WOODWINDS

LOUIS CAIMANO, JR., DIRECTOR – WOODWINDS
Lauret Du Conservatoire De La Region De Bordeaux, France; M.M., Woodwind Specialist, Saxophone, Flute, Bassoon, Clarinet, Oboe with Honors, Michigan State University; B.M., B.S., Michigan State University. Studied saxophone with Jean-Marie Londeix; flute with Maurice Prouvo and Andrew Lolya; clarinet with Yves Didier, Dan Trimboli and Les Scott; bassoon with Loren Glickman, William Scribner and Dr. Edgar Kirk; oboe with Mark Hill and Marsha Heller; improvisation with Phil Woods and Eric Kloss. Former Director of Jazz Studies, and Instructor of Saxophone, Flute, Bassoon and Theory at Bemidji State University; Assistant Director and Instructor of Saxophone, Michigan State University; Adjunct faculty, City University of New York - QCC; Instrumental Music Teacher, Harrington Park and Ridgewood NJ public schools. Composer/arranger of numerous jazz fusion, new age and commercial compositions, including “Manhattan Twilight.” Performance credits include the Broadway orchestras of A Chorus Line, Baby, CATS, Dancin’, David Copperfield, Evita, 42nd Street, La Cage aux Folles, Mame, Manhattan Showboat, and Woman of the Year; as well as the Saxophonist “Salaire” at Grand Theatre de Bordeaux, Musique Municipal, Orchestre de Harmonie, and the Lansing Symphony. Performed on saxophone with such well-known acts as The Four Tops, The Temptations, the Mellow Kings, Gary Burton, Urbie Green, Jimmy Holmes, Arnie Lawrence, John Mahegan, Rita Moreno, Marvin Stamm, Larry Stuart, Enzo Stuarti, Clark Terry, Jerry Vale and Nancy Wilson. Appeared in the movies “Muppets Take Manhattan” and “The Juror.” Radio performances on “France Inter,” the French National Radio Station. Founded The Ridgewood Conservatory in 1998 after providing private woodwind instruction to more than 200 student musicians.

WALLACE KRAMER – CLARINET, SAXOPHONE, FLUTE
M.A., Columbia University; B.A., University of Miami, Symphony Scholarship. Studied clarinet with Daniel Bonade, Robert McGinnis, David Weber, Ignatius Gennusa; saxophone with Joseph Allard; flute with Paige Brooke, Robert Morris, Harold Bennett, Andrew Loyla. Former faculty member of the United Nations International School, Rudolph Steiner School, and in various school systems in NY and NJ. Professional experience includes the U.S. Army Band, first clarinet with the Chicago Opera Ballet, the Longines Symphonette, the Chilean Balle, the Royal Danish Ballet, and the University of Miami Symphony; bass clarinet and saxophone with the Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, and American Ballet Theater, clarinet and/or flute and/or saxophone with the Joffry Ballet, Harkness Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, New York City Ballet, World's Fair Band of America, Radio City Music Hall, Goldman Concert Band, New Sousa Band, Coachlight Dinner Theater, Jones Beach Theater, Garden State Arts Center; and Broadway shows including Subways Are For Sleeping, The King and I, Hello Dolly, Desert Song, Oklahoma, Porgy and Bess, Peter Pan, On Your Toes, the City Cent Encore Series, and the Lake George Opera. Played saxophone with the Big Bands of Les and Larry Elgart, Sauter-Finegan, and many others. Performed with numerous metropolitan area orchestras, including the American Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Westchester Symphony, and Symphony of the New World.

DON MOKRYNSKI – CLARINET

M.M., The Juilliard School; B.M. Eastman School of Music. Studied with Herbert Blayman (former principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra); Stanley Hasty, Leon Russianoff, and Richard Waller. Principal Clarinetist with the national tours of Phantom of the Opera and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber starring Michael Crawford. Performed with the NJ Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, Solisti New York, and Orchestra New England, as well as the Jersey Lyric, New Haven and Connecticut Grand Opera companies. As an avid chamber musician, has performed with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and is a founding member of the critically acclaimed Palisades Virtuosi. Attended the music festivals of Aspen, Waterloo and Heidelberg and has recorded for Albany, Koch International, Soundstream and Elektra records.

KAREN PURPURA – FLUTE, PICCOLO, RECORDER
B.M., The Juilliard School. Studied with Murray Panitz, Arthur Lora, William Kincaid, John Krell, Samuel Baron and Martha Bixler. Formerly Flute Professor at Caldwell College, Flute Professor and Woodwind Techniques teacher at Wagner College, and Director of Woodwind Ensemble Program at the Aspen Music Festival. Soloist performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra and Brooklyn Philharmonic. Orchestral and chamber music credits include Spoleto (Italy) Festival Opera Orchestra, NJ Symphony Orchestra, Radio City Music Hall, Aspen Music Festival, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Soho Ensemble, American Symphony Orchestra, WQXR’s “The Listening Room,” Brooklyn Philharmonic, L.I. Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, The Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, NYC Opera Orchestra, Natl. Grand Opera Orchestra, NY Grand Opera Orchestra, and the NYC Ballet Orchestra. Broadway, television and film credits include Porgy and Bess, Sweeney Todd, Annie, Evita, Nine, A Doll’s Life, Cyrano de Bergerac, Much Ado About Nothing – Royal Shakespeare Company, Les Miserables, Man of la Mancha and Jekyll & Hyde, “All My Children,” “As The World Turns,” “Live from Lincoln Center” specials, WNET specials, and the movie “Reds.” Formed Renaissance Ensemble – Music Antiqua. Member NYU Renaissance Ensemble, and founder and artistic director of Windsong Ensembles.

JOHN SIMON – SAXOPHONE, CLARINET, FLUTE, JAZZ
M.M., Manhattan School of Music; B.M. cum laude, Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts. Studied saxophone with Vince Trombetta and Marshall Taylor; clarinet with Charles Russo and Guido Mecoli; flute with Frank Wess and Adeline Tomasone; improvisation with Dick Oatts, Joe Henderson and Larry McKenna. Recipient of two NEA Jazz Performance Fellowships. Formerly Jazz Combo Instructor at the Manhattan School of Music and faculty member of the Music School of Westchester and the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. Entered into the prestigious Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Current member of The Lionel Hampton Orchestra and performed with the NJ Pops Orchestra, Clark Terry and the Jolly Giants, Ella Fitzgerald, Illinois Jacquet, Chaka Khan, the Temptations, Four Tops, Al Martino, Diane Schuur, and the Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw Orchestras, among others. Toured throughout Japan, Europe, Canada, Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the USA. Major jazz festivals include Newport, JVC, Playboy, Monterey, Pori, Molde, North Sea, Grande Parade du Jazz (Nice), Montreal and San Francisco. Venues include Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, Tavern on the Green and Ravina (Chicago). Recordings include The Joe Sudler Swing Machine & Clark Terry, Born to Swing, The Ponderer, Legacy: The John Simon Trio featuring Don Patterson, his debut CD as a leader on Muse Records, latest CD as a leader, and John David Simon And Friends With Clark Terry & Etta Jones (to be released). Appeared in Texas Tenor: The Illinois Jacquet Story, a Bravo TV documentary.