Patrick Clifford

Department Chair for PBA Preparatory Department and Director of PBA College of the Arts Summer Intensive Program.

Mr. Clifford began his violin studies at age six. He received his BM in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and his MM in violin performance from the University of Miami. His teachers include Daniel Majeske, Stephen Majeske, David Cerone, David Updegraff and Glenn Basham. Clifford was principal second violin in the National Chamber Players, and has performed with the North Carolina Symphony, the Knoxville Symphony, the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic. He has performed as a soloist throughout South and Central America and continues to perform solo and chamber music recitals here in south Florida. He is currently an assistant professor of violin and viola at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where his position includes being the Director of the Preparatory Department and the concertmaster of the Palm Beach Atlantic Symphony.

PIANO

Rev. Dr. Erikson Rojas has given numerous solo and chamber performances in U.S., Europe, and Latin America, including eight appearances at Carnegie Hall. In each case he has also been featured as soloist with orchestra. The winner of various competitions, Dr. Rojas is honored to have been one of five Americans and the only Hispanic in 30 pianists selected world-wide for the Cleveland International Piano Competition. An alumnus of Rutgers University (D.M.A.), Peabody Institute (M.M., G.P.D.), Curtis Institute and Cairn University (B.M., B.S.), his primary teachers include Leon Fleisher, Samuel Hsu, Eleanor Sokoloff, Min Kwon and Juilliard’s Martin Canin. Other lessons and masterclasses were with Claude Frank, Gary Graffman, Seymour Lipkin, Jerome Lowenthal, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, John Perry, Ilana Vered, Sasha Starcevich, Pavlina Dokovska, Susan Starr, and Jorge Luis Prats. He is on faculty at Palm Beach Atlantic University and Csehy Summer School of Music. He also serves as Pianist of the Choral Society of the Palm Beaches and as Music Minister and Organist at Royal Palm Presbyterian Church and Grace Community Church in Southeast Florida, where he resides with his wife Diandra.

STRINGS

Glenn Basham received a B.M. degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts and an M.M. degree from Indiana University. Currently in his fourteenth season as the concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic, Basham has served as the concertmaster of the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic and at many music festivals nationwide, and 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, and the Palm Beach Symphony. As a jazz player, Basham recently performed with Ira Sullivan, Simon Salz, and John Blake, and is featured on the Miami Saxophone Quartet’s recording called “Four More Giant Steps”. The first violinist of the Bergonzi String Quartet, Basham has released a compact disc on the Fleur De Son Classics label featuring the music of Ginastera, Debussy, and Wolff, and together with his colleagues in the Bergonzi Quartet, appears on no fewer than three CDs featuring the music of Mendelssohn, Charles Cadman, and Dennis Kam. In 2001, he was appointed to the editorial committee of American String Teacher, and was invited to serve as a panelist to the 2001 International Association of Jazz Educators convention in New York City. His new compact disc “Aria”, with pianist Jodie DeSalvo, will be released in 2006.

Mr. Goering has continued to perform for audiences. He was recently featured in the Artists of Tomorrow’s program at the Bowdoin International Music Festival.  He premiered Noam Faingold’s Prelude for Cello and Piano with Daniel Rorke and also performed music of Shostakovich.  Music festivals are an important part of Joe’s life and include appearances at Meadowmount, Encore, Bowdoin, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, Domaine Forget, Atlantic Music Festival and Toronto Summer Music Festival.  He has performed publicly with acclaimed string musicians like Paul Coletti, Pedja Muzijevic, David Hetherington, David Louie, and Jonathan Crow.

Joe has a Bachelor and Masters degree from Lynn Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. He also holds a Performance Certificate from Mount Royal Academy and an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School of Music at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada where he studied with John Kadz and Desmond Hoebig.

Alan Harrell, adjunct professor of cello, has been a member of the Cleveland Orchestra since 1995. He attended the University of Alabama where he graduated Summa cum laude and was named one of the university’s most outstanding undergraduate scholars. He received his Masters degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and was awarded its 1994 Cello Prize. Mr. Harrell has been the winner of numerous competitions, including the Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship, the top prize at the Birmingham Music Clubs, the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs, and the MTNA National Scholarship. He has performed with the Virginia Symphony, Sir Georg Solti’s Carnegie Hall Project, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Tuscaloosa Symphony. In 1998, Mr. Harrell was given the Alabama Society for the Fine Arts Emerging Artist Award. His principal teachers have been Hans Schmettau, Carlton McCreery, and Stephen Geber.

Dr. Claudio Jaffé has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls around the world, including the Weill Recital Hall, in New York City; the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires; Sociedade Cultura Artistica in São Paulo; Wigmore Hall in London; and Suntory Hall in Tokyo;  At the age of 18, he made his first appearance as a soloist with a major symphony orchestra. He was a semi-finalist in major International competitions including the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, Russia; the Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Florence, Italy; the Naumburg Competition in New York; the Maria Canals International Competition in Barcelona, Spain; and the Viña del Mar International Music Competition in Chile. Jaffé was also selected as Musical America’s Young Artists of 1987. He was a faculty member at Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University, and for 4 years served as Dean of the Conservatory of Music at Lynn University.

