Faculty

Mariah Dalton

Mariah Dalton is a graduate of Muhlenberg College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre, concentration in Acting. With a deep love for all things involving theater, music, and dance, Dalton has appeared in productions of The Addams Family (Morticia), Avenue Q (Mrs. T), American Dream (Mommy), and ‘dentity Crisis (Edith Fromage) while in college and various productions while a student at Summit High School. Dalton has a background in choral music and improv comedy in addition to her training as an actor. Recently, she has performed in cabarets in both New York City and Pennsylvania as part of the Fishbowl Collective, a theater collective of Muhlenberg Alumni.

Lilli Markey

Lilli Markey holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Theatre Arts from New Jersey City University and has studied at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Markey has directed numerous children’s theater productions including Romeo & Juliet, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Una and the Goblins, Cinderella, Daisy-Head Mayzie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, How to Eat Like a Child, Aesop’s Fables, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Sherlock Holmes and the Emerald of Alcazar. Some of her favorite performing roles include Blackbird (Una), The Country Club (Chloe), Closer (Alice), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Suzanne), Popcorn (Scout), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia), Much Ado About Nothing (Hero), Barefoot in the Park (Corie).

Markey has toured with various professional children’s theater groups including Theater Project of New Jersey, Women’s Theater Co., The Cameo Cast, and The Shoestring Players. She appeared in film for American Baby Magazine playing herself as a first-time Mom. Most recently, Markey starred as Donna Marsala in Tony and Tina’s Wedding at NJPAC and as the Velveteen Rabbit for Alliance Repertory Company at the Union County Arts Center. Markey has been teaching drama to children for over a decade, leading classes and workshops in improvisation, creative movement, theatrical make-up, and acting technique.

Mariah Dalton

Mariah Dalton is a graduate of Muhlenberg College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre, concentration in Acting. With a deep love for all things involving theater, music, and dance, Dalton has appeared in productions of The Addams Family (Morticia), Avenue Q (Mrs. T), American Dream (Mommy), and ‘dentity Crisis (Edith Fromage) while in college and various productions while a student at Summit High School. Dalton has a background in choral music and improv comedy in addition to her training as an actor. Recently, she has performed in cabarets in both New York City and Pennsylvania as part of the Fishbowl Collective, a theater collective of Muhlenberg Alumni.

Joyce Alexander, Early Childhood Music and Music for Special Needs

Joyce Alexander is a Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC). She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Therapy from Montclair State University and has also studied voice, theory, and performance at The New School in New York City.

Alexander received the Department of Music David Ott Scholarship and Outstanding Student Music Therapist Award while at Montclair State University. She has advanced teacher training in Kindermusik and Musikgarten. Alexander has served as music therapist in several settings including Bayonne Public Schools, Regional Day School (Morristown), American Day Treatment Center (Verona), Essex County Hospital (Cedar Grove), and S.A.G.E. (Berkeley Heights).

Diane Michaels

Diane Michaels has served as the principal harpist with the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea since 1993, has played on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and with the Queens Symphony, Metro Lyric Opera, the New York Verismo Opera Company, RTG Productions, the Garden State Philharmonic, and the Monmouth Symphony. She has also performed with Tony Bennett at Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City and was a member of the All American College Orchestra at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center. Michaels has played aboard the QE2 and the Radisson Seven Seas Navigator, currently performs for tea at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City, and has performed at New York’s most prestigious hotels and restaurants, including the Plaza Hotel, the Rainbow Room, the Waldorf-Astoria, the Ritz Carlton Hotel, and the Hilton at Short Hills.

Michaels is on the roster of Music for all Seasons, a non-profit organization through which she performs at numerous facilities including hospitals and shelters for victims of domestic abuse. She has toured with the New York Harp Ensemble in the United States and Italy and with the Paulson Harp Ensemble in New Jersey and Ireland. Michaels was a Masterwork Music and Arts Foundation Young Artist Recitalist and a four-time gold medallist in the harp division of the United Irish Counties of New York, Inc. Feis. As a winner of this competition, she appeared in the winners’ concert at Carnegie Recital Hall. She served as the President of the North Jersey Chapter of the American Harp Society 2008-2012, following four years as the Chapter secretary. In addition to maintaining a private teaching studio, Michaels is on the faculty of Wharton’s Performing Arts School in Berkeley Heights. She also has published arrangements for harp ensemble and a book for beginning harp students.

Michaels received a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music where she studied harp with Alice Chalifoux. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy, where she was a student of Joan Holland, and National Music Camp, both in Interlochen, Michigan, the Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden, Maine, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

Brett Ettinger

Brett Ettinger started to play guitar when he was 14 years old. He fell in love with the blues and classic rock although plays a variety of styles: pop, R&B, reggae, and funk. Ettinger has experience playing in bands and accompanying singers for live performances, including weddings, festivals and other events.  He has a passion for creating music and editing audio for all genres and has experience producing a variety of artist types ranging from hip hop and pop to folk. His published works can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and Pandora. During his time as an engineer in multiple professional recording studios, Ettinger has had the privilege of assisting engineers including John Agnello (Bob Dylan, Earth Wind and Fire) and John Sikket (Phish, Dave Matthews Band). Ettinger has a degree in Music & Technology from Mercy College.

Craig Graham

Craig Graham has become one of the most versatile guitarists in the tri-state area. Comfortable performing many styles of music, including jazz, classical, bluegrass, Latin, blues, jam band, rock and pop music, Graham performs intimate solo gigs and with orchestras and bands in all types of venues. He has toured in Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, and the U.S.

