PYCO Coaches

Pablo Ardiles, Strings Coach and Music Director

Pablo Ardiles obtained his Bachelor Degree of Arts in Chamber Music at the University of La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina and his Master of Music in violin performance at Carnegie Mellon University. He also holds an Artist Diploma from Duquesne University. While at Carnegie Mellon University, Mr. Ardiles studied with Aaron Bitran, violinist of the “Cuarteto Latinoamericano” and Andrés Cárdenes, concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony. At Duquesne University he studied with Movses Poggossian.

Mr. Ardiles has performed as a soloist, concertmaster, section principal and orchestra member of many orchestras and ensembles in the Tri-State area as well as in Latin American and European orchestras. He taught chamber music at the Carnegie Mellon pre-college program and coached the string section of several local youth orchestras.

In 1996, Mr. Ardiles founded the Musik Innovations Chamber Music Camp. He has been leading this program successfully for the past 10 years, constantly improving and implementing a format of efficient chamber music training. The program, now in its 10th season, has provided chamber music instruction to over 300 students from 20 school districts from the Pittsburgh, Ohio and West Virginia areas.

Mr. Ardiles is currently a recitalist, free-lance musician and the music director of Serenading Strings. Mr. Ardiles maintains an active studio of private students at Musik Innovations School of Music, with whom he shares the art of playing violin and viola, and the joy of being a musician.

Roy Sonne (Pittsburgh Symphony Violinist) - Master Classes & Guest Conductor

Roy Sonne is active as a conductor, violinist, pianist and teacher. A native of New York City, he started playing the violin at the age of five. When he was fifteen he joined a chamber-music class at the Mannes College of Music prep department, which kindled his lifetime passion for string-quartet playing. He went on to study music at the New England Conservatory and the Mannes College of Music and Ohio State University. His violin teachers include Raphael Bronstein and Dorothy DeLay. He studied piano with Richard Tetley-Kardos and John Goldmark, and conducting with Carl Bamberger. While still a student, he became a member of the Long Island University String Quartet. and also was a regular substitute with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
In 1969 he became concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia. He made his professional conducting debut with that orchestra in 1970 followed by appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. During that period he also concertized widely as violin soloist throughout South and Central America.
Returning to the United States he played in the Columbus String Quartet for four years and then joined the faculty of Wittenberg University where he taught violin and chamber music and conducted the University Orchestra until 1980 when he joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Combining his interests in conducting and teaching, with his affinity for working with amateur musicians, in 1992 he became Music Director of the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. In ten years he built that orchestra into the premiere community orchestra in the Pittsburgh area.
Roy is deeply involved in educational activities. He is on the faculty of the Carnegie Mellon University Preparatory Department He also maintains a large private teaching studio in his home in Mt. Lebanon PA. As a Pittsburgh Symphony Ambassador he makes regular visits to work with the string players at Bethel Park High School and Mount Lebanon High School. He organizes and teaches group classes for adult amateur violinists in the Pittsburgh area. Since 2003 he has been artist-teacher in residence at the Lancaster County Music Camp.

Pedro Fainguersch, Viola Coach

Pedro Fainguersch graduated from "Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Musica, “Carlos Lopez Buchardo”", Argentina and "Conservatoire National de Region de Lyon", France (Chamber music certificate).

He was selected to be part of the “Orqueste Interconservatoires” comprised of alumni from the “Conservatoire de Lyon” (France) “Feldkirsh”(Austria) and the Karlsruhe Music Conservatory(Germany).The Orchestra gave concerts during April 1999 in Feldkirsh, Austria.

In 2002 he won the first prize scholarship "Fundacion Antorchas" (Argentina), to continue studing with professor Toby Appel (Julliard School Faculty) in Carnegie Mellon University where he earned a Master Degree of Music in Viola Performance as well as a Performer Diploma.

He teaches viola and violin at Musik Innovations® School of Music and performs extensively in local and regional orchestras such as Wheeling Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Saint Vincent Camerata, etc. as well as in many chamber music groups.

