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Music Director and Conductor of Symphony, Sinfonietta and Galbraith Honor Strings
Dr. Camilla Kolchinsky, ECYS Music Director and conductor of the Symphony, Sinfonietta and Galbraith Honor Strings, received a Master of Music Degree with distinction from the State Music Conservatory of Moscow and completed the doctoral level program in conducting at the State Music Conservatory of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). She appeared regularly with the Bolshoi Theater, the National USSR State Orchestra, and the Moscow Philharmonic. Since coming to the West in 1976, she has conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the Israel Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Orchestra in Stockholm, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Brussels Radio Symphony Orchestra and many others. Before arriving in the Bay Area she served as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the University Symphony Orchestra and Opera of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Kolchinsky is the Permanent Guest Conductor of The First Austrian Chamber Orchestra in Vienna and the Guatemala Symphony in Guatemala.
“For those students in our preparatory division, my goal is for them to begin to hear what beauty is, and to understand what art can mean. For those students in our senior ensembles, it is my goal to challenge them to reach levels of achievement beyond those which they set for themselves.” – Dr. Camilla Kolchinsky
Conductor of Chamber Players and Camerata Orchestras
Michail Gelfandbein, conductor of the Chamber Players and Camerata orchestras, a native of Russia, received his Ph.D. at the Leningrad Conservatory of Music in cello performance as a student of Mstislav Rostropovich, with post graduate study in conducting with I. Musin. He served as Principal Cellist of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra for 25 years, during which time he was also a faculty member of the Leningrad Conservatory and the Leningrad State Music School for Conductors. Mr. Gelfandbein was founder and Conductor of the Rishon-Le-Zion Chamber Group and Co-Principal Cellist of the Israel Opera Orchestra in Tel Aviv. He has performed as a soloist throughout Europe, the USA, and Asia. Locally Mr. Gelfandbein performed in San Francisco with the Russian Chamber Orchestra and at the prestigious Noontime Concert series at St. Patrick's Church.
“Conducting allows me to express so much more musically. You can think of an orchestra as a very big instrument, with a very big ability to express itself...Conducting is like playing this very big instrument. There is the opportunity for rich expression. This is what I try to communicate to my students and to my audiences.” – Michail Gelfandbein
Conductor of El Camino Wind Orchestra
Tony Clements started his tuba studies at the age of seven in Lindenhurst, New York. He received his schooling at Cal State Northridge where he was a student of Tommy Johnson, Jim Self and Roger Bobo. Tony became Principal Tubist with the San Jose Symphony in 1981. He has performed with the San Francisco Ballet, Oakland Symphony, San Diego Pops, Sacramento Symphony and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival Orchestra. Recently, Tony has pursued a second career as a conductor. In 2000, he was appointed Director of the prestigious Ohlone Wind Orchestra and later that year became the conductor of the El Camino Wind Orchestra. In addition to his performing and conducting duties, Tony is the Instructor of Tuba & Euphonium at Stanford University, Cal State Hayward and San Jose State University. In 2001, he started the Ohlone Tuba Ensemble, a reemergence of the Tuba Union of the Bay Area (T.U.B.A.). During the summer, Tony is the Principal Tubist of the Music in the Mountains orchestra and is the Director of the Humboldt Brass Chamber Music Workshop, which has been in existence since 1974. He also is the owner/operator of The Low Brass Werks, a specialty music shop which imports hand made German tubas and euphoniums. His annual San Jose Christmas Tubafest® has been a holiday tradition since 1982.
Conductors of Flute Ensembles
AREON FLUTES, Ensemble-in-Residence
Areon Flutes, comprised of flutists Tamara Chadima, Jill Heinke, Kassey LeBow and Amelia Vitarelli. Established in 2005, Areon Flutes is the first professional expandable chamber music ensemble featuring innovative programming with duos, trios and quartets. Part of Areon’s mission is to make flute chamber music an equal voice in the chamber music world; therefore leaving a new diversified chamber music legacy to survive for the next generation. Areon, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to sharing their passion for chamber music through numerous concerts and educational programs in the US and Europe.
For the 2006-07-concert season, Areon Flutes is scheduled to premiere an inventive concert series across the US, called “Moments”. The series combines art and flute chamber music featuring several California based artists. Also this season Areon Flutes will release their debut CD on the Tempo Primo label featuring works by Mike Mower, Luigi Gianella and Cynthia Folio.
