Sign Up
for our newsletter
| Calendar |
| Attending HSA |
Areas of Study |
| HSA Programs for Schools |
| HSA–TAP |
| Contact Us |
| News |
| Support HSA |
| Facilities Rental |
Music Department Faculty |
| Betty Allen (President Emeritus; Master Voice) has appeared as soloist with Bernstein, Boulez, Casals, de Waart, Dorati, Kubelik, Leinsdorf, Maazel, Munch, Ormandy, Ozawa, Pritchard, Solti, Steinberg and Stokowski. In 1964, she made her opera debut at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina; her North American debut with San Francisco Opera in 1966; her New York City Opera debut in 1973; and the Metropolitan Opera’s mini-Met in 1974. Ms. Allen regularly appeared at the Marlboro, Casals, Ravinia, Saratoga, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May and Caramoor Music Festivals. Ms. Allen is also a member of the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. |
| Fred Alston Jr. (Piano, Accompanist, Theory, Children’s Choruses) choral director and bassoonist, is an Associate Musician at St. Mark’s Church. He has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts. Mr. Alston is an alumnus of Indiana University and the Curtis Institute of Music and was principal bassoon with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Alston can be heard on CTI Records. |
| James Bartow (Guitar) A director/producer, composer, singer and musician, Mr. Bartow has taught at HSA for over 20 years. He was Director of the Community and Culture Program at HSA and is a faculty member at Hunter College and the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Mr. Bartow was also on the faculty of Vassar College for three years. Mr. Bartow was the stage manager for the 1994 tribute to Dr. W.E.B. DuBois at Carnegie Hall. He earned his BM and MME degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. A writer and curator, Mr. Bartow has contributed to numerous exhibitions, publications and recordings. |
| Rudolph "Rudy" Bird (Drums and Percussions)has had a professional career has spanning over 25 years and has earned him the respect and recognition as a master drummer and percussionist. He has toured extensively, performing in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa with such names as Miles Davis, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dance Theatre of Harlem Orchestra, Phylicia Rashad, Lauryn Hill on her “Miseducation” world tour, and most recently Warner Bros. recording artist Leela James. |
| Lucia Bradford (Voice) is a native of Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BA degree and MM in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy at Westminster Choir College. Ms. Bradford is a Marian Anderson Scholar. In 2005, she’s performed works by Schubert, Rossini and Moses Hogan at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia with the renowned Maestro Christoph Eschenbach at the piano. In 2004 she was the alto soloist in Undine Smith Moore’s The Scene for the Life of a Martyr with the Witness Orchestra and Chorus in Minnesota. The same year she placed second in the advanced lower division of the NATS competition. She has performed with the Westminster Opera Theater in Menotti’s Old Maid and the Thief as Miss Todd and Bizet’s La Tragedie de Carmen as Carmen. She played the role of Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen with the Houston Ebony Opera Company. |
| David Burnett (Violin, Orchestra Director) has been on the violin faculty of HSA for more than17 years. He is head of the string department, conducts the string orchestra and has 52 private students. He also teaches at the Langston Hughes Middle School and P.S. 6 in Brooklyn, through Artsconnection. Mr. Burnett began studying the violin with Galina Heifetz while a student at Music and Art High School. Subsequent to that, he was self taught. He did his undergraduate studies at Oberlin Conservatory with Marilyn McDonald. That was followed by studies with Lynn Chang at the Boston Conservatory, and then private studies with Daniel Phillips in New York. Mr. Burnett has a string quartet called The West Village Quartet, which has been together for over 18 years. They currently have a residency with the Baltimore Symphony. |
| Judith Dansker (Music Explorations, Recorder) received her BM and MM from Juilliard and has studied with Robert Bloom and Sara Lambert. She has performed in solo and chamber concerts nationwide, and at the Library of Congress, Alice Tully Hall and Frick Museum. She is a founding member of the Galliard Woodwind Quintet and member of Trio Sonata. She is a faculty member of Simons Rock of Bard College, the Hotchkiss School and Artist/Faculty with the Kent Silver Bay Music Festival. |
