Symposium Day Bios

November 3, 2015 Symposium Day Bios

Eileen Benedict has recently retired from the Connetquot Central School district where she taught elementary classroom music, middle school chorus, high school women’s choir, vocal lessons and music theory. In addition, Mrs. Benedict was vocal director for numerous middle school and high school musical theater productions. She was a frequent conductor for district-wide chorus and recorder ensembles. Eileen has been an adjunct professor at Molloy College and has taught intermediate grades in the Community Music Program at SUNY Stony Brook. She has also guest lectured at Hofstra University.

Mrs. Benedict received her M.S. in Music Ed from L.I.U. C.W. Post campus. She conducted SCMEA Division I in 2000, 2006, and 2010, and Division 2 in 2015. She has also been honored to have conducted the North Fork festival in 2001 and the Hamptons MEA middle school festival in 2007 and 2011. Mrs. Benedict was delighted to be the conductor for NMEA Division 2 in 2012 and Division 1 in 2015. Mrs. Benedict has been the choral instructor for both the NMEA and SCMEA PEAK festivals. Since summer, 2006, Mrs. Benedict has been conducting the Discovery Chorus and the Junior Chorus at USDAN Center for the Creative and Performing Arts.

Mrs. Benedict's lesson plans were published in the August 2009 issue of MENC's Teaching Music magazine. She was the general music mentor for MENC in the fall, 2008 and repeated that role in spring 2010. Mrs. Benedict recently presented "We Can Compose...plus more" as a clinician for SCMEA and the Orange County MEA and at the 2010 NYSSMA all-state conference. She and her husband are soloists, leaders of song, accompanists, and children’s choir directors at Infant Jesus Church in Port Jefferson. Mrs. Benedict is a member of SCMEA, NYSSMA, ACDA, NPM and NAfME and is an all-state NYSSMA adjudicator.

Reynard Burns is an educator, composer, conductor and clinician. During his thirty-four years as orchestra director in the Bay Shore Schools, his groups were recognized on the county, state and national level. Since retiring in 2002, Reynard has devoted much of his time to composing and presenting workshops and clinics at various conferences across the country, as well as in schools. Presentation themes include Jazz and improvisation for strings, the music of composers of African descent, rehearsal techniques, and emergency repairs for strings.

Mr. Burns’ compositions are listed with J.W. Pepper and published by Tempo Press, Alfred, Wingert- Jones, and his own company, Reynard Burns Publishing Inc., which was launched by the desire to provide music that engages all performers and to increase the availability of music of diverse composers and styles.

In addition to the original company website, www.freeflightmusic.com, there is a now a second site, www.stringssheetmusic, that is dedicated entirely to string music.

His music has been played in Australia, Japan and the United States. Mr. Burns’ list of contributions in the world of music include winning the ASTA Merle Isaac composition contest, commissions from the Empire Youth and Wisconsin Youth Orchestras, performances by the Long Island Philharmonic, guest conductor appearances, and numerous speaking engagements.

Memberships include ASCAP, ASTA, LISFA, NAFME, NYASTA, NYSSMA, SCMEA, American Composers Forum, Center for Black Music Research, Chamber Music America, Conductors’ Guild, and Society of Composers. Michael Cordaro holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in music education from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. Over his 28 year career, he has worked with many of the top band directors in the country including Dr. Russ Mikkelson, Frank Battisti, Tony Maiello, Ed Lisk, Dr. Brian Doyle, Dr. Peter Boonshaft, Joe Kreines, and Dr. Robert Spradling to name a few. Currently, Mr. Cordaro holds the position of Director of High School Bands at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, NY where he has been for the past 18 years.

In addition to his conducting, Mr. Cordaro is an active professional musician that has performed with the Atlantic Wind Symphony, Wm. Floyd Faculty Brass Quintet, and the Sound Symphony. He is also an active alumni member of the “Norwood Brass Firemen”, the official band of the New York State Volunteer Fireman’s Association which has represented the United States at the Lake Placid and Sarajevo Winter Olympic opening ceremonies, two presidential inaugural parades and the Indianapolis 500 parade.

