GCE Board of Directors

A native of Minersville, Pennsylvania, Dana Allaband studied under Simon Maurer, Sylvia Ahramjian, James Stern and Arnold Steinhardt and has received degrees from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and University of Maryland. Dana has concertized in Venezuela, Romania, Cameroon, Carnegie Hall and various universities across the country. She is principal second violinist of Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, has served as concertmaster with Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Kennett Symphony and Anthracite Philharmonic and performs as an orchestral musician with Reading Symphony and Baltimore Symphony.

As an active chamber musician, Dana has performed as second violinist with Elysian Camerata and is currently violinist with the Monteverde String Quartet and Mill Race Collective, and has most recently become a member of the Gabriel Chamber Ensemble. Expressing her interest in various genres of music, Dana has performed rock music with Rachel Barton Pine and tango music with Trifilio Tango. She regularly appears as first violinist with Philadelphia singer/songwriter Andrew Lipke and the Azrael String Quartet and is also the violinist with One Alternative.

Mrs. Allaband is the recipient of the 2016 LLMEA Private Teacher Award. She coaches chamber music each summer at the Bear Crossing Chamber Music String Camp and Vermont Music and Arts at Lyndon State College, VT. Dana is currently an adjunct professor at Albright College and maintains a private violin and viola studio located in the heart of London Grove, Pennsylvania.

Domenick Fiore began the study of the double bass with Wes Fisher in Reading, Pennsylvania at the age of 14. He attended the Philadelphia Musical Academy where he was a student of John Schaeffer, Principal Bass, New York Philharmonic.

After graduation, Domenick free-lanced in the Philadelphia and New York City areas, performing in Broadway shows, The Brooklyn Philharmonia, National Ballet of Canada, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, as well as playing electric bass for Philadelphia Orchestra Pops Concerts. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from West Chester (PA) University in 1987 and began teaching in the Ephrata, Pa. School District.

Domenick has been Director of Orchestras and Chamber Music at: The Mid-Southeast Suzuki Institute, Chicago Institute, Calgary Suzuki Institute, Central Pennsylvania Institute, Snowmass Suzuki Institute, and the Hartford Suzuki Institute, as well as clinician at the Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Hickory, North Carolina, and Augusta (GA) Suzuki workshops and has conducted the national student orchestra at the National Suzuki Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Until June, 2007 he was the Director of the 5 Suzuki Orchestras of the Community Division at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. In addition, Domenick had a thriving young bass program through the Community Division at Hartt.

Domenick and Linda Fiore are currently living in the Lehigh Valley area of Northeastern Pennsylvania where they have established a Suzuki studio, and free-lance in the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia areas. In addition, they continue to co-direct for the Ogontz Suzuki Institute in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Proud product of the world-renowned Venezuelan music program “El Sistema” Mr. Niño is very active in the music field in Western Pennsylvania, South Western Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio acting as the principal cello of the Altoona Symphony and member of the Roanoke Symphony, Huntington Symphony, Johnstown Symphony, Ohio Valley Symphony, and Rivers Cities Symphony. Mr. Niño has served as the Mentor for the Greater Erie Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Music Director of the Touring Orchestra at Westmoreland Suzuki School of Music, where he also taught cello. Mr. Niño holds a private studio that includes teaching at home and the Johnstonbaugh’s Music Center. His is a former member of the Faure String Trio, and currently member of the Mata String Quartet. He received an Artist Diploma degree from Duquesne University, where he studied with Anne Martindale Williams, principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Simon Maurer grew up in Switzerland and studied music at the Conservatory in Biel. He continued his studies in the U.S. with Geoffrey Michaels and Joyce Robbins. Maurer is an accomplished musician performing chamber music solo and orchestra concerts throughout the eastern United States, Europe and China. He currently plays violin, viola, Baroque violin.

