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Biographies of the Artists


 Baritone Stephen Barchi , 23 years old, is emerging as one of the leading young classical singers of both the art song and operatic repertoires. A graduate of The Juilliard School, where he received his Bachelor of Music Degree under the tutelage of W. Stephen Smith, he has performed extensively in both recital and productions, including a debut recital in Alice Tully Hall, various Liederabende, and roles in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Thompson’s The Mother of Us All. He was a participant in the 2010 and 2011 London Master Classes at the Royal Academy of Music taught by Sir John Tomlinson and Sergei Leiferkus. He has attended the Académie Internationale d’Été de Nice for several years, where he has pursued intensive study with Lorraine Nubar and Dalton Baldwin. In 2006, Stephen was a winner of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts competition in Miami, Florida.
 

Karen Beluso, Piano, a native of southern California and a graduate of The Juilliard School, made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony. Her other orchestral appearances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony Orchestra. She has performed extensively in Costa Rica, Switzerland, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and the tri-state area. As a collaborative pianist, she currently performs with violinist Jourdan Urbach. Dr. Beluso is an institutional sales representative for Steinway and Sons and was previously Director of Education & Community Engagement for the Long Island Philharmonic. She has also been on the faculties of the Portledge School (Locust Valley, NY) and the C.W. Post Summer Chamber Music Festival and maintains a private teaching studio in Glen Cove, NY.

 

 

Pianist Daniel Berman received his musical education at the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with the eminent virtuoso Robert Goldsand and earned his Bachelor and Master degrees in Music with honors. Awarded a study grant from the German government through the Fulbright program, Mr. Berman continued his studies with Bernhard Ebert at the Hannover Music Conservatory in Germany, where he received the professional concert diploma in performance. Mr. Berman has concertized extensively as recitalist and orchestral soloist in the U.S. and Europe to great critical acclaim. Mr. Berman’s recitals cover a very wide range of repertoire from Bach to Bolcom including not only the standard classics but also many rarely played works and virtuoso transcriptions. Recordings of his frequent appearances at the Husum Rarities of the Piano festival in Germany have appeared on seven CDs issued on the Danacord label.

 

 

Elizabeth (Betty) Cella Caserta performs as piano soloist,duo-pianist,and accompanist, mostly on LI. She teaches piano and adjudicates for the NYS School Music Association. Ms. Caserta holds B.Mus. and M.A. degrees from Manhattanville College and Columbia University, respectively. Prior to raising her family, Betty taught general and choral music in LI schools. She has sung in select and professional choirs and choruses. For her work as a musician , volunteer leader in arts-in-education, community arts, and college alumni affairs, Ms. Caserta has been honored by Manhattanville College and the American Association of Un iversity Wpomen.


 

Barbara Divis, soprano has enjoyed a successful career singing opera in the United States. She has performed over 35 lead roles throughout the country, including San Diego Opera, Atlanta Opera, Arizona Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Lyric of Kansas City, and Opera San Jose. Highlights of her extensive repertoire are Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Mimi in La Boheme, Nedda in Pagliacci, Violetta in La Traviata, Pamina in The Magic Flute, and Micaela in Carmen. Other roles include Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Marguerite in Faust, Juliette in Romeo and Juliette, Georgietta in Il Tabarro, and the title role of Suor Angelica. Music from both of her CD’s are featured in the novel by Michael J. Vaughn, a novel which is available on Amazon.com. Her website is www.barbaradivis.com .

 

Alexandra Eames has enjoyed an active career since her New York debut at Merkin Concert Hall in Lincoln Center, including recent performances for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago and the Teatro Principal in Mallorca, Spain. She has presented numerous recitals, lectures, and master classes for colleges and universities throughout the United States and she is a founding member of the Delmarva Piano Festival, which is approaching its 20th season. Her critically acclaimed CD of Chopin Mazurkas on the Klarity label has been broadcast on New York's WQXR radio as well as several other stations nationwide. Ms. Eames holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, and serves on the piano faculty of the Mannes College Preparatory Division.
 
Isabella Eredita Johnson, pianist, lives in Northport, and accompanies and teaches piano professionally. She was awarded a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music where she received both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees, studying with Constance Keene. She has won both the prestigious George Schick award for outstanding musicianship and 1st prize at the Mason & Hamlin Piano competition. Among her proudest accomplishments are the presentations of the Diabelli Variations and the Goldberg Variations. Each of these two concerts involved the gathering of over thirty fine pianists, each performing a single variation. Ms. Eredita is an active advocate for the arts on Long Island, and regularly hosts the "Opera Night series in Northport. http://www.historyofredding.com/HRfantonjohnson.htm


 

