ITHACA COLLEGE SINFONIETTA
Dr. Ho-Yin Kwok, director
ITHACA COLLEGE CAMPUS BAND
Benjamin Rochford, conductor
Violin I
Katie Hayes
Kayla Law
Sasha Narea
Laura Zhou-Hackett
Danielle Ahrens
Ho-Yin Kwok
Violin II
Madeleine Bingley
Jacob Eisentraut
Joshua Chang
Finny Keefe
Christian Rodriguez
Viola
Kirin Patient
Shea Harrison
Grace Andren
Anna Stohs
Maya Connolly
Jessica Briglia
Hui Tsz Yau
Cello
Lydia Smith
Kyra Williams
Madelyn Gerhart
Isabelle Apostolakos
Leo Maring
Bass
Gabriella Janka
Christian Laughlin
Flute
Charile Beck
Anusha Bhargava
Jonathan Bishop
Elana Chernoff
Julia Grant
Sofia Lopez
Gisel Miguel
Dani Stanton
Sarah Wrzos
Oboe
Joseph Carrero
Leah Kilkenny
Clarinet
Brendan Blazier, E-flat
Abby Bloom
Reid Canham
Evan Panneitz
El Szalay
Faith Tomasula
Lexy Ward
Bass Clarinet
Casey Delsandro
Bassoon
Ava Gestwick
Liv Hawthorne
Brady Santin
Alto Saxophone
Cody Acquista
Charlie Beck
Emma Cardamone
Maddy Kim
Tenor Saxophone
Corey Stark
Baritone Saxophone
Leo Marring
Trumpet
Matthew Amori
Isabella Apostolakos
Lauren Bradbury
Eliza Ferrara
Sydney Jacobs
Allison Mattle
Seth Michaud
Joel Rivera
Horn
Evelyn Balzer
Alicia Menduni
Sydney Tomishima
Trombone
Aarin Arora
Parker Feldmann
Jackie Houghtaling
Finny Keefe
James Reade Smith
Orpheus Tulloch
Euphonium
Lizzy Carvell
Patrick Hogan
Lamar Williams
Tuba
Christian Laughlin
Michael Mezzo
Percussion
Marcus Carlson
Josh Clapp
Oscar Donahue
Lindsey Green
Bria Petrella
Jake Smith
Described by Classical Voice of North Carolina (CVNC) as an “impressive conductor…outstanding in his attention to detail and his command of the big picture”, Hong Kong-born conductor Ho-Yin Kwok is a three-time winner of The American Prize, 2021, winner of 2017-2018 Vincent C. LaGuardia, Jr. Conducting Competition and 2021 International Conductors Workshop and Competition. Recently appointed as Director of Orchestras at Ithaca College, New York, Kwok also serves as Music Director of Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra in Duluth, Minnesota and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Mississippi Valley Orchestra in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
Having established a nationwide professional reputation, he has served as Assistant Conductor of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and cover conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra. Kwok was previously Assistant Conductor of Collegium Musicum Hong Kong and has performed in esteemed venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Musikverein in Vienna. His most recent guest conducting engagements include the New World Symphony (FL), the Syracuse Orchestra (NY), Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra (MN), Arapahoe Philharmonic (CO), Cayuga Chamber Orchestra (NY), Gwinnett Symphony Chamber Orchestra (GA), and Eastern Festival Orchestra (NC).
An avid music educator, Kwok previously served as the Director of the Duluth Superior Youth Symphony, and in the faculty of Eastern Kentucky University and University of Minnesota Duluth. His recent educational guest conducting engagements include the Connecticut All-State Orchestra, Suffolk County All-County Orchestra on Long Island, Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, University of Wisconsin-Madison Summer Music Clinic, and Foster Music Camp. He was invited as adjudicator for concerto competitions such as those of Minnesota Orchestra Young People's Symphony Concert Association, University of Minnesota, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Binghamton University.
