May 16, 2022

Adolphus Hailstork received his doctorate in composition from Michigan State University, where he was a student of H. Owen Reed. He had previously studied at Manhattan School of Music, under Vittorio Giannini and David Diamond, at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger, and at Howard University with Mark Fax.

Dr. Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, chamber ensembles, band, orchestra, and opera. Among his early compositions are Celebration, recorded by the Detroit Symphony in 1976, and two band works, Out of the Depths (1977) and American Guernica (1983), that won national competitions. Consort Piece (1995), commissioned by the Norfolk Chamber Ensemble, was awarded first prize by the University of Delaware Festival of Contemporary Music. Significant performances by major orchestras (Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York) have been led by leading conductors such as James de Priest, Paul Freeman, Daniel Barenboim, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maezel, Jo Ann Falletta, and David Lockington. This March, Thomas Wilkins conducted Hailstork’s An American Port of Call with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Hailstork’s second symphony, commissioned by the Detroit Symphony, was inspired by a trip to Ghana, where he saw the dungeons where captive slaves had been held before being shipped overseas. He wrote, “I put my reaction to that sad scene in movement II of this symphony. In movement IV I sought to reflect the determination of people who had arrived in America as slaves, but struggled, with courage and faith, against numerous odds.” The symphony and his second opera, Joshua’s Boots, commissioned by the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the Kansas City Lyric Opera, both premiered in 1999. Hailstork’s second and third symphonies were recorded by the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Lockington, and released by Naxos. Naxos also released An American Port of Call (Virginia Symphony Orchestra) in 2012.

Other commissions include an opera about the Underground Railroad, Rise for Freedom, premiered in 2007 by the Cincinnati Opera Company; Set Me on a Rock for chorus and orchestra, a response to Hurricane Katrina, commissioned by the Houston Choral Society (2008); and the choral ballet The Gift of the Magi for treble chorus and orchestra (2009). In 2011, Zora, We’re Calling You, for speaker and orchestra, was premiered by the Orlando Symphony. I Speak of Peace, commissioned by the Bismarck Symphony in honor of President John F. Kennedy and featuring his words, was premiered in 2013, conducted by Beverly Everett. Hailstork’s newest works include The World Called, based on Rita Dove’s poem Testimonial, for soprano, chorus, and orchestra, commissioned by the Oratorio Society of Virginia and premiered in May 2018, and Still Holding On (February 2019), commissioned and premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Dr. Hailstork is Professor of Music and Eminent Scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Shimon Gambourg is a bassist and composer based in Brooklyn, New York. His ever- expanding body of work has already brought him considerable acclaim, including two ASCAP awards, among other scholarships and grants both in America and in his native Israel. A subject of a recent profile by the Jerusalem Post, he moved to the U.S. in 2016 to study film scoring at Berklee College of Music, on a full scholarship. His bass teachers included both John Patitucci and James Genus, and he was fortunate to perform with such luminaries as Billy Cobham, Mark Whitfield, and Israeli jazz giant Mordy Ferber. Shimon is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in jazz composition at Manhattan School of Music, under the tutelage of Mike Holober and Miguel Zenón.

WATCH! Anthony Roth Costanzo’s Honorary Doctorate Speech here!

WATCH! Graciela Daniele’s Honorary Doctorate Speech here!

WATCH! Hyung-ki Joo’s Honorary Doctorate Speech here!

Dr. Monica Coen Christensen has served with dedication as Dean of Students at Manhattan School of Music since 2015, and has been exemplary in helping guide MSM through this difficult pandemic period. She also holds an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Higher & Postsecondary Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she previously served full-time as Lecturer in the Higher and Postsecondary Education Department and has been a faculty member since 2000. During this time she taught a wide variety of courses, including Student Personnel Administration, College Student Development Theories, Theories of Diversity, and Analysis of Student Cultures. While on the faculty at Teachers College, Monica was engaged in numerous consulting projects to help institutions of higher education improve students’ experience. Before joining the Teachers College faculty, she worked for over 10 years in student affairs positions in New York City. Monica holds degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, and Dartmouth College. She has been a career-long member of NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and is a former member of the Senior Student Affairs Officer Advisory Board of ACPA– College Educators International. Monica and her husband Pete are the proud parents of three wonderful young adults, Jake, Nicholas and Grace.

