Success Stories

MSM alumna mezzo-soprano Hannah Jones (MM ’24) is performing the roles of Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly on Jan 9,13,17,21,24 and Mar 10,14,18,21,27 at the Metropolitan Opera. She will then perform the role of Annina in La Traviata on Apr 3 and May 6,9,13,16.

Hannah Jones is part of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the MET.

More information about Hannah Jones here.

Deborah Simpkin King, the Director of Choirs at MSM was recently featured on the website of Chorus America, spotlighting her work as Artistic Director and Founder of the New York/ New Jersey-based ensemble Ember Choral Arts.

“Rehearsal with Deborah is like being in a yoga class,” says Alyson Navarro in the article, referring to Deborah Simpkin King. “It’s a practice. It’s a discipline.”

Deborah is also the Director and Founder of PROJECT : ENCORE™, Ablaze Composer Lab and Ignite Ensemble, Director of Music and Arts, Trinity Episcopal Church, Asbury Park, NJ, and Chair of the New York Choral Consortium.

Read the article here.

MSM alumnus and baritone Kyle Miller (MM ’07) will be performing the role of Papageno in The Magic Flute taking place at LA Opera from May 30–June 21, 2026.

More about Kyle Miller here.

Chia-Yu Kao (BM ‘29), a student of MSM faculty member Lucie Robert, a grand prize winner of the Victory Solo Competition, was invited to perform the Korngold Violin Concerto in D Major, op 35 on December 20, 2025, with the Victory Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Yi-Jen Wen.
The performance took place in the Eslite Performance Hall in Taipei.

MSM Trustee and classical piano alumnus Dr. Scott Dunn (MM ’97) is releasing two albums in January: Scott Dunn: Hollywood Film Music, Vol 1, released on January 16 on the Platoon label, features music Scott and the Scott Dunn Orchestra performed recently in their Hollywood Modernists program at The Wallis Beverly Hills. The album was recorded in October 2024 at Air Studios in London, with Scott performing his arrangements and original scores of  some of the finest Hollywood film music with the Britten Sinfonia.

On January 23, a second album being released features Scott on solo piano performing his own arrangements for much of the same repertoire of the symphonic recording.

On January 17 at The Wallis Beverly Hills, the Scott Dunn Orchestra performs the music of iconic films of the ’70s such as Star Wars, The Godfather (I&II), Chinatown, The Sting, Diamonds are Forever, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, and Murder on the Orient Express.

For more information visit Scott’s website here.

Lecolion Washington (MM ’01) is the Executive Director of the Community Music Center of Boston. Writes Musical America “With over 20 years as a (still) performing bassoonist, 15 years as a music professor, and 10 years as an arts administrator, Lecolion Washington has been “paying it forward” at the helm of the century-old Community Music Center of Boston. CMCB reports impacting over 3,000 students from pre-school to seniors every week—the largest external arts education provider to the Boston Public Schools.”

Read more here.

Operatic tenor Jonathan Tetelman (BM ’11) and jazz guitarist/NY Yankees Legend Bernie Williams (BM ‘16) headline an ambitious concert produced by All-Star Encore.

The two stars will be joined by 16 additional MSM alumni and current students in an expansive program uniting opera and jazz, music and sports, talented students and seasoned professionals.

“It’s so wonderful to see two distinguished representatives of MSM’s alumni community headlining this multi-faceted program,” says Manhattan School of Music President James Gandre, “not just because Jonathan and Bernie—and all those who will be joining them onstage—are exemplary talents, but because this very special evening will celebrate the intersection of music and sport, and the areas of skill, artistry, and determination that are common to high-achieving musicians and athletes. Of course, in Bernie Williams, the evening spotlights a pillar of excellence in both worlds.”

More info in our news release here.

On December 29 in Prague, Czech Republic, MSM alumnus Chase Park (PPD ’25; AD ’26) performed the Antonin Kraft (a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn) Cello Concerto in C Major, Op 4 with the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at Smetana Hall.

MSM President James Gandre met up with Chase after the performance (photo above).

MSM Musical Theatre faculty member Judith Clurman invited a handful of MSM Musical Theatre students to rehearse and perform with her Essential Voices USA for two sold out Carnegie Hall holiday concerts Merry and Bright on December 20 and 21.

“The students attended all the rehearsals, memorized the music & performed beautifully with the NY Pops, Jessica Vosk, & Santa Claus!,” says Judith about the event. “I conducted my piece, Eight Days of Lights with the orchestra, and looked into these kids faces while doing so. It was very special for me. They brought tears to my eyes; they performed beautifully and brought me personal joy and warmth!”

