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  Mason Gross School of the Arts 2009-2011 Graduate Programs in Music Members of the Faculty  

Members of the Faculty

Alan Abel (percussion) is the former associate principal percussionist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, retiring in 1997 after 38 years. Mr. Abel has compiled two books of orchestral studies for timpani and percussion and has designed and produced symphonic triangles and bass drum stands that are used in orchestras all over the world. He has served on the board of directors of the Percussive Arts Society and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998.

Stephen Arthur Allen (euphonium) received his Ph.D. in musicology from Oxford University and is currently Music Professor at Rider University. He has served as principal euphonium with leading British brass bands, and in 2004 he founded the Princeton Brass Band and in 2008 brought the first North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) trophy back to New Jersey. Additionally, Dr. Allen is a world authority in the operas and music of Benjamin Britten. He is widely published and has articles on the Beatles, Radiohead, and Burton's Batman (1989) in the works.


Shmuel Ashkenasi (violin) studied with Ilona Feher and Efrem Zimbalist. He captured top prizes at the 1962 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Russia; the Merriweather Post Competition in Washington; and the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium. As a soloist, he has toured the former Soviet Union twice and concertizes every year throughout Europe, Israel, and the Far East. He has performed with American orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Zurich, Rotterdam, Geneva, and Stockholm. Among his solo recordings are the Paganini Violin Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 with the Vienna Symphony, the two Beethoven Romances, and the Mozart A Major Concerto. In 1969, Ashkenasi formed the Vermeer Quartet at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and has remained as its first violinist throughout the quartet's career.


Alan Baer (tuba) joined the New York Philharmonic on June 21, 2004, as principal tuba. He was formerly principal tuba with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. His other performing credits include recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra led by Vladimir Ashkenazy, performances with the Peninsula Music Festival of Wisconsin, New Orleans Symphony, Los Angeles Concert Orchestra, Ojai Festival Orchestra (California), Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as a featured soloist, touring several countries in Europe, including Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and France. Mr. Baer began his undergraduate work at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with Dr. Gary Bird. He completed his bachelor of music degree with Ronald Bishop at the Cleveland Institute of Music and did graduate work at the University of Southern California, Cleveland Institute of Music, and California State University (Long Beach), where he studied with Tommy Johnson.

William Berz (music education and instrumental conducting) has degrees from Michigan State University. His research interests include nonverbal communication, instructional technology, and music cognition. He is active as a clarinetist and conductor.

Antonius Bittmann (department chair, music history, and organ) holds degrees from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, and the Eastman School of Music. As a scholar, he specializes in 19th- and 20th-century repertoires, particularly the works of Max Reger. He has earned degrees in and performed extensively on both harpsichord and organ.

Jonathan Blumenfeld (oboe) has been a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra oboe section since 1986. Previous to this he was a member of the Concerto Soloists and Savannah Symphony. He is a graduate of Haverford College and the Curtis Institute, where he was a student of John de Lancie. His recordings include New Music for Oboe: Ingrid Arauco and Curt Cacioppo; Manena Conteras: Claves; Howard Hanson: Pastorale; and Rimsky-Korsakov: Variations on a Theme of Glinka.

Darryl Bott (music education) teaches classes in instrumental music education and undergraduate conducting and serves as the coordinator of the student teaching program for the music education program. Mr. Bott has decades of teaching experience in the public schools of New Jersey, and ensembles under his direction have performed at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, and have received consistently superior ratings at local and out-of-state competitions. Mr. Bott has received a number of teaching recognition awards and has served as the guest conductor for several honors ensembles.

Ralph Bowen (saxophone and jazz theory) has degrees from Mason Gross School of the Arts. He has concertized internationally and worked with David Baker and Eugene Rousseau. He has recorded with Blue Note Records and other major labels.

Karina Bruk (piano) has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, as well as performing solo and chamber music recitals throughout the metropolitan area. She has also performed and lectured on the "Twentieth-Century Well-Tempered Clavier: Preludes and Fugues, opus 87, of Dmitry Shostakovich" at the 2006 International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu. Ms. Bruk has been a recipient of numerous awards, among them the Genia Robinor Award for Teaching Excellence presented by the Piano Teachers Society of America.

