Youth Arts Center Dance Faculty______________________________________________

Deborah Brockus, Jazz and Modern Instructor: BFA in dance education and performance from the University of California at Irvine. She has been a television and movie performer and danced with numerous contemporary companies including Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Theater. She is on faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Academy, Huntington Academy and California Conservatory of the Arts. Ms. Brockus is the artistic director of the Brockus Project, a modern-jazz dance company. She is the producer for a concert series in Los Angeles called Spectrum. Her choreographies have been on national television and in films. She has been a guest teacher in France and Italy. This is her fourth season as a faculty member of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program.

Ron Brown, African and Modern Instructor
Andrew Acquista, Accompanist: BM in Education with a concentration in Percussion from CSU Humboldt and an MM in Performance with a concentration in Percussion from CSU Long Beach with extensive studies in percussion from community to university settings. He has studied all forms of percussion including conga drums, hand percussion, Brazilian percussion, Ghanian music, Djembe and Doun, drum set, vibraphone, steel drum, Mbira as well as orchestral percussion. He has studied with teachers such as Michael Spiro in Afro-Cuban music, Mark Lamson, a Brazilian music specialist, Randy Drake, Brad Dutz, C.K. Ladzeko, Lansana Kouyate, Eugene Novotney, Michael Carney, Ray Holmon, and Michael Cox. Recent performance include an appearance with the Neophonic Orchestra-Jazz Institiute, Santa Monica City College Folkloric Dance Showcase, his Master’s Recital, as well as performances with the salsa big band, Orchestra La Fiebre. He is lead drummer for the West African dance classes and accompanist for modern classes at Santa Monica City College, as well as lead drummer for West African Dance classes and accompanist for modern dance classes at CSULB.

Sean Greene, Modern and Choreography Instructor: Mr. Greene has choreographed for Kuala Lumpur Dance Theater, Laban Theatre in London, Village Theater, Irvin Barclay Theatre, Walman Theater, and Modular Theater. He has worked in various capacities for such groups as Transitions Dance Company in London, Laban Centre for Movement and Dance, Orange Coast College, Phoenix Dance Company, University of New Mexico, University of California, Irvine, and the California State Summer School for the Arts. He has instructedat the University of California, Irvine, University of New Mexico, Idyllwild Arts Academy, California State University Summer Arts Program, Loyola Marymount University and the California Institute of the Arts. He was a company member, principal dancer and master teacher for the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company. Currently he teaches for the California Conservatory of the Arts and is a lectures at Chapman University.

Carlos Jones, Jazz and Tap Instructor: (MT)has a body of work that extends from the concert stage to theatre to television and film. His eclectic background has brought him recognition as an international artist. Concert appearances include work with such companies as Loretta Livingston and Dancers, Bethune Theatredanse, Dance Kansas City Modern/Jazz CO., and his own Carlos Jones & Company. Among his theatrical credits are Some Like it Hot, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Working, Man of La Mancha, It’s A Pretty Good Life, and Sesame Street Live. As for film and television, he has landed on Howie Mandel, Cybill, the Nanny, recurred on the Drew Carey Show and can be seen in the films Dance With Me, I’ll Do Anything, and Uptown Girls. As a choreographer he is prolific and his concert works have been presented with Dance Spectrum Alaska, Adage Repertory Company, Bethune Theatredanse, and Link Dane Theatre to name a few. Theatrical choreographies include Saucy Jack and the Space Vixons, She Hysteric, a one woman show starring comedienne Ellen Cleghorn, West Side Story, City of Angeles, Babes in Arms, Godspell, Dames at Sea, and Once Upon a Mattress under the direction of Carol Burnett. In addition, he has created dance segments for a number of video and film productions including the award winning film short, Insurance Inc. As an educator he has served on the faculties of UCLA, UC Irvine, Chapman University, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, Loyola Marymount University, Dupree Dance Academy, Edge Performing Arts Center, Steps, Peridance and St. Cloud State University. He holds a BA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and an MFA from the University of California-Irvine.

Youth Arts Center Music Faculty______________________________________________

Robert Allen, trumpet: MM in Performance, University of Southern California, BA, California State University, Long Beach. Freelance musician in Los Angeles and Orange County. Mr. Allen currently teaches trumpet at Long Beach City College as well as having an extensive private studio in the Orange County area. Principal teachers include Roy Poper, George Graham and David Evans.

Allison Allport, harp: BM, MM from the University of Southern California, where she was recipient of a full tuition scholarship. She has received awards from the Pasadena Fine Arts Club, Sigma Alpha Iota, American Harp Society, Young Musicians Foundation and was the first place winner in the junior division of the American String Teacher’s Association National Solo Competition. Allison has performed with many orchestras including the Pasadena Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. Concerto appearances include the Colburn Chamber Orchestra, USC Thornton Chamber Orchestra, the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra and the Long Beach Bach Festival. In addition to orchestral work, she has given many recitals including a solo performance at the World Harp Congress in Prague. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctorate of Music Arts degree on full scholarship at USC while maintaining a busy freelancing career and a small private teaching studio.

Doug Ashcraft has performed throughout the United States and Europe in venues that include Carnegie Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Jacqueline Du Pre Hall at Oxford University in England. He has won prizes in many competitions including the Young Keyboard Artists Association, Music Teacher’s National Association, and the American pianists Association. He completed his masters and doctoral degrees at the University of Southern California working with pianist John Perry. He has participated in the Aspen Music School and the Holland Music Sessions in Alkmaar, Netherlands. He has been a member of the Idyllwild Arts Academy faculty since 1995.

Shalom Bard, clarinet. When Zubin Mehta invited him to play as an Acting Principal Clarinetist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Shalom Bard was already becoming a rising star in the music world.

He has clarinet performance degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Southern California. The two-time Chalmers Award Winner has collaborated with some of Canada’s leading ensembles and orchestras. He has played as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, and has performed in concert with the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Penderecki String Quartet, the Duke Trio, the Art of Time Ensemble and the Queen of Puddings Music Company, Canada’s leading contemporary opera music company.

Shalom Bard is a member of the Glenn Gould Professional School and the Community School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Fredric Beerstein, oboe: Former principal oboist of the Bakersfield Symphony and Chamber Orchestra. Performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, California Chamber Symphony, Pacific Symphony and the Texas Festival Orchestra at Round Top. Served as a Fellow to the Aspen Music Festival. Oboe instructor, Ventura College, Pierce College, Los Angeles, CA; member New West Symphony Orchestra, Ventura College; freelance musician in Los Angeles.

Richard Berent, accompanist: has an active career as pianist, musical director, and composer in the Los Angeles area. His original musicals have been produced at regional theaters throughout the United States, including his latest children’s musical, Goldilocks, which will soon be available on video. He is a staff accompanist at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where he helps train the next batch of Tony Award winners.

Dan Boulton, saxophone; Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from University of Northern Colorado and a Master of Arts Degree in Education with an emphasis in Instructional Technology from Chapman University. He currently serves as Director of Bands at Hemet High School in Hemet, California. Mr. Boulton served for eight years as Director of Bands at Dartmouth Middle School, also in Hemet. A native of California, he is an active member of SCSBOA. He is a performer, educator, clinician, and adjudicator in the Southern California area. Mr. Boulton has performed in venues across the country with stars including, Frank Mantooth, Denis DiBlasio, Maria Schneider, Tom Ranier, Lanny Morgan, Carl Saunders, Dave Leibman, Milt Hinton, Bobby McFerrin, Richard Carpenter, Lori Andrews, Rich Matteson, Louis Bellson, and Jamey Abersold. This is his second year playing bass clarinet in the Rancho Belago Wind Symphony in Moreno Valley, CA.

Amy Bowers , trombone: is a freelance musician in Southern California and performs with many of the top orchestras, including Pacific Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and is the second trombonist in the Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra. She currently teaches at the University of Southern California where she instructs chamber music and teaches trombone and euphonium. She has won many solo competitions including the Pasadena Solo Competition, Sigma Alpha Iota Solo Competition, USC Concerto Competition, YMF Debut Orchestra Concerto Competition, Pasadena Young Artist Solo Competition, and was the recipient of the Robert Marsteller Outstanding Brass Player Award from the Thornton School of Music. Miss Bowers received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California.

