Community Music Instructor Biographies

Nedra Bickham, instructor
Nedra E. Bickham holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of New Orleans and a Master’s Degree in Early Music Performance from Longy School of Music. She has performed in the USA and Europe. Nedra teaches flute, recorder, and beginning piano at her private studio in Medford.

Jerry Bussiere, instructor
Jerry Bussiere has performed as a guitarist and vocalist in the field of Jazz and Popular Music for over 40 years. His music training includes private studies in guitar with John Scofield and Ross Adams and voice training with Eddie Watson and Mary Healey. I addition he has studied Jazz improvisation and composition with Jerry Bergonzi and Charlie Banacos. Jerry has worked extensively in the field of Modern Dance as a composer/arranger and is currently employed by Green Street Studios in Cambridge, Cambridge School of Weston and Summerstages at Concord Academy as an accompanist. He has taught guitar at Tufts University since 1994.

Barry Drummund, instructor

Jill Gleim, instructor
Jill Gleim has been teaching children music and dance in the Boston area for 25 years. Jill, the founder of Jillsville School of Dance and the Arts All Day Summer Arts Camp in Cambridge has a M.Ed. from Lesley University. She studied the Dalcroze technique in NYC with Hilda Schuster and in Boston with Lisa Parker. Jill’s classes for the young combine Dalcroze Eurhythmics – a method of teaching music through movement - singing games, and folk and creative dance.

Thomas Gregg, instructor
Thomas Gregg holds degress in voice performance from Capitol University in Ohio, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University, and has won numerous performance and academic awards, including fellowships to attend two Bach Aria Institutes and two Aston Magna Academies. In addition to his appointment at Tufts, he is Director of Vocal Studies for Harvard University's Choir and is on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory. He has sung with the Handel & Hayden Society and many more ensembles. In addition, he has appeared as soloist with many of the choral, opera, and early music groups throughout the southern and eastern United States.

Ian Gendreau, instructor
Ian Gendreau has been teaching music for 12 years. He has worked as a teaching artist for Young Audiences presenting assembly programs, workshops and residencies in Ghanaian drumming. He has also taught private lessons on drumset, Ga drums and other percussion instruments. Ian has also worked as a performing musician in jazz groups, steel bands, pit orchestras, drumming ensembles and other freelance percussion performances. He has traveled to Ghana multiple times to study drumming. Ian earned his B.A. in ethnomusicology from SUNY Geneseo and is currently a Masters student in ethnomusicology at Tufts University.

Sung Hyun Kim, instructor
Sung Hyun Kim, Dalcrozian, trumpeter and composer holds a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Master’s degree in Dalcroze Eurhythmics from Longy School of music. He also has a Dalcroze Certificate from the Longy School of Music. He has won numerous performance and academic awards from both Canada and the USA. He has been teaching music classes for children and adults in the Boston area; Allegro School, Biglow, Newtown Center, and Cambridge. He studied Dalcroze Eurhythmics with Lisa Parker, Dalcroze Diplome. He is currently pursuing a License Degree in Dalcroze Eurhythmics from the Longy School of Music.

Laura Kozachek, intructor
Laura Y. Kozachek received her BA in music at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she studied viola with Heiichiro Ohyama and Ronald Copes and performed with many university ensembles, including early and new music ensembles. She pursued graduate studies in music history at UCSB and completed her PhD in musicology at Harvard University with a dissertation on Czech Renaissance polyphony. She has taught music history at Harvard University and The Boston Conservatory of Music and performs locally.

Michael McLaughlin, instructor
Michael McLaughlin, Klezmer Ensemble Director, pianist, accordionist, arranger, and composer for the Klezmer ensemble Shirim and the experimental Klezmer group Naftule's Dream. Performances on such stages as the Berlin Jazz Festival ('99), the Texaco Jazz Festival ('97, '98) as well as the Ashkenaz New Jewish Music Festival ('96, '98). Michael holds and M.M. in composition from Tufts University ('99) where he studied with John McDonald, and a B.M. in composition from Berklee College of Music in 1993. He is the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grand Award in composition for 2001.

