Tamara Keshecki, Artistic Director & flutist, holds a Master of Music degree in flute performance from New Jersey City University and a Bachelor of Music from New York University. In 2005 she was the Artist-in-Residence at Cobham International School in London, England and has taught masterclasses at the International School of Monagas in Maturin, Venezuela and Saint Maur's International School in Yokohama, Japan. In 2001 she held a tenure as principal flutist for the Austrian American Mozart Ensemble in Salzburg, Austria. Ms. Keshecki has performed as a featured soloist for many groups and festivals including Solar One Music Festival (NYC), New Jersey Pops, Messiah Festival of the Arts (Queens) and the Holy Child Concert Series. She has been on the faculties of the Wagner College Academy of the Arts, SI Jewish Community Center and was the Classical Music Artist-in-Residence for the 2007 National JCC Maccabi ArtsFest. As Artistic Director Ms. Keshecki is responsible for the creation of multiple commissions and premieres including from Andrew Sterman, Dr. Mathew Fuerst and Mick Rossi. She is the co-author and producer of the children's concert series "Molly's Bird Adventures" which have been performed numerous times throughout the tri-state area. Titles include "Molly's Bird Adventures Beyond the Big Oak Tree", "Mother's Day at the Big Oak Tree" and "Molly's Rock Opera" as well as the original song "Gotta Be Me".

The music of Arab composer Mohammed Fairouz has been received with performances throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Australia in venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall and the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. He has been featured on the Kennedy Centers Festival of Contemporary Music, the New England Conservatory's Composers’ Series, Massachusetts College of Art and Design’ Eventsworks Festival and other festivals. Among the awards that Fairouz has received for his work are the Tourjee alumni award, the Malcolm Morse Memorial Award, the NEC Honors Award, the New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble Prize and awards from the Merit Funds of the New England and Boston Conservatories. In 2008, he was honored with a national citation from the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington D.C. for outstanding achievement in artistry and scholarship. He has composed a substantial body of work including song cycles for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Tenor and Baritone; a symphony; a choral mass and a piano sonata in addition to chamber music for winds, percussion, strings and numerous other instrumental and vocal combinations. His song cycles and art songs have been performed hundreds of times, being featured on recital programs across the United States. Fairouz has been invited to lecture across the country at institutions such as Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, University of Western Michigan and Boston Conservatory’s Liberal Arts Department speaking on topics that range from post-colonial critical theory to Mahler's Sixth Symphony to Al-Kindi and the Arab golden age’s contribution to European music of the renaissance. Fairouz’s teachers in composition have included John Heiss, Michael Gandolfi, Malcolm Peyton, Gunther Schuller and Halim El-Dabh.

Composer, saxophonist, flutist Andrew Sterman most recent CD release is a Gandhi tribute titled The Path To Peace, a recording called, "Music with a vision" (Jazz Times), "A major conceptual work" (All About Jazz: New York), and by the NY Times, "Beautiful and sensitive". He has been principal woodwind with composer Philip Glass since 1992, with whom he travels and records extensively. In addition, Sterman has performed with an extremely wide array of artists and institutions, including Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, Kelly Clarkson, The Emerson String Quartet, The LA Philharmonic, EOS Orchestra, Bang On A Can, countless Broadway shows, CD's, Films, TV shows and commercials. Mr Sterman is a respected teacher of not only his own instruments, but also integrating breath, physical relaxation and mental intention for performers and others. Mr Sterman is currently completing a new concert work celebrating the Convivencia of medieval Andalusia.

Bassist J. Brunka has had a varied musical career. His background is very diverse including Classical performances along side James Earl Jones, performing as the opening act for Pop stars Jewel and Brian Setzer, playing free form Jazz in cutting edge clubs like the Knitting Factory and recording multi-Platinum selling records with Elektra recording artist Natalie Merchant. Now his calendar is full of jazz gigs, musicals and classical performances while still fitting in the occasional rock gig. He received a Bachelor's Degree from the State University of New York College at New Paltz with a concentration in Jazz Performance. He has studied Bass with Jay Anderson, Lynn Seton, Susan Hall-Powell and Jay Elfenbein.