John Campbell, bassoon: Performed professionally for over 30 years. Principal bassoon with Calgary Philharmonic, 1969-1974. Currently free lance player in Southern California and principal bassoon with the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay, the Bakersfield Symphony, the West Los Angeles Symphony and the Burbank Chamber Orchestra. Formerly principal bassoon with Glendale Symphony under Carmen Dragon. Currently on the faculties of Chapman University, Pepperdine University, Cal State Universities, Los Angeles and Dominguez Hills, and Biola College.

Rose Corrigan, bassoon, is adjunct assistant professor, winds and percussion, at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. She is principal bassoon of the Pacific Symphony and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Pasadena Symphony, and is a former member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. She is an active recording artist for the television and motion picture industries, where she was recently featured with screen credit for her solo in the motion picture, March of the Penguins. She has a B.A. in bassoon performance from USC where she studied with Michael O’Donovan.

Thomas Cuffar, pianist, is active as a classical, jazz and gospel musician. Mr. Cuffari holds a bachelor of music degree from Chapman University in Orange, California and masters of music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He has been featured on WQXR's "Young Artists Showcase" with Bob Sherman, and has performed on the ”Dame Myra Hess Concert Series” broadcast live on WFMT in Chicago. Mr. Cuffari is President of International Concert Alliance, a non-for-profit organization that holds annual voice and piano competitions and provides musical experiences in many schools. He is currently on faculty at Concordia Conservatory in Bronxville, NY and serves as Associate Minister of Music and Pipe Organist at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, NY.

Brian Dehn, tenor coach: St. Simon and Jude Catholic Church, Orange County Catholic Chorale, Huntington Beach, CA.

Charles DeRamus, bass: The third generation bassist in his family, Charles is currently a member of Sweden’s national orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Previously he has served as principal bass of the Norrlands Operan (Sweden), been a member of the New World Symphony, and worked extensively with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His Studies include degrees from Indiana University, Rice University, and participation in numerous summer festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Pacific Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and National Orchestral Institute. Charles is currently a faculty member of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop, has served on the faculties of the All-State at Interlochen and University of Michigan Summer Arts Institute, and has given guest masterclasses in England at the Royal College of Music and the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Cameron Domingues, saxophone: BM in Performance from Cal State University Fullerton, MM in Performance from the University of Southern California, and is currently working on her Doctorate of Musical Arts from USC. She is a freelance performer and teacher in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. She has been playing woodwinds for over seventeen years specializing in saxophone and bassoon. Mrs. Domingues has performed with several groups such as the Fullerton Civic Light Opera, Cypress Pops Orchestra, Disneyland College Saxophone Quintet, and the Pacific Symphony Institute. Cameron is a member of the South Coast Saxophone Quartet who went to the Colman Competition finals in 2003. She is a faculty member at Mt. San Antonio College and teaches a large studio of private students ranging in ages from middle school to college.

Alan Durst, saxophone; has been an active performer and educator throughout the United States, Mexico, Central America, and Europe. His performances explore a diverse range of styles, and he has appeared in concert halls such as Panama City Anita Villalaz, Los Angeles Disney Hall, Los Angeles Ford Amphitheatre, Santa Barbara Arlington Theatre, Fresno Saroyan Theatre, and Cleveland Masonic Temple. He performs frequently with the Fresno Philharmonic and Santa Barbara Symphony. He is currently the cofounder/soprano saxophonist of the Panama International Saxophone Quartet which actively tours Central America. Durst currently serves on the faculty at California State University, Fresno where he is a Lecturer of Music (Saxophone) in addition to teaching woodwinds at the Korean Institute of Southern California. His formal studies include a D.M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an M.M. from the University of Miami School of Music, and a B.M. & B.M.E.Cum Laude graduate of the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music. He has been fortunate to have studied with world-class saxophonists Douglas Masek, Gary Keller, and Greg Banaszak as well as Arno Bornkamp, Ernie Krivda, and Angelo Fortini.

Lisa Edwards, piano studies in Piano Performance at North Texas State University, MM in Accompanying, University of Southern California. Currently she is music assistant and pianist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale. On recording, Lisa can be heard on You Are (Variations) by Steve Reich on Nonesuch. As organist, she serves at San Marino Community Church, Stephen S. Wise Temple and Congregation Kol Ami.Previous faculty positions have been held at California State Univerity, Long Beach and Glendale Community College.

David Evans, conductor: Graduate of San Diego State University, Music Performance Degree with Distinction; and California State University, Northridge, Masters Degree, Music Performance and elected member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society. Mr. Evans is a professor of music at California State University, Long Beach. He has studied conducting with Dr. Frederick Fennel and has been guest clinician for the Southern California School Band Association and guest conductor for several honor bands throughout Southern California. As a trumpet performer he has studied with James Stamp, Uan Rasey, Claude Gordon and Thomas Stevens.

Sam Fischer , violin: has performed as a soloist throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. A graduate of the University of Southern California and the Juilliard School, Mr. Fischer’s principal teachers include Robert Lipsett, Dorothy DeLay, and Masao Kawasaki. He has appeared as soloist with several orchestras in his native Los Angeles, as well as with the Aspen Young Artists Orchestra and the Charleston Symphony. As a freelance musician, he has performed with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and the Pacific Symphony. He has also played on major motion picture sound tracks for many of Hollywood’s top composers, including Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, and Hans Zimmer. He gives frequent chamber music performances as a member of the California String Quartet and has also performed at the Yellowbarn Chamber Music Festival and the Austin Chamber Music Festival. An avid teacher, Mr. Fischer is on the faculty of the Colburn School of Performing Arts.

Lee Gause, trombone: Served thirty years as trombonist and leader of the United States Navy Band “Commodores” jazz ensemble in Washington, D.C. He has performed extensively at the White House and for other protocol functions in the National Capitol Area. He has toured throughout the USA, Europe and South America and appeared at prestigious jazz festivals such as Newport, Detroit/Montreaux and national conventions including IAJE and The Midwest. As a freelance player, Gause has performed with many of the giants in the jazz entertainment business from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Natalie Cole and Henry Mancini to Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Mintzer, Christian McBride and Louie Bellson. Besides recordings with the Commodores he has appeared on projects with Bill Potts, Frank Mantooth, George Roumanis, Ashley Alexander and numerous recordings with the Washington Winds. He is an active musician and private teacher in the Washington area.

Richard Gianguilio, conductor: Music Director and Conductor of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, is now in his twenty-sixth season with the GDYO. Mr. Giangiulio holds music degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School of Music and the Paris Conservatory where he studied under Maurice Andre while on a Fulbright grant, and was awarded the first prize. In 1967, Mr. Giangiulio was a First Medal winner in the Geneva International Trumpet Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Knoxville Symphony, and at summer festivals in Ansbach, Germany; Lucerne, Switzerland; and Lieska, Finland. He served as Principal and Co-Principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony for thirty-two years. From 1977-1982 he was the assistant conductor for educational concerts with the Dallas Symphony, developing and conducting multi-age youth concerts and park concerts. Mr. Giangiulio is also the newly appointed Music Director of the Allen Philharmonic. He has been on the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program faculty since 1994. He has recorded over thirty solo and symphonic CDs.

Yehuda Gilad, clarinet: Educated in Israel and at the University of Southern California School of Music. Associate Professor of Music, USC, and Master Teacher, R.D. Colburn School of Performing Arts. Recipient of many awards including the Israel-America Cultural Foundation Scholarship and the Robert Simon Award in Music. Conductor of the Santa Monica Symphony, 1982-88. As a clarinetist, he has performed with the Marlboro Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, the San Francisco Chamber Music Festival and the Israel Philharmonic.

