What is FL-ASTA?
Florida ASTA is the Florida chapter of a national organization, The American String Teachers Association (ASTA).
ASTA is a non-profit organization devoted to enhancing the future of string teaching and playing in the United States; by increasing the amount of string teachers. Fortifying this commitment to the string community, ASTA has introduced many programs, services and foundations throughout the years. Among these outlets include the National String Project Consortium; assisting universities in enhancing the training of string music education majors. Therefore producing qualified string teachers for private and especially public schools.
ASTA has also developed programs for professional development and instrument and bow outreach for schools, studios, and students in need. More recently, ASTA developed The National Foundation to Promote String Teaching and Playing. This segment executes grants, awards, and competitions enriching the quality of string education. In addition to advancing string education and performance throughout America, it fosters a variety of projects around the world. ASTA keeps thousands of string educators connected through The American String Teacher, a quarterly journal that keeps ASTA members informed on the latest news on teaching, products, and the string community as a whole. For more information about ASTA please visit www.astaweb.com.
Officers
Melissa Lesniak, President
Dr. Melissa Lesniak received her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Business minor from Indiana University in Bloomington where she studied with Mimi Zweig. In 2005, she received her PhD in Music Education from the University of Miami, where she was a teaching assistant, teaching String Techniques and Elementary String Classes. She also coordinated the first and second annual Extraordinary Strings High School Chamber Music Festival at UM Frost School of Music.
Dr. Lesniak has presented sessions on string pedagogy at ASTA National Conferences and FMEA Conferences and has also had articles published in Florida Music Director, American String Teacher, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. She has also participated in numerous music festivals, including the Henri Mancini Institute in Los Angeles, CA. She is also a regular performer and studio violin/viola teacher in South Florida.
In 2004, Dr. Lesniak joined the Greater Miami Youth Symphony (GMYS) as the Concert Orchestra conductor. In August 2005, she became the first Executive Director for GMYS. Dr. Lesniak wears several hats at the youth symphony which include: Concert Orchestra conductor, chamber ensemble coach, beginning string class instructor, grant-writing and grant compliance, and overall administration of the organization as well as the summer camp. Under her direction, the organization grew from 150 students to over 400 students, largely through grant funds that were received to support free beginning string classes throughout Miami-Dade County, as well as the organization's first summer camp. The camp was offered June–August 2007 for only $50 per 3-week session, due to substantial funding received from both The Children's Trust and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Benjamin Salsbury, President Elect/Webmaster
Benjamin T. Salsbury is Adjunct String Faculty a Palm Beach Atlantic University. Born in Palo Alto, California, Salsbury received a B.M. in cello performance from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a M.M. from the University of Miami, where he was the cello teaching assistant. Salsbury is a member of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra and has performed with the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra, the Miami Symphony, the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Miami Bach Society, the North Miami Beach Symphony, the Boca Pops Orchestra, the Palm Beach Pops, the Greater Palm Beach Symphony, Atlantic Classical Orchestra, and the Naples Philharmonic. Salsbury also performs regularly as a member of the South Florida based Trillium Piano Trio with Suzanne Walter-Geissler, violin, and Yoko Sata-Kothari, piano.
A strong believer in the values of music education, he currently teaches at Belvedere Elementary School in West Palm Beach and has taught for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, Cazadero Performing Arts Camp, the Peninsula Youth Symphony, the Youth Orchestra of Florida, Strings for Kids at the University of Miami, Westminster Christian School, and Palmer Trinity School, as well as maintaining a studio at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He is also a registered Suzuki teacher and is on the faculty of the Palm Beach Suzuki School of Music. Salsbury was co-founder and Artistic Director of the Clarke Chamber Players, a student based Chamber Music Society at the University of Miami and has served as a music critic for the Coral Gables Gazette. His performing has taken him all over the globe including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South America, China, Japan, France, Spain, Italy, and Sweden.
