Lucy Chen, YMES/ Piano
Lucy Chen received her Bachelor of Arts degree in piano performance at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. At a young age, Chen showed talent in piano performance, winning numerous prizes in Toronto. Her outstanding results gained her admission to the Master's Degree Program in piano performance at University of Florida School of Music, receiving two assistantships, in Teaching and in International Programs. To continue her studies with Professor Boaz Sharon, she transferred to Boston University School of Music, granted with the CFA Music Scholarship. In June 2007, she was chosen by the piano faculty at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, as a representative to perform the solo piano collection Eight Memories in Watercolor by Tan Dun at the He Lu Ding Concert Hall. This was a joint program arranged by the Shanghai Spring Recital Organization and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Chen participated in the Piano Pedagogy Program Designed for Teachers. She was a faculty member of the Royal School of Music in Shanghai, giving piano lessons to beginners and young adults who took part in the Associated Board of Royal School of Music examination system. In 2007, she was awarded "Teacher of the Year" by the music school. Lucy Chen also taught the undergraduate Keyboard Skills course at the University of Florida.
Hsiu-Lan Cheng, Piano
Hsiu-Lan Cheng is a member of the New England Piano Teachers' Association and has been teaching piano, harp, and theory in private lessons for over twenty years. Originally from Taiwan, R.O.C., Hsiu-Lan began teaching piano at age eighteen. In 1988, she received a Piano and Harp Performance Diplomas from Tainan Junior College of Home Economics. After graduation, she was invited to teach piano at the Taipei YAMAHA Music School. In 1990, Mrs. Cheng continued her music study at The Boston Conservatory, completing a Bachelor in Harp Performance. Mrs. Cheng holds two Master Degrees; one in Harp Performance and one in Arts Administration, both from Boston University. Performances with The New England Philharmonic, Waltham Philharmonic, Franklin Performance Arts Company, Berklee Recording Orchestra, and Saint Malachy Parish Choir. Honors include The Dean Award Scholarship, Boston University.
Sarah Corrigan, YMS Boston Lead Teacher, YMES/ Piano/ Voice
Originally from upstate New York, Sarah Corrigan attended the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY). After graduating, Sarah Corrigan went on to teach in the Rush-Henrietta School District and the Greece Central School District before receiving a position in the Greater Johnstown School District as the choral director. Sarah has directed two musicals, performed in numerous recitals both solo and as a collaborative artist and been a guest conductor in the capital district of New York. Sarah recently completed the Master of Music (Piano Performance) program at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. She studies with Ludmilla Lifson.
Susan Craft, Voice
Susan Craft received her Master's degree in voice performance from the University of Wisconsin. Engagements include Lily (The Secret Garden), Tessa (The Gondoliers), and Mrs. Grose (Britten's The Turn of the Screw). This year's credits include Kate in The Pirates of Penzance (Savoyard Light Opera Company), The Mikado (Peep-Bo with Mass Theatrica, Pitti-Sing with FOPAC), and Little-Fox in the premiere of The Rough-Face Girl (Mass Theatrica). Susan frequently appears as a soloist in music theater and opera concerts, including the concert series of Longwood Opera, First Parish Lexington and New England Light Opera. Upcoming engagements include singing Iolanthe (Iolanthe) with Mass Theatrica in 2010. Susan has been teaching YMES classes since 1999 and is an Education Specialist for the Yamaha Corporation. She is the early childhood music teacher at Leslie Ellis School in Arlington. Representing the Metropolitan Opera Guild's Urban Voices program, Susan teaches choral music at the Josiah Quincy School in Boston.
Joshua Del Dotto, YMES/ Piano
Joshua Del Dotto received his Master's degree in piano performance from Boston University and is currently pursuing his doctorate in Music Education at BU. Josh is active as an accompanist with the Boston Lyric Opera and with various ensembles and professional soloists throughout the region. In addition to being a Yamaha trained instructor at the Yamaha Corporate Music School, Josh is a piano teacher and accompanist at the Community Music Center of Boston and the Performing Arts Center of MetroWest. In his free time, Josh also works as music director for St. John's Church in Franklin, MA.
