Map / DirectionsCalendar of EventsContact  Us
Friends School Mullica Hill Photograph
The Arts
List of Classes
Faculty Profiles

 

Home › The ArtsFaculty Profiles
Faculty Profiles

Linda Betlejeski – Music Together
Teacher Linda holds a B.S. in Music Education and a M.M. in Music Education Research from Temple University. She has taught in many outstanding music programs in the Delaware Valley such as Temple Music Prep, Abington Friends, Waldron Mercy Academy and Rowan University.

Brian Betz - Guitar
Teacher Brian holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Music Performance from Rowan University. He is an adjunct Professor of guitar at Monmouth University. Brian has performed at the Kennedy Center, Cape May Jazz Festival and the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival. He has also released several solo CDs – “Up and Running” and “Gotham City Swing.”

Lizzie Devereux – Violin & Viola
Teacher Lizzie Devereux received her Master of Music in violin performance and Suzuki pedagogy from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. At ECU she completed her long-term Suzuki teacher training with Distinguished Professor Joanne Bath and studied violin with Professor Ara Gregorian, violin/violist of the chamber ensemble Concertante. Lizzie holds a Bachelor of Arts in French literature from Columbia University, where she studied violin with Min-Young Kim, of the Daedalus String Quartet. She has wide-ranging performance experience on both the violin and the viola and has had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses for artists such as Lawrence Dutton, Robert McDonald, Maria Lambros, and Ittai Shapira. Teacher Lizzie is also on the faculty at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia.

Eve Friedman – Flute, Recorder and Piano
Teacher Eve is actively involved in both contemporary and historical performance. In 2006 she became the first person ever awarded the Doctor of Music degree in Baroque Flute from Indiana University’s renowned Early Music Institute. She was invited to perform at 2004 National Flute Association convention in Nashville, where she was a finalist in the Baroque Artist Competition. Recently, Dr. Friedman has performed with Tafelmusik, American Bach Soloist, the Washington Bach Consort, and Tempesta di Mare. Since 2003, she has been invited regularly to perform in Italy with her husband, pianist-composer Roberto Pace, at the festival Incontri di Canna. Each summer they perform and teach at the Summerkeys festival in Maine. Dr. Friedman received her Master of Music degree from Boston University, where she was a student of Doriot Anthony Dwyer, retired principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At Ms. Dwyer’s invitation, she spent two summers at the Tanglewood Institute.

Bertram Greenspan
– Violin & Viola
Teacher Bert is a noted violinist and conductor who is a professor of music at Rowan University. He received his early training in Chicago and at the Juilliard School of Music under the tutelage of Dorothy Delay and Ivan Galamian and earned his Masters and Doctor of Music degrees at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where his major teachers were Josef Gingold, Daniel Guilet and Janos Starker. He has conducted Youth Orchestras in numerous states from Illinois to Maine including the NJ All-State High School Orchestra and the NJ Region III High School Orchestra. Among his honors and awards is the gold Medal and Diplome d’Honneur of the Foundation Eugene Ysaye of Brussels, Belgium. Dr. Greenspan has performed in Carnegie Hall, Town Hall (NYC) and has served as concertmaster of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, and the Reading Symphony Orchestra. Most recently he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the American String Teachers Association - NJ Chapter and the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award by Rowan University.

Susan Greenspan – Director, Violin
Teacher Sue holds a B.A. in Music Education from Rowan Univesity. She has taught in the Atlantic City and Haddonfield public school districts and was the Director of the Rowan Campus School of the Arts.

Amanda Hockenberger – Suzuki Violin, Private Violin & Viola
Teacher Amanda holds a Master of Music degree in violin performance from Ithaca College and a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from The Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. Amanda is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and is a registered Suzuki violin teacher. She has taught students of all ages and abilities using both Suzuki and traditional methods. Amanda is on the violin faculty at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia where she teaches private lessons and Suzuki group classes. Teacher Amanda has an extensive performance background, performing in orchestras, chamber ensembles and solo recitals. She is a member of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony and freelances regularly in the Philadelphia area.

