Hamilton Berry
Cellist Hamilton Berry's eclectic taste has led him to pursue a range of musical
projects. As a participant in Carnegie Hall's Porous Borders of Music workshop, he
performed Edgar Meyer's Duet for Cello and Bass with the composer at Zankel Hall. He has
appeared as soloist with the Macon Symphony Orchestra and the Columbia University Bach
Society, and in diverse roles at venues that include Alice Tully Hall, Miller Theatre,
Terminal 5, and the Jazz Gallery. He has attended the Yellow Barn, Sarasota, Banff, and
Orford music festivals. In 2009, Hamilton received his master's from The Juilliard School,
where he was a student of Timothy Eddy. In June 2010, he and several Juilliard colleagues
presented master classes and interactive performances to underprivileged children in São
Paulo, Brazil, in partnership with the Guri Santa Marcelina program. As part of his Academy
program, Hamilton teaches in Staten Island at IS 61.
Brian Ellingsen
Bassist Brian Ellingsen performs a range of musical styles from classical to contemporary
and cross-media experimental. As a soloist, he has won first prize in the van Rooy
Competition for Music Excellence, third prize in the Paranov Concerto Competition, and
appeared as a semi-finalist in the 2009 International Society of Bassists Competition. As a
chamber musician, Brian has appeared with the New York Chamber Soloists, Fifth House
Ensemble, NOW Ensemble, and Transit. As an advocate for new and experimental music, Brian
has collaborated with visual artists to bring their work to life through solo
improvisations. He has also presented many solo recitals, performing new works from today's
rising young composers in addition to his own improvisations. Brian earned his master's
from the Yale School of Music and his bachelor's from The Hartt School of Music. As part of
his Academy program, Brian teaches in the Bronx at PS 157X.
Emily Popham Gillins
Violinist Emily Popham Gillins has traveled throughout the US, Europe, Korea, and Israel
as a soloist and chamber musician. As first violinist of The Degas String Quartet and a
member of the Sejong Soloists, Emily has performed at the Library of Congress and at the
Kennedy Center. Other collaborations include concerts at the Prussia Cove International
Musicians Seminar, and the Aspen and Ravinia music festivals. She completed degrees from
Indiana University, The Juilliard School, and Manhattan School of Music, studying with
Miriam Fried, Robert Mann, and Sylvia Rosenberg. Emily has served as concertmaster of the
Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, assistant concertmaster of the Sarasota Opera, and as a
faculty member of the Summertrios festival in Pennsylvania. She is currently a member of
the New York Chamber Soloists. As part of her Academy program, Emily teaches in Queens at
PS 62Q.
Alexey Gorokholinsky
A native of Russia, clarinetist Alexey Gorokholinsky won The Juilliard School's Clarinet
Concerto Competition during his freshman year. He was also a top prizewinner at the Eastern
Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, Buffet Crampon, and
International Clarinet Association competitions. Alexey's latest recording,
Delicacies, showcases a variety of virtuosic and melodic pieces, most of which he
arranged for clarinet and piano. He regularly appears as a soloist and as a chamber
musician throughout New York City. Alexey earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees
from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers include Charles Neidich, Stephen
Williamson, Mark Nuccio, Yehuda Gilad, and his father, Valery Gorokholinsky. As part of his
Academy program, Alexey teaches in Brooklyn at PS 112K.
Shelley Monroe Huang
After earning degrees from the Eastman and Yale schools of music, bassoonist Shelley
Monroe Huang is currently finishing her doctorate at SUNY Stony Brook, studying with Frank
Morelli. She has been awarded fellowships at various music festivals, including Tanglewood
and Aspen. As a concert bassoonist and contrabassoonist, Shelley has performed with the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Charlotte, Albany, New Haven, and Delaware symphony
orchestras. Shelley has also performed as soloist with the Eastman Philharmonia, New Music
New Haven, and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. She is an avid contemporary musician,
recently performing Sofia Gubaidulina's Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings, and giving
the world premiere of Huang Ruo's Wind Blows. As part of her Academy program,
Shelley teaches in Brooklyn at PS 135K.
Moran Katz
Clarinetist Moran Katz performs extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. She has
appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the Israel Philharmonic, China Philharmonic,
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, the Collegium Musicum Basel, and Albany
Symphony. As a chamber musician, she performs with the internationally acclaimed new music
ensemble Continuum, as well as with the jazz ensemble led by pianist Uri Caine. Moran is
also a founding member of Shuffle Concert, a newly formed audience-interactive ensemble.
Moran was the 2009 first-prize winner at the Freiburg International Clarinet Competition in
Germany. She received her bachelor's and master's from The Juilliard School, where she
studied with Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima, and was admitted with presidential
distinction and a full scholarship. As part of her Academy program, Moran teaches in
Manhattan at PS 46M.
