Eric Berlin- Host

Trumpeter Eric Berlin leads a musical life devoted to exploration and diversity, from solo engagements to chamber and orchestral music topedagogy. His technical virtuosity, magnified by a rich and robust sound, has been heard in many world premieres of solo and chamber music works.

Following the premiere of Evan Hause's Trumpet Concerto, a work commissioned by the Albany Symphony Orchestra for Mr. Berlin, one reviewer wrote that "his fluency and gorgeous sound were both amazing. "Mr. Berlin's acclaimed solo performances have spanned, and even augmented, the range of trumpet repertoire. In addition to the Hause Concerto, which he has also performed with the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, the Prism Chamber Players, and the University of Denver Wind Ensemble, Mr. Berlin recently premiered Charles Bestor's Concerto Piccolo, a work dedicated to Mr. Berlin, at the conference of the International Trumpet Guild. Reviewing the performance for the ITG Journal, John Irish commented that "Berlin's incredible sound and facility made for a winning performance of a very engaging piece."

Among other world premieres given by Mr. Berlin are Robert Bradshaw's Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, Howard Buss's Skylines, and Pasquale Tassone's Fanfare and Three Dances. This dedication to the music of our time has also led to collaborations with several leading new music ensembles, including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Musica Viva,ALEAIII, the Harvard Group for New Music, and Dogs of Desire, a new musiccomponent of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. In other solo appearances, Mr. Berlin was featured as soloist in JohnWilliams's music from "Born on the Fourth of July," conducted by the composer, has appeared with the University of Massachusetts Wind Ensemble and the Nashua Chamber Orchestra, and was the First Prize Winner of the Streitweiser Cornet Competition.

In May of 2005, he performed Arutunian's Concerto for Trumpet on tour with the Helsinki University Symphony Orchestra throughout Finland. In June of 2005, he performed a full recital of works commissioned by him with percussionist Eduardo Leandro at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. In Ma y2007, Mr. Berlin will release a CD consisting entirely of premier recordings of works commissioned by and premiered by him. Mr. Berlin has been Principal Trumpeter of the Albany Symphony Orchestrasince 1998 and has also appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, theNew York Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the BostonPops. With the Albany Symphony and conductor David Alan Miller, he can be heard on several acclaimed recordings, including those of works by William Schuman, John Harbison, Morton Gould, and Roy Harris. In addition, Mr.Berlin holds positions of Principal Trumpet of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Associate Principal Trumpet of the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, CO. The Majestic Brass Quintet, founded by Mr. Berlin in 1988 and ensemble-in-residence at Northeastern University, is one of Boston's most prominent brass ensembles.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Berlin attended the New England Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of Mr. Charles Schlueter, former Principal Trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Robert Nagel of the New York Brass Quintet. He has also studied extensively with Vince Penzerella, former Second Trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, Tom Rolfs, Principal Trumpet of the Boston Symphony, and Frank Kadarabek, former Principal Trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Carrying on the tradition of those great musicians, Mr. Berlin maintains a studio as Artist-Teacher of Trumpet at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he will host the International Trumpet Guild Conference, May29 through June 2, 2007. Eric Berlin is a Yamaha Performing Artis

Douglas Major

An internationally recognized organ solo artist, Douglas Major has toured throughout  North America, Europe and the Far East. Thirty years of experience in playing with brass ensembles has earned him the reputation as the most sought-after organist in America for live concerts and recordings for brass and organ. With the Empire Brass Quintet Major recorded A Bach Festival for Angel/EMI in 1985, one of the all-time best-selling brass and organ recordings. He has also recorded with the Washington Symphonic Brass a disc entitled Nielsen on Brass, and has recently completed work on a new trumpet and organ recording in 5.1 SurroundSound with Boston trumpeter Richard Watson.

From 1988 through the spring of 2002 he was Organist and Choirmaster of the Washington National Cathedral. He now lives in Rockport, Mass., working as a composer of music for organ, synthesizer, choirs, and chamber ensembles, and serves as Director of Music for St. Michael’s Church in Marblehead. His recent works include Love Poem to God, commissioned by the Philadelphia American Guild of Organists for their National Convention in July of 2002; Peace in our World, a musical response to the Iraq war, commissioned by New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington DC., and Cape Ann Portraits, a solo organ suite of seven movements inspired by places on Cape Ann. In September 2003, his chamber work entitled Aurora Borealis: A Vision of the Celestial City was premiered in New York City. His first large-scale work, Requiem Mass in C Minor, received its world premiere in Atlanta in October of 2005, and the St. Michael Trumpet Concerto was premiered by Rolf Smedvig and Major in September of 2005 in Marblehead.

