasadena High School which won the prestigious
Sweepstakes at the All-Western Band Review in Long Beach, CA. Ty
received an A.A. degree from Arizona State University, where he attended on a full music scholarship. He continued to U.C. Long Beach, following his early
influential band director at Pasadena High School, Larry Curtis. In the
middle of his senior year, he left school to tour with the Gringos. After
touring the world for 10 years as the lead trumpet in the
group, he settled on Cape Cod. Not soon after, because of his
life experience, he was appointed Director of the Cape Cod Conservatory Jazz
Ensemble.
In addition to the Gringos, Ty has recorded with Leon Russell, The Davis
Brothers Garage band, and Brad Delp, the late, great lead singer of the group
Boston. He has also played with The Mike Dumas Band/Platform Soul and
currently plays with local nightclub favorite Pocketful of Soul.
Fred Schmidt (trumpet) - Formerly Chairman of the Professional Music Department at Berklee College of Music. He has a Bachelors of Music in Music Education from Boston University and a Masters of Education from Cambridge College. Previous to his 27 years of teaching at Berklee, he spent 12 years teaching in the public school system in the City of Cambridge, in the town of Lynnfield, and as Director of Music in the Town of Uxbridge.
Fred's professional performance career began at the age of 16 in his hometown of Lewiston, Idaho. Since moving to Boston in 1952, he has played with New England big band leader Ted Herbert and he has spent 4 ½ years with Bob Bachelder at the Totem Pole Ballroom. He was a member of the house bands at The Surf Supper Club in Revere and at Blinstrubs Village in South Boston. Fred performed with some of the top entertainers of the day like Nat Cole, Pat Boone, Trini Lopez, Al Martino, Billy Eckstine, and many others. At the present time Fred continues to play and perform throughout New England.
CONDUCTOR
Elaine Burkly (Director, Conservatory Music Theatre Players, Conservatory Choraliers) - M.A., Fitchburg State College; B.M. Ed., Boston University. Music Supervisor, K – 12, Falmouth Public Schools for 11 years. Director, Anna Maria Island Repertory Singers, Sarasota Opera children’s chorus. Private teacher, voice and piano.
John Hagon (Director, Conservatory Concert Band) - M.M., Boston University & B.M., University of Wisconsin, Former Chair of Music Education and current Professor of Music Education at Berklee College of Music (30 years); retired conductor of the 215th Army Band of the Massachusetts National Guard (18 years); former conductor of the Barnstable and Harwich Town Bands; former music teacher in Wild Rose, Wisconsin and Barnstable High School for 13 years.
Janice Hannah (Director, A Cappella Choir) - B.M.Ed., University of Lowell. Vocal Music Teacher, Mattacheese Middle School, Norwood Public Schools; currently teaching in Barnstable Public Schools.
Tyler Newcomb (Director, Conservatory Big Band) - Music study, Arizona University and University of California at Long Beach.
Tony Lujan (Conductor, Conservatory Jazz Orchestra for Youth) - Born in Albuquerque New Mexico, Tony began playing trumpet at the age of ten. He studied privately with Kenny Anderson in Junior High School, Fenton Katz and Ed Wolfe in High School, and Sam Trimble at N.M.S.U. He participated in solo and ensemble competition, All State, and the Albuquerque Youth Symphony. After hearing Clark Terry at a Manzano High School clinic in 1971 Tony knew he wanted to be a jazz musician. Upon recognizing his incredible musical gift, Terry took the young Lujan under his tutelage and guided his career towards success.
He also studied privately with Woody Shaw, Cat Anderson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Shew, and Carl Saunders. Tiana, Mitchell, and Miles are his three children.
Tony has performed with the big bands of Clark Terry, Gerald Wilson, Bill Holman, Ray Charles, Peter Herbolzheimer, and Bobby Burgess; also with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Robert Goulet, Wayne Newton, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Hope, and Luis Miguel. Other notable artists and entertainers he has performed with include Santana, Ozomatli, Aretha Franklin, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Steve Turre Shell Choir, Francisco Aguabella, Poncho Sanchez, Walter Norris, Louis Bonilla, William Cepeda, Henry Franklyn, and Batacumbele.
