Instrumental Faculty

Piano

Keyboardist Terree Shofner-Emrich has established herself as one of Chicago's premier pianists as a soloist, ensemble player and accompanist. Shofner-Emrich joined the faculty at North Park in 1989 and served as director of the School of Music for seven years. She is pianist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Symphony Chorus, where she has worked with many of the world's leading conductors. During her summers with the CSO at Ravinia, she has played with violinists Miriam Fried and Gil Shaham, and, most recently, with world-renowned bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. As coach/accompanist for the opera program at North Park, Shofner- Emrich has prepared Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Riders to the Sea" and the world-premier of Philip Seward's "Spreading the News," among others, and has also prepared musicals for the Theater Department.

Trumpet 

Director of Chamber Music

Viola

Violist Claudia Lasareff-Mironoff graduated from the University of Denver with a bachelor of music degree and earned a master's of music and a certificate in performance from Northwestern University. She then became the principal violist of the Cape Town Symphony in South Africa. Ms. Lasareff-Mironoff has performed chamber music with members of the Chicago Symphony, members of the Lyric Opera, the Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players, the Pacifica String Quartet, Mathias Tacke, Ilya Kaler, Victor Yampolsky, William Wolfram, PINOTAGE, CUBE, and members of Eighth Blackbird. She has performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Grant Park Symphony, and Music of the Baroque; she has been the principal violist of the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Colorado Music Festival, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Joffrey Ballet. In 2005 Ms. Lasareff-Mironoff was the violist in Fulcrum Point's debut performance at the Ravinia Festival. During the 2007 season she performed with the Santa Fe Opera. A champion of new music she has premiered and performed works by many composers. Since 1994, Ms. Lasareff-Mironoff has performed regularly on WFMT, including a Dame Myra Hess Recital in 1998. She joined the faculty of Northwestern University from 2000 to 2004 as the coordinator of string chamber music. From 1998 to 2011 she was on the faculty at Wheaton College Conservatory where she taught viola and was the coordinator of chamber music. She joined the chamber music faculty of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2009. Guest artist recitals and master classes include appearances at Northwestern University, Bowling Green University, DePaul University, Roosevelt University, and San Francisco State University. Ms. Lasareff-Mironoff was the guest artist for the viola master class at the 2011 Stulberg International String Competition. Since 2002, she has been the principal violist of Fulcrum Point New Music Project. She is currently the director of chamber music and on the viola faculty at North Park University. For more information please visit her web site.

Jazz Piano and Jazz Vocal Coach

Pianist Chris White hails from Toronto, Canada. After obtaining a BA in English from the University of Toronto, Chris decided to focus his studies entirely on music. In 1997 he attended Indiana University’s prestigious Jacobs School of Music and pursued his master’s degree in jazz studies, graduating in 2000 with a Phi Kappa Lamda award (National Music Honors Society) and was elected to the Who’s Who of American College Students in 1999.

Gaining valuable experience in Indianapolis, he performed with David Baker, Jamey Aebersold, Oliver Nelson Jr., and the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. In August 2000 Chris was invited to perform in the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia hosted by James Moody, Rufus Reid, and David Baker. Chris recently completed his DMA in jazz performance at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

www.chriswhitepiano.com

Organ 

Leon Nelson has been on the music faculty of North Park University since 1985 where he teaches organ and is the University Organist. He served three terms as Dean of the North Shore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is contributing editor for The Diapason, an international monthly journal devoted to the organ, harpsichord, and church music. He has studied conducting with Robert Carbaugh, Paul Aliapoulios and John Paynter, and organ with Robert Rayfield, Robert Lodine, Lillian Robinson and Paul Manz. Mr. Nelson also Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, a position he has held since 1994. He held a similar post for 23 years at First Presbyterian Church in Deerfield. He has played recitals at Fourth Presbyterian Church and the Chicago Temple in Chicago, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and in 1992 played a recital on the new 205-rank, $2.7-million pipe organ in the 6,000-seat sanctuary of Calvary Church in Charlotte, NC. He was choral director of the Westminster Chamber Orchestra (1979-89) and director of the summer chorale at Northwestern University/Music Institute of Chicago (1988-94).

