Friends of Greta

Here you can read about the wonderful artists and musicians who have performed “Greta’s Dream”

Bradley Aikman, bassist

Bradley Aikman

Bradley Aikman is the Principal Bass for the Albany Symphony in New York. He also appears regularly with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The New York City Ballet, and The American Ballet Theatre. He is also the Assistant Principal Bass for The New Haven Symphony. Mr. Aikman has performed chamber music with members of the New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet including Sheryl Staples, Jerome Ashby, and Arturo Delmoni, as well as with the Sarasota Music Festival. This summer Mr. Aikman will be on tour with the Metropolitan Opera in Tokyo. Following the tour he will begin a four week trial with the American Ballet Theatre for the section double bass position.Mr. Aikman has recorded for The Minnesota Orchestra and The Albany Symphony. He holds both a Master and Professional Studies Degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music where he was a student of Timothy Cobb.

Jan Alm, bassist

Jan Alm

Jan Alm studied double bass with Ferdinand Lipa (Göteborg, Sweden) and Klaus Stoll (Berlin, Germany). After working in the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra as assistant principal for one year, Jan joined the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 1984 and became assistant principal two years later. That same year he was also appointed Teacher of Double Bass at the University of Gothenburg, Academy of Music and Drama. Jan has been teaching at the Bass Club summer course in England since 1999 and has been invited to teach at the Royal College of Music and Yehudi Menuhin School in England as well. The composer of two double bass quartets (1984 and 2001), Jan is now publishing a new quartet called “Q for Salamanca.” In 2006, Jan composed pieces for electric bass and orchestra, which were subsequently performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gävle Symfoniorkester as part of a young person’s concert production. This music will be available June 2011 in a Naxos worldwide release of Magnus Rosén’s CD “Past Future”. Jan has also composed a song cycle of fourteen poems by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson. These have been performed in Sweden and Warsaw, Poland. Additionally, a book of trios for young Cello/Bass players called ABC trios is available at www.lemurmusic.com as is Quartet for Double Basses no 2.
www.janalm.se

James Andrews, bassist

James Andrews

James Andrews has been teaching strings in the Westport school system since 1985. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Oregon and at University of Massachusetts, where he received his music education degree in 1981. He went on to earn a Master of Music degree from Yale in 1984. In addition to teaching, Jim has an extensive performing career, playing in a large variety of styles. He currently is a bassist with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Fairfield Orchestra, Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Springfield Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Orchestra New England and many other classical groups throughout the state. Jim also accompanies performances in many different theaters including the Schubert Theater in New Haven, Long Wharf Theater, Palace Theaters in New Haven and Stamford, Oakdale Theater and Goodspeed Opera House as well as Foxwoods casino. Jim has also played in many cabaret performances in N.Y. including Danny’s, Algonquin’s legendary Oak Room, Don’t Tell Mama’s, and the Duplex. He also crosses over into the pop, rock and jazz fields, having performed with many prominent artists. Mr. Andrews also plays in clubs throughout the tri-state area with various musicians and currently teaches the bass privately. He loves to bring all of these aspects of his life into his teaching and performance.

William DeMeritt, narrator

William DeMeritt

William DeMeritt, a native New Yorker, received his graduate training at the Yale School of Drama, and a BFA in performing arts from Marymount Manhattan College. Additionally he has trained with Wynn Handman in NYC and at the British American Drama Academy in London. Theatrical credits include: Romeo & Juliet (Yale Rep), the new musical Missed Connections (Yale Cabaret), elijah (Carlotta Festival of New Plays), Mom How Did You Meet the Beatles (The Public Theatre), Edward II (Red Bull Theatre Co), Tartuffe (Arclight Theatre),Hamlet (Bridge Lane Theatre, London), the Slam Jam (Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre), The Rivals (Abingdon Theatre), Lessen (Bailiwick Repertory Theater, Chicago), Liz Swados’ Violence Project (LaMaMa E.T.C./New York Stage & Film Festival), King John (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ), and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). TV/Film credits include, What’s Up Lovely, Law&Order:SVU, Guiding Light, and One Life to Live.

Charles DeRamus, bassist

Charles DeRamus

Charles not only wrote Greta’s Dream, he loves to play it as well! As a performer of piece, he has participated in the World Premiere, European Premiere, and United States West Coast Premiere. In the 2011/12 season, Charles will have the pleasure of performing Greta’s Dream in Northern Sweden on tour with the double bass section of NorrlandsOperan. For more information about Charles DeRamus, read his full bio here.

Mark Foley, bassist

Mark Foley

Dr. Mark Foley is a Professor of Double Bass at Wichita State University, and Principal Double Bass of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. For the past three Summers he has also performed in the bass section of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. His previous orchestral experience includes the Rochester Philharmonic, the Heidelberg Castle Opera Festival, the Binghamton Symphony, and the Minnesota Opera. Dr. Foley has been a featured concerto soloist with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the WSU orchestra. He also performs extensively as a jazz artist and is the music director of the Knob Festival of New Music. Dr. Foley holds degrees in bass performance from the University of Minnesota, the Eastman School, and Indiana University, Bloomington.