In addition to performances with his own band, Graham has also performed and recorded with Jeff Andrews, Vince DelGato, Joe Deninzon, Craig Handy, Molly Holm, Carol Lawrence, Donny McCaslin, Danny Paradise, Bill Rogers, Bobby Ridle, Ben Vereen, and Rural Free Delivery. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and workshops with great musicians such as Dave Creamer, Pat Matheny, and Michael Brecker.

Rob Heinink

Rob Heinink began playing guitar at the age of eleven and as a teenager he played in local rock bands in Hackensack, New Jersey and with the bands Jona’s Ark, The Yorkshire Pudding, as an opening act for artists Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, and Gary U.S. Bonds.

After spending two years at St. Petersburg Junior College in Florida, Heinink attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied guitar with Bill Leavitt, Pat Metheny, and John Damien. As a freeleance musician, Heinink has worked with The Drifters, Del Shannon, The Marvelettes, Chuck Berry, The Crystals, Leslie Gore, and–believe it or not–Tiny Tim.

He has appeared in recordings, Off Broadway shows, as well as the European tour of the musical Hair and productions of Tommy, Big River, Fiddler on the Roof, and Grease. He also writes and collaborates with others making original music. From 1994 to 2000, Heinink was the guitarist for The Royal Scam, a Steely Dan tribute band, and during that time Heinink was hired by Hal Leonard Music Corporation to write a guitar transcription book called The Best of Steely Dan. He composed and recorded a national radio jingle called P-TOUCH, with Corey Glover from the rock band Livng Colour, for Brother International Corporation.

Presently Heinink divides his time between teaching, which he enjoys as much as performing, and playing guitar for the jazz quartet …and All That Jazz, whose 2005 CD “Reflections” was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Heinink in his home-based 24-track recording studio. He is also involved in the mandolin/classical guitar project Music Of The Ages.

Andrew Nitkin

Andrew Nitkin is the original Founder and Director of the American Institute of Guitar in New York City, established over three decades ago. There he developed a specific curriculum geared towards the teaching of all styles of guitar playing as well as an international concert series that featured many of today’s great performers on the instrument.

Nitkin’s education includes having attended The College of New Jersey, Hunter College, and Mannes College of Music in New York City. His private studies included Howard Fraidkin, Leonid Bolotine, Ariadna Mikeshina, Mario Escudero, and Tiberio Nascimento.

Nitkin has performed in a variety of venues and settings over the years having performed chamber music with Juan Carlos Rybin of the Quartetto Amati, most recently The Sacred Hymns and Carols Choir of New Jersey, and on the Community Concert Series at the New Providence Memorial Public Library both as a soloist and ensemble player. Having been classically trained, his performing style is a mix of classical, Spanish, and Brazilian guitar.

Since having left the American Institute of Guitar in 2004, Nitkin joined the staff of Wharton’s Performing Arts School in Berkeley Heights in 2005 as a faculty member and an administrator. He believes that the study of music helps to enrich and make for a better quality of life for every person who chooses to pursue it. That is his life’s passion and mission.

Joe DeVico, Recording Studio and Engineering Techniques

Joe DeVico grew up in Chatham and Madison, NJ, where he began playing both percussion and piano at a young age. He also became heavily interested in recording and opened his first studio to the public when he was 13 years old, recording local artists at no charge on his prized Tascam 388 8-track reel-to-reel recorder. After graduating from Madison High School, DeVico went on to study Jazz and Percussion Performance at Indiana University. After graduating, he moved back to New Jersey and began a successful performing and teaching career, working with area percussion and piano students and performing throughout the tri-state area, focused mainly on Big Band and small group jazz. As a drummer, DeVico has performed and toured with James Moody, Freddie Hubbard, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many others. He was the drummer with Cecil’s Big Band featured on ABC’s Nightline. He is currently the drummer with The Jazz Lobsters and Asbury Fever and plays percussion with multiple artists and cabaret performances at New York clubs including Birdland and 54 Below.

DeVico never stopped recording, and shortly after finishing at Indiana University, he opened a commercial facility to allow jazz artists an affordable space to record their projects. During that time he began composing works for radio and TV. As a musician, recording engineer and composer, his original music can be heard on TBS, TLC, TeenNICK and We Networks and in national spots for clients including Coca-Cola and GE Capital. DeVico has spent the last eight years as an assistant to Grammy and Tony-winning arranger Don Sebesky, including multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway shows including Come Fly Away, Baby It’s You, Honeymoon In Vegas and An American in Paris.

Kevin Brown, Music Theory

Kevin Brown is adjunct professor of Double Bass and Music Theory/Aural Skills at Montclair State University and served as adjunct professor of Double Bass at Georgian Court College from 2003-2009. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies and Master of Music degree in Double Bass from the University of North Texas. Performances and recordings include the Staten Island Symphony, Metro Lyric Opera, Orchestra of St. Peter-by-the-Sea, New Jersey Pops, New Jersey Ballet, and the Richardson, Sherman and Wichita Falls Symphonies. He has appeared with Marvin Hamlisch, Regis Philbin, Joan Rivers, Bob Newhart, the Drifters, as well as frequent productions at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse.

Alice Hamlet, Music Theory

A prolific studio recording musician, Hamlet has recorded for over a hundred indie bands and singer songwriters and on the soundtrack for the 2013 Steven Soderbergh film Side Effects. She is the founder and director of NYC-based Ten Strings Music Studio and maintains a private teaching studio as well as serving on the faculty of Wharton’s Performing Arts School where she teaches cello and music theory.

Diane Michaels, Music Theory

Diane Michaels has served as both the principal harpist with the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea since 1993, has played on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and with the Queens Symphony, Metro Lyric Opera, the New York Verismo Opera Company, RTG Productions, the Garden State Philharmonic, and the Monmouth Symphony. She has also performed with Tony Bennett at Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City and was a member of the All American College Orchestra at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center. Michaels has played aboard the QE2 and the Radisson Seven Seas Navigator, currently performs for tea at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City, and has performed at New York’s most prestigious hotels and restaurants, including the Plaza Hotel, the Rainbow Room, the Waldorf-Astoria, the Ritz Carlton Hotel, and the Hilton at Short Hills.