Piano

Stephen Kelly started playing piano at age 4 and has been involved in music ministry for churches since the age of 8. He is a graduate of Wheaton College in 2001 with a BA in Piano Performance. Since graduating from Wheaton College, he has been music directing and leading worship in churches and conferences across the US and Europe. He is currently the Worship Arts Coordinator at NPU and also on staff at Willow Creek Church in Barrington as a music director.  He has been married for 6 years to Marjalene Kelly, and they have a 4yr old son named Stephen.

Harp 

Kara is on the faculty of North Park University and The Moody Bible Institute and has founded Tick Tock Publications which publishes chamber music arrangements for harp. She is principal harp of the Northwest Indiana Symphony and also performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, and the Grant Park Symphony. Some of her celebrity credits include, Barry Manilow, Julie Andrews, Art Garfunkel, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, The Moody Blues, and Kansas. Her performances on harp can also be heard in the Hollywood film scores, My Best Friend's Wedding, Home Alone II, and the Kodak Film documentary, Symphony.

Violin 

Carol Lahti comes from a family of professional musicians and has played violin most of her life. She received her bachelor of music degree, magna cum laude, from North Park University where she was a pupil of Edgar Muenzer of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and where she was elected by the faculty to receive the University’s Lincoln Medallion award. She was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for six seasons, spending two years as its concertmaster and winning the coveted Louis Sudler Award. She received her master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, as a scholarship pupil of Charles Castleman and attended the Aspen Music Festival as the recipient of a three-year fellowship to study with Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki. Carol is the assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Sinfonietta and has participated in its numerous European and American tours, as well as recordings with that group on the Fanfare and Cedille record labels. She can also be heard on WFMT as part of that radio station's "Music from Studio One" and “Impromptu” live broadcast series and in monthly broadcasts of concerts by the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Carol is a member of the first violin section of the Elgin Symphony and performs frequently as part of that orchestra’s educational chamber concert series, serving as the first violinist of the orchestra’s string quartet, ESQ. She also teaches violin at North Park University and appears in concerts there as a member of the North Park Chamber Players. Carol performs frequently with jazz and society bands in Chicago and also enjoys playing in theater orchestras, appearing with ballet companies such as the Joffrey Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and the Bolshoi Ballet, as well as in many Broadway musicals and shows. As a freelancer, Carol performs with several orchestras in the Chicago area including the Ravinia Festival Orchestra and the Woodstock Mozart Festival; she also plays in ensembles accompanying such stars as Luciano Pavarotti, Il Divo, Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Sarah Brightman, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, and Clay Aiken. Recently, Carol has appeared on several WTTW TV Soundstage concerts with the artists Lyle Lovett, Burt Bacharach, Ronald Isley, Amy Grant, and Peter Cetera. In her free time Carol enjoys canoeing and camping with her husband Duane and training their two golden retrievers.