Eduardo Chama (voice) has received resounding recognition for his work on both the operatic and concert stages of the world. He made his New York City Opera debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni during the 1996-97 season. About his Don Pasquale, the Seattle Times declares, "Eduardo Chama was born to sing the title role. The Argentine bass-baritone...does heroic work on every level." The Calgary Herald agrees, stating after performances of Le Nozze di Figaro, "Argentine bass-baritone Eduardo Chama sang the title role of Figaro in an easy, stylish way, his voice strong and deep enough for the bass notes."  Mr. Chama received the Richard F. Gold Debut Artist award at the New York City Opera in 1997.

Choong-Jin (CJ) Chang (viola) is native of Seoul, Korea. Choong-Jin (CJ) Chang joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as associate principal viola in November 1994 and became principal viola in April 2006. He made his performance debut as a 12-year-old violinist with the Seoul Philharmonic as winner of the grand prize in Korea's Yook Young National Competition. In 1981, at the age of 13, he moved to the United States to attend the Juilliard School. He subsequently studied in Philadelphia at the Esther Boyer College of Music of Temple University and finally at the Curtis Institute of Music, from which he received degrees in both violin and viola. His primary teachers were Jascha Brodsky and retired Philadelphia Orchestra principal viola Joseph de Pasquale. Alongside his extensive performing activities, Mr. Chang is a respected teacher on both violin and viola. Among his former pupils are current members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as several winners of major competitions.

Gerald Chenoweth (theory and composition) has degrees from the University of Massachusetts and the University of Iowa. His works have been performed extensively in this country and in Europe. He has been a conductor of contemporary music ensembles at Rutgers University and the University of Iowa. His compositions have been recorded for CRI, the Smithsonian Collection of Recordings, and Access labels. His works are available from American Composers Alliance, New York.

Richard Chrisman (director of graduate studies, and theory and composition) has degrees from the University of California (Riverside) and Yale University. He has written numerous articles and papers on the analysis of 20th-century music and is a composer of electronically synthesized film music for public television documentaries.

Lenuta Ciulei (violin) tours extensively and has appeared on radio and television in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. She earned her master's degree at the Music Academy in Bucharest, Romania.

Timothy Cobb (double bass) is principal bass of the Metropolitan Opera (Met) Orchestra and double bass faculty chair at the Juilliard School. Mr. Cobb frequently performs with quartets such as the Emerson, Guarneri, Belcea, Leipzig, and St. Lawrence, as well as artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, James Levine, and Christian Zacharias, among many others. Mr. Cobb's festival appearances include most of the major summer venues. He can be heard on all Met recordings from 1986 as well as the 2003 Grammy-nominated L'Histoire du Soldat with the Harmonie Wind Ensemble of New York on Koch records. He is a former member of the Chicago Symphony, and serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and the State University of New York (Purchase College), as well as those of the Juilliard School and Rutgers.

Paul Cohen (saxophone) brings the saxophone into the mainstream of classical music performance. He is active as a performer, teacher, historian, musicologist, and author. Mr. Cohen has appeared with many of the nation's top symphonies and professional ensembles, and his recordings include solo, chamber, concerto, and quartet works, both historical and modern, in classical and jazz. The author of numerous articles on saxophone literature and history, he has written the "Vintage Saxophone Revisited" column in the Saxophone Journal since 1985. He holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music.

Stanley Cowell (jazz piano) performs professionally, as a solo pianist and in ensemble formations from duo to orchestra, in a variety of venues, from jazz club to concert hall. He has degrees from Oberlin and the University of Michigan, and also has studied at the Mozarteum Akademie in Salzburg, Austria. His extensive list of recordings as both a composer and pianist includes performances with such artists as Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and the Heath Brothers.

Christopher Doll (theory) specializes in the analysis of recent popular and art music (especially in regard to tonality), the analysis of film music, metatheory, and composition. He earned degrees at Columbia University (Ph.D. with distinction), the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (M.M.), and Case Western Reserve University (B.A.), and undertook additional graduate study at the State University of New York (Stony Brook).

