Choraliers
Gregory Arabagian Is a student at Morristown High School and has been learning classical and jazz guitar at the Calderone School of Musicfor eight years as well as Theory and Harmony and Ear Training. He is a student of Professor Chris Paglia. He has competed in Morristown High School talent shows, CSM Annual Spring Recitals and Exams and won a position in the Morristown High School Jazz Band. Gregory is a guitarist and singer in ‘Captain Lung’ a rock band that performs in a variety of venues ranging from school shows to coffee houses and private parties. He intends to play with his college jazz band.
Sandeepan Mukherjee, a resident of New Providence, New Jersey, has been playing the classical guitar since the age of 6 under the able tutelage of the teachers at the Calderone School of Music, studying the guitar with Mr. Michael Oppenheim, theory and harmony, solfeggio and music history. His musical journey also involved winning a place in the New Jersey Honors Choir as a middle school student and a member of his middle school jazz band where he played the electric guitar. His passion for music also earned him the honor of performing at the Golden Key Festival in New York City for three consecutive years. He has also won numerous other laurels, which include receiving the Outstanding Student Award at the Calderone School of Music for multiple years and winning awards at several music competitions, including the Mid-Atlantic Music Teachers Guild, First Place in the CSM Competition for Classical Guitar and many performances at the Calderone School of Music, at his school in the Talent Shows and with the Middle School Choir. He consistently obtains an Outstanding + Rating in his Annual Exams at CSM.
Apart from his interests in music, Sandeepan qualified for the New Jersey State swimming championships in 2016 and was captain of the swimming team at New Providence High School in his senior year. Sandeepan is also a trained martial artist holding an E-Dan, second degree black belt, certification from the Moo Duk Kwan school of martial arts.
Iris Karlin
Soprano
Leonardo Ko, cellist, a student at Tappan Zee High School, studies under Caroline
Stinson at the Juilliard Pre-College Program where he is a member of the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, String Quartet, and Piano Trio. Earlier studies were with Frances Rowell, Ann Alton and Chungsun Kim. A very accomplished young musician, since 2011 Leonardo has received numerous honors including the KRB (Korea Radio Broadcast) and Crescendo International Competitions, which led to several solo performances at Weill Recital Hall. As a winner of the Union City Symphony and Adelphi Orchestra Competitions he performed at Symphony Space and at the Dimenna Center, both in New York City. Leonardo also won the Hudson Concerto Competition resulting in a performance at the Union City Performing Arts Center. As Grand Prize Winner of the Rockland Teacher's Guild Concerto Competition, he was a guest soloist with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra. A second degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do, Leonardo also enjoys hanging out with friends, playing the guitar and learning how to make films.
Joanne Keeler, principal flutist with the North Jersey Symphony Orchestra, has performed with such renowned artists as trumpeter Phil Smith of the New York Philharmonic, the Laurentian String Quartet, harpsichordist Raymond Beegle, flutist Paige Brook, jazz artists Bucky and Jon Pizzarelli, soprano Isola Jones and tenor Michael Best of the Metropolitan Opera, Latin performer Paquito D'Riera and actor Paul Sorvino.
Among the other ensembles she has played with are the American Chamber Orchestra, the New Jersey Philharmonic, the North Jersey Philharmonic, the Wayne Chamber Orchestra and the New Jersey Pops. She has also performed with the Garden State Opera conducted by Francesco Santelli, various Gilbert and Sulliven performances and the Ridgelight Opera company.
Joanne received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education from William Paterson University.She currently teaches privately and performs regularly with her group the Fersch trio,(piano, clarinet, and flute) as well as in pit orchestras throughout the tri-state area.
Sarita Marie Melkon, flutist/alto flutist/piccoloist, received a master’s degree in music from the University of the Arts under the tutelage of Julius Baker where she graduated with honors as the winner of the music school’s concerto competition. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music as an Alumni scholarship recipient, having studied with Richard Sherman. During her high school years she was a scholarship student at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College and received her diploma from the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College where she studied with Dr. Bradley Garner. Sarita, as the winner of numerous competitions, has been a featured performer in the master classes of Michael Parloff, Eleanor Lawrence, Peggy Schecter and a recitalist/chamber musician for a concert tour of Italy with Julius Baker. She has studied flute privately with Paige Brook, Laura George, Karen Purpura and studied piano with Joan Stein.