A founding member of Gabriel Chamber Ensemble (GCE), he has performed with the ensemble for over 32 years and is the artistic director of the concert series in Schuylkill Haven. Other chamber music ensembles in which Maurer performs include the Ravel Trio, Trio Clavino, and the Pennsylvania Chamber Ensemble. He is also currently Assistant Concertmaster of the Pennsylvania Sinfonia, performs with Valley Vivaldi, Satori, and Allentown Symphony Orchestra.Maurer currently conducts a string Orchestra in residence at Albright College in Reading Pa, Sunday Sinfonia, a mixed group of Albright Students and Community members.

Maurer ventures in the practice of jazz and free style improvisation. He has been a featured soloist in Philadelphia area jazz clubs, has performed at \”Jazzfest\” in Schuylkill County. He has recorded numerous projects with folk singers and rock groups such as Maggi, Pierce and EJ and Zen for Primates.Maurer teaches violin, viola, cello and bass in Lancaster, and in his studio in New Ringgold.

Maurer lives on a converted 20-acre YMCA camp, where he built his own 2000 square foot concert hall and enjoys the outdoors. Tennis is the preferred exercise. He has three granddaughters and one grandson.

Chinese-American pianist Xun Pan received his early musical training from his grandmother and pianists-parents, Pan Yiming and Ying Shizhen. He continued his studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Syracuse University in New York, and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Mr. Pan has won many international piano competitions and awards, beginning with first prize in the 1986 China National Piano Competition in Beijing, and the \”Dr. Luis Sigall\” International Piano Competition in Chile in 1987, the International Festival Piano Competition in Korea in 1990, the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition in New York in 1992, and the Artists International Competition in New York in 1993. A student of Theodore Lettvin, Mr. Pan has performed solo recitals worldwide from Carnegie Weill Hall to the Beijing National Center for Performing Arts. He has performed in Moscow, Santiago, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, London, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Taipei, Budapest, Salzburg, Sicily, New York, Seoul, Pyongyang, Biel, Bern, Brussels, Vina Del Mar, Washington DC, Lisbon, Toronto, Boston, San Jose, San Francisco, and many other cities in the world. He “…excites his audience with extraordinary power and masterful technique.” (The Star-Ledger)

A noted chamber musician, Mr. Pan is the pianist of the Newstead Trio and Trio Clavino. Their work has been broadcast live on radio and television, and they have released several highly acclaimed recordings. Trio Clavino toured seven cities in China with Fulbright Grants managed by US Embassy in Beijing in 2014, and again in 2016. Mr. Pan has been served as a judge in many competitions include \”Frinna Awerbuch\” International Piano Competition in New York, United States Music Open Competition in Oakland, CA, United States International Music competition in Stanford, CA, and Maria Clara Cullell International Piano Competition in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Dr. Pan is the Director of Keyboard Studies of The Tell School of Music at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and is a visiting professor at many universities and conservatories in China, includes Central Conservatory of Music, China Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, China Northwest University for Nationalities, Fuzhou University, Yantai University, Shandong University, Qinghai Normal University, and Wenzhou University. He taught and served as the Chairman of the Piano Department at Pennsylvania Academy of Music between 1996 and 2009.

Dr. Pan is one of the founding members and the Artistic Director of the Lancaster International Piano Festival in Pennsylvania, USA.

His next project is going to perform the entire 32 piano sonatas, 10 piano/violin sonatas, and 8 piano/cello works of Beethoven to celebrate his 250th anniversary of birth from fall of 2018.

Lauded by the Washington Post for her “burnish tone,” cellist Dr. Ai-Lin Hsieh is a versatile musician with a repertoire that ranged from the timeless classics to the avant-garde. She is equally accomplished as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician.

Dr. Hsieh began her early music training on both piano and cello. After receiving the Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance from Soochow University in her native Taiwan, she continued her study at the Eastman School of Music and earned a Master of Music degree. In 2000, she was admitted by the University of Maryland, College Park with Graduate Assistantship to pursue her doctoral study. Five years later, she was awarded Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Cello Performance. Her primary teachers include such prominent performers and pedagogues as Steven Doane, Evelyn Elsing and Kenneth Slowik. She also received her chamber music coaching from members of the Guarneri Quartet and the Ying Quartet.