Daniel Epstein (piano) made his orchestral debut with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1973. A graduate of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Adele Marcus, he was presented in his Carnegie Hall debut recital by the Concert Artists Guild. Winner of many awards and prizes including the Kosciusczko Chopin Award, the National Arts Club Prize, and the Prix Alex de Vries in Paris; Mr. Epstein has appeared as a guest soloist with major symphony orchestras and has given recitals in major cities throughout the world, complemented by master classes and intensive seminars for pianists. As the pianist and founding member of the famed Raphael Trio since 1975, Mr. Epstein has performed virtually the entire piano trio repertoire. He has also collaborated with many renowned string quartets, including the Ying, American, Chiara, New Zealand, and Talich, as well as with many members of the Juilliard School, Guarneri, and many other distinguished chamber musicians and soloists.

Bart Feller (flute) studied at the Curtis Institute with Julius Baker and John Krell. He has been principal flutist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and, since 1989, with the New Jersey Symphony. He has recorded with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Charles Fussell (theory and composition) did his graduate work in composition at the Eastman School of Music, receiving a Fulbright grant to study with Boris Blacher at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik in Germany. He has a long list of published and recorded compositions.

Patrick Gardner (director of choral activities) has degrees in voice and conducting from California State University (Hayward) and the University of Texas. He has taught at the University of Michigan, the University of Texas, and Wagner College. He is director of the Riverside Choral Society in New York, and his choirs have given many world premieres. He is also active as a guest conductor, lecturer, and adjudicator.

Pamela Gilmore (opera workshop and opera director) graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke College and holds a master's degree from the Catholic University of America. She has taught at the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute, Northwestern University, the Mannes College of Music, and the Brooklyn College Conservatory. An active recitalist, she has maintained a private studio in Manhattan since 1984.

Barbara González-Palmer (accompanying and vocal coaching) has degrees in piano and accompanying from Oberlin College and the Juilliard School. She has performed as soloist throughout the United States and Europe and has accompanied such artists as Phyllis Bryn-Julson and Barry Tuckwell in recital. Her extensive experience as an accompanist for master classes and auditions includes work with Martina Arroyo, Frederica von Stade, James Galway, and Dorothy Delay.

Floyd Grave (music history) trained at the Eastman School of Music and New York University. He specializes in the music of Haydn and Mozart, and in 18th- and early 19th-century music theory, criticism, and analysis. He is coauthor with M.G. Grave of In Praise of Harmony: The Teachings of Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler and Franz Joseph Haydn: A Guide to Research. A contributor to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, he has written numerous articles and reviews for major scholarly journals.

Rhonda Hackworth (music education), currently assistant professor of choral music education at Rutgers, received her Ph.D. degree in music education/education at the University of Missouri, Kansas City Conservatory of Music. A recipient also of an M.M. degree in vocal performance, her primary research interest is vocal health for music teachers. She has published articles in International Journal of Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music Education, and Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, and actively presents research at state and national conferences. She is often a guest choral conductor in various performance venues.

Rufus Hallmark (music history) was educated at Davidson College, Boston University, and Princeton University, and has taught at Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, College of the Holy Cross, and Queens College (City University of New York), where he served as director of the Aaron Copland School of Music. He has published articles on the songs of Schumann and Schubert, and is the editor of and a contributor to German Lieder in the Nineteenth Century. He is also a singer and has sung Tamino and Pedrillo, the evangelist in the St. John Passion, Dichterliebe, Winterreise, and Britten's Serenade.

Conrad Herwig (jazz trombone) was voted number one for Jazz Trombone in the 1998, 1999, and 2002 Downbeat International Jazz Critic's Poll. He has been a featured member in the Joe Lovano Nonet, Tom Harrell's Septet and Big Band, and the Joe Henderson Sextet, and has performed and recorded with Eddie Palmier's La Perfecta II and Afro-Caribbean-Jazz Octet, Paquito D'Rivera's Havana-New York Connection, and the Mingus Big Band. His recent solo recordings include "Obligation," "Que Viva Coltrane," and "Heart of Darkness" (Chriss Cross Records); and two of his 17 albums as a leader, "Another Kind of Blue: The Latin Side of Miles Davis" (Half Note Records) and the "Latin Side of John Coltrane," received Grammy Award nominations. Herwig is a recipient of performance and teaching grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Kaoru Hinata (flute) received her master of music and artist diploma from Yale University, studying under Ransom Wilson. She has held positions with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Wallingford Symphony, as well as performing with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, New Jersey Symphony, New Haven Symphony, DaCapo Opera Orchestra, Berkshire Opera, and Camerata New York. As a soloist, Ms. Hinata was the winner of the Lawrence Beauregard Competition in Canada in 1994 and placed second in the Myrna Brown Competition in Texas in 1995.