As a winner of the concerto competition sponsored by Sessione Senese per la Musica, Sarita performed with the Orchestra in Siena, Italy as well as touring with the orchestra on piccolo for a season throughout Italy and Switzerland. As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has performed in several concert halls, cathedral concert and museum concert series throughout the tri-state area including Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, St. John the Divine, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art to name a few. As an orchestral musician, she performs with the NJ Pops, the Garden State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oratorio Society of NJ, the Wayne Chamber Orchestra, the Montclair Chamber Orchestra, the North Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra, the Verismo Opera Company Orchestra, the Gilbert & Sullivan Company of both NY and NJ and the Bergen Philharmonic.
Sarita’s teaching specialty is performance practice technique and competition/audition preparation. Her students have won seats in the highly prestigious Regional/All North Jersey bands and orchestras and have been accepted to famous music schools including the Manhattan and Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Divisions, the Peabody Conservatory Summer Music Programs and the Royal Academy of Music in England. She received her D. Litt. in 2015 from Drew University in music having written a piano pedagogical dissertation titled, “Mind Over Music: An Analytical Approach to Teaching the Beginner/Intermediate Piano Student.” Sarita resides in Essex County in a one hundred year old farm house with her husband and three children, all of which are accomplished musicians. She enjoys giving family concerts and performing with her family for gigs and events.
Camille Dietrich
Nikhil Avadhani, 18, has been playing piano since he was 7 and studying the extensive curriculum at the Calderone School of Music with Prof. Ala Epelbaum. He is a three-time winning medalist at the Golden Key Festival, performing in New York, and a first-place winner of the Mid Atlantic Music Teachers' Guild's Piano Competition. He has taken yearly exams with the Music Educators Association Annual Piano Auditions obtaining an Outstanding + Rating and has received the prestigious Lillian Rosenthal Award for achieving scores of 90 or better on his exams for ten years. Nikhil also plays keyboard with the Morris Hills High School Jazz Band and Marching Band. He will be attending college in the fall with a major in neuroscience.
Amogh Anakru
Donald Rolle
Conductor
Violinist Alexei Sepe has been a student at the Calderone School of Music since 2008. A versatile musician, he has also studied alto saxophone, French horn and voice. At Parsippany Hills High School he plays French horn in the concert band and is drum major of the marching band as well as singing in several choruses. Alexei was a “top ten tenor” in the All-State Mixed Chorus, has been inducted into the Tri-M Music Honor Society and participates in his church’s bell choir. He has been recognized extensively for his achievements by both CSM, where he has received Outstanding Achievement Awards, and the American String Teachers Association, which awarded him its highest grades. Alexei would like to thank his parents and brother for their wonderful support, as well as Professors Kathleen Calderone, Ala Epelbaum and Mrs. Teresita David for their amazing instruction and encouragement.
Sandeepan Mukherjee
Guitar
Anne Simon, principal clarinetist of the North Jersey Symphony Orchestra holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music and an M.M. in performance from SUNY Stony Brook where she studied with David Glazer, Samuel Baron and Arthur Weisberg. She received her teaching certificate from Montclair State University.
A founding member of The Fersch Trio, Anne also is a member of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and performs with the Light Opera of New Jersey. As a woodwind "doubler," she can be heard on clarinet, flute and saxophone for various ensembles and community theatre groups in the tri-state region. Anne has taught music in the Montville Township school district for many years.
Mayer Chalom, from Livingston, New Jersey studied music at the Calderone School of Music since the age of five when he tried to create his own music. As a pianist, he has performed in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and he has also accompanied various singers and actors in local performances. As a percussionist, Mayer has made appearances with his high school's Wind Symphony, the New Jersey Region 1 Band and Orchestra, the Essex County Honors Band, and the Livingston Symphony Orchestra. However, his true passion is composing music, and his music has been the recipient of several awards, including the silver medal from the Eric Steiner Composition Competition from the Music Educators Association and the Golden Key's Piano Composition honor of the bronze level. Mayer is attending Harvard University where he is majoring in music composition.