William Goldenberg, piano: MM, The Juilliard School of Music, Doctorate, Indiana University. Advanced studies include chamber music with Menahem Pressler, Gilbert Kalish, Felix Galamir and Josef Gingold. Over 500 concerts throughout the US as soloist and chamber musician including Tanglewood and Grand Teton Festivals, and Chicago’s Myra Hess Series. Has performed regular service as accompanist for studios of violinists Ivan Galamian and Josef Gingold, and cellist Raya Garbousova. Professor of Piano and director of the piano chamber music program at Northern Illinois University.

Joseph Gramley, multi-percussion. Extensive performance career as both a soloist and member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble; numerous appearances as concerto soloist; frequent orchestral work on Broadway and for Metropolitan Opera and City Opera in New York City, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of St. Lukes; two solo albums, American Deconstruction, Global Percussion, two best-selling albums with Yo-Yo Ma on Sony Classical and forthcoming duo album with organist Clive Driskill-Smith. Recognized as a “Heifetz of the marimba” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He enjoys a reputation as a dynamic teacher of workshops and master classes. Instructor at Queens College, New York City, and director of the Juilliard School’s Summer Percussion Seminar for young performers. Presidential Scholar in the Arts (1988) and recipient of the Albert A. Stanley Medal (Univ. of Michigan). Master of Music from the Juilliard School; Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan. Now serves on the Board of Governors of the University of Michigan School of Music Alumni.

Igor Gruppman, violin. Igor Gruppman enjoys a career as a violin soloist, conductor, concertmaster and chamber musician and has appeared in the great European capitals and in the major cities of North America, Israel, and New Zealand. Currantly the concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Artistic Leader and Conductor of the Concerto Rotterdam chamber orchestra and Principal conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square he has been a frequent guest with such orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic, and has worked with conductors Sir Georg Solti, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, and Bernard Haitink.

Critically acclaimed for the richness and beauty of tone, elegant phrasing, drive, passion and virtuosity, Igor Gruppman is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Leonid Kogan and Mstislav Rostropovich, followed by studies with Jascha Heifetz in Los Angeles and has collaborated with artists Sviatoslav Richter, Yuri Bashmet, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Jaime Laredo, and Lynn Harrell.

An accomplished recording artist, his work includes Sinfonia Concertante by Miklós Rózsa on Koch International Classics and Berlioz’s Reverie and Caprice on Naxos. He has also recorded the Rózsa Violin Concerto for Koch, which marked the first release of the concerto since the recording by Heifetz for whom this piece was written. In addition, Mr. Gruppman has led the principal members of the Academy of St. Martin-in the Fields in the world premiere recording of the original version of Brahms’s Quintet in F Minor.2007 marks the new DVD release of Tchaikowski and Rachmaninoff Piano Trios for VAI Intrnational as well as world wide broadcast of the Brahms Double Concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic conducted by Valery Gergiev..

He and his wife, Vesna Stefanovich Gruppman, a renowned violinist and violist in her own right, have been heralded for their recording of Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra, which won its producer a Grammy award in 1994.

In 2003 the Gruppmans founded the Gruppman International Violin Institute, created specifically to teach highly gifted violin students from all over the world using the latest videoconferencing technology.

Vesna Gruppman, violin. Her career started early as a six-time winner of Yugoslavia’s National Violin Competition, before going on to study at Moscow’s legendary Central Special Musical School and the Moscow Conservatory. Today, she is active as a violin and viola soloist, having appeared with the Prague Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Ukraine Philharmonic, Florida Philharmonic, and London’s Beethoven Philharmonic, and in recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall and St. John’s Smith Square, Kiev Philharmonic Hall and Mozart’s Bemtraka in Prague. As a chamber musician she has collaborated with the Tokyo String Fields, Pinchas Zucherman, Itzak Perlman, Jamie Laredo, and Lynn Harrell. Currently, Ms. Gruppman serves as professor of violin/viola at Brigham Young University.

Matt Harris, BA, University of Miami, masters degree from Eastman School of Music; based in Los Angeles; keyboardist, composer/arranger; previously toured with Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich; both leaders performed and recorded his charts, many of which are featured in the Kendor jazz catalog. Recording debut as a leader on Voss Records; most recently accepted an appointment as Director of Jazz Studies at California State University, Northridge.

Marshall Hawkins, bass: toured the United States with the Miles Davis Quintet, played two years with Roberta Flack and traveled with Shirley Horn. He formed the Marshall Hawkins Quintet in Washington D.C., and in California he joined Eddie Jefferson and Richie Cole’s Alto Madness. He has performed the Sonata for Strings and Piano at Howard University and cocomposer and recorded The Tanner Suite to accompany an art exhibit by Henry D. Tanner; has made numerous recordings with major artists and has performed internationally. He has been an instructor of electric bass, jazz piano and jazz improvisation at the Idyllwild Arts Academy.

Jeff Hellmer, piano: declared “the real virtuoso” of Great American Jazz Piano Competition after one of his two recent appearances as a finalist in the nation’s most prestigious jazz piano competition; musical collaborations include Eddie Daniels, Harvey Pittel and the Lettermen; faculty member, University of Texas, Austin; maintains an active performing schedule at jazz venues in Austin as well as performing and teaching throughout the United States and abroad; compositions are available through UNC Press and Walrus Music.

Frank Heuser, wind and brass coordinator: Symphony Orchestra: Assistant Professor of Music and head of Music Education, UCLA. Has taught at University of Oregon, East Los Angeles College, Cal State University, Los Angeles and Chapman University; researcher in motor control and brass physiology with publication in Medical Problems of Performing Artists and the Southeastern Journal of Music Education; member of the editorial board of the Journal of Music Teacher Education.

Andrew Honea, cello

David Hoover, horn: Has served on the faculties of California State University, Northridge, Glendale Community College, the Los Angeles City Schools, Los Angeles Pierce College, Moorpark College, and the University of Southern California, having also earned the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts at USC. For thirty years, he has appeared in the U.S. and Europe as a performer and conductor with numerous orchestras and ensembles, as a recitalist, on recordings and film soundtracks, and on radio broadcasts. Dr. Hoover is also a composer, arranger, and writer on music. He regularly performs his own compositions and has written a modern horn method. His articles on the horn and other musical topics have appeared in the Instrumentalist magazine and elsewhere, and he has authored various other publications such as a booklet for public school music teachers on how to develop a horn section. As a specialist in early horn performance, he has written A Modern Horn Player’s Introduction to the Natural Horn, as well as his own compositions for the ancient instrument.

Tom Hynes, guitar: BM, University of Southern California, MA, California State University, Los Angeles;currently on faculty of Fullerton College, Citrus College and Cal State, Los Angeles; professional credits include Bob Hope, Danny Ganz, Bobby Vinton, Pia Zadora, Les Hooper, Louie Bellson, Lanny Morgan, Les Brown, the Mills Brothers, and The Fifth Dimension; guest artist, clinician and adjudicator for numerous festivals in California and Arizona;directed the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association High School Honor Jazz Ensemble.

Shirley Irek, piano: was born in Croatia and was educated at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the California Institute of the Arts and the Juilliard School, where she received her Bachelors’ and Masters’ Degrees in performance. She was a student of Irwin Freundlich and Martin Canin, and studied accompanying with Samuel Sanders. Ms. Irek performed as a two-piano team member for over 15 years. During that time she toured Japan, Africa, France, Portugal and the United States. Highlighting these engagements were the performances of a two-piano concerto by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Michael Colgrass with the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. As a member of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, she performed two critically acclaimed recitals at Carnegie Hall. They have recorded two CD’s for MMC Records. She was also the first recipient of the Van Cliburn Award in memory of Rosina Lhevinne. She has taught piano for over 20 years. She served as professor of piano at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and as visiting professor of piano at the State University of New York in Buffalo. Ms. Irek is a sought-after accompanist in the southeast United States. In 2002 she accompanied the National Winner in the MTNA Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2004, she performed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #3 with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra and in March of 2005, performed the Piano Concerto by Werner Torkanowsky. In addition to several chamber music concerts in the 05-06 season, she has also performed a piano concerto by Martinu. She was the featured soloist in the Sinfonietta Giocosa with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra as the Atlanta Ballet performed a world premiere ballet set to music by British choreographer, Christopher Hampson. In February 2008, she performed with the Atlanta premiere of the Ernst Chaussen Concerto for Violin and Piano with the Atlanta Community Orchestra.

