Selected Student Bios

• Molly Gachignard

  

  Molly Gachignard is a music director, arranger, and pianist. She is currently the assistant conductor on the national tour of Wicked. Music directing credits include: Avarice (The Snapple Theatre), Co-Op (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Roofless (NYMF’10), Static (Grad. Musical Theatre Writing), Rocket Science (Playwrights Horizons), Little Shop of Horrors, Hello Again, tick, tick…BOOM!, Fantasy Football: The Musical? (NYU), Rent (Tri-Arts).

  Molly also music directed the first post-Broadway production of Jason Robert Brown’s 13. She was the assistant to the composer for the Broadway production of A Tale of Two Cities, and the music associate for The Scottsboro Boys, Johnny Baseball, and Anything Goes. Molly was the inaugural recipient of ASCAP’s Cy Coleman Award, and was a pianist on Celebrity Cruise Lines.

• Lawrence Berkowitz

  Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lawrence Berkowitz started playing guitar at the age of11. He only put it down years later when he discovered the infinite possibilities of computer music. Lawrence is now an undergraduate in Steinhardt's composition department, composing primarily with Ableton Live and MAX/MSP. Studying with celebrated Argentinian composer Ezequiel Viñao, Lawrence has developed a rich melodic and rhythmic sensibility, expressed through his signature production style. Lawrence releases music as "Lawrence Grey" on Los Angeles based label Proximal Records. He has performed at venues including The Echo, The El Rey, The Henry Fonda, The Roxy and several others.
   
  After graduating, Lawrence will be following one of his other passions: teaching. Working with children in Los Angeles since his early teens, Lawrence has developed a program at an organization called Creative Space where he teaches children about electronic music through making tracks with them. Returning to Los Angeles after graduation, Lawrence will continue the work that he has started. Currently, Lawrence is working with at risk youth at the Center for Community Alternatives, teaching them how to make beats. Making music with kids during the day and working in his studio at night, Lawrence will be able to continue his obsessive music making for years to come. 
  

• Wendy Luck
  WENDY LUCK, flutist, vocalist, composer/improviser, received an MA in Composition/Performance/ Multimedia from NYU and a BFA with Honors in Flute Performance from the University of Wisconsin. Her earlier incarnation included orchestra and chamber music performing in New York (Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall), the Rome Festival Orchestra in Italy, the Aspen Music festival, studying flute at the Conservatory in Nice, France with J.P.Rampal, and composing music. Other significant flute teachers were: Julius Baker, Sam Baron, Ransom Wilson, Alain Marion, Tom Nyfenger, Harvey Estrin.

  Her interest in jazz led to venues in New York including a four year engagement as lead vocalist/flutist with the Rainbow Room Big Band, while continuing to perform with Latin ensemble Southern Exposure. Performances include appearances at Windows on the World, The Waldorf Astoria, The Knitting Factory, Roulette, the Kitchen, Cornelia Street Cafe and many other clubs in Manhattan.Performances also include the Tropicana, Resorts International, and Caesar’s in Atlantic City as the opening act for David Brenner, Dr. Ruth, and Julio Iglesis, and others.

  She has had experience working and recording with jazz avant garde greats that include Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Oliver Lake, Marion Brown, Ed Blackwell, Dave Holland, Karl Berger, Wallace Roney, Anthony Braxton, Bob Moses, Jack DeJohnette, Sam Rivers, and Tyrone Brown. A series of concerts featuring her music with Allen Ginsberg reading his poetry, took place at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

  Wendy Luck has appeared in theater, and on television and radio. She has also performed regularly at New York’s comedy clubs, The Improv, Catch a Rising Star, The Comic Strip, and Dangerfield’s, combining music and comedy. As an eight year member of the zany, all female, musical comedy group The Outcasts, she performed the NYC comedy club circuit on a regular basis.

  Wendy Luck, internationally recognized flutist, vocalist, and composer, has concertized in Italy, Poland, Germany, Budapest, Morocco, Portugal, Greece, Egypt, Israel. Performing with the 20th/21st Century New York Composers Ensemble led by Dinu Ghezzo, the group has premiered many original works including Songs of Sorrow/Songs of Hope, dedicated to the events of 9/11. Ms. Luck has also worked with the New Music groups Mad Coyote, created by Jerome Kitzke, Carmen Moore’s Sky Music Ensemble, as well as participating as co-creator with Jerome Kitzke of the improvisation duo Breath and Bone.

  Ms. Luck has released two CDs of her own original music -The Ancient Key, recorded inside the Great Pyramid, and The Ancient Journey, recorded in the temples along the Nile. In performance, she utilizes the uniquely edited video footage taken during her experience in Egypt. This unusual performance piece integrates her playing live with the footage, creating a multidimensional musical experience. She has most recently been asked by the Egyptian Embassy to become a “Music Ambassador of Peace”, performing her music at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.