Mr. Cordaro is the Statewide Chairperson for the NYSBDA (New York State Band Directors Association) All-State Honor Concert Band. In addition, he serves as rehearsal conductor and on the selection committee for NYSCAME (New York State Council for Administrators of Music Education) All-County Band and holds a position on the Executive Board of SCMEA (Suffolk County Music Educators Association) as Band Librarian.

James Cottone is currently the Choral Director at Bayport/Blue Point High School where he directs the Ninth through Twelfth and Eighth Grade choruses, and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He has presented workshops in Choral and Orff Methods at conferences sponsored by NYSSMA, SCMEA, and NMEA, in addition to presenting workshops in both Bayport/Blue Point and Levittown School Districts.

He studied Orff Pedagogy Levels 1-3 at Hofstra University, and earned Master Teacher Certification from the University at Memphis. He has also studied Kodaly pedagogy at the Hartt School of Music. He currently studies voice, acting, and Alexander Technique in NYC with world renowned pedagogues, Maria Farnworth, Michael Beckett, and Tom Vasiliades. He studies Alexander Technique at the Alexander Technique Center for Performance and Development in NYC.

Pete DeSalvo, a native Long Islander, has directed school concert and jazz bands as well as numerous other ensembles for over 35 years. Mr. DeSalvo is a highly respected conductor, having worked with All- County and select ensembles in the Tri-State area. His performing groups have competed at the state, regional and national levels, always receiving outstanding ratings.

He earned his Bachelor of Music (BM) from the Crane School of Music, State University College at Potsdam, New York under the watchful eye of Professor James Petercsak, and received his Masters of Science (MS) from C.W. Post College of Long Island University, Greenvale, New York. Pete also studied 5 years with his mentor/teacher, Henry Adler, and is currently, under the tutelage of Bryan Carrott, completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Five Towns College.

Mr. DeSalvo is an active member of the Suffolk County Music Educators Association (SCMEA), having chaired several festivals, has adjudicated for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) solo & ensemble festivals for over 30 years and has been the co-chair of the Suffolk County Day of Percussion for 20 years. He currently serves as the chair of the Education Committee of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) and is the President of the New York State Chapter of PAS.

Pete’s performance credits as a drummer/percussionist range from jazz to country, rock to classical, as well as numerous regional musical theater shows and is a founding member of the Stik Figures Percussion Ensemble. A member of Local 802, Pete has worked with jazz artists such as Clark Terry, Milt Hinton, Warren Vache', Ray Andersen, Bobby Watson and Pete McGuinness. As a symphonic timpanist, he also has performed in concert under the direction of such luminaries as Aaron Copland, Stanley Chapel and Robert Shaw and his compositions are published by Bachovich Music Publishers. Mr. DeSalvo recently retired as Director of Bands at Sayville High School and is currently an Adjunct Percussion professor at Five Towns College. A proud endorser of Mike Balter mallets and Grover Pro Percussion, he also maintains an active performing, recording, producing, teaching, and piano tuning career, on Long Island and in Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife, Trish.

Tom Gellert continues to enjoy a career spanning more than 35 years as a professional musician, music educator and arts administrator.

As a band director, Gellert’s high school concert bands and jazz ensembles routinely received superior ratings at music festivals in the Eastern U.S. and Canada. Under his baton, Tom’s bands traveled and performed extensively on concert tours of the Eastern U.S., Canada and twice to Great Britain, Italy and Austria. As a public school arts program administrator Gellert helped to build a nationally recognized music and visual arts program in the Harborfields CSD.

In 1994, he became only the third managing state editor in the long and storied history of the New York State School Music Association (a position he holds to this day). During his tenure as NYSSMA editor, Tom has brought the NYSSMA School Music NEWS magazine to national prominence as the single most widely read and circulated professional state music education journal in the U.S. His monthly editorials have been reprinted in numerous state and national music educator journals. In addition, in 2007 Gellert wrote the 3rd volume of NYSSMA history chronicling NYSSMA’s growth from the 1990s into the 21st century. He has lectured and presented clinics and workshops at the national, regional, state and county levels in addition to presenting to music students at the Eastman School of Music, New York University, Hofstra University, Long Island University and Hunter College. Gellert is a recipient of the NYSSMA Distinguished Service Award for his service to the music educator profession.

