Porter Eidam has been involved in music most of his life. He was a percussionist with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra from 1985 to 1986. He graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Instrumental Music Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Percussion. He has been a timpanist with the Pottstown Symphony since 1993, and has also played with the Allentown Symphony and Reading Pops. He has been a freelance musician in the area for almost 20 years playing with several small ensembles, jazz groups, pit orchestras and rock bands. He has been teaching percussion privately since 1990. He has also done quite a bit of studio session work and presently plays in a local band called Black Rock.

Jeff has a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from Temple University. He has performed as a percussionist with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, the Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, Opera, and Percussion Ensemble, United Percussion, and the Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps. He is also a performing member of the Outside Sound Ensemble, an educational program that implements art and music to work with students and adults with disabilities. Jeff is currently the Percussion Caption Head at Neshaminy High School, as well as percussion and drum teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

In 2014, Jeff joined the staff of the North Penn High School Percussion Ensemble. In the past, he has instructed the drum line at Upper Darby and Pennsbury high schools. Jeff has a WGI Percussion Independent Open Gold Medal with United Percussion and a WGI Percussion Scholastic Open Bronze Medal with Upper Darby High School. Jeff is a Grammy-nominated timpanist with the Temple University Orchestra, and he has recorded timpani with the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra on the Naxos label.

Jeff recently released his debut solo electronic EP under the name Duncan in October of 2013, and joined the Philadelphia-based hard rock band Palaceburn as the drummer. He also plays drums for Revolution, I Love You, an up and coming electronic power pop band originally from Wilmington, DE. In 2015, Jeff will be joining the instructional staff of Field of View, a percussion ensemble based out of West Chester, PA.

Odessa has a degree in Music Composition with a Violin Concentration from Temple University’s Ester Boyer College of Music and Dance. Ms. Balan is a certified Suzuki teacher with certifications through Book 5. Ms. Balan is a unique voice in the contemporary music scene. Her musical genres include, but are not limited to, classical, jazz, folk, and adult contemporary rock. Over the past 20 years she has composed music for Group Motion Modern Dance Company, collaborating with Andrea Clearfield and Manfred Fischbeck; she collaborated on classical-jazz fusion projects with jazz pianist and recording artist Dave Burrell; she had many performances in the Philly Fringe Festivals, and performed at the Kimmel Center, the Jazz Clef Club, Chris’ Jazz Café, the Annenberg Theater at University of Pennsylvania, and the Arts Bank in Philadelphia, and at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Her orchestral work Winter Dance was played by the Romanian Symphony Orchestra on their tour of Romania and Italy. Her compositions have been used in independent films and television shows, and have been played on NPR’s Creatively Speaking on 90.1 FM, and UPenn Radio 88.5 FM. She is now a proud mother of two boys, and keeps busy performing, recording, and teaching violin, viola and music theory at CMS.

Hsiao Ming Chen received both her bachelor and master degrees  in Performance from Temple University. She has been teaching cello since 1992 . She starts out teaching at the community program at Temple University  where she was graduating at the same year with her bachelor degree. She ,at the same time ,was teaching at the Temple Music Preparatory school from 1992 till the summer of 2002. During that time, she was mentored by both of her teachers, Orlando Cole (founding member of the Curtis Quartet and New School of Music) and Metta Watts, his assistant teacher of some 50 years. In addition to her private lessons at Temple, one of her many joys was to coach the young cello ensemble group. She also taught at the Kimberton Waldorf School as well as the Community Music School in Trappe.

In the summer of 2002, she moved to Colorado where her son was born in Jan. of 2003.  While she was busy being a mom, she helped out with the local Taiwanese chorus where children learn Chinese and Taiwanese through songs. She also performed with a piano/harp , violin and cello trio. They, in addition to the standard repertoire,  also worked on traditional music from Taiwan and China as well as pieces composed by Taiwanese composers. In 2007, she moved back from Colorado and resumed teaching at the Kimberton Waldorf School and the Community Music School. Although her focus is on teaching, she has performed in solo and chamber music recitals as well as in church settings with choirs.

Andrew O’Connor is a Double Bass, Electric Bass, Guitar Player, and composer. With experience performing, touring, and recording in classical music, opera, musical theater, rock groups, jazz, along with experimental projects with other genres, he brings his wide array of experience and influence to his work. With a focus on 20th/21st century music, he has gained experience playing challenging pieces in the modern repertoire. Andrew has recently joined the staff at the Community Music School Trappe, PA location. He has taught bass at SUNY Geneseo and the Eastman School of Music Music Education Department. Andrew completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music, graduated from The Hartt School of Music with a Masters in Music Performance, and completed his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music.  His teachers and mentors include James VanDemark, Robert Black, Mark Foley, and Nat Reeves. He has attended the Mostly Modern Festival, Fresh Inc. Festival, and the Pirastro Elite Soloist Workshop, working with Jacqui Danilow, Dave Eggar, Eric Snoza, and Jeff Bradetich. He has also done compositional studies with composers Joan Tower and George Tsontakis at Bard College. Andrew is currently residing in Allentown, PA. His releases Monkey Say and Not Much Has Changed are available on all major streaming platforms.