Tony has played lead trumpet in the national tours of musicals such as A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity, 42nd Street, The Most Fellow, and West Side Story.
Tony has recorded for major motion picture soundtracks in such films as Salsa, Mambo Kings, In the Line of Fire, War and Remembrance, The Marrying Man, and Chaplin. He has also appeared on television programs such as The Drew Carey Show, The Paul Rodrigues Show, Dame una Quebrada in Puerto Rico, and The Bronco Billy Show in Slovenia.
Additionally, Tony has given instruction at private clinics and schools such as the University of New Mexico, University of Texas at El Paso, Universidad de Mexico, the Royal Academy of Music, the Sherborne School of Music in England, Bundess Jazz Orchestra in Germany, and Taller De Music of Barcelona, Spain. He also taught at the University of Southern California, California State University at Los Angeles, the Dick Grove School of Music, Cal Arts, University of New Hampshire, San Dimas High School and, and for Massachusetts Public Schools. He is the Director of the Jazz Orchestra for Youth, and teaches Jazz theory, composition, arranging, and Trumpet privately.
CHAMBER MUSIC
Bo Ericsson – Gothenbert Conservatory of Music & Swedish Radio School of Music. Principal cellist, Cape Symphony Orchestra; member, Cape Sinfonietta and Schultze-Ericsson Cello Duo.
Suzanne Spencer – B.A., Vassar College. Study, Mannes College of Music; member, Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, Bayberry Chamber Players, Moments Musicaux.
PRESCHOOL FACULTY
Karen Dirusso - Karen is our Early Childhood Music Instructor in Falmouth. She has taught both music and art classes for the past seven years to preschoolers throughout Cape Cod. She has designed and conducted workshops, directed and assisted a variety of summer camps and traveled to teach specialty classes at local area preschools. She currently enjoys playing guitar in a folk group, performing in a duet at a senior center and assisting with a children's choir and band. Her
pre-k accreditations are with Gymboree and Kindermusik. She is currently furthering her education at the N.E. Institute of Art.
Sally Egan - Masters Degree in Education from Antioch University New England. She has dual certification in Integrated Learning and Waldorf Education.
Anne Kullas - Anne holds a dual major in elementary education and psychology from Bridgewater State where she graduated cum laude.
Sheila Payne – B.A. Sociology, Bates College, has been an elementary school teacher, is an established batik artist, a teacher of children’s art, music, and folk dance, and is a creator of fairy tea parties. She established, and for many years operated a refectory for oceanographers in Woods Hole, she coordinated visitation services for Falmouth elderly, and has been the organizer and producer of many community festivities.
Christine Serani – B.S.Ed., Fitchburg State College; graduate studies, Wheelock College. Former Lead teacher, St. Tarcisius Preschool, Framingham; Director/Lead Teacher, Young Learner’s Center, Natick.
ART FACULTY
Beverley Edwards (abstract painting, monotype, silk screen) – Founder, Monotype Guild of New England; past Director, Museum School of the Fuller Museum, Brockton. University of Atlanta; Atlanta Art Institute; Emory University; works displayed in numerous museums, corporate and private collections across the country.
Sheila Payne – B.A. Sociology, Bates College, has been an elementary school teacher, is an established batik artist, a teacher of children’s art, music, and folk dance, and is a creator of fairy tea parties. She established, and for many years operated, a refectory for oceanographers in Woods Hole, she coordinated visitation services for Falmouth elderly, and has been the organizer and producer of many community festivities.
Susan Pennington – M.A. & B.A., University of Wisconsin.
Nancy Pettibone - B.A., Savannah College of Art and Design. Nancy Pettibone has been teaching art to children in the Cape Cod area for over a dozen years. A working artist as well as an art teacher, she graduated summa cum laude from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts in Painting. She received her Early Childhood Education Certificate from Cape Cod Community College and is also certified preschool lead teacher. She brings her enthusiasm for art to her classroom, creating a warm, positive and creative atmosphere for all young artists.