Michaels is on the roster of Music for all Seasons, a non-profit organization through which she performs at numerous facilities including hospitals and shelters for victims of domestic abuse. She has toured with the New York Harp Ensemble in the United States and Italy and with the Paulson Harp Ensemble in New Jersey and Ireland. Michaels was a Masterwork Music and Arts Foundation Young Artist Recitalist and a four-time gold medalist in the harp division of the United Irish Counties of New York, Inc. Feis. As a winner of this competition, she appeared in the winners’ concert at Carnegie Recital Hall. She served as the President of the North Jersey Chapter of the American Harp Society 2008-2012, following four years as the Chapter secretary. In addition to maintaining a private teaching studio, Michaels is on the faculty of Wharton’s Performing Arts School in Berkeley Heights. She also has published arrangements for harp ensemble and a book for beginning harp students.

Michaels received a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music where she studied harp with Alice Chalifoux. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy, where she was a student of Joan Holland, and National Music Camp, both in Interlochen, Michigan, the Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden, Maine, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

Kristen Wuest, Music Theory

Kristen Wuest, a New Jersey Youth Symphony alumna who served as principal flute for two years, has been playing the flute since the age of nine. She performed with the New Jersey Youth Symphony in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in May 2003.

Wuest attended master classes with world renowned Julius Baker, Jan Vinci, Jeffrey Khaner, Bart Feller, and Paul Edmund Davies. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and a Master of Music in Flute Performance at The School of Music, Dance, and Theater at New Jersey City University where she studied under Katherine Fink.

While at Rutgers University, Wuest studied under Kaoru Hinata and was a member of the Grammy-nominated Rutgers Wind Ensemble. She aspires to teach flute at the college level and has built a busy career in freelance performance.

Timothy Cole, Director of Musical Theater Arts

Working with students of all ages, Cole treats every student as an individual.  She believes that the fundamental techniques of voice: breath, support, posture, resonance, and diction, can and should be applied to all types of singing and theater performance. Her specialization in pedagogy gives her a great technical understanding of the voice, and she enjoys preparing singers for auditions, competitions, productions, and performances of all types.

Allie Mannarino

Allie Mannarino holds a Master of Arts degree from Montclair State University in Music Therapy and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music (Vocal Performance) from Muhlenberg College. She is a Board Certified Music Therapist, and works with clients with a variety of needs. Allie has been teaching musical theatre and voice at Wharton Arts for 8 years, and before that was a musical theater student at Wharton.

Some of her favorite performances include Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie Dillmount), Annie (Annie), and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona Lisa Peretti).

Allie’s teaching experience includes providing music education for inclusion preschools, leading group and private voice classes, directing musical theater productions for a variety of ages, and co-directing the Wharton Institute’s musical theatre summer camps from 2015-2017. Allie blends her experience as a teacher with her training as a music therapist to create a supportive and creative learning environment in which each student is able to explore musical theater in a way that is most meaningful to them. She uses games, musical activities, and improvisation to help each student feel comfortable while challenging them to grow as performers.

Joe DeVico

Joe DeVico grew up in Chatham and Madison, NJ, where he began playing both percussion and piano at a young age. He also became heavily interested in recording and opened his first studio to the public when he was 13 years old, recording local artists at no charge on his prized Tascam 388 8-track reel-to-reel recorder. After graduating from Madison High School, DeVico went on to study Jazz and Percussion Performance at Indiana University. After graduating, he moved back to New Jersey and began a successful performing and teaching career, working with area percussion and piano students and performing throughout the tri-state area, focused mainly on Big Band and small group jazz. As a drummer, DeVico has performed and toured with James Moody, Freddie Hubbard, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many others. He was the drummer with Cecil’s Big Band featured on ABC’s Nightline. He is currently the drummer with The Jazz Lobsters and Asbury Fever and plays percussion with multiple artists and cabaret performances at New York clubs including Birdland and 54 Below.

DeVico never stopped recording, and shortly after finishing at Indiana University, he opened a commercial facility to allow jazz artists an affordable space to record their projects. During that time he began composing works for radio and TV. As a musician, recording engineer and composer, his original music can be heard on TBS, TLC, TeenNICK and We Networks and in national spots for clients including Coca-Cola and GE Capital. DeVico has spent the last eight years as an assistant to Grammy and Tony-winning arranger Don Sebesky, including multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway shows including Come Fly Away, Baby It’s You, Honeymoon In Vegas and An American in Paris.

Ryan Bridge

Pianist Ryan Bridge is a multifaceted artist whose work traverses a variety of musical genres. As a solo pianist, Bridge has performed in venues such as the Curtis Institute’s Field Hall, Manhattan School of Music’s Greenfield Hall, the Steinway Gallery of New Jersey, and Steinway Hall of New York City, and has participated in music festivals including the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, Miami Music Festival, and the Philadelphia Young Pianists Academy. A believer in musical activism, Bridge organized a concert in May 2020 to raise funds for the Artist Relief Fund which provided grants for those working in creative fields who were put in dire financial situations by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a composer and improviser, Bridge’s music has been heard at the John Cage Centennial Festival in Washington D.C., the SoundSCAPE festival in Maccagno, Italy, and has been performed by the Montclair State University Wind Symphony. As a collaborator, Bridge has performed in numerous recitals and has collaborated with a number of opera companies and opera programs inproductions of Hansel und Gretel, Carmen, and Le Nozze di Figaro. In addition to his private teaching studio, Bridge is an instructor of piano at the Wharton Institute for Performing Arts and Virtu Academy.

