NWMF Orchestra Ensemble

Alexis Carreon, Viola; Amanda Suckow, Violin II

Laura Medisky, oboe; Laurie Jarskie, Cello
Sarah Gillespie, F Horn; Susanne Divincenzo, Contrabase

Alexis Carreon has performed for three decades as a soloist and with chamber and symphony orchestras. She has toured internationally and performed for four U.S. presidents, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, The President of China, and at Oprah’s 50^th birthday celebration. Alexis has toured, performed and recorded with Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, John Tesh, Rod Stewart, Tony Bennett, James Galway, David Foster, Wayne Newton, Suzanna Guzman, Barry Manilow, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke and Chick Corea. Alexis performed Kay Gardner’s A Rainbow Path in 2012 at NWMF.

Amanda Suckow is a classical violinist who loves folk music and writes love songs on her ukulele. She grew up in Michigan and grew into herself in Honolulu. Amanda is a member of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra and plays in Milwaukee bands Brandenburg 6 and Tangled Lines. She has been teaching violin, viola, piano, guitar and ukulele for the past 15 years and currently teaches music at Milwaukee Area Technical College,

Milwaukee Sign Language School, and El Sistema Ravinia.

 

Carol Rosing is the principal bassoonist in the Beloit-Janesville Symphony and the Oshkosh Symphony, contrabassoonist in the Madison Symphony, and second bassoon in the Wisconsin Wind Orchestra. She has performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles in the Midwest and internationally. She serves on the faculties at two campuses of the University of Wisconsin and at Beloit College and maintains a private teaching studio.

 

Carla Carter, Ph.D. is a writer, performance artist, and educator who is no stranger to unapologetically living freely. Her poetry has won National Slam titles, the Fifth Annual Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Competition, and the Behind Our Mask Annual Slam. Her first book, Body Language, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. Her one-woman show is titled, Living Large in a Shrinking America. She has studied goddess dances of many countries and developed a contemporary approach for women to become more present in their bodies. www.cccarterpoet.com

 

Diane Heffner is a Boston-based freelance clarinetist and teacher on modern and historical instruments. She plays with the Handel & Haydn Society; Arcadia Players; Boston Baroque Orchestra; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco); Pacific Musicworks (Seattle); “Rumbarocco” Latin Jazz-Baroque fusion ensemble; and Eudamonia, a Purposeful Period Band; Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble; Alea III, and Solar Winds, among others. She is a member of Boston’s only all-women big band, The Mood Swings Orchestra. Diane serves on the applied faculty at Tufts University and the All-Newton Music School. She holds a master’s in music with honors at New England Conservatory of Music.

 

Laura Medisky is a founding member of the Black Marigold wind quintet and assistant director of the LunART Festival. She performs in the Madison and Rockford symphony orchestras, con vivo! chamber ensemble, and Fresco Opera. Dr. Medisky presents Alexander Technique workshops and oboe master classes at music institutions, festivals and conferences in the United States and South America. She is gaining national recognition for her creativity and innovation in teaching in her studio. Laura has served on faculty at area colleges. Her solo album, Personalities: 21st-century American Music for Oboe is available on the Centaur Records label.

 

Laurie A. Jarski is an active musician with over 30 years of experience as a cellist, guitarist and composer. She is also an entrepreneur with music stores in Northville and Kalamazoo. Laurie teaches viola, bass, mandolin, guitar, music theory, and composition. She states, “Musical expression is a pathway to the oracle of the soul. Having a role in creating that path for the student is one of the greatest rewards a teacher can experience.”

 

Sarah Gillespie holds a doctorate of musical arts in horn performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her doctoral research was recently published in the journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists. She hosts a private studio of students aged 9-90 and believes that music education is for everyone and for life. Sarah is acting principal horn of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and performs with many other symphonic and pit orchestras in Wisconsin and Iowa. She co-founded the Arête Brass Quintet and the Odyssey Wind Quintet. She also is an advocate for women composers and has premiered works at the National Women’s Music Festival and the International Women in Brass Conference.

 

Susanne DiVincenzo is a founding member of the all-women jazz quintet, Alive!, who has performed at many National Women’s Music Festivals. She also played bass in the festival orchestra for Mary Watkins’ The Initiate in 2016, and for Babe! An Olympian Musical in 2017. Susanne plays cello and bass in the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. She teaches with the ELM (Enriching Lives through Music) Program which provides musical instruction and experience to Hispanic children. She is the bass instructor with the Montclair Women’s Big Band Girls’ Jazz Camp at the California Jazz Conservatory. Susanne continues with Alive! in performances and workshops.