Music Lessons

Trish Giangiulio has a multifaceted career in the arts, as a performer, educator, and administrator. A Philadelphia area native, she had some of her early musical education with Randy Gardner, former 2^nd horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She continued her education in New York, where she studied with Ranier DeIntinis, retired 3^rd horn of the New York Philharmonic, and received her Bachelor of Music.

A member of Academy Brass Quintet (for which she also serves as Managing Director), the Bay Atlantic Symphony, former member of Opera New Jersey Orchestra, with other credits ranging from the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia to the Strauss Orchestra of America, one would already imagine a busy and fulfilling musical life. But Trish’s performance schedule is not so one-dimensional.

Much more than a classical musician, her other credits include numerous engagements backing Frank Sinatra Jr., two tours with Josh Groban, tours with Sarah McLachlan, Il Volo, and Warren Haynes’(of Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule, and Grateful Dead fame) “Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration.” Trish has found herself on the short list for East Coast musical contractors when the likes of rock legend Peter Cetera, latin jazz phenom Poncho Sanchez (leading the late Tito Puente’s band), and indie-rock star Lisa Loeb come calling.

Not to be pigeon holed as a orchestral musician or a backing “side(wo)man”, Trish’s solo work has taken her to collaborations with Hugworks for the Memorial Service for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2008, she played the Philadelphia and Connecticut premiers of “The Aim was Song”--a cantata commissioned by LyricFest and written for 7 Soloists, girl choir, horn and piano by Grammy nominated composer Nicholas White. In 2011, Trish premiered “Convergence: A Charm of Moonlight” for choir and quartet for the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts by renowned composer Thomas Pasatieri.

In addition to her live performances, she has extensive experience in the recording studio, having recorded for NASCAR, film soundtracks including a “modern day silent film”, CD projects for New World Records, Albany Records, Angel/EMI, Inc, as well as sessions for various artists/composers/publishers.

As an educator, Trish has had the privilege of teaching students at Waldron Mercy Academy and Merion Mercy Academy over the past 20 years. Educated by the Sisters of Mercy, Trish is deeply rooted in the Mercy philosophy and is grateful that she has the opportunity to teach in the Mercy schools.

pgiangiulio@gmahs.org

Kevin Blanke graduated from the University of the Arts in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance and stayed an extra year to complete his M.A.T. in Music Education.  An active drummer and percussionist on the musical theatre scene in the Greater Philadelphia Area, Kevin plays at various venues, including the Walnut Street Theatre, Venice Island for the Performing Arts and Bucks County Play House. He also keeps a busy schedule as a freelancer, playing at several local establishments including Chris’ Jazz Cafe, Hops Brewerytown, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, and various cocktail hours and wedding receptions. 

Soprano Meg Vandegrift is a native of the Washington, D.C. area who has maintained an active private voice studio from her home in Lower Gwynedd Township for the last 12 years. In 2004 she completed her Master of Music degree from Rutgers University where she studied voice with Grammy Award winning soprano Faith Esham. Meg’s undergraduate voice degree is from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.  Meg has performed in numerous operatic roles including Juliet in Gounod’s​ Romeo and Juliet, Anne Ford in ​The Merry Wives of Windsor, Rose Maurrant in ​Street Scene, Birdie Hubbard in ​Regina, Baby Doe Tabor in ​The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Second Lady in​ The Magic Flute. Meg has performed as a soloist with a number of orchestras including Beethoven’s ​Mass in C Major with the Richmond Symphony, and Mozart’s ​Requiem with Independence Sinfonia.  Some of her other previous voice teachers include Wayne Batty, Judith Coen, and Charles Kellis, and Peggy McNulty. For four years, Meg was a soloist, choral section leader and liturgical cantor at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church in Highland Park, NJ. She is currently a soloist and choral section leader at Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, PA as well as a regular soloist at Carmel Presbyterian Church in Glenside, PA. As an undergraduate, Meg spent a semester abroad at the University of Vienna in Austria, as well as studying Bel Canto vocal technique at the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium in Spoleto, Italy in 2001 and 2003. Meg has a full certification from the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute (Contemporary Commercial Music) from Shenandoah University, as well as Somatic Voicework Ⓡ The Lovetri Method, Level I. Meg was previously on the voice faculty of the Rutgers Community Music Program in New Brunswick, NJ as well as The Dresher School of Music in Dresher, PA.