David Jackson, trombone: Professor of Trombone at the University of Michigan, is a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician who has performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra and the Spoleto, Italy Festival Orchestra. He is an advocate of new music and has commissioned and performed the premieres of eight works for trombone. His chamber music experience includes performances with the Canadian Brass, the American Brass Quintet, Nexus Percussion Ensemble and the Galliard Brass Ensemble. His summers are spent teaching and performing at the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Interlochen Arts Camp All-State Division.

Matt Johnson, drums; has an extensive list of credits that includes jazz recordings, radio and television commercials, numerous TV and film sound tracks and countless live appearances on national and international stages. Well known for his jazz stylings, Johnson is equally versed in all forms of pop drumming and has performed with a range of musical personalities from Andy Williams and the Smothers Brothers to the Jack Sheldon, Tom Kubis and Steve Allen Big Bands. Along with his busy performance schedule, he currently serves on the Commercial Music faculty at Fullerton College, as well as a member of the faculty for the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program Jazz Workshop where he teaches classes in drum set technique and the music business in general. He currently puts his years of performance experience to work as an in demand guest artist/clinician and adjudicator at high school and college jazz festivals. Johnson also acts as Master of Ceremonies for Forum Music Festivals. Johnson, a Louis Armstrong National Jazz Award recipient, began his professional music career as a Disneyland cast musician in 1978 and is currently an endorsee and clinician for Aquarian Accessories, Corp and Paiste cymbals. He is a member of the American Federation of Musicians, the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and the Percussive Arts Society.

Nancy Ambrose King, oboe: is the first-prize winner of the Third New York International Competition for Solo Oboists, held in 1995. She has appeared as soloist throughout the United States and abroad, including appearances with the St. Petersburg, Russia, Philharmonic, the Janacek Philharmonic in the Czech Republic, and the Festival Internacional de Musica Orchestra in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has recorded three CDs for Boston Records, the solo recordings Nancy Ambrose King: The Winning Program and Évocations; and a recording of flute and oboe music with flutist Amy Porter entitled Porter-Ambrose King. She has taught and performed in the Sarasota and Bowdoin Music Festivals, and has appeared as a recitalist throughout the world, including the American Academy of Music in Rome and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm. Currently Associate Professor of Oboe at the University of Michigan and First Vice-President of the International Double Reed Society, she was previously Associate Professor and University Scholar at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has also served on the music faculties of Indiana University, Ithaca College, University of Northern Colorado, and Duquesne University Schools of Music.

Sandra Kipp, flute: M.M. and B.M. in flute performance from California State University Northridge. Orchestra experience includes Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Glendale Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Long Beach Symphony and Moscow Ballet Orchestra. Director of Sterling and Strings Chamber Music ensemble and member of The Nuance Ensemble. Teaching experience includes current positions at Moorpark College, CSU Northridge, and Pepperdine University in addition to private studio instruction. Freelance recording studio artist.

Dariusz Korcz, viola: studied at the Academy of Music, Katowice, Poland; Principal/Solo viola with National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at Academy of Music, Katowice. Former Principal/Solo viola with Polish Chamber Philharmonic and Icelandic Symphony. First Prize winner, Rakowski Viola Competition, 1985. Has premiered compositions by Shostakovich, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Gorecki and Messiaen. Coaches and teaches for International Youth Orchestras in Germany and USA. Extensive solo & chamber music experience throughout the world including many recordings for European and American labels, most recently John Donald Robb’s Viola Concerto for Opus One. Maker of fine violins.

Connie Kupka, violin: has participated in many summer chamber music festivals, including those in Santa Fe, the Grand Canyon, the Bach Festival in Oregon, the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, and the Ojai Music Festival. She has served as principal violinist in the Pasadena Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Colorado Music Festival. She has appeared as a soloist with the South Bay Symphony and the Colorado Chamber Orchestra. Connie has been a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for ten seasons. She augments her Los Angeles orchestra activities with frequent chamber music performances, on such series as Pacific Serenades, the South Bay Chamber Music series, and Monday Evening Concerts. She is also active in the motion picture studio orchestras.

Desirée LaVertu, tenor coach, M.M. Choral Conducting/vocal Performance, University of Nevada, Reno. Director of Women’s Glee Club, California Institute of Technology. Soprano soloist and voice teacher; member of the professional female vocal quartet Diva Complex.

Doris Lederer, viola_. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Doris Lederer has performed with the Marlboro Music Festival and toured with Music From Marlboro. She has appeared as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Albuquerque Chamber Orchestra, among others.

Ms. Lederer has been honored to represent the United States as a jury member at the Eighth Banff International String Quartet Competition in Canada and to be a jury member of the Coleman Chamber Music Competition in California.

Currently an associate professor of viola and chamber music at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA, Ms. Lederer also serves on the faculties of the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine, the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program in Idyllwild, California, and the Chautauqua Institution in New York. She has also served on the faculties of The International Festival at Round Top, Texas and The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, as well as the annual Audubon Quartet's Intensive String Quartet Seminars. She has given viola and chamber music Master Classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, the Yale School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Kneisel Hall, the Chautauqua Institute, Idyllwild Arts, the Marrowstone Music Festival in Washington State and the Beijing and Shanghai Conservatories in China.

As a member of the Audubon Quartet since 1976, Ms. Lederer has performed extensively throughout the world and has recorded extensively on the RCA, Telarc, Centaur and Opus One labels.
Ms. Lederer's four solo CD albums, entitled An English Fantasy for Viola and Harp, Music of Arnold Bax and York Bowen, The Passion of Bliss, Bowen and Bridge and Music by York Bowen, which features the Bowen Viola Concerto have been released by Centaur Records.

Born in Istanbul to European parents, Ms. Lederer grew up in Seattle, Washington, where she began her study of the viola at age nine with Vilem Sokol. She studied with Georges Janzer at Indiana University and subsequently attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Michael Tree, Karen Tuttle, Felix Galimir and Mischa Schneider.

Scott Lee, viola: has established himself as one of the most exciting and unique violists in recent years. Winner of the 1996 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, he was the youngest finalist in the competition’s 50 year history. Scott has been a top prize winner in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the William Primrose Viola Competition, and the Corpus Christi (TX) Young Artists Competition. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the San Diego Symphony, Longmont Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In recital, he has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He has been a featured soloist at the International Hindemith Viola Fest and at the 22nd and 24th International Viola Congress. He is an extremely active chamber musician. Recent highlights of his chamber music concert schedule include performances at the Chamber Music Northwest, OK Mozart Festival, Newport Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Ravinia Festival, New York City’s Bargemusic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Musicians from Marlboro, Merkin Concert Hall, and Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Gardner Museum in Boston and the Metropolitan Museum, the Marlboro Festival and in numerous chamber music venues across the United States. He has also collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, and Miami String Quartets, and performed with members of the Beaux Arts and Mannes Piano Trios. His chamber music partners have included such renowned artists as Liang Lin, Richard Goode, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, Kyoko Takezawa, Paul Neubauer, Ani Kafavian, Fred Sherry, Felix Galimir, David Soyer, Peter Wiley, and Gary Hoffman. He is now Professor of Viola at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and a faculty member of the Idyllwild Chamber Music Festival in California.

Ken Lesight, trumpet: Chair, Music Department, Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, California; maintains performing schedule as the first-call freelance trumpet in Palm Springs and San Bernardino areas; jazz clinician, soloist and adjudicator; musical director of Redlands Theater Festival; member of San Bernardino and Riverside Civic Light Opera Orchestras; performed with Les Brown, Buddy Morrow, Les and Larry Elgart, Lee Castle, and Blood Sweat and Tears; on staff at Yellowstone Jazz Camp and Fullerton Jazz Camp.

