Miriam Eckelhoefer, Cello. Director and Co-Founder Elm City ChamberFest
Miriam Eckelhoefer maintains a versatile career as a performer, teacher, and administrator. Having received her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from the University of Notre Dame where she studied cello with Karen Buranskas, Ms. Eckelhoefer continued her musical pursuits at Yale University under the tutelage of Aldo Parisot and the Tokyo Quartet to earn her Masters of Music. An active freelance musician, Ms. Eckelhoefer has performed at festivals throughout the United Sates, Canada, England, France, Italy, and Holland and has worked with renowned cellists and pedagogues including Anner Bylsma, David Geringas, Joel Krosnick, Lawrence Lesser, Bonnie Hampton, Irene Sharp, and many others. She is a member of the New Haven Symphony and has performed with various chamber music groups including the Acadia Trio, and Ardesco—a contemporary music ensemble.
Ms. Eckelhoefer has been a faculty member of the Neighborhood Music School since 1999 where she has maintained an extensive studio teaching both cello and chamber music. In addition, she has also served as Assistant Director or Ensembles for 6 years and in 2005 Co-Founded Elm City ChamberFest. Ms. Eckelhoefer is currently a doctoral candidate at Stony Brook University under the tutelage of Colin Carr.
Fiona Murray, Violin. Director and Co-Founder Elm City ChamberFest
Currently a resident of New York City, Fiona’s performing career encompasses a variety of genres, ranging from live televised performances and recordings on compact disc with America’s oldest Bach Festival to MTV appearances with Rap music artist Jay-Z and singer Rufus Wainwright. A former member of New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Opera Orchestra and Kawas String Quartet, she has also served as guest concertmaster of the Wallingford and Greenwich Symphony Orchestras. Primary instructors include Sidney Harth, Dorothy Mauney, Catherine Tait, Renata Knific and Roland and Almita Vamos. Also studied chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet, Ward Davenny, Michael McClelland and Nathaniel Rosen. Fiona is a member of the faculty at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, Concordia College Conservatory in Bronxville, NY and Kinhaven Music School in Vermont. She has also served on the faculty of Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan and Oxford Summer Chamber Music, Queen’s College, England. She holds a Bachelor’s in Music Degree from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and a MM and Artist’s Diploma from Yale School of Music.
Ralph Allen, Violin
Ralph Allen played the Sibelius Concerto with the Yale Symphony while majoring in Philosophy as an undergraduate, studying with Syoko Aki; he went on to get a Masters from the Cleveland Institute of Music with Donald Weilerstein and a Doctorate from SUNY Stony Brook with Robert Mann. In Holland, Ralph freelanced with such ensembles as the Schoenberg Ensemble and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, served as concertmaster of the European Camerata and the Helios Ensemble, and studied with Vera Beths. Ralph is a frequent chamber music collaborator in New York and New Hampshire, teaches privately and at Riverdale Country Day School, and plays with a wide variety of ensembles in New York.
Bethany Cook, Cello & Music Theory
Bethany Cook graduated from the University of Maryland in the Spring of 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education. She began playing cello at the age of 9 through the Fairfield Public School system. She studied privately with Cheryl Labrecque and Chris Finckel and later studied with Evelyn Elsing and Glenn Garlick while at the University of Maryland. Bethany has been a featured soloist with her high school orchestra performing Haydn C Major Cello Concerto and was also a member of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Youth Orchestra for eight years, principal cellist for three. Bethany has been awarded the Wednesday Afternoon Music Scholarship and the Director of Music Scholarship from the University of Maryland. Bethany has attended festivals in Vienna, Austria and this summer she will be teaching at festivals in Connecticut and Maryland. She currently teaches strings in Greenwich Public Schools, performs and teaches privately in the area. This is Bethany’s third summer with ECCF.
Ellen Higham, Viola
Ellen Higham is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the St. Louis Conservatory of Music, and is currently a violist with the New Haven Symphony as well as a substitute with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. She has also played with Orchestra New England. She teaches viola and violin, as well as coaching chamber music at her home in Hamden, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband, Jack Hammer and their daughter Madelyn. In addition to her activities as a performer and teacher she is an Executive Board member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 234-486 New Haven, and has served for many years as the secretary of the NHSO Orchestra Committee. Previously Ellen played in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, touring and recording with that group from 1991-1996. While living in Missouri she taught viola and violin at the Clayton Academy of Music. Her instrument is a Robert Clemens viola made for her in 1992 in St. Charles, Missouri. It is based on a Stradivarius pattern and is 16 and one-half inches long in the body. The instrument is made of aged American hardwoods and has a deep and mellow sound.