Brian Major Baritone Charismatic baritone Brian Major continues to be praised by critics for his “velvety voice’ and “commanding stage presence.” In the fall of 2019, Mr. Major joined Madison Opera for their production of La traviata as Baron Douphol and covered the role of Germont. In 2020, Mr. Major returned to Toledo Opera as Marcello in La bohème, made his South American debut as Amonasro in Aïda with Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, and was slated to make his Princeton Festival debut as Germont in La Traviata (COVID19). During the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Major was engaged to make his Chautauqua Orchestra debut singing in Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s Sanctuary Road and performing selections from Porgy & Bess, his Opera on the James debut as Scarpia in Tosca, and a debut with Maryland Lyric Opera as Ford in Falstaff (COVID19). In the spring of 2021, Mr. Major returned to Opera Grand Rapids as Gary in Douglas Pew’s Penny and joined Lyric Fest for a filmed recital of Kurt Weill songs, the Princeton Festival for an Opera Gala, and Opera Delaware for a concert of Shakespeare selections. During the 2021-2022 season, Mr. Major will make his role debut as Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Columbus, sing the role of Taylor in the world premiere of Undying Love at Hearing in Color in Chicago and make his Florentine Opera debut as Schaunard in La bohème. He will also return to both the Columbus Symphony to sing another Schaunard in La bohème and the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, as well as, Opera Carolina to sing Amonasro in Aïda.

During the 2018-2019 season, Mr. Major made debuts with Toledo Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, and Opera Carolina in their productions of The Magic Flute and Carmen where he sang the roles of The Speaker and El Dancaïro. Other season highlights include his turn in the title role of Gianni Schicchi, a recital for the Shivers Concert Series in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with The Colorado College Summer Music Festival. Mr. Major was also a featured musical guest at an Evening of Joyful Praise at the historic Great Auditorium in New Jersey and closed out his season as the baritone soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

Past season credits include his debut with Opera Columbus and Columbus Symphony Orchestra in a collaborative production of Aïda as Amonasro. Mr. Major also presented Kirke Mechem’s Songs of the Slave in Boston Symphony Hall and reprised the role of Amonasro in a debut with Opera Theatre of the Rockies in their twentieth-year celebration where Mr. Major’s voice was described as “honey-filled and capable of organic, dramatic expression.”

Quickly gaining renowned acclaim for his proficiency in the iconic dramatic repertoire, Opera News praised Mr. Major’s Escamillo as “embracing the love of the spotlight” and “never losing the strength of the vocal line.” Mr. Major has performed with Opera Saratoga as Giorgio in Catan’s Il Postino, with Opera in the Heights where he gave a “sexy and despicable, full-bodied and broad” performance of the title role in Don Giovanni, with Opera Company of Middlebury where he sang the role of Germont in La Traviata, and in Montpellier, France where he performed an all-French Opera concert with Maestro Michel Plasson. Other operatic credits include Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, 1st Nazarene in Salome, and George Milton in Of Mice and Men.

An accomplished recitalist and concert artists, Mr. Major has been the baritone soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. These works were performed with The Siena Chamber Orchestra in Italy, Sun Valley Opera in Idaho, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, and the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Major has won numerous awards and honors on the competition circuit including 2nd Prize at the Harold Haugh Opera Vocal Competition, 1st prize at the Opera Ebony Vocal Competition, 3rd prize at the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, 2nd prize at the Opera at San Nicola Vocal Competition, 1st prize at Harlem Opera Theater’s Vocal Competition, 1st prize at the Atlanta Music Club Vocal Competition, and an Encouragement Prize at the Palm Beach Atlantic Vocal Competition. Mr. Major holds degrees from Morehouse College, Boston University, and Michigan State University

Dan Hanrahan has a degree in Jazz Performance from Temple University. Since graduating in 2009, he has been performing regularly as a leader and a sideman at venues such as Chris' Jazz Cafe, Time, The Deer Head Inn, and many others. Dan has worked extensively with many musicians from Philadelphia's jazz scene, and has performed with Larry McKenna, Terell Stafford and Tim Warfield. Additionally, Dan maintains a busy schedule as an educator. He has taught lessons and ensembles at Father Judge High School and DeLuca Music, and is currently a guitar instructor at Settlement Music School and Friends Select School in Philadelphia.

dhanrahan@gmahs.org

Violinist Karen Banos is and active performer and teacher. She attended Carnegie-Mellon University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the New School of Music, where she studied with Jascha Brodsky. She also studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School for Strings, and had additional chamber music studies with Charles Castleman at the Quartet Program.

Ms. Banos is currently a member of the orchestras of the Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. She toured with the NYC Opera, National Company, and is also currently a regular substitute for Broadway musicals. She is a founding member and first violinist of the Rittenhouse String Quartet, and spends her summers playing with the Lake George Opera Company in Saratoga Springs, NY and the Endless Mountain Music Festival in Wellsboro, PA.

Committed to the education of the underprivileged, Ms. Banos has worked for the Institute for Arts in Education (trained by the Lincoln Center Teaching Artists) as well as the PA Arts in Education Partnership. These residencies in the city schools of Philadelphia provide music education to students who attend schools that no longer offer general music.  Ms. Banos is also the violin and viola teacher at Drexel University.

In addition to classical performing, she has enjoyed performing with headlining stars like Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach and Bernadette Peters, to name a few. She has performed with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and on Broadway has played in the pits for Secret Garden, Tommy, Ragtime, Boy from Oz, and West Side Story.