American conductor Anthony LaGruth has delighted audiences and critics alike with many exciting performances recognized for their innovative presentation of orchestral music. Roxanne Orgill of the Bergen Record (NJ) observed that, “Mr. LaGruth conducts with subtlety and a refined sense of style that is refreshing.” The Ellsworth American (Maine) noted his “…control, musicianship, and involvement with the music,” and Michael Greenberg of the San Antonio Express-News said, “Maestro LaGruth brought crisp definition, dramatic sensitivity, and stylishly flexible tempos to the score.” He serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Livingston Symphony Orchestra (NJ), and Associate Conductor of the North Shore Symphony (NY). He continues his post as the Music Director of the North Shore Music Festival (NY). For 17 seasons, he served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Garden State Philharmonic (NJ), as well as six seasons as Music Director of the Lyric Opera of San Antonio (TX). Mr. LaGruth has worked with some of the greatest composers of our age, including Hans Werner Henze, John Corigliano, Joan Tower, and Pulitzer Prize winner Karel Husa. He has collaborated with a wide range of soloists across a broad range of styles, including Frederica von Stade, Judith Ingolfsson, Philip Smith, Neil Sedaka, Craig Schulman, and Broadway’s Three Phantoms. A proponent of American music, Mr. LaGruth is a co-founder of the League of American Orchestras’ commissioning project, Made In America. This program offered regional orchestras throughout the country the opportunity to commission works by major American composers. The project made its debut in 2005 to national acclaim with a work by Joan Tower, with 65 orchestras representing all 50 states. He is now a member of the steering committee for New Music for America. Mr. LaGruth made his European debut in Romania leading concerts with several orchestras including the state philharmonics of Satu Mare, Botosani, and Raumnica Valcea. He also made his Lincoln Center debut under the auspices of Na Conservatory of Seoul (South Korea) leading a young artists’ concerto concert at Alice Tully Hall. Noted by his colleagues for his rapport with audiences, Mr. LaGruth builds relationships with his listeners through multiple outreach programs and his popular pre-concert discussions, Musically Speaking. Whether educating and entertaining students in a Music for Young People concert or chatting informally with audience members, Mr. LaGruth finds innovative ways to bridge the gap between new audiences and classical music. An Honors graduate of Ithaca College, Mr. LaGruth earned a master’s degree in orchestral conducting and a bachelor’s degree in composition. He also attended the world-renowned Pierre Monteux School for Conductors, where he was a conducting fellow under the tutelage of Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo. Mr. LaGruth has enjoyed a close association with the Pierre Monteux School and has served on the staff of that institution. He serves as an adjunct faculty member of both Georgian Court University and Ocean County College. Mr. LaGruth is a member of the Board of Directors of the Conductors Guild, a national service organization for conductors
Mayer Chalom
Cellist.
Elizabeth Kalfayan
Nikhil Avadhani
Piano
Renato Calatroni is a senior at Seton Hall Preparatory High School in West Orange, NJ and lives in Florham Park, NJ. He has been attending the Calderone School of Music with Professor Chris Paglia since he was seven years old. Renato studies classical and electric guitar, Theory and Harmony and Ear Training. He has participated in the CSM Annual Spring Recitals as well as the CSM Annual Exams always receiving highest scores and Outstanding Achievement Awards. Renato also won at the Golden Key Festival Competition and received a Bronze Level Award performing at the prestigious Workshop for Music Performance Concert Hall at 31 East 28 Street, New York, NY. He will continue his guitar studies in college.
Diane Lang
Conductor
Anne Simon
Yuris Gute, Viola
Sarita Marie Melkon, Flute
The Calderone School of Music is a NJ Registered Professional Development Provider and offers private music lessons for all ages and levels on all instruments, a College Preparatory Division, a Professional Development Division, "Kindermusik" classes and a Suzuki Strings Plus Program. The Calderone School of Music was founded in 1975 providing a comprehensive quality education with an experienced professional staff. The Choraliers and Adult Chorus are part of the ensembles that are offered.
Described as “…demonstrating a facility with a multitude of musical languages” by British avant-garde music magazine The Wire, Camille Dietrich enjoys a rising career as soloist and chamber musician in New York City. With a particular affinity for contemporary music, she has worked with various contemporary chamber groups. As an alumni of contemporary music education program Face the Music, and the Face the Music Quartet, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, the Baryshnikov Theater, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Roulette, and toured in Washington DC. Alongside the members of the Kronos Quartet, she performed the world premiere of Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen’s string quartet “All in One,” a piece commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. Camille also recorded and performed Steve Reich’s “Triple Quartet” with the JACK Quartet, which was broadcasted on WQXR radio. In addition. Camille and her father, avant-garde saxophonist Don Dietrich recently released their duo album, DIETRICHS, on Pica Disk Records, which was reviewed in the November 2017 issue of The Wire. Camille has appeared as a soloist with the North New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Rockland Symphony, and has performed solo recitals throughout the NYC-metropolitan area. She is also an active chamber musician and has performed at venues such as Lincoln Center and (RED) Charity Foundation. Camille has also performed in a number of jazz chamber ensembles, and has had the opportunity to study with Regina Carter. She currently a senior at the Manhattan School of Music where she studies with Marion Feldman.
