Bios of 2009 Festival Staff:
Frances
C. Roberts, Music Director, Long Island Masterworks, is
the founding conductor of Long Island Masterworks, the Long Island Philharmonic
Chorus, and the Long Island Choral Festival & Institute. In 2000, she
was honored as ŅWoman of the Year in the ArtsÓ by Women On the Job, and in
2003 was selected as an "Everyday Hero" by Newsday.
She was selected as an "Outstanding Secondary Educator of America"
and has been listed in Who's Who of American Women and
Who's Who in American Music.
Mrs. Roberts received her undergraduate education
at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. In 1985, they presented her
with their highest alumnae award for professional achievement, The Minerva
Award. She holds an M.M. degree from Boston University where she studied with
Bela Nagy, Abraham Kaplan, and Allen Lannom, and accompanied for Roman Totenberg
and Chloe Owen. Subsequently, she studied with Alton Jones in New York and
accompanied at the Metropolitan Opera Studio and for the Gregg Smith Singers.
She pursued further study in choral music at Westminster Choir College, attended
the Robert Shaw Carnegie Hall Choral Workshops, and in recent years, has accompanied
for renowned conductors Margaret Hillis and Donald Neuen
For twenty years, Mrs. Roberts was the choral director
at Commack High School South. Her choirs there earned the highest NYSSMA ratings,
performed at the MENC All-Eastern Conferences, and were selected to participate
in the Suffolk County Tercentenary Ceremonies. Choral works were commissioned,
guest conductors and clinicians visited regularly and students were involved
in chamber music, theater and ensembles. Full productions of Carmen
and two Menotti operas were staged with cooperating professional artists under
her direction and vision.
In 1979, Mrs. Roberts was asked by Christopher Keene,
music director of the Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra, to found the Long
Island Philharmonic Chorus. Subsequently, she worked with Marin Alsop, David
Lockington, and David Wiley, preparing most of the major choral repertoire.
In 1988, Ms. Roberts conducted the Carnegie Hall debut of the chorus, and
was invited to conduct the Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus for
the first time. She recently conducted two performances of the Faurˇ Requiem.
In 1990, Mrs. Roberts became the founding Music Director
and Conductor of Long Island Masterworks. This organization has commissioned
and premiered two major choral works – one a benefit for breast cancer
research, and the other a memorial to survivors and victims of the Holocaust.
The chorus was honored to be the guest chorus for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
performance of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, under the direction of Edo de Waart.
In 1994, Mrs. Roberts was asked by citizens from the
township of Brookhaven to begin a summer choral festival. After six successful
years there, she moved on to found the Long Island Choral Festival & institute,
which is in residence at Adelphi University. Singers, conductors and clinicians
come from all over the country to attend workshops, rehearsals and performances,
all offered for graduate credit.
Mrs. Roberts was recognized by the Suffolk County Office of Cultural Affairs
and by the Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra for her years of service to
the community.
Sidney
Boquiren, High School Honor Choir Program, is
an Assistant Professor of Music at Adelphi University. He is a composer of
mostly chamber, choral, vocal, and piano works that have been performed in
Asia, Europe and North America.
Dr. Boquiren
studied composition with Michael Schelle at Butler University, where he graduated
summa cum laude with his Bachehor of Musis degree in 1992, on a scholarship.
He then studied composition with Stephen Jaffe and Scott Lindroth
at Duke University and there earned his MA in 1994 and Ph.D in 1999, on the
Mary Duke Biddle Fellowship.
Among his honors
are the William Klenz Prize in Composition from Duke University (1994, for
Pater Noster), First Prize in the Aliˇnor
harpsichord competition in Atlanta (1994, for Sala'am) and a High Commendation
in the competition of the New London Chamber Choir (2000, for Iyeyan. He has also received an Honorable Mention in the Gaudeamus
competition and the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship (2003-04). His music has
been performed in Belgium, France, Greece, Japan, The Netherlands, The Philippines,
and the USA, including once at the Asian Music Festival in Manila (1997) and
twice at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek (2000-01).
