Music Faculty
Full-time Faculty
Matthew Halper, DMA
Matthew Halper has performed in leading venues such as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and live on Chicago Radio and Public Television. He received a Whitaker Reading Prize from the American Composers Orchestra. His String Quartet was awarded the Walsum Prize and premiered by principals of the National Symphony Orchestra. Recordings include his Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble (TROY821) which the American Record Guide lauded as “ambitious, ... lyrically dramatic, majestic and broadly American in flavor.” He has lectured on contemporary music, music technology and has had his works performed at conferences of the CMS, College Band Directors National Association, the Society of Composers, the National Flute Association, and at various institutions including the Juilliard School.
Lyn Schraer-Joiner
Lyn E. Schraer-Joiner is the Coordinator for Music Education and Assessment and is an Associate Professor at Kean University. Schraer is the author of the book Music for Children with Hearing Loss: A Resource for Parents and Teachers (Oxford University Press, 2014) and she is co- director for the Kean University/Community Access Unlimited Collaborative. Her research findings have been presented on both the national and international levels and published in journals such as Early Childhood Development and Care, The Music Educators Journal (MEJ), and Music Education Research Schraer taught instrumental, vocal, and general music, grades K-12 in the public schools of New York for five years and has taught on the undergraduate level for 18 years.
Thomas Connors
Assistant Professor
Dr. Thomas Connors joined the music faculty at Kean in 2000 as Director of Instrumental Music and Conducting Studies. He directs the University Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds and teaches conducting and several courses in the Music Education program. Since 2013 he has served as Coordinator of the Music Conservatory. Prior to coming to Kean he was the Associate Director of Bands and the Director of Athletic Bands at Kent State University. He also has ten years of experience as a director of bands in the Public Schools of New York and New Hampshire. He has served as an adjudicator and guest conductor of school bands in several states including New York, South Carolina, Florida And New Jersey where he was the guest conductor for the all-state band in 2009. In addition, he has served on the executive committees for the New Jersey Music Educators and the New Jersey Band Directors Association where he recently completed a term as Executive Director. Dr. Connors holds a Ph.D. in Music Education with and Emphasis in Conducting and Wind Band Literature from Florida State University, a M.M. in Conducting from the New England Conservatory, and B.M. degrees from Berklee College of Music in Composition and Music Education.
Dr. Rachel Carlson, Vocal and Choral Director
Dr. Rachel Carlson is the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Kean University in Union, NJ, where she conducts the Kean University Concert Choir, Treble Choir, and Community Chorale and teaches Aural Skills, Conducting, and Voice. From 2016-2022, she served as the Director of Choral Activities at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, and founded Six Degree Singers, a community choir based in Silver Spring, MD, in 2009. Dr. Carlson currently serves as Treble/SSA Resources & Repertoire Chair of the NJ chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and served as President of the MD/DC chapter from 2021-2023. She presents workshops and masterclasses in schools throughout the region and is in demand as a clinician, adjudicator, presenter, and guest conductor. She has been invited to lead honor choirs as a guest conductor in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware. In 2014, she was nominated for a Wammie (Washington Area Music Award) for best Classical Conductor/Director. Dr. Carlson has been published in the Choral Journal and has been invited to present her research at state, regional, and national ACDA, NCCO, NAfME, and CBDNA conferences.
Dr. Carlson has toured the country and the world as a freelance professional choral singer and soprano soloist with many top professional ensembles, including the Oregon Bach Festival, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Choir, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Vox Humana, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Washington Master Chorale, Washington Bach Consort, Conspirare, Manhattan Chorale, and Germany’s Bach Ensemble Helmuth Rilling.
Kean Private Studio Faculty
Faculty Bios
Pianists Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia performed at the Sarajevo Chamber Music Festival featured George Crumb’s dazzling Celestial Mechanics for amplified piano and other cutting-edge American works to international acclaim by Radio Sarajevo. In celebration of György Kurtág’s 90th birthday, DUO Stephanie and Saar is touring with “Hommage à J.S.B.”, a program that features Kurtág’s Játékok alongside selections from Bach’s Art of Fugue. Recent performances include Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365 with Musikkreis Horgen (Switzerland), PianoForte Salon Live on Chicago’s WFMT 98.7, Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation’s “Film Goes Classical: A 2 Piano Celebration of the Movies” at Miami’s Coral Gables Arts Cinema and a live concert on All Classical Portland. International Piano Magazine states, Highlights from their eclectic programming include a jazz-inspired concert at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center featuring the world premiere of Fantasia de Très Mundos by Cuban-American jazz pianist Martin Bejerano. The duo takes special pride in a performance at the residence of the United States Ambassador in Berlin, Germany, featuring works by Henry Martin (US), Avner Dorman (Israel) and Felix Mendelssohn.DUO Stephanie and Saar are the artistic directors of Makrokosmos Project, a new music festival in Portland, Oregon dedicated to American music and performances by Oregon-based performers and composers. While pursuing graduate studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Stephanie and Saar were inspired by Leon Fleisher to explore the Beethoven string quartets in a duo piano setting. Saar Ahuvia studied at Israel’s Tel Aviv Academy and Switzerland’s Schaufhausen Conservatory before coming to the United States to pursue a Graduate Performance Diploma with Leon Fleisher at Peabody Institute. Stephanie Ho obtained degrees from Oberlin College and Northwestern University. She received a Graduate Performance Diploma from Peabody Institute, under the direction of Julian Martin.
