PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS
performers and teaching artists
PERFORMERS
WELCOME AND OPENING MUSIC MUSICIANS
Colette Wiering, Violin
Lauren Rottier, Harp
Ilina and Ishani Joshi, Violin
JAZZ STUDIES
Chris Mell, Director
CONNECTION
Johnny Padilla and Isaiah Simons, Instructors
Selene Taylor, Drums
Taylor Fischer, Bass
Liam Reifenberg, Trombone
Finn Rogers, Trumpet
Ben Dames, Piano
EFFECT
Neil Davis and Krystyna Jones, Instructors
Graham Danford, Guitar
Keshav Gopinath, Alto Saxophone
Israel Perteet, Piano
JT Laurie, Piano
Rumba
Johnny Padilla and Tony Ayala, Instructors
Weston Eichmeier, Drums
Sam Mitch, Saxophone
Lucas Kunsman, Guitar
Sofie Lewellen, Bass
Rohan Grasso, Drums
PROGRESSIONS
Tiffany Chang, Director
INSTRUCTORS
Kristian Brusubardis, Violin
Sonora Brusubardis, Violin
Viktor Brusubardis, Cello
Alec Henry, Bass
Freya Irani, Viola
Jane Krasovich, Violin
Manuel Landin Lopez, Violin
Imaia Mitchell, Cello
Rayden Vaughan Montes, Cello
Paris Myers, Bass
Felipe Vianna, Viola
Mentor
Tony Lucas
VIOLIN
Khloe Beltran
Kenzie Boonnam
Lailah Brown-Stephens
Djimon Cunningham
Abe Dwyer
Jayce Ellingson
Sofia Fregoso
Helena Gamino
Haiden Godinez
Sara Hill
Rielle Kreuzer
Luna Ludwig
Leia Marrero
Sinai Perez
Londyn Tyars
Riley Washington
VIOLA
Zaylyn Alvarado-Abernathy
Alexandra Chang
A’mia Herbert
Ziya Johnson Harris
Ethan Molina Montes
Ethan Naranjo-Feria
Iremide Oluti
Eden Putnam
Zoey Ramsey
Vanellope Santiago Nadal
Za’Rya Tate
CELLO
Angel Espino
Olive Janzen
Kaely Ortiz Flores
Naomi Ramirez
Mel’lasia Rattler-Cheatham
Thomas Stark
Charlotte Stephens
Willemina Tatum
Eilene Weed Bell
BASS
Eva Bertolas
Chrisette Campbell
Nala Life
Lawson McClure
Baisley Neave
CALYPSO & SOCA STEEL BANDS
Tim Rush, Director | Jonathan Walls, Instructor
SOCA
Adrianna Elliott
Isabella Garay-Yoplac
Lileth Gayle
Anya Griffith
Lyn Held
Adra Hensersky
Abbott Hoban
Caleb Howell
Alex Lewis
Elijah Quiroz
Luis Roque
Layla Salas
Sofia Stark
Cortez Sutton
Johanne Venable
Scout Vincetti
CALYPSO
Oliver Carlson
Camila Deleon
Anya Griffith
Caleb Howell
Jacarri Jones
Parker Kaltenbach
Harrison Kohlbeck
Alex Lewis
Ingrid Olson
Sadie Pierson
Sawyer Schwei
Beatrix Schweiger
Deja Starck
Sofia Stark
Tylor Taylor
Lillian Thorp
Azra Turkan
Johanne Venable
PRELUDE WIND ENSEMBLE
Connie Fellows & Michael Krofta, Directors
INSTRUCTORS
Rebecca Anderson, Oboe
Mary Burcyzk, Clarinet
Simon Field, Horn
Nayib Gonzales, Trombone
Ben Haimann, Percussion
Hailey Hanson, Flute
Kelly Hofman, Horn
Vincent Martinez, Bassoon
Mallory Merkel, Saxophone
Tatiana Pearson, Flute
Kaitlyn Rian
Emmy Rozanski, Low Brass
Kyle Samuelson, Low Brass
FLUTE
Madyson Duckworth
Fatima Melendez
Natalie Patino
OBOE
Boaz Hoffman
Misael Mora Aguilar
CLARINET
Mackenzie Duckworth
Audrey Engel
Aalun Sallee
Brandon Romero
SAXOPHONE
Nunu Dwyer
Violet Hensersky
Noah Putnam
FRENCH HORN
Noe Caban
BARITONE
Halo Hall
Mateo Salas
TRUMPET
Leonardo Rawson
Oliver Neave
TROMBONE
Dontae Sims Jr
TUBA
Moises Melendez
David Romero
PERCUSSION
Israel Perteet
Samuel Vazquez
Giovanni Melendez
TEACHING ARTIST BIOS
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra Artistic and Music Director Carter Simmons is recognized throughout the community for creating opportunities and serving others through music. He provides leadership for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) and its impressive artist management team and faculty, who serve thousands of students each season. Former students perform in many of the major orchestras and military bands across America and have attended all of the country’s most prestigious conservatories and schools of music.
As a conductor, Simmons also serves as Music Director of Milwaukee’s Festival City Symphony, a professional orchestra that provides free concerts to its audiences. He has conducted the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Philharmonic, among others, and his conducting has taken him to venues across three continents, including recent performances in Poland’s National Forum of Music and Smetana Hall in Prague, Antwerp’s Queen Elisabeth Hall and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, throughout China, including Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, and Chicago’s renowned Orchestra Hall.
