Pops & Patriots

Curt Ebersole has served as the Conductor and Music Director (John P. Paynter Memorial Chair) of the Westchester Symphonic Winds since 2008, fostering its exponential growth over the past 14 years. He retired from Northern Valley Regional High School (Old Tappan, NJ) in 2013 after serving as Director of Instrumental Music for 31 years. His ensembles were honored with consistent critical accolades, and his instrumental Prism Concerts became a local rite of spring. He now serves on the faculty at The Masters School, in Dobbs Ferry, NY (Jane Rechtman Faculty Chair), where he teaches String Ensemble, Chamber Music, and Public Speaking. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master’s degree in Conducting from Northwestern University, where he studied with John P. Paynter and clarinet with Larry Combs, and a Master’s degree in clarinet performance from SUNY Purchase, where he studied with Ben Armato.   

Maestro Ebersole has served as a guest conductor and clinician for numerous county, regional, all-state, and adult community ensembles around the world, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Symphony Space, with the U.S. Army Field Band, along with performances in Las Vegas, South Korea, and Australia. He is the founding coordinator of the Music Educators of Bergen County Wind Conducting Symposium. He has served as a clinician at the Midwest Clinic, Temple University, Florida Music Educators Association, and presented his TED Talk, “Framing Failure,” at TEDxOneonta in 2017. His performance achievements include solo and ensemble performances as both a clarinetist and basset hornist. 

Nicoletta Berry is a classical singer who commits her soprano to story-telling in multidisciplinary projects, recital, and the classical cannon alike. She has performed as a soloist with New York Festival of Song, Aspen Opera Theatre, and Juilliard Opera, under the baton of acclaimed conductors such as Barbara Hannigan and Dame Jane Glover. In 2022, Berry graduated from The Juilliard School, and was awarded the Stephen Novick Grant for Career Advancement. Berry received her Bachelor degree from The Manhattan School of Music, and her Master degree from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Marlena Malas. She is an alum of Caramoor’s 2021 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars mentoring program. 

To learn more about Nicoletta Berry, please visit her website. 

American tenor Terrence Chin-Loy, whom Opera News described as having a “beautiful lyric tenor voice,” pairs passionate performance with a full, sweet sound. In the 2022-2023 season, Chin-Loy will perform Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the National Taichung Theater in Taiwan as well as at Arizona Opera, Don José in Carmen with MasterVoices at Lincoln Center, Old Head 2 and Charlie in the world premiere of Factotum with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Acis in Acis and Galatea with Eugene Opera, and join the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover the role of Arbace in Idomeneo. In concert, he joins the North Carolina Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem, and the Boise Philharmonic for a performance of Hailstork’s I Will Life Mine Eyes as well as a residency with the College of Idaho. 

Terrence opened the 2021-2022 season in his solo debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. He returned to Arizona Opera for his second and final season as a Marion Roose Pullin Resident Artist where he performed Henrik Egerman in A Little Night Music and Ferrando in Così fan tutte and Benny Paret Jr. in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Champion. In concert, Chin-Loy performed and recorded Taneyev’s At the Reading of a Psalm with the American Symphony Orchestra and Leon Botstein at Carnegie Hall. 

Chin-Loy is a graduate of Indiana University, where he received a Performer Diploma. He also holds degrees from Mannes College and Yale University. He is a 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions National Semifinalist. He is an alum of Caramoor’s 2020 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars mentoring program. 

To learn more about Terrence Chin-Loy, please visit his website (https://www.terrencechinloy.com). 

Westchester Symphonic Winds — an adult, community-based, 60-piece wind and percussion ensemble — celebrates its 35th season in 2022 – 23. The ensemble strives to promote music in our area, instill pride in our nation and heritage, provide opportunities for personal expression and growth within its membership, and nurture the love of music by offering an exceptional musical experience for people of all ages.  

The ensemble was founded by Rachel Eckhaus, Robert LaPorta, and the group’s first conductor, James D. Wayne, who conducted the band from 1988 – 2004. Dr. Luis Fernando Jimenez was conductor from 2005 – 08. Curt Ebersole was invited to conduct the 20th Anniversary Gala Concert in 2008, and was subsequently invited to stay on permanently as Conductor and Music Director. Since 2008, guest conductors and clinicians have included Dr. Mallory Thompson, Dr. John Lynch, Dr. Tom McCauley, Dr. Shelley Axelson, Travis Cross, and Joseph Greco.  

Over the years, the ensemble has given benefit concerts for many groups, including the Food Bank for Westchester, Student Assistance Services, Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation, Irvington Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Rotary Club of Briarcliff Manor, Emergency Ecumenical Food Pantry, Family Services of Westchester, Yonkers Arts Education, and others.  

The ensemble made its New York City debut at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in March of 2010, its national debut at the 2012 Association of Concert Bands National Convention, and this event marks its eighth performance at Caramoor. The organization is an Ensemble-in-Residence at the historic Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, New York, and rehearses there on Monday evenings from September through June.  

To learn more about Westchester Symphonic Winds, please visit their website (westchestersymphonicwinds.org).