Bringing Broadway's incredible musicians from the pit to the stage!
Susan Rotholz - Flute & Alto Flute
Praised by the New York Times as “irresistible in both music and performance.” flutist, Susan Rotholz is in demand as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and teacher. Winner of Young Concert Artists with Hexagon Piano and Winds and of Concert Artists Guild as soloist, Susan is Principal flute of the Greenwich Symphony and The New York Chamber Ensemble and a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the New York Pops. She has toured internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Co-founder of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble which presents a full season of multi genre concerts even live and on- line during the Covid 19 pandemic, she also appears each season with the Cape May Music Festival, Saratoga Chamber Players, Greenwich Chamber Players and the Sebago Long Lake Chamber Music Festival. Susan attended the Marlboro Music Festival in 1980 and 1981 and was principal with the New England Bach Festival for 25 years. Her recordings of the complete Bach Flute Sonatas and the Solo Partita and the newly released American Tapestry, Duos for Flute and Piano have both been received with acclaim. Susan teaches at Vassar College, Columbia University, ACSM at Queens College and Manhattan School of Music Pre-College.
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Setsuko Otake - Oboe & English Horn
Oboist Setsuko Otake, a founding member of the Broadway Chamber Players, enjoys a diverse career as chamber musician, orchestral performer, and teacher. Throughout the U.S. and Japan, she has presented numerous chamber music recitals with various woodwind quintet and trio groups-including the 2002 recital debut at the Carnegie Weil Recital Hall. She currently holds the second oboe/ English Horn position with the Riverside Symphonia in Lambertville, New Jersey. And as a freelance oboist, regularly appeared with New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and Queens Symphony.
On Broadway, frequently appeared as a substitute member including Miss Saigon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, On the Town, Les Miserables, Porgy and Bess, and Mary Poppins to name few. Most recently she was the oboist for the Grammy nominated The Public Theater production of Soft Power.
She received her bachelor’s degree from the Toho Gakuen School of Music, and her master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with former New York Philharmonic oboist Joseph Robinson. During the summer, she is an oboe and chamber music coach at the Summerkeys, adult music camp in Lubec, Maine. Ms. Otake is also the oboe teacher at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn,Rodeph Sholom School, and from Fall 2021 at The Dalton School in Manhattan.
Jonathan Levine - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, & Tenor Saxophone
Jonathan Levine is a veteran woodwind player in the orchestral pits of Broadway. He has performed in dozens of productions, including Cinderella, Porgy and Bess, Ragtime, Les Misérables, The Music Man, On The Town, Miss Saigon, and Fiddler on the Roof—where he shared the stage with Alfred Molina and Harvey Fierstein as the on-stage klezmer clarinet soloist. Jonathan is presently playing Eb and bass clarinets, plus baritone saxophone, for the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company. He can also be heard on many Broadway cast recordings including NBC’s Sound of Music Live! (2013) and Peter Pan Live! (2014). Prior to his Broadway career, Jonathan toured the U.S. and Europe extensively with various international tours. He has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists including Josh Groban, Ray Charles, Roberta Flack, Mel Tormé, Barry Gibb, Harry Connick Jr., They Might Be Giants, and the Florida Symphony Orchestra. On radio, Jonathan has been heard on NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion, while on TV his bass clarinet work can be heard daily on Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Jonathan is also equally committed to music education and has been the director of music for Manhattan’s Rodeph Sholom School since 2000.
Eliot Bailen, Cello
Eliot Bailen has an active career as an artistic director, cellist, composer and teacher. Strings Magazine writes, "At Merkin Hall ‘cellist Eliot Bailen displayed a warm focused tone, concentrated expressiveness and admirable technical command always at the service of the music.” Founder and Artistic Director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, now about to celebrate its 40th year, whose performances the New York Times has described as “the Platonic ideal of a chamber music concert,” Mr. Bailen is also Founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom in New York and Artistic Director of the New York Chamber Ensemble. Principal cello of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, New York Chamber Ensemble, Orchestra New England, Teatro Grattacielo and the New Choral Society (The Michael B. Packer Chair), Mr. Bailen performs regularly with the Saratoga Chamber Players, Cape May Music Festival, Sebago-Long Lake Chamber Music Festival as well as with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York City Opera and Ballet, Oratorio Society, American Symphony, Stamford Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and is heard frequently in numerous Broadway shows.
Among Mr. Bailen’s commissions are an Octet, a Double Concerto for Flute and Cello, Perhaps a Butterfly, Saratoga Sextet The Tiny Mustache (a musical) and recently a Dectet (“Inclusion”) commissioned by the New Choral Society. Mr. Bailen is recipient of over forty commissions for his "Song to Symphony" for schools (subject of a NY Times feature article Sept. 2006 and winner of a Yale Alumni Grant). In 2002 he received the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking. Mr. Bailen received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from Yale University and an M.B.A. from NYU. He is on the cello and chamber music faculty at Columbia University and Teachers College.
