BRASS

GILLES BERNARD – TROMBONE
Doctor of Musical Arts, Manhattan School of Music; M.M., B.M., The Juilliard School. Studied with Dr. Per Brevig (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), David Finlayson (New York Philharmonic), and Jean Douay (National Orchestra of France). Assistant Professor at New Jersey City University and member of the Brass and Theory Faculty at Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. Formerly Adjunct Professor of Low Brass at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. Orchestral positions include Principal Trombone with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, PA, and Second Trombone with the Lancaster Summer Festival Orchestra, OH. Performs regularly with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, PA; the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, PA; the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, MA; the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, NY; the Connecticut Grand Opera, CT; the Berkshire Opera company, MA; the National Chorale, NYC. Performed with the National Orchestra of France under conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, David Zinman, Vaclav Neumann, Lorin Maazel, and with the Orchestre de Cannes, France. Active as soloist and chamber musician in the tri-state area. Appearances also include the Preparatory Division Faculty Recital series at Manhattan School of Music, the Mid-Day Concert series at NJ City University, and Music for All Seasons – an organization that brings music to adult care centers and retirement homes in NJ.

KATHLEEN DITMER – FRENCH HORN
M.A., Western Illinois University; B.M., Hartt College of Music. Studied with Paul Ingraham, William Capps, James Jacobs. Former faculty member, pre-college divisions of Manhattan School of Music and Hartt College of Music. Currently teaches privately, at the Wharton School of Music, and at select summer band camps nationwide. Well-known French Hornist with a wide variety of solo, chamber music, orchestral, brass band and jazz band credits in New York and New Jersey as well as throughout the U.S. Extensive career includes performances with the Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theatre, Long Island Philharmonic, Queens Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble. Broadway credits include Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. Recordings with Odyssey, Audio Media, Sound Stage Productions, LSI Studios, Nashville Sound Studios, and Opryland USA Show Orchestra.

RICK HENLY - TRUMPET
M.M., Northwestern University; B.M., Ithaca College. Studied with Vincent Cichowicz, Herbert Mueller, Dr. James A. Ode, Adolph S. Herseth, Armando Ghitalla, Roger Voisin, Samuel Krauss, William Vacchiano, Carmine Caruso, Valery Ponomarev. Formerly on the faculties of The American Conservatory of Music, Elmhurst College and the Preparatory Dept. at Northwestern Univ., continues to give solo demonstrations and clinics all around the country. Lead Trumpet on a dozen Broadway shows, including Miss Saigon, The Producers, Cabaret, The Music Man, Follies, Thou Shalt Not, 42nd Street, and the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. Among a long list of big band, orchestral and chamber music credits, performed on trumpet with such notables as Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, the NY Pops, American Symphony, Brooklyn Phil.; as a soloist for the Little Orchestra Society; as Lead Trumpet for Liza Minnelli, Dennis Edwards and The Temptations Revue, Michael Amante "America's Tenor," Charli Persip's Supersound; and with a host of world-famous conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Andre Previn, Pierre Boulez, Rafael Kubelik, Lukas Foss and Skitch Henderson. Has recorded on countless jingles and film dates; numerous times with the Chicago Symphony; on the original cast recordings of Gypsy and Me and My Girl; for television shows on ABC, CBS, WNET and PBS; as well as on two of his own CDs: Christmas Present and Love Like Fire.