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Administrative Staff | Music Faculty (A - F) | Music Faculty (G - K) | Dance Faculty | Drama & Visual Arts Faculty

Inez McClendon (Voice, Drama) B.A. and M.A. in Music Education from Montclair State College and a M.A in speech and theatre from Montclair State University. Ms. McClendon is a music and drama instructor for the Boys' and Girls' Clubs of America Summer program, choral director of the South Side (now Shabazz) High School Alumni Chorus, musical conductor of the Newark Public Schools All City High School Chorus and voice instructor at Essex County College.. Ms. McClendon shares the spotlight as one-third of the musical/dramatic aggregation known as ATalent-In-Triplicate, and she is the star of the traveling one woman show of dramatic renditions entitled, "The Many Faces of Inez". Past credits include numerous radio and television performances & lectures, nationwide & European tours in churches, schools, colleges, and concert halls. Ms. McClendon serves as Faculty Representative on the Board of Trustees.

Susan Morehead (Voice, Chorus, Orff)Ms. Morehead holds a B.A. degree from Rutgers University, M.A. degree from Jersey City State College, and pursued studies at the Academy of Vocal Arts, in Philadelphia, and New York University. She has appeared in numerous operatic roles performing with the Festival Chorus of New Jersey, the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Singers, the Plainfield Symphony, Ars Musica Antiqua, the Garden State Chorale, the State Repertory Opera, Jersey Lyric Opera, Choral Baccarelli (Sao Paulo, Brazil), the Academy of Vocal Arts Opera Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), Montclair Chamber Orchestra, and numerous others. In 1989, she was the award-winning collaborator along with composer Loretta Jankowski, of a song cycle entitled Phoenix, published internationally by Boosey & Hawkes, in December 1993. . Under auspices of the United States Embassy, Ms. Morehead toured Brazil. She is a recipient of several Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Incentive Grants, for performance and research. She is a member of the New York Singing Teacher’s Association and is also a composer of children=s songs. Her voice teachers and coaches include Franco Rossi-Roudett, Terrence Shook, Helen Fenstermacher, Chloe Owens, Daniel Ferro, Marlena Malas, Dorothea Discala, Frank Valentino, Deborah Taylor, and Dolores Cassinelli. She has appeared in master classes with Elly Amelling, Jerome Hines, Judith Raskin, and Daltin Baldwin.

Thomas Price (Percussion) B.A., Shaw University. Mr. Price has studied composition and arranging at the Berkeley School of Music and was on the music faculty in the Newark public schools. He has performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard and Top of the Gate and has recorded for E.S.P. label. Mr. Price is also a certified special education teacher. He taught music to special needs students at the Mount Carmel Guild in Newark and various at other sites.

Ronald Scott (Brass and Woodwind) B.A, and Masters degree in Music Education from New Jersey City University and Masters in Educational Leadership, Supervision and Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University.  A veteran of big bands, Latin and Jazz groups also Classical Orchestras throughout his professional career. He also played lead trumpet with groups such as Latin Group Orchestra Pueblo, The Doc Wheeler Big Band, The Jazzmobile Big Band, and Chico Mendoza. Mr. Scott has played background trumpet with  The Crest, The Duprees, The Temptations, The Manhattans, The Chi-Lites, Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler (Duke of Earl), The Blue Notes, and toured with the Doo-Wop production The Big Show.  Currently, Mr. Scott teaches music in the Elizabeth Public School System and he is performing and playing lead trumpet with The Westfield Concert Band, The Ray Abrams Big Band, The Brooklyn Teachers Big Band, The Full Count Swing Band, The Somerset Jazz Consortium, The Maplewood Swing Band and freelancing whenever possible.

Julia Sakharova (Violin), completed her Masters Degree at the Juilliard School.  Ms. Sakharova made her debut with the Moldavian Symphony Orchestra at the age of eight. Since then she has performed extensively as an orchestral soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist on four continents. A recent graduate of the Juilliard School, she has since pursued her career as both a performer and teacher.  Ms. Sakharova made her New York City orchestral debut in 2004,   and   has debuted   on the West Coast at the Getty Center   with   composer/conductor John Williams.  She has   performed in such venues as Alice Tully Hall, the Bösendorfer Show Room, Steinway Hall and the Grand Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She has recorded Rachmaninoff’s Elegiaque Piano Trios on Tavros Records and is also featured on the Naxos release Left at the Fork in the Road, by award-winning composer Sean Hickey, who composed and dedicated a new work to her entitled Ampersand.  Ms. Sakharova has been featured in broadcasts on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase and KMZT’s Sundays Live. Her competition credits include First Prize at the Olga Koussevitzky Competition for Strings, and Top Prize of the Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition among others. Ms. Sakharova is the newly appointed Concertmaster of both the Metro Chamber Orchestra and the Musica Bella Orchestra of New York. She joined the faculty of the Newark School of the Arts in September 2006.