Carla Auld
Conductor/Flutist
Devon Cupo
Carla Auld is a soloist and chamber musician who promotes the performance and recording of new classical and cross-over music by various composers throughout the world. She has performed regularly as a soloist in conjunction with the West Side Oratorio Orchestra and several ensembles throughout the New York metro area.
Carla Auld holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Temple University and has studied with Julius Baker, Bernard Goldberg, Robert Dick and Gerardo Levy. As an educator, she is one of the founding members of the New Jersey Flute Choir Day and was part of the project's coaching team from 1995-2008. Carla Auld is a Bernard Hammig flute artist. She maintains a private teaching studio in her home.
Ron Levy
Pianist
Joanne Keeler
Devon Cupo, a senior at Morristown High School, is in the College Preparatory Division at the Calderone School of Music where he began his music studies in 2007.
Devon has performed works for numerous ensembles spanning a variety of styles and instrumentations. He has performed on percussion as a soloist, an accompanist, and a member of ensembles such as jazz bands, pit orchestras, rock bands, chamber ensembles, marching band, drum corps, concert band, string and full orchestra.
Devon is one of the original members of the NYC/NJ based group Mantra Youth Percussion dedicated to 21st Century music. He has played at Times Square, Roulette with Face the Music, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in the National Young Musician’s Showcase “Gold Winners” Concert, and performed in Concertos for Buildings and Orchestra, a program of new works featuring percussionists playing on buildings, at the Make Music NY Festival.
Iris Karlin is a Native Israeli, internationally acclaimed singer, musician and actress. Iris has been praised for her rare combination of stage presence and musicianship by critics and conductors alike, winning audience’s favorite awards for many of the roles she portrayed. While Iris mostly classifies herself as a comedian singer of Bel Canto and Operetta, and is frequently complimented for her comic acting, She got rave revues for performing lyrical roles as well. Performed roles include: Pamina (Magic Flute, Labyrinth-American Premiere), Musetta, Mimi (La Bohème), Violetta (La Traviata), Susanna (Marriage of Figaro, I due Figaro- American Premiere), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Fiordiligi (Cosi Fan Tutte), Rosina (Barber of Seville), Adina (L’Elisir d’amore), Marguerite (Faust), Micaëla, (Carmen), Adele, Rosalinda (Fledermaus), Elsie (Yeoman of the Guard), Rose Maybud (Ruddigore), and the title roles in: Cendrillon, Carmen, Manon, Merry Widow, Snegurochka, Circus Princess, Patience and Princess Ida. Iris also made some of the costumes for the shows she’s been in. Iris sings as the regular soloist at the First Presbyterian Church in Englewood, NJ and at Riverdale Temple in the Bronx. She teaches Music in preschools and academies. Iris also directs kids shows off-Broadway, and adult operas for local companies in NYC and NJ, and conducts choirs. Please visit www.iriskarlin.com
Cellist.
Diane Lang is the Orchestra Director for the Hudson Lyric Opera Company in Stony Point, NY. For the past 30+ years she has been an orchestra teacher in the North Rockland (NY) Central School District, where she has conducted numerous Broadway musicals. As a violinist, she is currently performing with the Orchestra of St. Peter By the Sea and the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. In years past she has also been a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic, the North Jersey Symphony, and the Rockland Symphony Orchestra. While performing with the Syracuse Symphony she earned a master’s degree in violin performance from Syracuse University. Her undergraduate degrees are in both violin performance and music education. Her concert experiences on violin, viola and bassoon have contributed to her natural and practical approach to conducting. She is grateful to Dr. Marvin Von Deck for inviting her to share the conductor’s podium for this performance. Information on the Hudson Lyric Opera is available at : Hudsonlyricopera.org
Adult Chorus
After graduating the Yerevan Conservatory in 2002, Edgar Tumajyan played with the Armenian National State Theater of Ballet and Opera and taught at the Srajev and Babjanian Music Schools in Yerevan, Armenia. Edgar received his masters degree from Syracuse University for violin performance. He currently is a member of the Allentown Symphony, the Tri-Cities Opera Orchestra and the Symphoria Orchestra in Syracuse NY. He plays regularly with the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Albany Symphony.
