Amelia Gold
Founding Artistic Director

• Associate Head of School & Director of the Arts, The Elisabeth Morrow School
• Board Member, BergenPAC and NJ Cultural Trust
• Manhattan School of Music Pre-College
• Featured artist on The MyOngaku Suzuki Volume 1 practice companion app
• Student performances at NJPAC, BergenPAC, Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall and have been featured live on the Today Show and on HBO, NY1, ABC, and CBS TV networks
• Performances and programs have been chronicled in “The New York Times,” “The Record,” “The Wall Street Journal,” “The Star-Ledger,” and “(201) Magazine”

Our Instructors

Janey Choi

Janey Choi has performed, taught, and collaborated with artists across the globe, bridging disparate genres and engaging wide-ranging audiences.  Highlights of recent years include regular performances with such groups as the Ardelia Trio, Teaching Artists Ensemble of the NY Philharmonic, substitute concertmaster of “Jagged Little Pill” and Disney’s “Aladdin” on Broadway, on tour with Adele, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder, and her debut as a host of the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts. She is the musical director of Thomas / Ortiz Dance, and co-founder of Music + Art, a series that commissions original artwork inspired by chamber music. Dr. Choi holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin from The Juilliard School, and a doctoral degree from Rutgers University.

ANI KALAYJIAN

Armenian-American cellist Ani Kalayjian enjoys a prolific career as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and educator that has taken her to Japan, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, and throughout Europe and the United States. Ani is the chair of music and artistic director of Carriage House Concerts at the Woman’s Club of Englewood, in Englewood, N.J. She is also the co-artistic director of LYRICA Chamber Music Series in Chatham, N.J., and has launched an international virtual cello festival, “Miss Ani’s Pop-up Cello Workshop” with students from more than 9 countries, including Australia, Kenya, Syria, Lebanon, Brazil, England, and beyond. Ani is the head of the cello department at The Elisabeth Morrow School and on faculty at Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, N.J., and enjoys giving master classes to musicians around the country.

SEOJIN YANG

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. Seojin Yang studied at Yonsei University and won Yonsei University’s concerto competition. Her passion for music moved her to continue her studies, receiving a master’s degree at Mannes College of Music in New York with Marcy Rosen, and a doctoral degree at Rutgers University in New Jersey with Jonathan Spitz. Seojin has performed a solo recital at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and has the title of Artisti International Competition winner. She also performed chamber music with prestigious artists including Arnold Steinhardt. Her achievements are well acknowledged as the assistant principal cellist of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, a former faculty at the Chopin Institute, and the current co-director/chair of the cello section of the NJ Arco Youth Chamber Orchestra. She is currently cello faculty at The Elisabeth Morrow School in N.J.

ISAAC PARK

Isaac Park is a musician, teacher, and performer in New York, New Jersey, and Korea. After receiving a master’s degree in cello performance at the Manhattan School of Music, he began seeking opportunities to bring his music and voice to new areas of music. He teaches cello privately in the New Jersey area and teaches at The Elisabeth Morrow School.

JAMES Kanal

James is a certified Alexander teacher, licensed body mapping educator, violin teacher, and freelance violinist based in the New York metropolitan area. He serves on the faculties of the Elizabeth Faidley Studio, Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, and is also the assistant director of the arts and a violin faculty member at The Elisabeth Morrow School. His violin students have won numerous competitions and performed as soloists with orchestras. James has presented master classes and workshops at numerous schools and organizations including the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Mannes School of Music, Ithaca College, New Jersey City University, Luzerne Music Center, Biennial Andover Educators Conference, and the Suzuki Association of the Americas National Conference. He has also served on the board of the Association for Body Mapping Education.

BRITTANY SKLAR

Brittany Sklar began her studies at age 4 when she was accepted to the PreCollege Division of the Juilliard School and The Curtis Institute of Music. She has won multiple concerto competitions, sponsored by the Gotham Chamber Orchestra, the Long Island Sound Symphony, the NY Lawyers Orchestra, Summit Music Festival, and first prizes in the NJ ASTA and the New Jersey Symphony Young Artists Competition. She additionally won two of The Juilliard Orchestra’s violin competitions which led to multiple orchestra engagements with The New Jersey Symphony and the Omaha Symphony. Sklar was selected to appear on “From the Top,” and was a participant in the New York String Seminar. She has attended the EMS Summer String Festival every year since its start, as a camper, then a counselor, and finally a teacher. In 2009, she joined The Elisabeth Morrow School faculty.