Ann Cecil-Sterman, flute just completed a run of performances of the opera Arjuna's Dilemma BAM, playing to packed houses. Earlier this year she performed concerts at Jordan Hall in Boston, along with concerts in Ohio, Delaware and New York City with the Avian Ensemble. Ann's four solo CDs, released on the EMI and ABC labels in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong have sold over 60000 copies. She won nine major solo competitions in Australia and has a particular interest in new music having premiered new works in three MATA festivals in New York. Ann played principal flute with the Philip Glass Ensemble on tours of Greece, Italy and Australia. She has appeared on the Carnegie Hall stage as soloist with Trey Anastasio and Patti Smith. Ann has recorded for Avian, Sony, EMI, ABC, Disney, CBS-TV and Warner Bros. Her teachers included Julius Baker, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Mardi McSullea. She's very excited to be performing for Musical Chairs again.

Lucy Corwin, viola, a member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, has toured with the New York Philharmonic throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. While living in Rome, Italy she was principal violist of l'Orchestra dell'Accademia Santa Cecilia. She has also been principal violist and soloist with the New York Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, and the Staten Island Philharmonic. An active freelancer in the Greater New York area, she has played in many Broadway show orchestras as well as the Paper Mill Playhouse Orchestra. Dr. Corwin holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College and a Master's from Columbia University. She has taught orchestral music at Tottenville High School and is presently on the faculty of Wagner College.

Maria Antonia Garcia, pianist, is a native of Puerto Rico where she stared piano studies with Luz N. Huchinson. She received her Bachelor's of Music with Distinction in Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and was awarded the W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship from SUNY at Stony Brook for work towards a Master's of Music and Doctoral Studies under the pianist, Gilbert Kalish. Ms. Garcia made her debut with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10. As a soloist she has also performed with the Puerto Rico Chamber Orchestra, at the Inter-American Arts Festival, at the Banff Center for the Arts and at the Ponce Museum of Art Music Series. As a chamber musician she has performed in the United Kingdom, the Czech and Slovak Republic, South America, Canada, Germany, Israel, Tunisia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Poland in ongoing collaborations with the New York based ensemble Poetica Musica, and the Madawaska String Quartet. She has recorded for Slovak National Radio and has recorded a CD of Canadian composer, Michael Hynes work for two pianos entitled, "Four" which received its premiere at Toronto's Glenn Gould Hall, and later broadcasted by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. In 2004 she gave the Puerto Rican premiere of Ricardo Llorca's Three Pieces for Piano and Orchestra at the Festival Interamericano alongside the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. She has served on the faculties at New Jersey City University and the Stony Brook Summer Music Festival and presently Manhattan School of Music and the 92nd Street Y School of Music.

Cellist Clarice Jensen completed her bachelor's (’02) and master’s degrees (’04) in cello performance at The Juilliard School, where she studied with Joel Krosnick. She is now a freelance cellist, and has performed with the New Juilliard Ensemble, Continuum, Columbia Composers, the Argento Ensemble, and the Avian Orchestra. Clarice is the artistic director of ACME, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, a group dedicated to the outstanding performance of contemporary classical music. Clarice performed the U.S. premiere of Guo Wenjing’s Concertino for Cello and Ensemble as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, the world premiere of Dimitri Yanov-Yanovsky’s Hearing Solution for cello and ensemble as part of the Silk Road “Artist in Residence” program, the U.S. premiere of Roger Reynold’s Process and Passion for cello, violin and computer and the world premiere of Donald Martino’s Rhapsody for cello, vibraphone and piano. Ms. Jensen has performed in master classes with composers Elliot Carter and Ned Rorem. She has also worked as a production coordinator for the recording and performing artist, Bjork. Clarice is currently a faculty member of the Connecticut School of Music.

