Festival Faculty & Staff
Susan Deaver
Flute, Conductor & Festival Director
Susan Deaver, co-founder of the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival, is flutist of The Pierrot Consort and conductor of the Festival Chamber Orchestra. As a flutist and avid chamber musician, she has been praised by critics for her “superb playing” and “atmospheric virtuosity” as the principal flutist of the Washington Chamber Symphony at the Kennedy Center. She has performed with Long Island Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi and on Broadway in “Phantom of the Opera” and has recorded for New World records, CRI, Arabesque Recordings and North/South Consonance. From 1990 to 2016 she was the music director and conductor of North Shore Symphony Orchestra and is currently the conductor of the University Orchestra at Stony Brook University, where she has also conducted the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra (SBSO) in their Composers Reading/Recording Sessions.
Among Susan Deaver’s conducting credits are the Washington Chamber Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Thüringen Philharmonie in Gotha, Germany, the Island Chamber Symphony, the Bronx Opera Chamber Orchestra, the Seoul Symphony of New York at Lincoln Center, contemporary music at both Manhattan School of Music and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She has guest conducted in Scotland, England, Spain and Korea and at regional festivals including Nassau All County Festival, All-North New Jersey High School Symphonic Orchestra, 2019 LISFA Festivals. In addition, she has guest conducted at Manhattan School of Music Precollege as well as substitute teaching conducting classes in both the Precollege and college divisions of MSM. In 2018 she was a conducting mentor at the International Women’s Conducting Institute. Newsday featured her work as Conducting Instructor for actor Freddie Highmore in Warner Brothers’ movie “August Rush.” Dr. Deaver is on the music faculty at LIU Post, Stony Brook University and Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege. BM, MM and DMA from Manhattan School of Music.
Dale Stuckenbruck
Assistant Director Emeritus & Violin
Grammy-nominated artist Dale Stuckenbruck is immersed in the diverse musical life in New York as a soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician and teacher. His mentor was the great violinist Erick Friedman, with whom he has appeared as soloist with orchestra, in recording and in chamber music. He has performed as violin/saw soloist with the New York Philharmonic, New Century Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Philharmonia Virtuosi, New York Virtuosi, New York String Ensemble, Tchaikovsky Chamber, Orchestra, Taipei City Symphony Orchestra, Music at St. Ignatius, Queens Symphony, Masterworks, and as a mandolinist with the Charleston Symphony. He has been featured in Strings Magazine, Wuolgang Umak (Korea), Newsday, Sarasate (Japan) and the New York Times. As a leading international artist of the musical saw he has received international acclaim for his recording of “Sawing to New Heights”, music by Steve Margoshes, and "Ancient Voices of Children"by George Crumb on Bridge Records, and his performance(s) of the “Divination by Mirrors” by Michael Levine with the New Century Chamber Orchestra & New York Virtuosi, on the "Tonight Show" with KORN, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, and as a soloist with Leonid Kavakos and the New York Philharmonic. As a mandolinist he has appeared at the Met Opera, NYC Opera, ABT, and with Paula Robison at the Met Museum. His diverse interests include being a multi-instrumentalist of historical violins, the sitar, the mandolin, the erhu, the danbau, the theremin, and the vegetables. He is the founder of the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra, appearing on "Conan"as a guest. Since 1975 he has toured with his wife, Heawon Kim, pianist, in recitals over four continents. He has participated on the faculties of LIU-Post, the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival, LIHSA, the Oyster Bay Music Festival. D.M.A. from Manhattan School of Music, 1984.
Veronica Salas
Viola
With her ‘fluidly lyrical’ playing (New York Times), violist Veronica Salas is a versatile performer and teacher who has been featured as soloist, chamber musician and master class artist throughout the world. As soloist Salas has performed with Mostly Mozart, LIU Post Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, USC Symphony, Colonial and Westfield Symphonies. 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. As violist of Modern Works, the recording of Ge Gan-Ru String Quartets, on the Naxos label, was chosen by critics of The New York Times as a notable recording of 2009. Highlights of other recordings include a Virgil Thomson CD where Salas is featured, an all Mozart CD with Stanley Drucker and the Bach Brandenburg Concerti featuring Lukas Foss. An avid chamber musician, Salas is violist of The Pierrot Consort, Bronx Art Ensemble, Canta Libre and previous member of Modern Works, Elysium Ensemble and Queens Chamber Band in which she played concertos on viola d’amore. She has performed chamber music with Yoyo Ma, Eric Friedman, Lawrence Dutton, Joseph Fuchs and Stanley Drucker. Salas is presently principal violist of American Composers Orchestra and Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and previous principal of Opera Orchestra of New York, Westfield Symphony and Manhattan Philharmonic. She is on the faculties of LIU Post and Bennington Chamber Music Conference. Salas received her B.M.A., M.M.A. and D.M.A. from The Juilliard School where she studied with Lillian Fuchs.