Areon serves as Artists-In-Residence for the El Camino Youth Symphony where they direct the Flute Choir program consisting of three flute ensembles and numerous award-winning flute quartets and trios. Finally, Areon performs free concerts for under-privileged elementary, junior high and high school students. Areon Flutes is proud to be a part of the Miyazawa Artist family. For a current schedule of events, please visit www.areonflutes.com.
Tamara Chadima, a native of Iowa, started her musical studies at the age of 5 on the piano and flute at age 8. In 2001, she received her M.M. from the University of Iowa where she studied with Dr. Tadeu Coelho, international soloist and recording artist. Her other studies include San Jose State University, the Boxwood Music Festival in Rotorua, New Zealand and the University of Santa Barbara. Ms. Chadima is currently principle flute of the Golden State Pops Orchestra and has played in the Carson-Dominguez Hills Symphony, Peninsula Symphony, American Wind Symphony Orchestra, USAF Heartland of America Band, Oskaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Ottumwa Symphony Orchestra.
Jill Heinke, a 2004-05 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar, received her Post-graduate Diploma in flute in 2005 from the Royal College of Music where she studied with international soloist and recording artist Susan Milan. An Illinois native, Jill earned her B.M. with honors in 2003, from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she studied with Jill Felber, internationally acclaimed soloist and chamber musical of ZAWA! In 2006, Jill received a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on scholarship with Timothy Day. Jill has premiered chamber works with the UC Santa Barbara and the Royal College of Music New Music ensembles. An advocate of community outreach, Jill works with underprivileged middle school youth in San Francisco through the Conservatory in the Schools program. She teaches at middle and high schools in Oakland, Palo Alto, and San Francisco, and operates a private studio in San Francisco.
Kassey LeBow started her musical studies at the age of 11 in New Mexico, and at 13 she was awarded a full college scholarship to New Mexico State University as a promising young talent. Ms. LeBow is an accomplished soloist and chamber musician, and has won several national and regional competitions including the National Flute Association Masterclass Performers Competition, UCSB Concerto Competition and the Leni Febland Competition. In June 2003, Kassey graduated from University of California at Santa Barbara with a Master of Music, where she was the Flute Studio Teaching Assistant and studied with Jill Felber, internationally acclaimed soloist and chamber musician of ZAWA!. Kassey has a full private flute studio through out the San Francisco Bay Area.
Amelia Vitarelli, a California native, has emerged as one of the Bay Area’s leading flutists and educators. In 2000, she graduated with her M.M. in flute performance from the University of Iowa where she studied with Dr. Tadeu Coelho, international soloist and recording Artist. Her other advanced studies include Domaine Forget International Music Academy in Quebec, Canada, San Jose State University and University of California at Santa Barbara. Amelia has been a performer at the National Flute Convention in 2004 and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2003. Amelia has a full private flute studio in the Mountain View and San Jose Areas.
Assistant Conductor and Director of Winds
Debra Weinberg, Assistant Conductor, Director of Winds, and woodwind and chamber music coach for ECYS, received Bachelor’s degrees in Clarinet Performance and Recording Arts from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studied under Loren Kitt, Principal Clarinetist of the National Symphony. From there, she went on to Chicago to receive her M.M. in Clarinet Performance from DePaul University, where she studied under Larry Combs, Principal Clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony. She has performed throughout the U.S., playing with such groups as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Chicago Contemporary Players, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the South Bend Symphony, the Berkeley Symphony, and the Monterey Symphony. She has also participated in many music festivals, including the National Repertory Orchestra, Music Academy of the West, the Texas Music Festival, and the Sarasota Music Festival. Throughout her travels, she has had the honor of playing under the batons of many great conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, and Zubin Mehta. As an educator, her varied experiences include working with at-risk youth at the MERIT Music Program in Chicago, performing in outreach concerts through both the Chicago Civic Orchestra’s MusiCorps Program and the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music program, and teaching chamber music and music theory for the San Francisco Community Music Center’s Comprehensive Musicianship Program. She has maintained a private clarinet studio since beginning her studies, with many of her students winning competitions and being accepted into some of the country’s most prestigious music schools.
