|
|
| Faculty
Walter F. Aparicio, piano
Walter Aparicio, a native of La Paz, Bolivia, has played solo and chamber recitals in the New York area, as well as abroad. Walter performed solo recitals in La Paz, Bolivia under the sponsorship of the Vice Ministry of Culture and played a duo recital in 2003 under the sponsorship of the Municipal Government of Bolivia and the Vice Ministry of Culture. There, he received a special recognition from the International Young Men's Club Association and was featured on Channel 21- Gigavision. In 2003, Walter was chosen as First Place Winner in the Empire State Piano Competition- Collegiate Division. He is currently a piano adjudicator for the NYSSMA festival in New York State. He has played in recitals for the Behre Piano Associates and in anniversary concerts at Weill Hall for the Adamant Music School. He was also featured on Vermont Public Radio and played in recitals in St. Petersburg, Russia for the International Academy of Music and at the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy in Beijing, China. Furthermore, he has performed in master classes with such distinguished artists as John O' Conor, Jeffrey Swann, Dmitry Rachmanov, Zelma Bodzin, and composer Jake Heggie. Most recently, Walter made his New York Recital Debut at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall to a sold out audience as part of Artists International Special Presentation Winners Series and received First Prize in the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, Duo Division. Walter holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from New York University where he studied with Dr. Deirdre O' Donohue. He completed a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music with Phillip Kawin. He is affiliated with the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, the Bronx Conservatory of Music and maintains a private studio in Manhattan and Fort Lee.
Clif Brown is a recent graduate of Manhattan School of Music, where he earned his Master of Music degree in classical guitar performance, studying with David Leisner. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in classical guitar performance from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has had master classes with renowned guitarists such as David Russell, Eliot Fisl, and Joaquin Clerch. Clif was the co-founder and president of the University of Southern Mississippi Guitar Society, and is a Star Award Recipient from the Music Teachers National Association.  Hermira Gjoni began her piano studies at an early age at the Professional Artistic School in Tirana, Albania, with her first teacher, the pianist Tonin Guraziu. She later completed her studies at the National Conservatory of Music in Albania with excellent results under the guidance of the well-known professor of the Beijing Conservatory, Mr. Chen Bi Gang.
During her career, Ms. Gjoni has performed in Tirana at The National Theater of Opera and Ballet, and Conservatory Hall, also at Tampere Hall in Finland, and Athenee Palace in Bucharest. She was invited to Paris as accompanist for singers at “Placido Domingo International Competition,” and Opera de Bastille. She has been honored to perform in front of Yuri Gagarin and the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev. She also performed for the Prime minister of The People’s Republic of China, Mr. Chu-En Lai, and the Prince of Cambodia, Sihanuk, and the Princess Monica.
Ms. Gjoni emigrated to the U.S. in 1996 and continues to perform extensively. She has been awarded the Medal “Naim Frasheri” from the Albanian Parliament, and the Medal of Association Campania in October 2007.
 Amanda began her pursuit in opera by attending the Pre-College Division at the Juilliard
School. She holds performance degrees from City University of New York’s, Hunter
College (M.A.) and Ithaca College School of Music (B.M.). Hailed by SonicScoop as
having a, “…stunning voice and amazing use of facial expressions…Soprano Amanda
Hick contributed another outstanding performance.” As a versatile performer of opera, recitals and new music, Amanda has performed
throughout Manhattan in prestigious venues such as Radio City Music Hall, Steinway
Hall, The Baryshnikov Arts Center, Galapagos Art Space, The Roosevelt House and The
Danny & Sylvia Kaye Playhouse. Additionally, Amanda has performed recitals in
Austria, Arizona, New Jersey, Long Island, Ithaca, is ‘House Soprano’ for ‘The Nouveau
Classical Project’, and is currently a Resident Artist with ‘Vocal Productions’ in NYC.
She has performed with The Metropolis Opera Project, Vocal Productions Opera, Opera
Avanti, Hunter College Opera Theatre and Ithaca College Opera. Roles include ‘Fiordiligi’ in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, ‘Donna Anna’ in Mozart’s
Don Giovanni, ‘Alida Slade’ in Ward’s Roman Fever, ‘Mother Marie’ in Poulenc’s
Dialogues of the Carmelites, ‘Oprah Winfrey’ in Hevnor’s The Bully Pulpit, ‘The Angel’
in Bornfeld’s Sellout, ‘Rosalinde’ (cover) in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, ‘Anna Karenina’
(Scenes) in Carleson’s Anna Karenina, as well as the Alto Soloist in The Mozart
Requiem, and won first place in CUNY Hunter College’s Concerto Competition of 2010.
