Category Archives: About BMS

Beyond the Chamber

Berkshire Music School Alumni Garner National Recognition

Madalyn and Cicely Parnas, alumni of the Berkshire Music School, have recently received significant recognition of their music talents.  Cicely, cellist, age 18, was selected to be “Artist in Residence” on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today”, with daily performances and interviews with host Fred Child the week of December 5-9.  Madalyn, violinist, age 20, has just won a Marshall Scholarship, which will pay all of her costs to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London next year while she completes her Masters degree in one year.  Madalyn studied violin at the Berkshire Music School with Laura Donovan and Cicely studied cello with Erica Pickhardt.  Both Madalyn and Cicely were the youngest top place winners of BMS’s Merit Scholarship competition at age 9, and remain the youngest winners.

Madalyn joins the elite group of American Marshall Scholars following her selection for this very competitive award. The Marshall Scholarship covers the cost of graduate study and living at a British university of the recipient’s choice. The Marshall Scholarships were established in 1953 as a British gesture to the US for the assistance received after WWII under the Marshall Plan. Financed by the British government, the prestigious scholarships are awarded to American students who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership potential. Up to 40 are selected each year. Madalyn will attend the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she will study with world renowned violinist and pedagogue György Pauk.

Cicely was invited to be an inaugural performer on a new Performance Today series called “Young Artists in Residence.” There were five radio segments broadcast daily beginning Monday, December 5th, and ended Friday, December 9th. Cicely was featured performing and interviewed by Fred Child each day.

Madalyn is presently completing an Artist Diploma with Jaime Laredo at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.  A former student of James Buswell, Ms. Parnas graduated summa cum laude with concentrations in Music and French from The College of Saint Rose. Madalyn performs on a 1715 Alessandro Gagliano violin and is the granddaughter of legendary cellist Leslie Parnas.

Born in 1993, cellist Cicely Parnas is one of the finest young artists performing today. A unique presence on the concert stage, she is recognized for her highly individualized sound, exquisite tone, and spontaneous creativity fueled by an affable fearlessness. Cicely’s cello studies began at age four, and she made her orchestral debut at nine. Since then Cicely has performed over thirty times as guest soloist with orchestras, including the New York String Orchestra conducted by master musician and conductor, Jaime Laredo, and David Alan Miller’s Albany Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Parnas has claimed her seventh 1st prize in soloist competitions winning the 2011 Cello Concerto Competition at the Jacobs School of Music.

Cicely is a full-tuition scholarship recipient in the prestigious Artist Diploma Program at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music studying with cellist Sharon Robinson. She is the granddaughter of world-class cellist Leslie Parnas, and a former student of cellist Peter Wiley. Ms. Parnas performs on a 1712 Giovanni Grancino violoncello.

For more information about the Parnas sisters, visit their website at www.parnasmusic.com.

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Berkshire Music School Announces New Faculty Members

The Berkshire Music School had added four new faculty members to its roster of over 40 music professionals.  New hires are Bonnie McCubbin for voice or violin; Paul de Jong for cello; Paul Green for clarinet; and Emily Kathryn Duff for saxophone.

Bonnie McCubbin holds both a Bachelor and Master of Music in Violin and Vocal Performance. She has over 20 years of experience of public and private music instruction and has numerous performance credits on both violin and voice.  Ms. McCubbin is also a Kripalu certified Yoga and YogaDance teacher.  She has taught students from age two to 82 years.

Paul Green began the clarinet at age 8 and at age 13 was recommended to Leonard Bernstein by Stanley Drucker, the first clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, to perform and record Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals”. Paul earned a BA in Theory and Composition from Yale, with continued studies at Juilliard, and a Master in Jazz Performance at Florida International University. Paul is founder of Klezmer East and active in the Berkshire Klezmer scene, and is currently the Principal Clarinetist with the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra.

Emily Duff earned a BA in Jazz Studies at Westfield State University.  She has a very active performing career and was voted “Best Soloist” at the Villanova Jazz Festival.  Emily has a full private studio and combines her performance teaching with ear training, transcription, composition, philosophy and theory.