Bernard Kane, Viola & Music Theory, Visiting Faculty
Born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, Bernard Kane began his musical studies as a chorister in the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. David, Cardiff. Bernard began playing the violin at the age of twelve, changing to the viola three years later. At the age of eighteen he won a place to study viola at the Royal College of Music in London where he was awarded an exhibition scholarship and later earned his B Mus (hons) degree. After applying to Graduate Schools in the United States, Bernard was offered a full scholarship to study for a Masters Degree at Yale University, which he completed in 1997. Bernard became the first string player to be awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver in July 2007, and the first person at a Canadian university to be awarded a Doctorate of Musical Arts with a major in viola performance. A passionate chamber musician, Bernard was a founder member of the Delphinus String Quartet who have been quartet in residence for Princess Cruise Lines and was founder/director for the Wales based chamber ensemble, Chameleon Cymru. He has performed at the Aberdeen Music Festival, Scotland, the Pine Mountain Music Festival, Michigan, the East/West Music Festival, Altenberg, Germany and the Verbier Music Festival, Switzerland.
Jeanyi Kim, Violin, Visiting Faculty
Jeanyi Kim is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. She recently served as a guest Assistant Concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis. As an orchestral musician, the Toronto native has performed in North and South America and Europe in myriad venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Centre, and Salle Pleyel. She has also attended numerous festivals including Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen, Sarasota, Banff Music Centre, and Holland Music Sessions. Solo appearances include performances with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, Waukesha Symphony Orchestra, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, and most recently the Duquesne Symphony at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Music Hall. An active chamber musician, she has performed with various esteemed artists, including Erick Friedman, Jesse Levine, Norman Fischer, Toby Appel, Richard Lalli, and Humberto Lucarelli.
Kim has been a performer in WNPR’s “Sunday Afternoon Live from the Elvehjem” concert series and a guest artist in the Frankly Music chamber music series. She has also been a featured guest on WFMR's "Backstage Pass." She collaborates frequently with her colleagues in the MSO and MCO. A dedicated teacher, Kim travels to Brazil with her husband, Alexander Mandl, violinist and conductor, to teach and perform at the Eleazar de Carvalho International Music Festival. She and her husband are also founding members of the Philomusica Quartet. She has also served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Wisconsin Conservatory, and Neighborhood Music School, to name a few. Currently, Kim serves on the Board of Directors of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and maintains a private studio. Her major teachers include Erick Friedman, Berl Senofsky, Kyung Yu, and Rebecca Henry. Other important influences include Sidney Harth, members of the Tokyo String Quartet and the Peabody Trio. Ms. Kim served as Concertmaster of the Yale Philharmonia and Yale Symphony, and was the recipient of the Yale Bach Society Award, Friends of Music at Yale Prize, and the Stuart Walker Memorial Scholarship. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University, from which she also earned her B.A., M.M., and M.M.A. degrees.
Salley Koo, Violin
A versatile violinist who maintains an active career performing solo and chamber music. Having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1997 from Harvard-Radcliffe University, where she studied with Lynn Chang, Ms. Koo proceeded to earn both her Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from Yale University in the studio of Peter Oundjian, in addition to having worked with other renowned pedagogues such as Almita and Roland Vamos, David Taylor, Sylvie Koval, and Dorothy Kitchen. Ms. Koo has been a guest soloist with numerous orchestras in the United States, and has performed recitals in Europe and across North America. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Koo has collaborated with world-renowned musicians such as Peter Frankl and Yo Yo Ma, as well as members of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Peabody Trio, Takacs Quartet and the symphony orchestras of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. Ms. Koo has performed with the Hartford and New Haven Symphony Orchestras, and has served as concertmaster for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. A past participant of the Yellow Barn Music Festival, Taos School of Music, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Pacific Music Festival, Ms. Koo has served as a faculty member at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire, Vermont’s Chamber Music Intensive Program at Yellow Barn, the Opus 118 We Want Music! Program in East Harlem, New York, and the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, Connecticut, in addition to maintaining an extensive private teaching studio. She is currently pursuing a D.M.A. at Stony Brook University under the guidance of Pamela Frank, Philip Setzer, and Ani Kavafian.
