Regular Faculty - Week Two
PIANO
Sam Armstrong, Pianist, has performed across Europe, Asia and North America as recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist. He has performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (as part of New Masters Series), the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Korea and made his New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in January 2009, as winner of the Nadia Reisenberg Recital Award. He recently made his South American debut with performances of the Schumann Concerto with the National Symphony of Ecuador conducted by Emmanuel Siffert and will make his solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall in London in 2010 as an award winner of the Kirckman Concert Society.
His performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio, French Television, Radio Suisse-Romande/Espace 2, Radio New Zealand, Radiofusau Portugesa and WQXR New York. He also performed as concerto soloist with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra and the Orquestra Nacional do Porto in Portugal. He has been a top prizewinner in national and international competitions including the Beethoven Society of Europe Competition in London (2003) and the Porto International Piano Competition in Portugal (2004). He was also laureate of the Epinal International Piano Competition in France (2001) and was recently among the last six pianists in the prestigious Concours Clara Haskil (2007) in Switzerland.
Sam was invited to Ravinia's Steans Institute (Chicago) for two summers (2006 & 2007) and has also attended IMS Prussia Cove in Cornwall as a student and as a class pianist. He attended their Open Chamber Music Session this past September. Sam recently completed his studies at Mannes College of Music in New York where for four years he was the only student of Richard Goode. There he earned a Master's Degree and Professional Studies Diploma and was awarded the Newton Swift Piano Award upon graduation. He previously studied with Helen Krizos for several years in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music, and he also worked with John O’Conor in Dublin. He also performed in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Murray Perahia, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Stephen Hough and Mstislav Rostropovich. Sam is very grateful for invaluable support he has received from Aldeburgh Residencies, the Philharmonia Orchestra/ Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, MBF Music Education Fund, Mannes College, the Wingate Foundation and the Goldsmith Foundation.
Jan Deats, piano, was a scholarship student at Oberlin Conservatory and received her Master’s Degree from Southern Methodist University. She has been a student of Gyorgy Sandor, Alexander Uninsky and Menahem Pressler. She has performed for 30 years in The McCall Deats Duo, cello and piano. She is Chair of the Piano Department st the Rockland Conservatory of Music.
Lily Friedman, Music Director, piano, was a founding member of The New York Piano Trio, winner of Artists International Competition and awarded a debut performance at Carnegie’s Weill Hall. She has been a participant in the Marlboro Festival, the Orono,Maine Festival and has performed in a large variety of chamer ensembles throughout the metropolitan are and New England, as well as in France and the former Soviet Union. Among the more notable performances have been the entire Beethoven Sonatas for Piano and Violin with New York Philharmonic violinist Anna Rabinova, and the entire Beethoven oeuvre for piano and cello with Juilliard professor Andre Emelianoff. She is co-founder and Music Director of Summertrios, a chamber music organization which offers four one week residential programs to adult amateur musicians. It has served thousands of amateur musicians as well as having provided intensive training in chamber music for dozens of young professionals. She holds a Masters Degree from The Juilliard School where she was a student of Beveridge Webster and an ABD in the Doctoral Program at Teachers College of Columbia University. Independently, she studied with Irma Wolpe, and chamber music with Menahem Pressler, Arthur Balsam, Isidore Cohen, Rudolf Serkin, and Joseph Fuchs. She has been a performing participant in the Menahem Pressler Master Classes for the past 14 years.
Efi Hackmey, piano, has appeared in the United States and Europe, including concerts in Weill Recital hall at Carnegie Hall; Weiner Saal Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria; and Hochschule fur Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar, Germany. In his native Israel, Mr. Hackmey has performed at the Recanati Auditoriujm, Tel Aviv Musieum of Art; the Jerusalem Music Center; and in concerts presented by the Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society in Eilat. He was featured on Israeli TV Channel 2, the most popular TV channel in Israel, and on the "Voice of Music" channel of the israeli National Public Radio.
Mr. Hackmey is currently on the piano faculty at DePauw University School of Music in Indiana. He has taught at Indiana University Jacobs School of music as Associate instructor of piano and music theory. Mr. Hackmey received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees with distinction from Tel Aviv University. During his studies in Tel Aviv he won the second prize in the Tel Aviv University Piano Competition. He is currectly a doctoral candidate in piano performance at Indiana University. His main teachers were Menahem Pressler and Pnina Salzman. He also worked with renowned artists including Emmanuel Ax, Lazar Berman, Charles Rosen, Janos Starker, David Zinman and Jaime Laredo.
