RAMAPO VALLEY CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

Sarah Adams, is principal violist of the Riverside Symphony, frequent acting principal of American Ballet Theater, and member of New York Chamber Ensemble and Sherman Chamber Ensemble. She currently performs with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Little Orchestra Society and New York City Ballet. Sarah was formerly violist of Parnassus, the Cassatt and Roerich Quartets, principal violist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and assistant principal violist of the Houston Symphony. She performed frequently with Orpheus, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and acting principal of the American Symphony Orchestra. Sarah teaches viola and chamber music at Columbia University. Summer festivals include Cape May and Classical Tahoe. Mother to five amazing children, Sarah lives with her husband Fred Grevin and family in Cortlandt Manor, New York.

Anthony Cecere was raised in Hicksville NY and graduated from the University of Michigan. Long active in the New York musical scene, he joined the New Jersey Symphony in 1976 and was Principal Horn of the New Orleans Philharmonic from 1980-84, appearing as a soloist with them on numerous occasions. Tony was a founding member of the American Chamber Players of Washington, DC and has performed as an extra musician with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has also performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the NY Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Delaware Symphony, has been a member of the Philadelphia Brass for almost 20 years and Principal horn of the Bach Festival Orchestra of Bethlehem since 1994. Tony has played for many Broadway musicals including Sunday in the Park with George, Will Rogers Follies, Beauty and the Beast and toured briefly with Frank Sinatra in 1992. He lives in Bernardsville NJ with his wife, cellist Gerall Hieser. He loves railroads big and small and any wine from an upstart Sonoma vintner.

LAURA HAMILTON was Principal Associate Concertmaster for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where she led hundreds of performances over 33 years. She was con- certmaster for many of the MET's popular “Live in HD” videocasts, including Carmen, Parsifal, Turandot, Faust, Salome, and Madama Butterfly. Previously a member of the Chicago Symphony, she appeared with that orchestra as concerto soloist with Maestro Sir Georg Solti. In 2020 Laura was appointed Interim Artistic Director for the summer festival Classical Tahoe in Nevada, where she is also Concertmaster. In 2014, while on leave from the MET, Laura served for one season as concertmaster at the Sydney Opera House. A highlight of her Sydney experience was a gala concert with famed tenor Jonas Kaufmann; her rendition of Massenet's Meditation from Thais garnered rave reviews praising her “radiant,”“serenely beautiful interpretation.” Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Laura is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music, where she was the Nathan Milstein Scholarship recipient. She teaches violin and chamber music at New York University. Her instrument was made in Venice in 1732 by the golden-age luthier, Carlo Tononi.

Kim Laskowski joined the New York Philharmonic in September 2003 as Associate Principal Bassoon. Born in Brooklyn, she attended the High School of Music and Art and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Harold Goltzer, former Associate Principal Bassoon of the New York Philharmonic. While at Juilliard she won the Walter and Elsie Naumburg Award for Orchestral Excellence. She completed a master's degree at Juilliard while playing in the National Orchestral Association, and has also participated in the Tanglewood and Spoleto festivals. A recipient of a Fulbright grant for foreign study, she attended the Conservatoire National Superieure de Paris, where she was a student of Maurice Allard. While at the Conservatoire, she toured Europe as a member of the Orchestre des Prix. As an active player on the New York musical scene, Ms. Laskowski has appeared with ensembles such as the Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Symphony Orchestra, and Eos Orchestra. She can be heard on numerous television, radio, and film scores, and holds two platinum records for CDs recorded with the rock group 10, 000 Maniacs. As a chamber player, she has performed and recorded several CDs with Music Amici in classical, jazz, and 20th century works for mixed ensembles.Before joining the joining the Philharmonic, Ms. Laskowski played second bassoon in the New York City Ballet Orchestra. She was also principal bassoon of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra from 1999 - 2003. Kim Laskowski performs regularly as a chamber musician and soloist around the world. She has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the Bowdoin Festival, and the Benefaio Festival . She has been invited to give master classes in Frankfurt, Monte Video Uruguay, University of Southern California, Shanghai Orchestra Academy, Beijing Conservatory and in Taiwan. She is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School.

Eddy Malave is an active freelance violist based in New York City. A native of Long Island, he received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in Viola performance from The Juilliard School, where he studied under acclaimed violist William Lincer and received the Willaim Gluck fellowship. His past instructors have also included Irene Stitt, Patinka Kopec and Margaret Pardee. Mr Malave's work as a freelancer has carried him around the world performing in prestigious concert halls throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the South Pacific and the America's. He's performed alongside a diverse array of artists, some of who include Sir Elton John, Patti LuPone, Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo, and Dmitri Rostropovich and has also collaborated with various artists such as DJ Victor Calderone, composer and producer A.R.Rahman and others. In New York City, Mr Malave is a sought after performer who plays in a variety of ensembles. In the past he's performed with the Se Jong Soloists and currently plays with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the New York City Ballet, ABT, the New York City Opera, the New York Oratorio Society and the Grace Church Choral Society. He also performs in a number of Broadway shows.

DONALD MOKRYNSKI, clarinetist, is a native to metropolitan New York and has played with many of the area’s finest ensembles. Currently principal clarinetist with the Garden State Philharmonic, Don has played principal with the Albany Symphony and was recently principal clarinetist with the national tour of “Phantom of the Opera” and with “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” starring Michael Crawford. Mr. Mokrynski has also performed with the New Jersey Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, Solisti New York, and Orchestra New England, as well as the Jersey Lyric, New Haven and Connecticut Grand Opera Companies. An avid chamber musician, Don has performed with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Graduating with honors from the Eastman School of Music and completing a master’s degree from the Juilliard School, Don has also attended the music festivals of Aspen, Waterloo and Heidelberg and has recorded for Koch International, Soundstream, Elektra and High Point records.