Jane Levy, viola: A California native, Jane Levy studied chamber music with members of the Griller String Quartet at UC Berkeley and viola with Milton Thomas, Heichiro Ohyama, and David Schwartz in Los Angeles. She plays and teaches both violin and viola, coaches chamber music groups, and works as a free lance musician in the L.A. area. Jane is a member of the Pasadena Symphony and has performed often with the L.A. Opera, L.A. Master Chorale, and Long Beach Symphony. She has played in the Oregon Bach Festival and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival for many years. She especially enjoys performances of early music on period instruments and is a member of Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and performs with Seattle Baroque, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and the Corona del Mar Bach Festival.


James Linahon, trumpet: Music producer for Tot’l Entertainment (Hollywood), World Projects International (San Francisco), and LMP. An award winning music producer, composer and trumpet artist with more than 200 recording projects for film, television, radio, musical theater and CDs to his credit. He has an extensive background as performer and studio musician and has produced for a wide diversity of artists, studios, and agencies including Tony Bennet, Frank Sinatra, Arsenio Hall, Barry Manilow, Merv Griffin, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Henry Mancini, Sarah Vaughn, Beverly Sills, Warner Bros., Disney, Sony, ABC, NBC, World Projects International, Tot’l Entertainment, the United States Department of State and the United Nations. He serves as a United States Cultural Ambassador for the US State Department and has toured on behalf of the US throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Larry Livingston is a distinguished conductor, educator, and administrator, and a highly respected motivational speaker. The founding Music Director of the Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Livingston has appeared with the Houston Symphony and in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series. He has conducted at the Festival de Musique in Evian, France, and has led the Stockholm Wind Orchestra, as well as the Leopoldinum Chamber, Chopin Academy, and Wroclaw Academy Orchestras in Poland. He served as Music Director of the Pan Pacific Festival Orchestras in Sydney, participated as a performer and clinician at the International Jazz Festival in Rome, and conducted an electro-acoustic ensemble in concerts in Tokyo under the auspices of Yamaha International. Mr. Livingston has led the American Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra, the USC Thornton Chamber and Symphony Orchestras in Los Angeles and the USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble in Berlin. In 2001, he served on the jury for the renowned Besancon International Conducting Competition in Besancon, France.

Mr. Livingston has performed with soloists Keiko Abe, Ran Blake, Shelly Berg, John Barrows, Maureen Forrester, Adolph Herseth, Lawrence Lesser, Yehudi Menuhin, Robert Merrill, Itzhak Perlman, Donald Sinta, and John Walz, and has premiered and/or recorded works by Jan Bach, Paul Cooper, Mario Davidovsky, Robert Erickson, Ernst Krenek, Edwin London, Pauline Oliveros, Russell Peck, Roger Reynolds, and Yuji Takahashi. He frequently appears with professional, festival, collegiate, and all-state wind ensembles, bands and orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. From 1983 to 2002, he served as a conductor in the University of Michigan All-State Program at Interlochen, and has been the Conductor of the Festival Orchestra at Idyllwild Arts since 1989.

From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Livingston regularly toured Germany and Slovakia with the Internationale Junge Orchesterakademie. The performances and subsequent recordings were “the most successful in this organization’s history,” according to its director. In the last decade, he has conducted extensively in Eastern Europe, and particularly throughout Poland, leading orchestras in Warsaw, Wroclaw, Jelenia Gora, Bialystok, and Olsztyn, attracting consistent critical acclaim. Reviews described “long, unending applause, enthusiastic cheers, like at a rock concert, standing ovation.”

During the 2004-2005, Mr. Livingston toured with the famed Landes Jugend Orchester, served as clinician and guest conductor at the College Band Directors National Conference in Alice Tully Hall, led the New Mexico All-State Orchestra, and the USC Thornton School Symphony. In the 2005-2006 season, he appeared with the George Enescu Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania, the Katowice Academy Orchestra in Poland, the Oregon All State Orchestra, and served as clinician for the University of Northern Colorado Conducting Symposium. In addition, he conducted the Thornton Symphony Orchestra with guest soloist, Itzhak Perlman, and the Thornton Chamber Orchestra. In 2006-07, Mr. Livingston will conduct Texas All-State Band, the All-State Orchestras of Colorado and Arizona, the National Bands of America Honor Orchestra the Thornton Chamber Orchestra and the Thornton Symphony Orchestra with guest soloist, Nadja Salerno-Sonnernberg.

Holding Baccalaureate and Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, Mr. Livingston completed Ph.D. coursework in theoretical studies at the University of California, San Diego. He studied conducting and interpretation with Laurence Livingston, Elizabeth Green, William Revelli, Keith Humble, Rafael Druian, and Herbert Zipper. In 1988 he received the Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Michigan School of Music. From 1977 to 1982, Mr. Livingston served as Vice President and Music Director of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he was also Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra and Contemporary Music Ensemble. Subsequently, he became Dean of the Shepherd School of Music and Elma Schneider Professor of Music (Conducting) at Rice University in Houston. From 1986 until 2002, Mr. Livingston served as Dean of the USC Flora L. Thornton School of Music, where he is Chair of the Conducting Department, and Music Director of Thornton School Orchestras. As a motivational speaker, he has established a national reputation for inspiring presentations to corporate and business leaders across the United States. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Guitar Center, the world’s largest retail music store chain. Riverfront.


Rob Lockhart, saxophone: Lanny Morgan, alto saxophone: As a leader of his own group and a solo performer, he has been on the scene here and abroad since 1969, playing every major jazz club and festival that exists and has been a guest soloist/clinician at colleges and universities in nearly every state of the union. He has performed in bands led by Charlie Barnet, Tommy Alexander, Sal Salvador, Howard McGhee, Bill Berry, Bob Florence, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Terry Gibbs and Frank Capp. He is a 31-year member of the Grammy-winning Supersax. The most recent Morgan-led recording is an all-Charlie Parker project for Fresh Sound Records, A Suite for Yardbird—Lanny Morgan interprets the compositions of Charlie Parker. Also among a vast discography of recordings with other groups and individual artists over the years, are two disks recorded in 2001 with trumpeter Carl Saunders for Woofy Productions: Be Bop Big Band and The Carl Saunders-Lanny Morgan Quintet. He has been involved with television specials and a number of variety series as well as movie soundtracks.

Julie Long, lute: BM, Cleveland Institute of Music; MM, DMA, University of Southern California. Freelance flutist in the Los Angeles area. She has performed with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Music Center Opera Orchestra, Ojai Festival Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony and others. Recently appointed second flute, Riverside County Philharmonic Orchestra. Former principal flute, American Youth Symphony and Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra; finalist in the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition in 2000 and 2002. Active in the recording studios. Juliie is a member of new music group Ensemble Green; also plays wooden Renaissance and Baroque flutes.

Louise MacGillivray, horn: MA in Music Performance, CSU Northridge. She is a freelance musician in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Currently on the music faculty at CA Lutheran University she also has an extensive private teaching studio and is a clinician/adjudicator/consultant for many local schools and youth symphonies. Her primary interest is in performing and coaching chamber music.

Lori Marie Rios, soprano coach: La Canada High School, La Cañada, CA.

Patricia Massey, clarinet: Northwestern University. Her principal teachers have included Clark Brody, Robert Marcellus and Mitchell Lurie. She has performed with the Charleston, Honolulu and Minnesota Orchestras. Currently, she works as a free-lance musician and teacher in Los Angeles.

Nelms McKelvain is one of the Academy’s primary piano instructors. His students have won major competitions, including the Joanna Hodges Piano Competition and the Los Angeles Liszt Competition. They continue their studies at the finest colleges and conservatories in the country. He performs at the Academy with music faculty, students and guests. McKelvain received his Bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and his Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, studying with internationally noted artist and teacher John Perry. His doctoral study was also with John Perry at the University of Southern California.

Peter Middleton, flute: Professor of Music, Northern Illinois University where he teaches flute, recording techniques and acoustics. He has a patent on an electronic tuning device and has compiled an extensive flute discography.