Beethoven Op. 59 No. 3 "Razumovsky" for piano four hands
Contact:
Guitarist Celil Refik Kaya
Since his concert debut at the age of 6, Turkish American guitarist and composer Celil Refik Kaya has received high promised accolades from an early age, being the youngest to win First Prize in the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, prizewinner of international guitar competitions from Europe and throughout the United States. In 2017 he was awarded Rising Young Musician of the Year by Donizetti Classical Music Awards in Istanbul and a prestigious fellowship from Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks. Dr. Kaya has performed in concert halls and festivals in Europe and the United States, giving solo performances at Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, The Frick Collection Museum in NYC, New York Guitar Seminar, Round Top Music Festival, Brevard Music Festival, Ankara International Music and many others. Additionally he appeared in numerous radio broadcasts and concert performances throughout the United States and Europe. Dr. Kaya’s first recording with Naxos Records, Jorge Morel Guitar Music, was critically acclaimed by American Record Guide as ‘just perfect- he doesn’t try to make the music more than it is, but he does realize the real heart in these pieces.” Kaya has also recorded works by Carlo Domeniconi, Agustín Barrios Mangoré and Joaquín Rodrigo. Celil Refik Kaya is poised to lead his generation as an artist in the tradition of his masters. He is currently Adjunct Professor of classical guitar at Kean University where he serves as Director of Guitar Studies.
http://www.celilrefikkaya.com/
Contact: ckaya@kean.edu
Guitarist Jayson Martinez is recognized as the first guitar major in the history of the prestigious Arts High School in Newark NJ, the nation's first high school of Visual and Performing Arts. This experience led him to attend New Jersey City University, where he earned degrees in Music Education (B.A.), Music Performance (M.Mus.), and Educational Supervision and Administration (M.EdLd.). As Director of Guitar Studies at his alma mater, Prof. Martinez has garnered countless educational awards, including Teacher of the Year 2018-19 and nominee for the GRAMMY Music Educator’s Award. Currently, Prof. Martinez also serves as the New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA)Chairman for Guitar Education, Director of the NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble, and National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Eastern Division Representative for the Council of Guitar Education. An established classical guitarist, Prof. Martinez served as the concertmaster for the renowned New York City Classical Guitar Orchestra for over a decade. In 2021, Prof. Martinez founded the New Jersey Guitar Orchestra (NJGO), where he also serves as conductor. Staying true to his roots, he also runs Tremolo Music Studio, where he teaches music education to aspiring musicians of all ages.
https://www.jaysonmartinez.org/
Contact: martijay@kean.edu
Guitarist Steven Sabet is a music teacher at the Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy where he teaches guitar and music technology. Dr. Sabet's teaching has earned him Teacher of the Year honors and he was an official nominee for Princeton’s Distinguished Teacher Award. He received a Doctorate in Music Education from Rutgers University and studied guitar at The Hartt School and Florida State University before becoming a teacher and performer. His doctoral research was published in the Journal of Popular Music Education. Sabet’s guitar work can be heard on several studio albums on platforms like Apple Music and Spotify. Dr. Sabet serves as concertmaster for the New Jersey Guitar Orchestra (NJGO).
Sabet and DohertyKinkachoo, I Love You by Philip Houghton played by Steven Sabet
Contact: ssabet@kean.edu
Conductor Warren Cohen
In addition to directing the Kean University Intergenerational Orchestra (Kean-NJIO), Conductor Warren Cohen holds positions as Artistic Director of the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra (since 2013) and Music Director of the MusicaNova Orchestra based in Phoenix Arizona (since 2003). He previously was music director of the Scottsdale Baroque Orchestra, the Fine Arts String Orchestra, and the Southern Arizona Orchestra, where he was appointed music director laureate in 2005. While MusicaNova Orchestra is a professional ensemble that specializes in unearthing unfairly neglected, suppressed, and new music, and has developed an international reputation through their recordings and videos, the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra is a place where amateur, semi-professional and professional musicians work together to play a wide variety of music at many different levels. The two organizations are united in their interest in furthering the musical possibilities and potential of those who may be left behind by more traditional classical music organizations.
