Discussion Panel

Jon Deak, Associate Principal Bassist and Creative Education Associate of the New York Philharmonic, is also a prominent composer. He was educated at Oberlin College, The Juilliard School, the University of Illinois, and as a Fulbright Scholar, at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. His training includes work in the visual arts, and he was active in the “performance art” movement in New York’s SoHo. He now teaches a composition class in the New York City public schools that his own children attend. In September 2000, Mr. Deak was chosen to lead a youth concert at Carnegie Hall in honor of Isaac Stern’s 80th birthday, in which he served as host, conductor, and contrabass soloist.

Mr. Deak’s compositions have been performed at music festivals worldwide and by such institutions as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago, National, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Seattle, New Jersey, Atlanta, Colorado, and many other symphony orchestras and chamber groups. His discography includes recent releases on Centaur, CRI, Innova, and Cabrillo records.

Mr. Deak recently completed a successful three-year appointment as Composer-In-Residence with the Colorado Symphony under the Meet The Composer Residencies Program, which included affiliations with the Colorado Children’s Chorale and Denver Public Schools. Among the programs he inaugurated in connection with his Denver residency are: the “Source Project,” a new music series in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, which brought together a stunning display of creativity by Colorado composers; and a restructuring of the pre-concert lecture format into a pre-concert “event” that includes drama and live music. Mr. Deak became a familiar figure around Denver as he moved from school to school teaching composition and creativity to young people of all ages and backgrounds.

Mr. Deak regularly participates in fundraising events to aid symphony orchestras, and has been an outspoken environmental advocate. An avid wilderness mountaineer, he has led climbing expeditions into the Canadian Rockies, Alaska, and the Himalayas. He was chairman of the New York Philharmonic Artistic Advisory Committee, which helped select Kurt Masur as the Philharmonic’s Music Director. He also participated in Leonard Bernstein’s historic Freiheitskonzert (Freedom Concert) in what was then East Berlin, on Christmas Day l989, an event he regards as one of the musical highlights of his life.

Internationally recognized American conductor Leonard Slatkin is Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. His performances throughout North America, Europe and the Far East have been distinguished by imaginative programming and highly praised interpretations of both the standard and contemporary symphonic repertoire. Additionally, he is well-known for his arts advocacy work on behalf of music education.

Following a successful tenure as Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony from 1979 until 1996, Mr. Slatkin was named Conductor Laureate. He has also served as Festival Director of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Festival (1990-99), Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra (1997-2000), and Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (2000-2004).

Mr. Slatkin has made regular appearances with virtually every major international orchestra, including the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and many others. His performances of opera have taken him to leading opera companies in the US and around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, and Vienna State Opera.

Leonard Slatkin’s more than 100 recordings have been recognized with five Grammy awards and more than fifty other Grammy nominations. He has recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony, and Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra.

Throughout his career, Mr. Slatkin has demonstrated a continuing commitment to arts education and to reaching diverse audiences. He is the founder and director of the National Conducting Institute, an advanced career development program for rising conductors. Additionally, Mr. Slatkin founded the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and has also worked with student orchestras across the United States, including those at the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and the Eastman School of Music. He works frequently with youth orchestras across America and abroad, including the DC Youth Orchestra, Midwest Youth Symphony Orchestra, American-Soviet Youth Orchestra, European Community Youth Orchestra, and American Youth Philharmonic. He also reaches out to younger musicians and music teachers through the NSO American Residencies program. During the past few years he has spent time talking about and performing music in Tennessee, North Carolina, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota, and Vermont as part of these residencies.

Mr. Slatkin has received many honors and awards, including the 2003 National Medal of Arts (the highest award given to artists by the United States Government), the Chavalier of the Legion of Honor, ASCAP awards with both the National and Saint Louis Symphonies, an honorary doctorate from his alma mater The Juilliard School, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards, and the prestigious Declaration of Honor in Silver from the Austrian ambassador to the United States for outstanding contributions to cultural relations.

Born in Los Angeles to a distinguished musical family, his parents were the conductor-violinist Felix Slatkin and cellist Eleanor Aller, founding members of the famed Hollywood String Quartet, Mr. Slatkin began his musical studies on the violin and piano before turning to conducting. He is married to soprano Linda Hohenfeld, and they have one son, Daniel.

Sarah Johnson came to The Philadelphia Orchestra as the Director of Education and Community Partnerships in December 2003. In addition to her responsibilities for the Orchestra’s wide range of education and community programs, Ms. Johnson plays a leadership role in an organization-wide initiative designed to deepen the musical experiences of existing audiences and bring new audiences into the concert hall. Under this initiative, entitled “Raising the Invisible Curtain,” she has played a key role in initiating a number of exciting programs, including the in-depth School Partnership Program for elementary school children; the Access Series, an adult subscription concert series for curious listneners; and the Camden Community Partnership Initiative, an in-depth community engagement program with residents of Camden NJ.

