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David Singer
Professor of Music
Clarinet
Woodwinds Program Coordinator
Chamber Music
973-655-7217
singerd@mail.montclair.edu

The New York Times wrote about David Singer, “To describe his playing would be to enumerate a catalogue of virtues.” His career as one of the most highly respected clarinetists in the U.S. has been established through performances as principal clarinetist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, frequent guest appearances with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, participation at the Marlboro and Spoleto Music Festivals, and in chamber music performances with some of the greatest musicians of our time including Yehudi Menuhin, Rudolf Serkin, Yo Yo Ma and the Emerson, Cleveland and Shanghai String Quartets. Robert Aldridge wrote Concerto For Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra for Mr. Singer and performances of that work with both Orpheus and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra resulted in rave reviews:  “…teeming with energy…rowdy, ethnic and fun” (Los Angeles Times) and “Singer was brilliant…pity the poor clarinetist who has to follow in his  footsteps,” (Star Ledger, Newark, NJ ).

Susan Palma-Nidel
Visiting Specialist
Flute
973-655-7212
spnflute@gmail.com

Flutist Susan Palma-Nidel is the principal flutist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and Speculum Musicae. She has performed as soloist and principal flutist with many groups including Martha Graham and Paul Taylor Dance Companies, the Stuttgart, Netherlands and Royal Ballet, Madeira Bach Festival, Santa Fe Opera and Bach Chamber Soloists. She has performed internationally as soloist in concertos of Mozart, Vivaldi, Telemann, Ibert, Kirchner and Gandolfi and has premiered works of many composers including Carter, Babbitt, and Mackay. She has appeared on over 100 recordings. Her recording of the Mozart Flute Concertos and the Flute and Harp Concerto with Nancy Allen and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra was named the "best recording of these works to date" by Gramophone Magazine. Other recordings include the 2001 Grammy winning Shadow Dances (chamber works of Stravinsky) with Orpheus. She has also recorded chamber music with bassoonist Frank Morelli, a Latin-American CD with Denyce Graves, new songs with jazz singer Abbey Lincoln, a DVD with Jane Monheit and a recording with Tony Bennett and KD Lang. Ms. Palma-Nidel is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School. She is currently on the faculty of Columbia University.

Tanya Dusevic Witek 
Visiting Specialist
Flute
(973) 655-7212

Tanya Dusevic Witek has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia with the New York Symphonic Ensemble, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Continuum. She has recorded for EMI, Bridge, NHK, CRI, Panasonic and CBC, and her debut solo recording was released in 2006 on the MSR label. Ms. Witek has appeared at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and has toured with the acclaimed Musicians from Marlboro. As a founder of the Forest Hills Chamber Players, she is dedicated to bringing free performances to community venues in the outer boroughs of New York City. She graduated from the University of Calgary and received her master and doctoral degrees from Juilliard. Ms. Witek is currently a Teaching Artist for Lincoln Center Institute, the New York Philharmonic and is a faculty member for The Academy: A Program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and The Weill Music Institute.

Marsha Heller
Visiting Specialist
Oboe
973-655-7212
mhellerobo@aol.com

Oboist Marsha Heller has been recognized for her expressive playing and beautiful tone by the New York Times and Performing Arts Magazine, among many others. She studied with Harvey McGuire of the Cleveland Orchestra, at Oberlin Conservatory with DeVere Moore, at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and in New York with Harold Gomberg and Henry Schuman. Since her debut as winner of the Concert Artists' Guild Competition in 1971 she has performed with diverse groups including the American Symphony, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Martha Graham Dance Company, Bronx Arts Ensemble, and New York Pops. She has been a frequent guest soloist at the Berkshire Bach Society, Ogunquit Chamber Music Festival and the New Jersey Chamber Music Society. She is a member of the Queen's Chamber Band, which performs Baroque and contemporary works. Her recordings include Music of Carlos Surinach, Ritmo Jondo and Three is Company, all with the Bronx Arts Ensemble, JCF-the Buckeburg Bach and Ragtime at the Ritz with the Trio Bell'Arte, and Viva Italia with the Queen's Chamber Band. Ms Heller has taught oboe and chamber music at MSU since 1991.

Andrew Adelson
Visiting Specialist
Oboe
973-622-7212
andrew.adelson2@verizon.net

Andrew Adelson can be heard playing both oboe and English horn in orchestras, chamber music ensembles and as a soloist in the U.S. and abroad. He has been the solo English horn/oboe with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 2000. He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Riverside Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Mexico City Philharmonic. As a chamber musician, Mr. Adelson has performed with the Aspen Wind Quintet and Bargemusic. He can be heard playing on recordings on the Delos and Koch labels. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Juilliard School, where he studied with John Ferrillo and Elaine Douvas. His connection with Juilliard has continued through teaching master classes in Interpersonal and Ensemble Skills for the Orchestral Player as well as master classes in instrument repair. He has also taught at New Jersey City University, Drew Summer Music and Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Adelson has played on Broadway in the pit orchestras for King and I, 1776, and the Sound of Music. He has spent summers playing in Tanglewood, Interlochen and Waterloo Music Festivals and as a chamber music coach and performer at Rencontres Musicales Internationales at Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, France.

Robert Ingliss
Visiting Specialist
Oboe
973-655-7212

Robert Ingliss is principal oboe of the Riverside Symphony and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and was recently appointed Acting Principal Oboe of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra by its music director, Neeme Jarvi. He tours worldwide with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has appeared as soloist on several occasions. He has also been the principal oboist of Philharmonia Virtuosi, the American Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Mexico City Philharmonic. As a chamber musician he is a member of An die Musik - oboe strings & piano, and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. An avid proponent of contemporary music, Robert is the oboist of the Cygnus Ensemble and Ensemble Sospeso, is a founding member of the Columbia Sinfonietta, now called the Manhattan Sinfonietta, and has premiered works by composers such as Babbitt, Carter, Dalbavie and Murail with the aforementioned groups and others including Speculum Musicae, Parnassus, SEM Ensemble, Fireworks and Ensemble 21. He has recorded for dozens of labels and has appeared on numerous soundtracks for film and television. Mr Ingliss teaches oboe at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College and the Brooklyn College Conservatory.