Marianne Dumas, Cello Coach

Mrs Dumas-Fainguesrch is an avid teacher, soloist and chamber musician. Originally from France, she studied with Roland Pidoux (teacher in the Paris Conservatory and member of the Paris Piano Trio), Ivan Chiffoleau (2nd prize of the Rostropovitch cello competition 1981 and winner of the tchaikovsky competition), and and Etienne Peclard (Principal cellist of the Bordeaux Orchestra). Her education includes a degree in contemporary chamber music in M. Londeix and Mrs Charrier contemporary studio in Bordeaux.

After completing her graduates studies in France, she came to Pittsburgh in 2001, where she received the degrees of Master of Music (2004) and Performance Residency Diploma (2002) with Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. While at Carnegie Mellon, she studied with David Premo, Associate Principal Cello of the Pittsburgh Symphony. As a freelance musician, Mrs Dumas-Fainguersch plays with many of the orchestras in the Pittsburgh area including the Wheeling symphony, Saint Vincent Camerata, Pittsburgh Festival Orchestra. She travels often to Europe for performance engagements and cello competitions.

Mrs Dumas-Fainguersch is currently writing a cello method, inspired by the training she did in Paris about Musician's injuries with Professors Chamagne and Campion and the french school of cello. She has been teaching for more than 10 years in France, Argentina and USA and is currently a faculty member at Musik Innovations School of music and Musik Innovations Chamber Music Camp.

Mrs Dumas-Fainguersch plays an Albert Caressa cello, made in 1923.

Nicole Myers, Cello Coach

Nicole L. Myers is an active performer, teacher, and recitalist in the Pittsburgh area. She received the degrees of Master of Music (2004) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (2002) in Cello Performance from Carnegie Mellon University, studying with Anne Martindale Williams, principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Ms. Myers has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, Cincinnati's MusicX Festival, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, CMU Baroque and Contemporary Ensembles, CelloFourte (rock cello quartet), Mannes Beethoven Institute, Pittsburgh Playhouse Theatre, and the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau, France. Ms. Myers was a founding member of the Starling String Quartet, which performed for renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich.

Ms. Myers teaches at the Pittsburgh Music Academy and has a studio in the North Hills area, where she directs the North Hills Cello Ensemble. Ms. Myers recently joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon's Music Extension and Pre-College Programs. In addition, she is on faculty at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh and the Manchester Academic Charter School.

Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida (Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Oboe) - Oboe Coach and PYCO Music Advisor

Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida became Principal Oboe of the Pittsburgh Symphony in September 1991. For two years prior to this she was Associate Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Since joining the PSO, Ms. DeAlmeida has been featured as a soloist in concertos by Bach, Haydn, Vaughan-Williams, Strauss, and Mozart and has collaborated as soloist with Pinchas Zukerman, Andrés Cárdenes, and Vladimir Spivakov. In 1993 she performed and recorded a commissioned concerto by Leonardo Balada with the PSO and Lorin Maazel for New World Records.
Ms. DeAlmeida is an avid chamber musician. Each summer she performs and teaches as a faculty member of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. Several of her performances there have been chosen to be broadcast nationally on NPR’s “Performance Today.” In 2003, Ms. DeAlmeida was featured on national television on the CBS “Early Show” in a story relating to the oboe and its remarkable health benefits for asthma sufferers. This has led to her affiliation with the American Respiratory Alliance. In November 2002, Ms. DeAlmeida’s first solo CD was released on the Boston Records label. Classic Discoveries for Oboe was hailed by American Record Guide as “a masterly recording… Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida is simply one of the finest exponents of the instrument anywhere.” She has recently finished her second solo CD called Mist Over the Lake on the Crystal Record label. She can also be heard on Crystal Records’ recording of Sir André Previn’s Sonata for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano with Nancy Goeres and Sir Andrá Previn.
Ms. DeAlmeida is a faculty member of Carnegie Mellon University and is the Coordinator of the Woodwind Department there. She has been invited to teach master classes in the United States, Korea, Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela. Ms. DeAlmeida also enjoys working with children in the PSO’s Early Childhood Program. Ms. DeAlmeida received the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan, studying with Arno Marriotti, and the Master of Music degree from Temple University, as a student of Richard Woodhams. Cynthia and her husband, José, live in Pittsburgh with their children Veronica and Danny, and their standard poodle “Bones.”

