Our Music Summer Program

Mark Bligh is the director of the Denton Ave Elementary Band (Herricks UFSD) where he teaches winds, brass and percussion for grades 3-5. The Denton Ave Band regularly attends NYSSMA Majors and consistently earns Gold with Distinction honors. Mark Bligh is an active NMEA member who has chaired several All-County festivals and presented at the Balanced Mind Conference. The past few years he conducted the Winds, Brass and Percussion sectional for the NYSSMA All-State Symphonic Orchestra and will conduct the 2018 SCMEA Division 1 Central All-County Band. Mark performs regularly as Principal Alto Saxophone for the Northwinds Symphonic Band, has performed with the Atlantic Wind Symphony as well as various chamber recitals. Mark is a past member of SCMEA and current member of NMEA, NYSSMA, NYSBDA and NafME.

Jacinta Clusellas is a guitarist, composer, and arranger originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is currently composing and arranging the music for “Azul Otra Vez” - a Spanish language folkloric musical based on Ruben Darío’s works. A graduate of the Berklee School of Music, Jacinta is a Teaching Artist at the New York Philharmonic and a participating member at the Carnegie Hall Music Educators Workshop. Her debut album “El Pájaro Azul" was recently released at the Consulate of Argentina in NYC.

Do you have any career news or events coming up? 
I have been awarded with a residency at Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts for this summer.    

Born in Ohrid, in the Republic of Macedonia, Vasko Dukovski began playing with sound at age five and started his musical education at the age of eight. His dedication to music and the clarinet earned him a Fine Arts Award from the Interlochen Arts Academy, which he attended before receiving a Bachelors and a Masters Degree from The Juilliard Schools of Music.  Today, he is a New York-based multidisciplinary performing artist ,composer and advocate of  contemporary classical and experimental music.  Vasko has collaborated with some of New York’s most respected ensembles including Argento New Music Ensemble, S.E.M Ensemble, Bang on A Can All Stars, and others. In addition to being a front man of his world music quartet, Tavche Gravche, Vasko, is a member of Either/OR Ensemble, Mise-En Ensemble, Lost Dog Ensemble and Ensemble. He regularly appears in Europe, The Middle East, North Africa, China, and extensively in the U.S. in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, BAM, Roulette, LPR, and Miller Theater at Columbia University, The Met Museum and MOMA.  

Musician and scholar John Patrick Murphy holds a Masters of Music in Collaborative Piano from Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Music Education from SUNY Fredonia. His studies also include the Académie Musique Orford in Canada, the Golandsky Institute at Princeton University, and Orff-Schulwerk at Hofstra University. In addition to piano training, he holds the Colleague Certification (CAGO) from the American Guild of Organists.  In addition, John’s article titled “The Neglected Consolations of Franz Liszt” was recently accepted for publication in the Clavier Companion Journal.

Andrew R. Steinberg is a Boston-based saxophonist performing throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Praised for his “beautiful tone” and “lyric playing,” Andrew has sought to perform neglected works as well as present premiere performances. An advocate of music that is equally gratifying and challenging, his repertoire focuses on works that highlight the “sound-of-sax” in ways never heard before, particularly in terms of tone color, range, and aesthetic approach. In addition to performing, Andrew lectures at venues including Boston University, New England Conservatory, Brookline Adult & Community Education, as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Andrew  is currently completing his doctorate at New England Conservatory and is the Founder and Music Director of the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra.

What will be your focus for the upcoming camp season? 
This summer, Saxophone class will focus on team activities, including saxophone quartets and ensembles, as well as discussions of the saxophone repertoire and its rich history.    
 

Flutist Zara Lawler— “an engaging, fluent, mellifluous soloist” (Houston Chronicle)—made her concerto debut with the Houston Symphony and her recital debut at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall. For the past 10 years, she has integrated dance and theater into her performances, with the innovative ensemble Tales & Scales, in collaboration with choreographer C. Neil Parsons, and in large-scale choreographies for flutes including E Pluribus Flutum, a work created for sixty dancing flutists. Recent  career highlights include the U.S. premiere of Il Cerchio Tagliato dei Suoni—Salvatore Sciarrino’s work for 104 flutists— which she directed at the Guggenheim Museum; and a Flute Jamboree—also directed by Zara—at the Kennedy Center.Zara is on faculty at Manhattan School and a member of both the New York Flute Club and National Flute Association.

Oboist and English Hornist Cat Cantrell is a nomadic musician who performs regularly across the US. In addition to her tenured position as 3rd Oboe and English horn for the Tucson Symphony, she performs around the world at various Festivals; with organizations including the Bergen Symphony, New Amsterdam Opera, the Sarasota Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic as well as on movie soundtracks and even on “America’s Got Talent.”  Earlier in her career, as a Britten-Pears Young Artist , she travelled to the UK to work with esteemed conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Oliver Knussen, and Mark Wigglesworth on concerts for the Aldeburgh and Edinburgh Festivals and the BBC Proms.  

Paula Berardinelli, Ph.D,  teaches Class Piano at both Hofstra University and Molloy College, and is the organist of St. Mary's Church in Roslyn Harbor. As a freelance pianist and organist, she has performed extensively in the classical, jazz and commercial genres, often serving as accompanist for pop artists such as Al Martino, Buddy Greco, Connie Francis, and Jerry Vale. Paula was featured at the Chelsea Center Concert Series, and appeared with the Minnewaska Chamber Music Society performing works for two pianos by Debussy, Gershwin, Faure and Bolling. She holds degrees from Hunter College, C.W. Post, and New York University.