Laura Wilcox, Secretary/Membership
Canadian-American violist/violinist,Laura Wilcox has collaborated in many crossover ventures with artists and composers from North America, Asia, Europe, Central and South America. Laura is a founding artist of The Deering Estate Chamber Ensemble and the Music Director of The Deering Estate Living Artist Concert Series, a collaborative concert series held at the 444-acre Deering Estate at Cutler (an archeological, architectural, environmental and historical preserve) located along the shores of Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. Having received awards from the Canada Council, the Chalmers Foundation, the Ontario Arts Council, MetLife Foundation and the American String Teachers Association, Laura has performed as a chamber musician and soloist throughout the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. She studied at McGill University in Montréal where she received the Concert Diploma with distinction. Her recordings of Schubert, Feld, Ligeti, Schumann, and Cage are all on the SNE label. Committed to both performing rarely heard masterpieces along with classics and new works, Laura also has a love and interest in teaching new generations of young musicians. Currently active as a teacher and chamber music coach for the Greater Miami Youth Symphony and string programs in South Florida she also records and performs with her husband, Jose R. Lopez (Coordinator of Keyboard studies at Florida International University-School of Music and a founding member of the Deering Estate Chamber Ensemble). Both Jose and Laura live in Southwest Miami-Dade County with their three rescue dogs, Johannes, Clara, and Flory (Florestan).
Valerie Arsenault,Treasurer
Valerie Prebys Arsenault is the Music Director of the Tallahassee Bach Parley, a principal player and soloist with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, a member of the Tallahassee Symphony and has performed and recorded with the Apollo Ensemble (NY) and Apollo's Fire. She has earned degrees from the New England Conservatory (BM), the Indiana University School of Music (MM, Early Music), and the Florida State University College of Music (DM). As Visiting Assistant Professor at Florida State University she directs the Baroque Ensemble (on period instruments) and the Irish Ensemble. She also maintains a thriving private violin studio of students of all ages at Cavatina Music Studios. In their spare time she and her husband Brian are avid Irish fiddlers, and their band, The Ned Devines, recently released their first CD "Out Late" as a benefit and to date has raised over $6,000 for the Tallahassee Homeless Shelter.
Nancy Beebe, Past President/Annual Breakfast Chair
Nancy Beebe, a National Board Certified Teacher, has twenty three years of teaching experience. This is her 11th year as the String Director at the Bak Middle School of the Arts in Palm Beach County where she conducts three levels of string orchestras, teaches theory and an eighth grade chamber ensemble class. A native of Berea, Ohio, Mrs. Beebe received her Bachelor of Music from Bowling Green State University where she studied cello under Dr. Alan Smith. Prior to teaching at the Bak Middle School of the Arts, she taught elementary music for nine years at Wellington Elementary and one year at Manatee Elementary to over 500 students a week. In addition, she initiated and directed successful after school string programs at both of these schools. Before coming to Florida, Mrs. Beebe was the Music Director at a Private Academy in Parma Heights, Ohio, as well as a Conductor for a Youth Orchestra.
Mrs. Beebe is a cellist and a member of a string trio. She has performed at various local venues including Mara Lago, the Breakers and the Kravis Center. She has performed in Master Classes for Nathaniel Rosen and Gordon Epperson. Mrs. Beebe is a board member, music committee member and adjudicator for the Florida Orchestra Association. For the last six years, she has been actively involved with South Florida's Cellobration. Two years ago, Mrs. Beebe hosted a Cellobration and Master Class for cellists of all ages at Bak Middle School of the Arts. In addition, she has hosted and organized the annual Palm Beach County String Festival for the last eight years.
Mrs. Beebe has been nominated twice for the Palm Beach County Economic Council William T. Dwyer Awards for Exellence in Education. Two years ago she was a finalist. In November 2005, Mrs. Beebe was the recipient of the Music Teacher of the Year Award by the Palm Beach County Youth Orchestra. Recently, Mrs. Beebe has been selected as a candidate for the 2007 Who's Who of American Women.