Stanley Konopka has been a member of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1991; he was appointed assistant principal viola in 1993. He received aUndergraduate Diploma from CIM. He is a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Former teachers include David Holland, Milton Preves and Robert Vernon. Mr. Konopka is also a faculty member for the ENCORE School for Strings. He has performed with Myriad, a local chamber ensemble, and at chamber music festivals including Banff, Taos, Pensacola and Lakes, with a number of the concerts being broadcast live on National Public Radio. He has performed as soloist on numerous occasions with the orchestras of Interlochen, CIM, NRO, Masterworks Festival, and The Cleveland Orchestra. He has recorded chamber music with Telarc and, as a composer, has won an award from BMI. He has also written and arranged pieces for the orchestras of Interlochen and Contemporary Youth Orchestra. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1995.

Kelsey Lin was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her love of music began at a very early age when she begged her mother to take her to cello lessons. Eventually she traded in her cello for a much smaller instrument, the violin. Over the years Kelsey participated in many music festivals such as the Florida State University Summer Music Camps, Brevard Summer Music Festival, Indiana University Summer String Academy, and Domaine Forget Summer Music Festival. During those festivals Kelsey studied violin with Austin Hartman violinist in the former BiavaQuartet, Helmut Lipsky violin professor at the University of Montreal, and Marie Berard, violin professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. During these festivals Kelsey also participated in ensemble practice. At Brevard she was placed as the principal violinist of the Transylvania Symphony Orchestra, and was also placed in the elite Il Solistigroup. She participated in many string ensembles receiving instructions from the Biava String Quartet and the Nash String Quartet. Kelsey has also been asked to play in many master classes with great violinists Oleh Krysa, Regis Pasquier, Elmar Oliveira, and Mimi Zweig. While attending high school at A.W. Dreyfoos Jr. High School of the Arts, Kelsey was selected to play in the Florida All-State Orchestra for three consecutive years. She also soloed with her high school orchestra and was concertmaster on occasion.

Belen Clifford began studying the violin at age eight, attending the Manuel Saumell Conservatory and studying with Alla Taran. At age thirteen Belen was accepted to the Esteban Salas Conservatory in Santiago de Cuba. She completed her studies there receiving the certificate of performer/professor of violin and viola. During this time she competed nationally in the Amadeo Roldan Competition and was awarded first prize, second prize, and two honorable mentions. She was also a member of the Symphony Orchestra of Santiago de Cuba. She then entered the Institute of Fine Arts in Havana where she completed her studies in violin performance. While in Havana she was a member of the Camerata Brindis de Salas and the National Symphony Orchestra first violin section. She holds a BM in Violin Performance from the University of Miami. She has performed as a member with the Miami City Ballet Orchestra, the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra, the Boca Pops, and was a per service member of the Naples Philharmonic. She also is second violinist in Quartteto Stringendo, the quartet-in-residence at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

Renata Guitart began her musical education in Manuel Saumell Conservatory when she was 8 years old with Ala Taran, a teacher from the Ukraine. Miss Guitart graduated High School from the Esteban Salas Conservatory in Santiago de Cuba, where she earned the Teacher and Player of Violin Certificate in 1989. She was then awarded a full scholarship to continue her studies in the Higher Institute of Arts in Havana. Miss Guitart participated in Competitions within the Santiago de Cuba winning the 3rd Prize in 1984 and the 2nd Prize in 1987. She also won the 3rd Prize in the National Competition in 1987. Renata has been playing in professional orchestras since she was 14 years old. She toured the country with the Easter Symphony Orchestra. From 1992 – 1995 she was concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba as well as a member of the prestgious Camerata Brindis de Salas Chamber Orchestra. In 1994 she toured Spain with performing also in the Autumm Festival of Madrid. She holds a BM in both Violin and Viola Performance. She studied with Glenn Basham, Robert Rozek and Pamela McConnell. She has performed with the Boca Pops Orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic, Symphony of the Americas, and the Miami Symphony with which she performed in Carnegie Hall.

Jun-Ching Lin was born in Taipei, Taiwan and grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied with Sara Scriven, Roman Totenberg, and Robert Koff through high school. At the age of nine, Jun-Ching debuted with the New Hampshire Philharmonic. Subsequent appearances included performances with the Boston Pops and many recitals in the Boston area. His high school years culminated in his being named one of the first Presidential Scholars in the Arts. He continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. His teachers included Jascha Brodsky, David Cerone, and Ivan Galamian. He then went on to complete a Master’s Degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music. While in graduate school Mr. Lin participated in the Indianapolis, Montreal, and Naumberg International Violin Competitions. After a year as concertmaster of the Augusta Symphony, he assumed his present position of Assistant Concertmaster in the Atlanta Symphony. Mr. Lin is also an affiliate artist at Emory University, a member of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta, and plays violin and viola with the new music ensemble Thamyris. He maintains a private teaching studio and spends part of each summer teaching at Encore School for Strings, Stringendo School For Strings as well as Franklin Pond Chamber Music. 