Claire Maiers, instructor
Claire Maiers is currently a graduate student in the Tufts Music Department where she is completing her masters in musicology. In 2005 she graduated magna cum laude from Colorado College with a degree in music, earning the David and Karen Smith Cowperthwaite Award for Excellence in Music. During her time at Colorado College, she gained experience in a variety of vocal styles and was selected for leading roles and solo work in musicals, oratorios, and choral concerts. Additionally, she directed a small vocal jazz ensemble in her senior year. Upon graduation, Claire spent a summer directing two musicals, Beauty and the Beast and Seussical the Musical, at camp in the Poconos with children ages seven to sixteen. In conjunction with her current academic pursuits, Claire continues to participate in vocal performance, studying privately and performing with the Tufts Chorale, Big Band, and Opera Ensemble during the past academic year.

Nando Michelin, instructor

Rebecca Sacks, instructor
Rebecca Sacks graduated from Tufts University in 2006, summa cum laude with a B.A. in Music and concentrations in composition and music theory. In 2002, she attended the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) Summer Composition Program at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where she studied counterpoint, harmony, and analysis in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger. In 2005, Sacks received the Etta and Harry Winokur Award for Outstanding Achievement in Artistic or Scholarly Work from the Tufts Music Department. In 2007, she was a finalist at the Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest for her composition “The Mirror,” which was also performed the previous year by the Tufts Chamber Singers. In 2008, her suite of polylingual choral songs was performed by the Tufts University Chorale and Tufts’ West African Percussion Ensemble. Sacks has worked with groups of children in many contexts, and she teaches private jazz and classical piano lessons to both children and adults.

Joel Larue Smith, instructor
Joel LaRue Smith, Lecturer of Music. M.M. Manhattan School of Music; B.A. City College; Ford Fellow. Composition studies: Hale Smith & David Del Tredici; Jazz Piano: Jaki Byard & Barry Harris; Afro-Cuban: Charlie Palmieri. He has played with Ron Carter, Mario Bauza and Kenny Burrell. The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation 1995 Jazz Competition in conjunction with Jazz Times; Artist in Residence, Orchestra of St. Lukes Education Program; 6 "Meet The Composer" Awards; ASCAP's George and Ira Gershwin Award; Queens Council on the Arts Composer Grant; 1993 Artist-in-Residence conductor for the Warner Music Group, Inc.; Commissions by: New York University Tisch School of the Arts and Brown University. Mr. Smith has performed in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The Whitney Museum; The White House; Symphony Hall in San Francisco & Boston; and The Royal Albert Hall in London.

Jared Trudeau, instructor
Jared Trudeau (tenor) is a junior majoring in Music and Psychology. He has been studying classically for eight years and has had the opportunity to place in many Regional, State, and New England voice competitions. He is a student of Charley Blandy's and is planning a senior honor thesis in vocal pedagogy. He has been seen in many musical theater and opera performances at Tufts, most recently playing George in Tufts Opera's Our Town. He is also an alum of the CAP 21 Summer Professional Musical Theater Training Program. Jared performs and musically directs extensively at Tufts and in his hometown Woodstock, Ct.

Elliot Cless, instructor
Elliot Cless, violinist and composer, is currently a Masters candidate in music composition at Tufts University ('08), where he also graduated as a music major in 2006. As an undergraduate, he was co-concertmaster
of the Tufts Symphony Orchestra, and has since continued to perform regularly as a solo violinist and chamber musician. Private teachers include John McDonald (Tufts) in composition and Clayton Hoener (Longy
School of Music) in violin. In addition to his schoolwork, Elliot co-founded, co-directs, and performs in AXIS, a musical ensemble dedicated to combining and connecting different styles of music in a variety of venues. He has relished opportunities to work/volunteer with children in many musical and non-musical contexts.