In photo above taken backstage at Carnegie Hall: Kate J, Sophia, Jake, Lauren, Gianna, Callie, Sophia, Hallie, Kate M, Bella R, Bella J., & Madison.

Vladimir Petrov (PPD ‘26) a student at MSM of Horacio Gutierrez and who has received high praise from critics internationally, won Second Prize as well as the Commissioned Work Prize at the prestigious 2025 Nashville International Chopin Piano Competition that took place on December 13 to 19, 2025.

Vladimir Petrov has won top prizes at numerous international competitions, including first prizes at events the Lotar Shevchenko Competition (Russia), Ciudad de Vigo (Spain), Jose Jacinto Cuevas–Yamaha Competition (Mexico), NTD Piano Competition (New York, USA), and the Neapolitan Masters Competition (Italy).

Petrov has released four solo albums, including Encores (2021, Mans label, Spain). His 2019 release, featuring Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, was recorded in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. His latest album recorded in New York will be released soon.

With roots in Russia, Petrov was raised from the age of three in Mexico, which he affectionately considers his homeland.

More information on the winners here.

MSM alumnus Seth Schultheis has won first prize at the 2025  Deutsche Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn.

Seth studied at the Manhattan School of Music for many years. He completed his precollege training and began his undergraduate studies under the guidance of Philip Kawin, and later completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees with Dr. Solomon Mikowsky. He is currently based in London.

“He is regarded as one of the most outstanding piano students to have emerged from MSM, and his recent international success is a powerful reflection of both his artistry and his training at the school,” says MSM faculty member Jiayin Li.

More about Seth Schultheis here.

In its list of “Best of the City: The 11 best things Time Out New York editors saw, ate and visited in 2025” Time Out magazine chose MSM alumna Jasmine Amy Rogers (‘19) the “Breakout Theater Star of the Year,” saying she had a “blazing star energy” playing the lead role in Boop! The Musical on Broadway for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the TONY awards.

Jasmine is currently a lead performer in the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee —its run has been extended to April 12, 2026. She will also be part of Oklahoma! in Concert at Carnegie Hall on January 12 with MSM alumni Jonathan Tetelman (BM ‘11) and Bernie Williams (BM ‘16.)

Read the Time Out “Best of the City” list here.
Read about the January 12 Carnegie Hall concert here.

The New York Times recently listed the New York Philharmonic musical festival Sound On as one of the “Best Classical Performances of 2025” and chose the NY Phil’s performance in January 2025 of Pierre Boulez’s Pli Selon Pli, singling out “the radiant soprano Jana McIntyre in her Philharmonic debut.” Jana McIntyre graduated with a Masters Degree from MSM’s Vocal Arts program in 2016.

Jana will be performing December 18, 19, and 20 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cedar Rapids Opera on January 16 and 18, and the Detroit Opera on March 1, 5 and 7.

More about Jana McIntyre here.

MSM Precollege alumnus Charlie Puth will be singing the National Anthem in the pre-game show of the Superbowl on February 8. Also performing will be Brandi Carlile and Coco Jones.

In comments on his social media platforms, Charlie Puth says “We’re putting a really special arrangement together — in D major. It’ll be one of my best vocal performances.”

More information here.

MSM alumnus Shuler Hensley (BM ‘90, HonDMA ‘14) is one of the lead actors in the critically praised musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth by Obie Award-winning playwright and songwriter Ethan Lipton and two-time Tony nominee director Leigh Silverman taking place at the Public Theatre in New York. The Seat of Our Pants runs at NYC’s Public Theater through December 7.

In photo above, Shuler wears a Manhattan School of Music T-shirt posing with MSM President Jim Gandre after a performance on November 30.

Read The New York Times review of the production here.

“At 95, David Amram Still Makes Music. And Nobody Can Put Him in a Box,” writes The New York Times.“Jazz, classical, folk, world music—for this composer, categories were never confining.”

“Amram is a composer, musician, author, conductor and boundlessly connected collaborator who has been cheerfully ignoring musical categories since the 1940s. His output includes jazz tunes, symphonies, operas, film scores, theater music, off-the-cuff talking blues and idiom-hopping folk-festival performances where he’s likely to play piano, pennywhistle and percussion.”

“Amram moved to New York City in 1955, where he was hired by (Charles) Mingus, studied composition at the Manhattan School of Music and fell in with Beat Generation writers and artists.”

Read the full article here.

The premiere of the opera The Judgment of Paris. Trial of a Deicide (Il Giudizio di Paride) with music by MSM Composition faculty member Paolo Marchettini and libretto by Fabio Ceresa takes place on November 29 and 30 at the historic Teatro Pergolesi di Jesi, a city located in the province of Ancona in the region of Marche near the Adriatic Sea.