Among the many solo and chamber performances she has given, noteworthy are her collaboration with the late Mistislav Rostropovitch in a cello octet performance in 1997 and her two-week tour in China performing as a member of the Pennsylvania Chamber Ensemble (now Gabriel Chamber Ensemble) in 2019. In addition to chamber music, she is currently the Assistant Principal Cellist of the York Symphony in Pennsylvania. Prior to this appointment, she performed with several orchestras in Asia and America. Their concerts have brought her to major cities including Los Angeles, New York, Taipei and Tokyo.

Aside from her deep interest in chamber performance, Dr. Hsieh has a passion for training a new generation of cellists. She was a cello instructor in the D.C. Youth Orchestra program and at Montgomery College in Maryland. She coached chamber music at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music. She also served as an adjunct faculty at Lebanon Valley College. Currently, she is an adjunct faculty teaching applied cello lessons at both Millersville and Messiah University, and runs a private cello studio in Hummelstown, PA.

As a clarinet soloist, Doris won a 2018 Grammy Award with “The Crossing” on an Oratorio by Lansing McLoskey titled ZEALOT CANTICLES. Doris can also be heard on the MMC, Naxos and New World record labels. About the recent Naxos recording of Hansen’s “Nymphs and Satyr Ballet Suite,” Paul Cook of classicstoday.com, was moved to say, “I was particularly taken (by) Doris Hall-Gulati on the clarinet.” A new recording of clarinet and bass clarinet works by John Carbon was released in September 2017, and in 2018, after which she began recording even more new works for several composers. Doris is committed to having the recordings of new works available to the masses.

After being awarded First Prize in the Louise D. McMahon International Music Competition, Doris gave her New York City debut, performing the world premiere of John Carbon’s “Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra,” at Avery Fischer Hall, Lincoln Center, with Gerard Schwarz and the New York Chamber Symphony. About the performance, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote, “… a demandingly agile clarinet line, played with both virtuosity and nuance by Doris J. Hall-Gulati, wove its way through a variegated orchestra fabric.” Ms. Hall-Gulati made her Carnegie (Weill) Hall debut playing with the Alaria Chamber Ensemble, and her Merkin Hall debut, premiering Thea Musgrave’s “Ring Out Wild Bells,” with the Philadelphia Trio.

In addition to her position as Principal Clarinet in The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Lancaster Symphony, The Ocean City, NJ Pops Orchestra and the PA Philharmonic Orchestra, Doris is also Clarinet/ Bass Clarinetist of Opera Philadelphia. She also performs regularly with the PA Ballet, The Philly Pops, Vox Amadeus and Orchestra 2001. In 2011, Doris became an Artist-in-Residence at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. Most recently she became The Director of Instrumental Studies at The Lancaster Bible College.

An advocate for new music, Doris has performed in music festivals and on multiple Series as soloist and chamber musician throughout the world. Doris is a member of the Fulbright-Hays awarded ensemble Trio Clavino, performing throughout the US, Europe and Asia. Doris also performs annually with BEYOND OURSELVES, a group of chamber musicians who performs to help raise monies for MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) peace-keeping efforts around the world. In 2018, this four-member ensemble plus guests raised funds for the MCC/MDS post-hurricane efforts in Puerto Rico and Haiti. In 2023, Beyond will be raising funds for education building in Nepal. Doris also spent time in CUBA and BERMUDA in June 2017, volunteering as a clarinet instructor and mentor.

Doris earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and she received a Masters in Music studying on a graduate fellowship from the University of Michigan. Doris is a Pi Kappa Lambda. Her principal instructors have been Ignatius Gennusa, Loren Kitt, and Fred Ormand. She was introduced to chamber music by Karen Tuttle, whom Doris greatly admired.

Doris and her husband Andy are active in the Catastrophic Relief Alliance. This is a grass roots organization founded by her husband, composed of college students and local craftspeople whose mission is to help those in need. CRA strives to provide support by rebuilding homes affected by natural disasters, and began after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

Award-winning cellist, Ismar Gomes, has performed internationally as a chamber musician, and soloist. Hailed for his “impressive virtuosity, energy, and a handsome tonal range” (Berkshire Review), he has established himself as a captivating young artist, delivering exciting and innovative performances.

