Dale Stuckenbruck – Grammy-nominated artist, is immersed in the diverse musical life in New York as a soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician and teacher. His mentor of three decades was the great violinist Erick Friedman, with whom he has appeared as soloist in recording and in chamber music. He has performed as soloist/concertmaster with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Philharmonia Virtuosi, New York Virtuosi, New York String Ensemble, Tchaikovsky Chamber Orchestra, Taipei City Symphony Orchestra, Music at St. Ignatius, Dance Theater of Harlem, Queens Symphony, Masterworks, and the Long Island Philharmonic. He recorded the "Concerto for Violin and String Choir" for Opus One by Louis Pelosi, with Erick Friedman on Kultur Video, and for countless commercial recordings and films. Recognized as one of the premier artist of the musical saw, receiving international acclaim for "Sawing to New Heights", "Ancient Voices of Children" by George Crumb on Bridge Records, and for his performances of the "Divination by Mirrors" by Michael Levine with the New Century Chamber Orchestra and the New York Virtuosi. He has performed the saw in chamber music with Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and for the New York Philharmonic. As a mandolinist he has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, ABT, and with Paula Robison at the Metropolitan Museum and in a recording with her and the Charleston Symphony. He has been featured in Strings Magazine, Wuolgang Umak (Korea), Newsday, Sarasate (Japan) and the New York Times. He has been a guest lecturer for the Juilliard School of Music (musical saw and Baroque violin), and the Long Island Guitar Festival. He created the music for the films "Shadows" and "Fresh," featured at the Whitney Museum and the Israeli Museum. He and Heawon Kim are founders of unique string ensemble for young talent, Kammermusik, the ECO orchestra of the Waldorf School of Garden City, and the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra. He is the violinist the chamber groups L'Ensemble and the Pierrot Consort and in chamber ensembles such as the Clarion Concerts, Leaf Peeper Concerts, and at the Caramoor Festival. Since 1975 he has toured with Heawon Kim, pianist, in recitals in Asia, Europe and South America. Adjunct full professor at LIU since 1986. Music Director at the Waldorf School of Garden City since 2011. Faculty: Oyster Bay Music Festival and Songe d'Été en Musique. D.M.A. from MSM, 1984. www.violin-saw.com.
Veronica Salas, a native of Chile, has performed as a soloist with Mostly Mozart, Aspen Music Festival, USC Symphony, CW Post Orchestra, Colonial and New Jersey Festival Orchestra. Under the auspices of the State Department, she has given recitals and master classes in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Taiwan as well as touring the Greek Isles as violist of the Elysium String Quartet. Additional international venues include Japan with Mostly Mozart and New York Pops, Italy as principal violist of the Spoleto Festival and Europe with Barbra Streisand. She has performed chamber music with Yoyo Ma, Eric Friedman, Lawrence Dutton, Joseph Fuchs, and Stanley Drucker. Ms. Salas is a member of Pierrot Consort, Elysium Ensemble, Canta Libre, and Bronx Arts Ensemble. CDs include: Ge Gan-Ru String Quartets with Modern Works, which was chosen by The New York Times as a notable recording of 2009, a Virgil Thomson CD where Ms. Salas is featured, an all Mozart CD with Stanley Drucker, the Bach Brandenburg concerti featuring Lukas Foss and "Hobgoblinary" for viola and harpsichord written for her by Kenji Bunch and The Queens Chamber Band. Ms. Salas has performed at the White House as acting principal of the Eos Orchestra and is presently principal violist of American Composers Orchestra, Opera Orchestra of New York, and New Jersey Festival Orchestra. She is on the faculties of "Song D'ete en Musique" in Quebec, Long Island University, and Bennington Chamber Music Conference. Salas received her BMA, MMA, and DMA from the Juilliard School where she studied with Lillian Fuchs.