Christine Ciuffreda

A native of South Korea, Christine Ciuffreda began her piano journey in 1993. She studied piano performance at the College of Charleston on the Tate International Piano Scholarship, followed by continuing education at the Juilliard School Evening Division. Ciuffreda’s performances have lead her to Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall, World Financial Center, Liechtenstein Palace, Mozarteum Große Saal, as well as Wiener Kammeroper. Ciuffreda is additionally pursuing a career in opera coaching and vocal collaborative piano. She played Le Nozze Di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte in the Prague Summer Nights festival. In 2018, she served as rehearsal pianist for Handel’s Radamisto. Most recently, she was the staff pianist and coach for operas including Die Fledermaus, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi at the Vienna Summer Music Festival 2019. She has collaborated with singers from The Metropolitan Opera and various opera houses throughout the United States and abroad.

Ciuffreda has studied with Yelena Ivanov, Beatrice Long, and Enrique Graf. Vocal coaches include Sherill Milnes, Warren Jones, Scott Rednour, Justina Lee, and Alexandra Naumenko. Conductors include Michael Rossi, Keith Chambers, and Christian Schulz, among others. She additionally served on the staff at Rutgers University as a ballet accompanist. She is currently on the piano faculty and staff accompanist at the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts in New Jersey.

Ethan Dunne

Ethan Dunne has formed his identity as a pianist, composer, and educator around not only nearly 20 years of music education, but also a vast multitude of experiences in activities such as competitive sports, visual arts, and academia.  Tapping into this breadth of experiences has enabled Dunne to convey musical ideas and techniques from a deep, yet relatable perspective, regardless of a student’s age or skill level.  He has undergone training in Alexander Technique, Body Mapping, and the Taubman Approach, all of which has enabled him to teach students healthy piano technique and posture at the instrument. Beyond his teaching, Dunne is also an emerging solo pianist and collaborating artist, presenting performances as a soloist, as well as with ensembles, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall in NYC, Princeton’s Richardson Auditorium, and Montclair State University’s Kasser Theatre and Leshowitz Recital Hall.  Additionally, he posts his recordings of many works and original compositions on a regular basis on multiple YouTube channels.  In addition to work in his private music studio, Dunne is currently a piano teacher at the Wharton Institute for Performing Arts, Yamaha Music School in Livingston, and the Yamaha Music Conservatory in Fair Lawn.

Sung-Hae Jung

She was awarded a Lehman College Foundation Scholarship, Emile Anders Choir Award, Alice Minnie Hertz Heniger Award, merit scholarships for four college years, and a college top-graduate award.  Her teachers include Namsook Kim, the late Dr. Hadassah Sahr (a 20th-century music specialist), Bert Konowitz (Jazz), Dr. Benjamin Allen Loeb (Chamber & Accompanying), Ada Kopetz-Korf and Jose Ramos-Santana (Romantic Music Virtuoso).

Jung is currently a piano faculty member at Wharton’s Performing Arts School, Oak Knoll School in Summit, and her private piano studio in Summit, NJ.  She is also a music director for Trinity Reformed Church in North Plainfield, NJ.

Matt King

A former Composition Fellowship recipient from the NJ State Council on the Arts, Matt King has garnered awards as a semi-finalist at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition (2000). He toured extensively with the iconic group Blood, Sweat & Tears and served as music director for jazz guitarist Chuck Loeb. He has performed with symphony orchestras across the United States and appeared on The Today Show and Good Morning America. He can be heard at Holland’s renowned North Sea Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Cape Town Jazz Festival.

King has collaborated with blues legend Earl King and jazz notables including Chris Potter, Rufus Reid, Billy Hart, Benny Golson, Joe Morello, Vic Juris, and Dave Stryker as well as Brazilian artists Nilson Matta, Claudio Roditi, and Chico Pinheiro and diverse vocalists Phoebe Snow, Curtis Stigers, and Carmen Souza. He has played Lincoln Center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the Beacon Theater, Symphony Space, and regional jazz meccas including The Blue Note, Birdland, Smoke, Zinc Bar, 55 Bar, Shanghai Jazz, and Trumpets. He has produced three albums as a leader: “Kaleidoscope” (featuring Chris Potter & Rufus Reid); “Welcome, Christmas” (featuring Doug Weiss & Paul Meyers); and his new release, “Monk In Brazil” (featuring Nilson Matta, Chico Pinheiro, & Mauricio Zottarelli), which showcases the legendary compositions of Thelonious Monk as arranged by King in various Brazilian rhythms.

Diana Lin

Born and raised in New Jersey, Lin began her studies at age 5. Her principal piano and chamber teachers include David Dubal, Laurie Carney, Jon Klibonoff, Raymond Beegle, Alexander Rees, Stella Xu, and Grace Kuo. She received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Classical Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Phillip Kawin as a recipient of the President’s Award and MSM Scholarship.

Florence Lombardo

She has performed in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and various musicals including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. She was the featured harpist for the wedding of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, performed on the red carpet for P. Diddy’s birthday bash, and has played for kings, governors and celebrities in the U.S. and abroad. Her main passion is sharing her music and she finds the greatest pleasure in teaching and watching her students grow.

Eric Olsen

Olsen recently collaborated with Kevin Maynor and former New Jersey Poet Laureate Amiri Baraka on his multimedia work Sisyphus Syndrome, and on a performance of Dorothy Rudd Moore’s opera Frederick Douglas. As an accompanist, Olson has worked with the internationally renowned vocal studios of Betty Allen, Klara Barlow, Walter Cassel, Giorgio Tozzi, and Virginia Zeani. Olsen has performed at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, and the Knitting Factory in New York and in India and New Zealand. Olsen has been a featured soloist with the Livingston Symphony, the Central Jersey Symphony, and the Orchard Park Symphony and a featured jazz performer at the AT&T, Berk’s, and Asbury Park Jazz Festivals.