Warren began his musical career as a pianist and composer. His early positions included a stint as a ballet accompanist for Honolulu City Ballet and as music director of the Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu, where his work in theatre and opera led to his becoming a conductor. He studied conducting with, among others, Gustav Meier and Paul Vermel. Over the past two decades he has conducted more than 1,000 orchestral, operatic, and choral works.
www.musicanovaaz.org
www.njio.org
Kean-NJIO
Contact: wcohen@kean.edu
Tenor Jin Hwan Byun recently performed Messiah and Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ as tenor soloist with Master’s Choral in Philadelphia. He also made strong performance with Korea National Choir and Ulsan civic Choir for Elijah and Messiah as tenor soloist in South Korea. He performed Duke in Rigoletto with Kean University in Concert Artist Series, Alfredo in La traviata with Opera Forth Collin, and Tenor Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem. He performed with Florida Grand Opera where he finished the Young Artist Program in Showcase as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Lippo in Street Scene, Nadir in Pearl Fishers and Don Carlo in Don Carlo. With the Florida Grand Opera, He made his main-stage début as Trin in La Fanciulla del West, Borsa in Rigoletto, and Remondado in Carmen. He also covered the Duke in Rigoletto and Tonio in La fille du régiment. He performed with other companies as well, as Alfredo in La Traviata with New Rochelle Opera, First Jew in Salome and Remendado in Carmen with Toledo Opera, Borsa in Rigoletto with Indianapolis Opera, and as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Nashville Opera. He received Performer’s Diploma in Professional Opera Studies from Indiana University where he was a recipient of Indiana University Music Merit Award and worked as a graduate assistant. His Bachelor of Music degree is in Voice Performance from the Seoul National University, College of Music, South Korea. He studies Choral Conducting(MM) with Dr. James John at Aaron Copland School of Music. He is currently Professor in Conservatory of Music in Kean University, Union, NJ and Lehman College at CUNY. Professor Byun is also close to finishing his doctoral degree in choral conducting at the University of Connecticut. He currently serves Bergen Oratorio Society as Music and Artistic Director in NJ and Queens College Vocal Ensemble and Queens College Choral Society as assistant.
Contact: jbyun@kean.edu
Bass-Baritone David Langan’s vast professional operatic repertoire spans many of the major bass-baritone roles, among them Mephistopheles in Faust, Sarastro & Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, Colline in La Bohème, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Alfonso Cosi Fan Tutte, Seneca in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Count Walter in Luisa Miller, and Lord Gualtiero Walton in I puritani. He has appeared as a principal singer in over 1,000 performances with major opera companies throughout North and Central America, as well as Europe. San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, On Site Opera, Washington National Opera, Vancouver Opera, Theater Hansestadt Lübeck, Osnabrück Stadttheater, Wolf Trap, Sarasota Opera, Opera Colorado, as well as the opera companies of Guatemala City, Dallas, Atlanta, Austin, Chautauqua and New Orleans, among others, have all been beneficiaries of Mr. Langan's work. He also appeared as the King in Verdi's Aida on the PBS Great Performance series opposite Plaçido Domingo. He has shared the stage as principal singer with many of today's finest performers including Renee Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Joyce DiDonato, Eric Owens, Mirella Freni, and Lawrence Brownlee. He also frequently appears more locally as a soloist and lead singer with Bergen County oratorio and symphonic orchestras as well as local bands performing covers of songs of Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra.
Among his faculty appointments were posts at Westminster Choir College, Indiana University and Shenandoah Conservatory. Mr. Langan grew up in Middletown, NJ, has vocal performance degrees from Rowan University (BA) and Indiana University (MM), and currently resides in Ridgewood, NJ. He is the father of 16 year old twins, Sophie (herself a performer at The Metropolitan Opera) and Jamie.
Email: dlangan@kean.edu
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@davidlangannj
Bass-Baritone Richard Hobson has performed throughout Europe and the United States with various symphonies and companies that include the Dallas Opera, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera Company. His roles have included Escamillo in Carmen, Rigoletto, Scarpia in Tosca, Enrico I Lucia di Lammermoor, and Porgy in Porgy and Bess. His awards include the Sullivan Foundation Career Grant, Metropolitan Guild National Council Auditions, Caruso Competition, Pavarotti Competition Dallas Opera Guild Career Grant, and the American Traditions Competition. He became an Concert Artist in 1998. Mr. Hobson earned a bachelor's degree from Hamline University, a master's degree from The University of Michigan and has completed the course work for a doctorate in vocal performance at North Texas State University. Mr. Hobson has taught applied voice, class voice, opera voice, opera choir, and German, French, Italian, Latin, and English diction for singers on the university level for the past sixteen years. He has taught at The Peabody Preparatory School, Morgan State University, The University of Central Arkansas, Ann Arundel Community College, and Westminster Choir College.
