Meet the Director
The Person
Behind the Horn
Ameya Natarajan is a performer and music educator in New Jersey, where they teach privately and in an Open Class High School Marching Band. Ameya believes that teaching students to achieve at a high level requires combining experimentation of sound and technique with discipline and structure. Ameya strives to merge these worlds to help students excel in their musical careers.
Principal Trombone Sub, United Nations Symphony Orchestra
Private students have achieved numerous accolades, including high scores in CJMEA and scholarships to Mason Gross.
Angel Eduardo Ruiz Araujo began his trumpet studies in Venezuela at the age of eight. After joining the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, better known as "El Sistema," he won an audition for the National Children's Symphony of Venezuela and performed under the baton of Maestro Sir Simon Rattle.
He returned to Caracas as the Principal trumpet of both the Youth Symphony Orchestras and Bands of the Simón Bolívar Conservatory, later serving as associate principal trumpet in the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Caracas. He is a fourth-year student at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, studying music and economics.
Dominik Kovács is a prodigal high horn player studying at Bard College under Barbara Jöstlein and Hugo Valverde. His education started at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and continued at the University of Debrecen before coming to the US.
Dominik was a finalist in the Pécs Philharmonic's audition, won the audition for Principal Horn at the Miskolc Symphony Music Orchestra, and won the National Online Hungarian Horn Competition University Group, High Horn Category.
Zander Grier is a 5th year tuba performance student at Bard Conservatory studying with prominent tubists Marcus Rojas and Alec Mawrence. He attended Juilliard MAP and Pre-college, and received the Ralph Oxman Outstanding Musicianship Award.
In 2020, he performed as a finalist in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Young Musicians of New York Regional Concert. Zander has performed with many world-famous musicians, including Howard Johnson, Velvet Brown, Andrew Bove, Miho Weber, and more.