Paul Hoffmann (piano) studied with Cecile Genhart, Brooks Smith, and Leon Fleisher at the Eastman School of Music and Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. A specialist in 20th-century music, he has recorded with Orion, CRI, Voice of America, CRS, Northeastern, Composers Guild of New Jersey, and numerous foreign radio stations.

Maureen Hurd (clarinet) has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concerts throughout the United States, Canada, and Germany. Her performance highlights include appearances at New York City's Merkin Hall, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut, and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. At the 2001 International Clarinet Association Clarinetfest in New Orleans, she was a prizewinner for her lecture-recital in the research presentation competition. As an orchestral clarinetist, she has performed with New York City's Jupiter Symphony, the Peter Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon, and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, among others. She studied with David Shifrin, Charles Neidich, and Joseph Messenger, and she received the doctor of musical arts degree from the Yale School of Music.

Nathan Hughes (oboe) is principal oboe of the Metropolitan Opera (Met) Orchestra. He previously served as principal oboe of the Seattle Symphony and has performed as guest principal oboe of the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, as well as the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Baltimore. A prolific chamber musician, Hughes has performed with the Met Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Philadelphia and Seattle Chamber Music Societies. He has also made appearances at the Aspen, Bridgehampton, Lucerne, Marlboro, Salzburg, Santa Fe, Sarasota, Spoleto, and Tanglewood festivals. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Hughes holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Juilliard School and currently is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. His teachers have included John Mack, Elaine Douvas, and John de Lancie.

Kynan Johns (orchestral conducting) has conducted over 60 orchestras and opera companies throughout the world, including performances of the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Chinese National Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Opera Australia. He recently won the prestigious Dimitri Mitropoulos International Conducting Competition, and was invited to attend Kurt Masur's master classes at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. He is now a regular guest conductor throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Douglas Johnson (director of undergraduate studies, and music history) has degrees from Hamilton College and the University of California (Berkeley). He works on topics in 18th- and 19th-century music and has published widely on Beethoven, with special concentration on the composer's sketchbooks. He coauthored the Beethoven Sketchbooks with Alan Tyson and Robert Winter.

Vic Juris (jazz guitar) has appeared on almost 40 compact discs. He has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Phil Woods, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, Eddie Jefferson, and Nancy Wilson.

Taina Kataja (voice) earned several diplomas with distinction from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, and the Hochshule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. She has been featured in major festivals throughout Europe and as a soloist with the Clemencic Consort of Vienna, Musica Antiqua Vienna, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and the Finnish Radio Symphony. She has recorded for Finnvox, Telefunken-Decca, and Mirror Music of Austria.

Andrew Kirkman (music history) has degrees from Durham University and King's College (UK). He has published and lectured widely on music of the 15th century and has directed the Binchois Consort in recordings of music by Dufay, Busnoys, Frye, and Josquin for Hyperion Records. He is the author of The Three-Voice Mass in the Later Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries: Style, Distribution, and Case Studies and coeditor of Binchois Studies with Dennis Slavin.

David Krauss (trumpet) was appointed principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera (Met) Orchestra in 2001. A native of New York, he earned both bachelor and master of music degrees from the Juilliard School as a student of William Vacchiano and Chris Gekker. He studied further with James Pandolfi and Wynton Marsalis. Prior to joining the Met he performed with a variety of ensembles in and around New York City including the Orchestra of St. Lukes, Orpheus, New Jersey Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New England Bach Festival Orchestra and on several Broadway shows. He has filled in as guest principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. As a chamber musician he has performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, Bridgehampton Music Festival, Saito Kinen Festival, and as part of the Met Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall with James Levine.

