Conductor, Current Season Guests, Performer
Conductor Audrey J. Edelstein brings sensitivity, power, and connection to the podium, championing a compassionate experience between herself, ensemble, and audience. Incorporating a background in classical dance in her conducting, Audrey shapes soundscapes with fluidity and grace in a variety of settings including the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, a fully staged production of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat, and Musical Passport with the Arcadian Chorale featuring choral pieces in eleven languages and original orchestrations for string quartet. Actively engaged in programming women and underrepresented voices, Audrey blends the richness of the classical tradition with perspectives of the next generation of creators.
Previous positions include Assistant Conductor of the Oratorio Society of Queens and Northwinds Symphonic Band. Audrey is a founding member of the New Conductors Orchestra, a NYC-based civic orchestra committed to showcasing emerging conductors. Audrey earned a MM in Orchestral Conducting at the Aaron Copland School of Music, and a BA at Swarthmore College. Learn more at www.audreyjedelstein.com
Performer, Vocalist
Soprano Klaudia Morelowska originally from Słupsk, Poland, has recently graduated from Aaron Copland School of Music, where she earned both her B.M. and M.M. degrees in Vocal Performance.
Throughout her studies, she has had the opportunity to perform leading roles in several productions such as Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Die Fledermaus (Adele), Die Zauberflöte (1st Lady), Don Pasquale (Norina) and Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica). This year was her debut with the Chicago Summer Opera Company, where she sang the role of Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea.
In recital repertoire, Klaudia actively performs works by Polish composers such as Chopin, Karłowicz, and Moniuszko in the hopes of showcasing lesser known pieces from her home country. She currently resides in Northport, New York and regularly performs in the New York tri-state area.
Performer, Violinist
Sylvia D’Avanzo, violinist, has a varied NYC freelance career running the gamut from symphony and ballet to recordings, Broadway and touring.
She has played for over 30 Broadway shows including Sunset Boulevard, The Light in the Piazza, Sunday in the Park with George, She Loves Me, Kiss Me Kate and Sponge Bob Square Pants. Sylvia is currently the concertmaster for the upcoming 2023 Lincoln Center Theater revival of Camelot. She has also toured extensively with Barbra Streisand, Harry Connick Jr and Madeleine Peyroux. Highlights include a performance with Harry and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and a sold out week of shows with Madeleine at Ronnie Scott’s in London.
In addition to her Broadway and touring life, Sylvia has played with the symphonies of Phoenix and Baltimore as well as the Philharmonia Hungarica, American Ballet Orchestra, St. Lukes and the American Theater Orchestra. She holds degrees from Mannes College of Music and Yale University. Her major teachers were Sally Thomas, Paul Kantor and Joyce Robbins. Sylvia lives in Hell’s Kitchen and loves opera, theater, tennis, cooking and travel.
Performer, Violinist
Kiwon Nahm started studying violin at the age of four and was accepted into the Juilliard School, Pre-College Division when she was nine years old, under the tutelage of Naoko Tanaka and the late Dorothy DeLay. Ms. Nahm made her orchestral solo debut at the age of 12 with the Korean Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center.
She has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Kiwon Nahm has been a top prizewinner in the MTNA competition, the Washington Competition, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition. She currently is a very active chamber musician as well as an orchestral performer. Kiwon has collaborated with Philippe Entremont, Peter Frankl, and the late Claude Frank as well as members of the Emerson String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, and the St. Petersburg Quartet.
Kiwon Nahm holds a dual bachelors of music and arts degree from Oberlin College & Conservatory and a master’s degree from Yale University. She is a currently on faculty at The Calhoun School and Concordia College in Bronxville, NY.
Performer, Vocalist
Budding mezzo-soprano, Emily Gehman, is thrilled to be getting back to performing after the events of 2020. Miss Gehman is a recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, having received her master’s degree in classical voice after her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at Colorado State University.
