Stokes Music Camp

A native of Kyiv, Ukraine, the pianist Tatyana Kebuladze graduated from the Glière State Music College in her hometown, the alma mater of Vladimir Horowitz. Arriving in America in 1998, she continued her studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey, graduating with honors and winning the School of the Arts Talent Award. She then continued earning a Master of Music degree at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she served on the piano faculty. For four years, she was the accompanist for the New Jersey Children’s Choir, performing throughout the United States and Canada.

She has also performed as a guest artist with the New Jersey Chamber Music Society.

Her appearances as a soloist and accompanist have included concerts at the Kosciuszko Foundation, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, 92nd Street Y and St Bartholomew’s Church in New York, a lecture-recital at Columbia University Teachers’ College, also in New York, the New Jersey Performing Art Center and the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey. She was a guest pianist at the Niagara Falls International Summer Festival, Ontario, in 2000. More recently, she presented a piano master-class and evening recital at Agder University in Kristiansand, Norway.

In 2014 Tatyana Kebuladze received a grant from The Tcherepnin Society to conduct

research at the Paul Sacher Stiftung Archiv und Forschungszentrum für die Musik des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts, Basel, and in 2018, she joined the Tcherepnin Society Board of Directors, where she serves as Artist Laureate. In March of that year she was awarded the prestigious Genia Robinor Pedagogy Teaching Excellence Award presented by the Piano Teachers Society of America in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York. Later that spring she accepted an invitation from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan to give a lecture and demonstration on different approaches to teaching secondary piano. 

Tatyana Kebuladze has recorded a cycle of 35 songs by Alexander Tcherepnin set to poems by Sergei Gorodetsky that was released by TOCCATA CLASSICS in the Spring of 2020.

Viraj Lal is an accomplished arts educator and music director with a robust background in leading arts programs. As the Arts Head at Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY, he oversees the Performing and Visual Arts departments across all school divisions. Previously, he served as the Arts Department Chair and Director of Choirs at Newark Academy in Livingston, NJ, where he directed the choral program and managed extensive arts curricula. He holds a Master’s degree in Music Education from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. Viraj has studied conducting with Dr. Andre Thomas, Dr. Patrick Gardner, and Dr. Kevin Fenton. At Newark Academy, Viraj directed 10 vocal ensembles, including their top varsity choir Academy Voices and contemporary A cappella group LumeNAtion. His choirs have performed twice at Carnegie Hall in New York City with artists such as Sarah McLachlan and Loreena McKennitt. Viraj’s choirs have worked with guest artist Casey Breves, formerly of Chanticleer, during a weeklong visit as their Artist-in-Residence, as well as Ysaye Barnwell, formerly of Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Jim Papoulis and Natalie Weiss, to name a few others. Viraj has conducted several choral ensembles internationally. Most recently, the American Music Abroad Red Tour choirs, with Viraj as their conductor, performed in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Viraj is often sought out as a vocal coach and guest clinician for MS and HS vocal ensembles around the state. He has vocally coached the RockNRoll Chorus and the Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir. Known for his effective communication, leadership, and time management skills, Viraj continues to inspire and engage students through innovative arts education practices.

Kevin Bonilla currently works at a private lesson studio in Port Washington, Long Island where he teaches a range of instruments and works with adolescent rock bands. He spent two seasons working with a highschool competitive marching band, specializing in drumline and front ensemble percussion. Kevin doubles as an Upright Bass/Electric Bass player, playing mostly in rock/jazz bands and pit orchestras. Kevin studied with notable bassist Martin Wind for a brief time at Hofstra. Kevin is also an aspiring conductor, and is currently seeking to pursue a graduate degree in orchestral conducting. He has studied conducting under David Soto, Adam Glaser, David Fryling, and Paul Little. This is Kevin’s third summer as a counselor with the Stokes team and is eager to kick off camp.

Obligatory Fun Fact: Kevin’s current favorite Symphony is Mahler’s 1st

Nicholas Elliott is a Pittsburgh-based trumpet teacher and performer. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, he took every opportunity available to nurture his passion for music through the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra, Madison Scouts, and even the local jazz bands where he and his father would perform together. Nicholas holds a Bachelor of Music from Jacksonville University and a Master of Music from Carnegie Mellon University. His primary teachers include Neal Berntsen and Brian Osborne and has participated in masterclasses and workshops led by George Vosburgh, Micah Wilkinson, Richard Harris, and John Almeida. When not preparing for orchestral auditions all over the country, Nicholas spends his time playing with Pittsburgh based funk band, Big Fat Mallard, and exploring the forest preserves of Pittsburgh, PA, and trying his hand at amateur photography.