Ronald Scott (Trumpet, Clarinet, Saxophone, Recorder)B.A, M.A. Music Education, Jersey City State College. Mr. Scott currently teaches instrumental music within the New Jersey Public School System. A veteran of big bands, Latin, and Jazz groups, also Classical Orchestras throughout his professional career. He also played lead trumpet with groups such as Latin Group Orchestra Pueblo, The Doc Wheeler Big Band, The Jazzmobile Big Band, and Chico Mendoza. Mr. Scott has done back-up work for The Crest, The Duprees, The Temptations, The Manhattans, and the Chi-Lites. Currently, he is performing and playing lead trumpet with The Bronx Riverside Drive Big Band, The Ray Abrams Gospel Big Band, The LMR Orchestra of Harlem, and The Blues/Jump Swing Group, "Two Queens in the Court".

Hisaichi Shimura (Violin)Hisaichi Shimura, was born in Japan and began violin study at age of six. In 1992 after taking a master class with Lewis Kaplan in Japan, he was inspired to Come to the United States to study with Mr.Kaplan. He received B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Mannes college of Music and appeared as soloist with the Mannes Orchestra as a winner of the concerto competition 1995. His festival credits include the Tanglewood, PMF, Salzburg, Bowdoin and C.W.Post Chamber music festival.  His New York recital debut was at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1996 as an Artists International Competition winner.  He is currently presenting solo, recitals, chamber music and orchestra such as the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, as a principal 2nd, and New York Virtuosi Chamber Symphony, in the United States and Japan.  He is a member of the faculty at Newark School of the Arts and a Summer Music Festival in Kanazawa in Japan and was teaching assistant to Lewis Kaplan at the Julliard School’s Pre-college Division. 

Hee-Guen Song, (Violin) A native of Korea, Hee-Guen Song has performed in concerts in Asia, South America, Canada and the United States including prestigious venues such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.   Ms. Song studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, and at Yale School of Music, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at Rutgers University.  She is a secondary instrumental instructor at Rutgers University.

Harry Thompson (Voice) Music Education, Morgan State University, Master in Music Education, Duquesne University and a Master in Education in Supervision and Educational Administration from Pace University.  Mr. Thompson worked for the New York City Board of Education for 26 years. He is presently on faculty as an Adjunct Professor of Music at Essex County College, Newark, New Jersey and also serves on faculty at the Newark School of the Arts.  He has performed at several churches, the Metropolitan Opera (solo roster) and Merkin Hall in New York City and Europe.

Deborah Thurlow (French horn) Ms. Thurlow earned a CUNY BA through the Local 802 Music Program at Kingsborough CC/Lehman College in 1990 and an MFA in performance from SUNY Purchase in 1993. She is a resident of Teaneck, New Jersey and a freelance musician in the New York area and in Europe. In 1999 she produced a two-day music event, Next Horn Wave, where she put together horn players from the East and West coasts and Europe to perform music devoted to the art of both contemporary and jazz improvisation. As a composer, she has works published with Nichols Music Company and DSM Producers. She has received grants from Meet the Composer, ASCAP Awards and the William Petshek Music Fund. She has been favorably reviewed in the press, including the NY Times. In addition, her one act play with music, The Creative Void Of The Planet Earth, had an Equity Showcase run of seven performances in April 1997 by the New Media Repertory under the direction of Miranda MacDermot. In the past she has performed with the Pina Baush Ballet Company, Franz Kaman, David Amram, Anthony Davis, The New York Composers Orchestra, and many others too numerous to mention. She has three recordings to her credit, Angelic Waves - Part 1 (2000), Angelic Waves - Part 2 (2003), and I Am (2001) on the Capstone Records label.  Ms. Thurlow recently received a grant from the Puffin Cultural Foundation for her project - In the beginning…BANG!  performed at the Puffin Foundation in Teaneck, NJ on May 12, 2007.

Jessica J. Walker (Piano, Organ, Voice)Ms. Walker attended Columbia University, Westminster Choir College and received a Doctoral Degree in Religious/Church Music from Miller University, pursuing studies in piano, organ, voice and accompaniment. She maintains an active career throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area as a pianist, accompanist, music and choral director. Jessica is at present the Coordinator and Director of the "Candlelight Series," Director of Music at Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church in Somerset, New Jersey and a staff accompanist at Newark School of the Arts. She is a music consultant throughout New Jersey, New York and Boston.

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Administrative Staff | Music Faculty (A - F) | Music Faculty (G - K) | Dance Faculty | Drama & Visual Arts Faculty

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