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Berkshire Music School Elects New Trustees and Officers

The Berkshire Music School held its annual meeting on Tuesday, June 28th, and elected a slate of new officers:  Anne Marcure returns as president for a second year; Lyndon Moors is the new Vice President and Vickie Hornstein, new Secretary.

New Trustees joining the BMS board in September are Laura Rosenthal and Camp Gordinier. Laura is an actuary with Berkshire Life, with degrees in mathematics from Mount Holyoke and Virginia Tech.  She is a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries. Laura is on the Board of Knesset Israel and has been an active participant with the BMS Adult Cabaret Workshop. She is also a cellist as well as choral singer.  H. Camp Gordinier (Camp) earned a BA from Brown University and served as a Russian linguist with the US Army for four years after college. He earned a M.Div (cum laude) from the Episcopal Divinity School in 1970 and served parishes until 1994, at which point he took up teaching in public schools. Camp takes jazz piano at BMS with Dave Bartley.

Returning Trustees are Ken Green, Sarah Novak, Paul Sundberg and James Wojtaszek. The Berkshire Music School is in its 70th year of providing music education to the greater community as a 501-c-3 nonprofit organization.  It is located at 30 Wendell Avenue, downtown Pittsfield and its Executive Director is Tracy Wilson

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Spotlight – Dave Brown

Faculty spotlight - Dave Brown

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Spotlight – Bing Liu

Bing Liu - Faculty spotlight

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About Berkshire Music School

Founder Winnie Davis Long CraneThe Berkshire Music School was founded in December 1940 by Winnie Davis Long Crane, a leader in the Berkshire cultural community.

On several occasions she was piano soloist with the former Pittsfield Symphony Orchestra and she was an incorporator of the Berkshire Symphonic Festival (now Tanglewood). But the effort most dear to Mrs. Crane was the founding of the Pittsfield Community Music School (now the Berkshire Music School). It is no mere coincidence Read More »

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Berkshire Music School directions

Berkshire Music School is located at 30 Wendell Ave. in downtown Pittsfield, MA. You can get precise driving directions from any location using the custom Google map:

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Faculty of Berkshire Music School

DAVE BARTLEY, piano jazz improvisation

  • Education: BFA Piano Performance, SUNY Buffalo
  • Experience/Affiliations: Created the music department at The Academy at Swift River in Cummington; composer and musician for the Washington Performing Arts Society
  • Special Interests: Active performer as a soloist, and in jazz ensembles throughout Western Massachusetts

DAVE BROWN, guitar

  • Education: BA Jazz Performance, U-Mass, Amherst
  • Experience/Affiliations:Showband musician with cruise line
  • Special Interests: Active performer with a number of local bands and theatre productions

JACK BROWN, voice

  • Education: BM, College of Wooster
  • Experience/Affiliations: Faculty, The Hotchkiss School; Choir Director, Simons Rock and MCLA; Artistic Director Berkshire Lyric Theatre
  • Special Interests: Bass-baritone soloist throughout the northeast and Canada

SHERRI JAMES BUXTON, voice

  • Education: M.Ed, Cambridge College; BME, Indiana University
  • Experience/Affiliations: Public school teacher; appeared on Broadway
  • Special Interests: Professional cabaret singer

BETH CRAIG, cello

  • Education: BS Performance, Mannes College of Music; MM Performance, Kent State University; major teachers-Claus Adam, Yehuda Hanani
  • Experience/Affiliations: Teaching cello at Miss Hall’s, Indian Mountain School, Rudolph Steiner School, Hawthorne Valley School. Previously cellist with orchestras in Brazil, Ohio, and Pennsylvania
  • Special Interests: Performer, composer for theater productions and small groups with jazz and improvisation focus.

OTHA DAY, drumming

  • Education: MM Piano Performance, Piano Pedagogy, Music Education, Eastern Illinois University; private studies in African, Caribbeab and Japanese drumming.
  • Experience/Affiliations: Adjuct faculty, Williams College; leads drumming workshops for corporations and groups; operates individual and group piano studios.
  • Special Interests: Solo performer specializing in classical piano music of Black composers

EMILY DUFF, saxophone

  • BA, Jazz Studies. Westfield State Univ. 
  • Award winning jazz soloist, active performer.