Min Kwon (piano) has enjoyed an extensive performing career, giving 70 concerts a year in more than 20 countries on five continents. She earned her bachelor of music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 19, studying with Sokoloff and Fleisher, and received her master's and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School, followed by postdoctoral studies in Europe with Hans Leygraf and Vitali Margulis. She has also worked in master classes and in private coachings with Andras Schiff, Murray Perahia, Richard Goode, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Micha Dichter, Andre Watts, and Leif Ove Andsnes, and contributes articles for Pianoforte and Strad magazines.

Victor Lewis (jazz drums) was encouraged as a teenager by such artists as Buster Williams and Billy Hart to make the move to New York, where in 1974 he quickly ascended to prominence. He was the first call drummer for masters like Joe Farrell, Dexter Gordon, and Hubert Laws, and started longtime associations with Woody Shaw, Carla Bley, David Sanborn, Kenny Barron, Bobby Watson, and Stan Getz. One of the leading drummers of our time, he also has a second reputation as a composer and bandleader.

Douglas Lundeen (horn) has degrees from Plymouth State College, the University of South Florida, and Cincinnati Conservatory. A first-prize winner in the American Horn Competition, he is one of the leading period-instrument performers in North America. He has performed and recorded with such renowned conductors as Roger Norrington, Christopher Hogwood, Frans Brüggen, and Nicholas McGegan.

Richard Metzger (online learning) has a B.F.A. from The Pennsylvania State University (string performance), an M.A. from Marywood University (musicology), and a Ph.D. from Rutgers (musicology). His publications include two critical editions, Chansons of the Sixteenth Century for Classical Guitar: Franco-Flemish and Parisian Chansons Printed by Attaingnant and French Clavecin Music for Guitar. Editions of the Willoughby and Marsh lute manuscripts, major manuscripts of the late English Renaissance, are forthcoming. As a classical musician, he performed on solo guitar and lute, including tours as the recipient of grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Metzger now devotes his efforts to improvisational jazz on electric guitar. He also composed and performed the music for the PBS documentary film, The Once and Future City and a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Giles Block of the National Theatre of Great Britain.

 

Matthew Muckey (trumpet) joined the New York Philharmonic in June 2006. He graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in music, studying with Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler. A native of Sacramento, California, he has appeared as soloist with the Omaha Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, California Wind Orchestra, Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, and on NPR's program, From the Top. He has also played with the Boston Pops Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Chicago Civic Orchestra. Mr. Muckey was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center during the summers of 2003 to 2005, and was the recipient of the Roger Voisin Award in 2004 and 2005.

Judith Nicosia (voice) has degrees from Ithaca College and Indiana University. She made her New York recital debut as winner of the New York Singing Teachers Association Competition. She was a prizewinner in Paris and Montreal vocal competitions and winner of a National Opera Institute Award. She has recorded with Orion, CRI, and DR.

Jessica Phillips (clarinet) was appointed second and E-flat clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera (Met) Orchestra in 2001. She graduated cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University, and the Manhattan School of Music as a student of the late David Weber and Ricardo Morales. During the 2003-04 season at the Met, Ms. Phillips also performed as acting principal clarinet. Throughout her freelance career, she has worked with the Philadelphia Orchestra, at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, the Bard Music Festival, the Music Festival of the Hamptons, with the American Symphony, EOS Orchestra, DiCapo Opera, La Boheme on Broadway, the Aspen Music Festival, the Meliora Wind Quintet, and has performed in numerous radio and commercial broadcasts. An active chamber musician, Ms. Phillips has performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, including performances with the Met Chamber Ensemble, with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, and at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, to name a few.

Todd Phillips (violin) is a member of both Orpheus and the Orion String Quartet. He has performed as guest soloist with leading orchestras throughout North America, Europe, and Japan, including the Pittsburgh Symphony, New York String Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with whom he made a critically acclaimed recording of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Phillips has appeared at the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Santa Fe, Marlboro, and Spoleto festivals, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music at the 92nd Street Y, and New York Philomusica. He has collaborated with such renowned artists as Rudolf Serkin, Jaime Laredo, Richard Stoltzman, Peter Serkin, and Pinchas Zukerman, and has participated in 18 "Musicians from Marlboro" tours. He also serves on the violin and chamber music faculties of Mannes College of Music. He has recorded for the Arabesque, Delos, Deutsche Grammophon, Finlandia, Marlboro Recording Society, New York Philomusica, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical labels.