He has given numerous classical and jazz piano recitals in the NY Metropolitan area. Currently Director of Music and Organist at the Union Congregational Church in Montclair, he has conducted Fauré’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bush’s Christmas Cantata, Flagello’s The Passion of Martin Luther King, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Part I, and Pärt’s Berlin Mass with members of the New Jersey Symphony. He has performed the first act of Wagner’s Die Walküre on piano and selections from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde on organ with his wife, Pamela Olsen, an accomplished soprano. In addition to serving on the faculty of Wharton’s Performing Arst School, Olsen is an Adjunct Faculty member at Montclair State University. He holds two Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance and Jazz Studies from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music degree with High Distinction in Piano and Organ Performance from Syracuse University.

Margarita Sturman

Upon graduation, Sturman received her Master of Music degree as a soloist, accompanist, and music educator.  She began teaching piano and fell in love with a profession she would perfect over the next three decades. In 1992, her family moved from the Ukraine to the United States where she spent 14 years teaching piano studnets of all ages at the Brooklyn Music School and Shostakovich Music School.

In 2006, Sturman moved to New Jersey and began teaching at Wharton’s Performing Arts School. Today Sturman brings her love of music along with a broad knowledge of piano technique and classical music for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students through contemporary musical methods of teaching. She brings over thirty years of experience as a piano teacher and accompanist. A nominee and winner of numerous awards, including a rare Ministry of Culture honorary award for achievements in excellence in teaching, and the development of understanding and appreciation of music in children.

Luba Vasilyeva

Vasilyeva is an active concert pianist and chamber musician. She has appeared in solo performance at the Millburn Library, Hinman Hall (West Caldwell), Montclair Women’s Club, Watchung Arts Center, Montclair Congregational Church, The Unitarian Church in Summit, Steinway Hall (NYC), and Wharton’s Library Concert Series.

Anna Vozhik

Vozhik earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Modest Mussorgsky in St. Petersburg, Russia. She earned her Master of Arts degree from the East Ukrainian State University. As Choral Director at East Ukrainian State University, she directed an eighty-member chorus for nearly a decade. Vozhik’s other roles included piano and music instruction at The School of Music in Lugansk, Ukraine, Chair of Voice and Audition at Calderon School of Music, and Adjunct Professor of Piano at Kean University.

Vozhik has compiled several pedagogical publications including Piano Lessons in Elementary School (Ukraine, 1986) and Enjoy Your Music Lessons: Great Music for Small Hands (Ukraine, 1991). She is a member of the Music Educators Association, the Golden Circle of Teachers, and the Berkshire Choral Festival. Vozhik holds a National Pedagogy Certification from the National Music Certificate Program.

Andrzej Winnicki

Pianist Andrzej Winnicki, a native of Poland, has performed at New York City’s Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Polish Consulate General, and St. Peter’s Church. He can frequently be heard in jazz clubs throughout the Tri-State area and has played with Jeremy Pelt, Mark Egan, Ralph Alessi, Scott Colley, Rodney Holmes, Nasheet Waits, Joel Grey, and Bernadette Peters.  After releasing the album In the Bush in 2001 for J-Bird Records, with Electric Breakwater and featuring Pat Metheny’s bassist Mark Egan and Santana’s drummer Rodney Holmes, Winnicki and saxophonist Krzysztof Medyna formed the all-acoustic Komeda Project in 2004, paying homage to the often imagistic compositional strengths of the legendary Polish film composer-jazz pianist Krzysztof Komeda (1931-1969). As a part of this project, Winnicki released two critically acclaimed albums on MW Records label: Crazy Girl in 2007 and Requiem in 2010. Winnicki has been an active member of ASCAP since 1997 and local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians in New York City since 1989.

Kevin Brown, Double Bass

Kevin Brown is adjunct professor of Double Bass and Music Theory/Aural Skills at Montclair State University and served as adjunct professor of Double Bass at Georgian Court College from 2003-2009. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies and Master of Music degree in Double Bass from the University of North Texas. Performances and recordings include the Staten Island Symphony, Metro Lyric Opera, Orchestra of St. Peter-by-the-Sea, New Jersey Pops, New Jersey Ballet, and the Richardson, Sherman and Wichita Falls Symphonies. He has appeared with Marvin Hamlisch, Regis Philbin, Joan Rivers, Bob Newhart, the Drifters, as well as frequent productions at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse.

Alice Hamlet, Cello

A prolific studio recording musician, Hamlet has recorded for over a hundred indie bands and singer songwriters and on the soundtrack for the 2013 Steven Soderbergh film Side Effects. She is the founder and director of NYC-based Ten Strings Music Studio and maintains a private teaching studio as well as serving on the faculty of Wharton’s Performing Arts School where she teaches cello and music theory.

Leslie Johannessen, Violin & Viola

Violinist Leslie Parker Johannessen is an active chamber musician, freelancer, and educator. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from Montclair State University and a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance with a focus in Music Pedagogy from the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music. Some of her former teachers include Brennan Sweet of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Weigang Li of the Shanghai Quartet and Deborah Buck of the Lark Quartet. Johannessen has participated in master classes with Glenn Dicterow (NY Philharmonic), Michael Tree (Guarneri Quartet) and the Miró Quartet, among others.