Violin and Viola

Charles Pikler joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a violinist in 1978 and, in 1986, he was named principal violist. Charlie studied the piano with his parents and violin with Ben Ornstein, Bronislaw Gimpel at the University of Connecticut, and Roman Totenberg at the Tanglewood Young Artist Program at the Berkshire Music Center. He appeared as soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony, and Manchester Civic Orchestra, among others. He holds a degree in mathematics with distinct honors from the University of Minnesota. He launched his career as a violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1971, later becoming a member of the Cleveland Orchestra (1974 to 1976) and the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1976 to 1978). He has been featured as a soloist with the CSO, as well as with other orchestras in the Chicago area. Additionally, he has also been soloist with the Kingsport Tennessee Symphony, Orchestra of the Pines in Nacogdoches, Texas, the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. Charlie served as concertmaster of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra under Dieter Kober, touring with it and also performing as soloist; the Sinfonia Orchestra of Chicago; the Orchestra of the Apollo Chorus; the Ars Viva Orchestra; the Chicago Opera Theater Orchestra; the Northbrook Symphony; and the River Cities Philharmonic. He currently is concertmaster of the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest under Jay Friedman. A chamber music enthusiast, he performs with several ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony String Quartet. Charlie has been a guest artist with the Daniel String Quartet in Holland, the Vermeer Quartet of De Kalb, and the Louisville String Quartet. In 1990, he performed Frank Beezhold’s Viola Concerto, which was composed for and dedicated to him, with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago at Orchestra Hall. He also has recorded it in the composer’s own transcription for piano and viola with Dorothy Shultz. He has recorded Easley Blackwood’s chamber music with the composer for Cedille Records. He was featured as soloist on the Sewanee Symphony’s recording of Berlioz’s Harold in Italy for Solo Viola and Orchestra, with Victor Yampolsky conducting. In 1995 and 1996, he served as guest principal viola for the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa. Charlie also performs at the Bay Festival in Maine and the Grand Teton Music Festival as principal viola. Charlie is on the faculties of North Park University and Northwestern University. He coaches the violists of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, as well as other ensembles at Midwest Young Artists. Charlie is the founder and music director of I Solisti MYA.

Charlie and his wife, Ruth, have two sons, David and Andrew, and a daughter, Amy.

Violin and coach of "North Park University Chamber Soloists"

David Yonan gave his debut at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra at the age of 12, performing Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No.2, and was a featured soloist one year later in Prokoffiev's Violin Concerto No.2 in the concert "Violinists of the 21st Century", presented by conductor Albrecht, in a European broadcast by Deutsche Welle TV.

He came to the United States on a scholarship of the Music Institute of Chicago, to continue his studies with renowned violin pedagogues Roland and Almita Vamos and later with the celebrated violin teacher Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School New York, and at the Aspen Music Festival.

Mr. Yonan received 1st prizes at the International Violin Competition in Kloster Schoental, Germany in 1993, Hanns Eisler Competition Berlin (1994),International Ruggiero Ricci concert prize Berlin (1995), International Carl Flesch Academy (1995), Mr. Yonan received also top honors from the International Music Competition Vina del Mar, Chile, and at the Concourse International Ruggiero Ricci Iserlohn 1995.

In Master classes and private studies in violin, composing, conducting and chamber music, Mr.Yonan studied with Ruggiero Ricci, Michel Schwalbe, Christoph Poppen, Arvo Part, Easley Blackwood, Joseph Kalichstein, Leon Fleischer, and Saschko Gawrilloff.
Mr. Yonan is founding member and artistic director of the Fine Arts Music Society, a newly formed organization to promote a new, innovative and dynamic concert series for Chicago. He currently serves as Music director of the A.U.A. foundation Chicago, and has previously been on the faculties of the McHenry County Music Center and the Merit School of Music.

Viola 

Shiho Toyonaga is the assistant principal violist of the Northwest Indiana Symphony and has performed with Tulsa Opera, Grand Rapids Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, L’Orchestre des Régions Européennes. She collaborated with members of Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has been on live broadcast of “Impromptu” at WFMT. Her teachers include Paul Coletti, Victoria Chiang, Heidi Castleman and Iwao Furusawa. She also studied the violin at the Musashino Music College in Tokyo.

Cello 

Cellist Elizabeth Anderson performs frequently throughout the Chicago area, with groups such as the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra, Lake Forest Symphony, Chicago Philharmonic, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, City Lights Orchestra, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra. She has performed with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, and in the orchestra pit for many ballets and musicals in Chicago’s theater district. She teaches cello at North Park University, and at Francis W. Parker school.

