"There were things I did at Kent that I never thought I would-drama, for example..."Read More
Albert Bayers - Clarinet, Saxophone, Oboe and Bassoon instructor
Mr. Bayers received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Bridgeport and received his Master of Music Education from Western Connecticut University. He studied bassoon at the Yale School of Music and has performed with the Connecticut Symphony, The Chappaqua Chamber Orchestra, The Litchfield Chamber Orchestra, and was a staff musician at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, CT. Mr. Bayers was the Director of the Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, Select Winds, and Orchestra in New Milford, CT for thirty five years.
Elizabeth Beedy - Dance Instructor
Elizabeth grew up studying ballet, tap and jazz. In high school she started a dance team with friends and organized recitals. While attending Wesleyan College, Elizabeth studied ballet, modern dance, as well as Bharatanatyam (South Indian classical dance). She also choreographed and danced in shows performed by students and was a member of the Wesleyan Step Team. Since graduating from college, Elizabeth has participated in occasional hip hop classes in New York City and continues dancing with friends. She is thrilled to teach dance at Kent School, once again being able to engage in one of her greatest passions.
Thirzah Bendokas - Cello Instructor
Thirzah Bendokas, concert cellist, made her professional debut with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, performing the Lalo Cello Concerto. Soon after came her solo debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with the Kabalevsky Concerto. Upon graduating from the Juilliard School, she completed four concert tours of Mexico which included the Dvorak ‘Cello Concerto, inaugurating the Nezoalcoyotl concert hall in Mexico City. Ms. Bendokas is a familiar soloist with leading orchestras in in her native Connecticut with recent performances including Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and the Haydn D Major Concerto. Besides local performances, Ms. Bendokas concertizes throughout the US, Austria, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Switzerland and in Spain, where recently she was guest soloist in five International Summer Music Festivals
Joe Bouchard - Bass Guitar and Double Bass Instructor
Mr. Bouchard studied classical piano at Ithaca College from 1966 to 1970 and played guitar and bass in various college bands. After graduating from Ithaca, he moved to Long Island and became a founding member of Columbia recording’s Blue Oyster Cult. The group became world famous in the late 70s and over the years was awarded nine gold and two platinum awards. Mr. Bouchard retired from BOC in 1986 and has worked as a producer, author and freelance musician since then. The catalog of original songs recorded by Blue Oyster Cult continues to be very popular and is used in television, movies and, most currently, the widely popular video games, Guitar Hero and Rockband. In 1995, Mr. Bouchard received a Master’s Degree in Music Composition from the University of Hartford.
Deborah Cardenas - Flute Instructor and Director of the Flute and Recorder
Ensembles
Deborah Cárdenas was born in London and began her studies at the Birmingham Conservatory, U.K. In 1990 she transferred to the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she was a Fiske Competition Award winner and recipient of a BMUS with Honors. Mrs. Cárdenas continued to teach and perform in the Denver area (Colorado Wind Ensemble and Denver Centennial Orchestra) before moving to New York. Here, she continued to freelance and teach (Hudson Valley Wind Ensemble and New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra) whilst earning an advanced certificate and Licentiate in Flute Teaching from the Royal Schools of Music.(LRSM) Mrs. Cárdenas studied with Collin Lilley (UK) and Ali Ryerson (US). She is a member of the National Flute Association.
Theresa Dolak - Clarinet Instructor
Theresa Hilton Dolak is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Leon Russianoff. She also studied under master teacher David Weber (Juilliard) from 1999-2002. Other teachers include Alay Woy (Crane) and Susan Martula. Ms. Dolak currently teaches at The Gunnery School, Duchess Day School, and Newtown High School (Visiting Artist) and maintains a private studio in her home in New Fairfield, Connecticut. She has also held positions at WCSU and Rumsey Hall School.
She has performed as soloist and orchestral and chamber musician, performing with the Talea Chamber Ensemble, Danbury Chamber Ensemble, Camerata Strings, WCSU Faculty Quintet/Quartet, Ridgefield Symphony, Danbury Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Opera Orchestra, The Gateway-Candlewood Theatre and The Manhattan Clarinet Quartet.
Charles B. Emerich - Department Chairman, Co-Advisor to the Kent Music Honor Society, Music Survey, Music Theory, Low Brass Instructor, Director of the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Dixieland Band, and the Orchestra for the Musical
Mr. Emerich has had extensive experience conducting both adult and student vocal and instrumental groups. A graduate of West Chester University in Pennsylvania, he also holds a M. Ed. from Penn State University, is a member of the Cum Laude Society, holder of the Centennial Teaching Chair in Music, and is also recognized in Who’s Who in American Education. In addition to conducting several instrumental music ensembles at Kent School, Mr. Emerich has directed the Elderhostel Orchestra on the Housatonic, the National Woodwind Ensemble in Albany, NY, the Danbury Music Centre Chamber Orchestra in Danbury, CT, and was the Administrative Director of the Kent/Silver Bay Music Festival. He served as principal trombonist in the Danbury Symphony for twenty years, is a member of the Brass Guild Quintet, a jazz quartet called The Algorhythms, and participates in a number of other musical organizations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina.
Thomas Freas - Brass Instructor
Mr. Freas is the founder and Artistic Director of Fanfare Consort, performs on clarino as soloist with many prominent period instrument ensembles throughout the United States and Europe. Mr. Freas has participated in numerous festivals where he performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto N°2 on clarino and the Haydn Trumpet Concerto on "keyed" (valveless) trumpet. Thom's performance of Telemann's Suite in D Major for Trumpet and Strings has been described as "an amazing display of technical mastery over a difficult instrument as well as memorable musical sophistication," and "refined brilliance of the trumpet in the more extroverted cantata, Bach's Cantata N° 51, Jauchzet, Gott in allen Landen" [The Chestnut HillLocal ,Philadelphia].