Cellist LANNY PAYKIN was born in New York City, where he attended the High School of Music and Art. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University, and Master of Music from the Juilliard School. Mr. Paykin has enjoyed a diverse career in New York, appearing regularly with the New York City Ballet and Metropolitan Opera, in recording studios, and in solo and chamber music concerts. He is a member of the American Composers' Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Westchester Philharmonic. He has performed as principal cellist of the New York City Opera, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Long Island Philharmonic, Westchester Philharmonic, American Composers' Orchestra, and American Symphony Orchestra. He toured Asia with the New York Philharmonic and performed with them at Avery Fisher Hall. In 2014 Mr. Paykin served as Acting Associate Principal with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in Australia. Summer activities have included festivals at Aspen, Dartmouth College, Bard College, Lake Tahoe, and the island of Paros in Greece. He teaches at the Ridgewood Conservatory and at New Jersey City University. Previously he served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music (precollege), Wesleyan University, and Montclair State University’s summer program at Stokes Forest, New Jersey.

Evan Runyon is a multi-instrumentalist and composer active in traditional and modern media with a repertoire spanning six centuries. He has performed and/or recorded with the symphony orchestras of Houston and Detroit, the American Composers Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Kammerorchester and The Knights; Klangforum Wien, Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Metropolis Ensemble, Wet Ink Large Ensemble and Ensemble Signal; Raphael Saadiq, Wye Oak, Emily Wells, Thundercat and Slipknot; Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Luís Enrique and Hector del Curto; Chris Potter, Brian Lynch and Phil Woods.

A native of Philadelphia, violinist Gabriel Schaff hails from a musical family. His mother was the acclaimed composer and musicologist Claire Polin, and an earlier musical ancestor was the revered composer and pianist, Anton Rubinstein. Gabriel was admitted into Philadelphia's New School of Music before moving to New York City as a scholarship student of Erick Friedman at the Manhattan School of Music. With the Englewood Chamber Players, he performs interactive and historical concerts in diverse communities. Current programs include a retrospective of women composers in celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment and lectures on the music of Beethoven in celebration of his 250th anniversary year. Mr. Schaff is an internationally recognized author of books and articles pertaining to the history of the violin family and the music written for it, most notably “The Essential Guide to Bows of the Violin Family” and “Rediscovering Haydn’s Three Original Violin Sonatas”. He is on the faculty of Essex County College, evolving a course entitled “Music in Society”. He is also the curator and archivist at the Si-Yo Music Society Foundation and the creator of the Si-Yo Fine Instrument Registry, the first of its kind.

Harry Searing has enjoyed a long career as a much-in-demand artist on bassoon, contrabassoon and Heckelphone in the New York City area. He has performed many concerts with the NY Philharmonic under Bernstein, Boulez, Mehta, Maazel, etc. In addition to performing with the Metropolitan Opera, NYC Ballet, NYC Opera, and every other major classical organization in the NYC area, plus many Broadway shows, he has performed with various groups on tour like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Solti, and others. A student of Stephen Maxym, he received his BM and MM from the Manhattan School of Music. Harry is on the faculty of Montclair State University and the Manhattan School of Music, Precollege division.

Gili Sharett has performed with the New York City Ballet, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New Jersey Symphony, American Symphony, American Ballet Theater and the Israel Philharmonic. She made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2004 and has been a featured recitalist at the United Nations and International Double Reed Society. Dr. Sharett is a member of the Ariel Winds quintet and The Greenwich Symphony. Summer festival appearances include Verbier, Brevard, and Bard Summerscape. Recording credits are The Light in the Piazza, Broadway Carols for a Cure, Stephan Sondheim, Nathan Lane, diverse projects with John Zorn’s label, PBS and Lauryn Hill. Sharett studied with Mordechai Rechtman, Kim Laskowski, Arlen Fast, Lenny Hindell, and Dennis Godburn. Gili holds a DMA, and a MM from Stony Brook University, where she won the concerto competition and performed Frank Martin’s Concerto for Seven Winds under the baton of Leon Fleisher. Dr. Sharett is a recipient of multiple American-Israel Cultural Foundation Creative Excellence Grants. She earned her BMus at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, where she won first prize in both the concerto and chamber music competitions.

Violist Francesca Martin Silos, former member of the award winning Colorado Quartet from 1982 to 2000, has performed extensively throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. In 1983, within 10 days, the quartet won both the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award and First Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competetition. Ms. Martin Silos has also appeared at numerous music festivals including the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, SoundFest Summer Quartet Festival, Round Top Festival Institute, and Orford Music Festival in Canada. She has recorded works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and several contemporary composers on CD's from Nonesuch, Delos, Fidelio, and Parnassus Records. Originally from Los Angeles, she has been a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as well as principal violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. She teaches privately and has been the featured writer of a pedagogy article in the Journal of the American Viola Society. Currently she resides in Bergen County where she performs often as a guest artist with a variety of ensembles.

Appeared as Principal Clarinet: Salzburg Music Festival, Radio City Music Hall, American Symphony Orchestra. Performed and recorded with: The Metropolitan Opera, New Jersey Symphony, and Music Amici. Scores of jingle, record and film sessions, concerts, and Broadway shows over the last 40 years. Albums as Clarinetist, Conductor and Producer: Ponder Nothing (New World Records). Reel Life, The Chamber Music of Film Composers (Arabesque Records), Sketches of Miles, and Sketches of Coltrane (Angel/EMI). Studied the clarinet with Herbert Blayman and a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A life-long music educator.