Maureen Hynes
Co-founder & cello
Maureen Hynes, co-founder of the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival, enjoys an active career as cellist, conductor, chamber musician and educator. She performs regularly with American Ballet Theater, American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, the Bard Festival Orchestra, the Westchester Philharmonic, and the Queens Symphony. She has appeared at the Spoleto and Aspen Festivals, and with the Bard Festival Chamber Players. Her work in New York has also included substitute work in many Broadway shows. Solo and chamber music appearances include performances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., and the Kennedy Center. She has performed in Europe, Canada, Korea, and Hong Kong. Currently a member of the Pierrot Consort, she also appears as soloist, chamber musician and faculty at Songe d’été en musique in Québec, Canada. Ms. Hynes was Director of Orchestral and String Studies and Professor of Cello at the LIU Post campus of Long Island University where she conducted the LIU Post Orchestra, the LIU Post String Ensemble, and directed the Merriweather Consort. She also created and directed the LIU Post Pre-College Program. In the fall of 2015, she joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music where she teaches Introductory and Advanced Conducting classes. Her conducting career has included conducting the 2016-2017 season of the Queens Symphony, Guest Conducting the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra and numerous appearances with regional and statewide Festivals and clinics. She also conducted the LIU Post String Ensemble on tours in Italy and Ireland. She adjudicates for Worldstrides Heritage Festivals. Ms. Hynes is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where she received her B.M. and M.M. degrees. She has given Cello Master Classes in Seoul, Korea and on Long Island and has recorded for the Albany label.
Heawon Kim
Piano
Heawon Kim began her life with piano as one of Korea’s most well-known prodigies of her generation appearing at the age of seven with the Korean Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic, including a performance with the KBSO for the opening of Sejong Hall, Seoul. Subsequently she won numerous competitions and came to the North Carolina School of the Performing Arts, studying with Clifton Matthews, winning the Vittorio Giannini Award, a prize winner of the Southeastern Music Teachers Competition, and appeared under the baton of Nicholas Harsanyi for Prokofiev’s third piano concerto. Following rave reviews, she was brought to New York by Claude Frank, with whom she studied at the Mannes School of Music, and Robert Goldsand, at the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Kim has been a soloist with regional orchestras in the United States and has appeared as chamber musician with such groups as the Bronx Arts Ensemble, L’Ensemble, The Pierrot Consort, Rosewood Chamber Ensemble, Garrett Lakes Festival, Leonia Chamber Players, Clarion Concerts/Leaf Peeper, Long Island Philharmonic, New York Virtuosi, and the Colonial Symphony. She was a frequent soloist, recitalist and chamber music collaborator for the late Erick Friedman for over 30 years, and also with such artists as Dennis Brott, Sergiu Luca, Marion Davies, Sanford Allen, Barry Finclair, and her husband, Dale Stuckenbruck. She has been The Pierrot Consort's pianist for over thirty years.
Douglas Aliano
Assistant Director & Conductor of the Precollege Chamber Orchestra
Douglas Aliano is a native of Long Island, the youngest of five double bassists in his family, and a proud Pierrot Chamber Music Festival alum, winning the Festival’s Concerto Competition in 2012. He recently completed work as a Double Bass Fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL. and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra. His festival appearances include the Music Academy of the West, the Pacific Music Festival, Spoleto Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Douglas performs throughout Long Island and New York City, playing various styles ranging from classical to contemporary, jazz to Broadway, and pop to bluegrass. An active chamber musician and passionate advocate of new music, he has participated in numerous chamber music projects and has premiered many new chamber music and orchestral works. He also appeared as a member of Echo Chamber, an NYC-based ensemble dedicated to performing new works specially commissioned for its distinctive instrumentation. Douglas completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at The Juilliard School where he studied with Albert Laszlo and was a recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship. He recently received his master’s degree in Music and Music Education from Columbia University and was a recipient of the Florence K. Geffen Scholarship.