Tom Gellert is in demand as a guest conductor and also serves as a NYSSMA All-State Brass and Major Organization adjudicator. In addition to his continuing service to music education, Tom is the conductor of the Huntington Community Band. He maintains an active private horn studio and continues to perform in the metropolitan area as an orchestral horn player / chamber music performer.

Jason J. Giachetti graduated cum laude from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in 2000. While he was there, he earned a Bachelors Degree in Music Education and a Performance Certificate in Percussion under the direction of Mr. James Petercsak. He earned his Masters Degree in Music Education with a Concentration in Wind Band Conducting under the direction of Dr. Peter Loel Boonshaft from Hofstra University and has studied graduate work at Villanova University and Dellacave Educational Institute for Professional Development.

Mr. Giachetti is currently in his 16th year teaching High School Band. He is the director of the 11th & 12th grade Senior Band at Huntington High School. He is also the director of the High School Jazz Ensemble, the Percussion Caption Head and Arranger for the Huntington Blue Devil Marching Band, director of the Pep Band and teaches AP Music Theory. Mr. Giachetti has also directed various chamber ensembles at the high school level including brass ensembles, woodwind ensembles, saxophone ensembles, percussion ensembles and a handbell choir. Mr. Giachetti’s students regularly participate in NYSSMA festivals, All-County & All-State Ensembles. Mr. Giachetti has performed with numerous ensembles including Long Island Symphonic Winds, the Atlantic Wind Symphony and the Queens College Graduate Wind Ensemble. In addition, Mr. Giachetti marched with the DCI’s 1997 Bluecoats from Canton Ohio & 1999 Colts from Dubuque Iowa as well as winning the world championship with DCA’s 2001 Brigadiers from Syracuse NY.

Mr. Giachetti is presently a member of “Stik Figures Percussion Ensemble,” a contemporary ensemble based on Long Island, NY. “Stik Figures” performs workshops at the Balanced Mind Conference (2008 - 2012), NYSBDA (2007), NYSCAME (2010 & 2014), NYSSMA’s 2010 Winter Conference & the 2010 Chamber Music Series at the Patchogue Theatre. In addition, they perform educational concerts at local schools including Sayville, Rocky Point, Longwood, Seaford, Huntington, South Hampton, Mineola and Queen’s College.

Mr. Giachetti holds memberships with various local, state, national and international music organizations. He chaired the 2004 Division II East SCMEA Band and has been judging percussion performance for NYSSMA since 2006. Mr. Giachetti also was the guest conductor of the 2011 SCMEA Division II-West Band and helps run the NYSSMA All-State percussion sectionals. He is currently the SCMEA Percussion Coordinator of Festivals.

Malcolm Gilbert has spent the past 20 years in the Massapequa School District as the director of the Freshman Choir. A graduate of the Crane School of Music of SUNY Potsdam and the Aaron Copland School of Music of CUNY Queens, Mr. Gilbert has conducted both school and church choirs to the highest levels of achievement. Malcolm is a private voice teacher, adjudicator, conductor, and guest speaker. He has presented workshops for the NYSSMA Winter Conference, Balanced Mind Conference, and Hofstra University's ACDA and NAfMe chapters. Malcolm is an original member of eVoco Voice Collective, and is an active freelance baritone. Away from the concert hall, Malcolm is an avid weightlifter and exercise enthusiast.

Marc E. Greene is currently a member of the faculty of the Music Education Department of the Ithaca College School of Music. Previously, he served as the Director of Music and Arts in the Bedford, Port Washington and Middle Country School Districts. He taught choral and vocal music at Baldwin and Newfield High Schools and taught previously at the high school and middle school levels in the Capital District, Central New York and the Hudson Valley areas.

