The HPH Team
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JOSH ARONSON
Founder and Sponsor |
After starting his career as a still photographer for Time Life, Josh began directing television films and commercials. Through Aronson Films, he directed MTV videos, television pilots and specials and over 500 commercials before turning to documentaries in 1999. Since then, he has made award winning documentaries on a fascinating variety of topics, but Josh has oftern returned to music as a theme in his films. These include ORCHESTRA OF EXILES, a Holocaust-era feature about the violinist who founded the Israel Philharmonic, TALENT HAS HUNGER, a 7 year odyssey following the cello students of master cello teacher Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory of Music and a fim about the Harmony Project in Los Angeles which Aronson made for PBS Weekend News. It was seeing first hand the remarkable impact of that program on inner city kids in LA that inspired Josh to found Harmony Project Hudson in a community that he knew could benefit from an after school music program for kids. Josh is also an amateur pianist and regularly plays chamber music in New York and at the Telluride Musicfest, the chamber music festival he founded in 2002 with his wife, violinist Maria Bachmann.
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REBECCA SLAVIN
Executive Director and Dance Teaching Artist |
Rebecca Slavin has worn many hats in the arts. She has taught in K-12 schools, integrating the arts into academic curriculum, for over 30 years. After earning a masters degree from the University of California, Irvine, Rebecca jumped into the role of Director of ArtsBridge, UCI’s K-12 arts education outreach program. She has been the General Manager for Rocky Mountain Ballet Academy in Denver, CO; Manager of Education at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli, NY; and Administrator for Bard College’s Film and Electronic Arts Program. In film, Rebecca worked on the Disney animated movies, Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame; she choreographed national commercials for the Walt Disney Company; and she was a performer in the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame movie musical, Gypsy, starring Bette Midler. As a Choreographer for the Walt Disney Company, Rebecca had the pleasure of working on stage, parade, and special event productions at both Disneyland and California Adventure. As a stage performer, Rebecca has enjoyed roles such as Charity in Sweet Charity, Ilona in She Loves Me, DeLee in Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Mrs. Livingston in the Denver premiere of Bubble Boy.
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NICK EDWARDS
Program Manager and In-School and Musicianship Teaching Artist |
Nick Edwards, a Hudson Valley-based bassist, has enjoyed a varied career playing music of all genres throughout the United States, South America, and Europe. Nick completed his masters degree in jazz studies at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and has attended many jazz festivals and institutes, including Skidmore Jazz Institute, Banff, and Hudson JazzWorks. He can frequently be heard playing with Armen Donelian, Bobby Previte, Roland Vazquez, John Esposito, and for the Rhinebeck Performing Arts Center. In addition to his performing schedule, Nick maintains a studio of students who he teaches bass and coaches chamber music. He can be heard on the Scott Healy album Live at Kilbourn Hall.
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CINDY KUBIK
In-School and Musicianship Teaching Artist |
Cindy Kubik has been directing children's theater for the past 35 years. She holds a BFA in Theatre and an MA in English Literature from NYU. A former coordinator of community-based mental health programs throughout lower New York State, Cindy switched to teaching when she had children of her own. She taught high school history at Poughkeepsie Day School, and is currently a substitute teacher in the Red Hook and Rhinebeck districts. Seven years ago, Cindy established the Mill Road Players Shakespeare Program in the Red Hook elementary and middle schools, and has been directing Shakespeare plays with hundreds of third through eighth graders annually since then. Cindy joined the Hudson Harmony Project staff three years ago as the summer Drama Teacher, and a year later began teaching musicianship to beginning students. Her own daughters have studied violin with Zoë Auerbach during the past decade, and Cindy was inspired by Zoë's patience, skill, and dedication to each and every child. She believes that music education at the earliest stages ought to be fun, engaging and involve the whole child. Cindy loves that Harmony Project blends the performing arts to support the long term musical lives of all students.
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WENDY FIESER
Cello Teaching Artist |
Wendy Fieser has been playing and teaching in the area for over 25 years. Aside from Harmony Project Hudson, she currently teaches at Little Falls School of Music, Hawthorne Valley School, and has her own studio in Germantown. She organized and conducted a summer orchestra in the twin counties for several years and has recently brought adult students together to form an ensemble that performs in a variety of senior housing situations. She is a member of the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra, Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra, Stockbridge Sinfonia (when time allows) has played with many area schools and theater groups as a pit orchestra member, in several chamber groups, and is past member of the Greater Newburgh Symphony, and Putnam County Symphony Orchestra.
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MINA DEVORE
Violin Teaching Artist |
Mina DeVore is a Hudson-Valley based violinist, composer, and painter. She has a BA in music from Bard College and studied jazz music theory and performance, music production, and recording techniques. She has experience teaching foundational violin technique to Bard College students as well as jazz/improvisation technique. She has a strong foundation of classical violin training under her belt, beginning her studies at age 3 and progressing to become the concertmaster of the Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon (YSSO) by her senior year of high school. She played with the YSSO for 12 consecutive years. She was also awarded the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for best senior jazz performer from Ashland High School. Mina is now pursuing her solo project UMI BLUE where she plays violin and sings original compositions, recorded and mixed by herself. She is also a violinist and vocalist in the local indie-rock band Counseling and featured on an album for Korean pop artist JUHWAN. Mina recorded and performed Sonata in A minor by César Franck with Jascha Heifitz’s accompanist Ayke Agus in 2018 and worked closely with her. In her free time Mina can be found pursuing her other passion for painting or foraging for mushrooms in the local area.
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