Contact: rhobson@kean.edu
Dramatic soprano, Julia Rolwing, DMA, has been hailed for both her lyricism and dramatic vocal thrust, in opera, oratorio, and recital. Her operatic roles have included Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre, Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) and Freia (Das Rheingold), the title roles of Verdi’s Aida, Puccini’s Tosca, Massenet’s Cendrillon, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and Elisabetta (Don Carlos), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Mozart’s Donna Anna and Countess Almaviva, Lady Billows (Albert Herring), the Mothers in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and the Straussian heroines Ariadne, Arabella, Chrysothemis and Elektra. Her varied concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Missa Solemnis, Requiems of Verdi and Duruflé, and the Dvorak and Rossini Stabat Maters. Julia holds top prizes from the Leiderkranz Foundation, the Wagner Societies of New York, Washington DC, Boston, and Northern California, the Kilpinen Foundation, Jüssi Björling Society, and many others. She is a member of NATS, Opera America, and the VoiceCare Network, and has held previous appointments at the University of Miami, Florida International University, New World School of the Arts, and Reynoldsburg Ohio City Schools. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Arts degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Ohio State University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Miami. Dr. Rolwing is on the faculties of Kean University and Montclair State University.
Die Walkuere Act I scene three
Verdi's Messa da Requiem - Movement II: Lacrymosa
Contact: jrolwing@kean.edu
Bass-Baritone William Amory is known for his range of repertoire, from Lied and Mélodie to operatic roles, comic and dramatic: His roles include Renato, Germont, Frank, Enrico, Don Alfonso, and he was heard as King in American Symphony Orchestra’s production of Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae under Leon Botstein. He made his European opera debut as Ford in the Britten-Verdi Aldeburgh Festival’s Falstaff under Steuart Bedford, and was then invited back by the Maestro to sing the role of Leporello. Mr. Amory performed as Eurymaque in Fauré’s Pénélope in Sydney and has toured Austria in recital. In San Francisco he appeared in a workshop production of Billy Budd as First Lieutenant under maestro Kent Nagano, and sang in the baritone section of the San Francisco Opera Chorus for six years under Maestro Ian Robertson. He has appeared as bass soloist in Messiah, The Creation, Brahms’ Requiem, and Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and in recital, having had the honor of working closely with composers Martin Halpern, Ernst Bacon and Matthew Owens in preparing and performing their works. Mr. Amory received his master’s degree in vocal performance at Montclair State University, studying voice with Professors Jeffrey Gall and Stephen Oosting. William Amory is a voice teacher on the faculty of both Montclair State University and Kean University.
Contact: wamory@kean.edu
Percussionist James Musto began performing on the drums for social events around the Jersey Shore at age 15. He studied jazz drums with Barry Altschul, Freddie Waits and Fred Buda of the Boston Pops. He has been an associate with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra percussion section since 1998 performing in a wide range of percussion roles. He has performed, toured and recorded with the New York Philharmonic, The Israel Philharmonic, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The American Symphony Orchestra and the New York City Opera under the batons of Lorin Maazel, Mistislav Rostropovich, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Mazur, Alan Gilbert, Sakari Oramo, Sir Colin Davis, George Manahan, and Hans Graf. He has been timpanist for several Symphony orchestras in New York , New Jersey and Connecticut, working under conductors such as Gustav Meier, and Vincent LaSelva. It was through Barry Altschul’s influence, that Mr. Musto began to study other percussion instruments, culminating in his graduating with a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. James Musto has been the director of percussion studies and the Percussion Ensemble at Kean since 1999.
Kean University Percussion Ensemble performs "Bonham" by Christopher Rouse
Kean University Percussion Ensemble
Contact: jmusto@kean.edu
Percussionist Jim Thoma has been an active freelance musician in the New York metropolitan region for over thirty-five years. Jim has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York, the New York City Opera Orchestra, the American Ballet Theater, as well as numerous other Ensembles in the area. He may be heard on Glimmerglass Opera’s Grammy nominated recordings of The Greater Good and The Mines of Sulpher. Jim has also performed in the Broadway productions of Mary Poppins, Woman in White, Gypsy and A Chorus Line. Jim performed as Principal Percussionist with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Principal Timpanist for the New York City Opera National Company, and Staff Timpanist/Percussionist with the Light Opera of Manhattan. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Jim received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where he was scholarship student of New York Philharmonic timpanist Saul Goodman. In addition to performing, Jim maintains Percussion Studios at Kean University, Muhlenberg College and Nassau Community College. He is the director of the Percussion Ensembles and Drum Circle at Muhlenberg and Nassau Community College.