During her time at Colorado State, Miss Gehman was involved with many productions including: Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (Mrs. Anderssen), Handel’s Serse (Arsamene), and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortileges (Mother, Teacup, and Dragonfly). Miss Gehman was also a member of the CSU Chamber Choir and featured as the alto soloist in their performances of Bach’s Magnificat in D and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music.
During her time at Manhattan School of Music, Miss Gehman has performed in the Opera Scenes program as Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Armelinde in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon. In the spring of 2022, Miss Gehman performed the entire role of Marcellina in the Manhattan School of Music’s mainstage production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
Harpist, Performer
Kathryn Sloat, “whose harp playing evoked the angels (Brooklyn Discovery),” is known for her work in opera and contemporary chamber music in New York City and throughout the United States. She is a member of the contemporary harp duo Lilac 94 with whom she has had the honor of performing at the American Harp Society’s 2015 National Conference in Logan, Utah, the Fresh Inc Festival in Wisconsin and Chicago, as well as various chamber music series along the east coast. Kathryn has also worked with a number of composers in bringing their music alive through initial readings and concert performances for the New York Composers Circle and Secret Opera. As an orchestral harpist, Kathryn has performed in a variety of festivals with conductors such as Keith Lockhart, JoAnn Falletta, Leon Botstein, Larry Rachleff, and a notable performance with conductor Krešimir Batinić and the Zagreb Philharmonic in their Carnegie Hall debut for the premiere of Malek Jandali’s Luminosity, a four-movement sinfonietta for chamber orchestra inspired by and dedicated to the Syrian children.
— from http://www.kathrynsloatharp.com/
Performer, Violinist
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, with “a marvelous show of superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace” (New York Classical Review), violinist Danbi Um captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. A Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist, winner of the prestigious 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and a recent top prizewinner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition, she showcases her artistry in concertos, solo recitals, and in collaboration with distinguished chamber musicians.
Her recent and forthcoming engagements include solo appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (Kimmel Center), Brevard Philharmonic, and New York recital debut at Lincoln Center presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Rockefeller University, San Francisco recital debut on Music@Menlo’s celebrated “Carte Blanche” series, Chicago recital debut on Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, and Philadelphia recital debut presented by Astral Artists. In addition, she will debut at the Wolf Trap in Washington D.C., and her return to the Parlance Chamber Music Series (NJ), Caramoor Festival as well as a national tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. During 2017-18 season, She also debuted for the Palm Beach Chamber Music Society with pianist Juho Pohjonen, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s “Morning Musicales”, and at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., with pianist Orion Weiss.
After winning the 2014 Music Academy of the West Competition, Ms. Um made her concerto debut in the Walton Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Weilerstein. Recent concerto engagements include appearances with the Israel Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, and the Dartmouth Symphony. She also recently appeared in recital and in chamber music performances in such venues as the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Harris Theatre in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, and at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Um is a current artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) and will see her opening the CMS’s 50th anniversary season in fall 2019 at Alice Tully Hall. Festival appearances have included those at Marlboro, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Moab, Seattle, Caramoor, and North Shore. This past summer, Ms. Um made critically acclaimed debut at the Moritzburg Festival in Dresden, Germany at the invitation of Jan Vogler. Her chamber music collaborators have included Anthony Marwood, Vadim Gluzman, Pamela Frank, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Frans Helmerson, Jan Vogler, David Shifrin, and Gilbert Kalish.
Born in 1990 in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Um began violin lessons at the age of three. In the year 2000, she moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. Her teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham.
Ms. Um is a winner of Astral’s 2015 National Auditions. She plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.
Bassist, Performer
Bassist Timothy Cobb joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Bass in May 2014, after serving as principal bass of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and principal bass of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra since 1989.
He has appeared at numerous chamber music festivals worldwide, including the Marlboro Music festival, through which he has toured with the Musicians from Marlboro series. A faculty member of the Sarasota Music Festival, he is helping to launch a new bass program for the Killington Music Festival in Killington, Vermont. Mr. Cobb also serves as principal bass for Valery Gergiev’s World Orchestra for Peace, an invited group of musicians from around the world who donate their time biannually and perform to promote international harmony. Mr. Cobb has been designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace from his affiliation with the World Orchestra.