OUISA FOHRHALTZ, violin, viola

  • Education: MM, U-Mass, Amherst
  • Experience/Affiliations: Suzuki instructor; violinist with Albany and Berkshire Symphonies
  • Special Interests: violinist with Vivante Trio

JUDITH GRAY, voice

  • Education: MM Voice Performance, University of Michigan
  • Experience/Affiliations: Adjunct faculty at Smith College and The Berkshire School
  • Special Interests: International soprano soloist performing oratorio, recital and orchestral works

PAUL GREEN, clarinet

  • MM, Clarinet performance, Juilliard;
  • Founder of Klezmer East and Berkshire Jewish Music Festival.
  • Current Principal Clarinet of Florida Grand Opera.

SUSAN HADFIELD, piano

  • Education: MM Performance, N.E. Conservatory; BA, Mt. Holyoke College; performance certificate, Kodaly Institute
  • Experience/Affiliations: Taught at Milton Academy and other private schools; member New England Piano Teachers Assn.
  • Special Interests: Choral, & instrumental accompanist; adult students

RAHIMA HOHLSTEIN, piano

  • Education:DMA Piano and Theory, University of North Carolina; MM, The Boston Conservatory
  • Experience/Affiliations: Taught music at The College of St. Rose, and University of North Carolina; College Music Society member and lecturer
  • Special Interests: Soloist and ensemble performer

YELENA LEVINA, piano

  • Education: USSR state certified, Nizhney Novgorod Pedagogical University and Music College
  • Experience/Affiliations: Piano teacher Nizhney Novgorod, Bennington Music School, and Pittsfield High School
  • Special Interests: Accompanist, private lessons in piano and theory

BING LIU, viola, violin

  • Education: MA Viola Performance, Boston University; Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing
  • Experience/Affiliations: Member of Suzuki Association of America
  • Special Interests: International soloist and orchestral performer; member of Berkshire Trio

CHARLES MARSHALL, piano

  • Education: BS, Music Education with Piano Concentration, Gordon College; graduate courses, Music Education, (Orff & Kodaly) Westminster Choir College
  • Experience/Affiliations: Interim Choir Director/Organist First Congregational Church, Dalton; Founder, Director & Instructor of Marshall Arts Academy of Music; music instructor grades Pre-K-12
  • Special Interests: Marshall Arts Entertainment

KATHLEEN MCDONALD, voice

  • Education: MFA Vocal Performance, University of California
  • Experience/Affiliations: Faculty member of Berkshire Community College and Windsor School of Music
  • Special Interests: Performer and instructor in solo, opera and musical theatre

CHRISTINE MORTENSEN, French horn

  • Education: MM Performance, UMass, Amherst; BME, Oberlin Conservatory
  • Experience/Affiliations: Teacher at Northampton Community Music Center and Greenwood Music Camp
  • Special Interests: Active performer; member of Berkshire Brass Quintet, principal horn of Connecticut River Valley Orchestra, and Da Camera Singers

JOANNE NELSON-UNCZUR, oboe

  • Education: MM Performance, Cincinnati Conservatory; BME, Ithaca College
  • Experience/Affiliations: Music teacher, public schools
  • Special Interests: Active performer

ART NIEDECK, percussion

  • Education: BM, Juilliard School of Music
  • Experience/Affiliations: Percussion teacher, public schools
  • Special Interests: Pittsfield City Jazz Board Member

CHRISTINE NOBLE-DROSEHN, voice

  • Education: BA Vocal and Theatre Performance, Franklin Pierce College, NH
  • Experience/Affiliations: Choral Director, Darrow School; repertoire performer, Hancock Shaker Village
  • Special Interests: Active soloist; church choir

CHRIS OBERFIELD, piano

  • Education: MEd, Westfield State College; BS, Indiana University of PA
  • Experience/Affiliations: Retired music teacher, public schools; “Piano Kids” instructor; choir director, organist, soloist and accompanist for several churches
  • Special Interests: Serves as organist, First Baptist Church, Pittsfield

CINDY OGULNICK, violin, viola

  • Education: BME, Performance, SUNY Potsdam
  • Experience/Affiliations: Teacher, public schools
  • Special Interests: Member of Berkshire Symphony and Rosamund String Trio