Kristine Gray, Saxophone, Flute and Clarinet
A native of Calgary, Alberta now living and studying in Boston, Massachusetts, Kristine Gray began her musical studies at an early age studying classical guitar, voice, and saxophone. Kristine obtained her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Calgary, under the direction of Dr. Jeremy Brown. During her time at U of C she was a featured soloist with the University of Calgary Symphonic Ensemble for David Maslanka's Hell's Gate and recorded the CD ‘Garden of Dreams' with the University of Calgary Wind Ensemble. In the summer of 1999 Kristine attended Domaine Forget where she had the opportunity to study with Remi Menard, Jean-Francois Guay and Jean-Marie Londeix. Kristine has obtained her Bachelor of Education and has been an educator in Calgary and Toronto as well as having an active private studio. In the fall of 2005, she completed a twelve week Music and Sound Residency at the Banff Centre for Performing Arts. Kristine has a Masters in Saxophone Performance from The Boston Conservatory and is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts at Boston University, under the direction of Kenneth Radnofsky.
Ayako Hattori, JSAC/ Piano
Ayako Hattori has taught both privately and in the classroom at Boston University, the University of Michigan, the Manhattan School of Music, and the University of Redlands, as well as maintaining private studios in Ann Arbor, New York City, and Orange County, California. In 2008, she spoke at the MTNA National Convention in Denver Colorado, lecturing on the use of extended techniques in pedagogical practice through the music of Henry Cowell. She has performed in California, New York City, Ann Arbor, and made a special appearance at the 2008 Midwest Composers' Symposium in the world premiere of Paul Dooley's "Dani's Dance."
Ayako began her musical studies at the age of 4 at the Yamaha Music School in Orange County, studying both piano and composition. While a student at Yamaha, she received both first and second prizes in the Music Teachers' Association of California Composition Contest. She received her Bachelors' Degree at the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Phillip Kawin. She received her Masters' Degree in Pedagogy and Performance at the University of Michigan as a full-tuition scholarship student of Louis Nagel (piano) and John Ellis (pedagogy). She currently attends Boston University, where she is pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree as a scholarship student of Boaz Sharon.
Rebecca Helm, YMES/ Piano/ Violin/ Viola
Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Rebecca Helm began her study of piano and violin at the early age of two. She obtained her Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory in both piano performance and vocal accompanying and began her Masters degree on a full scholarship in accompanying at the University of Miami. While in Miami, she was on faculty at the New World School of the Arts as staff vocal accompanist/coach. She has been in attendance at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Oberlin in Italy program in addition to receiving various awards at competitions including the Kingsville International Competition, New York Piano Competition,and the Oberlin International Piano Competition. Rebecca's other interests include scuba diving, traveling, and spending time with her teacup shih tzu, Simba.
Aaron Jackson, YMES/ Piano/ Composition
Singer/songwriter/pianist Aaron Jackson grew up listening to records and reading books in his parents' basement library in New Jersey and spent the rest of his free time in the generous swatches of forest nearby. A musical addict from the age of 5, he recorded his first song at 11. Soon after, he was haunting the halls of the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied piano and composition and absorbed the culture of classical music while at the same time frequenting the popular music venues of New York and New Jersey. A passionate fan of the Beatles, Big Band era classics, Billy Joel, U2, Tom Waits, Tool, Pere Ubu, Scott Walker, Milton Babbitt, and John Cage, he integrates these diverse stylistic elements into his fun, intelligent, and often ecstatic music.
Aaron has worked with a wide range of artists and organizations, including the Yamaha Music School of Boston, Tufts University, Princeton University, Columbia University, the Xanthos Ensemble, New York experimental rock ensemble Slow Six, Bruce Arnold and Spooky Actions, pianists Marilyn Nonken, Robert Taub, and Margaret Kampmeier, composers Daron Aric Hagen, Milton Babbitt, Robert Morris, Claudio Spies, and Dmitri Tymoczko, and conductors Paul Caldwell, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Rossen Milanov. He has performed in the Boston area at the Lexington First Parish Church, the Newton Free Library, the Lily Pad, the Midway Cafe, Boston Conservatory, and the Longy School of Music. In the New York area, he has performed at the Knitting Factory, St. Mark's Church, Fat Baby, The Tank, R&R, and Freddy's Bar and Back Room. Internationally, he has performed at DOM in Moscow, Russia.
