Alumni Relations
News from the Class of 1965
Pictures and Biographies from Your Classmates
Help this list grow! Please send a brief biography (approximately 50 words), a special memory or reflection of your time at Eastman, and a current photo to: alumni@esm.rochester.edu, or mail to:
Eastman School of Music
Office of Development
26 Gibbs Street
Rochester, NY 14604
Both should be to the attention of: 50th Reunion Web Entry.
Thank you!
Meliora Weekend @ Eastman 2015
50th Reunion 2015
Robert Bailey, BM 1965
Major/Instrument: Voice
Studio teachers: Julius Huehn, Leonard Treash
Life and career since Eastman:
New England Conservatory of Music – Master’s degree, May 1970
Director of Cultural Programs – National Public Radio, 1970-75
General Manager Western Opera Theater (San Francisco Opera), 1975-1978
Arts Consultant (California Arts Commission), 1978-1982
General and Artistic Director, Portland Opera (Oregon), 1982-2003
Retired in Carros, France, 2003-2007
Moved to Winston-Salem, NC, Teaching and Performing, 2007-present
Personal reflection:
The Eastman School of Music had a profound impact on my life. It provided me with the training and experience to enjoy a rich life in opera and music.
Sharon Niemeyer Beauregard, BM 1965
Major/Instrument: Music Education, Performance and Literature, violin
Studio Teacher: Millard Taylor
Life and career since Eastman:
1967-1973: Rochester Philharmonic
1973-1974: National Symphony
1974: Married Cherry Beauregard (DMA ’70)
1974-1998: Rochester Philharmonic
1998-present: Tucson Symphony regular sub
I have two step-children and four grandchildren in the Rochester area as well as our daughter Julie (who has three degrees from ESM in Music Education).
Joyce A Catalfano, BM 1965
Major/instrument: Flute, Applied Music/Humanities
Studio teacher: Joseph Mariano
Life and career since Eastman:
Joyce Catalfano, a native of Ithaca, NY, accepted an appointment to the School of Music as a Lecturer in Performance Studies in the fall of 2014.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree and a Performer’s Certificate in flute, she studied with Joseph Mariano. Following graduation she studied with William Kincaid in Philadelphia while teaching at the Settlement Music School. She has also been a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC and solo flutist of the Pierre Monteux Memorial Festival Orchesrtra in Hancock, Maine. She was the flutist of the Music in Maine Woodwind Quintet and Northeast Chamber Orchestra before becoming the principal flutist of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra in Mobile, Alabama.
Ms. Catalfano has attended masterclasses given by Jean-Pierre Rampal in France, Marcel Moyse in Vermont and Trevor Wye in England. She gave the first U.S. performance of Marek Kopelent’s Nenia, per la Morte di Hana Hlavsova at the Seventh Congregation of the Arts at Dartmouth College.
Ms. Catalfano received her Master of Music degree from Ithaca College while performing extensively as a charter member of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra under the direction of composer/conductor Karel Husa.
She retired from West Virginia University as Associate Professor of Music Emerita after 26 years. While in Morgantown she concertized with the Laureate Wind Quintet, performed on NPR’s Performance Today and recorded the music of Zenobia Powell Perry and John Beall, composer-in-residence at the Creative Arts Center.
Her students have won national competitions and hold teaching and performing positions across the United States, including the U.S Army and Navy bands.
Personal Reflection:
Greetings to all of my classmates. I am looking forward to seeing you in Rochester.
Linda Gerhard Clayton, BM 1965
Major/instrument: bass
Studio/teacher: Oscar Zimmerman
Life and career since Eastman:
After 5 seasons with the Dallas Symphony, I moved to Sacramento, CA in 1970; playing for the Sacramento Symphony, teaching at Sacramento State, University of the Pacific, and public schools, studying bass with Charles Siani in San Francesco, and earning a MA in music at Sacramento State. I married Brad Clayton, an environmental engineer, in 1974, and we relocated to the San Jose Area in 1976. I was Assistant Principal Bassist in the San Jose Symphony and Principal Bassist for the Ballet San Jose Orchestra. The San Jose Symphony filed for bankruptcy after 9/11, and was replaced by Symphony Silicon Valley. I am still a member of that bass section, Principal Bassist for Ballet San Jose Orchestra, and substitute in San Francisco and Monterey Bay regional orchestras. We have 2 homes in California; one in Cupertino, and the other at the Sea Ranch, on the ocean on the Northern Sonoma Coast.