Simmons currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Youth Orchestra Division of the League of American Orchestras.
Born near Washington, D.C., his training included participation at the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Eastern Music Festival, as well as studies at the Tanglewood Music Center. He attended masterclasses with luminaries such as Leon Fleisher, Gunther Schuller, and Elizabeth A.H. Green, and observed rehearsals led by Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, and Daniel Barenboim, among others. Simmons expresses deep gratitude to his teachers Dr. John R. Locke, Robert Gutter, Larry Rachleff, and Professor Thomas L. Dvorak.
He considers it an honor to steward one of America’s finest youth orchestras and to teach the incredible young musicians in this wonderful ensemble.
Progressions Director Tiffany Chang was most recently an orchestra teacher in the Wauwatosa School District, and prior to that, taught orchestra in the school district of Beloit, WI. Ms. Chang received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree at UW-Madison and is certified to teach instrumental music. She has played in a variety of groups, including the Beloit-Janesville Symphony, Manitowoc Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra, the Turtle Creek Chamber Orchestra, and has served as coordinator and violin coach for WSMA Honors Orchestra.
Progressions Director James Przygocki is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Wyoming where he taught for 30 years as Professor of Viola and String Education.
With his wife Sherry Sinift, he helped to establish the String Academy of Wyoming, and in 2000, they received a grant from the American String Teachers Association to establish the University of Wyoming String Project, a teacher-training and pre-college program.
Currently, Jim also teaches at the UW-Milwaukee String Academy. During his earlier years in Milwaukee in the 1990s, Jim taught at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and performed with the Skylight Opera, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Bel Canto Chorus, the Fox Valley Symphony and others. Jim was a director of MYSO’s String Orchestra during that time, as well.
Jim holds a B.M.Ed. from Western Michigan University where he studied with Gerald Fischbach and a M.M. from Indiana University where he studied with Mimi Zweig.
Steel Bands Director Tim Rush has been active in the steel pan world since 1995, after joining the renowned Northern Illinois University Steel Band. His time with NIU included a two-week tour of Taiwan in 1998. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree in percussion, he went on to receive his Master of Music degree from Arizona State University, where he served as Director of the ASU Pan Devils Steel Band. Tim serves yearly on the faculty of the Percussion and Steel Band session of Birch Creek Music Performance Center, Door County. He teaches percussion at Merton Intermediate School, Waukesha County Conservatory of Music, and Gman Music. He leads Caribbean Eclipse and continues to freelance on steel pan and percussion.
Jazz Studies Director Chris Mell has been part of MYSO since 2008. He has been performing and teaching drums for more than three decades and has taught students ranging from age 3-70. He has taught bucket drumming and West African drumming classes for the Boys and Girls Clubs, and for many years taught drum lines for the Cudahy Middle/High School and Franklin High School. He is a Milwaukee Public Schools traveling music teacher, teaching private lessons and drum line for six MPS schools. Chris graduated from UW-Whitewater with a Bachelor’s degree in music with a jazz emphasis. Over his career he has studied and toured with John Becker, Steve Wiest, Ed Shaughnessy, Brad Leahi, Dave Pietro, Michael Spiro, Billy Cobham, the Maynard Ferguson Big Band, Joan Rivers, and many more. He is a freelance artist for various groups throughout greater Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
Prelude Wind Ensemble Director Connie Fellows has been sharing the joy and excitement of music education with beginner and intermediate band students for more than 35 years. Most recently, she has developed a strong and enthusiastic instrumental music program in four area Catholic schools. She received her Bachelor of Music Performance and Education degree from the UW-Madison and her Master of Music degree from the University of Akron. She has performed with the Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Manchester Symphony, Cleveland Ballet Orchestra, Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.
Prelude Wind Ensemble Director Michael Krofta retired as director of instrumental music at Oconomowoc High School in 2022. He was selected for the 2016 Symphonic Bands & Orchestras (SBO) National Magazine’s “50 Directors Who Make A Difference,” the 2017 Phi Beta Mu-Wisconsin Band Master of the Year Award, and received the “Citation of Excellence” from the National Band Association three times. He is currently the band director at St. Anthony in Pewaukee, St. Charles in Hartland, and Holy Apostles in New Berlin. Michael completed his Masters Degree in Music Education at The Ohio State University in Columbus, with a conducting emphasis, studying with Craig Kirchhoff. Mr. Krofta’s undergraduate work was completed at UW-Madison, and he also studied at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
Connie and Michael met in MYSO when it was MFY, and their children, Ryan and Erin, played in many of MYSO’s performing groups.
Bronzeville Jazz, MYSO’s faculty jazz ensemble, represents decades of professional mentoring, teaching, recording, and performing experience throughout the Milwaukee region and beyond. These educators lead our 40 jazz studies students through weekly instruction and give them a deep understanding of the language of jazz, the composers and musicians, and their music with an emphasis on music theory, improvisation skills, and the history of the evolution of jazz. Several of our highly acclaimed teaching artists have been recognized as “Best of…” musicians by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI), the Shepherd Express, and more.