Cello

Paula Kosower is an active performer and teacher in the Chicago area. She has performed last season with the Sheridan Chamber Players at the Chicago Cultural Center, with Fulcrum Point at the Harris Theater, and with MusicNOW from Symphony Center. During the summer season she frequently performs at the Ravinia Festival. She is dedicated to contemporary music and has performed for the June in Buffalo festival and for concerts at the Midwest Composers’ Symposium, University of Chicago contemporary music series, MusicNOW, and the contemporary groups CUBE, Fulcrum Point and ICE. Ms. Kosower teaches a course in cello pedagogy at Northwestern University, private lessons at the Northwestern University String Academy and chamber music at the Merit School of Music where she is also a member of the faculty piano trio. She is currently finishing her doctoral degree at Northwestern University.

Bass 

Born and raised in Wheaton, Illinois, Mr. Lawson began his instruction in the Double Bass under the teaching of Warren Benfield. In 2004, he obtained his B.M. in Performance from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, under the instruction of Michael Hovnanian. He recieved his M.M. from DePaul University under the instruction of Robert Kassinger, and concurrently was appointed to the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, preparatory orchestra of the Chicago Symphony. Mr. Lawson is currently playing with the Madison, South Bend, and Quad Cities Symphony Orchestras, as well as many other orchestras throughout the midwest. He was pleased to become a member of the NPU faculty in the Fall semester of 2007.

Piano

Janet Eckardt is a graduate of North Park University and the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford.  She teaches piano at NPU and is a staff accompanist at Moody Bible Institute.  She also serves as rehearsal accompanist for the Bach Week Festival Chorus and for the Chicago Bar Association Chorus.

Piano 

Thomas Wade Jefferson is a native of Galveston, Texas. Regarded as an accomplished performer in both the classical and popular genres, Thomas has collaborated with numerous vocal artists including the late world-renowned bass-baritone, William Warfield. In addition, he has performed with various choral and gospel groups such as the All-City Elementary Youth Chorus and the Voices of Resurrection, with whom he toured Vienna and Australia, respectively. Jefferson was a participant in the Eleventh International Chopin Piano Competition in Poland, and has performed as a recitalist across the country and within the Chicago area.

As a skilled music transcriber, he has transcribed the music of gospel artists such as Kirk Franklin, Walter Hawkins, and Byron Cage, to name a few. Thomas’ hymn arrangements are published by Augsburg Press. In addition, Jefferson is music editor of the Spirit and Truth series at World Library Publications in Chicago. Currently, Jefferson serves on the piano faculties at Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College Chicago, and North Park University, and serves as music minister at the Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows on Chicago’s westside.

Guitar 

Julie Goldberg, named 2002 Classical Guitarist of the Year by Guitar Alive! radio magazine, is "a superb performer who frees the mind from the technical demands of the guitar. A pleasure to hear!" (Columbus Guitar Society). "Her music is invigorating AND calming all at once!" (WLUW Radio, Chicago). Dr. Goldberg is on the faculty of North Park University and VanderCook College of Music, and frequently performs in the Healing Arts Program at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill.

www.juliegoldberg.com   www.avantiguitartrio.com

Guitar

Born in Harlem and raised on the Upper West Side of New York City, Bobby Broom took up guitar at 12 and five years later, in 1977, made his first appearance with Sonny Rollins at Carnegie Hall. He went on to tour and record with Rollins in 1981–86 and again, recently, from 2005–2010.

By 1981, Broom had recorded his debut as a leader, Clean Sweep (GRP Records). He relocated to Chicago later in the decade, working with Kenny Burrell, Stanley Turrentine, Charles Earland, Miles Davis, Kenny Garrett, and Dr. John, among others.

Throughout his career, Broom has also been active as a jazz educator. He holds a Master of Music degree in Jazz Pedagogy from Northwestern University. Currently teaching at North Park University, Broom is a former jazz faculty member of the American Conservatory of Music and DePaul, Roosevelt, and Hartford Universities. He conducts clinics, master classes, and lectures nationwide and abroad, and is also an instructor with the Thelonious Monk Institute, Ravinia Festival Organization, and Music Institute of Chicago.