Esther Minwary, viola: received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of Southern California where she studied with Ralph Fielding, Pamela Goldsmith, and Donald McInnes. She was a member of the American Youth Symphony under the baton of Mehli Mehta and Alexander Treger. Mrs. Minwary has been a participant at the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival (Maine) and the Rome Festival Orchestra (Italy). She is currently completing her Masters degree in Viola Performance at California State University, Long Beach. She enjoys performing chamber music and has performed new works internationally. Mrs. Minwary has performed under the direction of Zubin Mehta and Esa-Pekka Salonen in venues such as the Music Center and Walt Disney Hall. Her teaching career includes coaching viola sectionals and chamber music at the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles High School for the Arts. She currently teaches viola and violin privately and is the orchestra director at Jefferson Middle School in San Gabriel. She has been the viola faculty at the Idyllwild Summer Arts Program since 2003.

Joseph Modica, bass coach: Chapman Univeristy.
Olga Perez has a background in vocal performance, music education and theater performance. She began performing in New Orleans as a child in musical theater and went on to pursue music professionally. Her move to Arizona led her to the Arizona Opera where her career has begun to emerge. Ms. Perez received California State University LA’s Roger Wagner music award in the summer of 2003. She also won second place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing in 1997.

Lanny Morgan, alto saxophone: As a leader of his own group and a solo performer, he has been on the scene here and abroad since 1969, playing every major jazz club and festival that exists and has been a guest soloist/clinician at colleges and universities in nearly every state of the union. He has performed in bands led by Charlie Barnet, Tommy Alexander, Sal Salvador, Howard McGhee, Bill Berry, Bob Florence, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Terry Gibbs and Frank Capp. He is a 31-year member of the Grammy-winning Supersax. The most recent Morgan-led recording is an all-Charlie Parker project for Fresh Sound Records, A Suite for Yardbird—Lanny Morgan interprets the compositions of Charlie Parker. Also among a vast discography of recordings with other groups and individual artists over the years, are two disks recorded in 2001 with trumpeter Carl Saunders for Woofy Productions: Be Bop Big Band and The Carl Saunders-Lanny Morgan Quintet. He has been involved with television specials and a number of variety series as well as movie soundtracks.

Cynthia Moussas, violin: BM, Julliard. Member of the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Long Beach Symphony. Performances with the Green Umbrella Series, Ojai Festival. Active in the recording studios and as a private teacher in Southern California. She has been a coach with the Idyllwild Symphony Orchestra for 16 years.

Kenneth Munday, bassoon: appointed Principal Bassoonist of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 1979 by Sir Neville Mariner, has performed chamber music throughout North America. He has been a participant of the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Bach Akademie Stuttgart, and the Oregon Bach Festival. He has performed as Principal Bassoonist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as the Joffrey and American Ballet Theatre Orchestras. Munday has recorded extensively with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and as soloist on R. Strauss’ Duet Concertino. He has recorded the chamber music of Mozart and Beethoven with the LACO Winds. In 2003 Munday recorded Luciano Berio’s Sequenza XII for solo bassoon on Naxos. A recording musician for films and television, Munday has performed on hundreds of scores by composers John Williams, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, Randy Newman, John Debney, and many others. Munday has performed extensively on period instruments and has performed as principal bassoonist with Trinity Consort, Santa Fe Pro Musica, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Musica Angelica.

Linda Muggeridge, costumer: has been involved with the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program’s Musical Theatre classes since the beginning, and has served as costumer for schools such as Palos Verdes High School, Miraleste Intermediate and St. John Fisher School. An accomplished musician, she has been orchestra contractor and instrumentalist (oboe) for musicals and has been costuming the Song and Dance concerts since 1997. A multi-talented artist, she also accompanies for voice classes.

Roger Myers, viola: enjoys an impressive record of performing and teaching both here and abroad and has traveled widely presenting critically acclaimed concerts and master classes in countries on three continents including Austria, Norway, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico as well as the USA. At the University of Texas at Austin he is Professor and Head of the String Division and was the recipient in 2007 of the School of Music Teaching Excellence Award. He has been associated with some of the nation’s most prestigious summer festivals including the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Maine and the International Festival Institute at Round Top, Texas. In June of 1997 he served as the youngest ever Artistic Director and Host Chairman of the XXV Silver Anniversary Viola congress. He continues to serve on the faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Music Program in California and has taught at the International School for Musical Arts in Canada. He regularly performs at the Festival de Musique on the French West Indian island of St. Barts and is an artist at the Sunflower Festival in Topeka Kansas and the Buzzards Bay Musicfest in Marion Massachusetts. He was born in Sydney, Australia where he played with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra while still a student. He has lived in the United States since 1987 when his Sydney Conservatorium String Quartet was invited to become the international quartet in residence at Michigan State University. Later he studied on scholarships with Donald McInnes at the University of Southern California and on completion of his Masters degree the string faculty named him its most outstanding graduate of the year. Roger Myers has given chamber music performances with such artists as Lynn Harrell, Jean Barr, Martin Canin, Steve Doane, Sidney Harth, Yehonatan Berick, Norman Fischer, Jorja Fleezanis, Ronald Leonard, Martin Lovett, Donald McInnes, Kurt Nikkanen, James Parker, Tsuoshi Tsutsumi, Zvi Zeitlin, the Cavani and Miro String Quartets and the Dorian Wind Quintet. He has performed with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as principal violist with the Santa Fe Pro Musica and had the honor of being asked to play with the New West Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles as principal viola on tour with Andrea Bocelli. Chamber performances include concerts with the Camerata Pacifica chamber music organization in California and at the Niagara International Chamber Music Festival in Canada. In 2004 Roger had the honor of performing as a featured soloist on the 100th birthday tribute concert to the great violist William Primrose at the XXXII International Viola Congress in Minneapolis and in 2005 enjoyed a successful Carnegie Hall debut with the newly formed Texas Piano Quartet. His students have achieved success as symphony musicians and teachers in major institutions and his graduates are regularly found at the most prestigious conservatories, universities and summer festivals.

Edith Orloff, piano: has performed extensively to great acclaim throughout the U.S. and in Europe. She has concertized with equal success as recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestra. Currently the concert coordinator of the Summer Chamber Music Program at Idyllwild Arts, where she has served on the faculty since 1976. In 1980 she became a member of the Los Angeles based Pacific Trio, which serves as trio-in-residence for Idyllwild Arts and annually tours the U.S. and Europe. She has performed frequently as guest artist with the Shepherd School and the Houston Symphony Chamber Players. For many years, she was a regular guest artist with the Ensemble Con Brio of Bruchsal, Germany. Ms. Orloff obtained a Masters Degree from CALARTS where she studied with Earle Voorhies and Cesare Pascarella and has also worked with Jerome Lowenthal, Reginald Stewart and Rosina Lhevinne. Recently, she has appeared as guest pianist with Camerata Pacifica of Southern California, with the Rainier Quartet in Seattle, and also helped to successfully launch the ongoing Santa Barbara Chamber Music Festival, a series featuring works by American composers. The 04-05 season saw the release of a new CD, recorded with her husband, David Peck, featuring modern American works for clarinet and piano; and a European tour with the Pacific Trio, and in Spring 06, tours of the US and Europe with cellist John Walz. She has recorded on the Brio Classic and Resort Classics labels. Ms. Orloff is a regular guest artist at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, and has also appeared with La Jolla Summerfest, Ventura Chamber Music Festival and the Grand Tetons Music Festival. She has taught privately and given masterclasses for over thirty years.

Andrew Park was born in Korea and raised in a musical family. He gave his first public performance at the age of five and won numerous major competitions in Korea, such as the Korea Times Competition and Jeon-Buk State Music and the Arts Competition. In 1993, Andrew won first prize in the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition in Palm Desert, California. It has been fourteen years since he started studying in the United States with Nelms McKelvain, Antoinette Perry, and John Perry. Mr. Park has participated and performed in the Boston University Summer Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. He is actively performing as a solo musician and a chamber musician nationally and internationally. Andrew resides in the Los Angeles area and his students have won prizes at numerous competitions throughout the country. He is a chairperson of MTNA Annual Evaluation and a judge of SYMF and MTAC competitions. Mr. Park has taught piano at the Idyllwild Arts Academy for two years and he is currently a lecturer at USC Thornton School of Music. He completed his entire bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees at University of Southern California with pianist, John Perry. He also teaches at USC and LACC as a part time piano faculty member.