Recent appearances have taken Dr. Gomes to four continents including performances at the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, Evolution Contemporary Music Series, Le Petit Salon, Luan Huan Shan Glades Music Festival, Early Music at St. Mark’s, and many more. His recent chamber music collaborators include members of the Pittsburgh and Baltimore Symphonies, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as members of the Johannes, and Brentano Quartets. Also in demand as an orchestral player, Dr. Gomes was the Baltimore Symphony’s Fellow for the 2015 – 2016 season, and is a member of both the Virginia and Richmond Symphonies.

Over a decade ago, Dr. Gomes and pianist Wan-Chi Su founded Duo Sorolla, which has appeared on distinguished series across the US. Besides their focus on the rich, historic repertoire for cello and piano, the Duo has worked with many outstanding composers – including Aaron Malone, William H. Weigel, George Walker, Ying-Chen Kao and Aaron Jay Kernis – to produce and perform their works. Ismar is also a respected baroque cellist, a capacity in which he has performed for over a decade. In 2012 Dr. Gomes co-founded Arioso Furioso, a baroque ensemble based in New York and later in 2018, Ismar joined Mélomanie, an ensemble that pairs early music and contemporary works on period instruments. Three albums of newly recorded works written especially for Mélomanie by Richard Belcastro, Larry Nelson, Robert Maggio, Suzanne Sorkin, and more were released in 2020.

?Always engaged in performing and commissioning new works, Dr. Gomes has presented 50+ world premiere performances. In 2014 Dr. Gomes made the premiere recording of a chamber opera by Pulitzer Prize winner, David Lang performing with the Harlem Quartet and guest artists; the recording was a Grammy nomination finalist. Next season, Ismar will give the premiere of a new concerto written for him, by James Lee III.

?Teaching is a central component in Dr. Gomes’ musical life. He recently served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Cello at Luther College in Iowa, and is presently on faculty at Gettysburg College, Johns Hopkins, and Washington Adventist Unvirsity. He was formerly faculty and guest artist for StringFest at Merkin Hall, Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary, CIM Summer Chamber Music, and Young Artist at the Three Bridges International Music Festival – he is currently a Faculty Artist at the Rushmore Music Festival, the Baltimore International Piano Festival, and CelloSpeak. Dr. Gomes has recently been invited to present masterclasses at several universities including Georgetown, Towson, Ball State, and Duke. His students have been invited to perform in masterclasses for major artists, and have been accepted to many of the top Festivals and Conservatories around the world.

?Ismar attended the Peabody Conservatory, studying with Alison Wells and Amit Peled. Previous teachers include Marc Johnson and Clive Greensmith of the Vermeer and Tokyo Quartets. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Stony Brook University, under the tutelage of Colin Carr. Dr. Gomes has appeared in masterclasses for eminent cellists including Steven Doane, Janos Starker, Steven Isserlis, Gary Hoffman, and Miklos Perenyi, and was mentored in chamber music by the Vermeer, Jerusalem, Juilliard, and Emerson String Quartets.

Sara Male received Associate of the Arts in Music degree from Victoria Conservatory of Music in Canada, where she was presented the Principal Emeritus Prize. Ms. Male earned Bachelor of Music with high honors from Rutgers University, and Master of Music from the Mannes College of Music in New York City.

Ms. Male is sought after as a chamber-music recitalist and soloist, having performed in major venues in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. Ms. Male is the founding cellist of the Lancaster based Newstead Trio from 1993-2018. Ms. Male also founded Duo Chiaroscuro in 2012, in collaboration with award-wining pianist Maria Corley. This ensemble has for over eight years been dedicated to creating musical experiences that both touch and thrill their audiences. Recently, Duo Chiaroscuro decided to make their art available to those on the autism spectrum or with other distinct needs. They created a series entitled Silence Optional which blends visual and musical components.