As jazz guitarist, Bobby has spent the new millennium refocusing on his own music, especially with his Bobby Broom Trio and the Deep Blue Organ Trio. He has recorded with both for the Origin label; his Plays for Monk was released in spring 2009, The Way I Play in April 2008, and Deep Blue’s Wonderfu1! in 2011 and Folk Music in 2007. His upcoming release, Upper West Side Story, is scheduled for a May 2012 release.

Flute

Ellen Huntington is second flute with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and she has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.  She is a frequent recitalist, having performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center, Chicago Cultural Center, Augustana College, the University of Chicago, and the National Flute Association Convention in New York City. She also performs frequently as a founding member of the Lyrebird Ensemble, a flute and harp duo devoted to performing works composed exclusively for that instrumentation.  She is the recipient of many awards, including First Prize in the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation competition, the Farwell Award from the Musicians Club of Women in Chicago, and a Fulbright Grant to study flute with Jean-Claude Gérard at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart, Germany. In demand as a teacher, she has been on the faculty of North Park University since 2010; her summer teaching appointments include the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Flute Camp, the Annual Summer Flute Retreat at Illinois Valley Community College, and the Midwest Young Artists Flute Workshop. She is active in the Chicago flute community as Treasurer of the Chicago Flute Club. Her teachers include Walfrid Kujala, Katherine Borst Jones, and Richard Graef.

Oboe

Oboist Naomi Bensdorf Frisch enjoys an active career as a performer and music educator. Along with holding principal oboe positions in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Ms. Bensdorf Frisch performs regularly with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra during their season at the Chicago Cultural Center and is a founding member of the Kallima Woodwind Quintet. As a soloist, Naomi has performed with the Southwest Michigan Symphony, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. In demand as a freelance musician, Ms. Bensdorf Frisch has recently performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Opera and Symphony Orchestras, the Elgin Symphony, Camerata Chicago, Light Opera Works, and others. She can be heard on recordings with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Elgin Symphony and in a collection of the chamber music of renowned Chicago composer M. William Karlins, available on Hungaroton Records.

A native of Evanston, Ill., Bensdorf Frisch received her bachelor of music, magna cum laude, from Northwestern University, and her master's of music with distinction from DePaul University. As a Fulbright Scholar, Naomi traveled to Germany to study with internationally renowned oboist Ingo Goritzki and perform with the Southwest German Baroque Soloists. Her principal American teachers include Robert Morgan, Ray Still, and Judith Kulb.

In addition to performing, Ms. Bensdorf Frisch works often with young musicians in the Chicago area. Currently, she is a member of the music faculty at North Park University and DePaul University and coaches woodwind chamber music for the award-winning Midwest Young Artists program. Her students have been featured on National Public Radio's From the Top, WFMT’s Introductions, and the Steinway Young Artists Concert Series, and have been winners or finalists in competitions such as the Walgreens Concerto Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Currently she resides in Chicago with her husband, Aaron, daughter, Elise, and their two cats.

Clarinet and Saxophone 

Ralph Wilder, born and raised in Chicago, received his musical education from Northwestern University where he received both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. During his career he has been a full time educator, teaching band and orchestra at the high school and college levels, and continues today as a well known educator, conductor, arranger, and performer on clarinet, saxophone, and flute. He is presently the instructor of clarinet and saxophone at North Park University in Chicago and also teaches Woodwind Methods, Orchestration, Music Appreciation, and more.