Sarah Koo, Cello, Visiting Faculty
"... I was more than impressed. From the opening notes, I rejoiced... she presented us with a new interpretation , completely and brilliantly realized." (Santa Barbara Independent) International prize-winner, Sarah Koo, is known not only for her solo and chamber accomplishments, but also as an avid educator and outreach advocate. At the age of 19, Ms. Koo made her New York debut in a solo recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall as the youngest winner of the Artist International Competition. Ms. Koo was the sole 2004 recipient of the prestigious William Schumann Award for outstanding achievements in music, academics and leadership. As an orchestral artist, Ms. Koo was the Assistant Principal Cellist in the Phoenix Symphony, section cellist under Lorin Maazel in the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini (Parma, Italy), and has been the Principal Cellist of the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), the Juilliard Symphony and Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Festival Orchestra. Ms. Koo, a passionate educator, has also been a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Koo has appeared in the "Robb Report" magazine and the "Residential Systems" magazine. A graduate of the Juilliard School with both her Bachelors and Masters degrees, primary studies have been with Darrett Adkins, Ardyth Alton, Richard Hirschl and Gilda Barston.
Nora Nirmala LeMorin, Yoga, Visiting Faculty
Nora Nirmala LeMorin is a certified Integral Yoga Hatha teacher. She serves on the board of directors the New York Integral Yoga Institute, and is an instructor in their Teacher Certification Program. Since 1992 Nora has taught Hatha I Beginner and Hatha I-II Intermediate, Prenatal & Postpartum Yoga, Stress Management, Meditation, Gentle Chair Yoga, Parent & Child Yoga & Children's Yoga and Creative Movement both in groups and privately throughout Westchester and Fairfield. Having walked across the United States and explored France with a traveling circus, Nora finds teaching yoga and being a suburban mom her greatest adventure to date
Lydia Leizman, Viola
MM Yale School of Music. Lydia is an active freelance violist and teacher. Her primary viola teachers were Jesse Levine (Yale), Donald McInnes and Evelyn Luis-Jacobs. Esteemed chamber music coaches have included members of the Tokyo, Colorado and Curtis String Quartets, as well as Erik Friedman and Wendy Sharp. In addition to chamber music performances with colleagues of Elm City ChamberFest, she has been principal viola with Taconic Opera in Westchester, DiCapo Opera Theater in NYC, and a member of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a member of the Obrien String Trio and Leizman-Guernsey Duo (piano). Lydia is trained in the Suzuki Method, and has taught Suzuki privately for several years. She is now director of the high school orchestra, and elementary strings in Clarkstown, NY.
Alexander Mandl, Violin & Conductor High School Orchestra, Visiting Faculty
One of the foremost violinists and conductors of Brazil, Alexander Mandl or “Sascha”, as he is known to many, has appeared worldwide at renowned halls including Alice Tully, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Sprague Hall, the Mellon Institute and the Memorial of Latin America. An avid chamber musician, Sascha has collaborated with artists such as Erick Friedman, Aldo Parisot, Yo-Yo Ma, Sidney Harth, Wang Jian, Frank Morelli, Todd Levi and as a member of the Yale Piano Trio. As soloist, Sascha has performed under conductors such as Eleazar de Carvalho, Sidney Harth, Gunther Herbig, and Kryzstof Penderecki, Roberto Tomaro, Isaac Karabitchevski and Claudio Santoro to name few. Recent solo performances include the Eleazar de Carvalho Festival in Brazil, Beloit-Janesville Symphony, performances sponsored by the Angels of Music Society of New York at Weill Hall in New York, University of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, Duquesne Symphony, and the Orquestra de Camara UFPB. He has participated in the Duke Ellington concert series performing throughout Northeastern United States along with the Ruff-Mitchel Duo. He has also appeared as a guest at the Ted Sawyer program of WQED, Pittsburgh.
Conducting opportunities have taken him throughout North and South America as well as being appointed Artistic Director of the Cardinal Stritch Chamber Orchestra, Lakeshore Youth Philharmonic and the Faculty Orchestra of the Eleazar de Carvalho International Festival in Brazil. His teaching experience includes faculty positions at University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Cardinal Stritch University, the ITU Music Festival, the Eleazar de Carvalho Festival in Brazil, the Wisconsin Conservatory, and most recently the Luci Toscana Festival in Sienna, Italy. Currently he is the Musical Director/Conductor of the Lakeshore Youth Philharmonic, Concertmaster of the Beloit-Janesville Symphony, Assistant Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra and a member of the First Violin Section in the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra and a member of the Yale Trio. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University BFA, Yale University MM and AD where he studied with Sidney Harth and Erick Friedman, and the University of Wisconsin DMA program under the tutelage of Vartan Manoogian. Additionally, Aldo Parisot, Peter Frankl and the Tokyo Quartet were major chamber music influences while at pursuing his studies at Yale. He received conducting instruction from Eleazar de Carvalho, David Stern, James Smith and David Becker. Sascha is a recipient of the Francis G. Wickes fellowship, the Andrew Carnegie Tradition Award, the Milles Prize, the Yale Alumni Award and the prestigious Ivan Galamian Award. In 2000, he recorded J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major under Maestro Sidney Harth. During the summers Mr. Mandl teaches and performs at the Eleazar de Carvalho Festival in Brazil, and the Luci Toscani Festival in Italy. Previously, Mr. Mandl has served on the faculty at the Neighborhood Music School as well as the Hopkins School in Connecticut. He along with his wife Jeanyi Kim are founding members of the newly formed quartet Philomusica Quartet. He currently lives in Milwaukee with his wife, violinist Jeanyi Kim. www.saschamandl.com
Charlotte Muir, Cello, Visiting Faculty
DMA Candidate at SUNY Stonybrook where she is the Teaching Assistant of Colin Carr, Ms. Williams-Muir has also studied in Basel, Switzerland with Thomas Demenza and has performed internationally. Former instructors include Janos Starker, Janet Anthony, Harry Sturm and she has attended the Taos Chamber Music Festival. She has taught both cello and chamber music throughout her studies.