Joseph Kubera, Piano. has been a leading interpreter of contemporary music for the past three decades, and appears regularly at festivals in the United States and Europe. He has been resident pianist at the Ostrava New Music Days since its inception in 2001. A longtime Cage performer, he recorded the Music of Changes and Piano Concert, and toured with the Cunningham Dance Company at Cage's invitation. He has also worked closely with such composers as Alvin Lucier and La Monte Young, and many composers have written works especially for him. In addition to his work with MCCE, Mr. Kubera is a core member of S.E.M. Ensemble, the DownTown Ensemble and Ostravska Banda, and he has performed with a wide range of New York groups, from the Brooklyn Philharmonic to Steve Reich and Musicians. Luminaries such as Terry Riley and Ingram Marshall have written for his duo-piano team with Sarah Cahill. Mr. Kubera's solo playing may be heard on the Wergo, Albany, New Albion, New World, Lovely Music, O.O. Discs, Mutable Music, Cold Blue, and Opus One labels. His website is www.josephkubera.com.

A native of Taiwan, pianist Wen-Yi Lo, received the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School as a scholarship student of Oxana Yablonskaya. She began her musical training at the age of six and won numerous national competitions in her country. Selected by the Government of Taiwan to further her studies under the Child Prodigy Music Study Abroad Program, Ms. Lo came to the United States in 1981 to enter the Pre-College Division of Juilliard where she studied with Leonard Eisner. Subsequently Ms. Lo has been a top prize winner in various International competitions, including the William Kapell International Piano Competition, the Citta di Marsala International Piano Competition and the V. Bellini International Chamber Music Competition in Italy. In 1990 Ms. Lo was presented in her New York Debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall as Winner of Artists International's Young Artist Debut Piano Award. Since then she has given an abundance of recitals in the United States, the Far East and Europe. Ms. Lo has also been featured on WQXR's Young Artists Showcase in New York. Recently Ms. Lo was awarded the Certificate of Excellence for her extraordinary dedication and achievement in the field of piano teaching by the International Concert Alliance. She has been a faculty member for Academy of the Arts at CSI and at Wagner College since 1993.

Elizabeth McCullough, Soprano, has sung leading roles with the National Opera Company, Duke Opera Festival, American Chamber Opera Company and Liederkranz Opera. She was a finalist in the Bel Canto Foundation Awards and the American Music Recital Competitions and holds B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of Texas. Ms. McCullough has performed many oratorio and solo recitals throughout the New York City area, premiering new works, songs by women composers and standard repertory. She has given concerts of opera and musical theater works for Sagafjord and Vistafjord cruises and was a guest artist in the New York Times sponsored Young Performers' Series in Bryant and Battery Parks. In addition to being featured in performances of Luce's Belle of Amherst singing Copland's Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, she was a Guest Artist at the first U.S. Rachmaninoff Festival Retreat. Ms. McCullough has been on the faculties of Wagner College, Greenwich House Music School, Brooklyn Conservatory, and William Patterson College. Elizabeth is a member of the New York Singing Teachers Association and St. Cecilia of S.I.

Barry Nudelman, , clarinet, oboe & bassoon, is a woodwind specialist. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Hartt College of Music and his Master of Music from the Juilliard School. Mr. Nudelman is a retired Intermediate School Band Director of the New York City public schools. During his tenure as a teacher he performed in over thirty Broadway musicals. During the summer months, Mr. Nudelman can be heard in Plays in the Park in Edison, New Jersey. Currently he is performing on Broadway in Curtains, Wicked, Drowsy Chaperone and Chorus Line.Mr. Nudelman performs at Northfork Music Center in Long Island and State Theater in New Jersey. He has returned to teaching music at St. Joseph's By the Sea where he conducts both Bands and Jazz Bands.

