Laura Bunker (double bass), is going into her sophomore year at SUNY Purchase working towards her B.M in Double Bass Performance. She has performed in a number of ensembles including the New York Youth Symphony, Vivace String Orchestra and Purchase Contemporary Ensemble.  Ms. Bunker has performed at significant venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Eastman Theater.  She was the winner of the 2006 ASOA Concerto Competition and the first bassist to win the Stringendo Concerto Competition.  While in high school, she had the honor of receiving the Outstanding Admiral Award for music and the NSOA and ASOA scholarships.  She is currently obsessed with contemporary and blue grass music but is happy to be playing in a festival featuring one of her favorite composers!

Carol Bushell (mezzo soprano), a New Jersey native, began vocal studies at 15, making her debut at Newark’s Arts High School as Mama Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana, the first high school production of an opera in the United States.  Talented in both music and art, Carol graduated with a full scholarship from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.  While continuing vocal studies and developing her repertoire, she relocated to New York City and worked as a graphic designer and art director and performed as a soloist in churches, operatic supper clubs and small regional opera groups.  In subsequent years she appeared in the major mezzo roles and toured nationally in the role of Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutti with the New York Artists Opera Company. Other appearances in the metropolitan New York area include Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Britten’s Noye’s Fludde and Ravel’s Scheherazade songs. In the Hudson Valley area, Carol has appeared as alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah at the West Point Cadet Chapel and also with the Warwick Valley Chorale; with the Orange County Classic Chorale Society in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Beethoven’s Mass in C Major. This is the fifth year that Carol is a choral member and soloist in the Hudson Valley BachFest.  

Elizabeth Leonard Clifton (soprano) began her vocal training while in high school in Baltimore, Maryland and continued her study of voice at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, where she earned a B.A. in Sociology. She holds a master’s degree in social work and is currently training to teach with Mid-Hudson Music Together, an early childhood music program. She has previously performed solos with the Haverford-Bryn Mawr Chorale, The Chamber Singers of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, the Richmond Choral Arts Society, and The Oratorio Society of Charlottesville-Albemarle, and was a member of the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh. She is pleased to be participating in the Hudson Valley BachFest for the first time after having moved to the Hudson Valley last summer. She is also currently a member and concert chair of Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir. Elizabeth lives in Poughkeepsie with her husband, two year-old son, and eight year-old dog. 

Patricia Corby (piano) attended the Juilliard School and then the Manhattan School of Music from 1949 - 1952 as a piano and voice major.  She began teaching in 1950 under the guidance of her mother who had taught at the Walter Damrosch School of Music in the early 1900s.  In 1969, Ms. Corby worked for the Occupational Therapy Department at the Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center until 1994 when she retired.  While there, she completed Bachelors and Masters Degrees and in 1995, began teaching privately again.  Ms. Corby has continued her studies with Dr. Margaret Small and Morris Borenstein.  She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, the American College of Musicians (Guild of Piano Teachers) and The Federation of Music Clubs.

Carole Cowan (violin) is a professor at SUNY New Paltz and conductor of the College/Youth Symphony of the Hudson Valley.  She has been concertmaster of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 1978 and is an active musician, soloist, and teacher.  First violinist of the HVP String Quartet (the quartet-in-residence at SUNY New Paltz), Ms. Cowan has also performed with many chamber musicians, including the Emerson and Alexander string quartets.  She performed for ten summers at the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico.  Her private students have won scholarships and competitions at festivals and conservatories in the United States and abroad.  An alumna of the Aspen Music School, Ms. Cowan has spent thirty summers with the Aspen Music Festival, where she is currently assistant concertmaster of the Aspen Festival Orchestra.  She has recorded on New World Records with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, on Soundspells the works of Meyer Kupferman, and on Albany Records the music of Robert Starer and Henry Martin.  She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale University School of Music.