Contact:
Dr. Thomas Boulton is a distinguished trumpeter and educator who has served as an Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at Kean University since 2018. He currently holds the position of Principal Trumpet with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, where his playing has been featured on numerous Naxos Classical recordings since 2015. An active performer, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony, and NOVUS NY of Trinity Wall Street, among many others in the northeast United States. His performances have reached over 200 million homes internationally through television broadcasts and numerous National Public Radio programs, captivating audiences in intimate settings, live stages, and music festivals with over 25,000 attendees.
As an educator and clinician, Dr. Boulton has presented masterclasses and workshops at schools and universities across the country and is a published author in the International Trumpet Guild Journal. During his tenure as a New York Philharmonic Teaching Artist, he taught orchestral music to over 2,000 students in New York City, inspiring the next generation of artists and creative thinkers.
Dr. Boulton holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University, a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music from Eastern Michigan University. His principal teachers were Kevin Cobb, Thomas V. Smith, Carter Eggers, and Michael Bowman. He has also received additional instruction from trumpeting icons, including Håkan Hardenberger, Thomas Stevens, Gabriele Cassone, Stephen Burns, Edward Carroll, Jim Ross, Mark Gould, David Krauss, Peter Bond, Brian McWhorter, Ray Mase, and Robert Sullivan.
Contact: tboulton@kean.edu
Website: www.thomasboulton.com
VIDEOS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJP-1s-OV4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUIBvAFw85I
Thomas Appert (Horn) holds a B.S. in Music Ed. from West Chester University, an M.A. in Music Ed. from New York University, and studied in the graduate division of the Juilliard School. His principal horn teachers were James Walck (St. Louis Symphony), John Simonelli (Philadelphia Orchestra), Ranier DeIntinis (New York Philharmonic), and Harry Berv (NBC Symphony).
Professor Appert has extensive teaching and conducting experience. He has taught in the public schools of Ridgewood and Summit, at Koinonia Academy in Plainfield, as an adjunct professor at the College of St. Elizabeth and the Pingry School. He currently teaches at Kean University and maintains a private brass studio in his home in Warren, NJ. He has conducted the Central Jersey High School Orchestra, the Summit High School Orchestra, and assisted with the Summit High School Marching Band (“The Pride of Summit”). Professor Appert was the founder and director of the Koinonia Academy Concert Choir, an 80 voice ensemble made up of every student in the high school. Under his direction, the choir performed in Poland, Canada and the Eastern U.S. He has also coached and conducted at the New Jersey Youth Symphony and the Youth Symphony Orchestra Camp for many years.
Professor Appert served as Principal Horn in the Air Force Band of the Mid-Atlantic and performed with many freelance and community ensembles in New Jersey, including Masterwork Brass Quintet, Colonial Symphony, Somerset Hills Symphony, Chamber Symphony of New Jersey.
Courses: MUS1050 - Music Fundamentals; MUS3671 - French Horn.
Email: appertt@kean.edu
Lisa Hansen is an acclaimed flutist whose playing has been praised by The New York Times as "irresistibly lyrical." A graduate of The Juilliard School, she was featured in the EMMY award-winning CBS TV documentary: “Juilliard & Beyond - A Life in Music.” Winner of The New York Flute Club Competition, Ms. Hansen has performed throughout the US, Latin America, and Europe. Her solo recordings have received critical praise and honors, including a selection as one of Fanfare Magazine's "Best of the Year" picks. Formerly principal flutist of the Mexico City Philharmonic, Ms. Hansen is solo flutist with the GRAMMY nominated North/South Consonance ensemble, with which she has performed and recorded numerous world premieres. Ms. Hansen is principal flutist of New York Scandia Symphony, with whom she frequently performs as featured soloist, and a member of All Seasons Chamber Players, a leading New York area ensemble. Ms. Hansen is on the faculty of Kean University Conservatory where she teaches flute and chamber music.
Contact: lhansen@kean.edu
Flutist Jill Sokol’s varied freelance schedule includes the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, and Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and she has shared the stage with popular musicians Josh Groban and Natalie Merchant. She is Second Flutist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. A strong advocate of new music, Ms. Sokol has performed with the Locrian Chamber Players, Argento Chamber Ensemble, and SEM Ensembles. Previous affiliations include the Dicapo Opera Theatre, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, as well as the New Haven, Westchester, and Albany Symphonies. In May 2004, she gave her solo debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall as winner of the Artist International Competition. As a chamber musician she has performed at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival, and has led several ensembles of her own. She received her Master’s degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and her Bachelor’s degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Ms. Sokol completed her Doctorate degree at Stony Brook University, under the tutelage of Carol Wincenc. Ms. Sokol is an Adjunct Professor at Kean University and has served as an Instructor at the Skidmore College Summer Flute Institute. She also maintains a private teaching studio. Passionate about educational outreach, Ms. Sokol has taught for the Composers of the Future program sponsored by the Westchester Chamber Orchestra. She has given instrument demonstrations as part of the New York Philharmonic Young Composers Program and for the American Composers Orchestra.
