Executive Director of the Stony Brook Community Music Program
mhershkowitz@sbcmp.org
A lifelong musician, Michael has a diverse background including education, marketing, publicity, graphic design, arts administration, stage management and artist relations. After graduating from James Madison University with a degree in Music Education, he taught in public schools for many years. After Michael completed his Masters Degree in Music at Stony Brook University and made the move into the business world as a Marketing Associate for Connolly and Co., an orchestral products company, and later as the Artist Relations Manager for Thomastik-Infeld strings, Vienna, signing such clients as Glen Dicterow, the Shanghai Quartet and Hilary Hahn.
In 2006 Michael began his work in the Music Department at Stony Brook University first as the Concert Manager. A few months later he was hired as the Interim Director of the then Pre-College and Community Music Program, and later was promoted to his current position where he oversees concert production, community outreach, publicity and the expansion of the new Stony Brook Community Music Program.
In addition to his work at Stony Brook, Michael maintains an active schedule of trombone performance and private instruction. In 2004 he founded the Long Island Symphonic Winds, a wind ensemble dedicated to the performance of original, contemporary composition. Michael lives on Long Island with his wife Shoshana, a choral director.
Dorothea Cook, Director of Children's and Adult Programs
A native of Seattle, Washington, Dorothea Cook (”Deede” to her friends) majored in performance at the University of Washington where she studied violin with Vilem Sokol and Emanuel Zetlin.
In 1991 Deede moved to Long Island to be with her husband, Peter Winkler, where she taught privately and completed a multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree in music and psychology at Stony Brook University. Her studies included jazz improvisation with Todd Coolman and continuo realization with Arthur Haas. Her search for a holistic approach to music education led her to the pedagogy of Emile-Jacques Dalcroze, which she studied in New York City at the Dalcroze School of America and the Diller-Quaile School of Music, working with Robert Abramson, Ruth Alperson, and Anne Farber. She has taught Dalcroze Eurythmics at the Lucy Moses School of Music and Dance, the Stony Brook Summer Music Festival, the Diller-Quaile School of Music, and is director of the Music Basics for Kids program at Stony Brook University.In addition to her teaching activities, Deede plays Baroque violin and viola in period music ensembles, including the Stony Brook Baroque Players, and performs with the violin/piano duo Silken Rags with her husband, Peter Winkler.
Rachel Neway, Children's Choir Director
Rachel Neway is thrilled to be conducting the children’s choir for its second year in the Community Music Program. She received her Bachelors Degree in music education from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, with concentrations in voice and music in special education. Since graduating in 2006, she has completed three levels of certification in Orff-Schulwerk from Hofstra University, as well as a Masters in Music Education from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Rachel has taught elementary music as well as high school chorus in the Commack School District, where it was a delight to work with singers of all ages. She currently teaches middle school choir and vocal lessons in the Half Hollow Hills School District.
Katherine Hasard, Assistant Director, Pre-College Division
Katherine Hasard has been involved in community music programs throughout her educational career. As private lesson instructor, orchestral section coach, music librarian and administrative assistant, she has enjoyed facilitating the musical growth of young performers-in-training with the Supervised Student Teaching Program at Oberlin and the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras. She holds a B.Mus. in Trombone Performance (minor: Musicology) from the Oberlin Conservatory and an M.M. from Stony Brook University. She is currently pursuing her D.M.A. at Stony Brook University with Michael Powell of the American Brass Quintet, where she is the Teaching Assistant for undergraduate trombone instruction and assists in administration of the Pre-College Division of the Stony Brook Community Music Program.
JongEun Lee, Graduate Assistant
JongEun was first introduced to chamber music at the age of 13 when she enrolled The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division as a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. Since then, she has been performing chamber music extensively in North America, Korea, and Europe. JongEun has also been actively involved in Outreach Programs, performing in hospitals, retirement homes, museums, and schools in the New York area, Korea and Europe. JongEun holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Juilliard, a Masters from both the Sibelius Academy in Finland and Hannover Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Germany, and an Artist Diploma from Yale University. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral degree at Stony Brook University under Soovin Kim and Philip Setzer.
Adam Meyer, viola
Head Chamber Coach, Violin/Viola Studio Lead Teacher
Artist-in-Residence (with Bryant Park Quartet)
Adam Meyer is the founding violist of the Bryant Park Quartet, based in New York City. In addition to his work with the Bryant Park Quartet, Adam has performed chamber music with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, David Finckel, Ronald Leonard, Merry Peckham, and Rohan DeSilva. A dedicated teacher, Adam is on faculty at the Stony Brook University Pre-College Program, the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, and is faculty and co-founder of a summer chamber music camp for elementary students in his hometown of Des Moines. His strong belief in community and school outreach has led to frequent collaborations with "New Performing Arts" in Kentucky to present chamber music in underserved public schools as part of rural residencies throughout the state. In addition to his work as a violist, Adam serves as the Program and Development Manager for The Perlman Music Program, a non-profit organization he has been involved with since 2003. Adam holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, and The Juilliard School, and is currently finishing his Doctorate of Music Arts degree at Stony Brook University. His teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Kathy Murdock, Peter Slowik, and Hsin-Yun Huang.