Under Mrs. Beebe's tutelage, the Advanced String Orchestra at the Bak Middle School of the Arts has received straight superior ratings for 10 consecutive years at the Florida Orchestra Association's Music Performance Assessments. This group has also received superior ratings, high acclaim from adjudicators, and first place awards at National and International high school festivals and competitions. Under Mrs. Beebe's directorship, the musicians in this group have had the honor of performing at Symphony Hall in Boston, The Royal Academy of Music in London, and Orchestra Hall in Chicago through the Heritage Festival. Over the last four years, this group has produced four compact discs. Many requests are made throughout the school year for student quartet performances within the Community and School Board.
Chairs
Cathy McConnell, Awards Chair
Catherine McConnell is the orchestra director at Ransom Middle School and Tate High School in Cantonment, Florida, where the string programs have grown every year under her direction. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in music education with a strings proficiency from Bob Jones University. She has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. This is her 12th year teaching music in Escambia County, Florida. She has directed the district’s middle school youth orchestra, and now is one of the directors of the high school Escambia County Youth Orchestra. She is currently the Fine Arts team leader at Ransom Middle School and is an active member of MENC, FMEA, FOA, and ASTA.
Claudio Jaffé, Cellobration Chair
Claudio Jaffé began his cello studies at the age of seven, giving his first public concert at the age of eleven. At fifteen, the distinguished professor of cello Aldo Parisot invited him to study at Yale University, where Mr. Jaffé earned his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees. Mr. Jaffé also trained with great masters of the cello including Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, and Paul Tortelier. Mr. Jaffé received recognition early in his career as the winner of the Villa-Lobos International Cello Competition, winner of the East and West Young Artists Competition that awarded him a solo recital at Carnegie Recital Hall, and winner of several symphony orchestra competitions where he was subsequently invited as soloist.
Claudio Jaffé has performed in musicals such as The Lion King and Aida, and in concerts with Barry Gibb, Josh Groban, Ray Charles, Johnny Mathis, Chuck Mangione, Bernadette Peters, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Plácido Domingo, Jose Carreras, and many others. Claudio Jaffé has been the resident conductor of the Florida Youth Orchestra since 1993. His many recordings include a solo CD, a solo recording for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, and collaborations with classical musicians such as the Yale Cellos, oboist John Dee, and trombonist Mark Hetzler of the Empire Brass. Mr. Jaffé has performed in albums for Gloria Estefan, Michael Jackson, Jon Secada, and Michael Bolton, to name just a few.
As an educator, Mr. Jaffé began his private cello studio at the age of fourteen. He was the string professor at Florida Atlantic University and has taught college courses in Music History, Theory and Music Education. He created and was director of 2,000 Strings, a private heterogeneous string school for students of all ages. He created and began the Music Preparatory program and the Pine Tree Music Camp at Lynn University where he was director of both for five years and Dean of the Conservatory of Music for four years. Dr. Jaffé is currently Strings Instructor and Orchestra Director at Saint Andrew's School in Boca Raton, FL, as well as Resident Conductor with the Florida Youth Orchestra.
Jody Atwood, Historian/Communications/Newsletter
Jody Atwood, eight years retired from 20 years in the music publishing business, keeps busy with chamber music and orchestral performances, along with assisting the Florida Cello Club, FLASTA, and South Florida's Cellobration, the International Society of Bassists biannual conventions, and editing an occasional manuscript. She has taught elementary school, university level, and studio music classes, and holds masters' degrees in business, cello, and music education. She served three years as the music chair for the Town of Miami Lakes Cultural Affairs Committee; two terms as FL-ASTA president; was editor of the American String Teacher journal, 1983–1994; and served a term as board president of both the Alhambra and Ars Flores Orchestras in south Florida. She is a Life Member of ASTA.
Barbara Cripe, Certificate Chair
Barbara Cripe is a native of Lexington, Kentucky and is a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She has taught school in Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan. As a private teacher she has taught private violin lessons around the world. A violinist, she has been a member of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, and on the staff of Blue Lake Fine Arts camp in Twin Lake, Michigan. While on staff at Blue Lake, she traveled with the International Orchestra to Europe. This orchestra played on Dutch Television and for the King of Sweden and other dignitaries.