New Festival Faculty for 2024
Emily Kenyon
Violin
Emily Kenyon is the director of the 9-12 orchestras at John F. Kennedy High School and Wellington C. Mepham High School in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. For the past 2 summers, Ms. Kenyon has been the upper strings lead teacher at the Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, where she taught string classes and conducted the orchestras for students in grades 4-12. Ms. Kenyon has a passion for chamber music pedagogy, and currently serves as the Vice President and lead organizer for the LISFA Chamber Music Festival. As a violinist, Ms. Kenyon freelances and performs regularly as a principal violinist with the South Shore Symphony Orchestra, and has played in other ensembles such as the Eastman Philharmonia and Opera Ensemble, the Brevard Festival Orchestra, and the National Orchestral Institute, where she recorded the album Ruggles, Stucky & Harbison: Orchestral Works, nominated for Best Orchestral Performance at the 2018 GRAMMY Awards. In addition to her string teaching and performing, Ms. Kenyon has a background in music theory and aural skills pedagogy and has taught undergraduate courses at the Eastman School of Music and UMass Amherst. Ms. Kenyon holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Ithaca College and a Master’s in Music Theory from UMass Amherst. Ms. Kenyon will be the conductor for the SCMEA Division II East Symphony Orchestra this upcoming year in March 2025.
Jonathan Bloomfield
Violin
Hailing from Long Island, New York, Jonathan Bloomfield is a violinist and music educator who has been a part of the instrumental faculty of The LaGuardia High School of Music, Art, and Performing Arts since 2019. At LaGuardia, he has taught varying levels of string technique courses, chamber music, and conducts the String and Concert Orchestras.
As a performer, Mr. Bloomfield has been fortunate to have performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player in major performing venues including Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, The Kennedy Center in Washington, Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall: Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall, and Lincoln Center: David Geffen Hall and Alice Tully Hall. He has performed as a principal player with several orchestras throughout the New York metropolitan area including The New York Festival Orchestra, Bronx Symphony Orchestra, and The Symphony of Westchester.
Mr. Bloomfield received his musical training from The Mannes School of Music Preparatory Division, New York University: Steinhardt School, as well as CUNY Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music where he received a Masters Degree in Violin Performance. Additionally, he completed graduate studies in Music Education at Queens College: Aaron Copland School of Music. His mentors have included violinists, Masao Kawasaki, Gregory Fulkerson, and Ji-Won Kim.
Sung Jin Lee
Viola
Sung Jin Lee, from South Korea, is hailed as an 'Excellent Singing Violist' according to a New York Concert review by Frank Daykin. She is an avid chamber musician and soloist, having collaborated with esteemed artists such as Gidon Kremer, Steven Isserlis, Christian Tetzlaff, Nobuko Imai, Itzhak Perlman, Pamela Frank, and many others. In 2013, she was awarded the special prize at the Lionel Tertis competition, marking the beginning of her career as a soloist. She has since achieved numerous awards, including winning the Just Viola Festival, the Stonybrook concerto competition, the Kuminilbo & Hansei University competition, and being the grand prize winner of the Hyo competition. Ms. Lee has performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, the Korean Symphony Orchestra, and the Académie Ensemble, among others. Her recitals have taken her to prestigious venues worldwide, including the Abbaye de Saint Maurice in St Murice, Switzerland, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Field Concert Hall in Philadelphia, and Paul Hall in New York.
An enthusiastic collaborator, Ms. Lee frequently performs with esteemed orchestras and ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Sejong Soloist, Jupiter Chamber Music Players, and Noree Soloist. She has served as principal violist with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and as a guest principal with the Pan Asia Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of New York. As a chamber musician, she has received the Bronze medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the special prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet competition as a member of the Pelia Quartet. Ms. Lee has been invited to participate in numerous festivals, including Caramoor Evnin Rising Star, Verbier Academy, Perlman Music Program, Music @ Menlo, and Kronberg Academy Chamber Music Connects the World, among others. She holds a Bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, a Master's degree from the Juilliard School, and is an Artist Diploma student at the Manhattan School of Music, all on full scholarships. Recently, she earned her Doctoral degree from Stony Brook University.