Ricardo Cox (trumpet) is a busy freelancer and teacher in the New York metropolitan area.  He has performed with several symphony orchestras, including the Long Island Philharmonic, The Ridgefield Symphony and the DiCappo Opera Orchestra.  He has also been a pit musician on Broadway for Fiddler on The Roof, and The Music Man.  Mr. Cox's comfort and versatility with both “classical” and “commercial” music has allowed him several opportunities to perform throughout the country with bands such as Antibalas -an afrobeat group- and kompa practitioners System Band, from Haiti, as well as many salsa and merengue ensembles.   Mr. Cox is currently a candidate for his Doctoral degree in music at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, and has earned both his Master and Bachelor Degrees in Performance from The Mannes College of Music. Alongside his busy performing schedule, Mr. Cox also teaches and mentors young musicians in the New York public schools as a teacher for the Music Advancement Program at Juilliard.

Marcia Gates (flute), principal flutist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 1986, received her music education at the Eastman School of Music and Ithaca College.  An active chamber musician in the Hudson Valley, Ms. Gates is a soloist with the Poné Ensemble and has appeared frequently as soloist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and with the Music in the Mountains Chamber Festival Orchestra throughout its existence from 1982-1998.  Ms. Gates has been selected by the renowned Julius Baker as a soloist and prize winner in his master classes.  In addition to her active role as a performer in the Hudson Valley, Ms. Gates is an instrumental music teachers in the Hyde Park Central School District.

Bonnie Ham (flute) is a freelance flutist in the Hudson Valley area and enjoys teaching her studio of private flute students.  She is also an adjunct faculty member with the music programs at Marist College and SUNY-Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, New York.  Ms. Ham studied with Peter Lloyd, the former principal flutist of the London Symphony, while she earned a Master's degree and Artist's Diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music in the United Kingdom.  She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Louisville.  Ms. Ham recently won second place at the 2007 Myrna Brown Flute Soloist Competition in Texas.  She has also been the 2006 Young Artist winner at the Flute Society of Kentucky Festival and a finalist for the 2005 New York Flute Club Competition.  Ms. Ham has performed Concertos with the USMA Band at West Point and with the University of Louisville Symphony.  In the last few years, she has earned substitute positions with the Catskill Symphony, New World Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Haddonfield Symphony, Greater Newburgh Symphony, and the USMA Band.  Ms. Ham lives in Highland Falls with her husband, euphoniumist Jason Ham, and their calico cat Reese.

Rachel Handman (violin) is a classically trained musician who is currently branching out in many new directions.  She was a founding member of Barebones and Wildflowers, an instrumental group which specialized in acoustic folk and traditional styles. She is a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and freelances extensively throughout the New York region.  She is also a member of the Tourmaline String Quartet, which is in residence with the Ridgefield Symphony.  Ms. Handman has worked professionally as a dancer, singer, and musician in Bernstein's On the Town and in the off-Broadway production of Oil City Symphony.  She has toured Germany, Sweden and Switzerland as a violinist for My Fair Lady.  Ms. Handman has recently returned from South America where she taught violin at a conservatory in La Paz, Bolivia, assisted the National Symphony of Bolivia and concertized with a string quartet. 

Hilary Lynch (flute) performs regularly with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and the Westchester Symphony.  She has given recitals in Paul Hall at Lincoln Center, at Christ and St. Stephen's Church in New York City, and at the Howland Center in Beacon, NY.  Ms. Lynch recently toured with the Zephyros Quintet and performed with the Salzburg Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall with Anne Sophie Mutter. She has spent five summers in Spoleto, Italy playing piccolo with the Festival Orchestra and can be heard on the Chandos recordings of the operas War and Peace, The Saint of Bleecker Street, and a CD of the orchestral works of Giancarlo Menotti.  She was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, a scholarship student at the Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra , an artist-in-residence at the Oundle International Music Festival in England, and a resident musician on the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II.  Ms. Lynch was a scholarship student at The Juilliard School, where she received her Bachelor and Masters degrees.  She is currently pursuing a music therapy degree and has worked with autistic children and people with Alzheimer's Disease.