Alexander and Joan Murray, Alexander Technique, Visiting Faculty
As charter members of the American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, Joan and Alex Murray have been involved in teaching the Alexander Technique for the past 50 years. Natives of the United Kingdom, Alex served as Principal Flute with the London Symphony Orchestra for 12 years and Joan danced on stage at the Drury Lane Theatre in several London productions, including as a member of the original cast of “ My Fair Lady “. Their performing backgrounds have led them to become one of the most prominent and sought-after teams of teachers of the Alexander Technique in the world today. Having held faculty positions at Michigan State University, the Royal College of Music in London, Royal Dutch Conservatory in the Hague, and Interlochen Arts Camp, they have also guest lectuered at various colleges and conservatories around the globe including Florida State University, Oberlin College and Conservatory, and Oxford University. Both Joan and Alex have served on the board of North American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique and are active members of NASTAT and STAT. They currently reside in Urbana, Illinois, where Alex has recently retired as Professor of Flute at the University of Illinois and they co-direct the Urbana Center for the Alexander Technique.
Alexander Murray, Flute
Alexander Murray is a graduate of the Royal College of Music, London, and the Paris Conservatoire, where he was a recipient of the Premiere Prix in performance. His performing career began at age twelve as soloist with the Cape Town Orchestra. He was Principal Flutist with the London Symphony and the Royal Opera Orchestras and has played principal flute with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Philomusica of London, the Mozart Players, the Bath Festival Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. He has taught at Michigan State University, the Royal Dutch Conservatory, the Royal Northern College, and the Guildhall School of Music and at the National Music Camp, Interlochen. Professor of Flute at the University of Illinois from 1977-2002 and a founding member of the Sinfonia da Camera in which he played until May of 2004. His final appearance with Sinfonia in his 75th year was as soloist in the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp.
Kathleen Roach, Assistant String Coach & Music Theory
Katie is currently an Elementary Strings Teacher in the Manchester Public Schools and is a private violin teacher in the New Haven area. She has been playing the violin since she was 5 and the viola since she was 9. In middle and high school, she was a member of various quartets coached by Fiona Murray, Jody Rowitsch and Miriam Eckelhoefer. During high school, Katie attended Interlochen Arts Camp for 3 consecutive summers participating in both the orchestral program as a Valade and Governor's Scholar and the Advanced String Quartet Institute. Former teachers include Fiona Murray, Ellen Higham (viola), Wendy Sharp, Milan Vitek and Andrew Jennings. Katie received her B.M. in Music Education from Oberlin Conservatory and has completed her Suzuki Violin Book 1 and 2 certification.
Mary Ellen Roach, Director of Student Life
Mrs. Roach has received her BA from the University of Connecticut and attended Fairfield University. She is currently on the faculty of Notre Dame High School and serves both in the math department and in an administrative capacity as Associate to the Assistant Principals. She has chaparoned several Notre Dame Band trips to Europe with her husband David Roach.
Jody Rowitsch, Theory
Chair of the NMS Theory Department as well as the Certificate and Diploma Program Coordinator. She teaches Violin, Viola, (Suzuki and Traditional) as well as coaches numerous ensembles at NMS. Ms. Rowitsch received her BM from Oberlin, her MM from Temple University and did her Suzuki training at Oberlin, American Suzuki and Guelph, Ontario Institutes. She is currently on faculty at the University of Bridgeport and Choate Rosemary Hall. Ms Rowitsch is also a member of the Ridgefield, Bridgeport, Waterbury and Wallingford Symphony Orchestras.