Carol Ou was the recipient of the 1998 Outstanding Young Woman of America Award and a top prize winner in the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Praised by The Republic and the Strad Magazine for her “astounding tone and pitch” and her “wonderfully pure cello tone and incisive technique,” she has also garnered praises from the China Times, which calls her “a magician on the cello.” A native of Taiwan, Ou came to the United States when she was 10 and began studying the cello with Gretchen Geber in Los Angeles. Since then, she has studied with Ronald Leonard, Janos Starker and Aldo Parisot. A graduate of Yale University, Miss Ou received her B.A. magna cum laude from Yale College, and her M.M. and DMA from the Yale School of Music. She is currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and is the director of chamber music and orchestral studies at Gordon College. A versatile artist, Ou has given numerous recitals and concerto performances in cities across the United States and Europe. She has soloed with the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Contemporary Ensemble of Taipei, the Taipei District Symphony Orchestra, the Boulder Philharmonic, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Jupiter Symphony in New York. With the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, she recently replaced the cellist of the Eroica Trio in a stellar performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto. During the last few years, the Chi-Mei Foundation in Taiwan has released 3 solo cello CDs recorded by Ou. The first contains 17 encore pieces, the second, Haydn’s D Major Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, and the third includes Elgar’s Cello Concerto and other romantic works for cello and orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Ou frequently performs with her husband, violinist, James Buswell and often collaborates with other celebrated artists such as Midori, members of the Juilliard and Cleveland String Quartets, members of the Eroica Trio, Andras Schiff and Richard Goode. In recent years, she has appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Summerfest La Jolla, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, New Zealand Music Festival, Musicorda and Aria. With her husband, Ou recorded the chamber works of Walter Piston for Naxos Records. This CD was awarded the Best Chamber Music CD of 2001 prize by the Musical America Magazine and by WQXR in New York.

For her college years, Susan continued her education at Palm Beach Atlantic University where she received a degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Music.  During these years, Susan studied classically with Patrick Clifford.

After graduation, Susan was presented with the unique opportunity to tour, record, and perform with the rock group, ‘Dashboard Confessional’.  For 3 years, Susan toured all over the states, Canada, and Australia, playing electric violin.  She also accompanied the group during performances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’brien, and The Today Show.  Her time with the band culminated in a sold out show at Madison Square Gardens in NYC, which was filmed for a PBS special.

VOCAL

Mark Aliapoulios, baritone, made his concert debut at the age of 25 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Seiji Ozawa.  Since then he has performed as soloist with numerous organizations around the world including the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Vermont Symphony, the Shinsei Nippon Symphony (Japan), the Symphonic Orchestra of Belgrade Radio/Television (Yugoslavia), the Handel and Haydn Society, the Mark Morris Dance Company, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Longwood Symphony, as well as the Opera Company of Boston, the Boston Lyric Opera, Palm Beach Opera, the Miami Bach Society and the Florida Philharmonic Chorus. As a soloist, he has sung under the batons of leading international conductors Leonard Slatkin, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Mazur, Eric Leinsdorf, Lucas Foss, Sarah Caldwell, Jonathan McPhee, Jaime Laredo and Robert Shaw.  In the traditional opera repertoire, he has sung leading roles in Madama Butterfly, Der Freishütz, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Dialogues des Carmélites, Der Fledermaus, and Werther. Mark is both a professor of voice and Associate Dean for the PBA College of the Arts.

Marilyn Mims debuted during the 1987-88 season as leading lady with the New York City Opera in La Traviata, at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York in Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable, and with the Metropolitan Opera in Die Fledermaus. During the next seven seasons she sang seven major roles at the Metropolitan Opera (Violetta, Fiordiligi, Konstanze, Gilda, Lucia, Rosalinde, and Donna Anna) including two live Saturday afternoon broadcasts as Violetta and Fiordiligi, with James Levine conducting. Her performance of Ortlinde in Levine’s recording of Wagner’s Die Walküre earned her a “Grammy” Award. Her career as a professional operatic soprano included appearances with major opera companies and orchestras spanning five continents including major appearances with San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Grand Theatre of Geneva, Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, Canadian Opera, and the New Israeli Opera. At Palm Beach Atlantic she teaches voice and is producing director of the Opera Workshop program.

Sonia Santiago As an accomplished voice instructor, she emphasizes vocal freedom through healthy vocal technique in all genres.  This carries through to her work with ensembles and choirs throughout the state.  Her services as a vocal clinician, conductor, and adjudicator are in great demand throughout Florida and the southeastern United States. Mrs. Santiago currently serves as Adjunct Instructor of Voice and Popular Music at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL, where she teaches voice to music majors of various disciplines and directs the Pop Vocal Ensemble. She holds a BA in music education from the University of Florida, and a MM in vocal performance from Florida State University.