Michael Powell (trombone) studied at Wichita State University. He is a member of the American Brass Quintet and plays with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has taught at the Juilliard School, Aspen Music School, and State University of New York (Purchase College).

Philippe Quint (violin) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mr. Quint left the former Soviet Union in 1991 and is now an American citizen who harbors a strong commitment to the music of his new country, frequently performing works by William Schuman, Lukas Foss, Leonard Bernstein, Ned Rorem, John Corigliano, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Lera Auerbach. His debut recording of William Schuman's Violin Concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and José Serebrier was nominated for two Grammy Awards, including one for "Best Soloist with Orchestra", and was also "Editor's Choice" of both the Gramophone and the Strad magazines. Other acclaimed recordings include his recording of Bernstein's Serenade and of Ned Rorem's Violin Concerto (Naxos 8.559278) with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under José Serebrier. He studied at Moscow's Special Music School for the Gifted with Andrei Korsakov and later in the U.S. earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy Delay.

Nancy Yunhwa Rao (theory) has degrees from National Taiwan Normal University and the University of Michigan, where she worked on the music of Schoenberg, Crawford, Babbitt, and Carter. She has delivered papers at many music theory conferences and has written numerous publications on 20th-century music, specializing in American music, Chinese composers and opera, post-tonal composition, and women in music.

Barbara Retzko (choral conducting) has directed the award-winning Ridge Chorale, Concert Choir, A Cappella Choir, and Madrigal singers of Basking Ridge High School. She has served as choral director at the International School of Düsseldorf in Germany, performing in the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany. She has served as guest conductor for the International Honor Choir in Switzerland, Independent School Choral Festival in North Carolina, New Jersey Region II Chorus, and New Jersey All-State Chorus. She received the Governor's Teacher Award for Teacher of the Year, 1998, and an Excellence in the Arts Award from Somerset County. She has traveled with the American Music Abroad RED tours in Europe.

Mike Richmond (jazz bass) holds a degree from Temple University. His bass method book, Modern Walking Bass Technique, is used by more than 300 school systems and universities. He is featured on more than 150 recordings and won the 1994 Teacher of the Year Award at New York University.

Matthew Riedel (composition, and music technology) received his M.A. degree from the University of California (Riverside) and his Ph.D. degree from Rutgers, where he was a student of Charles Wuorinen. He runs the electronic music lab and the IMLC online training system. His compositions include No Gas, Brasspiece, Californicate, Additive, Ambiance, Passing Tones, and Kiss the Shattered Glass.

Markus Rhoten (timpani) is principal timpanist for the New York Philharmonic. Born in Hanover, Germany, he attended the College of Arts in Berlin, then continued his studies as an apprentice with the National Opera Orchestra Mannheim. Subsequently, he was awarded a stipend for the Academy of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra in Munich, and in 2002 became principal timpanist of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. He has also worked with conductors Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Franz Welser-Möst, Thomas Daussgard, Paavo Järvi, and Mstislav Rostropovich, among others. Prior to this appointment, he was the principal timpanist of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, led by Eliahu Inbal.

John Rojak (trombone) has a degree from the Juilliard School. He joined the American Brass Quintet in 1991, touring internationally, recording, and teaching, with residencies at the Juilliard School and Aspen Music Festival. He is an original member of the orchestra for Broadway's Les Misérables and the New York Pops, as well as bass trombonist for the Orchestra of St. Lukes, Orpheus, Little Orchestra Society, and Solisti New York. He has recorded with the New York Chamber Symphony, St. Luke's, Orpheus, and Solisti New York.

Jim Rotondi (jazz trumpet) graduated from North Texas State University. While in Texas, Jim was awarded first place in the International Trumpet Guild's jazz trumpet competition for the year 1984. Following his college training, Jim began recording and touring internationally with the Ray Charles Orchestra and subsequently with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. During this time, Jim also became a member of organist Charles Earland's quintet. He currently tours with his own group, as well as with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Grammy-winner Toshiko Akiyoshi, and the collective known as One For All. Jim's extensive recording experience includes Destination Up for the Sharp Nine label, following the successful release of four CDs on the Criss Cross Jazz label. He can also be heard on several of Charles Earland's Highnote Records releases, alongside saxophonist Eric Alexander, with whom Jim made his recording debut on Eric's Delmark release Straight Up. Recordings that he's been involved with have received critical acclaim from Cadence, JazzTimes, and the Detroit Free Press.

