New York City based bass trombonist and low brass doubler, Owen Caprell, enjoys a far reaching musical career. Versed in a wide range of styles, you will find Owen in Broadway pit orchestras, chamber ensembles, orchestras, big bands, and new music ensembles. Owen has performed two solos with The Chelsea Symphony; Eric Ewazen’s Rhapsody for Bass Trombone in 2019, and Jay Krush’s Concerto for Bass Trombone in 2023. He is regularly playing at The Lion King on Broadway amongst other shows. In addition to performing, Owen teaches private lessons to all ages at Dwight Englewood School and co-leads a beginner band class and a middle school jazz ensemble.

Rebecca Steinberg is a trumpet player with a career marked by her warm, inviting sound and stylistic versatility. You can find Rebecca in the pit of New York City’s many theater productions, performing alongside her brass quintet Calliope Brass, and teaching music both privately and in the classroom. As a theater musician, Rebecca has held trumpet chairs in Tony winning Broadway musicals SUFFS and New York, New York. Other favorite musical appearances include Ragtime (City Center), Sound of Music (Papermill Playhouse), and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Stage 42). Rebecca started at Dwight-Englewood in 2015 as a private lesson teacher, and now works more directly with the orchestra students as Director of Brass. Rebecca studied at Manhattan School of Music, and her former private students have gone on to attend Interlochen Arts Camp, Laguardia High School, Frank Sinatra High School, and Interschool Orchestras of NY, among other elite programs.  Rebecca won the 2018 Liz Swados Inspiration Grant, an annual award honoring influential female music educators in New York City, on behalf of Calliope Brass. In addition to playing the trumpet with Calliope Brass, Rebecca also served as Executive Director for the 501c3 organization 2020-2023. Additionally as an arts administrator, Rebecca serves as a program head of Maestra Music’s First Takes program.

Gregory LaRosa is Principal Timpanist of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and formerly a regular Guest Principal with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A versatile and sought-after artist, he has performed worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral timpanist, appearing at many of the world’s leading music festivals.

Equally at home across genres—from classical to Broadway and pop—Gregory has shared the stage with celebrated artists including Sarah McLachlan, Andrea Bocelli, and Darlene Love. A dedicated educator, he serves as Assistant Director of the Percussion Workshop at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and is a frequent guest artist and clinician at conservatories and universities around the globe.

He holds degrees from The Juilliard School and The Colburn School, and is a proud Scholar of the Union League of Philadelphia Legacy Foundation.

John Littlefield has been teaching flute for several decades, toured extensively throughout the USA as well as Europe and the former Soviet Union with several chamber ensembles in addition to numerous freelancing orchestras in New York and a brief stint in a Broadway pit. He has released recordings on the Naxos and Justin labels and has a website at www.JohnHerrickLittlefield.com

Russian-born violinist, Ella Heifets, is a renowned performer and educator. After earning her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Moscow Conservatory, she emigrated to the United States in 1993. She is currently on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music, Horace Mann School, and Dwight-Englewood School. Her students have won numerous international competitions such as International Strings Competition in Cremona, American Protégé International Strings Competition, and Boston University Tanglewood Institute, to name a few. She has played on many Broadway productions including Phantom of the Opera, Shrek, Boy from Oz, The Color Purple, La Cage Aux Folles, Look of Love, Annie Get Your Gun, Ragtime, and Showboat. 

ALLEN FARNHAM, CLASSICAL & JAZZ PIANO, has been teaching at Dwight-Englewood since 2001.  He received his Bachelor’s degree in Classical Piano and Jazz Studies from Oberlin Conservatory, and his Master’s degree in Jazz Arranging and Composition from William Paterson University.  Mr. Farnham currently freelances as a pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and teacher, as well as being a regular orchestra member of the Lion King on Broadway, playing Keyboard 1.  He has recorded extensively as a sideman and lead performer, as well as being a regular orchestra member of the Lion King on Broadway, playing Keyboard 1.  He has recorded extensively as a sideman and lead performer, as well as having produced over 50 recordings for the California-based record label Concord Records for such illustrious artists as Tito Puente, Monty Alexander, Charlie Byrd, Scott Hamilton, Buddy DeFranco, and Mongo Santamaria. Mr. Farnham’s performance credits include work with vocalists such as Susannah McCorkle, Liza Minelli, Mel Tormé, Mark Murphy and Ernestine Anderson.

Karen Littlefield, pianist ,received her B.M. and M.M.degrees from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. With honors from the International Piano Recording Competition, her early interests as accompanist for the New York Grand Opera as well as numerous musical theater and ballet productions have since let her to a highly active career as a chamber musician. She has enjoyed residency with the Herrick Ensemble in numerous performances nationwide. Formerly with the NYU, Spence and Manhattan School of Music faculties, Ms. Littlefield is currently with the piano faculty at the Dwight School in Englewood New Jersey.

Jared Newlen is a woodwind musician and educator based in NYC, where he has collaborated with several music directors and new music composers. His doubling abilities provide him with opportunities to perform for various shows, performing on flutes, clarinets and saxophones. Jared has performed hundreds of shows and concerts since moving to NYC in 2013, in halls such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, and in Broadway pits. He has played with groups such as the City Lyric Opera, Chelsea Symphony, Gateway Classical Music Society, Litha Symphony, and the Brooklyn Wind Symphony to name a few. He has performed at conventions such as the Midwest Clinic, CBDNA, The US Navy Saxophone Symposium, and the Carolina Saxophone Symposium. Jared has performed in countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom. Newlen’s passion for teaching has inspired students to participate in audition based programs such as NY Pops Kids on Stage, Third Street School Summer Chamber Music Camp, and the Summer Arts Institute at Frank Sinatra High School. His students have been accepted into performing arts high schools such as LaGuardia HS and Frank Sinatra HS in New York City for the last several years. In addition to teaching private lessons at the Dwight-Englewood School, Jared directs the Lower School Band and a middle school rock band class.