| Bob Dellureficio (Bobby Dee) (Guitar) attended the Berklee College of Music. A composer and guitarist, he has been part of the alternative music scene for almost twenty years. He considers blues, jazz, classical and Eastern music among his strongest influences. Bob Dee has performed throughout Europe and the United States with groups such as Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, as well as in major jazz festivals. He has collaborated with Woody Shaw, Gunter Hampel and Dave Douglas among many others. He has been a session guitarist for New York City commercial houses. He has also performed with the Belzonics behind actor and comedian Richard Belzer. His recordings include Bob Dee Band, Double Talk and Bob Dee’s Cosmosis, From Head to Soul. |
| Donald Eaton (African Percussion, Conductor Percussion Ensemble) received a BA from City College and has directed the Percussion Ensemble of Dance Theatre of Harlem. He has worked with Edie Gorme and Steve Lawrence, Andy Williams and Arthur Mitchell. Mr. Eaton has studied with Ola Jagon, Orlando Puntilla, Lui Bauzo and Mar Gueye. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera and at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Kennedy Center and on Broadway. |
| Fima Farberg (Piano) BA, MM, Leningrad Conservatory. Former Director of Piano Department of Leningrad Music School. Master classes in piano. Accompanied ballet, voice. Conducted string and choral groups. Chief accompanist of Leigh Welles School of Dance, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Milton Fehrer School of Dance. |
| Patrice Jackson (Cello) will receive her BM degree from Juilliard in 2007. She has previously studied cello with such distinguished cellists as Aldo Parisot and Janos Starker and has studied chamber music with Claude Frank and members of the Tokyo and Chiarra String Quartets. She won the Sphinx Competition in 2002 and as a result has performed solo concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony. She is currently principal cellist of the Soulful Symphony and a member of Ebony Strings Quartet. |
| Charles Jones (Piano) earned the MM at Juilliard and the BM at North Carolina School of the Arts. He was soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra as winner of the Young Artists Competition. He was featured on WNYC’s Young American Artists series as winner of Piano Teachers Congress Auditions. Mr. Jones is a recipient of a grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund. |
| Tsyala 'Delilah' Khudad-Zade (Piano) received a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree from the Music College and Tbilisi Conservatory in the former USSR. She is a piano soloist, teacher and accompanist. Ms. Khudad-Zade taught at the conservancy in Alma-Ata, former USSR, and received a citation and diploma for first accompanist in the regional Tchaikovsky competition among the former Soviet republics. |
| Elektra Kurtis-Stewart (Violin) graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, majoring in violin. She has performed with the Warsaw Grand Opera Orchestra in Poland and freelances with New York City orchestras. Ms. Stewart also teaches at the Hoff Barthelson School of Music and Mind-Builders. She is a certified Suzuki violin Instructor and leader of Ensemble Elektra, an improvisational World Fusion music group. |
| David Miller (Bassoon, Flute) earned a BS in Music Education from Ball State University and completed graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music and Long Island University. Mr. Miller was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra and the United States Navy Band. He freelances in the New York City Metro Area and is a bassoonist with the Jupiter Symphony Orchestra. |
| Steven Oquendo (Trumpet) is a distinguished trumpet player. He has studied at the Third Street Music School, The Harlem School of the Arts, LaGuardia High School and Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Oquendo has taught at the Celia Cruz High School of Music. As a musician, he has toured in Africa, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. Mr. Oquendo has recorded and performed with a diverse range of artists including Destiny’s Child, Celia Cruz, Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Santos and Jon Faddis. |
| J.D. Parran (Saxophone, Clarinet) is well-known as a player of the saxophone, clarinet and flute. For two decades, his featured instrument has been the rarely-heard alto clarinet. A native of St. Louis, he was a member of the Black Artist Group (BAG). He has performed and/or recorded with Derek Bailey, Muhal Richard Abrams, Douglas Ewart, James “Jabbo” Ware, Quincy Troupe, Hamiet Bluiett, Lena Home, Frank Foster, George E. Lewis, Leroy Jenkins, Don Byron and Julius Hemphill, among others. |
| Marcus Persiani (Piano), pianist and arranger, has worked/toured with Mario Bauza’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Joseph Bowie and Defunkt, and Willie Colon and Legal Alien. He has also performed with Max Roach and Sacred Drums, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Persip, Curtis Mayfield, The Impressions, and Tito Nieves. Mr. Persiani holds a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the American Conservatory of Music. He is currently performing with the Sugar Hill Quartet. |