 

Angela Anderson Smith (bassoon) has been a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1997. Her previous orchestra memberships include the San Jose Symphony, where she served as second bassoon, and the San Antonio Symphony, where she was assistant principal/second bassoon. Ms. Anderson frequently performs in the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Series, and is a member of the Network for New Music and the Conwell Woodwind Quintet, an ensemble made up of Temple University faculty members. Ms. Anderson has won prizes at such competitions as the Carmel and Coleman chamber music competitions; and she has participated in the Yale Summer School of Music and Art, the Music Academy of the West Summer Festival, and the Midsummer Mozart Festival, where she was second bassoon in the festival orchestra for two seasons. Currently a faculty member of the Esther Boyer College of Music at Temple University, Ms. Anderson has previously taught at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Santa Clara, and Southwest Texas State University. She graduated from the University of New Mexico with a bachelor of music in 1988 and received a master of music from the University of Southern California in 1991. Her teachers have included Artemus Edwards, Norman Herzberg, Dennis Michel, and Matthew Karr.

Timothy G. Smith (marching band and pep band) is finishing an M.M. degree in music education. His teaching experience includes work as field director and percussion instructor with several area high school band programs. He also coordinates the outreach efforts for athletic bands and the music department. He is an active member of the College Band Directors National Association.

Jonathan Spitz (cello) has established himself as one of the leading cellists in the New York area with his performances as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral principal. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Mr. Spitz has studied with David Soyer, Felix Galimir, Karen Tuttle, Mischa Schneider, Gerald Beal, and Robert Gardner. He has recorded for DG, Sony Classics, Telarc, Nonesuch, Delos, CRI, XLNT, and New World. He has been principal cellist of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 1991 and has performed extensively throughout the Americas and Europe. He is also a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and principal cellist of the American Ballet Theatre and the Bard Festival Orchestra.

George B. Stauffer (music history) is dean of Mason Gross School of the Arts and a professor of music history at Rutgers. He is known internationally as a scholar, writer, and performer who focuses on the music of J.S. Bach and the culture and music of the baroque era. He has contributed pieces to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Collier's Encyclopedia, Early Music, Bach-Jahrbuch, and numerous other publications. He is a former president of the American Bach Society. Before coming to Rutgers, Mr. Stauffer taught at City University of New York (Hunter College), where he was chair of the music department and the program in dance. He also has been on the faculties of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and Yeshiva University. Mr. Stauffer was educated at Dartmouth College, Bryn Mawr College, and Columbia University. He has held IREX, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and ACLS fellowships.

Mark Trautman (church music) studied piano at St. Mary's College of Maryland. He earned a bachelor's degree cum laude in organ performance from Towson University and a master's degree in church music from Westminster Choir College. Recently, he completed studies as a certificate student at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater International Summer Music Academie in Leipzig, Germany, under the direction of Jean-Claude Zehnder and Thomas Spacht. Since 1994, Mr. Trautman has served as director of music at Christ Church in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and as the artistic director and conductor of the Raritan Valley Choral Society.

Frederick Urrey (voice) has degrees from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria, and Louisiana State University. He is an internationally recognized tenor who performs in opera, oratorio, and concert in major halls and opera houses throughout North America and Europe. He records with Harmonia Mundi, Telefunken-Decca, Vox, Koch International, Newport Classic, BMG Classics, and Dorian.

Scott Whitener (conducting and brass instruments) trained at the Juilliard School, University of Michigan, and Rutgers. He is a specialist in the performance of music for wind and brass ensembles. Widely known for scholarly work in brass instruments, he is author of A Complete Guide to Brass: Instruments and Pedagogy, published by Schirmer Books.


 
For additional information, contact RU-info at 732/932-info (4636) or colonel.henry@rutgers.edu.
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