Kate Amrine - Trumpet
A passionate and creative performer, Kate Amrine is a prominent trumpet player balancing a multifaceted career from developing new repertoire and curating concerts to freelancing with many different groups in the New York City area. Kate frequently alternates between the musical theater world and the contemporary classical/new music worlds. Some favorite recent experiences include being the lead trumpet player in all-women bands New Heights Brass Band and TOP Queens and performing with classical groups including the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, Kings County Brass, and Spark Duo.
In addition to subbing on Broadway and performing in various regional productions, Kate has held the trumpet/piccolo/flugel chair on two Off-Broadway shows - Alice by Heart and Whisper House. Kate also performed on the She is Risen album with an all-female orchestra and several Tony award nominees including Cynthia Erivo, Shoshana Bean and Ledisi. Kate recently joined the pit orchestra on trumpet/tambourine for Beehive the 60's musical at Papermill Playhouse - safely filmed for streaming during quarantine. Kate has also been fortunate to play in a rock band with Norah Jones and lead trumpet in a full orchestra with Evanescence. Kate also appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as part of a female horn section with the band Sleigh Bells.
Kate is very dedicated to commissioning and performing new music, premiering over 30 pieces both as a soloist and a chamber musician. Kate’s second album This is My Letter to the World was released in early 2020 on the Innova record label. Her album features new music for trumpet inspired by politics and social concepts and addresses issues including gun violence, identity and the experience of being a woman, meditation, and immigration. Several of the pieces have an accompanying video element as well. Her duo Spark Duo with partner Ford Fourqurean is passionate about commissioning new works and recently completed a spring tour performing and presenting at several universities on the west coast. Kate’s debut album As I Am was self-released on November 7th, 2017 - featuring new music by women composers. Through this project, she was invited to present recitals at various festivals and events including the International Women’s Brass Conference (in 2019 and 2017), the Music by Women festival (in 2021 and 2018) and the Women Composer’s Festival of Hartford. As a classical soloist, Kate has performed Vivaldi’s Double Trumpet Concerto, Torelli’s piccolo Concerto, Leroy Anderson’s The Trumpeter’s Lullaby, and Persichetti’s The Hollow Men in New York City, her hometown Bethesda, Maryland, and in multiple cities on tour in Japan. Kate has also performed offstage solos at both Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall.
In addition to advocating for underrepresented composers, Kate is very passionate about expanding awareness and representation for female brass players. Kate Amrine also recently joined Rebecca Karu and Melissa Muñoz in co-founding Brass Out Loud - a new organization dedicated to uplifting and inspiring all brass players everywhere. We recently had our inaugural workshop featuring over 50 participants from over four countries with an age range of 13 to 60+. The workshop featured 23 faculty members of which 70% of them were female, trans, non binary, and/or BIPOC. Kate is also half of the team behind Brass Chicks (a blog dedicated to celebrating the work of female brass players with guest posts and interviews) and recently started a Facebook group to support female, trans, and non-binary brass players.
Tomina Parvanova Lyden - Harp
Based in New York City, Bulgarian-born harpist Tomina Parvanova Lyden has performed with a myriad of major orchestras, including Boston Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, and Boston Ballet. Ms. Lyden is the 2021 principal harpist of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Orchestra, a position she has won for three years prior. On Broadway, she was the harpist for Grammy-Nominated show Soft Power as well as We’re Only Alive For A Short Amount Of Time. She has also performed for shows such as Carousel, Hello, Dolly!, The Fantasticks, and Amelie. In 2011, Ms. Lyden was a harp fellow at Tanglewood Music Center where she performed under the baton of such world-renowned conductors as Jaap van Zweden, Kurt Masur and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Ms. Lyden received her Master's Degree from Boston University - College of Fine Arts and Bachelor's Degree from The Boston Conservatory.