| Bernard Phillips (Flute) was principal flute of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra. He served as the music director in Reilly Called My One Good Nerve sponsored by the New Federal Theatre that had runs in New York, Los Angeles and London. He played solo flute in the Broadway productions of Sunset Boulevard and subbed in many shows on Broadway, including Man of La Mancha. He can also be heard on the Kulture, BMG and the Really Useful recording labels. He holds an MM from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and a BM from the School of Music at Florida State University, where he was a pupil of Albert Tipton. He performed at the Aspen Music Festival and currently plays piccolo with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra and the Gateways Festival Orchestra. |
| Rebecca Purdum (voice) is an active soloist, chamber music collaborator and voice teacher. She holds her Master of Music degree in Historical Performance from Longy School of Music where she studied with Laurie Monahan. A 2003 summa cum laude graduate from Mount Union College, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and theatre. A member of the choir at St. Ann’s and The Holy Trinity in Brooklyn Heights, Rebecca formally performed as a soloist with the choir at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston and has performed a recital of Elizabethan and Shakespearean songs as part of their Wednesday lunchtime series. |
| La-Rose Saxon (Voice) received her Master’s Degree in vocal music from Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Saxon has been an outstanding Bess in Porgy and Bess, having performed the music of Gershwin many times, including performances with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Opera. She is a nationally and internationally acclaimed soprano. |
| Sonelius Smith (Piano) pianist, composer, arranger and educator, taught beginning through advanced piano and theory privately in New York City during the 70’s. He has given educational concerts and workshops throughout the Midwest and the East Coast. Mr. Smith holds a BS from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he majored in Music Education. |
| Beverly Somach (Violin) made her New York debut at the age of 12 and has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall and Merkin Hall. She was soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. She is on the faculty of the Henry Street Music School, The Ridgewood Conservatory and has conducted master classes throughout the U.S. |
| Yuki Tei (Clarinet, Saxophone) holds a BFA from the Mannes Jazz and Contemporary Music Program at the New School. Mr. Tei also holds a MA from Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. He has studied jazz with great masters like Antonio Hart, Sir Roland Hanna, Michael Mossman, Rick Margitza, Chico Hamilton, Arnie Lawrence and Reggie Workman among many others. He is also a classically trained clarinetist. He has toured and performed in the United States, Europe and Asia. He leads his own jazz group and plays in chamber music ensembles around the NYC area. Mr. Tei was the recipient of the Hiroshima Young Artist Scholarship Award given by the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation for outstanding performance. |
| Erik Torrente (Theory) is an alumnus of HSA’s College Prep Program. He completed his degree in jazz performance at the New School in 2001. |
| Lauri Galbreath Wallace(World of Music and Harlem Tiny Tunes) made her concert debut at the age of 15 when she sang the title role in the New York Philharmonic's world premiere performances of Sir David Willcock's Shepherd of Psalms in Carnegie Hall. Since then, she has performed extensively as a soloist and principal in concerts, operas, and oratorios with acclaimed national and regional companies and ensembles including the Dallas Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Chamber Orchestra, Southwest Lyric Opera, and Opera Lirica (Italy). Ms. Wallace has won and received awards from numerous vocal competitions and organizations, including the National Federation of Music Clubs, the Jo Murphree Duncan Memorial Award, and the MacAllister Awards for Opera Singers. Ms. Wallace studied with acclaimed voice and acting teachers including Norma Newton, Charlie Riecker, Nico and Carol Castel, and Betty Buckley. Lauri holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from CUNY. |
| The Harlem School of the Arts is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, The Carnegie Corporation, The After-School Corporation, Altman Foundation, Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation, United Jewish Appeal and other corporate, foundation and individual partners. HSA is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. |