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.

Multi-Instrumentalist and Composer, Ryan Leaver received his B.A. in Jazz Composition from Berklee College of Music in 2003 and his M.A. in Modern American Music from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in 2006. He has received instruction in the Feldenkrais Method, the Alexander Technique, Eurythmics, and the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization from leaders in each respective field. Some of his teachers include Dennis Sandole, Charlie Banacos, George Garzone, John Lockwood, Bob Gullotti, Bob Moses, Ran Blake, John Thomas, and Ben Monder.

Alan has been playing piano professionally for over thirty years. A versatile pianist comfortable performing both jazz and classical, Alan is also skilled at blues and boogie, Latin, Ragtime, showtunes and pop music. Alan has been a featured performer for The North Carolina Jazz and World Music Society, the Circular Church Jazz Vespers Series (Charleston), The Atlanta Symphony Associates, as well for many other concert events.

Alan’s repertoire includes thousands of songs, ranging from Rhapsody in Blue to Chopin Etudes to Scott Joplin pieces, Oscar Peterson style hard swinging numbers, Dr John-ish raging boogie tunes, and stylish versions of Musical Theatre medleys. He has three solo piano CDs, two of them all original compositions, and writes pieces that at times uniquely connect such diverse genres as jazz, impressionism, classical, boogie and gospel. He has created intriguing versions of popular music such as Elton John and Billy Joel songs, and has put on numerous piano based concerts of Beatles music. More about Alan at alandynin.com.

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.

Casey Cassel was born and raised in Montgomery County where her development as a musician became intertwined with the vibrant arts and culture of the Greater Philadelphia area. She studied violin with Dr. Elizabeth Guerriero and  gained orchestral experience as a member of the Philadelphia Sinfonia under the baton of Gary White and Yannick Nézet Sgéuin, performing at the Kimmel Center, Temple Performing Arts Center, and various community institutions. She went on to cultivate her love for pedagogy by earning her Bachelor of Music Education at the Crane School of Music, located at the State University of New York. At Crane, Casey studied with Dr. Sarah Hersh, whose focus on body mapping sparked Casey’s passion for education focused on physical barriers associated with playing string instruments. Continuing to develop her orchestral skills, Casey performed under the baton of Dr. Ching-Chun Lai, Dr. Joel Schut, and Maestro Antony Walker with the Crane Symphony Orchestra. After winning the Potsdam Presidential Scholars research grant, Casey attended Violin Suzuki teacher training with Christie Felsing at Ithaca College. Inspired by the work and research of Jennifer Johnson and Susan Kempter, it is Casey’s personal mission to set up students with a well rounded understanding of how to maneuver their instruments. In doing so, they will be liberated to find a deeper exploration of musical content that goes beyond simply playing notes. Casey’s philosophy, at its core, is to foster the growth of life long thinkers, problem solvers, and music-makers in a holistic and nurturing way.

Melinda Rice has been teaching violin and viola for 20 years. She has worked with young musicians in California since 2008 with the Harmony Project and Youth Orchestra LA, and conducted the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra’s elementary strings group, All City Orchestra, from 2017-2021. Melinda holds a masters degree in violin performance from California Institute of the Arts where she studied with Mark Menzies, and degrees from Sarah Lawrence College and Philadelphia Creative and Performing Arts High School. She has training in Suzuki method, Feierabend Conversational Solfege, Mark O’Connor method, and holds a multiple subject teaching credential from the state of CA. Melinda played violin and viola with the chamber group, wild up, and viola with the string quartet, Isaura String Quartet. She has released two albums including original and folk music. She recently moved back to her childhood home of PA, and she has been grateful to perform with the scholars at the Marian Anderson Historical Society and Museum in Philadelphia.

Cindy is a music educator with 15 years of experience teaching students of all ages; from private and group instruction to directing bands, choirs and musical theater.  While teaching middle school band in the Pittsburgh Diocese, a number of her students were selected to honors bands, including three 1^st chairs.  As a flutist, Cindy can be heard in the Red Hill Band and at St. Eleanor’s Church, where she directs the Contemporary Ensemble and Youth Choir.  She has performed in a variety of ensembles(orchestra, pit orchestra, chamber music, concert and marching band) and recorded a CD as part of a flute and guitar duo.

Cindy holds a B.S. in Music Education from the Pennsylvania State University and has completed graduate courses in Music Education  at both West Chester University and Duquesne University.  While at Penn State, she studied flute with Dr. Eleanor Armstrong. She has also studied with Michel Debost at an Oberlin Flute Institute and performed in masterclasses for Jeffery Khaner, Andreas Kroper, and Eric Hoover.