Bunnell Music Department
Hall of Fame
The Following are Alumni who made a career in the Music Business as a
Performer, Composer, Conductor, Educator, or a Technical Professional.
Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Carolyn Alvarez-Agria - BHS Class of 1986
Carolyn Alvarez-Agria has served as Second Clarinet/ Bass / E-flat / Woodwind Dbls, for The National Philharmonic at Strathmore , since 1998. Prior to NPO, she held position as Clarinetist with “ The President’s Own United States Marine Band,” the premier band to The White House. Before heading to The White House, Carolyn held the position of Assistant Principal and E-flat Clarinet of The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Spain. Carolyn holds a BM, Eastman School of Music, Merit Scholarship
And a MM, Cleveland Institute of Music, Merit Scholarship. Carolyn has held positions as Professor of Clarinet and Chamber Music , Georgetown University, Professor of Clarinet, The Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts, and Professor of Woodwinds at Catholic University.
Chris Andrade - BHS Class of 1993
Christopher Andrade graduated from BHS in 1993. In his time there, he played trombone in the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, and Jazz Band, and in his senior year enrolled in the Concert Choir - all under the direction of Mr. Miller. After earning his Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Elizabethtown College, Chris began his teaching career at Seymour High School, teaching Band, Choir, and various music electives. After four years there, he returned to his old stomping grounds, directing the choirs and creating a Music Technology program at both high schools in Stratford. He is currently entering his twentieth year as the director of Choral Music (as well as an instructor in Music Technology, Guitar, Music Theory, and Adaptive Music) at Darien High School.
Jeff Babey - BHS Class of 2003
Jeffrey Babey (Class of 2003) is a musician and music educator. In high school Jeff was saxophone section leader, drum major, lead alto sax in the jazz band, and spent two years as the student conductor of the Stratford Elementary Jazz Band. Jeff pursued a music education degree from Elizabethtown College (2007), and a masters degree from VanderCook College of Music (2012). Jeff has been teaching music since 2007, most of that time in the Stratford Schools. Jeff has been very grateful to work in the community he grew up in, hoping to give Stratford students the same great musical experiences he received. Jeff also performs regularly on saxophone, clarinet, and flute, and has performed on stage and music directed at Shelton Center Stage Theater. Jeff owes a debt of gratitude to the many excellent Stratford teachers that inspired him on this path. Especially Blair Clauss, G. James Miller, Christopher Andrade, “Doc” Mark Ryan, and Arthur Ulman.
Thomas “Tommy” Buckley - BHS Class of 2006
Thomas Craig Buckley (Class of 2006) has cultivated a diverse career spanning from Opera to Musical Theatre. Renowned for his adaptability both on and off stage, Buckley has showcased his talents across the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, as well as in Europe. As a Countertenor, he has portrayed roles in works by Handel and Mozart, in addition to solo recitals and performances with various orchestras. His expertise extends to Musical Directing with work in regional theatres and cruise lines both in the US and throughout Canada. Notable productions are Cats (Royal Caribbean Productions), Legally Blonde, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Buckley's contributions also extend to the realm of education and innovation. For five consecutive summers, he contributed to the esteemed theatre camps Stagedoor Manor, where he had the privilege of musical directing the world premiere of Heathers: The Musical: School Edition in collaboration with Samuel French Licensing. Alongside productions, Buckley curated courses for young artists including but not limited to vocal technique for all levels, repertoire coaching and audition preparation. Further adding to his accolades, he conducted the world premiere of Ian Dicke's opera Roman with the Synchrony Festival (Los Angeles) utilizing both live and virtual AI generated musicians. Throughout his career, he has had the privilege of collaborating with leading performers and conductors in both the opera and musical theatre industries in both educational and performance settings. Buckley holds a degree in Sacred Music/Voice Performance from Westminster Choir College and a Masters of Arts in Theology from Northwestern University. Tommy is currently the Director of Choirs for the Imagination Campus at Disney in California.
Mike Catalano - BHS Class of 1992
Mike Catalano graduated from Bunnell high school in 1992. He then went on to get a bachelors of music education from Morehead State University. Mr. Catalano has been a member/instructor for the Bunnell marching band from 1988 until 2011. At that time, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to begin work on a masters in music education from Middle Tennessee State University. He has spent the last 11 years teaching music at St. Bethlehem Elementary School in Clarksville Tennessee, and playing music in and around the Nashville area.
Blair Claus - Band Director BHS 1970-1986
Photo & Bio Coming Soon
Javier Colon - BHS Class of 1995
Blessed with a stunningly soulful voice, an uncanny songwriting talent, a charismatic personality, and a commanding stage presence, Javier Colon has already won the attention of an international fanbase that has embraced his personally charged, acoustic-textured blend of pop, rock, and R&B, an effortlessly distinctive style that he’s dubbed “acoustic soul.” The son of a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother, Colon emerged as a musical prodigy early in life. His gifts took him to the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, where he founded an a cappella R&B quintet that performed at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater. After graduation from Hartt, Javier joined the Derek Trucks Band (now The Tedeschi Trucks Band) as their lead singer and toured with them for 2 years before getting a solo deal with Capitol Records. Javier released 2 albums with Capitol but decided to part ways with the label in 2006. After releasing the acoustic EP The Truth on his own label, Javier’s career took an unexpected but propitious turn in 2011, when he became the winner on the premiere season of “The Voice.” Colon is set to take his recording career to the next level with Gravity, his fourth album and his first for Concord Records. “Music is powerful,” Colon says. “It can make you cry, it can make you laugh, it can make you dance, and it can make you feel like you’re not alone. My songs have always come from the heart, and from a place of wanting to move people or make people feel something inside.”