Brian J. Dykstra, MM 1965, DMA 1969
Major/Instrument: Piano
Studio/Teacher: Eugene List, Leonard Shure, Cécile Genhart
Life and Career since Eastman:
I have spent my entire career teaching in the Department of Music of The College of Wooster, a liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio, 65 miles southwest of Cleveland. I was a full-time faculty member from 1969 to 2007, becoming much more of a generalist in music than I thought I would when I graduated from Eastman with my DMA. Although I have always taught piano, over the years I also taught at least a dozen other courses including Basic Repertoire, several levels of Music Theory, and Masterpieces of Musical Theater. For 14 years I chaired the Department. Since my “retirement” in 2007, I have continued to teach piano on a part-time basis at the College, as well as teaching about a dozen pre-college piano students. Throughout my career at the college I have been an active performer in solo and chamber recitals. I have two CD recordings on the Centaur label, with at least one more to come.
My wife Ruth and I recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. When I was a graduate student at Eastman she helped support us by working as a nurse at Strong Hospital and for Rochester’s Visiting Nurse Service. We have one child, daughter Kristin, who has a family of her own and lives near Burlington, Vermont.
Personal Reflection:
Eastman provided invaluable preparation for my teaching and performing career. I have always been grateful to this wonderful American institution.
Melinda Blahovec Grohman, BM 1965
Major/instrument: violin
Studio/teacher: Joseph Knitzer, Millard Taylor
Life and career since Eastman:
-MM 1993, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
-Played violin with: Rochester(NY) Philharmonic; Sinfonica Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia; Camerata Bogota, Colombia; LaCrosse(WI) Symphony (concertmaster); Knoxville(TN) Symphony (25 years); Chattanooga(TN) Symphony
-Private studios in: Rochester, NY; Beverly, MA; Bogota, Colombia; Goshen, IN; LaCrosse, WI; Gatlinburg, TN; Chattanooga, TN
-Faculty at: Goshen College (IN); Viterbo College (LaCrosse, WI); University of Tennessee (Knoxville); Walters’ State University (Sevierville, TN)
Married to Dr. Donald Grohman; 4 children, 6 grandchildren
Cassandra Havens, BM 1965, Performer’s Certificate in Opera and Voice 1967
Major/Instrument: Voice
Studio teacher: Julius Huehn
Life and career since Eastman:
I sang extensively throughout Germany and the U.S. performing major opera roles and touring as a soloist with various orchestras, including the Hamburg Symphony. My New York debut was performed through the auspices of the Boris Goldovsky Concert Series. I toured with the Goldovsky Opera Company and was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Studio.
In 1975, I took a ten year hiatus to devote my time and energies to being a mother to my twins, Mark and Nicole. My daughter has blessed me with two darling grandchildren, Natasha and Ava, who I might say, sing beautifully.
I started teaching voice in 1987 and in addition to a private studio, I am still on the music faculty of “Sacred Heart University” in Fairfield Connecticut where I teach music history and applied voice.
Personal reflection:
There will always be a warm spot in my heart for Eastman. I entered as a freshman knowing that I loved to sing. I left Eastman after five years, having learned to be a musician. Julius Huehn, or “Papa” as his voice students called him, was a great teacher and mentor. I still tell my students stories of “Papa”. He will not be forgotten. I will always have fond memories of Eastman and I will always be grateful for the fine education I received there that prepared me so well for the career I chose.
Bonnie Swartley Estes Martin, BM 1965, MA 1986
Major/Instrument: Music Education/Piano
Studio/teacher: Henry Rauch
Life and career since Eastman:
Taught for thirty-four rewarding years in the public schools; general music/choral director. The last twenty-seven years were in Pittsford, NY. Retired in 2000 and began volunteering as librarian and tutor for Literacy Volunteers of Rochester in 2003.
Personal Reflection:
My Eastman degree opened doors for me and gave me the ability to be employed in a field I loved. Life has been good, filled with family, friends, happiness, and health. Now I am enjoying giving back in whatever ways I can to ensure that others have opportunities that will bring them fulfillment.
Linda Kinyon McClusky, BM 1965
Major/instrument: Performance and Music Education, flute
Studio/teacher: Joseph Mariano
Life and career since Eastman:
- Taught at several public and private schools.
- Performed many recitals and freelance work.
- 1991-present: Director of Instrumental Music at Emma Willard School, girls boarding school in Troy, NY
- Maintain a flute studio in my home.