In 2009, he released his first full-length album, called Fortress, which features 11 original songs that draw from a wide variety of styles and influences. Current projects include an art pop writing project with Saves the Day's Chris Conley, and a fusion recording with South Indian classical singer/flute player Vijaygopal Balasubramanian. His website is www.aaronjacksonmusic.com
Kari Johnson, YMES/ Piano
Kari Johnson has taught students of a wide variety of ages and levels at Beloit College (Beloit, WI), UW-Madison Continuing Education Program (Madison, WI), Arboretum Music School (Waunakee, WI), Winchester Community Music School (Winchester, MA), and At Your Door Music (Wellesley, MA). Her performing and collaborative experience includes a solo recital in the 2007 Faculty Recital Series at Winchester Community Music School; performances at the "Music at Castle Franc" summer program in Castres, France; and solo and collaborative performances at prisons, homeless shelters, hospitals, and schools as part of a grant to bring classical music to underserved audiences in Wisconsin. M.M. Piano Performance/Pedagogy, University of Wisconsin-Madison; B.M. Piano Performance, St. Olaf College. Piano study with Catherine Kautsky, Kenneth Graber, and A. DeWayne Wee.
Yerim Kang, YMES/ Piano
Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Yerim Kang started playing the piano at the age of 6. Taught by her mother initially, she continued her studies at SunHwa Art School, regarded as Korea's most prestigious music school. Yerim's family relocated to the UK when she was in high school, and she attended the Royal Academy of Music, Junior Department, studying with Tessa Nicholson. She completed the Bachelors of Music degree from Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, UK, studying with Peter Bithel. Yerim has a strong interested in early childhood music education. She is currently studying with Dr. Mia Chung at Gordon College, Wenham, MA, is active as a church accompanist, and also teaches at Merry Melody Music Academy in Norwood, MA.
Emily Murphy, YMES, Piano/ Keyboard Encounters
Emily holds a Masters degree in Musicology from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Graduate Performance Diploma in Collaborative Piano from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. In 2002, Emily was one of two recipients of the Artsbridge Scholarship for facilitating the creation and production of original operas in Salt Lake City public schools. She continued her work educating children as Music Director for Studio East Children's Theater and Youth Theater Northwest in Seattle from 2004-2006. She was awarded a teaching fellowship at the University of Washington and in 2008, Emily was named a Stern Fellow to participate and perform in Songfest, an international program for pianists and singers held in Malibu, CA. In June 2009, Emily received a scholarship to attend the Collaborative Piano Program as part of the Vancouver International Song Institute which included master classes and concerts throughout the Vancouver, BC area. Emily studies with Brian Moll, and has most recently participated in master classes with Margo Garrett, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, John Harbison, Kenneth Griffiths and Paul Sperry. She continues to enjoy freelancing with singers and instrumentalists throughout the Boston area.
Aristides Rivas, Cello
Cellist Aristides Rivas began his musical training at age ten, when he joined the Barinas city wing of the internationally known Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra Program, a musical-social project created by Jose Antonio Abreu. Rivas' education includes a Bachelor in Music from Baylor University in Texas, and a Master in Music from the New England Conservatory of Music. He has participated at competitions such as the San Antonio Tuesday Music Competition in Texas, Sphinx Competition, and the Baylor University Concerto Competition. His orchestral experience includes performances at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, and a principal cello position at the Waco Symphony Orchestra. Rivas performs and teaches at a variety of groups and organizations in Venezuela, Spain and USA. He also holds solo recitals and chamber music performances in classical, Latin American music, and Latin Jazz. He has performed several times with Paquito D'Rivera, one of the living legends in Latin Jazz. His principal teachers include Gary Hardie, Roberto Zambrano, and Nikolai Sarpe.
Lydia Warren, Guitar
Lydia has played internationally, from Montreal to Beirut, Memphis to New York, Chicago to D.C. Her Boston-based blues trio honed it's skilled opening for B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Rick Derringer, Buckwheat Zydeco and playing major music festivals. The band has been nominated for a Boston Music Award and appeared on NBC's "Today Show."