Maureen Hynes is Adjunct Professor of Cello and Director of Orchestral and String Studies at LIU Post. She is the conductor of the LIU Post Orchestra, the conductor and creator of the LIU Post String Ensemble, co-founder of the LIU Post Chamber Music Festival, and Director of the LIU Post Merriweather Consort, which specializes in Renaissance music.
Ms. Hynes enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, conductor and educator. She performs regularly with the American Ballet Theater, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Orchestra of New York, American Composers Orchestra, the Bard Festival Orchestra, New York Virtuosi, the Westchester Philharmonic and the Queens Symphony. She has also appeared with the Royal Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, at the Spoleto and Aspen Festivals, at the Lake George Opera Festival and with the Bard Festival Chamber Players. Her work in New York has also included substitute work in many Broadway shows and for the Radio City Christmas Show.
Her solo and chamber music appearances have included performances at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Kennedy Center, the New York Society for Ethical Culture and the Bayside Historical Society. A winner of the Concert Artist Guild Award with the Janus Ensemble, she is currently a member of the Pierrot Consort. She has performed in Europe, Canada, Ireland, Korea and Hong Kong both as cellist and on the viola da gamba.
In May of 2011, she conducted the LIU Post String Ensemble on its first European concert tour in Italy. Since the summer of 2011, she appears as soloist, chamber musician and faculty at Songe d'été en musique in Québec, Canada. In the spring of 2014, she performed as cello soloist with the LIU Post Chorus and conducted performances of the LIU Post String Ensemble on tour in Ireland.
She was also the creator and director of the LIU Post Pre-College Music Program. She has been guest conductor for the Nassau All-County Festival at Tilles Center, the SCMEA Festival, the Long Island String Festivals in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and the Area 1 All-State String Orchestra. She has conducted string sectional rehearsals at the Manhattan School of Music, including preparing the strings for the Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar. She is an adjudicator for Worldstrides Heritage Festivals.
In 2009, she received the Adjunct Faculty Recognition Award from LIU Post for her contributions to the Department of Music and in addition, she is listed in the Marquis "Who's Who of American Women." She is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music, where she received her B.M. and M.M. degrees. Ms. Hynes has given Cello Master Classes in Seoul, Korea and on Long Island and she has coached at the Mannes Pre-College Division. She has recorded for the Albany label. She recently conducted the Queens Symphony Orchestra as a finalist for the Music Director position. In the fall of 2015, she became a member of the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music where she teaches Introductory and Advanced Conducting classes.
She is a member of Chamber Music America, Early Music America, NAFME, the American String Teachers Association and the College Orchestra Directors Association.
Karen Hansen Gellert has been involved in many facets of music performance and education on Long Island. She received a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in Double Bass Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. The majority of her studies were with David Walter, who even today is a constant source of inspiration to her. Ms. Gellert performed at the Aspen Music Festival as well as the International School of Double Bass at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, working with such notable bassists as Barry Green, Paul Ellison and Francois Rabbath. Ms. Gellert has been a member of the Westchester Symphony, Queens Orchestral Society and the Nassau and Stamford Symphonies. As a freelance performer, she plays with the Long Island Choral Society and Mineola Choral Society, among others. Teaching music has been the focus of her career thus far. She is presently the Orchestra Director at Elwood-John Glenn High School, where most recently her students performed at Universal Studios as part of the Stars Performance Series. She has been the Lead Teacher for Music in the Elwood Public Schools. Most recently, she has presented seminars on approaches to teaching the Double Bass at Music Education Symposiums in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties. She is actively involved in organizations that propel excellent music programs. She is past president of the Long Island String Festival Association (LISFA). She was the Double Bass Instructor at the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts for 13 years. She is also past State Chair for the NYSSMA All-State Orchestras and is a frequent NYSSMA adjudicator and guest conductor for SCMEA and LISFA. Ms. Gellert is currently the adjunct professor of classical double bass, and on the music education faculty at LIU Post.