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	> About the Music Center > Overview of the Music Center > The Tufts Music Department > Rental Information > Floor Plans > Photos > Events > Concert Calendar > What's Going on Now > Sundays at Tufts: Community Concert Series > Family and Children's Concerts > Granoff Press Room > Tufts Faculty in the Press > Community Music Program Overview > Community Music Classes > Community Program Instructors > Summer Camp Program > Sundays at Tufts: Community Concert Series > Family and Children's Concerts > Visit Us > Directions > Parking > Contact Us	Home » Community Resources » Resources and Programs: Instructor Bios. Community Music Instructor Biographies Nedra Bickham, instructor Nedra E. Bickham holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of New Orleans and a Master’s Degree in Early Music Performance from Longy School of Music. She has performed in the USA and Europe. Nedra teaches flute, recorder, and beginning piano at her private studio in Medford. Jerry Bussiere, instructor Jerry Bussiere has performed as a guitarist and vocalist in the field of Jazz and Popular Music for over 40 years. His music training includes private studies in guitar with John Scofield and Ross Adams and voice training with Eddie Watson and Mary Healey. I addition he has studied Jazz improvisation and composition with Jerry Bergonzi and Charlie Banacos. Jerry has worked extensively in the field of Modern Dance as a composer/arranger and is currently employed by Green Street Studios in Cambridge, Cambridge School of Weston and Summerstages at Concord Academy as an accompanist. He has taught guitar at Tufts University since 1994. Barry Drummund, instructor Jill Gleim, instructor Jill Gleim has been teaching children music and dance in the Boston area for 25 years. Jill, the founder of Jillsville School of Dance and the Arts All Day Summer Arts Camp in Cambridge has a M.Ed. from Lesley University. She studied the Dalcroze technique in NYC with Hilda Schuster and in Boston with Lisa Parker. Jill’s classes for the young combine Dalcroze Eurhythmics – a method of teaching music through movement - singing games, and folk and creative dance. Thomas Gregg, instructor Thomas Gregg holds degress in voice performance from Capitol University in Ohio, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University, and has won numerous performance and academic awards, including fellowships to attend two Bach Aria Institutes and two Aston Magna Academies. In addition to his appointment at Tufts, he is Director of Vocal Studies for Harvard University's Choir and is on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory. He has sung with the Handel & Hayden Society and many more ensembles. In addition, he has appeared as soloist with many of the choral, opera, and early music groups throughout the southern and eastern United States. Ian Gendreau, instructor Ian Gendreau has been teaching music for 12 years. He has worked as a teaching artist for Young Audiences presenting assembly programs, workshops and residencies in Ghanaian drumming. He has also taught private lessons on drumset, Ga drums and other percussion instruments. Ian has also worked as a performing musician in jazz groups, steel bands, pit orchestras, drumming ensembles and other freelance percussion performances. He has traveled to Ghana multiple times to study drumming. Ian earned his B.A. in ethnomusicology from SUNY Geneseo and is currently a Masters student in ethnomusicology at Tufts University. Sung Hyun Kim, instructor Sung Hyun Kim, Dalcrozian, trumpeter and composer holds a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Master’s degree in Dalcroze Eurhythmics from Longy School of music. He also has a Dalcroze Certificate from the Longy School of Music. He has won numerous performance and academic awards from both Canada and the USA. He has been teaching music classes for children and adults in the Boston area; Allegro School, Biglow, Newtown Center, and Cambridge. He studied Dalcroze Eurhythmics with Lisa Parker, Dalcroze Diplome. He is currently pursuing a License Degree in Dalcroze Eurhythmics from the Longy School of Music. Laura Kozachek, intructor Laura Y. Kozachek received her BA in music at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she studied viola with Heiichiro Ohyama and Ronald Copes and performed with many university ensembles, including early and new music ensembles. She pursued graduate studies in music history at UCSB and completed her PhD in musicology at Harvard University with a dissertation on Czech Renaissance polyphony. She has taught music history at Harvard University and The Boston Conservatory of Music and performs locally. Michael McLaughlin, instructor Michael McLaughlin, Klezmer Ensemble Director, pianist, accordionist, arranger, and composer for the Klezmer ensemble Shirim and the experimental Klezmer