Dr. Boquiren
is also active in other positions. He sang as a bass-baritone with the Duke
University Chorale and Chamber Choir from 1992-2001 and with the Vocal Arts
Ensemble from 1996-2003 and conducted the chorus Summa (formerly the Boquiren
Chamber Singers) from 1997-2003. He has performed in various capacities with
the new music ensemble Pulsoptional since 1999.
He taught musicianship
and music theory at Duke University from 1995-99 and served as composer-in-residence
at the Durham School of the Arts in 1998. He taught Christian worship and
music, composition and experimental music at the Penn Humanities Forum of
the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 2003-04 and analysis, composition,
ear training, form, harmony, and music theory as a Visiting Assistant Professor
at Adelphi University in 2004-05.
Brian
Goldman, Festival Youth Choir Conductor,
has conducted the Long Island Choral Festival Youth Choir for the
past three summers. The Youth Choir has additionally sung for the New York
Islanders opening day to thousands of fans. Brian is in his eleventh
year teaching elementary music, chorus and drama in the Mineola School District.
His fourth and fifth grade choruses have received Gold ratings at the NYSSMA
major organization adjudication festivals. He is frequently asked to
guest conduct, and recently conducted the SCMEA Division I West festival chorus.
Brian is the President of the Nassau Music Educators Association, which serves
the music students of Nassau County by providing exciting All County concerts
each year. Brian received a degree in horn performance and music education
from the Crane School of Music where he studied conducting with Brock MacElheran
and Daniel Gordon. He received his Masters in Music Education from Westminster
Choir College of Rider University, where he took classes with James Jordan
and Frank Abrahams. He is a member and assistant director of the Long
Island Masterworks and Philharmonic Choruses, and is a member of the choir
at St. JohnÕs Episcopal Church of Lattingtown.
Jonathan
Goodman, High School Honor
Choir Program, is a tenor, vocal
clinician and coach who began his singing career touring 10 countries and
making several recordings with the Grammy-winning ensemble Chanticleer. This
also provided him the chance to give master classes and clinics to small ensembles
and soloists across the U.S. and Europe. As a soloist in oratorio and opera,
he has appeared with the American Symphony, Steve Reich Ensemble, Musica Sacra,
Orchestra of Saint LukeÕs, New York Collegium, American ComposersÕ Orchestra
and others. He has recorded Brahms Vocal Quartets
and Schubert Vocal Quartets; both CDs are on the Arabesque label.
He has sung
20th Century Music under conductors Leon Botstein, Brad Lubman,
Steve Sloane and Christopher Lyndon-Gee; Baroque Music under Gustav Leonhardt,
Andrew Parrott and Christophe Rousset. Mr. Goodman makes worldwide appearances
with the Steve Reich Ensemble in ReichÕs multi-media opera The Cave. He appears yearly at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center
in a wide variety of oratorio roles, including all Evangelist roles. A graduate
of the Eastman School of Music, he is an adjunct Professor of Voice at Adelphi
University.
Michael
Hume, High School Honor Choir
Coordinator and Conductor is a native
of Washington, D.C. At the age of twenty-one, he performed the role
as celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's Mass
in Vienna, Austria, a performance which was subsequently broadcast on public
television. He played the role more than sixty times, including the
tenth anniversary production at the Kennedy Center in 1981. He has performed
with Washington Opera, Atlanta Opera, Opera Company of Boston, Opera New England
and Opera Ensemble of New York, in such roles as Goro in Madame Butterfly, Bora in Rogoletto,
man with old luggage in Postcard from Morocco, and Rodrigo in Otelo.
He played the title role in Britain's Albert Herring at the Long Wharf Theatre and the role of Stanley in Bolcom's
Casino Paradise, a cabaret opera.
In oratorio and early music, he played the archangel in the
medieval drama, Herod and the Innocents with
the Ensemble for Early Music. He has sung in many performances of Messiah, as well as Mozart's Requiem, Bach's St. John Passion, and Handel's Acis and Galatea, among others. His song recitals have been heard at
the Terrace Theatre of the Kennedy Center, Dumbarton Oaks, the Aspen Music
Festival, the National Gallery of Art, and the Phillips Collection.
