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" and "Dyad." 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, Woman of the Year and Shrek the Musical; 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.
WILLIAM MEREDITH – OBOE, ENGLISH HORN
B.M. Manhattan School of Music. Studied oboe with Harold Gomberg at the Manhattan School of Music. Principal oboist of the Connecticut Grand Opera, and the Grand Opera of New York. Other professional experiences include the Westchester Symphony, the Virginia Opera Company, the New Jersey Symphony, the Long Island Symphony and principal oboe with the American symphony, the orchestra of St. Luke's, Brooklyn Philharmonic and EOS Orchestra, and for Broadway shows including My Fair Lady, Ragtime, and Beauty and the Beast. Toured nationwide and abroad as a chamber musician with the Andiamo Ensemble, the Linden Woodwind quintet, and the Bronx Arts Ensemble. Recently recorded several songs for Queen Latifa's new album and the soundtrack for the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Blackwater Lighthouse starring Angela Landsbury. He has also recorded for RCA, BMG, and many other labels. .
DON MOKRYNSKI – CLARINET, BASS 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.
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