He holds degrees in Music Education, Communications, Business Management and Educational Administration from Ithaca College, College of Saint Rose, and Long Island University - C.W. Post.

He is currently Eastern Division President-Elect of the National Association for Music Education, President of the New York State Council of Education Associations, and Past-President of the New York State School Music Association. His work with NYSSMA has included serving as an All-State Voice, Vocal Jazz and Choral Adjudicator, as Zone Representative for Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties and as a member of the NYSSMA Curriculum Committee. He has served as the President of the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education and as a clinician for many national, state and regional professional associations, school districts and colleges on topics including curriculum development, instruction, assessment, special needs students, arts advocacy, teacher recruitment, choral methods and interview techniques.

Janet L. Holly is the band director for fourth and fifth grade students at Birchwood Intermediate School. Janet has a B.S. in Music Education, a M.S. in Special Education, and her Administration Certificate. Janet has been employed by the South Huntington School District since 1988. During her tenure at South Huntington she has taught in many areas of music education. These areas include High School and Junior High choir, general music, and instrumental music. Joe Jankowski is newly appointed as the Executive Director of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. He comes to the organization with a wealth of knowledge in non-profit management and leadership. Working with organizations like the March of Dimes, Roundabout Theatre Company, Joyce Theater Foundation as well as a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College, Joe looks forward to taking the Hall of Fame to the next level and making it an organization that encompasses the spirit and excitement of all Long Islanders.

Craig Lindsay is both a woodwind repair technician and a professional performing musician. Most notably, he studied with several of the DiPasqualli brothers while he completed a degree in philosophy from Haverford College. Craig’s performance credits include Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, touring for two years with the Guy Lombardo Orchestra, being a 25 year member of the Atlantic Woodwind Symphony Orchestra, performing on ocean and riverboat cruises, and playing in the pit orchestra for numerous musicals throughout Long Island.

Craig learned the craft of instrument repair in the traditional apprentice and journeyman system. He began as an apprentice at NEMC (National Educational Music Company, Summit, NJ) while still a sophomore in high school. He next apprenticed for 15 years with Gene Lorello (lead alto player in the original West Side Story). His work with Gene culminated in the co-production of the hand-made flute that Craig brought from molten metal to a finely crafted musical instrument. It is the flute on which he primarily performs.

Lyndsay Payne is a music educator and violinist. She earned a Bachelor’s of Music from SUNY Fredonia and a Master’s of Arts from SUNY Stony Brook. Currently she is an elementary Orchestra and Band teacher for the Smithtown School District. Mrs. Payne also works as the Suffolk Elementary Vice President for the Long Island String Festival Association.

Dr. Janice Smith is professor of music education and associate director of the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, City University of New York. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in general music, foundations of music education, and music methods for elementary teachers. Prior to coming to the Aaron Copland School of Music, Dr. Smith had a thirty-year career as a general music specialist in the public schools of Maine.

Dr. Smith’s writings have appeared in the Music Educators Journal, General Music Today, Research Studies in Music Education, and Music Education Research International. She has presented sessions at state, national and international NAfME and CMS conferences. She also serves as a consultant on curriculum design and assessment. Her current research interests include teaching music in urban settings and encouraging revision processes in child composers. She co-author with Michele Kaschub of the book Minds on Music: Composition for Creative and Critical Thinking and the forthcoming series of textbooks, Exploring Music Composition (Oxford, 2016). She is co-editor with Kaschub, of Composing Our Future: Preparing Music educators to Teach Composition and Promising Practices in 21st Century Music Teacher Education.