Karl Lyden, Trombone
Karl Lyden is an in-demand tenor and bass trombonist based in New York City. He has performed/recorded with such artists as Lawrence, No BS! Brass, A Winged Victory for the Sullen and is a member of ska-punk band Streetlight Manifesto. Karl has held the trombone chair for several shows on and off-Broadway: the David Bowie musical Lazarus, A Night with Janis Joplin (1st National Tour), Prince of Broadway, Radio City Christmas Spectacular (2017-18), Rocktopia, Miss Saigon (National Tour, 2018-19). Karl has also earned accolades as a composer/arranger. His first big band piece was the 2011 Winner for Undergraduate Orchestrated Work in Downbeat Magazine. Karl received a Master of Music from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Alex Bender, Trumpet
Alex Bender is a diverse performer with experience as a trumpeter, actor, pianist, French horn player and conductor. Most at home as a trumpeter, Alex has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, and as guest Principal Trumpet with New Jersey, Harrisburg, Springfield, Hartford, and Princeton Symphony Orchestras. As an orchestral musician, Alex won his first position as Principal Trumpet with Symphony in C, later soloing with the orchestra on piccolo trumpet. As a chamber musician, he has enjoyed collaborations with John Zorn, Dave Leibman, Manhattan Brass, and Josh Groban, among others.
Alex is the original trumpeter of Broadway’s Finding Neverland, Side Show (revival), and Paramour (Cirque du Soleil). In 2017, Alex expanded to the acting stage where he originated a supporting lead role in Broadway’s Bandstand. That “fluke” of an opportunity enriched his life and has continued to reveal acting techniques helpful for instrumentalists. In 2019 he was cast in John Doyle’s production of August Rush as an actor, trumpeter and horn player.
This past summer Alex played Trumpet and Keys 2 at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Escape to Margaritaville, and will soon start his 7th season with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. Alex is thrilled to be back in the city he loves, playing music with people he loves.
Alex holds a BM from James Madison University (Music Education), MM from Manhattan School of Music (Orchestral Performance), and finishing a DMA from Michigan State University.
Keve Wilson, Oboe
Rachel Handman, Violin
Hidayat Honari, Guitar
Keve Wilson, Rachel Handman and Hidayat Honari spent the pandemic performing at The Javits Center for vaccinations and front line workers thanks to Music & Medicine and Sing for Hope. They have arranged a variety of music for their instruments, from Irish jigs and reels to pop ballads. Some of the Broadway orchestra pits they have played in include Beetlejuice, Company, West Side Story, Once on this Island, Carousel, Something Rotten!, Prince of Broadway, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Miss Saigon, and Dr. Zhivago. Upcoming concerts include a night performing at The Culinary Institute of America for its 75th Anniversary, a performance at the Margate Music Festival in Atlantic City, and invited back for a 5th time, a show at Feinstein’s/54Below.
David G. Weiss, Matusi Membrane Flute & Kingma Upright Bass Flue
Dave Weiss is a Brooklyn based musician, recording engineer, video editor, and composer. He performs on flutes and woodwinds from many parts of the world, unusual woodwinds (ContraBass Flute, Great Bass Recorder, Overtone Flutes), and western flutes, saxophones and clarinets.
Dave performs with Disney's The Lion King as a featured soloist, playing twelve instruments, and also co-orchestrated the “world woodwind” parts. He has been involved with over 50 other Broadway musicals, and has served as woodwind orchestration advisor for Miss Saigon, Lin Manuel-Miranda’s In The Heights, Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures, and Chess.
He also collaborates with artists as a recording engineer, producer, and video editor. With his artistic partner and spouse, violist Kaya Bryla, he has self-produced music videos that have received close to 250,000 views on YouTube and other social media in under two years. Go to “YouTube David Weiss Flute” and davidweissflute.com
Dave has performed on several hundred TV programs and commercials, films, and CDs. Recent projects include “Cry Macho”, “Quiet Place 2” , and the upcoming Disney film “Moana 2”. Over an eclectic career, he has performed with The Phillip Glass Ensemble, Aretha Franklin, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and many others.
Dave is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music (Classical Flute Performance), and also studied at The Juilliard School, and The Aspen Music Festival (Fellowship Jazz Saxophone).
Dave lives in Brooklyn with his wife, violist Kaya Katarzyna Bryla-Weiss, who is co-principal of The Orchestra Of St. Luke’s, and a member of the New York City Ballet and New York Pops orchestras.
Helen Campo, Flute
The South China Morning Post declared that flutist Helen Campo “had such dazzlingly beautiful tone, that she could only be called extraordinary... she displayed stunning lucidity, colour, and figuration.” In addition, Leonard Bernstein wrote, “Miss Campo plays the flute the way I wish I could sing.” Since her debut at the age of 14, Ms. Campo has made hundreds of solo appearances, from concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra and other orchestras in the Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Hong Kong Cultural Center, to a guest television appearance with the Muppets. The youngest flutist ever to win Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and the first flutist to win Artists International Distinguished Artists Award, she has been the subject of feature articles in several national magazines. Helen also won the position of Acting Associate Principal Flutist with the Houston Symphony and has performed as Assistant Principal with the Baltimore Symphony. She has also been a long time principal substitute with the NYC Ballet, NYC Opera, and NY Philharmonic, and has performed in the Principal Flute, Second Flute, and Piccolo positions with all three organizations. She has made several recordings with the NY Philharmonic, including a great deal of wonderful repertoire on the piccolo, including Ravel, Daphnis and Chloe, Stravinsky, Song of the Nightingale and Firebird. In addition, she has also performed Barber, Summer Music and Nielsen Quintet with members of the NY Philharmonic on their chamber music series and in a lecture demo led by Maestro Alan Gilbert.