Developing imaginative programming to connect with young audiences is one of Ms. Johnson’s key skills, honed during the several years preceding her arrival in Philadelphia when she worked in music education for major music institutions in New York City, both as an administrator and a teaching artist. At New York City’s cultural icon, the 92nd Street Y, she served as program associate for the educational outreach program, writing curriculum and other educational materials, leading professional development sessions for teachers and teaching artists, and working in program creation, development, and assessment. She also helped to develop and/or lead teaching and outreach programs for musicians from the Saint Louis Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and Tanglewood, among others. From 1999 to 2002 Ms. Johnson worked as a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic School Partnership Program and Lincoln Center Institute.

A graduate from the Juilliard School, Ms. Johnson received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in oboe performance in 1997 and 1999. She is also a founding member of Ariel Winds, a wind quintet dedicated to educational outreach.

Aaron A. Flagg was named dean of The Hartt School of the University of Hartford in March of 2009 by President Walter Harrison and Provost Lynn Pasquerella. As dean, he oversees a performing arts college for music, dance, and theatre with approximately 750 undergraduate and graduate students and 250 faculty and staff.

Originally from Baldwin Park, CA, Dr. Flagg is a professional trumpet player and received his undergraduate and master's degrees from The Juilliard School and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. His diverse experience includes concerto, recital, orchestral, and chamber music performances in classical, jazz, and new music.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Hartford, he was Executive Director of Music Conservatory of Westchester (2005-2009), a graduate faculty member and Director of Educational Outreach at The Juilliard School (2000-2005), and Director of the Jazz Studies program at the University of Connecticut (1999-2000).

As a trumpet player, Dr. Flagg has given concerto and other solo performances with orchestras, toured with chamber music groups, and performed numerous recitals. He has given master classes and recitals at Jackson State University and Fayetteville State University, and presented lectures at the Curtis Institute, Oberlin College, and Carnegie Hall.

His jazz performances include the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Music Outreach Jazz Ensemble, and the Aaron Flagg Quartet. He has toured with the Tania Leon's Son Sonora Ensemble; recorded with Roberta Flack and operatic soprano Barbara Conrad; and performed with the New York Philharmonic, Manhattan Virtuosi, Lansing Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Wynton Marsalis, Gladys Knight, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, among others.

Dr. Flagg is currently a board member of the League of American Orchestras in New York. He has served on numerous grant panels and was New York Metro Area chapter chair for the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. He has been a consultant with arts presenting organizations and universities around the country, while also being a teaching artist for 15 years with organizations including the Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall Education, New York Philharmonic Education, Memphis Arts Council, Guggenheim Museum, and the New York City Opera. He was named a national spokesman for the Music Educators National Conference in Virginia in 1999 and received the Rising Star Award for Westchester's "Forty under Forty" in 2008.

Jim Copenhaver is the Senior Partner of the consulting firm of J C Enterprises – Focused Learning. The firm provides focused process management tools to assist non-profit organizations to fully achieve their purpose by utilizing the creative and innovative capabilities of leadership, employees and volunteers. The firm specializes in the areas of organizational development, governance models, self-directed teams, strategic business and marketing planning, and change management. Copenhaver’s experience with organizations in transition began with 31 years of management positions with Honeywell, including Divisional Controller, Vice President of Marketing and as Vice President of Data Storage Product Operations. With Honeywell, he was involved in pioneering efforts to shift from traditional hierarchical structures to team-based and self-directed work teams.

Following his business career, he accepted the challenge to serve as the first Executive Director/CEO for the Colorado Symphony, the nation’s first orchestra to create a working partnership of musicians, trustees and community. This new “partnership model” received national recognition as a viable alternative for non-profit organizations facing financial and operational issues. Subsequently, he has served as Interim Executive Director for the Western States Arts Federation in 1995, for Childsplay, a professional Theatre for Youth in Tempe, Arizona in 2001, for the Colorado Symphony again in 2002, and most recently in 2003, as Interim Executive Director for the Phoenix Boys Choir. In each of these positions, while assisting in the selection of the new Executive Director, he provided management and assistance to the boards in the areas of strategic planning, governance, and facilitated changes required to deal with the impact on their missions caused by the changing environment for the arts.