Noah Koh
Cello
Noah Koh is a cellist and chamber musician born and raised in Queens, New York City. He has completed a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School studying under Darrett Adkins and Natasha Brofsky, and is continuing his education at the Stony Brook University with Colin Carr, earning a Doctorate in Musical Arts. When he is at school, Noah performs with local orchestras and chamber groups for private events, teaches private lessons and enjoys practicing yoga and playing soccer with his friends. During past summers, Noah has attended the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music and he is an alumnus from the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival. He has extensive experience playing chamber music. Noah loves to share music with all sorts of audiences, with the pursuit to bring them through the progression of masterpieces from the first note to the silence at the end.
Karen Beluso
Piano
Continuing a distinguished career as both a concert artist, music educator and businesswoman, Dr. Karen Beluso currently serves as Business Development Lead for the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM). Prior to this she served as Institutional Sales Manager of Steinway & Sons for the tri-state area for more than a decade. Earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School, Dr. Beluso has expanded her career to include work in both Music Education and Arts Administration. She has been Department Head of Performing Arts at Portledge School in Locust Valley, a faculty member at the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival, Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Long Island Philharmonic, and currently serves as Board President of Choral Chameleon and Distinguished Professor of Piano with the Alexander & Buono International Academy.
Additional Festival Faculty
Christine Doré
Accompanist and coach
Christine Doré, piano, enjoys an active and varied career as a chamber musician, soloist, teacher and accompanist. She holds a BM with honors from the New England Conservatory and earned her MM from the Mannes College of Music, where she had a full merit scholarship. Christine made her New York debut in 1996 as a collaborative pianist at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. As a chamber musician she twice toured Eastern Europe, playing concerts in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. She is a founding member of the chamber music ensemble Chamberosity, which has commissioned, premiered and recorded two exciting trios for violin, horn and piano: one by Eric Ewazen; the other by Peter Winkler. Christine has performed as a soloist with several orchestras in the NY area. She ran the Music At Greenlawn concert series for the decade of its highly successful existence. Christine spent the last 15 years as an adjunct professor of music at LIU Post, and is currently a member of the music faculty at Suffolk Community College. Christine Doré has been the accompanist for the Huntington Choral Society since 1994 and has been a faculty member of the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival since 2007.
Shane Helfner
Chamber Music Coach
Shane Helfner is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he received a BM with Distinction in oboe performance, and Hofstra University where he received his MS with Distinction in music education. Mr. Helfner has also recently completed his administration degree from Stony Brook University. He has performed as the principal oboe of the Flower City Society Orchestra where he recorded a soundtrack for the film “Captain Salvation.” Mr. Helfner studied at the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School of Music, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the Banff Center Summer Arts Festival, the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival, and the Hidden Valley Institute of the Arts in California. He has also traveled and performed throughout the western Mediterranean, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific Islands. He has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Eastman Theater, Tilles Center, Staller Center, and the palace of the President of Malta.
Shane Helfner has been a guest clinician at the Summer NYSSMA Conference, the Elementary Band Symposium in Suffolk County, and the Balanced Mind Conference at Molloy College on the oboe. He has been a member of the SCMEA Executive board and has been a guest clinician for the ukulele at the SCMEA Peak Festival and at various districts in Suffolk County. Mr. Helfner was recently invited to conduct the High School Reading Session at the Balanced Mind Conference at Long Island University. He was also just appointed the Assistant Conductor of the Huntington Community Band. Mr. Helfner has an extensive oboe and piano studio, has taught in the Harborfields, South Huntington, Northport, and Commack school districts, and is currently the High School Band Director in the Port Washington School District at Paul D. Schreiber High School.
Helen (Hye Jin) Park
Chamber Music Coach
Dr. Helen (Hye Jin) Park is an active professional flutist and award-winning educator focused on broadening community access to music. A native of Korea, her résumé includes orchestral performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in North America, as well as with revered Korean institutions such as the Keum-Pa Professional Flute Ensemble and Sung Nam City Orchestra. As an educator, she has been a chamber coach at the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival since 2022, and a featured Teaching Artist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program as well as Morse Academy Summer Music Festival where she was named Yale University’s “Outstanding Teaching Artist of the Year”. Given a new life in America thanks to the kindness and generosity of a single educator, she placed great value in her own education, now holding degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory (BM), Manhattan School of Music (M.M), Yale School of Music (MMA), and Stony Brook University (DMA). Ultimately, she aspires to pay forward the opportunities she received through education by founding a school that prioritizes underprivileged students. In addition to her pedagogical work, Ms. Park co-founded the Clio Artist Project in late 2020, a performing artist collective centered around herself, guitarist Nicoletta Todesco, and soprano Emily Donato. Dr. Park currently serves on faculty at the Molloy University and lives in Queens with her husband, bassoonist Dr. Dillon Meacham.