Helen is also a member of the New York Pops, NJ Festival Orchestra, Greenwich Symphony, and was the flutist for Nickelodeon’s #1 TV show Wonderpets! and Backyardigans. She can be heard on many television commercials and films and has been the Principal Flutist of 11 Broadway shows, currently, Wicked. A long time proponent of New Music, more than 20 solo and chamber works have been written for her. She also loves to teach and is in the process of writing a book entitled, “Why Everyone Should Play the Flute (and a few other things your string player friends might not necessarily agree with )”.
Helen graduated at the age of 16 as valedictorian of her high school class, was awarded the Chadwick Medal upon graduating from New England Conservatory with honors and distinction, and the School-wide Graduate Achievement Award with honors and distinction from Queens College, where she attended as a fellowship student. She was also a member of the Tanglewood Fellowship Orchestra, Sasha Schneider’s New York String Orchestra, and studied with Murray Panitz, John Krell, Julius Baker, Robert Stallman, John Heiss, and Robert Langevin.
Her website is: https://helencampoflute.com
Melody Fader, Piano
Pianist Melody Fader enjoys a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician, vocal and dance accompanist. She has performed in such iconic New York venues as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and internationally in Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Guatemala, Chile, Canada and Italy. Ms. Fader is the founder, artistic director, and pianist for her Melody and Company Chamber Series ensemble, that recently won grants from both the Queens Council on the Arts and the Puffin Foundation. Her first commercial album, Music of Frederic Chopin, was released in February 2012 on Centaur Records and she is currently working on her second album. For two seasons Ms. Fader served as company pianist and soloist for Dance Theatre of Harlem, touring extensively with the company. She is the resident pianist with New Chamber Ballet for their annual performance cycle at New York’s City Center, and has also performed with Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Buglisi Dance Theater and the New York Theater Ballet and Stars of American Ballet. Ms. Fader was a prize winner at both the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition and the Aspen Concerto Competition, leading to solo as well as chamber music performances throughout the U.S. She earned her Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and Master of Music in Collaborative Piano at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Margo Garrett.
For more information, please visit www.melodyfader.com
Suzy Perelman, Violin
Violinist Suzy Perelman has been performing in the orchestras on Broadway for the past 16 years. A former member of the Utah and San Antonio Symphonies, Suzy performs in orchestra concerts, duo recitals, and shows regularly throughout the NY area. Recent venues have included Merkin Hall, the 92nd Street Y and Carnegie Hall. Recent shows have included The Unsinkable Molly Brown, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Evita, and Cats. During the pandemic Suzy started a concert series in front of her building called “Concerts in the Courtyard“ which consists of weekly or biweekly concerts featuring gems from the violin and piano repertoire. Suzy loves cycling, word games, long walks, flying trapeze, Israeli dancing, traveling and hanging out with family and friends. She also adores being a Suzuki violin teacher to 9 young students.
Katherine Cherbas, Cello
Cellist Katherine Cherbas has held chairs in the pit ensembles for On the Town, Cats, and King Kong and has subbed on over 30 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. As an orchestral player, she appears regularly with the Encores! Orchestra at New York City Center and has also performed with the New York Philharmonic and the New Jersey Symphony. Her interests as a chamber musician range from Baroque continuo playing to collaborations with composers on new works. After studying at the Indiana University School of Music while in high school, Katherine moved to New York City and completed an undergraduate degree at Columbia University, a master’s degree from The Juilliard School, and a doctoral degree at SUNY-Stony Brook.
While she can’t wait to return to the busy life of a performing musician, she is grateful for the extra time she’s had with her family this past year. She has taken advantage of the downtime to attend over 100 of her teenage son’s baseball games since March 2020.
Danny Percefull, Piano
Originally from Tulsa, OK, pianist Danny Percefull has been playing in Broadway orchestras since 2006 and was a conductor of the recent revivals of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. Some other highlights include Follies at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, Merrily We Roll Along, Road Show, Mack & Mabel at City Center Encores, and A Chorus Line. A lover of backpacking, Danny thru-hiked the Colorado Trail last summer, recently spent a week learning to navigate off-trail in Yosemite National Park, and will happily do his best to get you to join him on his next adventure.