Tomoko Fujita, cello
Cello Studio Lead Teacher
Artist-in-Residence (with Bryant Park Quartet)
Tomoko Fujita is the founding cellist of the Bryant Park Quartet and a musician of wide-ranging interests. Tomoko has presented solo and chamber music recitals at many venues including the Staller Center for the Arts, Alice Tully and Paul Recital Halls of Lincoln Center, the Kosciusko Foundation, and Duncan Recital Hall. An award-winner as a Tanglewood Music Center fellow, she was also a member of the New Fromm Players, Tanglewood's contemporary music ensemble-in-residence. Tomoko has recently performed baroque cello in the Boston Early Music Festival and the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts series. In addition to teaching at the Stony Brook University Pre-College Program and the Port Jefferson Music Academy , and maintaining a private studio, she has served on the faculty of the Zephyr International Chamber Music Course and Festival in Courmayeur , Italy. Tomoko graduated summa cum laude from Rice University with a double degree: a B.M. in cello performance as a student of Norman Fischer; and a B.A. in psychology. She earned a M.M. at The Juilliard School while studying with Joel Krosnick and Darrett Adkins. She is currently working with Colin Carr in the D.M.A. program at Stony Brook University.
Kevin Kwan Loucks, piano
Piano Studio Lead Teacher
Mr. Loucks has participated in artistic residencies at the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival in California, and the Moulin d’Andé in Normandy, France. In 2009, he participated in the Montreal Chamber Music Festival where he gave the Canadian premiere of Matthew Hindson’s Maralinga for violin and piano with Lara St. John. He also attended programs at the Aspen Music Festival, Music@Menlo, The Banff Centre, and the Gijón International Piano Festival in Spain. A graduate of The Juilliard School and the University of California, Irvine, Mr. Loucks is currently a candidate of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he is assistant of graduate chamber music, and piano faculty head of the Pre-College division. His teachers include Julian Martin, Nina Scolnik, and Christina Dahl. For more information, please visit www.kevinloucks.com.
Phil Salathé is a composer, musician, teacher, and writer. His music has been performed in the United States and Europe, and ranges widely in scale and scope, from miniatures for solo instruments (Eight Pieces for Piano), to multi-movement compositions for large ensembles (Divisions for soprano saxophone and chamber orchestra). His recent works include several pieces written specifically for younger musicians (Islands for guitar orchestra, A Canon in Dorian Mode for string orchestra). He has penned articles and reviews for the Hartford Courant and Masstransfer magazine, among other publications, and recently contributed several musical analyses to an upcoming book about Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd.
Born in Japan, Mario Gotoh has appeared as soloist with orchestras since the age of 12, performing the violin concertos and compositions of Bach, Barber, Dvorak, Glazunov, Mendelssohn, Sarasate, Sibelius, and Vivaldi, amongst other solo appearances. She has been concertmaster of numerous orchestras and a recipient of fellowships and awards from the Banff Centre, Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Harvard Music Association, NFAA National ARTS Week, Philharmonic Society of Arlington. She has been awarded First Place in numerous solo and chamber music competitions. Her performances have been broadcast on NPR, CBC, PBS Television, and radio stations across North America, Europe and Asia. She has organized and performed numerous outreach concerts for schools, hospitals, and retirement communities throughout North America to promote music and music education.
Ms. Gotoh equally performs on the viola and is currently a double-degree candidate in the Doctor of Music Arts programs of violin and viola performance under the guidance of Philippe Graffin, Pamela Frank, Lawrence Dutton and Philip Setzer. She is an avid performer of early music on baroque violin, having performed and studied with Paul O'Dette and Monica Huggett. She holds a Bachelor of Music and Performance Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master of Music from State University of New York at Stony Brook. She has studied chamber music with the Takacs, Brentano, St. Lawrence, Petersen, and Ying String Quartets.
Devoted to teaching, Ms. Gotoh is the violin teacher for undergraduate students at SUNY Stony Brook where she has also previously taught introductory music history courses in the classroom. She has taught young students in chamber music and violin studies at the Music Academy of the West Merit Program, and currently teaches chamber music in the Stony Brook Precollege Program. She has maintained a private studio of violin and viola students throughout her studies.
Canadian pianist Andrea Christie is a versatile performing artist with a passion for late-romantic Russian works and contemporary compositions. She is currently a member of ‘Mimesis’ Ensemble, a New York City based contemporary music ensemble dedicated to performing works by living composers. In summer 2008 Ms. Christie completed a residency as a Piano Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she collaborated with the Mark Morris Dance Group and performed in the Festival of Contemporary Music: Elliott Carter Centenary Celebration. In 2007 she was a recipient of the Johann Strauss Foundation Scholarship, which sponsored her studies in Austria at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy and the International Summer Academy Prag-Wien-Budapest. Participation in other festival programs includes Icicle Creek Chamber Music Institute, Morningside Music Bridge, Orford Academy, Salt Spring Piano Festival, and Vancouver International Song Institute.