Sandra M. Pace, Harpsichord, is the associate music director at the Church of the Holy Child on Staten Island and teaches organ and piano privately. She has been a rehearsal pianist for The Child Never Sleeps Productions since 2002. She specializes in late Renaissance/early Baroque keyboard music of the Iberian Peninsula. She has held positions as associate organist, rehearsal accompanist and choir director at several churches on Staten Island and in Boston. Sandra received her M.L.S from Pratt Institute where her concentration was in cultural informatics. She received an M.M. in organ performance with an emphasis in music history from the Boston Conservatory of Music where she studied with James David Christie. While living in Boston, she was an adjunct faculty member of the music department at Boston College where she was also the research assistant to the department chair. At Boston College, she also managed three concert series as the concert coordinator. She received a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA; where she was the Holy Cross Organ Scholar. Sandra was the organ curator at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA where she was responsible for the maintenance of a historic pipe organ.

A native New Yorker, harpist Amanda Romano has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Ground Zero, Gracie Mansion, the National Arts Club, and CAMI Hall. Ms. Romano debuted as a soloist at the age of 15 in Alice Tully Hall playing the J.C. Bach Concerto for harp. As an ensemble performer, Ms. Romano has played with orchestras throughout New England including the Bangor Symphony, Symphony by the Sea, New England Philharmonic, Cape Ann Symphony and Atlantic Symphony. At the New England Conservatory where she completed her bachelors degree studying with Boston Symphony Orchestra harpist Ann Hobson Pilot, she played with the highest ranking orchestras and wind ensembles. Ms. Romano has recently appeared as soloist with the Northeastern Orchestra and the New England Conservatory Jordan Winds. She has also performed in Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center) and Gracie Mansion as a soloist. Ms. Romano has always had a passion for teaching. Graduating the New England Conservatory with a concentration in Music-in -Education, Ms. Romano kept a busy teaching schedule. Among keeping private students, Ms. Romano co-created with fellow harpist Kathryn Wigger a harp ensemble program in the Boston Public School system. This unique program acquainted high school students with the harp and introduced them to playing with each other in an ensemble setting. Ms. Romano is currently pursuing her Masters degree at Boston University studying with Ann Hobson Pilot.

Originally from the San Francisco bay area, percussionist
Chris Thompson is in high demand as a chamber musician and soloist in New York city, and has performed all over the world with an eclectic mix of ensembles and musicians. He is a member of Alarm Will Sound, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), the Knights Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of New York, the Line C3 percussion group, and the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, and has performed as a guest at the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Chamber Soloists, New York City Master Chorale, Stamford Symphony, as well as for On- and Off-Broadway theater. Chris has recorded numerous solo and chamber music projects, including for Nonesuch, Sony Classical, BET, and A&E Networks. He holds a M.M. from Juilliard, where he studied with Daniel Druckman, and a B.A. from UCLA, where he studied with Mitchell Peters.

PHOTO BY LIZ LINDER

Nancy Sima, writer & literary curator, is a graduate from New York University with a Bachelor of Music degree. A former Grants Administrator, Ms. Sima honed her writing skills assisting artists and non-profit groups with their community arts proposals. The experience proved invaluable when she became a freelance writer herself in 2003. Her experience has included writing press and liner notes for Carmela Records, articles and interviews for Family Media, an arts article for Chamber Music America, as well as grantwriting and press for Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble, Inc. (MCCE). With a step into motherhood, Ms. Sima's writing took a leap from grants and press to the world of children's stories and thus was born the character of Molly and the original tales, Molly's Bird Adventure Beyond the Big Oak Tree, Mother's Day at the Big Oak Tree and Molly's Rock Opera with Tamara Keshecki. Inspired by Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, these works are currently being presented as part of MCCE's Children's Concert Series. For all her writing musings, Ms. Sima relies upon a steady diet of words to be her food for thought - novels, short stories, plays, poems, even the everyday comic strip serve to inspire. She is currently at work on her first novel and short story collection.