It has been Amanda’s great pleasure in premiering many works by Kristin Hevnor,
Howard Reich, Thomas Deneuville, and Jeremiah Bornfield. She studies with Beth Roberts.  Laura Jordan, percussion
New York based percussionist/marimba specialist Laura Jordan has performed in Europe, Canada, Mexico and throughout the United States, in venues including Avery Fisher Hall, the Skirball Center of Los Angeles, the National Geographic in Washington, and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
Laura has also been featured as a touring and recording world percussion artist and chamber musician. From 2004-2006, following two seasons with the New York Guitar Quartet, Laura joined the ranks of Ensemble Galilei as a member for two seasons, and is featured on their recording Alta. In 2006, she gave the Western premiere of Menachem Zur's Translations for Percussion and Electronics, broadcast several times on Israeli radio. Equally comfortable as a rock drummer, in the fall of 2009, she will tour Europe with the Baltimore based experimental rock group Scary River (Morpheus Records). Laura has participated in several festivals including the Paris Marimba Competition and Perkumania festival in 2006, for which she received a Peabody Career Grant, and the first Zeltsman "Princeton" Marimba festival in 2001, for which she received a Semans Art Fund Grant.
As an educator, Laura is faculty at the Long Island Music Conservatory, the Bronx Conservatory of Music, and director/educator at Washington Heights Percussion, a school she founded in 2005. She has served as an adjunct professor at New York University.Laura received her M.M. from the Peabody Conservatory in 2005, and her B.M. from the Peabody Conservatory in 2004, where she was a student of Robert van Sice and Jonathan Haas. Prior to that, she studied under John R. Beck at the North Carolina School of the Arts high school immersive arts program. At the age of 21, she was accepted into the highly academically competitive New York University Ph.D. program, where she is in the final stages of the degree. Laura is endorsed by Marimba One.
John H. Robinson III, cello, double bass, theory
Graduate of Bronx Community College and La Guardia High school of the Performing Arts; tutor and assistant in the Department of Music and Art of Bronx Community College; classical performances on bass, cello, and recorder; international recognition for jazz and Latin performances.
William "Barney" Stevens, Violin
Barney Stevens received his bachelor's from KSU studying with Ralph Winkler before moving to New York to continue his studies at the Manhattan School of Music with Stanley Bednar and Burton Kaplan. He is currently a freelance musician performing with many orchestras and chamber groups throughout the Tri-state and Pennsylvania areas as well as national and international tours. Leigh Chamber Orchestra, Pennsylvania Symphonia, Jupiter Symphony, Village Light Opera, and the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players are some of the companies with which he performs.
Mariya Spektor, piano, music appreciation/rhythm Mariya studied in Moscow at the Stasov School of Music and Moscow Musical College and later earned her M.A. in Music Education at CUNY Lehman College. A creative and versatile music teacher, Mariya brings a special knowledge of Music History and Musical Genres. She is skilled in the Dalcroze and Kodaly methods of musical education.
Southern Californian pianist, Jason Stoll, began piano studies at the age of five with Hilda Meltzer. Over the years, Jason's passion for music making grew to a level in which he wanted to pursue further studies at the college level. In 2009, he received a BM in piano performance from California State University, Northridge where he studied with Dr. John Roscigno and Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov. While at Northridge, he was the recipient of the Bronislaw-Gimpel Award, the Arts Council Scholarship and Outstanding Piano Student. Competitively, he was the winner of the "Young Artists of Tomorrow" concerto competition, and the CSUN concerto competition. He also placed second in the MTAC regional solo competition, and was a semi-finalist in the first American Paderewski piano competition. As a native of Lancaster, CA, Jason was invited twice by the MTAC (Antelope Valley Branch) to be featured as a soloist in the "Young Artists of the Antelope Valley" concert.
For the past three summers, Jason has been a participant at the Adamant Music School and the Aspen Music Festival. While at Adamant, he participated in a masterclass with renowned pianist John O'Conor, and in the following year was accepted into Mr. O'Conor's class at Aspen. He has also participated in other masterclasses with Leon Bates, Kyrill Gliadkovsky, Janina Kuzmas, Jura Margulis, Menahem Pressler, and Adam Wibrowski. In the spring of 2010, Jason was a featured soloist in the Adamant Music School's 68th Anniversary recital at Weill Recital Hall.
Currently, Jason is a Master's of Music candidate at the Juilliard School where he studies with Matti Raekallio and Jerome Lowenthal. Apart from solo activities, Jason is an active accompanist and chamber musician.
David Stone received his Bachelor of Music degree in classical piano performance from New York University in 2008, where he was an Education Trustee Scholarship recipient. In the fall of 2006, he studied piano and chamber music in Prague, Czech Republic. He was a piano performance major at the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he was on the Dean's list and a National Merit Scholar Finalist. David has substantial performing experience as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist.
Canadian born violinist, Brenda Vincent, began violin study at age 10. She completed Toronto Conservatory exams, with Honors, during high-school, then went on to study at The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California and Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Applied Violin in 1971 and the Israel Dorman Award for Outstanding Violinist. Ms. Vincent has resided and freelanced in New York City since 1979, where she enjoys playing a variety of musical idioms and styles – chamber music, symphony orchestra, opera, ballet, Broadway shows, jazz, Latin, rock/pop, and Contemporary Classical Music. Ms. Vincent has been awarded a Jazz Special Projects Grant (1985) and Jazz Fellowship (1988) from the National Endowment for the Arts to transcribe the recorded works of the legendary American jazz violinist, Stuff Smith. She is currently developing a beginning violin method that integrates traditional Western European music with popular American styles of music and improvisation.
| |
|
|