Sean Bailey, multi-instrumentalist, enjoys an active career playing an array of genres in venues spanning from intimate jazz clubs to symphony halls.  He is a regular clarinet soloist and lead tenor with Terell Stafford’s Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia and a member of the Philly POPS Big Band, and he can often be seen with the Philly POPS orchestra.  Sean performs as a substitute musician on clarinets and saxophones with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and he appears with a number of other ensembles including the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra 2001!, and the Ocean City Pops.   Frequently engaged as a musician in commercial and musical theater productions, Sean regularly plays woodwinds for shows at the Arden Theatre, the Delaware Theatre, and Bristol Riverside Theatre, and he plays regionally for touring acts like Hugh Jackman's The Man, The Show.

Sean is part of the Music Studies faculty at Temple University, where he teaches courses on arts entrepreneurship and audio engineering, editing, and production; and, he is an instructor for the Business Minor at the Moore College of Art and Design.  His work as an engineer can be found on the Naxos label.   Sean teaches clarinet at Rutgers University Camden and the Community College of Philadelphia, and he serves as an adjunct woodwinds instructor at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, the Shipley School (Byrn Mawr, PA), and the Symphony in C Youth Orchestra and summer camp.  Sean holds M.M. and B.M. degrees in Clarinet Performance from Temple University, where he studied under Ricardo Morales.

Sean Bailey is a Backun Artist.

Ross Beauchamp, cello, holds a bachelor and masters degree in cello performance from Boston University. He has been teaching cello for over 25 years. He is currently an instructor at The Conservatory in Doylestown, PA, and the Pennsville (NJ) High School Music Academy, and has taught at the Darlington Arts Center, the Music School of Delaware, and Taylors Music in West Chester, PA.

Ross is also an active performer in the Delaware Valley area, playing with a variety of ensembles including the Delaware, Reading, Kennett, and Bay-Atlantic Symphonies. His principal teachers include Michael Reynolds, Marion Feldman, and Douglas McNames. He also enjoys playing chamber music and coaching student chamber groups. Every August, Ross spends several weeks in New Hampshire as a summer director for the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. He was also a founding member of Trio Jeudi, Trio des Amis, and the Kythia String Quartet.

rbeauchamp@gmahs.org

Originally from Chicago, trumpeter, educator and composer Elliot Bild got his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University where he studied with Scott Cowan, Andrew Rathbun and Edward Simon. Shortly after, he completed his Masters Degree from Temple University where he studied with John Swana, Terell Stafford and Dick Oatts. In August 2017, Elliot was selected along with 14 other fellows to participate in the Ravinia Steins Music Institute, a week-long workshop focusing on composition where he worked with Rufus Reid, Nathan Davis and Billy Childs. Later that summer, Elliot attended the Banff Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music, where he had the chance to work with Gary Bartz, Jeremy Pelt, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Robin Eubanks and Tia Fuller, among others. In the Summer of 2018, Elliot was a sub trumpeter for the touring Big Apple Circus and became faculty of the Litchfield Jazz Camp. Earlier this year Elliot was commissioned to write a big band piece for the Philadelphia Clef Club big band featuring Jaleel Shaw. Recently, he has performed with the great Philadelphia Bassist Mike Boone at Smalls Jazz Club in NYC as well as the 2019 Philadelphia Center City Jazz Festival, as part of his new working Quintet. He has also performed with such people as Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band, Don Braden, John Swana, Duane Eubanks, Tim Warfield, Randy Brecker, Dave Ballou, Avery Sharpe, Mike DiRubbo, Zaccai and Luques Curtis, Behn Gillece, and Pablo Batista,. Elliot is currently one of the top in demand freelance trumpeters the Philadelphia area, performing at such venues as Chris’s Jazz Cafe, South Jazz Kitchen, Smalls Jazz Club, Time, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola,  Litchfield Jazz Festival among others. Elliot just finished recording his debut live record, which will be released early 2020. He currently teaches at The Philadelphia Orchestra Youth Lessons Program, DeLuca Music in addition to Gwynedd Mercy Academy.

Barry McCommon

Barry is a musician that defies categorization. Having begun his career while still enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music, he also cut his teeth in the clubs of Philly and Atlantic City. His versatility has earned him respect as a “crossover” artist, performing in venues ranging from Lincoln Center to the House of Blues with anyone from the Royal Ballet, to the Jaco Pastorius Big Band, to R&B legend Aretha Franklin. Most recently, he has been on stage with Little River Band for their 2022 tour.

In addition to his work as a performer, he served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of the Arts from 2011-2022, is an Associate Conductor of Bravo Brass(Philadelphia Youth Orchestra), a Teaching Artist for the Kimmel Center of the Performing Arts, has taught at the Philadelphia International Music Festival through chamber music coaching and a solo performance class, and has given Masterclasses throughout the United States(West Chester University, Drexel University, Auburn University, and Merit School of Chicago).

Rather than accept the parameters that so many try to place on musicians, Barry plays what he wants to play—his love of rock, jazz, r&b, pop, and classical shows every time he hits the stage.