David Peck, clarinet: principal clarinetist of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and formerly principal clarinetist of the San Diego Symphony. Along with thirty years as an orchestra principal, Mr. Peck’s other musical endeavors include a variety of chamber music and solo activities. A number of recordings with the Houston Symphony Chamber Players as well as a new album of contemporary works with his wife, pianist Edith Orloff, make up a varied discography. Mr. Peck has had a long association with the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival as well as summer appearances with the Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Summerfest and Idyllwild Arts Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Peck has taught clarinet at the University of Houston and at Rice University Shepherd School for many years. In May ‘05, he was featured as soloist with the Houston Symphony in the premier of the Clarinet Concerto by Richard Lavenda, a piece specially commissioned for Mr. Peck and Maestro Hans Graf by the symphony.

Olga Perez has a background in vocal performance, music education and theater performance. She began performing in New Orleans as a child in musical theater and went on to pursue music professionally. Her move to Arizona led her to the Arizona Opera where her career has begun to emerge. Ms. Perez received California State University LA’s Roger Wagner music award in the summer of 2003. She also won second place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing in 1997.

Stephen P. Piazza, conductor: Stephen Piazza,conductor: Since he first performed as a clarinetist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1978, Stephen Piazza has appeared with some of the music world’s most highly-acclaimed artists in hundreds of performances in the Los Angeles Music Center, Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. He’s also appeared in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Paris’s Theatre du Chatelet, Mexico City’s Palacio des Belles Artes and Birmingham’s (UK) Sir Adrian Boult Hall. In August 2004 he conducted the Idyllwild Festival Wind Ensemble in the first wind band performance in Disney Hall. As a member of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, he continues to perform with the current array of internationally recognized conductors and singers, and his studio and commercial work includes numerous motion pictures as well as CD recordings with Barbara Streisand and Josh Groban.

In 1983, Professor Piazza was chair of the Pierce College music department when he reorganized the college’s wind band program. As director of the newly-formed Los Angeles Pierce Symphonic Winds, he began to build a community-based ensemble that would eventually perform throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, France, Austria and the United Kingdom. In June of 2004, the L.A. Winds were the featured American performers at the Festivale des Anchez in France’s magnificent Cote d’azur. In December 2004, the Winds performed at the famed Midwest Band and Orchestra clinic in Chicago. Last year they were one of the featured performers at the annual California Band Director’s conference and in July, 2007 they will be one of two American bands representing the United States at the Mid Europe Band and Orchestra Festival in Austria. Since 1975, Mr. Piazza has been an integral part of the Idyllwild musical community. As director of the Festival Winds for 20 years, he’s helped Idyllwild Arts become one of America’s leading summer music programs and a model for Arts programs around the world.

Thomas Porwol, Festival Manager, was born in Rybnik, Poland, and has lived in Germany since 1988. He completed his violin studies with Valery Klimov and Liviu Casleanu. His violin and chamber music education led him to Eduard Brunner, Thomas Kakuska (Alban-Berg-Quartet), and the Kronos Quartet. As a soloist and founder of the Milan Ensemble he performs regularly at festivals such as the Ludwig van Bethoven Festival Glogau, Scarampella Festival Brescia, and Music of the XX & XXI century. The Milan Ensemble has recorded for German, Italian and Polish radio and television and is known for its unconventional repertoire and performances. An important part of his activities is his work with his sister, pianist Alexandra Porwol. As a duo, they have won prizes in international competitions in Europe. Since 2000, he has been the director of the Easter Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, and is responsible for the organization of several important cultural projects from Classic to Jazz in Europe.

Joel D. Pressman, Director: With degrees in Voice and Conducting from the University of Southern California, Mr. Pressman has an extensive background in performing, directing and teaching musical theatre. A member of the Broadway cast of Lerner & Loewe’s Gigi, he has also performed with the Los Angeles and San Francisco Civic Light Opera companies, with Valley Opera, Opera a Ia Carte, as conductor/singer of the Disneyland Carolers, and as singer in such diverse situations as Barbra Streisand’s Higher Ground CD, the Ojai Festival and opera for children at the Hollywood Bowl. After 33 years teaching musical theatre and vocal music at Beverly Hills High School and 24 seasons producing musical theatre at Idyllwild Arts, Mr. Pressman is also in demand as soloist and clinician. His students have appeared in the Broadway or National companies of shows such as Light in the Piazza, Wicked, High School Musical, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Ragtime, Cabaret, Aida, City of Angela, Assasins, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cats, A Chorus Line, and 42nd Street.

Aviva Pressman, teaching assistant: has studied musical theatre at Syracuse University and Acting at Oklahoma City University. She returns for her 4th year on staff, coaching Acting and Musical Theatre Repertoire. Her many roles range from serious drama to light opera to musical theatre.

Elijah Pressman, teaching assistant in dance

Wendy Knudsen Pylko, vocal coach: MM in Vocal Arts, University of Southern California. Currently a teacher/artist for Los Angeles Opera’s education department and Cerritos Center for Performing Arts. Assistant Music Director of Los Angeles Opera’s annual Opera Camp. Chorus Master for Los Angeles Opera’s production of The Prospector, an in-school opera production, and Brundibar, a production of Los Angeles Opera Camp. Director of Vocal Music at Flintridge Preparatory School for four years. She has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Minnesota Opera Institute and toured with Orange County Opera for two years. Performances with the Nevada Opera Theater and USC Opera. Other training includes the Music Academy of the West and a bachelors degree from the Evergreen State College. Solo recordings for Los Angeles Chamber Singers and voice-overs for two episodes of Animaniacs, as well as a solo in Steven Spielberg’s documentary The Last Days. She also performs as a Soprano soloist in concerts and recitals in Southern California.

Dan Radlauer, percussion: Mark Raphael, trumpet: performed and recorded with various musicians including Wayne Newton, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Jack Jones, the Temptations, Louie Bellson, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and many others. He has headlined at Jazz Works and El Chapultapec in Denver as well as participating in Jazz Festivals including Detroit, Fullerton, Disneyland, Mile High and Greeley to name a few. He was jazz trumpet soloist and vocalist with teh USAF Academy Falconaires for eightenn years.

Mark Raphael, trumpet: performed and recorded with various musicians including Wayne Newton, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Jack Jones, the Temptations, Louie Bellson, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and many others. He has headlined at Jazz Works and El Chapultapec in Denver as well as participating in Jazz Festivals including Detroit, Fullerton, Disneyland, Mile High and Greeley to name a few. He was jazz trumpet soloist and vocalist with teh USAF Academy Falconaires for eightenn years.

Charlie Richard, saxophone: BA, MA, California State University, Los Angeles. He is an associate professor at Riverside Community College where he directs Jazz Ensemble I and the MIDI Workstation. He studied saxophone at the University of Texas, Austin with Henry Pittel and jazz composition/arranging with Rick Lawn. His compositions and arrangements can be heard on a recent SEA Breeze release, The Hawk’s Out, by the Hawk-Richard Jazz Orchestra. He is also a founding member of the Orion Saxophone Quartet and can be heard on their recent release from Centaur Records. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Lou Rawles, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Doris Day, the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, and Hip Pocket, to name a few.

Lori Marie Rios, soprano coach: La Canada High School, La Canada, CA.

Bart Samolis, bass: A successful session and touring artist, he has performed and recorded with various jazz and contemporary music acts including Free Flight, Lori Andrews, Jon Secada, The Fifth Dimension, Michael Bolton, Rod Stewart and the All-American Rejects. Playing fretted, fretless, upright and orchestra basses, he can be seen and heard world-wide, in all media as well as live performances. In the studio, his trailer and movie credits are many, including Superman Returns, The Fantastic Four, Hide and Seek, Gothica, X-Men 2, Ocean’s Eleven, Driving in Cars with Boys, Enough, Under Cover Brother, Swingers and Windtalkers. Bart has also recorded many TV themes and cues including Injustice, Battlestar Galatica, Party of Five, Dawson’s Creek, The Practice, Just Shoot Me, The King of Queens and Murder She Wrote. His commercials include Albertson’s. Jenny Craig, Verizon, Nissan, Infinity, Mazda, ABC and many others. The festivals in which he has performed include the Playboy Jazz Festival, the Long Beach Jazz Festival, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, the Idyllwild Jazz Festival, the Sacramento Jazz Festival, Northwest College, Fullerton, Cal State LA, Riverside College and many others. For the past ten years, he has been musical director for the Academy Awards Sci-Tech division. He also enjoys working with young musicians as he has been on the faculty at Cal-State Los Angeles, The Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, as well as currently working in conjuction with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Educational Program developing high school orchestras and jazz bands. Bart’s forte however, is constantly searching for a new approach to his instrument. A well rounded composer and bassist, he has also played with his local symphony. He has developed a unique voice in the music world today. This is clearly evident in his recordings and becomes even more dynamic in his live performances.