Steven Kaplan's early training began as a result of his obtaining a scholarship from The Ralph Brown (renamed Hazel Flax) Music Foundation (Long Beach, NY). Under the aegis of this scholarship, he studied piano with Bronislava Isdebsky and Jack Chaiken. Mr. Kaplan also attended Mannes College of Music, Preparatory Division (New York, NY). He continued piano studies with Emily Harris (New York, NY), Maria Borisoff (Van Nuys, Ca), Joel Rosen (Ardsley, NY), and Robert Goldsand at Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Kaplan completed a Master of Music Degree, and a Bachelor of Music Degree, both degrees with a major in Piano Performance. Mr. Kaplan gave solo piano recitals throughout the New York metropolitan area and performed on radio on WNYC FM and WBAI FM. He also appeared in recitals at Febbraio School of Music (Mount Vernon, NY), Manhattan School of Music, Tremont Presbyterian Church (Bronx, NY), and The Noonday Recital Series at Trinity Church (New York, NY). Performing in Paris, Germany and Switzerland, Mr. Kaplan was instructor at Michel Sogny Center for Piano Instruction (Paris, France) from January, 1984, until October, 1986. He is currently Director of music for Saint John's Lutheran Church in Lindenhurst and currently teaches at Elmont and New Hyde Park High Schools

 

 

Lance LaBianca  Mr. LaBianca is a virtuoso pianist and prolific composer. He began his piano studies in 1956, at the age of six, and continued formal studies in piano performance, music theory and composition in a number of prestigious institutions, including: the Bella Shumiatcher School of Music, the Juilliard Prep Division, Oberlin, and the Manhattan School of Music where he completed his Bachelor of Music degree. Some of Mr. LaBianca's piano teachers were: Solomon Mikowsky, Robert Armstrong, Wilber A. Price, John Owings, and Sonia Vargas. In the discipline of theory and composition, some of his teachers were: Saul Braverman, David Tcimpidis, Frances Goldstein, Noah Creshevsky, and Ludmilla Ulehla. Mr. LaBianca has performed widely and in a variety of settings: as a choral pianist, with the Westchester Choral Society; as a ballet pianist with the Steffi Nossen School; as an operatic pianist with the Amadeo Opera Company; in a variety of chamber music settings and as a soloist in such venues as Lincoln Center and Trinity Church. Mr. LaBianca's compositions include symphonies, concertos, and chamber pieces, and they range in style and influence from Vivaldi and Wagner to Stravinsky and Hindemith. His compositions have been performed in many venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Pianist Melissa Lanfrit-Hait began her piano studies at the age of nine. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at SUNY Stony Brook. It was there that she was first introduced to the music of Leoš Janáček by her piano professor, Jeffery Meyer. She also studied with pianist Christine Doré. Melissa was awarded honors for her piano performances at the URECA Festival and was given the Suffolk County Piano Teacher’s Forum Scholarship and Award at Commencement. She went on to receive a Masters degree in Piano Performance at CUNY Hunter College, where she studied with pianist Peter Basquin and was awarded the Agnes M. Duffy Prize in Music at Commencement. Melissa continued her education as a Doctoral student of Richard Vallis at Five Towns College, where she received a full Doctoral Assistantship. Melissa completed a dissertation entitled – “Leoš Janáček's Sonata 1.X.1905 and In the Mists: An Aesthetic and Pianistic Analysis” and went on to receive the first Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Five Towns College on May 16, 2009. She currently studies with Steinway Artist, Carol Montparker.

 

 

Aglaia Messina, pianist, began her musical studies in Greece and spent three years at the National Conservatory of Athens. She later received her Bachelor's degree in performance from Hofstra University under the tutelage of Morton Estrin.
Ms. Messina was featured as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the 92nd Street Y , the Oceanside Symphony and the Nassau Pops Symphony. She has also performed in numerous chamber music and solo concerts in the New York area. Her future plans include performing as part of a duo-piano team with her husband Joseph and continuing her busy accompanying career.

 

 

Composer-Violinist Matthew Pierce is celebrated for his new classical scores commissioned by major American ballet companies. His work has been performed around the country and around the world at City Center in New York, Covent Garden in London and the Palais Garnier in Paris. As a violinist Pierce has performed on recordings by pop artists Jewel, Sheryl Crow and Suzanne Vega and on Philip Glass' score, "Kundun." Next season The Washington Ballet will premiere his full length score to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

 

Tatjana Rankovich:

Described by The New York Times as an “astonishingly good pianist”, Tatjana Rankovich has recorded 13 CDs with solo and concerto repertoire and has performed worldwide. Born in Belgrade, she holds BM and MM from the Juilliard School. She is a recipient of the Fulbright Grant and a “Golden Badge” awarded by the Serbian Ministry of Diaspora. Ms. Rankovich resides in NYC and is presently on the piano faculty in the Preparatory Division at the Mannes College of Music. She holds a residency, performing and teaching at Interharmony, an International Sumer Music Festival in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany. Visit her at: www.tatjanarankovich.com

 

Mrs. Nevart Zeronian holds a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance from The Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria and a Masters Degree from the University of Central Arkansas. As well as having a full studio of private students, Nevart is also on the faculty of Frank & Camilles School of Music, Alvanos School of Music and Holly Martyrs Armenian Day School. She is a principal organist of the Holly Martyrs Armenian Church in Bayside, NY for the last twenty-three years.
Nevart preformed piano and voice with chamber ensembles and in solo recitals throughout the tri-state area and Europe. She also has accompanied various solo artists as well.