Fran Kesselman– Piano
Teacher Fran has been teaching piano for over 15 years. Her students have participated in the Southwestern Youth Music Festival in Los Angeles, CA, and South Jersey Junior Arts Festival, where they have garnered superior ratings. She developed and organized weekly chamber music concerts for the residents of the Thousand Oaks Health Care Center in California. She received her musical training in California, where she also participated and audited master classes at the California Institute of the Arts and the Colburn School of Performing Arts. She is a member of the National Federation of Music Clubs.

Jeremy Kesselman – Oboe & Piano
Teacher Jeremy holds a B.M. in oboe performance from Boyer College of Music at Temple University where he studied with Jonathan Blumenfeld and participated in master classes with John Mack, Louis Rosenblast, Peter Smith, Richard Woodams and David Weiss. He has performed with the Greater Trenton Symphony, the New World Symphony in Florida, the Haddonfield Symphony and freelances throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. He is currently studying with Peter Smith of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Manami Ochi – Piano
Teacher Manami was the MTNA Steinway Competition winner for the State of NJ, and won Third Prize at the Eastern Region MTNA in the year 2000. Born in Japan, she started studying the piano when she was three years old. She received her baccalaureate degree from Aichi Prefect Ural University. She is earned her masters degree at Rowan University.

Roberto Pace –
Piano and Music Theory
Teacher Roberto is a composer, music director, and pianist, who has performed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Canada and Japan. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Donald Martino, and holds a M.F.A. in composition from SUNY Purchase. Roberto has received commissions from American Opera Projects, The Greenwich Village Orchestra, the late pianist Rebecca Labrecque, and the Viola Society of Philadelphia, among others. He has been music director of the Measured Breaths Opera Company, and of performance artist John Kelly and Company as conductor and keyboardist in performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and on tour throughout the U.S. He was also music director of the Falcon (Fordham at Lincoln Center) series of 20th century music where he performed with cellist Christopher Finckel, the Altantic String Quartet, violinist Galina Heifetz, soprano Judith Bettina, and many others. He has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at the Festival de Musique en Lorraine; Incontri di Canna; the Kanebo Festival; the Conductor’s Institute (as compoer in residence); and annually in Lubec Maine at the Summerkeys Festival, and in Chatham,
Massachusetts. A highly successful educator as well, Mr. Pace directed the music program of Fordham at Lincoln Center and lectured for the New York Philharmonic. He currently teaches theory and composition at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, where he holds the Robert Capanna distinguished faculty chair.

Julie-Ann Whitely – Voice & Piano
Teacher Julie-Ann earned a Bachelor of Arts degree as a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Rowan University where she studied with Dr. Eugene Thamon Simpson. She has also earned diplomas from the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Her vocal talents have attained her numerous honors including Encouragement Grant, Marian Anderson Award, Mozarteum Academy Scholarship, and was a National Winner in the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition. She made her New York solo debut at Carnegie Hall in 1992 and was presented in a solo recital at Weill Hall in 1997. Other major venues include cathedrals in London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Madrid, and the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. Popular music performances have been with Barry Manilow, Michael Crawford and Barbra Streisand. Julie-Ann has sung with the Opera Company of Philadelphia since 2001 and has been featured in their recent productions of “Porgy and Bess” and “Il Trovatore.” In addition to her studio teaching at Friends School she also teaches at Settlement Music School and is the organist and choir director at St. Mark and All Saints Episcopal Church in Galloway, NJ.

Jacob Wiener – Percussion
Teacher Jake holds a Bachelor of Music from Rowan University and a Masters of Music from Eastman School of Music. Since graduation, he has become active as a professional performer with such notedprofessionals as the Denis DiBlasio Jazz Quartet, the New York Metropolitan Opera of Philadelphia, CTO Dance Band Orchestras, Spirit Curises of New York City and the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.

Olga Yelkina – Piano & Music Together
Teacher Olga received her musical training and taught in Russia. When she came to the United States she attended Rowan University where she received her BA. Her teaching experience includes the Rowan Campus School of the Arts, the Croft Arts Barn in Cherry Hill and Moorestown Public Schools. She is also currently the Director of Music for the United Methodist Church in Lumberton, New Jersey.

 

(top)

For Parents For Alumni

About FSMH Academics Admissions Students & Activites The Arts News Support FSMH