T.D. Ellis

Bassoonery

. . . sprang into existence in the summer of 2005.  After playing together in the Ridgefield Symphony and other orchestras, this talented group of bassoonists decided it was time to share their love of their instrument and the wide range of music written for it with the public.  The literature for bassoon quartet features many original works, as well as arrangements of music both popular and unusual, from Bach to the Beatles to Broadway.  Performances have included the Keeler Tavern in Ridgefield, Music from the Top in Greenwich, Fairfield Theater Company and more.  A Bassoonery concert is sure to bring a smile to your face and a new appreciation of an instrument that can be both melodious and comic.  Bring your family, bring your friends, bring your neighbors!
BIOS

T.D. Ellis has been principal bassoon of the Ridgefield Symphony since 1991 and became the personnel manager in 2001.  He is also principal bassoon and personnel manager of the Wallingford Symphony and the Bermuda Philharmonic, and the personnel manager of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.  Mr. Ellis plays bassoon and contrabassoon with the Greenwich Symphony and may often be heard with other orchestras throughout New York and Connecticut.  He has appeared as a soloist with the Ridgefield Symphony, Chappaqua Chamber Orchestra and Western CT Youth Orchestra.  T.D. has performed with the Quintet of the Americas and was a guest-artist-in-residence at Sarah Lawrence College.  In his spare time he owns and operates The Music Source, an online music store.  As a music copyist, he has typeset scores for musicians worldwide, including Tony Bennett, Elton John, Celine Dion, Wynton Marsalis, Yo Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Vanessa Williams, Michael MacDonald, the Boston Pops, National Symphony, the Grammy Awards, Kennedy Center Honors, Piglet’s Big Movie, Barack Obama’s Inauguration, and more.

Lisa Alexander is a solo recitalist and chamber musician in the New York metropolitan area and currently holds positions with The Ridgefield Symphony and The Little Orchestra Society and has performed with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, New York Choral Society and many others.  She is a founding member of The Glickman Ensemble, a Bassoon Ensemble that has toured the United States and Europe.  Ms. Alexander is adjunct professor of bassoon at Hofstra University.

Jacqueline Sifford Joyner holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of South Carolina.  Her teachers have included Dan Welcher, Harold Goltzer and Ryohei Nakagawa.  An active free-lance musician, Ms. Sifford has performed with a number of ensembles throughout the New York Metropolitan area, and more recently in Fairfield County, CT.  She has extensive experience playing opera, having been by the Sarasota Opera, tha Austin Lyric Opera, and the Columbia (S.C.) Lyric Opera.  Ms. Sifford has also participated in the Bowdoin Music Festival in Maine, the Music at Gretna Festival in Pennsylvania and the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.

Andrea Herr is a native of New Jersey, and enjoys a varied performing career as bassoonist and contrabassoonist.  In addition to her performances with the Ridgefield Symphony, her orchestral engagements have included performances with the Little Orchestra Society, New York City Opera, Paris Opera Ballet, New Haven Symphony and Greenwich Symphony.  For Broadway Productions Andrea has played in the orchestra pit for Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Rood, Beauty and the Beast, Nine and Into the Woods.  She held Principal Bassoon positions in Spain with the Orquesta Sinfonica Galicia and the Opera Teatro Galicia as well as with the South Dakota Symphony.  She was contrabassoonist for the 2012 New York Premiere of Prima Donna by Rufus Wainwright with New York City Opera and has premiered new chamber music works by Lalo Schifrin, Joan Tower and Keith Jarrett with the Dakota Wind Quintet.  Andrea holds degrees from the New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School.  She is an Adjunct Professor at Kean University and New Jersey City University.  Andrea has a passion for our historic resources and received the Certificate in Historic Preservation from Drew University.