Contact: jsokol@kean.edu
Oboist Lynne Cohen plays both Oboe and English Horn at Les Miserables, her 10th Broadway show as a regular player. She has subbed on myriad others and has done a great deal of Summer Theater and is an active Tri-State area freelancer. Among her contracted orchestra affiliations are Principal Oboe of the Riverside Sinfonia in Lambertville and a section member of the Bethlehem Bach Orchestra. Lynne enjoyed a four year residency in Europe where she played in the Chamber Orchestra of Geneva and the Hofer Sinfoniker in Germany. Ms. Cohen maintains a busy teaching studio in her home in Chatham, NJ, where she resides with her husband, Constantine Kitsopoulos, a conductor and music director. They have two children, Yahn and Antonia. Lynne’s most recent passion is learning to play the bagpipes. Lynne was educated at Juilliard Pre-College and Boston University and studied with Lois Wann and John Holmes. Before coming to NY in 1993, Ms. Cohen served as Principal Oboe of the Palm Beach Symphony, Opera and Ballet and Second Oboe and English Horn in the Philharmonic of Florida and the Greater Miami Opera. During that time she taught at Florida International University and New World School for the Arts. Ms. Cohen is on the faculty of Kean University, where her duties have included teaching Theory I and II, Fundamentals of Music, Woodwind Methods, Pedagogy, Music Survey and Oboe.
Contact: lcohen@kean.edu
Clarinetist Kenneth Ellison has performed internationally with ensembles including the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, the Riverside Symphonia, the Greenville Symphony and the American Fine Arts Festival. He has played under conductors like Andrea Quinn, John Rutter, Frederick Fennell and Rossen Milanov at venues that include Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, NJPAC and the Liszt School of Music. Kenneth has performed with Tony nominee, Veanne Cox and on the “Food for Thought” programs, starring Drama Desk nominee Michael Winther.His recorded work includes the soundtrack of the documentary “Bad Hair Life” (Darren Gage, composer), as well as Grammy nominee Laurie Altman’s CD “On Course”. He performs regularly with the Chelsea Opera Company, New Jersey Arts Collective, The Danzon Trio and Tripleplay Winds, and is a founding member of trio@play. Kenneth holds degrees from Furman University and Arizona State University. He is on the Master Faculty at Westminster Conservatory and is an Artist-in-Residence at the Joshua Tree School.
Contact: kennet6e@kean.edu
Bassoonist Andrea Herr’s orchestral engagements have included performances with the Little Orchestra Society, New York City Opera, the New Jersey Symphony and the American Symphony. Professor Herr held Principal Bassoon positions in Spain with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia and Opera Teatro Galicia. Noted performances include the American Premiere of Prima Dona by Rufus Wainwright and Premieres of new chamber music works by Lalo Schifrin, Joan Tower and Keith Jarrett. Additionally, Ms. Herr has played for many New York Broadway productions, the Lincoln Center Festival, Paris Opera Ballet, Bach Aria Festival and the Bronx Arts Ensemble. Recently, she traveled to India with members of the Metropolitan Opera to perform with Music for Life International. She has recorded for PBS Television, Radio Nacional Espana, Pantheon Records and for numerous television and radio commercials. Herr received her Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory, Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music and Professional Studies at the Juilliard School. Professor of Bassoon at Kean University since 2003, Ms. Herr has also taught and given master classes at Drew University, William Paterson University, New Jersey City University and Juilliard Pre-College.
Contact: aherr@kean.edu
Violinist Katherine Swierczewska-Roselli began playing the violin at age 6 while living in her native country, Poland. After moving to the United States at age 16, she played in high school and university orchestras, studied international business, earned her MBA, and then worked on Wall Street. While working full time, Katherine pursued her music studies at Mannes College of Music under the direction of Barbara Krakauer. At that time, she performed in orchestra concerts semi-annually and participated in summer camps affiliated with the Paris Conservatory of Music in Aix-en-Provence, France. But after the events of September 11, 2001, she decided that life was too short. Katherine believed that she should be doing something that she loves and began sharing her passion of music with children. Within one year, she earned her teaching certification in music at Kean University where she studied under Sharon Roffman. Today, Katherine teaches stringed instruments at Toms River Intermediate North. She has also played with the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra and the Garden State Philharmonic. To fulfill her lifelong goal to encourage and inspire young musicians, she established the Toms River String camp where young performers complete an intensive week of studying and practicing with worldwide performers. Additionally, she leads the Kean Preparatory Symphony Orchestra where high school students earn college credit for participating in an intense college level orchestra class. By dedicating her time, Katherine has helped children to explore and appreciate the world of music.