Misako Sato

Misako Sato is an alumnus of the SunHwa School of the Arts where she studied with YangJun Lee. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s in music degrees from Mannes College of Music. She has performed on “Saturday Night Live,” at the United Nations in Korea, and at various chamber orchestras in the New York area. One of Misako’s passions is teaching young students. She believes music education is vital to a well-rounded learning experience. Misako is a certified teacher in Kindermusik as well as the Suzuki Violin Method. She has been on the faculty of Seoul Academy, and Calderone School of Music, and currently teaches violin at The Elisabeth Morrow School and The Thurnauer School of Music.

LORRA BAYLIS

Lorra Baylis began studying the violin at the age of 4 in Greenville, N.C., with distinguished Suzuki professor Joanne Bath. At the age of 9, she began her studies with Elaine Richey. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and received her bachelor’s in violin performance from the University of Houston. She went to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and received her master’s in violin performance. She continued her study of violin pedagogy becoming Zaven Melikian’s assistant in the San Francisco Conservatory Prep Department. Lorra has performed or recorded with Madonna, Harry Connick Jr., Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach, and Elvis Costello. She is a member of the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, the New York Pops, and performs with Encores at City Center and on Broadway. She has been teaching at EMS and the Summer String Festival since 1998.

EVERHARD PAREDES

Everhard Paredes studied in Venezuela with Ruben Cova, Ruben Camacho, and Virginie Robilliard. In 2002, he moved to Europe to study with Habib Kayaleh and received a performance diploma. In 2004, Everhard studied with William de Pasquale and Isaac Malkin. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Everhard has performed as a soloist with Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Chacao Symphony, Venezuelan Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra Celebrate. He has been concertmaster of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, South American Tour, Simon Bolivar Orchestra, and Venezuelan Chamber Orchestra.

SAM MARCHAN

Samuel Marchan holds his bachelor’s in Viola Performance from the Juilliard School and his master’s in Music Performance from New York University. Sam is Suzuki certified, a faculty member at the Kaufman Music Center, and the artistic director at United Children’s Music Project.

CAREY WHITE

Carey White is a violin teacher and artistic director of violin groups at the JCC Thurnauer School of Music, and director of middle school music at Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County. Carey has been part of the EMS Summer String Festival since the very first year! She also conducts the Bergen County chapter of HaZaPrep, a choir under the Zamir Choral Foundation. She currently sings with Mastervoices, under conductor Ted Sperling.  She holds a bachelor’s in Anthropology from Barnard College and trained at The Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division. She has Suzuki certification from The School for Strings, as well as Dalcroze teacher training. For over 10 years, Carey sang as lead singer/violinist in The FunkeyMonkeys. She also played and sang on several albums and played in bands of different genres, from rock to improvisation and bluegrass.

At the EMS Summer String Festival, I had my first experience being a part of a large music community. It was inspiring to be surrounded by students of all levels, student counselors that I looked up to, and passionate teachers. I will never forget how amazing it felt to play Canon D with the whole festival every year. The biggest lesson I took away from my summers at EMS, was that hard work and play could coexist. Ms. Gold and all the other fantastic teachers at the festival always kept us students on our toes and came up with engaging, effective, and fun ways to work on our repertoire.

Natsuko Takashima, EMS Summer String Festival Alumna
Japanese-American violinist Natsuko Takashima is an interim principal second violinist in the Louisville Orchestra in Louisville, Ky, and holds a section violin position at the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, Colo.

Past EMS Summer String Festival Music Faculty

Lorra Baylis, Charlene Bishop, Janey Choi, Will Curry, Alex Diaz, Wayne du Maine, Nora Friedman, Ray Iwazumi, Ani Kalayjian, James Kanal, Dena Levine, Sam Marchan, Everhard Paredes, Isaac Park, Cesar Rodriguez, Misako Sato, Brittany Sklar, Terrence Thornhill, Carey White, and Seojin Yang

Contact the Summer String Festival

Email summerstringfestival@elisabethmorrow.org, or call 201-568-5566, ext. 7111