In musical theatre he has played leading roles in Oklahoma,
The King and I, Godspell, The Apple Tree, Girl Crazy, The Fantasticks, and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers and The Yeoman of the Guard. He has offered many programs of popular American song,
with reportoire by Berlin, Gershwin, Porter, Rogers, Kern, Loesser, Bernstein,
Sondheim, and more.
He is currently Choral Director and Music Program coordinator
at Adelphi University where, in addition to voice lessons, he conducts the
Adelphi University Chorus, and has served as musical director for more than
a dozen productions.
Chihwei
Julie Li, Festival Youth Choir
and High School Honor Choir Program,
is a native Taiwanese pianist and composer. She received her undergraduate
degree in Music and Education at National Taiwan Normal University. She began
her teaching position at Taipei Ming Hu High School after receiving her BachelorÕs
degree with excellent evaluations from Creative Curriculum Committee. In 1998,
she received a full scholarship from Carnegie Mellon University and studied
composition with Leonardo Balada, conducting with Eduardo Alonso-Crespo, music
theory and analysis with Marilyn Taft Thomas, and Dalcroze improvisation with
Marta Sanchez and Annabelle Joseph. Since then,
Ms. Li has been working with dance groups, choreographers, TV & filmmakers,
children theaters, church choirs, community chorus, worship bands, and other
artists while keeping her teaching and writing schedule. She is an adjunct
faculty member at Suffolk County Community College. She also serves as the
music director of Community Church of Great Neck and conductor of Concord
Chorus in Flushing,
AnnMarie
Lupo, Choreographer, Festival Youth Choir and High School Honor Choir Program. Ever since AnnMarie completed studying at
the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she has been dancing, performing, and
choreographing around the world. Over the years she has held major rolls in
numerous plays in New York City, and performed with a professional magic company
throughout Europe before coming back to New York to choreograph and teach. Her
dancers have performed in festivals and benefits all over Long Island, and
several of her pieces were chosen to be performed at a choreographers' showcase
at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Aside from continuing to work
as a dance instructor, AnnMarie is now also choreographing musical theater
in various high schools on Long Island. She is extremely excited to be able
to share her passion for the arts with the Long Island Choral Festival &
Institute!
Kerry Prep,
High School Honor Choir Musical Theater Program, is an adjunct professor in the Performing Arts and General Education
Departments at Adelphi University, and also a BFA alumnus of Adelphi.
An actor, singer, director, and musical composer, Kerry resides in Huntington
with his wife, Helen, and daughter, Molly. In 2001, Kerry debuted his sold-out
cabaret If You Can Find Me, IÕm Here,
directed by Ed Linderman. He is currently writing his next cabaret, Grateful, for 2010, as well as fine-tuning his coming-of-age
teen musical, Y ME? A Musical for the "Y" Generation. NYC acting credits include A ChildÕs Christmas
in Wales (directed by Ed Berkeley) and
Jacques Brel Is... TV credits
include All My Children and
Woody Allen's Don't Drink The Water. 25 years ago, seeking a creative outlet to supplement his acting career,
Kerry founded Preppygrams, a singing telegram company, which specializes in
custom-written songs serving the New York Metropolitan area. Kerry has toured
up and down the East Coast, playing keyboards in a rock band, and has
composed lyrics and music for several cabaret-style musicals, including
Myth America (No Gurlz Allowed), Friday the 31st (A Dyslexic Halloween), and The Castratos (True or Falsetto) with playwright Frederick Stroppel. For the past five years, Kerry has directed the incoming
Freshmen Performing Arts majors at Adelphi University in their debut Workshops:
Te Deum For Young Comedians (in collaboration with Jacques Burdick), Myth Noir: Tales of
OvidÕs Metamorphoses, Alf Layla Wa Layla (1001 Arabian Nights), Lysistrata
-- the musical, and The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet.
Kerry served as Musical Director in back-to-back productions of Urinetown at Adelphi in the fall of 2006 (directed by Ted Sod) and then C.W. Post
in the spring of 2007 (directed by Victor Maog). In the fall of 2008, Kerry
was Musical Director for the first post-Broadway production of Jonathan Larson's
RENT. He is also a teaching
artist with Inside Broadway, a not-for-profit corporation, which places professional
performers in New York City schools, introducing children to theatre through
build-a-musical workshops. AEA/SAG/AFTRA.