Contact: swierczk@kean.edu
Cellist Susannah Chapman is well-established as a chamber musician, soloist, contemporary music interpreter, and performer in leading chamber orchestras. She performed the 2012-13 season with the New York Philharmonic, has played principal cello in Helmuth Rilling’s Oregon Bach Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, is a former member of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and currently performs regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In past seasons with Orpheus she has toured Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, Japan, appeared in Carnegie Hall, and performed on their European chamber music tour. Premiering new works by many of America's leading composers, Ms. Chapman has performed with the Bang-on-a-Can All-Stars, and is a member of Cygnus, a contemporary music sextet with its own series at Merkin Hall, and residencies at both Sarah Lawrence College and City University of New York. Ms. Chapman has appeared at Jacob's Pillow as a soloist with the Mark Morris Dance Company in works designed for and premiered by Yo-Yo Ma. She has traveled to Australia with Bang-on-a-Can All-Stars to perform contemporary concertos in the Sydney Opera House as part of the Olympic Arts Festival. Ms. Chapman has spent several summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, performing with such artists as Midori, Samuel Rhodes, and Isidore Cohen. With Musicians from Marlboro she has toured nationally. Her chamber music performances with other New York groups have been heard at the 92nd Street Y, BargeMusic, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, the Metropolitan Museum, on NHK Television, and on WNYC. Ms. Chapman holds a Doctorate of Music from SUNY Stony Brook, and is the cello instructor at Kean University, Princeton University, Rutgers University Extension Division, and the Brevard Music Center.
Michelle Tolentino
Kean-NJIO Orchestra Manager
Michelle Tolentino joined the music staff at Kean University in 2022. She holds a BA in Music Therapy from Montclair State University, with a concentration in piano, and an MS in Occupational Therapy from Seton Hall University. Michelle studied the oboe with Humbert Lucarelli. She works as a freelance oboist in the tri-state area and is a Keyleaves artist. In addition to managing the orchestra at Kean, she currently works for Jazz at Lincoln Center and manages the educational program Let Freedom Swing.
Fun Kean Fact: 1998 Cougar Baseball Hall of Fame recipient Rich Stroka is Michelle’s brother-in-law.
Contact: Mitolent@kean.edu
Kean-NJIO Orchestra: https://sites.google.com/kean.edu/orchestra/home
Keyleaves: https://keyleaves.com/pages/michelle-tolentino
Edison Pereyra is a Dominican-American classical guitarist from New York/New Jersey, United States. He has been performing music for over a decade and has appeared throughout much of the United States, The Caribbean, and Europe. He earned his bachelor’s degree from New Jersey City University in 2018 and pursued his master’s degree from The New England Conservatory of Music, graduating in the Spring of 2020. Edison is now a doctoral candidate at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. He has performed and studied with world-famous guitarist João Luiz (member of the Brasil Guitar Duo), performed in Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and has been featured on Guitar Salon International (GSI). Edison is also a member of The Meridian Duo and The New Jersey Guitar Orchestra.
Contact: pereyred@kean.edu
Website: https://www.edisonpereyra.com
Dr. Alexander Bui is a Vietnamese-American concert pianist who has performed worldwide in numerous venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, NBC Studios of Los Angeles and Borgata Resort & Spa Casino. A music review from the Press of Atlantic City writes, “Bui produced a continuous singing tone that filled the hall with beauty, refinement and a maturity that belied his young years.”
In addition to his solo career at teaching at Kean University, Dr. Bui is an assistant adjunct professor (Music) at Rider University, the founder of his award winning chamber music ensemble, “The Raritan Trio,” a certified Steinway Teacher & Education Partner, the Piano Teacher at Rutgers Preparatory School, the Music Minister of Spotswood Reformed Church and a piano accompanist freelancer of New York and New Jersey. Alexander’s mission is to enlighten audiences of the beauty, excitement and enduring quality of the great classical composers through his performances.
Graduating from Manhattan School of Music with a Master of Music (2018) and a Bachelor of Music (2016) in classical piano, Alexander recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at Mason Gross School of the Arts – Rutgers University in August 2022.
Award highlights include semi-finalist on “America’s Got Talent” and 1 st prizes in: Charleston International Music Competition, Rutgers Concerto Competition, Rutgers Chamber Music Competition, Manhattan School of Music Chamber Music Competition, and Esther C. Weill Music Competition.