Patricia R. Maimone (piano, organ) holds a B.A. in organ from Douglass College, Rutgers University, and a Masters in Organ Performance from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Princeton, NJ. She has played for hundreds of concerts, weddings and memorial services in the Hudson Valley since being named Organist and Director of Musical Activities at West Point's Post Chapel in 1975. After retiring from the Post Chapel in 2003,she was appointed Organist and Music Director at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in the Highlands, Cold Spring. In 2004 she joined the staff of adjunct professors of music at SUNY-New Paltz. She served as Dean of the Central Hudson Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists for two two-year terms (1988-90 and 1998-2000) and was appointed District Convener for eight upstate NY AGO chapters in 2001.   Pat has played in the Keyboard  Marathon of all the prior Bach Fests and enjoys singing Bach cantatas, masses and passions as an alto in the HVSM BachFest Choir. She invites members of the audience to contact her at patmai@juno.com regarding the next celebration of Bach's March 21 birthday in Cold Spring.  She is the proud mother of one son, Mark, who wrote the computer software for the MARS Rovers.

Pat Marquez (alto) holds a degree in French from SUNY-Geneseo and owns her own bookkeeping business.  Pat is a member of Kairos: A Consort of Singers (and serves as its Treasurer).  She is also a member of the SUNY-New Paltz College-Community Chorale has sung with Halcyon Singers, the BachFest chamber and concert choirs, the Berkshire Choral Festival and the Orange Classic Choral Society.

William McCann (horn) began his music education at the age of eight with the nationally famed bands of Joliet, Illinois.  He received both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, and served as first horn on a 15-week cultural exchange tour to the former Soviet Union and Middle East in 1961.  While at Michigan, he held the position of Drum Major for five of his six years, culminating in a trip to the Rose Bowl in 1965.  Dr. McCann began his teaching career at Kent State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and in 1968 accepted a position at SUNY New Paltz, where he continues to teach.  As a French horn player, he has been a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 1970, and served as Principal horn for 25 of those years.  He completed his Doctorate in 1974 and was invited to teach horn at Vassar College.  He was featured as horn soloist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic on several occasions and has performed with the Hudson Valley Principal Players in Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall in New York City.  He organized the Century Brass Trio which served on the faculty of the International Chamber Music Institute in Munich, Germany in 1986, and was a recitalist at the International Horn Society Workshop in 1987.  In addition to conducting the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, Dr. McCann was guest conductor of the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra.  He has served as adjudicator for NYSSMA, the All-American State of Liberty Festival, and as Music Director for the Mohonk Octoberfest of Music.

Janet Nelson-Nickerson (organ) resides with her husband, Donald, in New Windsor.  Janet’s piano studies were pursued with the late Margaret Sears Fletcher and William Johnson of Newburgh.  Janet has studied organ privately with Dr. John A. Davis, the late Dr. Thurston Dox, and the late William J. Johnson.  She attended the Guilmant Organ School in New York City where she was a student of the late Dr. George Markey.  Theatre organ techniques and theory were studied under the tutelage of Rosa Rio, New York City.  Ms. Nelson-Nickerson is a graduate of Mount St. Mary College, Newburgh, NY.  She is retired from Orange County Department of Social Services where she served in various capacities before advancing to Case Supervisor in Child Protective Services.  She has operated her organ-piano studio in New Windsor for more than 40 years.  As an NYSMTA certified teacher, she will accept children or adults – elementary through advanced as students.  Ms. Nelson-Nickerson serves as an organist for King of Kings Lutheran Church, New Windsor and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Beacon.  She also serves as an organist for services, funerals and weddings in various churches of the Hudson Valley.