Kwok is a first prize winner of The American Prize in opera conducting. He served as Music Director of the Opera Theatre at University of Minnesota Twin-Cities. He enjoys conducting operas of a wide range of periods and styles, from Mozart's Idomeneo to Puccini's La Bohéme, Britten's Albert Herring, and Menotti’s The Consul. He was the instigating artistic force behind the formation of opera orchestra at Eastern Kentucky University and has collaborated professionally with Arbeit Opera Theatre and Lyric Opera of the North. In the 2021-22 season, Kwok gave one of the first performances of Laura Kaminsky’s new opera, Hometown to the World.
Known for his passion in diversifying the orchestral concert repertoire, Kwok has been involved in multiple initiatives and special projects. With the Mississippi Valley Orchestra, he created the annual Foreground Composers Series, a year-round celebration and in-depth research on an underrepresented composer. This ongoing project has led to numerous US premieres of works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Ruth Gipps, and Ina Boyle, along with many other neglected composers. Kwok is also a panel member of …And we were heard, a national initiative to promote contemporary music and composers of underrepresented backgrounds. Kwok appeared as conductor for the Center for New Music at the University of Iowa.
Kwok studied conducting at the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities and the University of Iowa. His principal teachers are Mark Russell Smith and William LaRue Jones. He has also studied with Gerard Schwarz, Kevin Noe, Cristian Măcelaru, Giancarlo Guerrero, Kathy Saltzman Romey, Grant Cooper, José-Luis Novo and Eric Garcia.
Benjamin Rochford joined the Ithaca College School of Music in 2016 and currently serves as the Associate Director of Bands. At IC, Rochford conducts the Wind Symphony and Concert Band and teaches courses in instrumental conducting and brass pedagogy. Prior to his appointment at Ithaca College, Mr. Rochford was a Doctoral Conducting Associate and PhD candidate at the University of Florida and also served as Director of Bands at the Valley Grove School District in Franklin, Pennsylvania. While at the University of Florida, his responsibilities included directing the UF Concert Band, assisting with the athletic bands, and teaching courses in conducting, music education, jazz improvisation, jazz history, and philosophy. In addition, Mr. Rochford managed marketing and promotional materials for the band department and assisted with the UF Wind Symphony and Jazz Band.
Mr. Rochford completed a bachelors degree in Music Education from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania and a Masters degree in Instrumental Conducting from Youngstown State University in Ohio. Mr. Rochford's primary conducting influences include Dr. David Waybright, Dr. Stephen Gage, Dr. Adam Brennan, and Dr. Nathan Rinnert. Mr. Rochford has also participated in conducting symposiums with Ray Cramer, Tom Leslie, Robert Garofalo, and Ed Lisk, Rodney Dorsey and participated in Beethoven conducting master classes with Svilen Simeonov, director of the Sofia Sinfonietta in Bulgaria. He recently was a participant in a conducting presentation by Craig Kirchhoff at the South Eastern CBDNA conference in Charleston, SC.
Mr. Rochford served as Director of Bands at the Valley Grove School District in Pennsylvania where he was responsible for overseeing the entire 5-12 instrumental music program. At Valley Grove, Mr. Rochford directed the district's athletic bands, jazz combo, and elementary, middle, and high school bands. He hosted and managed the PMEA District III Jazz Festival in 2012. He has also given presentations in Pennsylvania, New York, and Florida on a variety of topics including jazz improvisation, rehearsal techniques, student motivation, and authentic student self assessment within the paradigm of Harvard Project Zero and Arts PROPEL.
Mr. Rochford is an active free lance trumpet player and has performed with the Erie Philharmonic, Venango Chamber Orchestra, Franklin Silver Cornet Band, and various jazz groups. Mr. Rochford has toured across the United States with wind bands and has performed at Carnegie Hall. Recently, he performed with he American Chamber Winds throughout Italy and Switzerland. He has also performed with a number of notable jazz musicians including Bobby Shew, Wycliffe Gordon, Dennis DiBlasio, George Rabbi, Michael Davis, Dave Pietro, Ingrid Jensen, Ryan Kisor, and Chris Vidala.