In early 2020 Johannessen won a tutti violin position with Opera Philadelphia and made her debut with the ensemble a year later. She has performed extensively with other youth, amateur, and professional orchestras including the South Orange Symphony, the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, the Faroese Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Danish Opera, and Copenhagen Philharmonic. She has also appeared in various international venues including Carnegie Hall, NJPAC, Bargemusic (USA), Palacio de Festivales (Spain), Trinity College (Ireland), the Royal Danish Opera and Tivoli Concert Hall (Denmark), Nordic House (Faroe Islands), and East China Normal University (Shanghai).

Passionate about music education, Johannessen has fifteen years of experience teaching in the Unites States and Denmark. She is a chamber music coach and course instructor at the New Jersey Youth Symphony, of which she is a proud alumnus. She teaches private violin lessons at Wharton’s Performing Arts School in addition to music studios in NJ’s Somerset County and her own private studio.

James Keene, Violin & Viola

Violinist James Keene is a versatile soloist, chamber musician, and music pedagogue. After attending Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, he received his Bachelor of Music degree from Rutgers University and continued his studies at the San Francisco Conservatory. Keene has performed for audiences throughout China, Italy, Spain, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the United States. Currently, as founder of Classical Revolution NJ, Keene schedules chamber music performances throughout New Jersey and travels frequently between the east and west coast for performances in the Bay Area. As a faculty member of Newark School of the Arts, he instructs their Carollo Scholarship violin students. Most recently, Keene was awarded first place in the Russel Johnson String Competition in Philadelphia and performed at Carnegie Hall with Dionne Warwick. Keene teaches violin and viola at Wharton’s Performing Arts School.

Mikhail Kuchuk, Violin

He performs regularly in the tri-state area and throughout the United States. Since 2004, Kuchuk has been a member of Tito Castro Tango Quartet and has participated in concerts with Anna Saeki in New York, Hawaii, Korea, and Japan. Kuchuk appeared as solo violinist on Broadway in the production of Forever Tango and has appeared as a soloist with the Manhattan Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Westchester Chamber Orchestra, St Peter’s by the Sea Symphony Orchestra, and the Bachanalia Chamber Orchestra. Presently he is a concertmaster of the New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra and St. Peters by the Sea Symphony Orchestra, as well as a member of Adelphi University Orchestra, Edison Symphony, Princeton Symphony and Garden State Philharmonic. As an educator, Kuchuk teaches violin at Wharton’s Performing Arts School and maintains a large private studio.

Elizabeth Lee, Cello

Elizabeth Lee is an active freelance cellist in the greater New York City area. She has performed with the Chelsea Symphony Orchestra, the Staten Island Philharmonic, Orchestra of Saint Peter by the Sea, Collegium Musicum, One World Symphony as principal cellist, and the New Jersey Conservatory. She has recently performed chamber works and sonatas as part of Collegium Musicum, at the St. Catharine’s Summer Concert Series, and at the Westminster Conservatory of Music.  

Lee earned her Bachelor of Music degree from New York University, where she studied with Marion Feldman. She has also studied with Fran Rowell and Andre Emelianoff.

In addition to teaching cello at Wharton’s Performing Arts School, Lee is also on the faculty of the Mill Pond Music Academy and maintains her own private studio.

Brittney Leghorn, Cello and Violin

When Leghorn is not teaching she enjoys freelancing throughout the tri-state area. Recent projects include collaborations with the Joe Gattuso Band and recording with singer-song writer Ian Flanigan. Leghorn aspires to continue her education and earn a Master of Music degree in Education.

Halina Listopad, Violin

Listopad received a Fulbright Music Research Grant to study in India and acted as music critic for the Hindustan Times. Listopad is currently transcribing and collaborating in the English translation of Raga Rahasya (Secret of Ragas) by renowned Hindustani vocalist and musicologist, Sulochana Brahaspati.

As well as teaching at Wharton’s Performing Arts School, Listopad is a faculty member at the Lucy Moses School, Integral Yoga Institute, Bloomingdale Music School, and Harlem School of the Arts.

Robert Radliff, Violin

A native of New York City, Robert Radliff was raised in South Florida where he began his musical studies on both violin and piano. Radliff went on to study violin performance at the Peabody Conservatory with Violaine Melancon of the Peabody Trio. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree, he attained a Master of Arts and Graduate Artist Diploma in Performance at Montclair State University where he studied with Weigang Li of the Shanghai Quartet.

Radliff has appeared as guest soloist with numerous orchestras in Florida, New York, and New Jersey and has collaborated with some of the world’s most iconic musical figures including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Jamie Laredo, among others. He is currently the concertmaster of the South Orange Symphony and performs as section violinist with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, an orchestra-in-residence at Carnegie Hall, and the Berkshire Opera Festival in Great Barrington, MA. Radliff is on the violin faculty at the Cazadero Performing Arts Camp in Cazadero, CA.

Radliff is not only a dynamic performer but also a passionate teacher, currently directing the violin program at the Robert Treat Academy Charter School and maintaining a private studio at his residence in South Orange. He appears as a teaching artist around the tri-state area and is the Strings Department Adjudicator for the Mid-Atlantic Music Teacher’s Guild Festival and Competition. Radliff’s private students perform with the New Jersey Youth Symphony and other top youth orchestras, have won concerto competitions, and have continued their studies of music at the collegiate level. Radliff’s students have been accepted into music programs at Temple University, Ithaca College, The University of Miami, and Arizona State University.

Christine Sherlock, Viola

Christine Sherlock is originally from Florida and began playing the viola at the age of 8 as part of her public school music program. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance in 2010 from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with renowned teachers Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey, and is now pursuing her Artist Diploma at Montclair State University as a student of Honggang Li, violist of the Shanghai Quartet. She also studied with Caroline Coade at the University of Michigan, where she also became an avid performer of new music. Other teachers have included Stanley Konopka, Kirsten Doctor, and Sara Cote.