Dillon Meacham
Chamber Music Coach
Praised for his “warm dark sound, lovely vibrato, and impressive staccato tonguing,” Dr. Dillon Meacham is an accomplished bassoonist, teacher, and audio/video producer performing throughout the United States. Dr. Meacham’s diverse orchestral career includes performing with the Hartford, New Haven, and Greater Bridgeport Symphonies, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, New World Symphony, and Symphony in C, along with his active freelance work. He also appears frequently with the New York Kammermusiker around the country for a wide variety of audiences and was invited to perform with the Maryland Chamber Winds, and at the Caroga Lake and Hamptons Festivals of Music. As a soloist, Dr. Meacham gave the acclaimed premiere of a new Concertino for bassoon and orchestra composed by Michael Torke with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and has performed concertos at the Eastern Music Festival, and in his hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia. Dr. Meacham was invited to attend the Bowdoin International Music Festival as a Kaplan Fellow, and has also participated in the Sarasota and Canyon Arts Music Festivals, the Banff Centre Master Classes, and the Brevard Music Center. He enjoys refining his artistry and reed-making skills in the summers at the Glickman-Popkin Bassoon Camp in Little Switzerland, North Carolina. Dr. Meacham earned his doctorate from Stony Brook University and also holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Peabody Conservatory. He has been privileged to study with Frank Morelli, Phillip Kolker, and Barbara Duke, and is the first playing owner of an 11,000 series Heckel bassoon built in 1971.
Heejeon Ahn
Violin
Violinist Heejeon Ahn enjoys a varied career as a soloist and chamber musician. Born in Seoul, Korea, she began her violin studies at age five and made her debut with the Korean Symphony Orchestra at age twelve. As a soloist, she also has performed with the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Yonsei Symphony Orchestra, and Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has earned top prizes from international and regional competitions including the Wigmore Hall Chamber Music Competition, Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, Ackerman Chamber Music Competition, OSAKA International Music Competition, and many others.
An enthusiastic collaborator, Ms. Ahn collaborated with distinguished artists such as Gary Hoffman, David Shifrin, Colin Carr, John Bruce Yeh, Tim McAllister, Nicholas Phan, Hsin-Yun Huang, Edward Arron, Dong-Suk Kang, Young-Chang Cho, and many others. She was also invited to participate in many festivals such as the Great Lakes Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland, Music Alp Festival, and Seoul Spring Festival, among others. Ms. Ahn held concertmaster positions for the Cleveland Institute of Music and Stony Brook Symphony orchestras and performed alongside world-renowned faculty in chamber music concerts and masterclasses. As an avid educator, she served as Teaching Assistant for the University Orchestra at Stony Brook and worked with college students at SUNY Schenectady, and children in the Empire State Youth Orchestra’s CHIME program while serving as Artists-in- Residence with the Pelia Quartet at the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government. Ms. Ahn received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Yonsei University where she studied with Dong-Suk Kang and her Artist Diploma from Cleveland Institute of Music where with Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman. She is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University on full scholarship under the tutelage of Philip Setzer, Arnaud Sussmann, and Emerson String Quartet.