Marc Grue, bassist

Marc Grue

Danish bass player Marc Grue is a member of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (The National Orchestra of Sweden), where he plays on a fantastic Vincenzo Panormo bass from 1792. Before joining the GSO in 2001, he subbed with numerous symphony orchestras in Denmark and performed in various other ensembles, including one hundred performances of ”The Merry Widow” by Franz Lehar. In addition to playing the bass, Marc invented the Double Trolley, has been involved in various business projects focusing on large web systems, and is now working on introducing a web portal for classical musicians. Marc studied with Jens Holm (Århus, Denmark), Duncan McTier (London, England), and Valur Pálsson(Stockholm, Sweden). For sources of inspiration, Marc credits his colleagues, Thomas Martin, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and a lot of other great bass players.
www.doubletrolley.com

Ane Gustavsson, Illustrator

Ane Gustavsson

Bio coming soon
www.anetegner.net

Chris Johnson, bassist

Chris Johnson

Bassist Chris Johnson began his music studies with the Project S.T.E.P. (string training educational program) in 1991. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school Chris attended classes at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School under the main instruction of Helen Stevenson. Chris received his Bachelors degree in 2006 from the New England Conservatory of Music, under Don Palma, and he continued with a Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music Orchestral Program in 2008, where he studied with Tim Cobb (principal bass of the Metropolitan Opera). He has been invited to play in master classes throughout the country with leading musicians including Yo Yo Ma, Thomas Martin, and Jeff Turner. In 2007, Chris became a dominant force in the orchestral world by playing with the New Haven Symphony (William Boughton, conductor), sitting principal bass in the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (Alondra de la Parra, conductor), and co-principle of The New York Chamber Virtuosi in 2010, among others. Chris has also filled in as a substitute bassist with the New World Symphony in 2007 and 2008, as well as winning an alternate position in the Verbier Festival Orchestra Tour in 2008. In the summer of 2010, he attended the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. Currently, Chris is performing with many freelance orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the tri-state area, while auditioning for full time
orchestra positions.

Ayla Kabaca, narrator

Ayla Kabaca

Ayla Kabaca (actress and singer) was born in Stockholm and studied musical theater at the Teater och Operahögskolan in Gothenburg, Sweden. She has appeared in numerous musical/theatrical roles with the Stadsteatern and Folkteatern in Gothenburg, as well as with Värmlandsoperan. Ayla’s television career began as a junior reporter for the Swedish Television (SVT) program “Barnjournalen”, where amongst other assignments she went to New York to monitor the implementation of the United Nations children’s rights convention. A few years later she portrayed the role of Ulrika in “Bullens följetong Sexton” and for SVT played Ulla the Sheep, Irma the Chicken, and Blenda the Cow for the program “Högaffla Hage”. For many years Ayla has been a beloved host of the popular children’s program “Bolibompa” on Swedish Television and she has received much acclaim for her musical segments, most notably the diva opera singer character “Opera Olga”. Additionally, for her work with the television program Ramp, UR, Ayla has twice been nominated for the prestigious Kristallen award as best female host. Along with several tours around Sweden for youth and holiday programs, Ayla has for many years performed at Stockholm’s famous Skansen for both the summer children’s sing-a-longs and the annual Christmas market. Ayla’s multifaceted career has also included creating several children’s shows and programs, plus doing voice roles for dubbed films. One of Ayla’s most famous voice roles is the character “Kanga” in the Swedish version of the Winnie the Pooh films. Ayla’s mother is Swedish and her father is Turkish, so she usually refers to herself as a “Svurk” (a person with the best mix of Swedish and Turkish).
www.aylakabaca.se

Andrew Karr, narrator

Andrew Karr

Bio coming soon

Kirby Nunez, bassist

Kirby Nunez

Kirby Nunez is the Honolulu Symphony’s principal bassist and has been with the orchestra since 1989. He has also been a member of the Colorado Music Festival since 1992. Mr. Nunez has a Bachelors of Music degree from the University of North Texas, and received further training at the Peabody Conservatory and the New World Symphony. He has also been a fellowship recipient to the Aspen Music Festival, and was the principal bassist of the National Repertory Orchestra.

Jean Posekany, bassist

Jean Posekany

Jean Posekany began her formal music training at the age of four studying piano. Already an accomplished violinist and pianist, Jean discovered her true passion for playing the double bass at the age of twenty. She was awarded a full scholarship from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Bass Performance. Jean continued to master her musical skills as recipient of a full graduate scholarship from the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied bass with Lawrence Wolfe and Edwin Barker of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Jean has won positions in several orchestras including the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Malaysian Philharmonic, and the New World Symphony. Currently, Jean lives in Michigan where she is an active freelancer and educator in the Detroit area. She spends her summer months in Boulder, Colorado performing as a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra.

Jenny Ryderberg, bassist

Jenny Ryderberg

Jenny Ryderberg began playing the double bass when she was 8 years old. After pre-college studies at Falun musikkonservatoriet, Jenny was accepted into the class of Prof. Håkan Ehrén at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. As part of the Erasmus exchange program, she also studied with Prof. Michael Wolf at The Berlin University of the Arts. Jenny is a member of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, where she performs on a Ceruti (Cremona 1813) double bass owned by the GSO. Along with her tenure in the Gothenburg Symphony, she has worked as co-principal of the Gothenburg Opera and is a member of Gageego, the contemporary music ensemble based in Sweden. Jenny is the proud owner of a double bass (Bologna 1720) previously owned by Sergei Koussevitzky, which she frequently performs with in chamber music settings.
www.ryderberg.com

Randall Zigler, bassist

Randall Zigler

Randall Zigler began his bass studies as a high school student in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Oberlin College shortly thereafter, where he received undergraduate degrees in bass performance and mathematics. He has since received a Master of Music degree from Boston University, and continues to freelance as an orchestral and chamber musician throughout New England. Appointed principal bass of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in 2006, Mr. Zigler has also served as principal of the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra and performs regularly and substitutes occasionally with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Rhode Island Philharmonic, among others. He is also a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, an adventurous, artist-driven new music collective that has performed and recorded to international acclaim.
www.iceorg.org

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