Dr. Wan-Yi Pan: cellist, is a native of Taiwan, excels in both orchestral and chamber performances. She has appeared with the Erie Youth Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, Cleveland Institute Orchestra, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra. She has also participated in the Kneisel Hall Summer Chamber Music Program and the Quartet Summer Program. In June of 2002, she toured the US, Armenia and Russia with the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra. During the final concert of this Fifteenth Anniversary Tour at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Dr. Pan was principal cello, performing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony under the baton of Maestro Paavo Järvi.  She has subsequently been invited to join theAmirus chamber players, ARYO’s most talented alumni. She has performed with Amirus at the Joslyn Art Museum, The Hillwood Museum in Washington DC and the Harriman Institute of Columbia University.  In September, 2004 she was part of ARYO’s Musika 2004 chamber tour through the Volga and Ural regions of Russia. During 2004 and 2005 at New York, Dr. Pan was performing frequently with the New England Music Ensemble in famous concert halls like the Carnegie Hall.

Her teachers have included Peter Wiley of the distinguished Guarneri String Quartet, Richard Weiss, Jonathan Spitz,Merry Peckham and Alan Harris.

Dr. Pan attended the Cleveland Institute of Music for Bachelor. After her graduate school study at SUNY Purchase College, she was accepted as a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University, State University of New Jersey with a fellowship grant.

In 2006, Dr. Pan returned back to Taiwan to recover from a severe illness. Since her recovery, starting from September 2008, Dr. Pan continued her performing career and performed the Haydn C major cello concerto with the Kaohsiung County Orchestra in December 2008. She also performed in the National Theater Concert Hall with a new formed 2+1 trio in 2009. Dr. Pan was also teaching at specialized music school programs in Kaohsiung city. In 2010, she joined theShu-Te University Chamber Ensemble as principle cello. In 2014, she was invited to participate as a faculty member at the Beverly Hills International Music festival in Los Angeles and worked alongside with the renowned violinist Oleh Krysa.

Dr. Pan returned to the United State in 2016 and received her doctoral degree from Rutgers University in 2020. She performed with her mantor Peter Wiley and CelloPointe ensemble at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center in June 2018. In 2019, Dr. Pan joined as a part of the faculty members at the Stokes Forest Music Camp in New Jersey. She is currently teaching at the Montclair State University Extension Division and the Princeton String Academy.

Timpanist/Percussionist Adrienne Ostrander graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University School of Music. She has studied with George Gaber, Roland Kohloff and Buster Bailey. Adrienne is the timpanist/percussionist with SOLID BRASS and has traveled the United States, Canada and Mexico performing with this group and has made numerous recordings with them. Her local credits include the Broadway shows Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park With George. Additionally, she has performed several productions at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ. Adrienne performs with the Princeton Symphony, Princeton Pro Musica, Westminster Choir College, Plainfield Symphony and the Garden State Philharmonic. She has performed in festivals in Greece, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, France and Cuba. Adrienne coaches the New Jersey Youth Symphony and performs over 100 educational concerts yearly in NJ schools with Young Audiences of New Jersey, Solid Brass, The New Philharmonic of New Jersey, Arts Horizons, Arts Alive and BRAVO!

Albanian Violinist Etleva Vatoci is a freelance performer and teacher based in Summit, NJ. She has an extensive performance background, having toured Europe with the State Symphony Orchestra of Athens, Greece and the Opera and Ballet Orchestra in Tirana, Albania. Upon relocating to the United States, she performed with various ensembles in the Tri-state area. Mrs Vatoci holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from University of Arts, Tirana, Albania and completed her Master of Music studies at the John Cali School of Music, Montclair State University. In her Summit studio, she teaches violin and viola, with her students excelling in Regional and All-state orchestra and achieving distinguished results in the ASTACAP program. Additionally she lends her expertise to coaching sectionals and chamber groups at NJYS during the school year and Summer camp. Mrs. Vatoci has been an Orchestra Director in the Livingston School District since 2010, where she continues to inspire and educate young musicians.

Chryselle Yang received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Montclair State University in 2013. In 2015 she received the New Jersey ASTA New Classroom Teacher of the Year Award and received her Master of Education degree from The College of New Jersey in partnership with Regional Training Center in 2020. Chryselle has been teaching elementary orchestra for 11 years at Helen Morgan School in Sparta Township, New Jersey. She enjoys playing the violin in the New Sussex Symphony, as well as at a variety of gigs. In addition to music, Chryselle also loves traveling, being active, spending time outdoors, and eating.

Pianist Soyeon Park Yoo is a performer, educator and adjudicator. She has performed in the United States, Canada, and South Korea as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed concertos with the Hope College Symphonette, Orchestra of St. Vincent and the Good Samaritan Symphony Orchestra. She has also presented performances at Northwestern University, Bradley University, Hope College, Gustavus Adolphus College, Aspen Music Festival, and Las Vegas Music Festival. She has presented at ISMTA conference on “Comprehensive Approaches to Teaching Harmonization.”

Dr. Yoo received degrees in piano performance from the Juilliard School, the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. With passion for teaching, Soyeon Yoo taught private lessons in the Northwestern University Music Academy and keyboard skills classes in Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts and Hope College. She joined the Montclair University Extension program in 2016 and in the following year was appointed as an adjunct professor for the Montclair University.