Jessica Kline Tumajyan has been performing violin with local professional and community organizations since 1995. She has a bachelors degree in viola performance from Syracuse University and is a full time private instructor in her own studio. She is violist with the Symphoria Orchestra and a sub with the Binghamton Philharmonic.
Violinist Amogh Anakru began studying violin at the Calderone School of Music at 6 years old. While he also played the flute for a period of time, his love for the violin and the support of his instructor, Professor Alla Epelbaum, helped him to excel on his CSM Annual Examinations as well as receiving an Outstanding Achievement Award at the CSM Spring Recitals. For the past seven years Amogh has also consistently been awarded the highest grades by the American String Teachers Association at their Annual Certificate Examinations. Amogh attends Newark Academy in Livingston and in the fall will attend Cornell University to study engineering physics. He plays first violin in his high school orchestra and second violin in the NJIO (New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra). Through playing his instrument, Amogh has developed a deep appreciation for classical music, especially gravitating to the pieces of the Finnish violinist and composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957).
Cellist Elizabeth Kalfayan, soloist, chamber musician and educator, has performed with the Baroque Music Ensemble, the Metropolitan Lyric Opera, the New Jersey Pops Orchestra, the State Repertory Opera Company and the Orchestra of St. Peter’s By the Sea. On the pop scene Elizabeth has appeared with k.d. lang, Ray Charles, Bernadette Peters, Anne Murray, Smokey Robinson, and in Vh1 Classics Videos with Cindi Lauper and The Doors. Ms. Kalfayan is co-founder of the Encore String Quartet, Melody Arts Trio and the Harmonia Chamber Players, and founder of the Encore Piano Trio and Merritt Chamber Music Workshops. She also founded and manages the New Horizon Symphony Orchestra, which helps support communities through classical music performances.
As an educator, Elizabeth Kalfayan is especially known for her performance lectures that highlight the genius of great composers for the violoncello including Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, and Shostakovich. Her Interactive and Educational Program Series for young listeners encourages audience participation through improvisational movement, making connections with the lives and emotions of the composers. She was also Director of Strings at the River Dell School District and the ECLC School and has facilitated chamber music workshops at the Puffin Foundation and New Jersey Youth Symphony.
Ms. Kalfayan is the author of an iBook series, CELLO/PLAY SMART FROM THE START - A Handbook For Advancing Virtuosity. The interactive, multitouch iBooks constitute a full cello curriculum. Elizabeth Kalfayan holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Jacob Bernstein as well as Martha Williams, Arthur Balsam, and Rachmael Weinstock.
Brian Hong
Edgar and Jessica Kline
Tumajyan
Anthony LaGruth, Conductor
Alexei Sepe
Brian Hong, a student at Tenalfy High School, has been studying violin since the age of 6. He is a member of the Tenafly High School Advanced Orchestra and the High School Chamber Music Ensemble where he has performed numerous works including the high school's production of Les Miserables. He has been studying under Yuris Gute and at the Manhattan School of Music Summer Camp under Rafael Betancourt.
Marti Sweet, a native of Boston, began studying the violin at the age of four and received her Bachelor and Master Degrees from the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Oscar Shumsky. She has been a member of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottowa, Canada, and the American Ballet Theatre and associate violinist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Ms. Sweet has also appeared and recorded with Barbra Streisand, Wynton Marsalis, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Bernadette Peters, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Pinchas Zukerman, Stephen Sondheim, Quincy Jones and many other world-renowned artists.
She is founder of the chamber ensemble Music Amici, and has recorded for the New World, Angel/EMI, GRP, Arista, Epic, Atlantic and Columbia record labels. Marti also devotes time to teaching young violinists.
Daniel Navarro lives in Union, NJ and is a senior at Saint Peter’s Preparatory High School in Jersey City, NJ. He was accepted to the Calderone School of Music when he was eight years old to study classical guitar. His instructor is Mr. Steve Urban who also teaches him Theoryand Harmony and Ear Training. He intends to continue his guitar studies in college. He has participated in the New Jersey Mid-Atlantic Teachers Guild Competition in 2012 for Solo Classical Guitar and won. Daniel has performed yearly in the CSM Annual Spring Recitals and received top honors in the Annual CSM Exams. He has also studies electric guitar, mandolin, ukulele and banjo as part of the CSM guitar curriculum.