Sara also collaborates in chamber-music programs with her husband and violist Peter Kenote, a member of the New York Philharmonic. She is principal cellist of the York Symphony Orchestra, acting principal cellist of the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and Chair of the LSO Board of Directors. She regularly performs with the Reading Symphony, Kennet Symphony and Harrisburg Symphony. In 2018 Sara was a featured guest artist with the Reading Symphony performing Joel Puckett’s Short Stories for string quartet and orchestra. She also soloed in 2019 & 2020 with Allegro, the Chamber Orchestra of Lancaster.

Sara is Senior-Adjunct-Assistant Professor of Cello at Franklin & Marshall College. She has directed Chamber Music Programs and was involved in the successful accreditation to the National Association of Schools of Music for the Pennsylvania Academy of Music.

Sara is under constant demand as a private teacher working with cellists of all ages from Lancaster County and beyond. Her teaching reflects the pedagogy of her former teachers, Jim Hunter, Bernard Greenhouse, Zara Nelsova and Timothy Eddy. Sara has also participated in programs that allowed her to study with Anner Bylsma, Janos Starker and Channing Robbins.

Over the last twenty-?ve years, her students have won competitions, awards and performed with the most prominent regional orchestras. Sara’s students have gone on to study cello in post-secondary institutions such as Oberlin, Ithaca, Duquesne, Cleveland Institute, Kings College, Mannes College of Music and were selected to play in masterclasses for members of the New York Philharmonic, Ying Quartet, Cassat Quartet and Yo Yo Ma to name a few.

Sara raised her three children in Lancaster and continues to appreciate the many unique and rich qualities of life in this diverse and artistically vibrant community.

Shari Gleason-Mayrhofer earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Horn Performance and Music Theory from Oberlin College Conservatory, and holds Masters degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Georgia State University. Her primary horn teachers were Kendall Betts, Robert Fries and Doug Hill.

A busy freelance musician, Shari is a member of the Mainstreet Brass, Fyve Woodwind Quintet, the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, the Southside Sinfonietta, and the Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and enjoys performing in musical theater productions. She is Instructor of Horn at Kutztown University, Muhlenberg College, and Lehigh University. She serves as Executive Director of the Friends of Chamber Music of Reading. In any moment of down-time, you will find her feverishly knitting while plotting what next to bake.

Susan Shaw is the Principal Bassoonist with the Allentown Symphony, the Pennsylvania Sinfonia and the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. She has also held long term positions with the Lake George Opera and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Shaw’s active freelance career within the metropolitan area includes performances with the Little Orchestra Society, the Opera Ensemble of New York, the Queens Symphony and the Broadway shows “Carousel,” “King and I,” and “Miss Saigon.”

Ms. Shaw has held long term teaching positions of bassoon,

chamber music and concert band to students of all ages in New York and Pennsylvania and Vermont with the Vermont Music and Arts Center, Lehigh University, the New York Youth Symphony, the Usdan Center for the Performing Arts, the Westchester Conservatory of Music and the White Plains City School District.

Cellist Naomi Gray is an active performer and teacher in the Philadelphia area. She serves as Associate Principal Cellist of the Delaware Symphony, section cellist of the Harrisburg Symphony, and also frequently appears with the Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra, Reading Symphony, and the Mann Festival Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she is a former member of the Copeland String Quartet and is a frequent performer on the Delaware Symphony Chamber Series. She has also premiered several new works with NakedEye Ensemble and Mélomanie.

Ms. Gray joined the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and Branford Marsalis on their month-long “Well-Tempered” tour of the U.S. In 2008 she completed a three-year fellowship as a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. During her tenure, she collaborated with such renowned artists as Paula Robison and Yo-Yo Ma, for whom she also performed in a master class. Ms. Gray has worked with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Roger Norrington, and Stéphane Denève, as well as popular artists Peter Gabriel and Jill Scott.

Ms. Gray earned dual undergraduate degrees in Cello Performance and Psychology from Northwestern University and an M.M. degree from the University of Southern California. Originally from Tucson, AZ, she lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, clarinetist Joshua Kovach, and two daughters, Eve and Rayna.