Denise Kahn, piano, studied at the Oberlin Conservatory and has a Master’s Degree from The Mannes College of Music. Her primary teachers include Bruce Hungerford, Murray Perahia, Edward Aldwell, and Sophia Rosoff. She maintains a very busy studio in Manhattan teaching mainly serious adult amateurs. She has a full program of activities for her students, including chamber music, performance workshops, Feldenkreis workshops and theme parties. A chapter in the book “Piano Lessons” by Noah Adams is devoted to Denise’s teaching. She was a founding member of the Cameo Trio and is a member of the faculty of The Mannes College of Music, Extension Division. Denise has enjoyed coaching at Summertrios for the last 16 years.
Max Pakhomov, piano, has toured England, Scotland, Austria and Estonia in both solo and chamber music performances. He is a founding member of The Bronx Chamber Players and is principal pianist of the Bronx Opera Company. His solo performances include piano concertos by Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, Brahms, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Grieg with the Orchestra of the Bronx, the Orchestra of The Barge Music Festival, the Staten Island Philharmonic. Maxim is a graduate of The Moscow Conservatory.
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VIOLIN
Philip Coonce, violin, holds a Doctorate from the Manhatan School where he was a student of Raphael Bronstein. He studied chamber music with Yehudi Menuhin, Nathan Milstein and Josef Gingold. He is Associate Concert Master of Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico and has been Concertmaster of the Spoleto Festival.
Esther Noh, violin, won the Audience Prize at the 2006 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition, First Prize in the 2004 Julius Stulberg International String Competition, and Second Prize in the 2009 Ima Hogg International Concerto Competition. She has soloed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony and the Danish National Philharmonic. As a chamber musician, she won first prize in the junior division of the 1994 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and has had residencies in Banff, the Smithsonian Museum and the Musicord Summer Festival. She was a member of the resident quartet for the University of Michigan Contemporary Ensemble. An active champion of improvised and alternative music, she has worked with John Zorn, Mark O’Connor and Edgar Meyer and given concerts at the Tonic Club and CBGB’s in New York City. Ms. Noh holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Michigan. She is currently pursuing a doctorate at SUNY, Stony Brook.
Linda Rosenthal, violinist, performs throughout North America, Europe and Asia in recitals, as a soloist and as a chamber musician. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Juneau Jazz & Classics, an annual festival that features world-renowned jazz and classical artists. She is also Artistic Director of the Lake Placid Chamber Music Seminar for Adults and Professor of Music at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, where she makes her home.
In addition to a busy schedule performing solo and chamber music, Ms. Rosenthal also tours Strings & Stories, a show for young audiences that was commissioned by and premiered at the Kennedy Center in 1995. Since then, Ms. Rosenthal and Los Angeles actor Bill Blush have performed the show annually for thousands of children in schools, libraries, and theaters throughout the United States.
Ms. Rosenthal has commissioned and premiered more than a dozen works, including pieces for solo violin, electric violin, violin and narrator, and Glacier Blue, a Concerto for Solo Violin and Big Band. Her three solo CDs feature the sonatas of Copland, Piston and Porter; favorite violin encores; and, Fiddle de Bop, a collection of Americana music for violin and piano.
Ms. Rosenthal plays on a violin made in Turin, Italy in 1772 by J. B. Guadagnini.
Yuval Waldman, violin, (also conductor) made his debut as a solo violinist at the age of 8. He gave his Carnegie Hall Debut in 1969 as winner of Jeunesses Musicales – Carnegie Hall International Competition. A graduate of The Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and The Juilliard School, he has performed worldwide as a violinist, conductor and chamber player. He is founding Music Director of the Madeira Bach Festival in Portugal and the Jefferson Music Festival at Kennedy Center; and principal conductor the New American Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded for Sony, Omega, Newport Classic and Angel Records.
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VIOLA
Andrew Knebel, viola, is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music/University of Hartford where he was a student of Steve Larson. He holds a double Bachelor’s Degree in Viola performance and Music Education. He was a member of the Honors Chamber Program at the Hartt School, “Performance 20/20”, a tuition-free, invitation only program. He has participated in Master Classes with John Largess (Miro String Quartet), Chauncey Patterdon (Miami String Quartet) and Heidi Castleman. Andrew is also a coach for the Young People’s Institute for Chmaber Music in Stamford, CT.
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CELLO
Lindy Clarke, cello is a graduate of The New England Conservatory. She is a founding member of the Claring Chamber Players and The New York Baroque Consort. She has been heard widely as a chamber musician and a soloist. She has been a member of the Orchestra of St.Luke’s since its inception in 1980 and performs with the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the Saratoga Chamber Players, the Opera Orchestra of New York, and, on Baroque cello, with the Grand Tour Orchestra. She has participated in music festivals at Caramoor, at Summertrios and with the North Country Chamber Players.