Administrative Staff
Hyunju Ji
Administrative Assistant for Festival Alumni Events
Violinist Hyunju Ji has moved audiences in her native South Korea, Canada and the United States with her violin performances. An avid collaborator, Ms. Ji has played with numerous orchestras and chamber groups. She served as the concertmistress of the LIU Post Orchestra, and regularly performed with the North Shore Symphony Orchestra and Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra. Her recordings include Nick Chapman’s Symphony No.1 and Majid Khaliq’s Sound of Flower, Soriel NY Sessions and her solo album “Cantabile”. She played at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, National Sawdust and Joe’s Pub with Mr. Khaliq for sold-out shows. She is also a violinist at Traumerei Piano Trio which presented two NYC debut performances at Queensborough Community College and DiMenna Center in 2017. Ms. Ji received both her Bachelor of Music (Summa Cum Laude) and Masters of Art degrees in violin performance and music history/literature from LIU Post. She was awarded scholarships from Dong-A University, Tongbaek Rotary Club and LIU Post and was awarded a Fellowship to the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Ji has also participated in masterclasses and educational residences given by notable musicians from the Emerson String Quartet, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She has taught violin at Waldorf School of Garden City, Harmony Program and Love Violin for Children USA, Inc. Hyunju Ji has served as a solo violinist at Manna Church in NJ and the artistic director at Chamber Players of NY. She is the editor of the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival Alumni Newsletter and creates and designs videos and flyers for the festival. Each July she oversees the annual Festival Alumni Concert during the Festival. Recently, Ms. Ji played as a first violinist in Louisville Civic Orchestra in Kentucky and currently performs and teaches in metro Detroit, Michigan area.
Sarah Kadtke
Administrative Assistant to the Directors & Editor Festival Alumni Newsletter
Sarah Kadtke is a professional flutist pursuing performance opportunities as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. In May 2021, she graduated from LIU Post with her undergraduate degree in Instrumental Performance where she studied flute and chamber music with Dr. Susan Deaver. In her years at LIU Post, she was a performing flutist and piccolist with many groups, including Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, LIU Orchestra and the Percussion Ensemble. Sarah also actively participated in chamber ensembles throughout her undergraduate studies and had the opportunity to perform as a chamber musician in musical residencies at the Portledge School, Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School and at LIU Post, including virtual performances in 2020 and 2021. During her undergraduate studies, Sarah presented both a junior and senior flute recital and had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses at LIU Post and the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival, where she was coached by members of the Shanghai String Quartet and members of the Knights Orchestra. Sarah attended the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival beginning in 2018 and during the 2019 Festival was awarded with the Binkowski Award for Outstanding Woodwinds. Sarah has been the Administrative Assistant to the Directors of the Pierrot Chamber Music Festival since the summer of 2019. Sarah is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music where she is studying flute with Keith Underwood. At ACSM, she has extended her chamber music repertoire to include jazz, contemporary, and Baroque ensembles, as well as maintaining positions in the ACSM Orchestra and Wind Symphony. She will be graduating in the Spring of 2024 with her Masters in Instrumental Performance Degree.
Link Rossano
Festival Staff
Link Rossano has been involved with intensive music studies since 2015, when he began private flute lessons with Dr. Susan Deaver. In 2021 he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Music from LIU Post, where he performed in LIU Post’s Tilles Band Festival numerous times and was active in chamber music. Link has an extensive list of experience with both teaching and performing music, including volunteer work teaching students of all ages as well as performing in various ensembles for artists like Michael Gayle. He has performed in pit orchestras for shows including Sweeney Todd and Phantom of the Opera. Last summer, he served as principal flutist with the Long Island Symphonic Winds, touring throughout Austria.
His experience in teaching music began with Island Trees School District’s Summer Music Program, in which he taught small classes of students of various ages how to play various instruments. The program also included numerous ensembles in which Link both performed and showed leadership in. He currently teaches with Ensemble Music Schools, displaying his expertise as a woodwind specialist. His work in administrative positions are vast as well, including secretarial work for the IT Summer Music program, and financial management as well as board positions for various clubs and societies including Tri-M and Environmental Club. Link graduated from Farmingdale State College in 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Geographic Information Systems, and currently makes music in a Long Island-based band called The Going Rate.
Dr. Blair Hamrick
Webmaster
Blair Hamrick is a freelance horn player and teacher in New York City currently performing Dave Malloy's Off-Broadway production of "Three Houses" at Signature Theater. Blair performs with orchestras, chamber ensembles, and substitutes on Broadway shows, such as "Into the Woods," "Camelot," and "The Lion King." She performed new solo horn and piano pieces in both Belgium and New Mexico in 2019 and in the summer of 2020, Blair collaborated on a new commission with Stony Brook composer and professor, Nirmali Fenn, to be premiered at the International Horn Symposium. Blair enjoys collaborating with composers for new music concerts and hopes to invigorate a wave of new and inspired contemporary pieces. Blair is also a member of the New York based horn quartet, Metropolitan Horn Authority, a winner of the “Ensemble Forward” grant program through Chamber Music America for 2020. She is also the horn player for Nu Quintet and Heartbeat Trio.