- Married to Richard Burke.
Personal Reflection:
The name Eastman has taken me far. It is magic in the music world. I am grateful to every teacher I had.
Ellen Nivert Silverman, BM 1965
Major/instrument: Piano
Studio/teacher: Eugene List, Leonard Shure
Life and career since Eastman:
A M.M. in performance from Syracuse University. She was the Coordinator of the Piano Department of Douglas College in New Westminster B.C. Canada for 32 years. She has adjudicated piano festivals extensively across Canada. Her performances include engagements with her husband Robert Silverman in the four hand and two piano literature throughout the world. She has made a c.d. with Ed Lewis, an Eastman classmate, Contemporary Music for Trumpet and Piano.
James H. Poulliott, BM 1965, MM 1967
Major/instrument: Voice
Studio/teacher: Julius Huehn
Life and career since Eastman:
I have been engaged by more than 50 professional organizations as a director, and/or singer, and/or actor in more than 150 productions of operas, musicals, plays, and related forms; and often as a concert soloist, and a recitalist. I have also held administrative positions with regional opera companies. And, I have served as a guest professor, lecturer and performer, or conductor of master classes at a number of educational institutions.
Harrison Powley, BM 1965
Major/instrument: Percussion, Music Education
Studio teacher: William G. Street
Life and career since Eastman:
Professor of Music, Brigham Young University, 1969-2009
Have produced numerous books, editions, recordings, and articles.
Ph.D. in Musicology, 1975. Dissertation: “Il trionfo di Dori: A Critical Edition.” 3 vols., 912 pp. Advisers: Charles W. Fox and Erich P. Schwandt
M.A. in Musicology, 1968.
B.M. (with distinction) in Music Education and Applied Music: Percussion,. Awarded Performer’s Certificate in Percussion, 1965. Teacher: William G. Street
Grants and awards
- Karl G. Maeser General Education Professorship, Brigham Young University, 2004–2007.
- Alcuin Fellowship for Teaching in General Education and Honors, Brigham Young University, 2001–2004.
- National Defense Education Act Title IV Grant for Graduate Study, Eastman School of Music, 1966–69.
- Fulbright Fellowship to Vienna, Austria, 1965–66. Study of musicology at University of Vienna (Erich Schenk), percussion at Academy of Music (Richard Hochrainer), and French at the University of Paris, summer 1966.
Family
Married in 1967 to Ellen M. Lockwood (ESM BM 1967, BYU Master of Education 1995, BYU Doctor of Education 1998), 7 children, 40 grandchildren.
Susan Huneke Simon, BM 1965
Major/Instrument: Oboe
Studio teacher: Robert Sprenkle
Life and career since Eastman:
I eloped with Donald Simon on April 15th, 1965 not long before my graduation from ESM and moved into Donald Hunsbergerʼs old apartment. I started my Masters that fall but the Vietnam War threw us a curve that changed everything. Donald was drafted and we had one week to pack up everything and for him to report for basic training. In that week, he managed to get a commission and went into the medical service corp as a 2nd Lieutenant. Three years at Fort Hood was better than going to Vietnam! There was a wonderful piano teacher at Central Texas College who had studied with Kodaly and then fled Hungary in 1956. Studying with him was a high point of those three years. The other high point was the birth of our first baby.
After the army, we settled in Philadelphia where we raised our daughter, Nadja, who went to RIT and is a metalsmith, and our son Noah, who is a sound engineer at NYU. We have three grandchildren. I freelanced on oboe, and played with The Sebastian Trio, The New Fine Arts Quintet and The Philadelphia Wind Symphony. I taught at the Settlement Music School, Suburban Music School and maintained a home studio. At the age of 40, I took up the Highland Bagpipe and played with the Cameron Highlanders and the Emerald Pipe Band as well as freelanced on bagpipe. I played oboe and bagpipe at Villanova Universityʼs St. Thomas Church. I played Ciaramella, an Italian folk oboe, in a duo called Zampognari di Filadelphia until I yearned to be home on Christmas Eve. During this time I also worked as an editor for the Music in Print Series and as a repair technician at Gustafson Music, a woodwind and brass repair shop in Philadelphia. Donald and I still play in a band called Celtic Women and Friends. I am loving retirement and when I am not playing music, I hike, volunteer in Philadelphia’s wonderful Wissahickon Park, travel, bake cookies, and whenever possible, volunteer to drink craft beer.