Major has toured as organ soloist with the Orchestre National de France and Lorin Maazel, and toured in Japan in 1992 and again in 2002 with the Empire Brass Quintet. In 1999 he played a solo concert tour to Taiwan and the Philippines. In May of 2001 and May of 2004 he participated in the American Organists' Festival in Kiev, Ukraine, playing recitals to standing-room-only audiences. Dr. Major's solo recordings include eight organ compact discs, recorded on the Washington Cathedral's magnificent 185 rank Skinner organ.

Elvia L. Puccinelli

Elvia L. Puccinelli, pianist, is currently vocal coach and a member of the Collaborative Piano faculty at the University of North Texas College of Music. A dedicated educator in the field of collaborative piano and a specialist in vocal literature, Elvia has held previous appointments with Baylor University, the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, the University of California at Irvine, and Pasadena City College. She is an active clinician, working with singers and pianists throughout the country.

Alongside her teaching, Elvia is active as a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and chamber musician throughout the country. An alumna of San Francisco Opera's prestigious Merola Program, and twice invited to serve as rehearsal pianist for Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood Music Festival, she joined the faculty of AIMS in Graz (Austria) in 2005, and returned for a sixth year as vocal coach with the innovative OperaWorks program in Los Angeles.

A frequent recitalist, Elvia’s  broad professional experience embraces staff pianist positions with Plácido Domingo’s Operalia: The World Opera Competition (2004, 2000) and the International Trumpet Guild (2007) and performances at such diverse venues as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Chamber Concert Series, the Hudební Festival Vysočina (Czech Republic), International Viola Congress and International Saxophone Congress, in addition to numerous recent and upcoming appearances throughout the United States, in Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic. Conference presentations and performances include appearances at the MTNA National Convention, NATS regional and national conventions, and CMS South Central Chapter Regional Conference. In addition to participation in a recording of chamber works by American composer Libby Larsen, Elvia is currently working on a CD  of new art songs for voice and piano for the Society of Composers, Inc., Performers Recording Series and is music director for a companion recording to an upcoming facsimile edition of forty-two alternate settings of Schiller’s An die Freude for A-R Editions.

Elvia holds a Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from the University of Southern California, where she studied with Alan L. Smith. A language specialist, she also holds an undergraduate degree in French, which remains an area of special interest to her. She has a particular interest in the intersection of language, poetic interpretation and musical structure, which is at the heart of much of her teaching and scholarship. In addition to language, particular areas of research interest include techniques for teaching collaborative skills and song composers of the early 20th century.

Rebecca Wilt

Rebecca Wilt is receiving national and international recognition as a virtuoso collaborative pianist.  In addition to performing with vocalists and instrumentalists on the concert stage, Rebecca frequently gives workshops and master classes on topics involving coaching and accompanying and works as a vocal coach in both the opera and musical theatre idioms. She is currently the pianist for the Harrisburg Opera Association and the Harrisburg Singers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Formerly the head of accompanying at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the director of the collaborative piano and vocal coaching program at Central Michigan University,

Rebecca is now Director of Keyboard Studies at Messiah College in Grantham, PA.

She has accompanied for the Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the ARTS competition, the International Trombone Association, the International Horn Society, the North American Saxophone Alliance, the Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Competition, the Tromp Muziek Biennale, the International Women’s Brass Conference, the Lake Placid International Flute, Voice and Trumpet Seminars, Summit Brass Institute, and the American Choral Director’s National Convention. 

Rebecca is also a member of Trelumina Trio (flute, bassoon and piano) which tours the United States several times a year, and is the pianist for the Chosen Vale Center for Advanced Musical Studies, a summer institute in Enfield, NH.

She can be heard on the  compact disc, ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime’, which is an album of holiday favorites for solo piano, voice and solo instruments. Rebecca can also be heard on the album An American Portrait, with trumpeter James Thompson and Lyrico Latin, with trumpeter James Ackley. Her next album, It is Well with My Soul,  will be released within the coming year.  Rebecca can be found on the web at www.rebeccawilt.net