Before moving to New Jersey in 2017, Sherlock was a viola section member of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, and has also played with the Erie Chamber Orchestra, the  Youngstown Symphony as Assistant Principal, The Warren Philharmonic, the Ohio Valley Symphony, Cleveland Opera Theatre, and Opera Circle. She has participated in many festivals and competitions, including the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition (2017), Mimir Chamber Music Festival, LAMP (Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance), and the Mendelssohn Festival in Hamburg, Germany.

Sherlock taught extensively in the Cleveland area for many years before moving to New Jersey, and was also chosen to teach at Interlochen School of the Arts as part of the fellowship quartet in 2017. Many of her students have gone on to pursue music further in conservatories, as well as participate in many elite festivals. She enjoys helping her students discover their love for music and reach their ultimate potential.

Elizbieta Winnicki, Violin

She has attended several teaching workshops and seminars at the Hartt School of Music, Juilliard School of Music, the Starling-DeLay Symposium, and the American String Teachers Association Conference.

Her professional engagements include concerts as a soloist and chamber musician at Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, the Kosciuszko Foundation, and the Polish Cultural Foundation. Her orchestral experiences include Riverside Symphonia, New Jersey Philharmonic,  St. Peters by the Sea Orchestra, Montclair Chamber Orchestra, Szczecin Symphony Orchestra in Poland, among others. She has performed in major concert halls in New York and New Jersey including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and NJPAC. She has toured Italy, Germany, and South Korea and has performed at the Spoleto Festival in Italy as well as the Bedford Spring Festival in Pennsylvania.

Timothy Maureen Cole

Working with students of all ages, Cole treats every student as an individual. She believes that the fundamental techniques of voice: breath, support, posture, resonance, and diction, can and should be applied to all types of singing and theater performance. Her specialization in pedagogy gives her a great technical understanding of the voice, and she enjoys preparing singers for auditions, competitions, productions, and performances of all types.

Allie Mannarino

Allie Mannarino holds a Master of Arts degree from Montclair State University in Music Therapy and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music (Vocal Performance) from Muhlenberg College. She is a Board Certified Music Therapist, and works with clients with a variety of needs. Allie has been teaching musical theatre and voice at Wharton Arts for 8 years, and before that was a musical theater student at Wharton.

Some of her favorite performances include Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie Dillmount), Annie (Annie), and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona Lisa Peretti).

Allie’s teaching experience includes providing music education for inclusion preschools, leading group and private voice classes, directing musical theater productions for a variety of ages, and co-directing the Wharton Institute’s musical theatre summer camps from 2015-2017. Allie blends her experience as a teacher with her training as a music therapist to create a supportive and creative learning environment in which each student is able to explore musical theater in a way that is most meaningful to them. She uses games, musical activities, and improvisation to help each student feel comfortable while challenging them to grow as performers.

Ema Mitrović

Ema Mitrović is an award winning and critically acclaimed mezzo-soprano receiving praise including, “…I found Ema Mitrovic as the Monitress to be the standout” (Opera Manhattan, Suor Angelica ‘12) and “…her rich mezzo is pure pleasure” (Hudson Opera Theatre, Lucia di Lammermoor ‘18).  She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and in the title role of Carmen at the the International House Philadelphia. She has also performed in New York City’s jazz venues including Birdland, The Kitano, and Smalls.

Mitrović holds a B.M. in Voice Performance from New Jersey City University where she studied with Metropolitan Opera stars Anthony Laciura and Sondra Kelly, along with Grammy nominated jazz artists Roseanna Vitro, Allen Farnham, and Tim Horner.  She continued education with Dr. Donna Zapola-Connolly and Adria Firestone, with whom she expanded upon dramatic coaching and vocal pedagogy. Mitrović is a winner of both 1^st and 2^nd place prizes for NJ NATS.

Credits include Title and Mercédès (Carmen), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Mrs. McLean (Susannah), Hansel (Hansel & Gretel), Larina (Eugene Onegin), Siébel (Faust), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Martine (Le Médecin malgre lui), Abbess and Monitor (Suor Angelica), Prince Charming (Cendrillon), third lady (Die Zauberflöte), first witch (Dido Aeneas), Mrs.Gobineau (The Medium), mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Marta (Company), and Jack’s Mother (Into the Woods).

She is an ongoing member of Guided Imagery Opera, an ensemble focused on sound healing. In June 2018, Mitrović debuted with The Central Jersey Choral Society as the alto soloist in Antonin Dvořák’s Requiem. Along with being an active performer and teacher, Mitrović continues to privately study and coach with top New York City professionals to keep a fresh perspective on her craft and passes along this knowledge to her current studio.

Tharanga Goonetilleke

Critically acclaimed soprano, visual artist and TED Fellow, Tharanga Goonetilleke is a native of Sri Lanka. She graduated with her Artist Diploma for Opera Studies as well as her Master of Music degree in Voice and Opera from The Juilliard School. Goonetilleke is the first and only woman from Sri Lanka to be accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School and the only native South Asian accepted to Juilliard for Voice. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Converse College, Spartanburg, SC, with a minor in Biology. She is also an Associate of the Trinity College of Music, London, England. She has over a dozen leading operatic roles under her belt including Mimi (La Boheme/Puccini) and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte/Mozart). Goonetilleke made her New York City Opera Debut in 2010. Her operatic and concert career has taken her all over the world including in Italy, France, England, Scotland, Korea, Uganda, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Canada, and throughout the United States.