Copenhaver provides his business acumen and experience to assist a wide range of non-profit arts organizations. Clients have included the New Mexico Symphony, Opera Colorado, Central City Opera (CO), the Arvada Center for the Arts, the Van Cliburn Foundation, the Indianapolis Symphony, Symphonies of the Southwest Consortium, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Lubbock Symphony, the Billings Symphony and Chamber Music Sedona. Current clients include the Montana Arts Council, the Mobile Symphony, and the Anchorage Concert Association. Copenhaver is also serving as the facilitator for the Contract Review Committee of the Phoenix Symphony.
In addition, he currently serves on the following boards of trustees: Arts for Colorado (Chair); Foundation for the Denver Performing Arts Complex (Chair); Englewood (CO) Cultural Arts Center Association (Chair); Arizona Action for the Arts (Chair); Arizona Citizens for the Arts; and Childsplay Theatre for Youth Company.

Charles Burke is the Director of Education for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as well as the Artistic Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Youth Ensembles. Under his direction, the DSO’s commitment to community engagement, high-caliber music training, and meaningful partnerships have grown and become one of the preeminent orchestral educational programs in the nation.

As an executive administrator, Burke leads a diverse array of innovative and cutting-edge programs - concert presentations, training programs and institutional partnerships. His efforts in music exposure have led to the popular DSO’s Young People’s Concerts, Tiny Tots, the DSO’s Educational Concert Series and Super Saturday’s at the Max. These programs regularly reach more than 50,000 students and families a year.

Burke also serves as the Artistic and Executive leadership for the DSO’s Civic Youth Ensembles, as it continues to serve as a leading supplemental music training program in the United States. Located in the Max M. Fisher’s Pincus Music Education, the Civic Youth Ensembles hosts more than 600 students per week in 10 ensembles and teaches young people in jazz, classical, chamber and wind ensemble with world-class artists. Past and future artists include Yo Yo Ma, Midori, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, Herbie Hancock and Peter Oundjian. Burke founded and administers ACES (the Association of Civic Ensembles), a separate non-profit parent organization that financially partners with the DSO to insure the growth of the programs.

As a conductor, Burke was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestras in 1999, a post he relinquished in 2006 to become Artistic Director. In 2000, Burke was the Music Director of the Lake St. Clair Symphony Orchestra in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. Burke has conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the 2001-2002 Educational Concert Series – attended by more than 16,000 children. Burke has served as a guest conductor, clinician and television educator - guest conducting the San Francisco Youth Symphony, the Interlochen High School Orchestra, the Detroit Chamber Strings, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, the United States Army Band, the United States Herald Trumpets, Wayne State Symphony Orchestra and appearing as musical host on the WTVS production of “Mozart, Math and Music” and Backstage Pass with the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestras.

Prior to his appointments with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Burke studied orchestral conducting at the University of Michigan. At the University of Michigan, Burke was appointed as Music Director of the Campus Symphony Orchestras as well as the Assistant Conductor of the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestras. Before his tenure at the University of Michigan, Burke was an active and sought-after guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician throughout his native Washington DC metropolitan area. Burke was the Music Director and founder of the Fairfax Chamber Orchestra, as well as a conducting and composition fellow at several international music festivals. In 1999, Burke served as a conducting fellow at the Oregon Bach Festival under Maestro Helmut Rilling.

The son of two professional musicians, Burke began playing piano at the age of five. At age nine, he made his professional debut with the title role of Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. Burke began his conducting training at the age of seventeen and has continued his studies with Neeme Järvi, Kenneth Kiesler, Martin Katz, Anthony Maiello, Mallory Thompson, Harold Faberman and Daniel Lewis.

Mr. Burke’s work in music education earned a nomination for the National Sallie Mae Outstanding Teaching Award. Under Burke’s leadership, his collegiate instrumental and elementary choral performance groups have been received critical acclaim for their outstanding achievements. Mr. Burke holds degrees from West Virginia University and George Mason University.

Internationally recognized American conductor Leonard Slatkin is Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. His performances throughout North America, Europe and the Far East have been distinguished by imaginative programming and highly praised interpretations of both the standard and contemporary symphonic repertoire. Additionally, he is well-known for his arts advocacy work on behalf of music education.

Following a successful tenure as Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony from 1979 until 1996, Mr. Slatkin was named Conductor Laureate. He has also served as Festival Director of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Festival (1990-99), Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra (1997-2000), and Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (2000-2004).

Mr. Slatkin has made regular appearances with virtually every major international orchestra, including the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and many others. His performances of opera have taken him to leading opera companies in the US and around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, and Vienna State Opera.

Leonard Slatkin’s more than 100 recordings have been recognized with five Grammy awards and more than fifty other Grammy nominations. He has recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony, and Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra.