Contact: abui@kean.edu
www.youtube.com/Alexanderbuipianist
Harmony Chau is a Montclair State University alumna with a Bachelor of Music Education. She is a certified NJ music teacher, gigs locally as a keyboardist for the musical theatre community, plays liturgical music as a church organist, accompanies for schools and performances regularly, and is an aspiring jazz pianist. During her classical piano training, she studied under the tutelage of Crystl Baltazar, Youn-Hee Kim, & Allison Franzetti. Some of Harmony’s past performances include playing Keyboard 2 for Wedding Singer the musical with Exit 82 Theatre Company, music directing a small-group performance of Highlights from Frozen the musical for kids aged 7-11 with All Children’s Theatre, and accompanying regional elementary to high school choirs for their concerts. A more recent pandemic accomplishment she’s proud of is being a “hands pianist” for the indie film Cici’s Sonata. In her spare time, Harmony enjoys delving into creative writing as a singer-songwriter and illustrating an educational children’s book series about music.
Contact: hchau@kean.edu
Jerry Bryant has enjoyed a rich career that spans continents and genres. Serving seven years with the United States Navy Band, Bryant honed his craft while touring the world, representing his country through music. In addition to his military service, he is a member of the New York City Opera Orchestra and serves as Principal Trumpet at The Glimmerglass Festival, as well as with the Princeton and Greenwich symphonies. Bryant's virtuosity has graced renowned stages across the United States, including performances with The Metropolitan Opera, The National Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and Jacksonville Symphony, among others. Jerry is fixture on Broadway, where he has been a long running member of the Radio City Orchestra and has contributed to iconic productions such as Wicked the Musical, Beauty and the Beast, The King and I, South Pacific, Camelot, and My Fair Lady.
Website: www.jerrybryant.net
Contact: jebryant@kean.edu
David Bennett Thomas (b. 1969) is a prolific composer who has composed music for chamber groups, soloists, and choruses around the world. He is also active performing and recording in the jazz realm. Thomas has received commissions, grants, and awards from organizations to release many albums of both classical and jazz music. Thomas also has an active life on YouTube, where his music theory videos and composition videos have millions of views. Thomas is on the faculty at Kean University and Temple University, where he teaches composition and theory. For more information, please visit www.davidbthomas.com
Contact: davidth@kean.edu
TJ Rubin is a composer and music educator who tells stories onstage that reflect the wide variety of queer experiences and narratives the world holds. TJ’s music lives at the intersection of opera and musical theatre, with melodies that are “torquing, and probing, quizzical and wonderstruck” (San Francisco Classical Voice). His works include Ten Minutes in the Life or Death of… (libretto by Marella Martin Koch), How To Create A Young Girl (book and lyrics by Laura Barati), Back to the Shore: A Jersey Short Opera (libretto by Mika Kauffman) and Nightlife (libretto by Deepali Gupta), which premiered at the Stonewall Inn as part of a collaboration between NYU and American Opera Projects for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. His compositions have been performed at Opera America, West Edge Opera, Lowbrow Opera Collective, St. Luke’s Theatre, Don’t Tell Mama, New York University, and more. TJ obtained his M.F.A. in musical theatre writing from NYU/Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and his B.M. in music theory/composition with a concentration in clarinet from Montclair State University. Alongside Sam Helfrich, TJ co-directed the AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab for the 2021-2022 season as a sabbatical replacement and continued as production manager. TJ currently teaches Sight Singing and Ear Training at Kean University; Music Theory, Aural Skills, The History of Broadway, New Works: Musical Theatre Workshop, and private composition lessons at Montclair State University; and Woodwind Methods at William Paterson University. TJ is a composer in the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop.
Contact: trubin@kean.edu
Video samples: "Teeth", The Green Room 42
Nightlife (excerpt), Opera America
Brian Glassman Double Bass, Bass Guitar- acoustic/electric Brian is a master of many musical genres: Classical, Rock, Latin, R&B, Cabaret and is renowned for his work in Jazz and the world music genre known as Klezmer. Klezmer / Yiddish and Jewish music stars such as The Klezmatics, Andy Statman, Frank London, Alicia Svigals, Michael Alpert, Greg Wall, Adrienne Cooper, Joanne Borts, Neshama Carlebach, The National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene all call upon Brian for his unique expertise in this musical style. He has also performed with many legendary stars of Jazz like Paquito di 'Rivera, John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Lionel Hampton, Benny Golson, James Moody, Gary Burton, Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, Larry Coryell and Popular American Song Book artists including Liza Minnelli, Margaret Whiting, Michael Feinstein, and Anne Hampton Callaway, and Stephen Schwartz. Brian has performed nation wide and throughout the world and on six different tours as an honored Musical Ambassador for The U.S. Dept. of State.
Contact: glassmbr@kean.edu