Faculty

Faculty Facts

Qualifications: Each of the Faculty members have a college degree or equivalent experience to qualify as experts in their field. All have professional performing experience in orchestras, bands, as accompanists or soloists. (Most have graduate degrees.) Many of our faculty  members also teach at other prestigious urban music conservatories. You have the convenience of working with them close to your own home! For additional safety, a criminal background check and a child abuse clearance is secured for each teacher.

Voice:  Wendy Hellyer (by special arrangement)wendy-hellyer

B.A., M.A., (voice) Temple University, drama studies at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC), private study with Dolf Swing of Julliard, Florence Berggren of Julliard and Temple University, coaching with Martin Rich, Assoc. Conductor, Metropolitan Opera. “Born in a Trunk”, Wendy is the second generation in her family to perform and sing. Her performing experience includes drama, musical theater, banquet dates, industrial and trade shows, commercial voice-overs and classical concert work. She has appeared with Dizzy Gillespie at the Temple Jazz Festival and sung Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with the Bryn Athyn Symphony. She has written and directed revues for Plays and Players, industrial training shows for corporations such as Rohm & Haas and the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Hellyer has taught voice at the University of the Arts, Temple University (graduate assistant) and the Community College of Philadelphia.

 

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Flute:  Anne Leibowitz  grew up in Northeast Phila but now resides in Bensalem, Bucks County. She is a graduate of Temple University with a bachelor of Music education and a Master of Special Education. Ms Leibowitz is retired from the Bensalem public schools but continues to teach flute/piccolo at the Hellyer Center for the Performing Arts. She has attended chamber music workshops at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and at Apple Hill in New Hampshire. Currently Ms. Leibowitz freelances throughout the Philadelphia area and plays flute/piccolo with the Ambler Symphony and Olney orchestras.

 

Woodwinds:  Beth VilsmeierBeth Vilsmeier Clarinet Teacher

Mrs. Vilsmeier is the Principal Clarinetist for the Warminster Symphony Orchestra, Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony and Main Line Symphony Orchestra. Beth is a graduate of the University of the Arts former student of Anthony Gigliotti of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Beth was the Music Director of Holy Ghost Preparatory School for several years. She served on the music faculty of Immaculata University for thirty seven years and continues as the chairman of the Podium Committee and James Dietz Memorial Competition for the Main Line Symphony.

 

 

Strings:  Emily GuglielmiEmily Guglielmi

A Native of Philadelphia, Emily Guglielmi was awarded two violin scholarships to attend the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now University of the Arts) where she completed her music degrees. She has studied with Edgar Ortenberg, Jani Szanto, and David Arben. As an educator, Ms. Guglielmi has taught Strings at both the Centennial School District for 4 years and 26 Years in the Upper Dublin School District where she built a very successful string program. Emily is past Concertmeister of the Warminster Symphony. Currently, she is a Board Member of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra associate concertmeister and Section leader of the second violin section. In addition Emily is a founding member of the Siena Strings Chamber group. Emily is a freelance musician who has performed both locally and in Italy, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.  She teaches at the Hellyer Performing Arts Center and at the Ambler School of Music.

 

JSarcewicznewActing & After-School Program Director:  Joy Sarcewicz Valletto

Joy has a B.A. in Communications and Theater Arts from Palm Beach Atlantic University. She is a member of Alpha Psi Omega and the National Theater Honor Society. Her training and credits include Shakespearean roles, Method & Mesiner, dance, choreography, stage construction, lighting and voice. She has performed, directed and/or choreographed several shows for universities, and community theaters plus supervised recreational programs for Middletown Twp., organized youth drama and biblical activities for churches locally and elsewhere.

 

Piano:  Andrea Szilvasi  piano teacher

Ms. Szilvasi completed a B.A. in Music in 2007 from the Uzhhorod Music College in the Ukraine. She has been teaching piano for over 16 years – starting at the Mukachevo Music school in the Ukraine for 9 years and then continued to teach piano and serve as Concertmaster in Hungary for 2 years. In 2007, she returned to the Ukraine where she co-founded the Child Development Center on Dnipro, teaching piano and serving as Concertmaster for another 9 years. Now, in addition to teaching piano at the Hellyer Performing Arts Center, Ms. Szilvasi also teaches piano and general music for grades 3-8 at a Philadelphia area private school.

 

Drums & Percussion:  Tom Cullen  Tom Cullen Drum Teacher

Tom was raised in Bucks County and graduated from Neshaminy High School. He continued is his music studies at Bucks County Community College and then Temple University where he completed his BA in music as a jazz percussionist. His performance career began before completing his degrees, working with many area bands and combos in venues such as the Temperance Hotel, Brick Hotel, Mill Hill Saloon, Chris’s Jazz Café, Underground Arts, TLA, Voltage Lounge, Ardmore Music Hall, & Parx Casino. As a teacher he has helped several youths in their pursuit of music competence in private lessons, area music schools and Dayjams Camp. He is an asset to Hellyer Performing Arts where he is providing private lessons and conducting multi-cultural hand-drumming classes for a variety of age groups.

 

 

Guitar & Ukulele:  Russell Ferrara  

Russell Ferrara is a crossover artist, composer and educator working in the classical, New Age, contemporary instrumental and indie-pop fields. Starting from a classical guitar perspective he has pioneered the use of synthesizers controlled by guitars. Over the last 10 years Russ has toured extensively, backing top selling artists IL DIVO, with his own group, GRAY DOG DOWN, and as a soloist. Locally, Russ has held forth as a soloist weekly since 2008 at Ariano in Media, PA playing popular classics, pop song arrangements, Flamenco and his own series of classical guitar arrangements of garage band instrumentals. He also often works as a bass guitarist.
The upcoming third GRAY DOG DOWN recording [The Wedding] will be the fifth of his career including the groundbreaking album THE PHILADELPHIA GUITAR ENSEMBLE [Stradivari Records] and a 1995 effort which may be the first album ever released which uses guitar synthesizers on every track. Russ also appears on the 1989 recording of ‘Revelation in the Courthouse Park’ by Harry Parch on Tomato Records.
Russ has had a long academic career including stints at Drexel University, East Stroudsburg University, Bucks County Community College, The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Immaculata and Eastern Universities. He is the author of a guitar method, Guitar Calisthenics, which has been recently updated to include recorded accompaniments for each example in the book. He is also the composer of numerous student pieces for ensembles of guitars. Russ has been a career long advocate of ensemble playing for guitar students and currently leads a student ensemble at Steel River Playhouse in Pottstown where he has been a faculty member since it opened in 2008. He is also a faculty member and ensemble director for the Georgia Music Camp. Check out his recordings on Soundcloud and his YouTube channel.

 

Acting Programs:  Morgaine Ford-Workman

Morgaine Ford-Workman has been seen across Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery County in numerous theater productions of The Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver!, The Odd Couple, Hello, Dolly!, and more. She originated the role of Mary Catherine in the Philadelphia Performance Project’s original musical “Week Between the Holidays,” and has more recently enjoyed directing theater productions, including “Beauty and the Beast” and “Shrek: The Musical” in Newtown. Her voiceover work can be heard in training videos for Banker’s Academy or regional radio commercials for McDonalds, Namaste Wellness Center, Performance Spine & Sports Medicine, Bucks Country Gardens, Fante’s Heating & Air Conditioning, and numerous Roku channel shows from Gatehouse Media/USA Today.

 

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