A Native of Victoria, British Columbia, Ms. Christie has been playing piano since the age of four. Her formal training began at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where she made her solo orchestral debut at age 14, performing Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Ms. Christie holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the University of British Columbia, where she was a student of renowned Canadian pianist Jane Coop. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music Degree in Piano at SUNY Stony Brook as a student of Christina Dahl.
Iryna Krechkovsky, violin, chamberUkrainian-born violinist Iryna Krechkovsky has been featured as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. As soloist, she appeared with the Canadian Academy Chamber Orchestra, the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toronto Sinfonietta, and the Lviv National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Recent chamber music performances include collaborations with Denis Brott, Colin Carr, David Finckel, Gil Kalish, and Alan Kay, and appearances at the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto, The American Church in Paris, Town Hall Seattle, the Schubert Club Courtroom Series in Minnesota, and the Moulin d’Andé in Normandy. A prizewinner at numerous competitions including the Canadian Music Competition in Montréal, and the Kocian International Violin Competition in the Czech Republic, Ms. Krechkovsky also appeared as winner of concerto competitions at the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Stony Brook University.
Equally active as an educator, Ms. Krechkovsky served on the artist-faculty of ChamberArtsFest in France, as a teaching assistant to Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music and ENCORE School for Strings, and on the faculty of Stony Brook University’s Pre-College Division. She began violin studies at the age of six with her father Orest Krechkovsky, and went on to receive both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she was awarded the Dr. Jerome Gross Prize. Ms. Krechkovsky is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University in New York. Her teachers include David and Linda Cerone, Philip Setzer, Phillippe Graffin, and Pamela Frank.
Scott is involved in various music scenes, both in and out of academic settings. In spring 2008 Scott played saxophone and flute with the St. Bart’s Players in an off-Broadway revival of Steven Sondheim’s “Follies,” which received critical acclaim as “…quite possibly the best revival off-Broadway has seen in many a year.” In October 2009, Scott played flute, clarinet, and violin on a west coast tour with Verve Artist Nellie McKay for her new album, “As Normal as Blueberry Pie,” performing multiple shows at San Francisco’s Yoshi’s Club and Seattle’s Jazz Alley. Scott is the host of a weekly jam session on Stony Brook University campus called “The Sessions,” performing as leader of the Wolfie House Band. Scott regularly premiers new music by both up and coming as well as established composers, including David Loeb, Dawn Chambers, Andriy Legikyy, Ronnie Reshef, and Martin Loyato. His equaled passions for classical, contemporary, and jazz have shaped Scott into a multitalented musician with a wealth of experience in different genres in which he continues to demonstrate great facility.
ENSEMBLE-IN-RESIDENCE
Recipient of a 2008 Chamber Music America Residency Partnership Program grant, the Bryant Park Quartet is dedicated to presenting the spectrum of the string quartet repertoire to a wide audience. Based in New York City, the BPQ has performed as soloists with the Cornell Chamber Orchestra, and in recitals at Lincoln Center’s Paul Recital Hall, the Des Moines Art Center’s Levitt Auditorium, the Staller Center for the Arts Recital Hall at Stony Brook University, Azusa Pacific University’s Munson Hall, Biola University’s Crowell Hall, and on the South Country Concert Series in Bellport, NY. In an effort to reach a uniquely diverse audience, the BPQ has also presented recitals in art galleries, such as the Nassau County Museum of Art and the Seaport District Cultural Association’s Space Gallery in lower Manhattan; in outdoor concerts at Bryant Park; in community centers and in private house concerts; and live on KFMG radio in Des Moines, IA.
Dedicated to teaching, the Bryant Park Quartet will be the Ensemble-in-Residence at Stony Brook University’s Community Music Programs beginning in the fall of 2009. As invited teaching artists, the BPQ has given masterclasses and seminars, in addition to coachings and lessons, at Azusa Pacific, Biola, and Cornell Universities. The quartet has also led rehearsals and coached ensembles with the Greater Des Moines Youth Symphonies in IA and the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony in CA.
Their strong convictions about the importance of community and school education has led them to share their music with thousands of school children in rural Kentucky and Ohio under the auspices of New Performing Arts, Inc. and the Darke County Center for the Arts, and in the city of Des Moines, IA for which they were featured on Channel 12 News. The BPQ has also developed residencies aimed at introducing chamber music concepts to the string students in the Port Jefferson and Hewlett-Woodmere Public School Districts on Long Island, NY and in the West Des Moines Community Schools in West Des Moines, IA.
Formed in 2006, The Bryant Park Quartet has been coached by members of the Brentano, Borromeo, Cavani, Cleveland, Emerson, and Juilliard String Quartets, Itzhak Perlman, Heidi Castleman, Colin Carr, and Kathy Murdock. The BPQ has participated in the Chamber Music Workshop at The Perlman Music Program, the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, and The Mannes Beethoven Institute.
Executive Director's Note
It is truly an honor to have the Bryant Park String Quartet be a part of the Stony Brook Community Music Programs. The Quartet is not only one of the best young performing ensembles, but their dedication to education and advancement of their art is unsurpassed. They make an immediate connection with their audiences, whether it be elementary music students just beginning their instruments or seasoned music affectionados.