Carl Oswald
Carl Oswald is a classically trained oboist whose performances have spanned the globe. A
recent graduate of the Yale School of Music, he is a Baltimore native who began his oboe
studies at the Peabody Preparatory before moving on to the University of Maryland. In
addition to The Academy, Carl recently joined Sospiro Winds, a New York-based woodwind
quintet that is dedicated to bringing chamber music to the community. Carl has performed as
a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale, and
University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra. Having participated in several summer festivals,
programs, and tours, he has performed internationally in Japan, Russia, Estonia, and
Venezuela. Carl's primary teachers have included Stephen Taylor, Mark Hill, and Ray
Still.
Nathan Schram
Growing up in a constantly mobile family, violist Nathan Schram developed his skills as a
musician in multiple regions of the US. Initially beginning his studies in a Virginia
public school, Nathan has gone on to perform at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and
throughout Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, Spain, and Portugal. As a student of Alan
deVeritch at Indiana University, Nathan was a prizewinner at the 2008 Primrose
International Viola Competition. He has also been influenced by such mentors as Diemut
Poppen, Yuval Gotlibovich, Martha Gulyas, Ralf Gothóni, Menahem Pressler, and Mauricio
Fuks. Other performances include chamber music concerts with Joshua Bell and Atar Arad. An
avid cyclist, Nathan has toured the US on bicycle from Indiana to San Francisco during the
summer of 2008. As part of his Academy program, Nathan teaches in Brooklyn at PS75K.
Yoobin Son
Flutist Yoobin Son hails from Seoul, Korea, and is currently studying at the Manhattan
School of Music. She was the acting principal flutist of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra,
while also pursuing her master's at Yale University with Ransom Wilson, and was principal
flutist of the 2010 Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Yoobin participated in Japan's
Pacific Music Festival, led by Maestro Valery Gergiev. In addition to her recitals in the
US and in Korea, Yoobin has performed as a soloist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra,
Florida Orchestra, Orchestra at William Paterson University, and Seoul Philharmonic
Orchestra. Yoobin is also a winner of the Olga Koussevitzky International Winds
Competition, National Flute Association Soloist Competition, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Young Artist Auditions, and the Florida Orchestra Concerto Competition. She earned her
bachelor's from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Jeffrey Khaner. As
part of her Academy program, Yoobin teaches in Brooklyn at PS 207K.
Leelanee Sterrett
Hornist Leelanee Sterrett received degrees from the Yale School of Music and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied with William Purvis and Douglas Hill. A
native of northern Michigan, she also graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy. Leelanee
has performed with the New York Philharmonic, and has been a member of the New Haven
Symphony Orchestra, as well as the La Crosse and Fox Valley symphony orchestras in
Wisconsin. In 2007, she was named a Yamaha Young Performing Artist, and also received
second prize in the International Horn Competition of America. Leelanee is an alumna of the
Tanglewood Music Center, the Pacific and Sarasota music festivals, and the National
Orchestral Institute. As part of her Academy program, Leelanee teaches in Queens at PS 13Q.
Ensemble ACJW
Ensemble ACJW is an energetic collective of outstanding young musicians from The Academy
that has earned accolades from critics and audiences alike for its fresh, open-minded
approach to performance and programming. In a variety of venues, Ensemble ACJW played a
wide range of music-from works written centuries ago to those completed days before-with
verve and total commitment to their art.
The group performs its own series at Carnegie Hall and regularly appears at Paul Hall at
The Juilliard School. As part of a partnership with Skidmore College that began in 2007,
Ensemble ACJW gives master classes to university students and performs for the Saratoga
Springs community.
All Ensemble ACJW members are alumni or current fellows of The Academy, a two-year
fellowship program started in 2007 by Carnegie Hall's Executive and Artistic Director Clive
Gillinson and The Juilliard School's President Joseph W. Polisi to support young
professional musicians in developing their careers as excellent performers, innovative
programmers, and dedicated teachers who are fully engaged with the communities in which
they live and work.
Fellows of the two-year Academy program-chosen for their musicianship, but also for their
leadership qualities and commitment to music education-come from some of the best music
schools in the country, including the Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music,
The Juilliard School, Mannes College The New School for Music, New England Conservatory,
Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, and Yale School of Music.
Each season, the fellows partner with music teachers in New York City public schools. The
hour-and-a-half-per-week that each of the 20 fellows spends in a classroom is an education
not only for the students, but for the fellows as well. In their second year, the fellows
develop innovative, community-minded group projects. Among those produced in recent years
were a collaboration with residents of a Bronx family apartment complex, a pen-pal program
that paired young students with professional musicians, and a performance of George Crumb's
Voice of the Whale in the American Museum of Natural History's Millstein Hall of
Ocean Life.
Exemplary performers, dedicated teachers, and advocates for music throughout the
community, the fellows of The Academy that make up Ensemble ACJW are redefining what it
means to be a musician in the 21st century. Visit acjw.org to learn more.
More Info