ZAFER PONTER, bassoon, recorder

  • Education: BA, Rowan University
  • Experience/Affiliations: Principal bassoon with Sage City Symphony; member of Bennington Trio, Gramercy Quintet, and Taconic Consort
  • Special Interests: Active freelance performer with area ensembles

SHARON POWERS, flute, recorder

  • Education: BM Flute and Composition, Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music
  • Experience/Affiliations: Flute instructor and orchestra director regionally and abroad in France and Bangkok
  • Special Interests: Soloing with national orchestras

KARL RAUSCH, guitar

  • Education: BM, Berklee College of Music
  • Special Interests: Active recording artist and performer

AMY RENAK, piano

  • Education: BA, Mary Washington College; graduate studies, Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford
  • Experience/Affiliations: Faculty of BCC; Director of Music, Zion Evangelical Church
  • Special Interests: Active performer and accompanist.; choir director and organist

TARI WHEELER ROOSA, flute, recorder, programs for young children

  • Education: MME, University of Colorado; BM, University of Lowell; Suzuki and Early Childhood training
  • Experience/Affiliations: Music instructor in MA, VT, and CO public schools; assistant conductor of the Eagles Band
  • Special Interests: Active performer; flutist for Berkshire Children’s Chorus; Jovia Trio

HARRIET ROTHSTEIN, piano

  • Education: MM, Temple University
  • Experience/Affiliations: Taught piano for more than 25 years
  • Special Interests: Professional collaborative pianist

BOB SHEPHERD, Piano accompanist for Adult Cabaret

  • Education: Master’s degree, MCLA
  • Experience/Affiliations: Longtime professional jazz pianist in many New England groups, bass studies with Percy Heath
  • Special Interests: Owner, Otis Manor Studios, voiceovers, multitrack recording and MIDI arranging 

ALICE SPATZ, double bass, mand0lin, theory / composition

  • Education: MFA Composition, Bennington College; BA, New School for Social Research
  • Experience/Affiliations: Published composer; co-author of a series of bass pedagogy books
  • Special Interests: Active performer with the folk group “Wintergreen” ensemble; published composer

JEAN STACKHOUSE, piano

  • Education: MM, University of Oklahoma; BM, De Pauw University
  • Experience/Affiliations: Former faculty member of New England Conservatory and Westminster Choir College; founder of Piano Performance Seminars
  • Special Interests: Active performer; contributor to “Keyboard Companion”

TRISTAN SULLIVAN, percussion, music therapy

  • BA Music, Westfield State College.
  • Public & private school experience with students with cognitive disabilities.

PAUL SUNDBERG, trumpet

  • Education: BM, Oberlin Conservancy of Music
  • Experience/Affiliations: Former Williams College trumpet instructor, brass ensemble director
  • Special Interests: Founding member, Berkshire Brass Quintet;

PETE SWEENEY, percussion

  • Education: Drummer’s Collective, NYC; studies with Joe Morello
  • Experience/Affiliations: Faculty member of National Guitar Workshop and the Vic Firth Education Program author of “The Complete Drumset Method”
  • Special interests: Jazz trio leader; member of Latin/Jazz group “Sensemaya”

NORMAN THIBODEAU, flute, orchestra

  • Education: MM Flute and History of Music, Peabody Conservatory
  • Experience/Affiliations: Served as assistant principal flute of the Orquest Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico
  • Special Interests: Active conductor and composer

KRISTEN TUTTMAN, piano

  • Education: BM, Vassar College; Hartt School of Music
  • Experience/Affiliations: Instructor at Syracuse University, SUNY New Paltz, and Hartt School of Music
  • Special Interests: Performer with Albany Symphony Orchestra and Eribeth Chamber Players

DAVID WAMPLER, trombone

  • Education: MM, University of Nebraska
  • Experience/Affiliations: Faculty member of College of St. Rose and Simon’s Rock
  • Special Interests: Professional musician

ERIN M. WHITE, advanced clarinet

  • Education: BME, Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford
  • Experience/Affiliations: Teacher at Lee High School; taught band, choir, history and theory
  • Special Interests: 1st Clarinet with Hartt Symphony Band

 

 

 

 

 

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