Dennis Smylie 
Visiting Specialist
Clarinet and Bass Clarinet
(973) 655-7212
dsmylie@mymailstation.com

Bass clarinetist Dennis Smylie received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Joseph Allard. His other teachers have included Alfred Zetzer, Stephan Freeman, Kalman Opperman and Bill Street. He is a member of the American Symphony and the Brooklyn Philharmonic and has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet and Opera, the Buffalo Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the St. Louis and Montreal symphonies, and Speculum Musicae. Mr. Smylie was the bass clarinet soloist in the premiere performance and recording of Donald Martino's Triple Concerto. He has given recitals and presentations at Juilliard, Oberlin, Yale, Princeton, Kent State University, Florida State University and the University of Washington in Seattle, as well as in Salida, Aspen, Weill Recital Hall, Symphony Space in New York City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mr. Smylie has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch, New World Records, CRI, RCA and Virgin Classics.

David Bixler
Visiting Specialist
Saxophone
973-655-7212
David Bixler - Website
dbixler1@nyc.rr.com

Alto saxophonist David Bixler is a veteran sideman on the New York Jazz scene, bandleader and composer. He has performed and toured with the orchestras of  Lionel Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Duke Ellington, and Bobby Sanabria at prestigious venues including the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Symphony Center in Chicago, the Snow Mass Jazz Festival in Aspen, CO, and New York's JVC Jazz Festival. Since 2000 he has been a member of the Grammy-nominated Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and is now the lead-alto. The band has toured throughout Europe, North America and Central America and performs at Birdland in New York City. He also performs with trumpeter Scott Wendholt, guitarist John Hart, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, and Andy Watson on drums. He released his debut CD, Lost in Queens, in 2000 and received national airplay and critical praise for his compositions and improvisations on his second CD, Show Me the Justice (2003). His recording of his original compositions, Call It A Good Deal, was released in 2006. A composition for alto saxophone and string quartet was debuted in 2007 with the South Dakota Symphony string quartet.  His composition, Heptagon, is on a recording by the Ancia Saxophone Quartet on the Naxos label (2008). David holds a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University and a Masters in Composition at Montclair State University.

Paul Cohen
Visiting Specialist
Saxophone
973-655-7212
paulc135aol.com

Paul Cohen holds an M.M and DMA degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the New Jersey Symphony and San Francisco Symphony. His many solo orchestra performances include works by Debussy, Creston, Ibert, Glazonov, Martin, and Villa-Lobos. He has played in numerous ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Group for Contemporary Music, New York Solisti and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded three albums with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds under the direction of Frederick Fennell, a compact disk of the music of Villa-Lobos with the Quintet of the Americas, and recordings with the Saxophone Sinfonia, Paul Winter Consort, and the New Sousa Band. Recent recordings include an environmental-Jazz CD of solo improvisations and his solo CD, Vintage Saxophones Revisited, featuring the premiere recording of Cowell's Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 18. He has published more than 100 articles on the history and literature of the saxophone.

Seth Baer
Visiting Specialist
Bassoon
973-622-7212

Seth Baer attended the Juilliard School and Princeton University where he graduated with honors while studying with Frank Morelli. At the age of 19, Seth won a substitute position with the Philadelphia Orchestra. During the 2003-2004 season, Seth served a one-year position with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. He has performed extensively with top ensembles including the Pennsylvania Ballet, Haddonfield Symphony, Opera Orchestra of New York, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Seth has performed with the New York String Orchestra Seminar as principal bassoon. He also won First Prize in the Hewlett-Woodmere Young Artist Competition and was featured on the Mcgraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase on WQXR radio. As a chamber musician, Seth has performed at Bargemusic and is a member of the Fountain Chamber Music Society, with whom he maintains a residency for the Carnegie Hall education department, headlining their CarnegieKids and Musical Explorers series. He has performed at The Music Academy of the West, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Spoleto Festival in Italy, and at the Altenburg Music Festival in Germany. In 2004, he was a festival soloist at the Bridgehampton Chamber Musical Festival. Most recently, he was principal bassoon of the Mark Morris Dance Group Orchestra and the Key West Symphony. He is currently a member of Amici New York, the resident orchestra at the OK Mozart festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Seth has taught classes at the Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music; he has also coached the New York Youth Symphony and New Jersey Youth Symphony.

Harry Searing
Visiting Specialist
Bassoon
973-655-7212

Harry Searing is an active freelance artist on both bassoon and contrabassoon in the New York City area and has been for over 30 years. Most notably, he has performed many concerts with the New York Philharmonic with such great conductors as Bernstein, Boulez, Mehta, and Leinsdorf. In addition to performing with practically every classical organization in the New York – New Jersey area, he has performed with several distinguished groups while on tour, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2002 he took up the Heckelphone and performed nine concerts with three different organizations on that extremely rare instrument. He can be heard as bassoon soloist in the soundtrack to Brian DePalma’s 2004 film, Femme Fatale. In addition to performing, Mr. Searing has an extensive career in music publishing, having worked for such publishers as Boosey & Hawkes, Schott, and G. Schirmer. In 2003, he started his own publishing firm, LRQ Publishing, devoted to the bassoon music of the great Brazilian composer Francisco Mignone. He is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where is studied with Stephen Maxym.