Bettina Altman Abrams:

A violin student at Merrywood, she can be found on Facebook and now resides in New York.

Libby Hanna:

A violin student at Merrywood, she studied music and theatre in high school and college, including a gap year at Interlochen Arts Academy.  Thereafter, she ended up working in child care and was fascinated by watching babies evolve.  She procured her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Washington, while at the same time marrying her college sweetheart Don Fleming and having her first son, Tommy.  Deciding to stay in the Seattle area, she started consulting at Microsoft on children’s software design.  She then grew her own business providing research services across a wide variety of products for all ages and many companies.  Along came a second child, Will, and lots of family and business adventures.  Now retired, Libby has found fulfillment in volunteering, traveling, cooking, reading, and puzzling.  She has been a volunteer leader with AARP Foundation Tax-Aide and oversees a Seattle area district offering free tax preparation at eight sites

Philip Kuttner:

A piano student and teacher at Merrywood, Philip received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and History from Harvard University and his Master’s degree in Music from Peabody Institute, where he studied with Leon Fleisher.  Philip has conducted 26 operas with the North Bay Opera and was the supertitles author for the San Francisco Opera.  He self-published How to Sing in Italian and currently teaches piano.

Rebecca Swett Laschever:

A harp student at Merrywood, Rebecca has spent her career as a professional harpist.  She has performed in many concerts and solo performances and has made seven recordings.  She has lived and performed in FL, MA, CT, and now OH.  (www.harpist4all.com)

Jacob Litoff:

A violin student at Merrywood, he went on to attend/join Greenwood, Tanglewood Youth Orchestra, Kneisel Hall, and Meadowmount.  He received his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Boston University in 1981.  Thereafter, he joined the Springfield Symphony, the Vermont Symphony, the New Bedford Symphony, and others.  Unfortunately, epilepsy interfered with his career but he was still able to teach at the Boston Conservatory extension program and studied the Suzuki method in Japan.  He taught at Robinsons Music in Westborough, MA and has gone on to teach privately.  In 2002 he joined the Charles River Sinfonietta (www.charlesriversinfonietta.com) and continues to play with them to this day.  Jacob is also extremely interested in macrobiotics and wrote a cookbook on the topic My Macrobiotic Cookbook.

Gregory Probyn:

A trumpet student at Merrywood, Gregory now plays guitar, bass, banjo, theremin, trumpet, French horn, tuba, trombone, and melodica.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin in 1979 then attended the Guitar Institute of Technology in 1981.  He has been a working musician in Los Angeles since then.  Among other activities, he has played in Beach Boys, Monkees, and Weird Al tribute acts.  He’s published articles in Rolling Stone, Guitar World, and The Washington Post.  He was Director of Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music camp (1978-1980, 1995-2003).  He’s been involved in the Grammy Awards (2005) and the Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys.  And he has produced “innumerable” recordings.  He comments that “Merrywood changed my life.  I am forever indebted to Mrs. Hurwitz and especially the amazing kids I met there who were truly peers.   Learned tangentially to play guitar from teacher Doug Freundlich, which altered my life trajectory… Just wow, I am so grateful.”

Joel Russell:

A clarinet student and teacher at Merrywood, Joel is now a semi-retired land conservation lawyer after almost 40 years of practice.  He has two grown sons and on grandson.  For over 20 years, he has been married to Mari Gottdiener, whom he met at Merrywood in 1965.  They now happily live in Northamptom, MA.

Nanette Kaplan Solomon:

A piano student and teacher at Merrywood, she pursued a career in music.  A scholarship student at Julliard, she completed her Bachelor’s degree.  She attended Yale where she completed her Master’s degree in Music, followed by her Doctorate at Boston University.  A freelance concert pianist, she was a soloist with numerous Pennsylvania orchestras.  She also performed with Kaplan Duo (www.kaplanduo.com), performing on five continents.  Her reviews and articles have been published in American Music Teacher and the International Alliance of Women in Music Journal.  Recordings include Character Sketches: 7 Works by American Women and Sunbursts: 7 Works by American Women.  From 1977-2014 she was a Professor of Music at Slippery Rock University.  (www.nanettekaplansolomon.com)

David Vogel:

Both a violin and viola student and teacher at Merrywood, David currently plays with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra.  A physician, he is also an adjunct assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Lisa Wiedman Yancich:

A violin student at Merrywood, Lisa is the first violin for the Atlanta Symphony (1984-present).  She has also been an Affiliate Artist at Emory University for more than 30 years.  “I loved my summers at Merrywood.  How lucky we were.”

George Barth;
https://music.stanford.edu/people/george-barth