AIR

Performing Arts at Stevens

Music Staff
Artists-in-Residence

Martin Andersen (Strings Artist-in-Residence) violist and
violinist, has been a member of the NJ Symphony
Orchestra, that state's largest arts organization, since 1979,
and is also an active freelance artist in the NY/NJ metro
area. Martin has appeared as a soloist with the Hudson
Chamber Symphony, Hawthorne Chamber Orchestra, the
South Orange Philharmonic, and at the Bedford Springs
(PA) Festival. Since 1990 he has performed as orchestra

and chamber musician at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming. His musical
activities have also taken him to Austria, Ireland, Japan and Korea. Growing up as one of
the first Suzuki students in the U.S. as a student of Doris Preucil, Martin has been
committed to teaching since his teens. He has taught at Preucil School of Music, Brooklyn
College Preparatory Division, Seton Hall University, and is currently on the faculty of
Stevens Institute of Technology. Martin has been invited to give master classes at the
University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, and at Rowan University. He
also maintains a private teaching studio, and coaches the Greater Newark Youth
Orchestra, sponsored by NJSO. Martin graduated Bachelor of Music cum laude from the
University of Iowa, and obtained his Master of Music from Boston University, where he
studied with Walter Trampler.

Phillip Dieckow (Piano Artist-in-Residence) Born in Texas, but a resident of Hoboken since
1980, Phillip Dieckow is the founder and director of the Dieckow School of Music, Artist in
Residence in Piano in the Performing Arts Division of the Stevens Institute of Technology,
and a concert pianist and teacher. He has performed in and produced over 150 concerts in
the metropolitan area. Holding a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from
Webster University and a Master of Music degree also in Piano Performance from Eastern
New Mexico University, he has studied with Dalies Frantz, Mde. Olga Stroumillo and Harold
Zabrack. Since 1990 he has given five solo recitals at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and
numerous additional recitals for the "Great Music at St. Matthew Trinity" series in Hoboken.
Represented by students in major universities, conservatories and on the concert stage, Mr.
Dieckow's influence is widespread.

Gerald (Jerry) Ficeto (Band and Ensemble Director), percussionist and conductor, has
performed in over 100 stage musicals. He has performed throughout the tri-state area with
numerous big bands, jazz groups and area orchestras including the New Jersey Symphony
Orchestra, Livingston Symphony and Hanover Wind Symphony in such venues as Lincoln
Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Symphony Hall, and PNC Arts Center. As a
free-lance percussionist he regularly travels from Philadelphia to New York City and Atlantic
City to the Catskill Mountains. As a Composer and arranger, Ficeto orchestrated the original
musical Singers in the Shadows. He continues to arrange, conduct, perform and produce
musical projects for film, theater and commercials. Currently a teacher of music in the
Kearny Public Schools, his students range from the beginner to the adult professional. A
sought-after clinician, his coaching reaches numerous music programs throughout the state.
Ficeto earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Montclair State College in Music Education
and a Master of Arts Degree with a concentration in conducting from New Jersey City
University, where he studied with the renowned Broadway conductor/percussionist Nicholas
Cerrato.

Bethany Reeves (Choir and Voice Director) Ms. Reeves is Stevens' Artist-In-Residence for
Voice and the Stevens Choir Director; she also teaches music courses for the College of
Arts and Letters. As a solo soprano Ms. Reeves has most recently appeared as a recitalist
in Portland, Oregon, and as La Novizia in Suor Angelica and Olympia in Les Contes
d'Hoffmann at Rutgers University, where she is a doctoral candidate. She has sung roles
from the standard operatic repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Menotti, as well as
challenging new works with the American Chamber Opera Co, and has several credits as a
stage director for opera and theatre. She is a member of the Actors Shakespeare Company,
a professional ensemble in residence at New Jersey City University, for whom she is an
actress and a coach for voice, text, and self-staging techniques. Ms. Reeves holds degrees
from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Arizona State University, and is a member of
the New York Singing Teachers Association, American Choral Directors Association and
National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Beth Cohen (Orchestra Director) Beth has conducted numerous orchestras including the
Manhattan Philharmonic, the Columbus Women's Orchestra, the Gemini Youth Orchestra,
the Garden State Philharmonic Youth Orchestras, the InterSchool Orchestras of New York
and has served as conductor of the Citibank Chorale in New York and the SGI USA National
Orchestra and Chorus. She is the Founding Music Director of the New American Chamber
Orchestra and founded the non-profit organization Youth Music Group to fulfill the mission of
bringing opportunities in music to young people and to the Hudson County New Jersey
community. A graduate of Brandeis University with a Master of Music in Conducting from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ms. Cohen was awarded the Brandeis University Alumni
Prize for her accomplishments in music and has been the recipient of a Woman of Action
Award from the Jersey City, New Jersey City Council and the Office of the Mayor for her
work in the community. As CEO of Cohen Arts & Education, Inc., she has acted as
consultant, teacher trainer, programmer, workshop presenter and guest conductor for the
Jersey City Public Schools, Boys & Girls Club of Hudson County, Edison Schools, Inc.,
New York City Department of Education, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and
other public, private and charter schools.