A proponent of new and classic, western and world percussion music, Frank Cassara has premiered countless works with as many diverse groups. As percussionist for the Philip Glass Ensemble, he has performed around the globe as well as recording Glass' music and film scores, most recently his work "Icarus". He has also performed internationally as a member of Steve Reich and Musicians and can be heard on his newest CD "WTC/911". Mr. Cassara took part in the monumental concert of Glass and Reich performing together at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, performing with both groups. As a member of the New Music Consort/PULSE Percussion Ensemble he has appeared at major festivals in the here and abroad, as well as premiering and recording new percussion ensemble works. He has toured extensively with Newband/Harry Partch Ensemble, performing and recording on Partch's original microtonal instruments and Dean Drummond's Zoomoozophone. He is also a member of Music from China, performing for their 30th anniversary at Carnegie Hall and the Freer Gallery in Washington DC. He has performed or recorded with groups as, Manhattan Marimba Quartet, Talujon Percussion Quartet, North/South Consonance, Ethos Percussion Group and Percussia. Principal percussionist of the Riverside Symphony, he has been principal of the Connecticut Grand Opera and a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He has also performed with many area orchestras such as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, and the Long Island Philharmonic. Frank Cassara has played for Broadway shows "On the Town", "Lion King", "42nd Street" and "Phantom of the Opera" among others, and can be heard on over 25 recordings and film scores, including his own newest release for jazz quartet titled "Apparition". He heads the percussion departments at LIU POST, Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, and Vassar College, and is an avid African gyil (Balifon) player. Frank Cassara is an Innovative Percussion Artist.
More information can be found on his website www.frankcassara.com.
Dr. James W. McRoy is currently Professor of Music and Director of Wind Studies at LIU Post. At Post, Dr. McRoy directs all aspects of the Wind Band Program, conducting the Wind Ensemble and Wind Symphony. Dr. McRoy also teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting classes and lessons, and teaches instrumental music education courses.
A native New Yorker, Dr. McRoy holds a doctoral degree in Instrumental Conducting from Ball State University in Indiana, and bachelors and masters degrees in Music Education from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY. He taught high school band in New York for ten years and for two years was the Associate Director of Bands at Ball State University. Dr. McRoy is also Past President of the New York State Band Directors Association.
Under his leadership and direction the wind band ensembles at LIU Post have performed by invitation at two New York State Music Conferences, and at Carnegie Hall. They have produced 25 CD/DVD recordings, sponsored thirteen regional band festivals, hosted multiple performance workshops, and commissioned and premiered seven original works for wind band. They have toured and performed to standing ovations in Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.
Dr. McRoy was the recipient of the 2012 David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching from Long Island University, and the 2009 New York Outstanding Band Director Award, chosen and presented by the New York State Band Directors Association. A much sought after conductor, clinician, speaker, and adjudicator, he has presented research at national and international forums, including state conferences and symposia. Dr. McRoy has guest conducted honor ensembles in many states throughout the United States, as well as extended engagements in Southeast Asia.
Dr. McRoy holds professional memberships in the National Association for Music Education, College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, College Music Society, New York State Association of College Music Programs, New York State Band Directors Association, Kappa Delta Pi, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Website: jamesmcroy.net
Jennifer Scott Miceli, Ph.D. is Director of Music Education and Vocal Jazz at LIU Post, where she also serves as Department Chair. Miceli maintains an active guest conducting schedule that includes established community ensembles as well as numerous state-division, all-county, and district-wide elementary and secondary choral festivals in the northeast corridor. Under her direction, Long Island Sound Vocal Jazz (LISVJ) has performed at the esteemed Montreux, Vienne, and Jazz á Juan Festivals; Teatro Compasa in Costa Rica; New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts; NYSSMA Winter Conference in Rochester, NY; and at the world famous Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan.