Il Giudizio di Paride was commissioned by Fondazione Pergolesi/Spontini of Jesi.

The story, set in the monumental hall of an otherworldly courtroom, calls on Paris to answer for the murder of Achilles, a hero of divine blood. In a refined interplay of irony and tragedy, Il Giudizio di Paride alternates between solemnity and comedy in a mythological setting that transforms into a reflection on free will and destiny.

More information here.

On November 20, baritone Joseph Parrish, from Baltimore, and MSM alumna Shelén Hughes Camacho (MM ‘20), from Bolivia, who are partners in life, opened the season for the New York Festival of Song at the Kaufman Music Centre with the performance South America, North America, a Love Story, alongside Steven Blier and Amir Farid.

“This program is close to our hearts—it celebrates the music and poetry that shaped us, weaving together works from Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Appalachia, Spirituals, Bernstein, and beyond,” said Shelén told MSM President Jim Gandre before the performance. “It’s truly a journey across the Americas, full of warmth, humor, and the joy of connection through song.”

More about the performance here.

In photo above, MSM alumnus and trustee Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ‘08) (on left) poses with (in middle) his teacher at MSM Joan Patenaude-Yarnel and MSM President Jim Gandre at the Voices of Ascension Gala on November 19.

Anthony Roth Costanzo—Countertenor and Producer; General Director and President, Opera Philadelphia; Artistic Director, SongStudio at Carnegie Hall—was honored at the evening event. One of the performers taking part was MSM faculty member and alumnus, cellist Tommy Mesa (DMA ‘17).

Learn more here.

Violinist and MSM student Siyi Li (MM ‘26) studies at MSM with Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada. He won second prize in the Marine Iashvili III International Competition for String Instrument that was held November 7 to 14 in the V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire’s Grand Hall and Recital Hall in Tbilisi, Georgia.

In the finals, Siyi Li performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in the competition finals with Maestro Revaz Takidze and the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra.

More information on the competition can be found here.

MSM composition student Kerby Delcy (MM ‘27) has been named composer in residence for the Turkish American Orchestra, one of six chosen out of 49 applicants. The composers are invited to “reimagine Turkish musical traditions within a symphonic context” and will work directly with TAO Artistic Board member and Composer In Residence Utar Artun as part of a residency, receive commissions to create new works and orchestral arrangements that incorporate Turkish influences, and have their works performed at TAO concerts in New York City in February and May 2026.

Kerby Delcy has also launched a new radio platform, Echelon Radio, dedicated exclusively to music by living artists. The platform can be downloaded from the Apple app store here.

More information about Kerby Delcy can be found here.

On November 9 and 16, MSM alumna Kelly Hall-Tompkins (MM ’95, HonDMA ’17) performed the Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto with Bnagor Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Music Director Lucas Richman and the Bangor Symphony. Before the concert, Kelly took part in a pre-concert interview with Lucas Richman and BSO Executive Director Renia Shterenberg; Kelly was interviewed by Maine Public Radio about the concert.

Kelly Hall-Tompkins will be touring with the North Netherlands Symphony in Leeuwarden, Groningen, and Utrecht from November 27 to 29.

Listen to the Maine Public Radio interview here.
Listen to the pre-concert interview here.

Classical piano alumna Isabel Dobarro (PS ’13) is the winner of a 2025 Latin Grammy award in the Best Classical Album category: Her solo album Kaleidoscope – Contemporary Piano Music By Female Composers From Around The World, was produced by Javier Monteverde and released on the Grand Piano label (Naxos subsidiary) in October 2024. Isabel studied with Solomon Mikowsky at MSM.

The 26^th Latin Grammy Awards were held on November 13 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Click here to view Kaleidoscope and to learn more about Isabel. Click here for the full list of nominees.

The premiere of a new composition by MSM Percussion alumnus James Larter (MM ‘18) Toros: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra took place at the Sinfonia Smith Square in Westminster, London (formerly St John’s Smith Square) on November 6.

A review in musicOMH, a London-based online music magazine, called the concerto “a hugely approachable work, inspired by the paintings of Pablo Picasso and the writing of Pablo Neruda… here was a modern chamber orchestra really leaning into the idiom with joy and class…Larter’s performance, of course, was magnificent – necessarily athletic (the instruments covered at least 10 metres from end to end), it was also ferociously accurate, and full of nuance.”

“I would like to extend my warmest thanks to all those who attended the world premiere of ‘Toros’ Percussion Concerto… (and) a special thanks to City Music Foundation and donors who made this happen, and the wonderful Frederick Waxman, and Sinfonia Smith Square,” James Larter posted in a newsletter following the performance.