Daniel D. Stern, BM 1965
Major/Instrument: Music Education/Violin
Life and Career since Eastman:
1965-67: Taught in the Salem, Oregon public schools
Performed in the Portland Opera Orchestra
Performed in the Salem, Oregon Symphony
1968-71: Attended the University of Oregon Music School
Awarded M. Mus in Music Education and Violin in 1969
Awarded D.Mus. A. in 1973 in Pedagogy and Performance
Performed in the Eugene, OR Symphony
Assistant Conductor, U of O Symphony
1971-74: Assistant Professor of Music, New Mexico Highlands University
Performed in the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra
Member of the Highlands University Trio
1974-87: Music Director/Conductor, The Boise Philharmonic
Adjust Professor of Music, Boise State University (1987-92)
Principal Conductor, Boise Opera
Guest Conductor in New York, Mexico, Costa Rica
1987-2007 Career in the Financial Services, including: Charles Schwab Co.
and Wells Fargo Bank
Also continued as clinician and adjunct professor of music in Idaho,
Oregon, and Washington
2005-present Conductor/General Manager, the Boise Baroque Orchestra
In December of 2014 I received the Governor’s Award in the
Arts for Lifetime Accomplishment.
I have been married for thirty years to Paula K. Stern, an outstanding violinist and teacher.
I have two daughters (by a previous marriage), one an attorney (Frances) and one a violinist (Rebecca, ESM ’90), as well as three grandchildren.
Christine Ahrens Klugg Tartan, BM 1965
Major/instrument: Piano
Studio teacher: Jose Echaniz
Live and Career:
Masters of Music – University of Southern California, 1980
Piano Accompanying
Making music in the community: Los Angeles
Private studio – teaching, vocal coaching, accompanying
Personal Reflection:
A visit to Eastman in April of 2014 brought back many memories, included memories with my late husband, Joseph R. Klugg (ESM ’65) who died in 1970. Remarried to James Tartan (deceased 2014) in 1981. Continue to make beautiful music on a recently rebuilt Steinway (circa 1900).
Mescal Wilson, BM 1965
Major/instrument: Piano
Studio/teacher: Armand Basile
Life and Career since Eastman:
I attended Eastman for two years, received my Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and a masters degree in Piano from The Juilliard School. I presented a solo recital debut at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and gave European and North American recital tours with ICA Management and the Janáček May Festival in the Czech Republic. My recording of Symanowski’s Symphonie Concertante with the Janáček Philharmonic on the Centaur label was named New York Observer Classical Disc of the Year. I also performed solo recitals in Mexico City and solo and chamber music at the Indian River Festival in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
I have premiered solo and chamber works by American composers including Alvin Brehm, Wendy Chambers, Gene Pritsker, Robert X. Rodriguez, and C. Bryan Rulon. I also perform regularly with my husband, cellist John Kneiling, as a member of the Sofia Ensemble, specializing in 20th and 21st century compositions. I have been Director of the Dorothy Delson Kuhn Institute of Music and the Moorestown School of Music and am Immediate Past President of the Associated Music Teachers League in New York City. I live in New York City where my husband and I raised a daughter, Elizabeth. I am presently on the piano faculty of The Spence School and Greenwich House Music School.
Personal Reflection:
I have fond memories of my two undergraduate years at Eastman, and the training I received has been invaluable over the years. I send greetings to all at the 50th Reunion and I wish I could be there to see you all!
Treva Womble, BM 1965
Major Instrument: oboe
Studio Teacher: Robert Sprenkle
Life and career since Eastman:
I left Eastman in 1964 at the end of my junior year to play 2nd oboe in the Dallas Symphony. I married the Principal oboist, Donald Baker in 1966. I won the English horn job in Dallas in 1970. We divorced in 1971 and he left to become principal oboist in Detroit in 1974. The English horn job in Detroit opened the next year and, out of 40 applicants, I won the job. I married David Shifrin in 1976, who was principal clarinetist in the Cleveland Orchestra. That lasted three years. The third time is a charm! I married Bob Williams our Principal Bassoonist in 1980. We had two sons, Seton in 1981 and Trevor in 1983. Seton died in an automobile accident in March of 2005. Trevor went to Harvard and still lives in Cambridge, MA. I retired from the English horn position in the Detroit Symphony in 2010. Bob is still playing in the DSO. Besides our home in Northville, Michigan, we have a second home in Tucson, Arizona where I spend the winters. Bob is a Tucson native. It has been a great life!