Currently serving as President of New York Association of College Music Programs, Miceli is a specialist in Edwin E. Gordon's Music Learning Theory and the Kodály approach. She presents statewide, divisional, national, and international courses and interest sessions involving standards-based music teaching and learning, assessment, teacher education, choral music education, and academic/community music partnership programs. Articles appear in Choral Cues, The School Music News, General Music Today, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Audea-The Official Publication of the Gordon Institute for Music Learning, JazzEd Magazine, and her chapter on measurement and evaluation is included in The School Choral Program (GIA, 2008). Her book entitled Skill Building Sequence for Choral Ensembles: Volume 1-Teacher's Guide for Children's Choirs, introduces a pedagogical sequence for music literacy (UPA, 2015).
Miceli is founding director of Belle Voci Intergenerational Women's Choir. This Long Island-based philanthropic treble ensemble includes lauded vocal music teachers and their students who sing to support cancer prevention and cure. Miceli's Audiation Sequence for Choral Ensembles featuring Belle Voci is included on the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) sponsored music teaching and learning DVD entitled Music Views. A flutist and a singer, she has performed in England, France, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and The Czech Republic.
Karla Moe has an active career as both an orchestral and chamber musician, frequently playing with the New York City Opera, the American Ballet Theatre, the American Symphony and its Bard Summer Festival, the Colonial and Westfield Symphonies, Long Island Philharmonic, and Principal Flutist of the New York Grand Opera, New Jersey State Opera and the St. Cecelia Orchestra. She has been Principal Flutist with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Musica Aeterna Chamber Orchestra which performed an acclaimed series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has played under such conductors as James Levine, Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, and was asked to play with the St. Petersburg Orchestra on their American tour. For the past several years, Karla has been the flutist with The Queen's Chamber Band, a Baroque ensemble.
An active educator, Karla has taught in the Music Advancement Program at Juilliard, and has played for the New York Philharmonic Education Programs. She is on the faculty of Nassau Community College and Long Island University - C.W. Post College, where she is also the Director of Woodwind Studies. Karla plays for many Broadway shows, including Lion King and Wicked, and can be heard on many recordings with the Queens Chamber Band, as well as television, numerous films and other classical albums. Ms. Moe studied with Harold Bennett of the Metropolitan Opera, Julius Baker, and performed in several master classes with Jean Pierre Rampal. A graduate of St. Olaf College in Minnesota, Ms. Moe received a Master's degree in performance from the Manhattan School of Music in NYC, where she also won First Place in the school's Annual Concerto Competition.
World-renowned pianist Jörg Demus often referred to her as "the silent giant" and "richly gifted." Since her studies at his home in Gastof, Austria, Stephanie D. Watt has become one of the most sought-after performers and teachers in the Long Island and metropolitan New York areas.
As a soloist and as a collaborative and chamber artist, she has performed with the Kennedy Center Chamber Players, the Long Island Philharmonic, the C.W. Post and West Islip Orchestras, Masterworks Choir, Atlantic Wind Symphony, Camerata Pro Musica of Hungary, Musica Mundi, DuoLeo, the highly acclaimed Musica Viva of New York and many others. Her performances have taken her throughout the United States, Argentina, Europe, Korea and North Africa.
She has toured Hungary and conducted master classes in the Sávár and Szombathely Music Conservatories and has performed with the Communidad de Palermo Symphony Orchestra with renowned Argentinean conductor Jaime Braude. She will be performing and conducting master classes in China in 2010 through their international cultural exchange arranged by Mr. Tate Chen. Her most recent CD recording of Allen Brings's "Duo for Cello & Piano" has been released on Capstone Records, and her biography has been published in the prestigious Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Women and Who's Who in the World.
She is the pianist for the Long Island Philharmonic and MasterWorks Choruses and concertizes regularly with these organizations as well as with the LeoDuo and Duo con Fuego. As an accomplished competitive ballroom dancer, Professor Watt performs and lectures frequently throughout the tri-state area with her partner, Barry Masten. She is professor of music and director of piano and theory studies at the C.W. Post Campus. Professor Watt served as chair of C.W. Post's Department of Music from 2007-2009.