Widely recognized as both a critically acclaimed performer and master pedagogue, cellist Marion Feldman is on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege and College divisions, as well as the Steinhardt School of New York University. She has received countless awards for her dedication to shaping young talents into fine musicians. Her students now populate many of North America’s finest orchestras and chamber music ensembles and many are teachers and pedagogues themselves. She is frequently invited to present master classes throughout this country and abroad and has taught
and co-directed a number of summer festivals in North America, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. In both Taiwan and Korea, she has played and taught extensively at the Shanghai Central Conservatory and the Seoul National Conservatory, giving master classes and several sonata recitals. In 2019 Marion Feldman was invited to Beijing for a week of intensive teaching and chamber music coaching both at major conservatories and privately, which resulted in immediate invitations to return. She received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Juilliard. Her teachers have included Leonard Rose, Bernard Greenhouse, Zara Nelsova, and, most importantly, Luigi Silva. She has also compiled, edited, and published a series for Carl Fischer Publishing, including The Casals Legacy, Rostropovich: In Memoriam, The Feuermann Legacy, and The Jacqueline du Pré Legacy. Recently, three volumes of an ongoing new series, Cello Power, have been published. These are pedagogical studies and materials which she utilizes in her own studio as well as in her cello pedagogy classes at Manhattan School of Music and NYU.

One of Broadway’s most respected music directors and vocal arrangers, David Loud
also has the unique distinction of having originated three roles on Broadway as an actor. He served as music director for The Visit, starring Chita Rivera and Roger Rees; other Broadway credits include The Scottsboro Boys, Sondheim on Sondheim, Curtains, Ragtime, A Class Act, Steel Pier, and revivals of Porgy and Bess, She Loves Me, Company, and Sweeney Todd. He originated the role of Manny in Terrence McNally’s Master Class (starring Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald) and he played Sasha (the conductor) in Curtains. He made his Broadway debut in Harold Prince’s original 1981 production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along.

Off-Broadway, David created the vocal and dance arrangements for Kander & Ebb’s And the World Goes ’Round. At the Vineyard Theatre, he was the music supervisor for three world premieres: Kid Victory, The Landing, and The Beast in the Jungle, all with music by John Kander. He conducted the incidental music for Mike Nichols’ revival of Death of a Salesman and collaborated with Wynton Marsalis and John Doyle on A Bed and a Chair, a jazz interpretation of Sondheim’s music. Other recent projects include The Land Where the Good Songs Go, a dramatic cycle of Jerome Kern songs presented at Merkin Concert Hall, and First You Dream, a concert of Kander & Ebb songs that was broadcast on PBS.

He is a favorite at Lyrics and Lyricists, the long-running series at the 92nd Street Y. Since 2011, when he wrote, orchestrated, arranged, and hosted On a Clear Day: The Musical Vision of Burton Lane, he has presented Taking a Chance on Love: The Music of Vernon Duke (2013), A Good Thing Going: The Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince Collaboration (2015), Let’s Misbehave: The Sensational Songs of Cole Porter (2017), and Frank Loesser, Lyricist (2018).

David Loud is a graduate of Yale University and has been on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama and Fordham University. He currently teaches at Manhattan School of Music as the music director of the Musical Theatre program, a program which he helped found in 2017. For MSM, he has conducted Nine, Sweeney Todd, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Fiorello! His vocal arrangements were heard this past fall in On the Brink of a Lovely Song. His book, Facing the Music: A Broadway Memoir, was just published by Regan Arts, a division of Simon & Schuster.

Carol Matos obtained a Master’s degree in Student Personnel Work in Higher Education at NYU with the dream, ignited during college, of working in higher education. When, shortly after receiving her degree, life presented her with the birth of her son, she worked for a time as a successful freelance photographer and wrote poetry, a lifelong passion. She has published a collection of poems, and her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the prestigious American literary prize that annually honors the best work published by small literary presses.

As an entry into full-time employment, Carol took the position of Director of Human Resources at God’s Love We Deliver, a nonprofit organization that provided food to homebound people with AIDS. It was there that she recognized how crucial a workplace’s mission was to her sense of fulfillment on the job.

Throughout, Carol continued to write. She had not abandoned her dream of a career
in higher education and in 1999 accepted a position as Director of Administration and Human Relations at Manhattan School of Music. Promoted to Vice President in 2017, she also holds the responsibility of Title IX Coordinator.

Carol says that MSM is her ideal workplace, one where she can work as a strategic partner on the leadership team and contribute to and support a work environment of inclusive excellence. It is her aim to motivate and collaborate with colleagues to provide a space where students, faculty, and staff work as a true community with the common purpose of MSM’s mission—to prepare students to be “imaginative, effective contributors to the arts and society.”

Acclaimed drummer John Riley, a four-time Grammy Award winner and 14-time nominee, has worked with the world’s leading jazz musicians for over 40 years. He has played on hundreds of recordings and at major venues with artists such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, John Scofield, Joe Lovano, and Bob Mintzer, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and many others.

An esteemed teacher as well as performer, John Riley is the author of The Art of Bop Drumming, currently published in five languages, Beyond Bop Drumming, The Jazz Drummer’s Workshop, and the DVD The Master Drummer.

John received his Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies from the University of North Texas in 1975 and his Master of Music degree in jazz studies from Manhattan School of Music in 1985. In addition to teaching at Manhattan School of Music, he is a member of the faculty of Kutztown University and an Artist in Residence at the Amsterdam Conservatory in Holland, and has given master classes around the world.

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