Kevin Norton was born in Brooklyn and raised in Staten Island, NY. Studies at Hunter College introduced Kevin to Milt Hinton and after a short period, Kevin began to perform with Milt Hinton, eventually recording The Judge’s Decision with a quartet led by Milt. After getting his Masters Degree from Manhattan School of Music, he became very active as a percussionist in New York, especially taking part in the blossoming downtown New York City scene. This lead to him playing with Fred Frith‘s band Keep the Dog, which also included harpist Zeena Parkins and saxophonist John Zorn. However, he longed to return to his jazz roots and began to play with downtown outsiders Phillip Johnston and Joel Forrester and their co-led band, the Microscopic Septet (and later Johnston’s Big Trouble, with two CDs on Black Saint). Too numerous to list here: Kevin played with many musicians on the downtown scene but eventually concentrated on his own compositions and own ensembles For Guy Debord (in nine events) is a composition for quintet and woodwind soloist (originally Anthony Braxton) based on the texts of the radical French philosopher whose thought proved central to the riots of Paris, 1968. Change Dance (Troubled Energy) draws its inspiration from another radical political activist, Kathy Change (born Kathleen Chang). Both suites are approximately an hour in duration. In 2006 Mr. Norton premiered Water and Fire Suite, commissioned as part of the national series of works from Meet The Composer Commissioning Music/USA. He has led and/or co-led about 20 critically acclaimed recordings, many of them making year-end “Best of” lists. His recording, Time-Space Modulator, integrates intricate, notated composition work with the deep improvisatory skills of Kevin, Tony Malaby, Dave Ballou and John Lindberg. Norton has also played with many highly esteemed European improvisers such as Paul Rogers, Joëlle Léandre, John Tilbury, Paul Dunmall and Frode Gjerstad. (Gjerstad and Norton formed TiPPLE with guitarist David Watson: a cooperative, free improvising trio that has released 3 CDs as of 2015) For about ten years, Mr. Norton was Anthony Braxton‘s main percussionist in both the “ghost trance” phase and the “standards” phase, plotting out the course for all percussionists who followed him. Other great American masters Kevin has performed and/or recorded with include John Lindberg, Connie Crothers, James Emery, Scott Robinson, Nick Didkovsky, Steve LaSpina, Marshall Allen, Kazzrie Jaxen, Peter Zummo, Henry Grimes and poet/activist John Sinclair. In June of 2002, Kevin Norton was a resident composer at the prestigious MacDowell Colony. Norton worked closely with composer Pat Irwin on the animated television show, Roco’s Modern Life for the Nickelodeon network (approximately 1993-1996). Norton composed the original soundtrack for the movie Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words (2013). Recent recordings include John Zorn’s Nosferatu (2012), Tipple’s No Sugar on Anything (2014), John Lindberg’s BC3 Born in an Urban Ruin (2016), Kevin Norton’s Breakfast of Champignon(s) Staten Island: All that is solid melts into air (2017). He has served on the faculty of several schools including the University of Maryland and is currently on the faculty of William Paterson University (Jazz Studies Program).

Elizabeth Synnott is a Dumont resident with a background in opera and theater, where she performed various roles in Bergen County with the theatre group,  THE COMPANY.  This coming February, she will star as Aida opposite Teddy Coluca in their production of Over The River and Through the Woods.  She has traveled as a principal soloist throughout Europe and the US since her professional debut in Maine with the Portland Symphony Orchestra. She has had the privilege of being featured in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York.  She has worked as a Music Director for Bridge Studio for Performing Arts and was delighted to make her debut at D-E 360° as Music Director for Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief this past summer. She currently balances her love of performing, teaching voice and music directing outside the scope of a busy day job.  IG: @divabeth29

Eliot Goldmund (born Euntaek Kim) is a Steinway Teacher and an Active Member of the Music Educators Association of New Jersey. With 20 years of experience in teaching to date, Mr. Eliot holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Piano Performance from The Juilliard School and an Artist Diploma from Yale University. Mr. Eliot is a prizewinner and participant of several competitions, including The 2007 Queen Elisabeth Competition, The 4th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, The 2001 Oberlin International Piano Competition, and The Center for Musical Excellence Grant. As an active concert pianist, Mr. Eliot has made solo appearances in venues across the globe, including Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, and the United States. As a chamber musician, Eliot has collaborated with members of Aeolus, Calidore, Enso, Escher, Parker, and Ying quartets. As a teacher, Mr. Eliot believes that anyone willing to endeavor in music, regardless of the commitment level, is able to connect deeply within oneself through music-making. For the student in the beginner’s level, Mr. Eliot focuses on nurturing a strong understanding of music notation, basic music theory, and proper form of the body mechanics in piano playing. For the intermediate and advanced levels, Mr. Eliot seeks to expose the student to a broad realm of repertoire, while honing on the technical refinement and the auditory sensitivity, in the hopes that the student will have developed the ability and individuality necessary to carve one’s own musical path.