Elena Alamilla, B.M. ’73, cellist, was appointed Assistant Principal of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic after graduation. Since returning to the United States Alamilla has performed with many local orchestras, including Naples Philharmonic, Miami Symphony and Symphony of the Americas.
Dean W. Anderson, B.M. '72 is a percussionist with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Cantata Singers Orchestra, Boston Music Viva, and the Boston Lyric Opera. He is also a professor at Berklee College of Music.
David Bebe, D.M.A. '09, cellist, is a faculty member at the College of Saint Rose where he serves as the director of the Saint Rose String Program, conductor of the Saint Rose Orchestra, and cello Instructor. He has served on faculties of Indiana University String Academy and the String Academy of Wisconsin.
Susan Moyer Bergeron D.M.A. ’09 , cellist, has been a member of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra since 2006. She performed as a member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra for 10 years. An active chamber musician, Bergeron has performed extensively in South Florida. She is a founding member of the Dalbergi Trio and has played for 12 summers with Chamber Music Palm Beach.
Claire Courchene, B.M. ’07, multi-instrumentalist, recently played on three seasons of American Idol (cello and trombone), and appeared with P. Diddy on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Courchene recorded the solo cello song “Eclipse” for the Twilight Breaking Dawn movie.
Wells Cunningham, B.M. ‘96, cellist, is the first cellist to win the University Miami’s concerto competition. Currently he serves as faculty at the Frost School of Music Young Musicans’ Camp. Upon graduation from Frost in 1996, he was invited to tour Europe as principal cellist and soloist with a nationally assembled orchestra. While in France, he performed the Elgar Cello Concerto.
Marie-Elaine Gagnon, D.M.A. '06, cellist, is an assistant professor of cello at the University of South Dakota, where she has played in the Rawlins Piano Trio since 2009. The Rawlins Piano Trio has distinguished itself as a leading American chamber music ensemble. Since its founding in 1987, it has given performances throughout the United States and abroad.
Ashley Garritston, D.M.A. '10, has served as principal cellist of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and is currently principal cello of the Miami Symphony where she performed the South Florida premiere of the Mark O’Connor Double Concerto with another Frost School graduate, Daniel Andai. She also serves as Artistic Director of the Monteverdi Festival of the Arts in Tuscany, Italy and is adjunct professor of Cello at Broward College in Davie, Florida. "Garritson plays with burnished tone and deep sensitivity." -The Miami Herald
T. Geoffrey Hale, B.M. '69, M.M. '70 is presently principal bassoon of the Miami Symphony Orchestra (MISO) and the Miami City Ballet Orchestra. As an educator, he has been Bassoon instructor at the New World School of the Arts in Miami for the past 11 years. He has taught privately for the past 43 years aiding his students to achieve scholarships at UM Frost School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory, Julliard School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Florida State University. For the past 30 years, Hale has also been a member of, among others, the South Florida Symphony, Florida Chamber Orchestra, Miami Philharmonic, Miami Beach Symphony, and the Miami Chamber Orchestra.
Tara Hanish, M.M. ’04, cellist, is currently on faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory School and the Fairmount Center for the Arts. Hanish has been a member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra since she moved to Cleveland in 2004. She performs often with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic and Suburban Symphony.
Laurence Kaptain, M.M. '75 was named Dean of the LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts in July 2009, where he also is the Penniman Family Professor of Music. Prior to joining LSU, Kaptain was the dean of the Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Kentucky. Prior to his appointment at Shenandoah, he was director of the Schwob School of Music in Georgia and vice-provost at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Carey Kleiman, B.M. '73, M.M. '75, is currently an adjunct professor of music business and clarinet at Broward College. He previously taught at Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Hawaii, and has performed with the Miami Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, and the Ft. Lauderdale Symphony and on many recording dates in South Florida and Hawaii. In earlier years he performed with, and produced for numerous artists including Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Boyz to Men, Tony Bennett, Woody Herman, and The Bee Gees, to name a few. He also served as a music supervisor and contractor for syndicated television shows. In the 1980s he formed his own music production company and served as the music and entertainment director for the Diplomat Hotel. He later formed CK Entertainment, specializing in corporate & meeting entertainment.
April M. Liberty, B.M. '09, is the conductor of the Young Musicians' Junior and Intermediate Orchestras within the Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ Community Arts Program where she is a violin and viola instructor. Liberty teaches violin to children in grades 3-5 at Florida Youth Orchestra's S.T.E.P.S group at Hialeah Gardens Elementary School and gives private after-school violin classes at Carrollton. She also instructs a group of students at West Lab Elementary School. When not teaching in schools, Liberty runs a private studio where she teached more than 30 violin and viola students throughout South Florida.
Aaron Ludwig, D.M.A '11, cellist, is a member of the New World Symphony. He has performed solo, chamber and orchestral music throughout the United States and Europe.
Andres Vera, B.M. '10, cellist, is a member of Cello Street Quartet, a group of all classically trained musicians who blend a classical music tradition with modern pop tunes. Veras is also a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory. He has been a member of the Miami Symphony Orchestra for six years.
Aurora Wells, M.M. ‘99, bass, has performed with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, the Palm Beach Pops, Ellington's Jazz Club, Southwest Florida Symphony and The Naples Players. Wells has enjoyed numerous engagements as musical director and conductor with theatre organizations in the Caribbean and Southwest Florida, where she calls home.
Matthew White, MM '06, D.M.A. '11, trumpeter and composer, is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Coordinator of Jazz Ensembles at Coastal Carolina University.
