Discussion Panel

Douglas Richard is currently in his 8th year serving as the Chief Music Arranger for the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, NY. Prior to that, he served as a music copyist for The United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own) and spent 4 years as a music educator in public schools.

In addition to his military career, Douglas maintains a busy schedule as a freelance music arranger/orchestrator and composer. As a music copyist, he works for numerous nationally recognized composers and arrangers, orchestras, and televised events. He also gives presentations on the merits of professional music preparation.

Kate O'Brien is Personnel Manager and violinist with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony (CT). She is leader, violinist and musical arranger for OBRIEN STRINGS, plays solo or with her ensembles at all types of weddings, receptions, private events, concerts, educational programs, outdoor festivals and religious services.

A veteran of swing, dance and country/western bands, Kate plays and sings with, and arranges for, Moxie, a trio that performs in the jazzy style of the famous female vocal trios of the 40s. She also plays and sings with the group Themselves in their original shows for school audiences. She studied jazz with the legendary Linc Chamberland.

Flutist Bridget Muldoon McDaniel was a member of both the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in Evansville, IN and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra in Owensboro, KY for ten years. In 1986 she founded and served as the artistic/executive director ofTales & Scales, the nation’s only musictelling organization (a not-for-profit performing arts eduction organization).

For 21 years, this innovative troupe of instrumental musicians has collaborated with outstanding composers, writers, directors and choreographers to create interdisciplinary works in a mission to ignite the imaginations of children and family audiences. Using minimal sets and costumes, the uniquely-talented performers combine music, story, theatre and creative movement in their dynamic presentations. From its home base in Evansville, Indiana, the troupe tours the United States performing in schools, concert halls, performing arts centers, and with symphony orchestras. Tales & Scales members are also involved in workshops, school residencies, and an annual summer camp.

In 2003 Bridget was honored in Washington DC at the the Jefferson Award Ceremony at the Kennedy Center. Bridget was one of five Jefferson Award recipients in the nation to win the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service in recognition of her work creating, nurturing and leading Tales & Scales. It is the highest recognition a Jefferson Award winner can receive, and is considered the “Nobel Prize” for public service in America.

Robert DiLutis has performed as Second and E-flat clarinetist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra since 1996. Prior to his position in New York, he performed as Assistant Principal and Eb clarinetist with the San Antonio Symphony. He is best known however as the inventor of the Reed Machine, a professional line of reed making products for the clarinet and saxophone.

Claire Chase, flutist, is active as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, cultural producer and experimental arts entrepreneur. A passionate advocate for new music, Claire has given the world premieres of over 100 new works for the flute, and performs and produces events in venues ranging from the stages of Lincoln Center to warehouses, galleries, clubs and public spaces. Her self-released solo album, "aliento," featuring world premiere recordings by Jason Eckardt, Du Yun, Nathan Davis, Marcelo Toledo and Dai Fujikura, will be out in May 2008. Other upcoming releases include collaborations on the Bridge, Naxos, New Focus and Tzadik labels. Claire has been recognized for her work with awards from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, ASCAP, Chamber Music America, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music, and the National Young Artist Competition, among others.

Highlights of the current season include over fifty chamber music performances in venues such as the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Composer Portraits and Pocket Concertos at Miller Theatre, and appearances at international festivals in Mexico, Finland, Poland and France.

Claire co-founded the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in 2001, with whom she has performed, recorded and toured internationally. Currently the Executive Director of ICE, Claire manages both the New York and Chicago ICE offices, and is working on establishing a West Coast arm of the organization.

Claire received her B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory in 2001 in the studio of Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain, where she was a recipient of the Presser Music Award. She lives in Brooklyn.

Angela Myles Beeching is director of the NEC Career Services Center, an internationally recognized comprehensive career resource office for students and alumni. A Fulbright Scholar and Harriet Hale Woolley grant recipient, Beeching designs and facilitates the Young Performers Career Advancement program for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters' national conference. Beeching has been an invited speaker for the National Association of Schools of Music, Chamber Music America, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, and the North Carolina School of the Arts, among others. She chairs the education committee on the board of Chamber Music America and locally, serves on the board of the Winchester Community Music School. Beeching's articles have appeared in Chamber Music magazine, Inside Arts, the National Business Employment Weekly, and Managing Your Career, published by the Dow Jones. Her book, [i]Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music[/i], was published by Oxford University Press in January, 2005.

She holds a B.M. from Boston University and M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in violoncello from SUNY/Stony Brook. She studied cello with Timothy Eddy and Roland Pidoux, and studied at the Tanglewood Music Center and Banff Centre for the Arts. She has recorded for Summit, and was on the faculty of California State University/Fresno and the Crane School of Music, SUNY/Potsdam.

Ann Drinan, Senior Editor, has been a member of the Hartford Symphony viola section for over 30 years. She is a former Chair of the Orchestra Committee, former member of the HSO Board, and has served on many HSO committees. She is also the Executive Director of CONCORA (CT Choral Artists), a professional chorus based in Hartford and New Britain, founded by Artistic Director Richard Coffey. Ann was a member of the Advisory Board of the Symphony Orchestra Institute (SOI), and was the HSO ROPA delegate for 14 years, serving as both Vice President and President of ROPA. In addition to playing the viola and running CONCORA, Ann is a professional writer and editor, and has worked as a consultant and technical writer for software companies in a wide variety of industries for over 3 decades. (She worked for the Yale Computer Science Department in the late 70s, and thus has been on the Internet, then called the DARPAnet, since 1977!) She is married to Algis Kaupas, a sound recordist, and lives a block from Long Island Sound in Branford CT. Together they create websites for musicians: shortbeachwebdesign.com.

Ann holds a BA in Music from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and an MA in International Relations from Yale University.

Read Ann Drinan's blog here. web.esm.rochester.edu/poly/author/ann-drinan

Christine Coyle is a section cellist in New Haven Symphony, Eastern CT Symphony and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. She also works with other various orchestras in the area. She teahes at The Thames Valley Music School as well as the Community Music School in Essex. She is a memeber of the Amaryllis Ensemble, which performs gigs from Princton NJ to Simsbury CT and beyond. I love doing anything outdoors especially if it involves getting dirty and sweaty!