1969 – Merrywood Music School

Summer of 1969

June Hillelson:

A flute and piccolo student at Merrywood, June pursued a career in medicine and is now an internal medicine physician. She still plays the flute, is an avid giant panda supporter and has published several medical articles.

Maggie Holtzberg:

A violin student at Merrywood, Maggie became a Folklorist with the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a Fellow of the American Folklore Society. See her website: www.maggieholtzberg.com.

Heather Kurzbauer:

When orchestras faced drastic cuts post financial crisis 2007-2008, Heather turned her attention to research the employment vulnerabilities within the orchestral sector, with a particular focus on freelancers. She defended her PhD thesis on that subject in 2022 and Kluwer Law International published an abridged version in 2023. Post-PhD, she has been privileged to give seminars at many universities and serve as keynote speaker/panelist at international labor law conferences, sharing her vision on employment challenges in the cultural/freelance sector with fellow experts worldwide. At present, she is a senior law lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, an active member of the Works Council, a performing violinist with Sinfonia Rotterdam, and an Adviser to the Dutch Culture Council.

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.

Mark Leder:

A French horn student and teacher at Merrywood, Mark has been a singer with the New Haven Chorale, the Yale Russian Chorus, and the Hartford Chorale. He received his PhD in English from Yale University in 1977 and went on to complete his law degree at UConn in 1985. He worked as a personal injury attorney from 1985-2003 and most recently was an adjunct English instructor at CCSU.

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.

Mark Maimone:

A cello student and teacher at Merrywood, Mark graduated with his Bachelor’s in Music from Brandeis University in 1974. He then pursued Environmental Engineering degrees in Delft, Netherlands, receiving his PhD from Groningen University. He was a member of the National Ballet Orchestra in Amsterdam. Currently he is the Senior VP of CDM Smith where he has expertise in groundwater and surface water modeling, water resource planning, and climate change adaptation. He has published innumerable articles on these topics. Also, for over 30 years, he has been part of and now is Chair of the Board of the Ridotto Arts Organization, a classical concert series in Huntington, NY (www.ridotto.org).

Tom Michelmore:

A violin student at Merrywood, Tom graduated from Amherst College in 1976, completed his MBA at Cornell in 1977, and became a CPA in 1983. Meanwhile, he continued his music studies with Harry Glickman and played second violin with the Great Neck Symphony.

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.

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.

Catherine Bowers:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/catherine-bowers-obituary?id=27216529

Bruce Coppock:

https://riversschoolconservatory.org/bruce-coppock-his-resounding-legacy-at-rsc/

https://symphony.org/obituary-bruce-coppock-influential-executive-director-at-orchestras-71/

https://slippedisc.com/2022/11/us-orchestra-mourns-formative-ceo-71/

Juan Dandridge:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Ragtime_Ensemble

Holly Duesenberry:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/holly-duesenberry-obituary?id=54950880

Lee Scott Dweir:

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/leslie-scott-455528