Pamela McConnell, National High School Honors Orchestra Chair
Pamela McConnell (Professor of Viola at the University of Miami, Florida), is recognized as a concert violist, an adjudicator and master teacher. She has recently gained notoriety as a result of her arrangements for String quartet of the much loved orchestral works, Saint Seans' Carnival of the Animals, and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. She has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout North and South America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, Japan, and Korea, and in the United States at such prestigious venues as the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Gardner Museum of Boston, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh, and Kleinhans Hall in Buffalo. She has been a member of the faculties of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the State University of New York at Buffalo, where, as a member of the Rowe Quartet, she shared a Peabody Award. McConnell is the founding violist in the Bergonzi String Quartet, the quartet in residence at the University of Miami Frost School of Music in Coral Gables, Florida, the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Upper Peninsula Michigan, Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut, Rocky Mountain Music Conservatory in Colorado. She has also been a resident faculty performer at Sewanee Summer Music Center in Tennessee and Bowdoin Music Festival in Maine. She serves as Coordinator of String Chamber Music at the University of Miami. She is Founder and Director of The University of Miami String Academy, a preparatory department at the Frost School of Music. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and an M.M. degree from the University of Texas at Austin, studying under such luminaries as Walter Trampler, Leonard Shure, George Neikrug, and Andor Toth. Ms. McConnell can be heard on the Orion, Fleur de son, Naxos, Living Artist, Audiofon, and Centaur labels.
Information about the NHSHO can be found on the national ASTA website.
Simon Shiao, National Solo Competition Chair
Dr. Simon Shiao is the Gerson Yessin Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. A versatile performer, he holds the distinction of having performed at Carnegie Hall in three different capacities; as a recitalist, and with both string quartet and orchestra.
At the University of North Florida, he teaches violin and viola and is the Director of Orchestral Studies. He has adjudicated the Music Teachers’ National Association Young Artist Competitions, and has presented lecture-recitals and master classes at numerous universities and conservatories in the U.S., Belize, and Taiwan.
Glenn Basham, Alternative Styles Chair
Glenn Basham has been a member of the artist faculty at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami since 1992 and the concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra since 1994. He also serves as the first violinist in the Bergonzi String Quartet, which is the quartet-in-residence at the Frost School of Music. Glenn Basham is a native of Washington D.C., has a B.M. degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts and an M.M. degree from Indiana University. Previously, he played with the Detroit Symphony under Antal Dorati and was a member of the Chester String Quartet. He has served as Concertmaster at music festivals nationwide, including the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming, the Colorado Music Festival, the Hot Springs Music Festival, and the Pine Mountain Music Festival. He has appeared as soloist with the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic, the Lansing Symphony, the Plymouth Symphony, the Oak Park Symphony, the North Carolina School of the Arts Festival Orchestra, the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra, the Manchester Symphony, the Marion Philharmonic, the Palm Beach Symphony, the Miami City Ballet, the Pine Mountain Music Festival Symphony orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. As a jazz musician, Glenn has performed with Ira Sullivan, Simon Salz, and John Blake, and is featured on the Miami Saxophone Quartet's recordings,“Four More Giant Steps” and on Skitch Henderson's "Swinging with Strings" on the Arbors jazz label. He has produced two jazz CDs, "Blue Moon" and "Blue Bossa," from a live concert given back in 2005 with Guitarist Simon Salz.
Audrey Pilafian, Private Studio Chair
Audrey Pilafian, cellist, received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Education degrees from the University of Miami. She has performed locally in various orchestras and chamber music groups and as soloist for many community concerts.
