Rodger Ellsworth
Violin, viola, String Chamber Orchestra, Scholarship String Quartet
Rodger Ellsworth graduated from the New School of Music and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has studied with Max Aronoff, Gerald Horner, Alan de Veritch, Joseph Gingold, Jascha Brodsky, and the Curtis Quartet. His credits include performances with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and the Wolf Trap Summer Festival. Ellsworth has been teaching and performing for more than 25 years.
Jessica Helie holds a bachelor of music degree from Syracuse University and a master of music degree from the Longy Conservatory. She studied with Laura Bossert-King at the Longy Conservatory; Muneko Otani of the Cassatt String Quartet; and James Dickenson of the Degas String Quartet. Helie has performed with the Granite State and Nashua symphonies, Granite State Opera, and Lyrica Chamber Music in Chatham, NJ.
Gary Hodges earned a B.M. in music education and a M.A. in music history from the University of New Hampshire. He is principal cellist of the New Hampshire Philharmonic and a member of the Artful Noise String Quartet, the Kelsh Trio and the Brinkler Piano Trio. His teachers have included Mary Rasmussen, Larry Veal, Sato Knudsen, Andres Diaz and David Wells. He has been a member of the Goodmorrow Consort, the Portland Early Music Consort and the Woodman Consort. Hodges teaches strings at the Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton, N.H., and directs the Phillips Exeter Summer School Orchestra. In addition, he maintains private teaching studios in Amherst. Hodges joined the Music School faculty in 2011.
Kate Jensik earned a bachelor's degree in music from Ithaca College, received an Artists Diploma from Brandeis University, and earned a master's degree from The Boston Conservatory, studying with renowned teacher and performer Rhonda Rider. She also studied at the Janacek Academy of Music in the Czech Republic and has participated in master classes with Yo Yo Ma, Benjamin Zander and Paul Katz. As an educator, Jensik has taught at the Powers Music School, the Rivers Music School, Ithaca Talent Education Suzuki School, Ithaca College and Brandeis University. Orchestral work and chamber performances make up an important part of her schedule, as does outreach and education. Jensik has performed with the Indian Hill Symphony, the New Bedford Symphony and the Atlantic Symphony, and has played at the Bowdoin and Chautauqua summer music festivals. With the Boston Public String Quartet, she introduced music to school children in the Greater Boston area, and also spent a week providing a similar opportunity to schools in the Turks and Caicos. Jensik joined the Music School faculty in 2011.
Matthew Laughlin, cello, earned a B.M. in cello performance from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, and an M.A. in Music at UNH. He has studied with Emilio Colon, Emmanuel Feldman, Larry Veal and Terry King and has played in master classes for Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Starker and Paul Katz. He has played chamber music throughout the northeast and performed with the Vermont Symphony, Nashua Symphony, Granite State Symphony and the Manhattan Symphony, on a recent tour of China. Matthew currently teaches at the Concord Community Music School, the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, serves as the principal orchestra mentor for the Gordon College Orchestra, is on cello faculty at University of New Hampshire’s Summer Youth Music School and is the associate principal of the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra. (on leave)
Lissa Thomas holds a B.A. in Violin Performance and Music Education from Northern Arizona University. She studied with Dr. Louise Scott and completed Long Term Suzuki Teacher Training for Violin Books 1-8. Ms. Thomas created and ran Dolce Studios, a successful Suzuki program in Minneapolis, MN before relocating to New Hampshire. She has played an active role in the community as an adjudicator for various festivals and served as a board member for the Suzuki Association of Minnesota. She performed with Flagstaff Symphony, Arizona Opera Company, and Bloomington Symphony in Minnesota.