He has an ongoing collaboration with actor Stephen Lang, for whom he recorded a solo bass sound track for Mr. Lang’s animated short film The Wheatfield, which depicts a human drama from the Battle of Gettysburg. The two were invited to Gettysburg in July 2013 on the 150th anniversary of the battle to perform in the Salute to the States event held there, and they will continue to collaborate for future events.
Mr. Cobb serves as bass department chair for The Juilliard School as well as on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, Purchase College, and Rutgers University. He is also a distinguished visiting artist for Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.
A native of Albany, New York, Timothy Cobb graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Roger Scott. While at Curtis, Mr. Cobb was a substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in his senior year became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti. Mr. Cobb can be heard on all Metropolitan Opera recordings released after 1986, as well as on a recording of Giovanni Bottesini’s duo bass music with bassist Thomas Martin on the Naxos label.
Clarinetist, Performer
Eric Umble is a versatile, award winning clarinetist hailed as “lovely”, (New York Arts) and known for his “… nuanced and coloristic playing.” (The Clarinet). Eric enjoys a diverse international career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and music educator. An advocate for and avid performer of contemporary music, he is founding member of SoundMind, sTem, and DuoHelixensembles; all champion music by living composers.
Eric served as clarinetist in residence at Chamber Music Silicon Valley, the Annapolis Chamber Music Festival, and New Music on the Point. He has performed with renowned ensembles including the Orchestras of the Lucerne Festival Academy and Alumni, the WindScape Quintet, American Modern Ensemble, LoftOpera, ECCE, Tenth Intervention, Cantata Profana, Ensemble Echappee, Tactus, Contemporaneous, and Ensemble Mise-en. Eric has performed in the world’s major venues including Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and National Sawdust in New York; as well as the Kölner Philharmonie, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, and the Cultural and Congress Center of Lucerne, Switzerland. Eric has participated in residencies at Princeton, Cornell, Millersville, Miami, and Sul Ross State, Universities.
Dedicated to using music as a force for positive change, Eric produced benefit concerts that raised thousands of dollars for public health, shelters, and disaster relief. He has received awards and honors including the grand prize of the Naftzger Young Artist Competition, Lancaster Red Rose Award for Community Service, Gordon Parks Memorial Competition, Skokie Valley Young Artist Competition, and the Fuchs Chamber Music Competition. As an educator, Eric is a teaching artist with the Bridge Arts Ensemble, and he is a Music Theory teacher at the Washington Heights Community Conservatory in Manhattan. Eric served as an adjunct instructor at the Teacher’s College of Columbia University. He enjoys relationships with the Escuela Nacional de Música in Mexico City and Casa de Las Américas in Havana, Cuba where he has presented numerous lecturers, masterclasses, and recitals. Eric received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Manhattan School of Music studying with David Krakauer and Anthony McGill.
Composer, Performer
Long regarded as Broadway’s preeminent orchestrator, Jonathan Tunick is known for his facility and creativity in scoring the works of others, primarily those of Stephen Sondheim. However he is also a skilled and versatile composer who has written in all forms; orchestral, chamber and vocal. A native New Yorker, Jonathan Tunick grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and was educated at the High School of Music and Art, Bard College and Juilliard.
His first major credit was Promises, Promises (1968), which led to a long series of other Broadway musicals, which include Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, A Chorus Line, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Nine, Into the Woods, Passion, Titanic, The Color Purple, Road Show and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
His credits as composer, arranger and conductor of music for film and television include Find Me Guilty, Fort Apache, The Bronx, Endless Love, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Fantasticks, The Bird Cage, Murder, She Wrote, and Columbo.
He has been awarded honorary Doctorates by Bard College and Oklahoma City University.
He is one of eight living “EGOTs”, holding all four major awards (Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Oscar). In 2009 he was inducted into Broadway’s Theater Hall of Fame.