Throughout his career, Mr. Slatkin has demonstrated a continuing commitment to arts education and to reaching diverse audiences. He is the founder and director of the National Conducting Institute, an advanced career development program for rising conductors. Additionally, Mr. Slatkin founded the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and has also worked with student orchestras across the United States, including those at the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and the Eastman School of Music. He works frequently with youth orchestras across America and abroad, including the DC Youth Orchestra, Midwest Youth Symphony Orchestra, American-Soviet Youth Orchestra, European Community Youth Orchestra, and American Youth Philharmonic. He also reaches out to younger musicians and music teachers through the NSO American Residencies program. During the past few years he has spent time talking about and performing music in Tennessee, North Carolina, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota, and Vermont as part of these residencies.

Mr. Slatkin has received many honors and awards, including the 2003 National Medal of Arts (the highest award given to artists by the United States Government), the Chavalier of the Legion of Honor, ASCAP awards with both the National and Saint Louis Symphonies, an honorary doctorate from his alma mater The Juilliard School, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards, and the prestigious Declaration of Honor in Silver from the Austrian ambassador to the United States for outstanding contributions to cultural relations.

Born in Los Angeles to a distinguished musical family, his parents were the conductor-violinist Felix Slatkin and cellist Eleanor Aller, founding members of the famed Hollywood String Quartet, Mr. Slatkin began his musical studies on the violin and piano before turning to conducting. He is married to soprano Linda Hohenfeld, and they have one son, Daniel.

Sarah Johnson came to The Philadelphia Orchestra as the Director of Education and Community Partnerships in December 2003. In addition to her responsibilities for the Orchestra’s wide range of education and community programs, Ms. Johnson plays a leadership role in an organization-wide initiative designed to deepen the musical experiences of existing audiences and bring new audiences into the concert hall. Under this initiative, entitled “Raising the Invisible Curtain,” she has played a key role in initiating a number of exciting programs, including the in-depth School Partnership Program for elementary school children; the Access Series, an adult subscription concert series for curious listneners; and the Camden Community Partnership Initiative, an in-depth community engagement program with residents of Camden NJ.

Developing imaginative programming to connect with young audiences is one of Ms. Johnson’s key skills, honed during the several years preceding her arrival in Philadelphia when she worked in music education for major music institutions in New York City, both as an administrator and a teaching artist. At New York City’s cultural icon, the 92nd Street Y, she served as program associate for the educational outreach program, writing curriculum and other educational materials, leading professional development sessions for teachers and teaching artists, and working in program creation, development, and assessment. She also helped to develop and/or lead teaching and outreach programs for musicians from the Saint Louis Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and Tanglewood, among others. From 1999 to 2002 Ms. Johnson worked as a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic School Partnership Program and Lincoln Center Institute.

A graduate from the Juilliard School, Ms. Johnson received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in oboe performance in 1997 and 1999. She is also a founding member of Ariel Winds, a wind quintet dedicated to educational outreach.

Aaron A. Flagg was named dean of The Hartt School of the University of Hartford in March of 2009 by President Walter Harrison and Provost Lynn Pasquerella. As dean, he oversees a performing arts college for music, dance, and theatre with approximately 750 undergraduate and graduate students and 250 faculty and staff.

Originally from Baldwin Park, CA, Dr. Flagg is a professional trumpet player and received his undergraduate and master's degrees from The Juilliard School and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. His diverse experience includes concerto, recital, orchestral, and chamber music performances in classical, jazz, and new music.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Hartford, he was Executive Director of Music Conservatory of Westchester (2005-2009), a graduate faculty member and Director of Educational Outreach at The Juilliard School (2000-2005), and Director of the Jazz Studies program at the University of Connecticut (1999-2000).

As a trumpet player, Dr. Flagg has given concerto and other solo performances with orchestras, toured with chamber music groups, and performed numerous recitals. He has given master classes and recitals at Jackson State University and Fayetteville State University, and presented lectures at the Curtis Institute, Oberlin College, and Carnegie Hall.

His jazz performances include the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Music Outreach Jazz Ensemble, and the Aaron Flagg Quartet. He has toured with the Tania Leon's Son Sonora Ensemble; recorded with Roberta Flack and operatic soprano Barbara Conrad; and performed with the New York Philharmonic, Manhattan Virtuosi, Lansing Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Wynton Marsalis, Gladys Knight, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, among others.

Dr. Flagg is currently a board member of the League of American Orchestras in New York. He has served on numerous grant panels and was New York Metro Area chapter chair for the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. He has been a consultant with arts presenting organizations and universities around the country, while also being a teaching artist for 15 years with organizations including the Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall Education, New York Philharmonic Education, Memphis Arts Council, Guggenheim Museum, and the New York City Opera. He was named a national spokesman for the Music Educators National Conference in Virginia in 1999 and received the Rising Star Award for Westchester's "Forty under Forty" in 2008.