group Naftule's Dream. Performances on such stages as the Berlin Jazz Festival ('99), the Texaco Jazz Festival ('97, '98) as well as the Ashkenaz New Jewish Music Festival ('96, '98). Michael holds and M.M. in composition from Tufts University ('99) where he studied with John McDonald, and a B.M. in composition from Berklee College of Music in 1993. He is the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grand Award in composition for 2001. Claire Maiers, instructor Claire Maiers is currently a graduate student in the Tufts Music Department where she is completing her masters in musicology. In 2005 she graduated magna cum laude from Colorado College with a degree in music, earning the David and Karen Smith Cowperthwaite Award for Excellence in Music. During her time at Colorado College, she gained experience in a variety of vocal styles and was selected for leading roles and solo work in musicals, oratorios, and choral concerts. Additionally, she directed a small vocal jazz ensemble in her senior year. Upon graduation, Claire spent a summer directing two musicals, Beauty and the Beast and Seussical the Musical, at camp in the Poconos with children ages seven to sixteen. In conjunction with her current academic pursuits, Claire continues to participate in vocal performance, studying privately and performing with the Tufts Chorale, Big Band, and Opera Ensemble during the past academic year. Nando Michelin, instructor Rebecca Sacks, instructor Rebecca Sacks graduated from Tufts University in 2006, summa cum laude with a B.A. in Music and concentrations in composition and music theory. In 2002, she attended the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) Summer Composition Program at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where she studied counterpoint, harmony, and analysis in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger. In 2005, Sacks received the Etta and Harry Winokur Award for Outstanding Achievement in Artistic or Scholarly Work from the Tufts Music Department. In 2007, she was a finalist at the Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest for her composition “The Mirror,” which was also performed the previous year by the Tufts Chamber Singers. In 2008, her suite of polylingual choral songs was performed by the Tufts University Chorale and Tufts’ West African Percussion Ensemble. Sacks has worked with groups of children in many contexts, and she teaches private jazz and classical piano lessons to both children and adults. Joel Larue Smith, instructor Joel LaRue Smith, Lecturer of Music. M.M. Manhattan School of Music; B.A. City College; Ford Fellow. Composition studies: Hale Smith & David Del Tredici; Jazz Piano: Jaki Byard & Barry Harris; Afro-Cuban: Charlie Palmieri. He has played with Ron Carter, Mario Bauza and Kenny Burrell. The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation 1995 Jazz Competition in conjunction with Jazz Times; Artist in Residence, Orchestra of St. Lukes Education Program; 6 "Meet The Composer" Awards; ASCAP's George and Ira Gershwin Award; Queens Council on the Arts Composer Grant; 1993 Artist-in-Residence conductor for the Warner Music Group, Inc.; Commissions by: New York University Tisch School of the Arts and Brown University. Mr. Smith has performed in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The Whitney Museum; The White House; Symphony Hall in San Francisco & Boston; and The Royal Albert Hall in London. Jared Trudeau, instructor Jared Trudeau (tenor) is a junior majoring in Music and Psychology. He has been studying classically for eight years and has had the opportunity to place in many Regional, State, and New England voice competitions. He is a student of Charley Blandy's and is planning a senior honor thesis in vocal pedagogy. He has been seen in many musical theater and opera performances at Tufts, most recently playing George in Tufts Opera's Our Town. He is also an alum of the CAP 21 Summer Professional Musical Theater Training Program. Jared performs and musically directs extensively at Tufts and in his hometown Woodstock, Ct. Elliot Cless, instructor Elliot Cless, violinist and composer, is currently a Masters candidate in music composition at Tufts University ('08), where he also graduated as a music major in 2006. As an undergraduate, he was co-concertmaster of the Tufts Symphony Orchestra, and has since continued to perform regularly as a solo violinist and chamber musician. Private teachers include John McDonald (Tufts) in composition and Clayton Hoener (Longy School of Music) in violin. In addition to his schoolwork, Elliot co-founded, co-directs, and performs in AXIS, a musical ensemble dedicated to combining and connecting different styles of music in a variety of venues. He has relished opportunities to work/volunteer with children in many musical and non-musical contexts.
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