Pianist/composer Jonathan Newell will be joined by Tania Halko-Susi, violin, Ari Rudiakov, viola, and Brian Melick, percussion.
Violist and conductor Ariel Rudiakov is co-founder and Artistic Director of Taconic Music, and is on the faculty of Bennington College as viola instructor. He is Music Director and Conductor of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic, and Assistant Conductor of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra (CT).
Ari enjoys an active and diverse musical life, performing to critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and abroad; most recently, chamber music for the 2024 Pikes Falls Festival (VT). He is a former member of the New York Piano Quartet and Equinox String Quartet, and a founding member and past president of SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City). Ari was Artistic Director of the Manchester Music Festival (VT) from 2000 to 2016. Among his recordings are the complete string quartets by Camille Saint-Saëns and the piano quintet by Vittorio Giannini (MSR Classics), which Fanfare Magazine described as “utterly superb.” Composers Richard Lane, Philip Lasser, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson have dedicated works to Ari, who is active in commissioning and recording new music.
At the podium, Ari’s past resident and guest conducting positions have included the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Symphony, Bergen and Yonkers Philharmonics, Antara Ensemble, Manchester Chamber Orchestra, Harlem Chamber Players, Sage City Symphony, and recording sessions with Dance Theater of Harlem. From 2017 to 2022, he was conductor of the University of Indianapolis (UIndy) Chamber Orchestra, and chamber music coach. He attended pre-college at Manhattan School of Music and went on to receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees at SUNY Purchase Conservatory and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ari was a scholarship student at Yale University’s master’s program, where he studied viola with Jessie Levine and chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. He plays a viola made in 2000 by Geoffrey Ovington.
Tania Halko Susi
Following Tania’s completion of her degrees of BM and MM at the Juilliard School, she has worked in various genres on both violin and viola.
Tania’s performing credentials include chamber music performances at Barge Music in Brooklyn, The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, MOMA’s Summer Garden series with the New Juilliard Ensemble and New York University’s Microtonal Festival.
Ms. Halko Susi served as principal Violist of the Esopus Chamber Orchestra in the Hudson Valley from 2009-2013 . Her international appearances include a New York Symphonic Ensemble tour of the U.S. and Japan, performing in Suntory Hall, Tokyo and Carnegie Hall in NYC.
Tania's additional festival appearances include Schleswig Holstein Music Festival in Germany and Copenhagen with Mstislav Rostropovich, The Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, with Christoph Eschenbach and The Vienna Philharmonic, and additional music festival performances in Venezuela, Brazil and Slovakia.
Commercial music appearances include appearing on MTV with Bryan Adams, performing with the first ever tour of Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 1999-2000 and Natalie Merchant’s “An evening of Songs” with the Esopus Chamber Orchestra.
Tania is also passionate about nurturing a love for music. She has worked for Saratoga Performing Arts center as a musical ambassador visiting over 25 schools with a solo assembly program, and presented a pre-performance talk about the program at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert.
On her own endeavors, Tania created and performed her own children’s concert series at Saratoga Arts Center and formulated concert programs for Homeless Shelters in Albany, New York, VA Hospitals, Teen Treatment Centers and Food Shelters. Tania has been a dedicated instructor and has served on Faculty at the College of Saint Rose and as a sectionals coach at Empire State Youth Orchestra.
Brian Melick started my professional career in music at the age of 13, have developed a wide range of experience as a drummer, multi hand percussionist, and as an educator. Featured artist on over 450 commercially recorded works and have been produced by major as well as independent record companies. My drumming and percussion activities have included recording and performing along with several independent, as well as major, artists and producers. Some of my major credits are as follows:
TDK Tape, General Electric, American Seating, Metro Ford, Paula Deen "LIVE", Food Network's Farmhouse Rules, Roop Verma, George Jinda, Minu Cinelu, Jamey Haddad, Steve Gorn, Eugene Friesen, Artie and Happy Traum, Scott Petito, Vinnie Martucci, Mike DeMicco, Chuck Lamb, Richard Crooks, Warren Burnhart, Tony Markales, Bridget Ball, Chris Shaw, Mike Jerling, Larry Coryell, Matt Smith, Cindy Cashdollar, Larry Hoppin, Alex Peh, Josh Colow, Larry Packer, John Sebastian, Garth Hudson, Rory Block, Robbie Dupree, Nick Brignola, William Gallison, Amy Fraden and Leslie Ritter, Ed Wool, Livingston Taylor, Jorma Kaukonen, John Doyle, John Kirk, Diane Zeigler, Abby Newton, Ellen MclLwaine, Jerry Marotta, Bobby Previte, Layne Redmond, Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, Kim and Reggie Harris, Magpie, Pete Seeger, Ade Knowles, Larry Chernicoff, Ralph Gordon, Wycliff Gordon, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Laurel Masse, Eric Weissberg, Mike Marshall, Bela Fleck, Tony Levin, Pete Levin, Ken Lovelett, Gus Mancini, Cathie Ryan, Camille West, Four Bitchin Babes, Stuart Duncan, Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman, Nenad Bach, Hafez Modirzadeh, Aaron Hurwitz, Dan Duggan, Peggy Lynn, Edward Villella & The Miami City Ballet, Ringling Bros. & Barnum, Bailey Circus, Hartford Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Dayton Symphony, Greenwich Village Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Catskill Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Sloan Wainwright, Mark Dann, Ronny Simkins, Sally Van Meter, Debra Dobkin, Bob Malone, Hue Cox, Scott McPherson, Jody Grey, Paul Orpheno, Eddie Krammer, Paul Antonell, Joel Moss, Charlie Eble, Adam Rothberg, Jeff Townsend, John Platania, Mark MacKenna, Bruce Molsky, Jeff Tyzik, Stu Kuby, Gordon Elliott and many more.