Maria Schleuning, violin: joined the Dallas Symphony in 1994 and has been a featured soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions. Other solo appearances include performances with the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Long Bay Symphony (SC), Columbia Symphony (OR), and as alumni soloist for the 75th Anniversary of the Portland Youth Philharmonic (OR). In 2004 she performed the Barber Violin Concerto with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra on a tour of Eastern Europe, which included concerts at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and the Rudolfinum in Prague. As a chamber musician, Ms. Schleuning has performed at Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Summergarden Series at the Museum of Modern Art (NY), Merkin Hall (NY), and concerts with Villa Musica in Germany. In Dallas, she is a member of the Grammy-nominated Voices of Change and the Walden Piano Quartet, and has recorded with both ensembles—the most recent being an all-Brahms recording with the Walden. Since 1993 she has been a faculty member and performer at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, and has also performed at Music in the Mountains (CO), Idyllwild Arts (CA), and the Skaneateles Festival NY). She studied violin with Josef Gingold at Indiana University where she was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate; with Yfrah Neaman in London as a recipient of the Dame Myra Hess Foundation Trust; and with Joel Smirnoff at the Juilliard School where she received her Master’s degree.

Bill Schlitt, On the percussion faculty at Azusa Pacific University, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Concordia University, Irvine, University of Redlands, Vanguard University, and Idyllwild Arts Academy. Currently he performs as timpanist with the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, and as an extra with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed under such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Robert Shaw, Christoph Eschenbach, and Esa-Pekka Salomen and premiered a work by composer John Cage. Formerly principal percussionist with Music Theater of Southern California.He is an accomplished percussion educator, clinician, and author. Performance experience includes: recording artist on various motion picture and television films, numerous audio recordings, and freelance percussionist in various ensembles throughout Southern California.

Robin Sharp percussion: is an active freelance musician and composer in the Los Angeles area. As a youth, Mr. Sharp studied both classical and world percussion at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, winning competitions there and performing as guest soloist with the San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra. He attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, where he studied with Tom Gauger and Arthur Press of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Sharp has worked with conductors Esa Pekka Solemen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mehli Mehta, James Conlon, George Mester and has played in the Juilliard Orchestra, New York Youth, American Youth Symphony, Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Riverside Philharmonic. In 1998 he won the California State University Northridge Concerto Competition where he received his Bachelors of Music in 1999. Mr. Sharp received his Masters of Music from the University of Southern California in 2001, and is currently on faculty at the Pasadena City College where he teaches applied percussion.

Clyde Thomas Shaw, cello, was a founding member of the Audubon String Quartet and has served as its cellist since 1974. During the last three decades, he has made approximately 2000 appearances worldwide as the cellist of the Audubon Quartet and has recorded for the RCA, Telarc, Centaur, CRI and Opus One recording companies. His appearances include featured performances on CBS Sunday Morning, Recitals at Alice Tully, Avery Fischer, Carnegie and Town Halls in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Curtis Hall in Philadelphia, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles, Wigmore Hall in London, Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Red Tower Theater in Beijing, Bavarian Radio in Munich, Swiss TV in Geneva, Tel Aviv Museum in Israel, several tours abroad for the United States Department of State, and performance at the White House. In addition to his performance duties with the Audubon Quartet, Mr. Shaw teaches cello and chamber music at Shenandoah Conservatory, in Winchester, Virginia.

David Speltz, cello: MA in Mathematics, University of California. Founding member of the Arriaga Quartet, winners of the Coleman Competition, and former member of the Gregor Piatigorsky Master Class at USC. As a member of the ensemble, Musical Offering, he performed at the Library of Congress, Lincoln Center and throughout the USA and Canada. He participates regularly in several Los Angeles chamber music series including Pacific Serenades, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Bing Concerts, the South Bay Chamber Music Society and the IMA concerts.

Dan St. Marseille, tenor saxophone: performance and recording credits include Poncho Sanchez, Cab Calloway, Gary Foster, Richie Cole, George Burns, Corte Candoli and live radio broadcasts and jazz venues throughout the country. Performed locally, nationally and internationally in Paris and Versailles; concert credits include the Orange County Art and Jazz Festival, Idyllwild Jazz Festival, Jazz Night at the Four Queens in Las Vegas, Santa Ana Heritage and Jazz Festival, California Music Series at the California State Fair and the Dana Point Jazz Festival.

Scott Sutherland, tuba: is a native of Los Angeles and primary music arranger for the Presidio Brass, a national touring brass quintet based in San Diego. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from USC and a Master of Music degree from UCLA. As a soloist, Scott has been featured with the San Diego Symphony, Riverside and Burbank Philharmonic Orchestras and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Opera, and the New West and Long Beach Symphonies. He is currently on faculty at Palomar College.

James Thatcher, horn: began his professional career at the age of 16 when he played and studied in Mexico City with his uncle, Gerald Thatcher, former principal hornist with the National Symphony of Mexico. Mr. Thatcher has been a member of the Phoenix Symphony, the Utah Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Today, he is principal horn of the Pasadena Symphony and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera but principally he is a studio player, a recipient of the Most Valuable Player Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. Jim has the enviable position of being the favored first horn of multiple Oscar winning composer John Williams performing in such films as Always, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Sleepers, Nixon, Schindler’s List, JFK, Sabrina, Home Alone I and II, Rosewood, Seven Years in Tibet and The Patriot as well as the fanfare for the 1992 Olympics. Mr. Thatcher has recently recorded his first solo album, Now Playing of which reviewer Chris Huning wrote in the Horn Magazine that “Thatcher shows his supreme mastery of the instrument.” Released on the Summit label, this 17 track CD includes Jim’s own transcription of Bach’s Partita No. 1, Five Duets by Brahms Walter Mays’ Dialogues for Horn and Piano and Four Etudes by Verne Reynolds.

Louise Thomas, D.M.A.,is director of the Collaborative Arts program at Chapman University. Her responsibilities include coaching vocalists and instrumentalists as well as playing for the nationally-acclaimed Chapman University Choir and Singers and coaching within the opera program.

Florence Titmus, violin: MFA, California Institute of Fine Arts. Currently a member of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Pasadena Symphony and the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestras as well as many other local groups. She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and the former Soviet Union. She also participates in the Oregon Bach festival, the All Saints Chamber Music in the Chapel Series, and has recorded with Delos, Hanssler, Newport Classics, and RCM.

Doug Tornquist, tuba: Bachelor’s degree from USC; Master’s degree from Wichita State University; Doctorate from USC. He teaches at CSU Northridge, CSU Fullerton, Pasadena City College and the University of Southern California. A freelance player in Southern California and plays regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Hollywood Bowl, Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival and others. He also records for the film and television industry. During the summer of 1997, Dr. Tornquist was a prizewinner in the International Tuba Solo Competition in Riva del Garda, Italy.

Jeff Tower; Chairman: BA in Music Education, University of Northern Iowa, MM in Trombone Performance, University of Redlands; currently Director of Bands at Hemet High School; Co-Director of Southern California Jazz Workshops; played professionally behind such artists as Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Ray Charles and many others; instrumental music accomplishments include Downbeat Magazine’s DeeBee Award for best student recordings in the fields of Big Band Jazz and Classical Instrumental; honorary doctorate degree in music from Pacific Western University for musicality and educational accomplishments at the high school level