Luzerne Music Center's Faculty Brass Quintet

About this event

Luzerne Music Center’s Faculty Brass Quintet is an ensemble of five renowned musicians who serve as faculty at Luzerne Music Center's summer camp in Lake Luzerne, NY. Their repertoire features an engaging variety of music, from classical masterpieces to popular works. In addition to the performance, we invite the audience members to ask the musicians any questions, offering insights into the music, instruments, their lives as professional musicians, and more. This program is a wonderful opportunity for audiences of all ages to enjoy live chamber music and connect with professional musicians in an intimate setting. All ages welcome. No registration required.

Dr. Peter Bellino is thrilled to be the new band/jazz band director at Greenville High School as well as the Director of the Empire State Youth Jazz Orchestra. During the summer months he teaches jazz and performs with the brass quintet at Luzerne Music Center. Until recently, he served as faculty at Bard College, The College of Saint Rose, Schenectady County Community College, Union College and Emma Willard School. He has performed with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Albany, Glens Falls and Schenectady symphonies as well as many regional chamber ensembles. He has shared the concert stage with Ronan Tynan, Keith Brion, Aretha Franklin, Dave Holland, ‘Doc’ Severinsen and many others. Dr. Bellino has performed throughout much of the United States as well as Japan, Canada and India. He is a graduate of the University of Miami, the University of Kentucky, Eastman School of Music and Stony Brook University he studied with Gilbert Johnson, Vince DiMartino, Barbara Butler and Chris Gekker as well as jazz luminaries Fred Sturm, Bill Dobbins, Ronnie Miller and Gary Lindsay. When not at home pondering the life and music of Miles or Sergei Prokofiev, you’ll probably find him running the picturesque trails of Thacher State Park. He is a Bach Performing Artist. Peter Bellino joined the LMC faculty in 2019.

Terry Szor has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic and Bronx Arts Ensemble, among many others. He has performed for several Broadway shows, at Radio City Music Hall, on numerous television and radio commercials and soundtracks for video games. As a member of the award-winning (Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award, Fischoff, etc.) Saturday Brass Quintet, Terry performed recitals and led educational programs at such venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He performs as the principal trumpet with Opera Saratoga, Hudson Valley Philharmonic and New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. As a freelance educator, he has taught and performed extensively in the New York City area. He taught through the Center for Arts Education, New York Young Audiences, Midori and Friends, The Juilliard School, Queens Symphony Orchestra and the Hoff-Barthelson Music School, among others. He is a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music. Terry Szor joined the LMC faculty in 2019.
 

Heather Johnson holds degrees in horn performance from The Curtis Institute of Music and Stony Brook University and studied extensively at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. Her major teachers include Myron Bloom, Frøydis Ree Wekre, Fred Ehnes, and Bill Purvis. A native of Muncie, Indiana, she has attended Tanglewood BUTI, Interlochen Arts Camp, Eastern Music Festival, Recontres Musicales d’Évian, Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, Ashlawn-Highland Opera Festival, HfM Franz List Weimarer Meisterkurse, and the Banff Centre. Her past ensemble experiences include The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and the Columbus, Charleston, Syracuse and Jupiter Symphonies. Current positions include contracts Youngstown Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Opera Western Reserve, and the Academy Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh. She is on faculty at Slippery Rock University. Johnson lives in Guys Mills, Pennsylvania with her husband, a luthier and Juilliard-trained double bassist. Heather Johnson joined the LMC faculty in 2017.

Trombonist Patrick Crossland was born in Jackson, Mississippi. Growing up in southern Louisiana, he began playing trombone at age 10. His musical study continued at the University of Southern Mississippi, the Manhattan School of Music, the Royal College of Music (London), the University of Minnesota, and the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik – Trossingen (Germany). Prominent solo performances include the Walker Art Center’s “Festival Dancing In Your Head”, the Darmstadt Course for New Music, where he was awarded a Solo Performance Prize, UMBC’s Livewire Festivals, and the American Trombone Workshop. Dr. Crossland has performed with orchestras and ensembles across Europe and the USA, including concerto performances in the USA, England, and Germany. In addition to his activities as a soloist and chamber musician, he is an avid improviser. He is currently a member of the Composers Slide Quartet and Ensemble Laboratorium. Patrick Crossland is the recipient of Maryland State Arts Council Awards and currently teaches trombone, improvisation, and other courses at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Patrick Crossland joined the LMC faculty in 2024.

Samantha Lake began her musical career with the study of classical piano at the age of five and continued to take lessons for 13 years. Unafraid to be different, Dr. Lake chose tuba in sixth grade and never looked back.  Dr. Lake performs tuba in Calliope Brass and the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and as a freelancer in multiple ensembles, including the Ridgefield Orchestra, Radio City Christmas Spectacular Orchestra, and more. Her passion for solo performances was ignited when she won the Young Artist Solo Competition in New London, CT in 2012, resulting in a solo performance accompanied by the Coast Guard Band.  Since then, she has won the Rutgers Concerto Competition, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Staff Solo Competition, and University of Connecticut Concerto Competition, and placed second in the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra Instrumental Competition.  Also passionate about her work as an educator, she teaches tuba lessons at the University of Connecticut and Kutztown University. Previously, she has served as a Morse Teaching Artist fellow and Music Advancement Program Fellow. Dr. Lake has taught group and masterclasses at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Ohio University, Manhattan School of Music and various public schools. Dr. Lake is from southeastern Connecticut and graduated with a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Connecticut.  She earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Rutgers University and her doctoral research led to presentations at VTEC 2021 and IWBC 2022 on the exclusion of high voices in tuba multiphonic repertoire and the commission of two works for unaccompanied tuba. Her principal teachers are Alan Baer and Gary Sienkiewicz. Samantha Lake joined the LMC faculty in 2024.