James J. Cooper III, cellist, attended The Curtis Institute of Music as a student of David Soyer and Peter Wiley. He is Principal cellist of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra as substitute cello. He also participates in the Philadelphia Chamber Music Series and the Post Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music cooncerts. He is principal cellist of The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra which has performed across Europe and in many South American countries. He has performed solo on the chamber music series at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Robert LaRue, cello, is a member, New York City Opera Orchestra at Lincoln Center. First Prize Winner, National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition (Mstislav Rostropovitch, jury chairman). Formerly, cellist of New England String Quartet: currently, member of Seraphim (contemporary music ensemble). Graduate of Curtis Institute, New England Conservatory, Juilliard School; also attended Indiana University School of Music. Teachers included Soyer, Greenhouse, Lesser, Starker, Tsutsumi, Parisot; chamber music with Mischa Schneider (Budapest Quartet), Felix Galimir, Menahem Pressler and Bernard Greenhouse (Beaux Artes Trio), Eugene Lehner (Kolisch Quartet), Rostislav Dubinsky (Borodin Quartet), Samuel Sanders.
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CLARINET
Larry Guy, clarinet, has been a busy clarinetist in New York for over 35 years. He has played with the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the Orchestra of St.Luke’s, Orpheus, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. For many years he was principal clarinet with the Long Island Philharmonic, the Joffrey Ballet, the Lake George Opera and the Queens Symphony Orchestra. Presently,he teaches at NYU, Vassar College, the Music Advancement Program at The Juilliard School, and the Pre-College Division at the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Guy was recently named Chair of Pedagogy for the International Clarinet Association. He is the author of 6 educational texts for clarinetists and has produced 3 educational CD’s on the playing of Daniel Bonade, Mitchell Lurie and Ralph McLane, three of the greatest players of the 20th century.
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BASSOON
Shotaro Mori, bassoon, originally from Fukuoka, Japan, completed his studies at Mannes College of Music where he received a full scholarhip and won First Prize in the Concerto Competition for woodwinds, brass and percussion. He has performed with such groups as the New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensembles, the Jupiter Symphony, the Haddonfield Symphony, the Cosmopolitan Symphony and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, he has performed with the Lyric Theatre Orchestra, the Korean Chamber Orchestra, One World Symphony and the Mannes Orchestra. He has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the Virgin Atlantic Holders Festival in Barbados, and the Asian Youth Orchestra in Hong-Kong. Shotaro is the bassoonist for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, for the Woodwind Five and for the West Side Winds.
Craig Vandewater, bassoon, studied at Stony Brook and Yale and his principal teacher was Arthur Weisberg. Since completing his doc orate at Stony Brook, he has taught at the University of Texas (El Paso), the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and the Ross School of East Hampton. He is the solo bassoonist of the Peconic Chamber Orchestra and the North Shore Pro Musica of Long Island. He is also a member of the Lancaster Festival Orchestra of Lancaster, Ohio.
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FLUTE
Linda Boyd, flute is a former member of the Houston Ballet Orchestra and the Texas Opera Theatre. She has performed regularly with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera, and in New York, with the New York Virtuosi, the Oratorio Society of Queens and the Lake George Opera.
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FRENCH HORN
Barbara Oldham, French horn, is a founding member of the Quintet of the Americas which has toured in over 300 cities and has performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in the American Music Week Series; in the Bermuda International Festival and many others here and in Latin America. Solo recitals have been at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and the American Landmark Festival. She has appeared in chamber music performances with the Marlboro Music Festival, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and many others. Her chamber music coaching includes the Quintet’s numerous residencies such as at Northwestern University, Austin Peay State University (TN), Hunter College, New York University and abroad in the Ukraine, the Republic of Georgia and Thailand. On the faculty of Brooklyn College and NYU, she is a graduate of Miami University in Ohio (B.M.) and Manhattan School of Music (M.M.) (Dean’s List). She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude. She has recorded on CRI, MSR,
New World, Newport Classics, MMC and private labels.
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OBOE
Lisa Kozenko, oboe, has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Nova Filarmonia of Portugal, the National Orchestra of New York, the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico; the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra. and this season with the Greenwich Village Orchestra. In 2001, she was a prizewinner of the 15th Louise D. McMahon International Music Competition. She has recorded on the Digital Concerto, Albany and Arabesque labels. She has 11 solo oboe and chamber music commissions to her credit. In 1999 her solo recording on the Arabesque label of Doubles by Judith Zaimont was named to Chamber Music America’s Century List of recordings. In 1997, Ms. Kozenko was awarded the Chamber Music America Heidi Castleman Award for excellence in chamber music teaching. As a member of the Manhattan Wind Quintet, she was a finalist in the 1994 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Chamber Music Competition and prizewinner of the Coleman, Fischoff, Monterey, Yellow Springs, and Chamber Music Chicago Competitions. Lisa Kozenko is the former principal oboist of the New York City Opera National Company and has appeared with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Currently, she is an Artist-Lecturer ar Moravian College and a member of the faculty of the Mannes College Preparatory and Extension Divisions and has served on the faculties of the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, Summertrios, and Eastern Music Festival.