Erika Schroth, Piano
Erika Schroth maintains a multi-faceted career as performer, teacher, and music director, and has performed as a solo and collaborative artist across the United States and Europe. She received her MM in Piano from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Arthur Greene. She spent several summers playing and teaching on the faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and was formerly on the piano faculty at Oakland University, St. John's University, Deerfield Academy, and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. In 2006 she was engaged as music director for the Yale Repertory Theatre, and in 2007 she was a guest artist at the Stamford International Music Festival (UK), where her chamber music performances were described as "impassioned" and "richly expressive". She currently holds teaching positions at Wesleyan University and the Neighborhood Music School.
Adrian Slywotzky, Violin & Music Theory
Adrian Slywotzky has taught violin, viola, and chamber music at Neighborhood Music School and serves as Director of Instrumental Music at Hopkins School in New Haven, CT. Adrian has just completed his first season as conductor of the New Haven Chamber Orchestra, and as the first conductor of the newly founded Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra. Adrian serves on the conducting staff of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and has been appointed interim conductor of the Greater New Haven Youth Orchestra for 2008-09. He has participated in chamber music festivals including Tanglewood Music Center, California Summer Music, and the Norfolk Contemporary Music Festival. He holds a BA in Architecture and an MM in Violin Performance from Yale; his principal violin teachers have been Wendy Sharp, Kyung Yu, and Robert Lehmann.
Yousif Sheronick, Percussion, Visiting Faculty
Hailed by the New York Times for his “dazzling improvisations” Yousif Sheronick appears internationally as soloist and chamber musician with world-renowned groups and artists such as Philip Glass, Ethos Percussion Group, Glen Velez, Foday Musa Suso, Simon Shaheen, Henry Threadgill and Paul Winter Consort. Mr. Sheronick's unique style encompasses traditions and instruments from the Middle East, North and West Africa, Brazil, India, and Europe. His ability to work in such diverse genres is due to having studied contemporary classical, jazz, world and rock music, which he seamlessly fuses into his playing. Critics in Spain say Yousif “is capable of creating hypnotic atmospheres” (Mundoclasico) where he "transported the listener to another dimension." (Ritmic). Prestigious venue performances include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall (London) and Wigmore Hall (London). Distinguished collaborators include Yo-Yo Ma, Branford Marsalis, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Marcel Khalife, Sonny Fortune, and the Lark and Pacifica String Quartets.
Mr. Sheronick recently released his critically acclaimed solo CD titled "Silk Thread" which Modern Drummer Magazine calls “a testimony to his genius”. He also released a Riq Instructional Video which Rhythm Magazine (UK) says “is a must to uncover the mysteries of this ancient instrument.” He has appeared throughout the US, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia with festival appearances including the JVC and Newport Jazz Festivals, Jazztel (Madrid), Renaissance Festival (Rethymno, Greece) Early Music Festival (Regensburg, Germany) and Jerusalem Festival (Palestine). He has performed live on NPR's "Performance Today" and John Schaffer's "New Sounds." An active clinician, Mr. Sheronick teaches masterclasses at home in the US and abroad. Mr. Sheronick holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Iowa and serves on the faculties of the University of Bridgeport and Concordia Conservatory.
Described by critics around the world for their “superb” and “extraordinary” musicianship, Kathryn Lockwood and Yousif Sheronick join forces in a rare combination of viola and percussion. With heritages stretching as far as Australia, Lebanon and the United States, the Lockwood/Sheronick Project is truly a duo of the world. Drawing from their melting pot home of New York City, LSP has commissioned composers in the fields of Jazz, European Classical and World Traditions encompassing diverse and creative repertoire that is both aurally and visually alluring. Along side the viola, the percussion batterie includes the durbahek (goblet drum) and riq (tambourine) from the Middle East as well as the West African djembe and frame drums from around the globe.
Caroline Wolff, Violin, Visiting Faculty
Caroline Wolff grew up in New York City and went on to study at Columbia University, Indiana University and the New England Conservatory. Her principal teachers were Raphael Bronstein, James Buswell and Stanley Ritchie. As a member of the Fidelio String Quartet (prizewinners in the London International String Quartet Competition) Caroline performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe. She has appeared at numerous festivals including those of Tanglewood, Taos, Norfolk, Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia Cove and Santa Fe, as well as on distinguished series such as Bargemusic in New York, Emmanuel Music in Boston and St. John’s College Chamber Music in Oxford. Caroline spent several years on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Extension Division and Exeter College, New Hampshire and taught regularly at the Bowdoin Festival in Maine.
|
