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
Dr. Sarah Bish
Dr. Sarah Bish made her solo debut in 2008, performing with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic after winning first prize in the Virtuoso-in-Progress Concerto Competition. She has earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance from Rutgers University, a Master of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). Interested in performing a variety of musical genres, Sarah has made appearances at festivals such as the June in Buffalo Performance Institute for new music, the Chautauqua Institute, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and is an alumna of the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop. Her principal teachers include Astrid Schween, Jonathan Spitz, Merry Peckham, and Madeleine Golz. An avid cello teacher, Sarah is certified in the complete Suzuki Cello Method by the Suzuki Association of the Americas. She is currently the Chair of the Cello Department at the Thurnauer School of Music in Tenafly, New Jersey, and on the cello and chamber music faculty at the Luzerne Music Center summer festival. Passionate about pedagogy, Sarah focused on historical pedagogy for her doctoral project, a dissertation and lecture-recital on the French cellist and pedagogue Jean-Baptiste Bréval, a member of the French cello school of the late eighteenth century. She is continuing this research by making accessible recordings and scores of his pedagogical works for students.
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 Kanal is a certified Alexander technique teacher, licensed body mapping educator and training mentor, and Suzuki violin teacher based in the New York metropolitan area. He is the assistant director of the arts at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, N.J., and maintains a private studio in Montclair, N.J., working in-person and remotely with emerging artists, performers, and teachers. James has presented masterclasses and workshops at numerous schools and organizations, including the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Mannes School of Music, Ithaca College, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Luzerne Music Center, the Biennial Association for Body Mapping Education 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.
Counselor Application
Prospective Counselors: Please fill out an application. The deadline to apply for Summer 2026 is Monday, April 6, 2026. Any applications received after this date will be considered on a rolling basis.
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