Dorene Sykes - B.A., Hunter College; M.B.A., Boston University; Commercial Photography Certificate, Germain School of Photography; Portraiture Certificate, New England School of Photography. Member of Professional Photographers Association of Massachusetts and Professional Photographers of Cape Cod. Dorene launched
Dorene Sykes Photography after settling in Falmouth in 2004. She specializes in portraits of families at places they love, such as beaches and private homes. Dorene also exhibits fine art photographs and teaches photography classes. Her photographs have won numerous awards in member and juried shows, including Best Color and First Place. Her online gallery is at www.dorenesykes.com.
DANCE FACULTY
Ellen Brodsky (ballroom dance) - B.A., Bridgewater State College; studies at Boston University. Teaching certification (high school English), Bridgewater State University. Courses at Falmouth Academy, Mary French Dance Studio and Falmouth Night School.
Jane E. Caputo (Ballet) - Ms. Caputo’s recently moved to the Cape (to be closer to family) from Maryland where she was founder, artistic director, principal dancer and choreographer of the St. Mary’s Ballet Company and School. The school flourished under Ms. Caputo’s inspired leadership, as demonstrated through rapid growth, grants from the NEA and consistent praise for her work, including many original ballets.
Ms. Caputo studied with Edward Villella and Mimi Paul (NYC Ballet), Victoria Shifflett (American Ballet Theater). Her teaching method is Vaganova-based with influences from the Royal Ballet School and the Cecchetti Method. Advanced students will benefit from her Balanchine Method.
She has understandable pride in the many accomplishments of her students. Among these are: a $25,000 scholarship to George Mason University, a full scholarship to Kirov Academy as well as the American Ballet Theater School and acceptance to the Joffrey Ballet’s pre-professional school and the Jackie Onassis school. Ms. Caputo will be offering classes in Ballet I through IV (en pointe) and private instruction.
Sheena Harper - Our Artistic Director for Dance in Falmouth, Sheena is a native of Cape Cod. She grew up dancing at the Cape Cod Conservatory under the direction of Irene Merrill. Ms. Harper is a graduate of the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts. She has also received scholarships for summer programs at Milwaukee Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Her teachers include Jose Mateo, Virginia Zango, Joan Simone, Katrina Killian, Melissa Hayden, Fanchon Cordell, and Frank Smith.
Sheena has danced with Atlanta Festival Ballet, where she performed soloist roles in Symphony in C, Beauty and the Beast and The Nutcracker. Also with Kentucky Ballet Theater, she performed The Nutcracker, Pas de Quatre, Phantom of the Opera and The Wizard of Oz. And with Spindle City Ballet in Fall River Ma where she performed The Nutcracker and a stepsister in Cinderella. This past year she performed the role of Beauty in Beauty and the Beast and The Nutcracker with Pioneer Valley Ballet in East Hampton Ma.
Sheena has also taught at different dance schools throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia. Receiving many awards and scholarships at dance competitions throughout the United States, for her performances and choreography. This will be Sheena's third year as the Director of Dance at the Cape Cod Conservatory in Falmouth.
Elena Griffin – Group and private studies in Egyptian Oriental dance technique, choreography and stage production with Aida Nour, Nourah and Yousry Sharif, and Ragia Hassan. Focus on American cabaret and Arabic style dance with Suzanna del Vecchio. Teaching in Sandwich Community School, Four Winds Solstice Center, Nauset Public Schools.
Jojo Sinerate - Joanne Sinerate received her degree in Theater and Education from Brandeis University in 1973. In 1976, she opened the Studio of Creative Movement while teaching Theater Arts in the Waltham Public Schools. Joanne also founded, directed, and choreographed Waltham’s first youth theater group through the Recreation Department. She worked for the Reagle Players of Waltham adult and youth theater programs; she also consults for school department productions and assists with their choreography.
Ms. Sinerate, “Ms. JoJo”, was the movement specialist at Carousel Pre-School in Waltham for 20 years. She conducts dance and choreography workshops for the Mass High School Drama Guild. She has choreographed and taught dance on the college and community theater level as well as in the business world. She has been teaching dance on Cape Cod since 2005, in various school and town programs, as well as at the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans and Studio 878 in Chatham.