As a visual artist, Goonetilleke is sought after for her line drawings, illustrations, and impressionistic paintings. Her most recent work as an illustrator is the picture book “The Jungle Book” for The Glimmer glass festival which is currently underway to be released in the fall of 2021. Goonetilleke also donated paintings for the VAC spring gala in 2020 and 2021. Since being selected a TED Fellow in 2015, Goonetilleke enjoys traveling the world sharing her story as an inspirational speaker, performer, and educator. She currently resides in Short Hills with her husband and two young children.

Valdemar Castillo, Trumpet

Born and raised in Jersey City, Valdemar Castillo is a dedicated and passionate trumpet player with a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Performance from New Jersey City University, which he pursued while completing the requirements for teaching credentials for the state of New Jersey. He continued his studies under trumpet pedagogue Joe Burgstaller, former Canadian Brass member and faculty at Peabody Conservatory and Arizona State University. Castillo received a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University and was recently the runner-up in the Naval Academy Band audition, one of two premiere United States Navy ensembles.

Kathleen Ditmer, French Horn

Following graduation, Ditmer began a fruitful freelance career in New York City where she has played with such respected groups as American Ballet Theater, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. She can be heard on numerous TV and movie soundtracks, as well as Broadway shows including Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.

Ditmer loves to share her knowledge, inspiration and passion for the horn in all genres of music. She started teaching as a camp counselor and went on to create free music programs in her community. She has taught for the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division and is presently on the faculty of Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, Wharton’s Performing Arts School, and the Ridgewood Conservatory. She teaches privately in her West Orange home and in after-school programs in the public schools.

Laura George, Flute

George has performed orchestrally with the St. Louis Symphony, St. Louis Municipal Opera Orchestra, New York Virtuosi, St. Lukes Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Broadway Pops Orchestra, Charles Ives Summer Symphony, Julius Grossman Orchestra, Queens Symphony, Queens Opera, Amor Artis, Westfield Symphony, Sacred Heart Cathedral Orchestra, Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey Pops, Wayne Chamber Orchestra, Virtuosi de Camera, Rutgers Summerfest Orchestra, New Philharmonic of New Jersey, Ars Musica Chorale, Oratorio Society of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Choral Society.

George was a student of Julius Baker, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Gerardo Levy, Gerald Carey, Jacob Berg and Janet Scott. She holds a Certificat de Stage from L’Universite d’Ete in Nice, France. She holds a Master of Music degree in Music from Western Illinois University and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she graduated magna cum laude. She has been awarded recognition in Outstanding Young Women of America.

George has taught at the 92nd Street Y in New York City and as Adjunct Flute instructor at Kean University. She is the director of Encore Ensembles. Her groups have been sponsored in formal concerts, children’s concerts, residencies and master classes by Concert Artists Guild,  New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council of the Arts, South Carolina Arts Agency, Missouri State Arts Council, New Jersey State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

George has recorded for Sine Qua Non. She and harpist Beth Robinson have released their debut CD, The Enchantment of Flute and Harp.

Dave Schumacher, Saxophone, Recorder, Clarinet, and Jazz Improv

As a freelance baritone saxophonist, Chicago native Dave Schumacher has been active on the New York jazz scene for more than the 40 years. He has performed for audiences in more than 465 cities in 41 countries and on five continents. As member of Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra from 1983-1987, he toured the Americas and Europe. He again toured with the ensemble in 1988-1989. A highlight in Schumacher’s career was traveling with the Art Blakey Big Band to Japan in 1987 to perform at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival.

Schumacher was an original member of Harry Connick, Jr.’s Orchestra from its beginnings in 1990 until 2009. He has thrilled audiences touring with Connick in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He can be heard on Harry Connick, Jr.’s Columbia recordings, including Oh My NOLA, Chanson du Vieux Carré, Only You, When My Heart Finds Christmas, Come By Me, Blue Light Red Light, Songs I Heard, Thou Shalt Not, What A Night, and others.

As a freelance artist, Schumacher was a touring member of the T.S. Monk on Monk Ensemble from 1999-2000, touring the U.S. and Europe, as well as touring Europe with the Tom Harrell Octet in 2000. He has also engaged in freelance work with Dizzy Gillespie, Howard Johnson’s Beartones, Nicholas Payton’s Louis Armstrong Tribute Big Band, Joe Lovano’s 52nd Street Themes Nonet, the groups of Jack McDuff, Eddie Gladden, Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Joey DeFrancesco, Chico O’Farrill’s Afro-Cuban Big Band, Tom Harrell Big Band, Lin Halliday, and many others.

As a leader, composer, and arranger, Schumacher has recorded three CDs: Every Corner and From Another Life on the Amosaya Music label and Endangered Species on Summit Records. He has recorded as a sideman with Lionel Hampton, Harry Connick, Jr., Tom Harrell, Scott Whitfield, Jason Lindner, Mel Torme, Ben Wolfe and salsero Billy Carrion, among others. Schumacher has received two performance grants from The National Endowment for the Arts. As an educator, he is currently the Director of Jazz Workshops for the New Jersey Youth Symphony and teaches saxophone, clarinet, flute and improvisation at the Wharton’s Performing Arts School.

Carlyn Smith, Clarinet and Saxophone

Carlyn Smith earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she studied clarinet with George Waln. She spent a year abroad studying at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria with clarinetist Alois Heine. Smith has been a featured soloist with the Mountain Lakes Symphony, Hanover Wind Symphony, and the Plainfield Symphony. She has taught instrumental music in the Morris School District and in local parochial schools. She has also performed numerous recitals, concerts, and as a piano accompanist. In addition to serving on Wharton’s Performing Arts School faculty, Smith maintains a private teaching studio.

Kristen Wuest, Flute

While at Rutgers University, Wuest studied under Kaoru Hinata and was a member of the Grammy-nominated Rutgers Wind Ensemble. She aspires to teach flute at the college level and has built a busy career in freelance performance.