ARTISTIC STAFF

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Dr. Andrew Perea has been in the music profession for over thirty five years. In that time, he has run the gamut of the music industry, having conducted symphony orchestras, performed both as soloist and concertmaster with various ensembles, taught gifted students of all ages publicly and privately, recorded various albums in the studio, and collaborated with many talented commercial musicians. He loves every aspect of his work, including writing and arranging music of all styles and genres. His many collaborations include performances with such legendary artists as Yanni, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles, Gunther Schuler, and the world-renowned violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman. Apart from concertizing, Dr. Perea greatly enjoys working with young people. He taught in the Long Island public school system for twenty years and has directed various music festivals, including NMEA and SCMEA All-County, William Floyd All-District, and HMEA All-Area. Of course, he continues to enjoy being Musical Director of the Repertory and Philharmonia Orchestras of the Gemini Youth Orchestras program. Currently, he is also working with Five Towns College to coordinate an extensive classical music performance program, along with its established jazz and commercial music, and audio and film engineering programs.

A native of North Carolina, Michael Canipe graduated from East Carolina University in 1964 with a B.S. in Music Education. While pursuing a master's degree in Trombone Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, he studied conducting with James Levine. For the past thirty-five years Mr. Canipe has been active as both an educator and a professional musician. He was both a teacher and a band director in the Half Hollow Hills School District and retired as Director of Music and Fine Art for the Deer Park Schools in 2001. Mr. Canipe plays principal euphonium for the Queens-based Seuffert Band and the Concert Pops of Long Island. He has performed as trombonist in the North Carolina Symphony and bass trombonist for the Symphony of Long Island. Mr. Canipe founded the Long Island Tuba Quartet and has also collaborated with Orlando Ballet of Huntington and the Circle of Dance Company as arranger and conductor. Founder of the Gemini Festival Winds (now GCW), Mr. Canipe served as Music Director of GYO from 2005-2007. 

Conductor Harry Marenstein was born and raised in New York City. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in violin performance from SUNY Geneseo, and went on to complete the Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where his principal teachers were Carl Topilow and Louis Lane. Mr. Marenstein also spent four summers studying with Harold Farberman at the Conductors Institute. Over the years, Mr. Marenstein has conducted a wide variety of ensembles, both here and abroad. An advocate for contemporary music, particularly that of living American composers, Mr. Marenstein served as Music Director and Resident Conductor of Forecast Music from 2004-2010, and has performed in diverse venues throughout New York City, in which he has been involved in world and local premieres of works by composers James Barry, Denise Broadhurst, Julie Harting, Beata Moon, Conrad Pope, and Eric Schwartz. Recording projects include Gal Ziv's "Iyov" with Forecast Music, Franz Nicolay's "Each Today is Yesterday's Tomorrow" with Anti-Social Music, and Peter Gilbert's Introduction and Passacaglia for Orchestra. Mr. Marenstein joined the faculty of Nassau Community College (SUNY) in 2005, where he is Director of Orchestral Activities, and currently holds the rank of Associate Professor and is the chair of the Department of Music. He also serves as Music Director and Conductor of the North Shore Symphony Orchestra.