Brass Section Coaches
Scott L. Hartman, brass coach for the El Camino Youth Symphony, is one of the Bay Area's busiest horn players. Mr. Hartman has performed in every horn chair in the San Jose and Santa Cruz symphonies, Opera San Jose, AMT, and SJ/Cleveland Ballet. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Merola Opera, Midsummer Mozart, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Monterey Symphony and California Symphony. His performances range from recording Lou Harrison's music for Horn and Gamelan to TV commercials to performing with Luciano Pavarotti to rock concerts at the Cow Palace. He is a first call player with Symphony Silicon Valley, the Pacific Chamber Orchestra and is a founding member of the Silicon Valley Brass Quintet.Mr. Hartman teaches in his home and is on the staff of the University of Santa Clara, In 2004 and 2005, 1/6 of the horns in the California Band Directors Association (CBDA) State Honor Bands were his students. He was a guest artist and lecturer at the International Horn Society's Western US Symposium in Las Vegas in 2002, and at at the University of Santa Barbara in January 2006, and has lectured for the CBDA. He has been a soloist with the South Valley Symphony (Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2 and Mozart's Concerto #4), the Mission Chamber Orchestra (Larssen's Concertino), the West Valley Symphony (Haydn's Concerto #1) and the Cupertino Symphonic Band (Saint-Saens' Morceau de Concert). Mr. Hartman is a frequent clinician and coach and is the author of The Music Teacher's Horn Handbook. Mr. Hartman attended SJSU and the Universidad Politecnico in Mexico City. His horn teachers include two principal horns of the SF Symphony and two from the NY Philharmonic.
Richard Roper, trumpet, received his Bachelor's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, his M.M. from Yale School of Music, and his D.M.A. from the University of Maryland. As a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, Dr. Roper spent a year studying and performing in Paris. Commited to arts education, he has served on the faculties of the University of Maine and the Washington, D.C. Youth Orchestra, and currently teaches for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory/Extension department, the Community School of Music and Arts, and as trumpet instructor at California State University Stanislaus. Along with teaching, Dr. Roper stays busy performing frequently with many Bay Area ensembles. In addition, he has studied and performed at the Aspen Music festival, the Music Academy of the West, and the Norfolk Chamber Music festival. His major teachers include Chris Gekker, Allan Dean, Mario Guarneri, Antoine Cure, and Raymond Mase.
Percussion Section and Percussion Ensemble Coaches
Benjamin Paysen received his Master and Bachelor of Music in Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Monterey Symphony and many others on timpani and percussion. He has taught at the San Francisco School for the Arts and coached the San Francisco Conservatory of Music percussion ensemble. In addition to maintaining his own private studio, he continues his studies with Jack VanGeem and David Herbert of the San Francisco Symphony, and composes and arranges music for percussion ensembles.
Tim Dent, percussion, is a Bay Area free-lance percussionist. Since earning his masters degree from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1999, he has played with many of the orchestras and chamber ensembles in the area including the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, California Symphony, Earplay, Berkeley Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony among others. He also holds a degree from the University of Oregon, where he was a recipient of the Ruth Lorraine-Close fellowship and was a student of Charles Dowd. While at the SF Conservatory, he studied under San Francisco Symphony principal percussionist Jack Van Geem. At the Aspen Music Festival he was a student of both Jonathan Haas and Tom Stubbs.
Chamber Music Coach/Coordinator
Sara Spieth is an active cellist and music educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her B.M. in Cello Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, studying under former Associate Principal of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Stepansky, and her M.M. from San Francisco State University working with the Alexander String Quartet. She is a recipient of the Israel Dorman Memorial Award and the Sylvia Rosenberg Orchestra Scholarship. Solo engagements have taken Sara abroad, as she has performed throughout the U.K., Italy, Austria, and France. She has attended the Pacific Music Festival, the World Cello Congress, the Domaine Forget Festival, and has participated in many master classes including those with Phillippe Muller, the Julliard String Quartet, Irene Sharp, Julian Martin, and Mihaly Virizlay. Teaching has always interested Sara, as she has maintained a private studio since 1994, as well as being highly involved with the El Camino Youth Symphony and other youth organizations. Sara plays on a Francis Kuttner cello on loan to her from a private collection. For more information, visit www.saraspieth.com.
About Conductor Dr. Kolchinsky: “...she does not only possess a remarkable technique as a conductor, but she makes the very best use of her her technique to reveal her interpreting intentions and great musical talent.” – Mstislav Rostropovich
ECYS Office: 650-213-7111 • Fax: 650-493-1525 • © 2007 El Camino Youth Symphony Association