As a clarinetist, Ralph Wilder has performed worldwide and has been a member of numerous ballet, opera, and symphony orchestras. As the founder and leader of the Ralph Wilder Orchestra, he performs on flute and saxophone, as well as clarinet. He is also the founder and director of the Mount Prospect Community Band.

www.RalphWilderOrchestra.com

Bassoon

Bassoonist Collin Anderson performs regularly with both the Elgin and Lake Forest Symphonies.  He has appeared with the Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Grant Park Orchestra.  On recording, Collin can be heard on the Chandos label (Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Hickox - Prokofiev's War & Peace) and Equilibrium Records (Chicago Philharmonic, Rachleff - Music of Jan Bach). Collin teaches bassoon at Lake Forest College, Northeastern Illinois University, North Park University, and Harper College.

Collin is a founding member of Quintet Attacca, a Chicago-based wind quintet that was the 2002 Grand Prize Winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music competition.  Quintet Attacca is only the second wind quintet to win the Grand Prize in the competition's over 30-year history.  The quintet is in residence at the Music Institute of Chicago and at Lake Forest College.They have performed throughout the Midwest, in New York City, and in Italy's Emilia-Romagna Festival.

Horn 

Kelly Langenberg currently performs with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, the Kenosha Symphony, Peoria Symphony, and the Quad Cities Symphony Orchsestra. She is horn instructor at the DePaul University Community Music Division, as well as North Park University.

Trombone 

Audrey Morrison is the director of jazz studies and jazz trombone faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago. A native of New York City, she studied under Emory Remington and Bill Dobbins at the Eastman School of Music. As lead trombonist with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble for over 15 years, she performed with jazz greats Jon Faddis, Bill Russo, Curtis Fuller, Clark Terry, Joshua Redman, Paquito D'Rivera, Buddy DeFranco and many others. She has also been a member of the big bands of Clark Terry, Barrett Deems and the DIVA band in New York City. She has performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival and at jazz festivals and jazz venues in Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. A performer and educator in both classical and jazz styles, she is a member of the jazz sextet SHE, the Lake Forest Symphony, and teaches classical music at Columbia College-Chicago and North Park University. Audrey teaches and performs with the Ravinia Jazz Mentors and at the Birch Creek Music Center in Door County, Wis. She is a clinician for Conn-Selmer and is an active adjudicator, clinician, and soloist at high school and college jazz festivals.

Percussion 

Owen Clayton Condon made his solo debut in 1996 with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra after winning the orchestra’s Young Artist Competition. In 2000 he won the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and performed with the Conservatory’s Symphony Orchestra in Jordan Hall. Owen performs with the Millenium Chamber Players, and has performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the University of Chicago’s Contempo series, and as a guest artist with the Eighth Blackbird contemporary music group. Recently, he performed on behalf of Northwestern University at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Owen is completing his Doctorate of Music at Northwestern, where he studied with Michael Burritt and James Ross. He is currently the Director of Percussion Studies at Northeastern Illinois University and Percussion Instructor at North Park University.

Percussion 

Phil Gratteau has been playing drums professionally in Chicago since 1972. He has played with virtually all of Chicago's jazz royalty, including Judy Roberts, Von Freeman, the late Johnny Frigo, Eddie Johnson, Eric Schneider, Kelly Sill, Ron Dewar, Frank D'Rone, Howard Levy, Russ Phillips, Don Stiernberg, and many more. He has also accompanied and/or recorded with jazz artists Marian McPartland, Herb Ellis, Richie Cole, Cab Calloway, Joe Henderson, Jimmy Heath, Joey DeFrancesco, Randy Brecker and Dorothy Donegan. His versatility has also brought him into creative experiences with folk artist Bonnie Koloc, The Simon and Bard Group ("fusion") and the seminal Chicago Brazilian group, Made in Brasil. He has been part of the rhythm sections for numerous jazz "play-alongs" with the late Frank Mantooth, and more recently, provided accompaniment for a series of jazz etude books with saxophonist Greg Fishman. He has been a guest clinician/adjudicator at numerous high school and college jazz festivals and has coached combos and taught drumset at the American Conservatory of Music and Roosevelt University in Chicago.