Janice Nimetz (piano) graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a Performer's Certificate in piano.  She also pursued doctoral studies in musicology at NYU.  Her teachers include Adele Marcus, Maria Luisa Faini and Orazio Frugoni.  More recently, she has performed in the master classes of Menachem Pressler in Bloomington, Indiana and at Adamant Music School in Vermont.  Ms. Nimetz has performed solo recitals throughout the Eastern United States and has appeared as a chamber music recitalist with the Quartet of the Hudson Highlands and the Orange Chamber Ensemble.  She was heard as a duettist on WAMC-Radio, Albany, at the four-hand festival in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  Currently, Ms. Nimetz is Instructor of Piano at the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY and is on the piano faculty of the Rockland Conservatory. She also serves as director of music at the Central Valley United Methodist Church and maintains a private studio in Harriman.  As a member of NYSMTA, she is the state lecture forum chair.

Susan Seligman (cello) has been the Principal Cellist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic  since 1984.  She is a member of the HVP String Quartet, now in its 19th year; the piano trio, Innisfree; the Pone Ensemble, a new and American chamber music group;  La Grande Ecurie, an historic instrument ensemble, and the Hudson Consort.  Ms. Seligman was favorably reviewed in the New York Times for her performance in works of Robert Starer in 1999.   During the academic year, Ms. Seligman is on the music faculty of SUNY-New Paltz and teaches cello students at Vassar College and in her private studio as well.  In the summer, she is on the faculty of the Chamber Music Institute at Ithaca College.  Her discography includes CDs on the Albany, Soundspells and Parnassus Record labels. A recording is underway, with  Innisfree, of music of  Henry Martin, including Sonata No. 1 for Solo Cello, written for her by the composer.  (Photo by Michael Gold)

Mary Weybright (viola) holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University.  She works in IBM’s Semiconductor Research and Development Center in East Fishkill.  She figures that is about as far from being a musician as one can get.  Ms. Weybright is a violist in the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra.  She was an active student violinist before college, studying with Bruce Smith of the Detroit Symphony.  She culminated her student career as concertmistress of the Michigan Youth Symphony in 1979-80.  She gradually dropped music while pursuing her engineering degrees but was inspired by her daughter’s passion for the cello to re-discover the violin and learn the viola.

Lauren Berg (violin) is just starting out 9th grade at Heritage Junior High School in the Newburgh School District. She is 14 years old. Her violin accomplishments include All County Junior High orchestra, Allegro orchestra, NYSSMA solo festival and even a few paid gigs with her brother Andrew. Miss Berg is also on the varsity tennis team for Newburgh and enjoys writing stories, drawing and skiing. She plans on joining her brother in debate at school this fall.

Jenna Daly (violin) enjoys school and music very much and her favorite subject is physics. She plays in the pit in the Arlington High School Marching Band and in the coming school year she will be playing percussion in wind ensemble and violin in the Consort and Philharmonia ensembles. Ms. Daly’s private teacher is Charlotte Dinwiddie.  She enjoys listening to music and watching TV. In the future, she plans on studying something involved with math or science.

Kirstin Tiffany Hoops (violin) will be a Sophomore at Arlington High School in the Fall 2007. Since fourth grade, Kirstin has been in private instruction with John Harper. Miss Hoops has played violin (and more recently, viola) in school orchestras, Stringendo, All County, NYSSMA, and Summer Strings, under the direction and tutelage of John Handman, Kim Handman, Rachel Handman, Emily Schaad, Carole Schaad, and Kristina Rizzo. In addition to classical training, she was one of 14 Dutchess County students selected by Emily and Carole Schaad to play with The Strawberry Hills Fiddlers. In the past two years, Miss Hoops has given short solo recitals at Union Vale Middle School and at a resort in Phoenix, AZ, performed in competitions in Kansas City, MO and Hartford, CT, was a member of the opening act for a professional fiddle troupe at UPAC in Kingston, fiddled at benefits and fundraisers at the Cuneen Hackett Theater, Adams Fairacre Farms, and Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, played in pit orchestras for two school musicals, and played first chair in the Honors Quintet at Union Vale Middle School. She hopes to attend Juilliard and perform with the New York Philharmonic.