Mary Beth Malek (Pittsburgh Opera Principal Clarinet) - Woodwind Coach

Mary Beth Skaggs Malek, clarinetist, is an active teacher and performer in the Pittsburgh area. She is the principal clarinetist for the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras. She also performs regularly with the Civic Light Opera, Gateway to the Arts, extra with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Canton Symphony and Wheeling Symphony.

She performs regularly with her woodwind trio, Ariplay. Mary Beth currently teaches saxophone and clarinet at West Liberty College in WV, and has maintained a private studio for 20 years. She has served on the faculties of Indiana University of PA, University of Pittsburgh and Seton Hill University.

Her training comes from Northwestern University and the Eastman School of Music. As a Fulbright Scholar, Mary Beth spent two years studying in Vienna, Austria with the principal clairnetist from the Vienna Philharmonic, Horst Hajek. Other teachers include: Larry Combs, CSO; George Silfies, St. Louis Symphony; Stanley Hastey, and Charles Neidich.

Tara Yaney - Flute Coach

Tara Yaney is the principal piccolo player of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, where she was a featured concerto soloist in the fall of 2004.

She also has performed with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, the Duquesne Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, the International Chamber Ensemble in Rome, Italy, the Ohio Light Opera Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute, and numerous pit orchestras in the Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Baltimore and Pittsburgh areas.She performs regularly as a soloist and as the flutist for Cincopation, a Pittsburgh based woodwind quintet.

Ms. Yaney studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music with Robert Willoughby. She currently teaches flute and clarinet at Musik Innovations, the Pittsburgh Music Academy, and the Winchester Thurston School.

Scott Bohannon (Wheeling Symphony) - Brass Coach

Scott Bohannon (Horn) has been teaching privately in the Pittsburgh area since 2001. In that time he has built a strong studio consisting of students that have placed in the Pennsylvania Music Educators district and all state ensembles and have gone on to study with some of the top teachers in the country. As well as teaching out of his home, Mr. Bohannon was a faculty member of Seton Hill University where he taught for 5 years.

As a freelance artist, Mr. Bohannon is contracted or is on call with many of the orchestras in the Western Pennsylvania and Ohio area including the Columbus, Wheeling, Akron, Canton, Erie, and Youngstown symphonies as well as the Pittsburgh Opera, Ballet, Civic Light Opera orchestras and the River City Brass Band. In 2000 he enjoyed sharing the principal horn position of the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Chile with his wife and recording works such as Mahler's 3rd symphony. He has also performed with Pop artists such as the Moody Blues, Kansas, and solo horn in the musicals Tommy and Elton John's Aida.

In chamber music, Mr. Bohannon is a founding member of La Chasse; a horn quartet made up of professional hornists from the US, Argentina, Canada, and France. He also has extensive experience performing with other brass ensembles of various sizes including the River City Brass Quintet, 9th Street Brass Quintet, and the Night Flight Brass Quintet.

His education includes a Master of Music degree in Horn Performance from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Music degree in Horn Performance from Indiana University (Bloomington) both where he studied exclusively with Myron Bloom (former principal horn of the Cleveland Orchestra).

P.J. Gatch, Percussion Coach

Perry Jonathan Gatch III heads the percussion department at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. He also serves as an adjunct professor of music education at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA), where he teaches Percussion Methods and coordinates percussion activities at the City Music Center, a pre-college program for Pittsburgh’s next generation of musicians.

Over the past decade, PJ has developed one of the largest and most successful teaching studios in Western Pennsylvania. Each year, several of his students go on to study at some of the country’s finest music schools. PJ served as percussive arts instructor at Norwin High School (North Huntingdon, PA) from 1991 to 1997. He served as the principal percussionist with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and has performed with the Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra and the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh.

Drawing from his experience as a percussionist and educator, PJ has composed an all-inclusive text that will allow students and teachers to utilize more fully the vast array of percussion resources. The Art of Percussion: A Comprehensive Course of Study is slated to be published within the next six months. P.J. Gatch is afounding member of Tempus Fugit Percussion Ensemble.