Mrs. Pilafian, a retired teacher of 33 years from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, taught the last 17 years in the gifted program. Currently she teaches 35 private students at her Cello Instruction home studio. Many of her students participate in community youth orchestras and have held first chair seats at various levels. Also, many have achieved placement in Miami-Dade County Honors Orchestra and Florida All-State Orchestras. Over the years, her students have performed as soloists with their school orchestras and as soloists at Master Classes for "Cellobration" audiences. They have won first place awards for cello solos and ensemble entries at the annual Miami-Dade County Youth Fair for Performing Arts.
Mrs. Pilafian, also employed for the past 15 years as an adjunct supervisor at Florida International University for student teachers in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She is listed in the 2006–2008 editions of Who's Who in America and Who's Who of American Women. She is an active member of ASTA, MENC, SAA, Sigma Alpha Iota, and Alpha Delta Kappa.
Nick Curry, North Region Special Projects Grant Chair
Dr. Nick Curry is cello professor at the University of North Florida. At UNF, he plays in Trio Florida with violinist Simon Shiao and pianist Gary Smart. Before this appointment, he was the professor of cello and the cellist in the Rawlins Piano Trio at the University of South Dakota.
Nick has played concerts in Taiwan and all over the US. He has judged many contests including South Dakota and Florida All-State and parts of the MTNA and ASTA string competitions. He has presented at the CMS National Conference as well as at MTNA.
In April of 2006, he performed as a soloist on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion where he played the 460-year-old King Amati cello. The performance was heard by over 4,000 people live and by approximately 4 million on radio.
Nick was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he studied cello with David Starkweather from the University of Georgia. He received his bachelors of music from Vanderbilt, where he studied with Grace Mihi Bahng. At Northwestern University, he studied with Hand Jorgen Jensen and earned his masters and doctoral degrees. He also was the teaching assistant to Professor Jensen at the Meadowmount School of Music for four summers, and taught two summers at the Triada Music Festival.
While at Northwestern, Nick soloed with the Northwestern Philharmonic Orchestra and won the Northwestern Chamber Music Competition. Nick has played in master classes for Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirschbaum, Paul Katz, David Geber, the Emerson String Quartet, the Pacifica String Quartet, and the Blair String Quartet. Private studies have also included Harvey Shapiro, David Finckel, and John Kochanowski.
Tinder Burris, South Region Special Projects Chair
Tinder Burris is an experienced and accomplished musician and string educator. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance and a Master’s degree in Music Education, both from the University of Miami. She began her public school teaching career in Miami-Dade County Public Schools in 1984 and currently is director of the magnet orchestra program at Southwood Middle School Center for the Arts. In 2002, she was awarded “National Board Certified Teacher” in Early and Middle Childhood Music. She is also on the faculty of the Greater Miami Youth Symphony as teacher of the cello preparatory class and cello section coach. In 2001, she created one of the State of Florida’s only mandolin orchestras at South Miami Elementary School Expressive Arts Center with a collection of 40 modern and antique mandolins, mandolas and mandocellos. This ensemble gained notoriety as musicians capable of performing on traditional stringed instruments and mandolins. As a result they were selected to be guest musicians at Florida Music Educator’s Association annual clinic/conference in Tampa, Florida for three years in a row. She is the proud Mother of two daughters, Sara and Claire and lives in South Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Adam Michlin, Advocacy Chair
Adam Michlin began his career with working for many years as a professional woodwind doubler based in the San Francisco Bay Area and has performed with a wide array of organizations including the Monterey Symphony, the California Symphony and the American Musical Theatre, San Jose as well as artists such as Melissa Manchester, John Pizzarelli, and The Manhattan Transfer. His work as a copyist and editor has been published by Phil Woods/Musique DuBois and Alan Shulman/Kalmus-Music Masters.
Receiving his Masters of Arts in Music Composition from California State University, Hayward while studying with Jeffrey Miller in 2005, his work as a composer has been directed towards writing pedagogical music for young players and ensembles. His viola and string pedagogy studies include work with Craig Mumm, Associate Principal Violist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Monica Biacchi, Assistant Principal Violist of the Naples Philharmonic. He currently serves as the Director of Orchestras at Barron Collier High School and Naples High School and Director of the Choruses at Naples High School.