Tracy Souhrada, MS, MT-BC, LCAT, is a Board Certified Music Therapist, a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, and a special education teacher. She served as the music therapist for ten years for the New Interdisciplinary School, a preschool for children with special needs. Since 2001, she has been the music therapist for Western Suffolk BOCES working with special-needs students ranging in age from five to twenty-one. Their needs range from Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, ADD, ODD, learning disabilities, and intellectual disabilities. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Therapy from Molloy College, and a Masters Degree in Special Education from Dowling College. Jacqueline Stone Martin has been teaching on Long Island for 28 years. She is currently the Middle School Orchestra Director at Roslyn Middle, prior to that she taught at West Babylon HS and Elementary schools and Lawrence MS. Jackie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from James Madison University, a Master’s in Music Education from Queen’s College, a Master’s Degree in Guidance from Long Island University and she holds 30 credits in School Administration. As a member of the Long Island String Festival Association for the past 27 years, she has taken on the jobs of Chairperson at all levels, Vice President at both levels, Adjudication Chairperson and now she is President. Jackie is also a member of ASTA and NMEA. Jackie can be found playing her violin or viola with various groups on Long Island including: Plaza Playhouse Productions; the Herrick’s Community Center; various local high school musicals and in the pit for the Ovation Dance Academy’s yearly production of “The Nutcracker.” She enjoyed being a guest conductor for Northport’s “Night of a Thousand Strings” and looks forward to more opportunities to conduct young musicians.

Sarah F. Weiss is the orchestra director for the 4th and 5th graders at Birchwood Intermediate School. Sarah has a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance and a M.S. in Music Education from the Aaron Copland School of Music of CUNY, Queens College. Sarah is also the orchestra director of the summer string program in the South Huntington School District and co-director in the Sea Cliff summer strings program. Sarah has maintained a private string studio since 1996. As a freelance musician, Sarah has been a member of orchestras and chamber groups at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Donnell Library, Flushing Town Hall, and Chamber Music Live with the Aaron Copland School of Music. Sarah has also performed at the Schubert Festival at Bowdoin College, Maine.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Hon. Roger B. Tilles was elected to a five-year term as the Regent for the Tenth Judicial District, commencing on April 1, 2005, re-elected to a second five-year term by concurrent resolution effective April 1, 2010, and re-elected to a third five-year term effective April 1, 2015. Regent Tilles graduated in 1968 from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts degree and from the University of Michigan College of Law in 1971. He became Director of Law and Legislation for the Michigan Department of Education, was elected to the Michigan State Board of Education, and in 1975, he became the Executive Secretary to the Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. During this time in Michigan he taught education and the law at University of Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan Universities’ Schools of Education. He was also the counsel to the Michigan Teacher Tenure Commission as well as a Special Education Hearing Officer. After being a candidate for U.S. Congress, he opened his own law practice in Washington, D.C. in 1978, until his return to Long Island in 1983 where he is a Director of Tilles Investment Companies. He is a member of the New York, D.C. and Michigan Bar Associations. He was Chair and a founding member of the Association for a Better Long Island, past acting Chair of the Long Island Regional Planning Board, served as Chair of the Long Island University Board of Trustees, served on the Boards of WNET/Channel 13 and WLIW/Channel 21 and has been Executive Vice Chairman of the Tilles Center For The Performing Arts, in addition to serving on the Board and Executive Board of the Long Island Association. He has also worked to form the Long Island Arts Alliance, attempting to bring together the cultural institutions of Long Island. He is also involved with significant interfaith activities: two of the most prominent being Project Understanding, which he formed with Monsignor Tom Hartman in 1987, bringing Catholic and Jewish teenagers together annually on a mission to Israel; and as the producer of the first Vatican commemoration of the Holocaust under the auspices of Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1994. He is a member and past President of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, is on the Board of The Jewish Outreach Institute and has been a member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of the UJA. Roger Tilles was born and educated in Great Neck in their public schools. He and his wife, Jerry, and their daughters, Eliana and Hanaleah, still reside in Great Neck where their children have graduated from the Great Neck public schools. Dr. Warren Zanes joined The Rock and Roll Forever Foundation as executive director after several years as Vice President of Education and Public Programs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. At the Rock Hall he rebuilt the K-12 programming, launched a new distance learning project, and served as a visiting professor at Case Western Reserve University, in addition to producing public programs featuring artists from Aretha Franklin to Jerry Lee Lewis, Grandmaster Flash, and many more.