Jennifer Malone Hobbs - Violin and Viola Instructor (Suzuki Pedagogist), String Ensembles, String Orchestra, Orchestra, Music Theory, Advisor to the Kent Music Honor Society, and Music Survey
Mrs. Hobbs holds an A.B. from Bowdoin College in music and history, and a Master of Music from the University of Connecticut. Her coursework at the University of Connecticut focused on performance practices, music skills and theory, and music education. She studied violin with Stephen Kecskemethy (Bowdoin College), Paul Kantor (Yale University), and Thomas Moore (University of Miami, School of Music). Mrs. Hobbs studied quartet performance with members of the Portland String Quartet. Currently she is a first violinist with the Ridgefield Symphony and performs as a soloist and with other ensembles throughout New England.
Thomas Holcombe - Ringing Master of the Kent Bell tower
Mr. Holcombe received a B.A. from Harvard University and a Master of Sacred Music from the graduate School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he subsequently received a Master of Divinity degree as well. He served as the Chapel Center Music Director at Ft. Dix, NJ during his service in the army and has also been an organ recitalist in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Kathleen Kruze - Composition, Bass Guitar, and Guitar Instructor
Kathleen Kruze studied Classical Guitar at the Westchester Conservatory of Music in New York and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Music Performance (in affiliation with Mercy College, New York), where she graduated Magna cum Laude. She has over 25 years experience teaching all genres of music. Ms. Kruze is a prolific composer of Jazz, Folk/Pop and Blues music, having written more than 150 compositions to date. She has produced two full-length CDs and is currently in the studio working on a third release. She has been performing in the Northeast with her own ensemble for the past 15 years. Most recently, she has collaborated on recordings of her original music with internationally-acclaimed jazz flutist, Ali Ryerson, and performs with her frequently.
Suzanne McDonald - Director of the Choir, Chamber Choir, Kentones and Kentettes, Chapel Organist, Music Survey
Ms. McDonald received her Masters of Music in Organ Performance from The Boston Conservatory of Music. She studied under James David Christie, organist of The Boston Symphony. Her undergraduate studies were at Loyola College and McGill University where she studied with the renown organist Bernard Lagace. After her undergraduate studies she was assistant organist at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral in Montreal P.Q.Canada. Before returning to the U.S. she completed her choral and organ studies in England at the Royal School of Church Music. Ms. McDonald’s choral experience ranges from directing small chamber ensemble to large choral groups. Previously, Ms. McDonald taught at The Chatham Hall School in Virginia, and at Duke Middle School and Sandhills Community College, both in North Carolina. In recent years she was on the music staff at Chapel of the Cross ( Episcopal) and University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Margarita Nuller - Piano Instructor
Margarita Nuller is a graduate of St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia. She studied with Kasimir Grinasuk, Edward Bazanov, and Luiz DeMoura Castro. Since her arrival to the United States in 1990, she has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in the New York metropolitan area and New England. Ms. Nuller presented her debut recital at Weill Hall at Carnegie hall, New York City as a winner of Artist International Auditions. Her CD of Russian music was released on LÁrt label in 2003. Her most recent performances include solo recitals in Cambridge MA, and St. Petersburg, Russia. Ms. Nuller was on the faculty of the University of Hartford (CT), the Moussorgsky College of Music (Russia), and the Connecticut Conservatory in New Milford. Presently, she is on the faculty of the Kent School, and maintains a private piano studio in New Fairfield, CT.
Margaret O’Brien - Voice Instructor
Margaret O’Brien - soprano, music educator, music therapist, holds a BA in Music and French from Hamilton College, and a MA in Music Therapy from New York University. She most recently taught at the Dutchess Day School in Millbrook, NY. She was a member of the professional choir under William Trafka at St. Bartholomew’s Church and under Nicholas White at St. Michael’s Church in New York City, and presented Voice Emporium, a vocal performance series. She sings with the St. Andrew’s Choir in Kent, CT, where she also directs the children’s choir.
David Poirier - Jazz Studies and Saxophone
Mr. Poirier received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the Hartt School and Masters of Science in Music Education from Western Connecticut State University. At Hartt, he performed throughout New England as the alto saxophonist with the Nice Guy Sax Quartet, and was featured on their CD, “Sax-A-Plenty”. Mr. Poirier is currently band director and music teacher at Kent Center School and Sharon Center School of the Region One public schools. Additionally, he enjoys instructing approximately twenty private saxophone students. Since 1996, Mr. Poirier has also been the cantor at Sacred Heart Church in Kent.
Dave Wonsey - Percussion Instructor
Mr. Wonsey studied percussion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a Bachelor degree from the Manhattan School of Music. His performance career includes work with the North Carolina Symphony, the Brooklyn Opera, the New Music Consort (NY), and the Danbury Symphony. Currently he is the Principal Percussionist with the Ridgefield Symphony and recently was the featured soloist playing “Concerto for Solo Timpani and Orchestra.” He also plays with countless community and summer theaters, and numerous jazz, pop/rock, and dance bands. On the “World Percussion” scene, Dave is an accomplished hand drummer and performs regularly with his group, “WoMaDe”. In addition, he is a World Champion rudimental snare drummer (Scottish style), teaching seminars and master classes along the East Coast, including the Manhattan School of Music and the Julliard School.