More about James Larter here.
Watch excerpts from the premiere here.

MSM composition alumnus Giovanni Piacentini (MM ’13) was nominated for “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” in the 2025 Latin GRAMMY Awards. The guitar concerto, entitled El Llanto De La Guitarra features the legendary Eliot Fisk and Mexico’s renowned Orquestra de Escuela Carlos Chávez, under the direction of maestro Eduardo García Barrios.

Click here to learn more about Giovanni and this concerto recording.

The 26^th Latin GRAMMYs will take place tomorrow night at 8 p.m. EST at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be televised by Univision, UNIMÁS, ViX and Galavisión. Click here for more information and the full list of nominees.

The MSM Vocal Arts students who placed in the respected NYC-NATS competition on November 9 (names of winners in image above) are students of Dimitri Pittas, Sidney Outlaw, and Cyndia Sieden. The event took place at Teachers College, Columbia University.

“MSM singers placed in every category, and even swept a few!” says Dimitri Pittas.  “The level of artistry, preparation, and heart from our students was inspiring. Congratulations to all who sang so beautifully, and to my fellow faculty for guiding such extraordinary young voices.”

Winners received valuable feedback from the judges, received cash prizes and will be featured in an upcoming recital.

View more information about the competition here.

MSM Musical Theatre alumna Sarah Thorn (BM ‘21) is the understudy for several roles in the off-Broadway production of This World of Tomorrow: Cyndee/Woman Cashier/”ELMA”/Sylvia/Honoria/Late-Night Cabbie.

This World of Tomorrow is a new play featuring Tom Hanks and Kelli O’Hara that opened in late October at the non-profit cultural center The Shed in Hudson Yards, located at 535 West 30th St. The closing date is Dec 21. The play is the story of a disenchanted scientist from the future written by Tom Hanks and James Glossman based on short stories written by Tom Hanks, and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences).

Earlier this year, Sarah Thorn was an ensemble member of the Broadway production of Othello starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. Regionally in the U.S., she has received two BroadwayWorld nominations (Best Leading Actress in a Musical; Performer of the Decade) for Sally Bowles in Cabaret with Peregrine Theatre Ensemble.

More about the production here.
More about Sarah Thorn here.

Korean-American violinist Hannah Cho (PS ‘19) studied at MSM with Sylvia Rosenberg and Nicolas Mann and has become the first musician of Korean descent to join Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s most prestigious orchestras. She has been appointed to the second violin section.

Securing a permanent seat in the 148-member Vienna Philharmonic is difficult: Musicians must first be accepted into the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and spend at least three years before being eligible to apply for a post at the Vienna Philharmonic. In 2019, Hanna Cho entered the Vienna Philharmonic Academy and joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 2022.

Born in Seoul, Hannah Cho started playing the violin at age 3, and her talent was recognized early on when she won her first prize within her first few years of study.

More about Hannah Cho at the Vienna Philharmonic here.

Classical pianist Magdalena Stern-Baczewska (DMA ’08) recently became the recipient of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Arts and Music Award from the Pilsudski Institute of America. Its namesake was a pianist, composer, and statesman who was a champion of Poland’s Independence and signatory of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.

To Magdalena, the award represents “the passing of the torch of our great ancestors…The award expresses a shared pride in our heritage, rich history, and beautiful culture which builds bridges of communication and mutual understanding.”

This Thursday (November 6), she will perform The Banquet Concerto and The Triple Resurrection by the Oscar-winning Chinese-American composer Tan Dun in Greece with the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of the composer. In addition to her performance career, Magdalena is both Director of the Music Performance Program and a Senior Lecturer in Music at Columbia University. She was a student of Constance Keene at MSM.

Click here to learn more about Magdalena and the upcoming concerto performance.
Click here to view the Pilsudski Institute’s 2025 Awards Gala program.

During the Covid 19 lockdown, MSM alumna Harriet Stubbs (MM ‘13) gave 250 daily concerts in London and was subsequently awarded a British Empire Medal by Her Majesty The Queen in the Queen’s Honours list of 2022 in recognition of her service to the country. She was also named Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals In the Arts for their Resilient Warriors Special of 2022.

In 2024, after releasing her most recent CD, Life on Mars, she developed a form of carpal tunnel syndrome—ulnar nerve compression—which threatened to jeopardize her ability to play the piano. Successful surgery in fall of 2025 has restored her ability to play: “I feel like a completely different human being now,” she tells American Songwriter magazine. “I’ve been given everything anyone could ever want because I’ve been given my hands back, and I know that all I needed was to be able to do everything that I’m meant to do.”

Read the full interview here.
Information about Life on Mars here.