Mary Ann (Balash) Craig - BHS Class of 1975
Mary Ann (Balash) Craig graduated BHS 1975. Received BA in Music Education from Rivier College, Elementary Certification from SCSU, 6 th year equivalent in Music and Early Childhood from Hartt and Masters in Supervision and Evaluation from Fairfield U. She worked for Stratford BOE her entire career as an Elementary Music teacher, Assistant Principal and Principal. She lives in Florida with her husband Alan.
Meg (Nedbal) Dennis - BHS Class of 1981
Meg Nedbal Dennis graduated from Bunnell in 1981. She went to West Chester University, Hartt School of Music
& SCSU. She taught music in Stratford Schools from 1987-2024. She enjoys playing handbells at her church, marching in local parades & teaching percussion & piano lessons.
Curt DeMott - BHS Class of 1988
Curt DeMott is a composer who creates music for young concert bands. He began playing the piano at nine and was exposed to various music genres from an early age. After studying under Stephen Melillo, Curt focused on creating music for young bands. He and Stephen composed "STORMQUEST," a suite of 16 musical pieces that inspire and educate young bands. Curt recently produced Stephen's album "The Grey," which features intimate compositions for piano and/or small orchestra. He resides in Sandy Hook, Fairfield County, with his wife, two children, and a dog named Jack.
Phil Dolan - BHS Class of 1994
Phil Dolan has been the Band Director at Amity High School since the fall of 2002. Prior to Amity he started his teaching career at Masuk High School as the assistant band director to Mr. Tom Miner. Phil holds a Masters degree from Full Sail University in Instructional Design and Technology, a Masters degree from Fairfield University in Curriculum and Teaching and a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Connecticut State University as well as undergraduate course work in Music Education from Morehead State University where he was a member of the 1995 Percussive Arts Society National Champion Marching Percussion Ensemble under the direction Frank Oddis. He currently lives in Orange, CT and has two children ages 16 and 18, who both attend Bunnell High School.
Danielle Ferland - BHS Class of 1989
Danielle Ferland is a graduate of Frank Scott Bunnell High School and New York University. She has been performing professionally since the age of 10 and was most recently seen Off-Broadway in The Lights Are On. Alaska Daily. Broadway: All My Sons, A Year with Frog and Toad, The Crucible and A Little Hotel on the Side (National Actors Theatre), A Little Night Music (City Opera), Into the Woods (original cast, Theatre World Award and Drama Desk nomination), Sunday in the Park with George (original). Off-Broadway credits include New Girl in Town (Irish Rep), She Stoops to Conquer (Irish Rep), Engaged (Theatre for a New Audience), Tartuffe (New York Shakespeare Festival), How I Learned to Drive. Regional includes The Most Beautiful Room in New York (Long Wharf), Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods (Baltimore Center Stage and Westport Country Playhouse), The School for Husbands (Westport), McCarter Theater, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, and the Huntington. Film: Tick Tick…Boom! (Netflix), Diane, The Normal Heart (HBO), Mighty Aphrodite (Woody Allen, dir.), Radio Days (Woody Allen, dir.). TV: Orange is the New Black (Netflix), Alaska Daily (ABC), Blue Bloods (CBS), The OA (Netflix), Jessica Jones (Netflix, recurring), Estelle in HBO’s The Normal Heart. The Good Wife, Law and Order SV, Inside Amy Schumer.
Danielle teaches master classes and workshops at schools, colleges and universities throughout the Northeast. As director, she has helmed productions for Boston Children’s Theater, as well as workshops and readings for many theatre companies in the tri-state area. Her one woman show Sing for Your Ghosts premiered last spring at The Green Room 42 in NYC.
Melissa (Szilagyi) Green - BHS Class of 1997
Melissa Green (Missy Szilagyi) graduated in 1997 and found herself in NYC teaching preschool in 2001. A position for the music teacher presented itself and so Melissa learned a few chords on the guitar and started writing kids music! Melissa then moved to LA and for 10 years and toured music from her four albums with her book, The Seahorse Song.
She was also in a band called The Lisa Parade Trio, singing back up while playing the glockenspiel.
Melissa, still living in LA, has continued to teach family music classes as well as empowering movement classes to adults. Last year, she was invited to join The Chandeliers, a choir under the direction of music artist, Sia. The group of 10 sing pop love songs at private events and holidays and brings Missy right back to the days of Studio Voices. You can see her in Sia’s latest music video, Gimmie Love.
Jim Marbury - BHS Class of 1977
Jim graduated from Bunnell in 1977. He holds an Undergrad degree from the University of Bridgeport and a Graduate degree from SUNY at Stonybrook. Jim is currently a member of the Ridgefield, Norwalk and Wallingford Symphonies and also performs regularly with the symphonies in Bridgeport, New Britain and Waterbury. As a member of the Oakdale Music Theater orchestra, he has played behind many performers including The Temptations, Johnny Mathis and Don Rickels. Jim has been working with the BHS band since 1981 and currently has private students throughout Fairfield county.
Kirk Miller - BHS Class of 2008
Kirk is a proud Bunnell High School Music Department alumni and member of the graduating class of 2008. While at Bunnell, he marched snare in the drumline, played in wind ensemble, and spent most of his free time in the band room or theatre. Beyond Bunnell, he attended Emerson College in Boston, MA where he received a BFA in Theatrical Design in 2012. In 2013 he co-founded a design support services company, Earlybird, which provides technical producing services to concert touring and live television productions. For over ten years, he has continued a career in the arts and live music - working alongside artists such as Bon Jovi, Usher, P!nk, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift. In 2018 he received a Primetime Emmy Award for his contributions to the lighting design of Jesus Christ Superstar Live!. He is deeply honored to be included in this inaugural Hall of Fame class. If not for the band and his father’s passion and appreciation of the arts - he certainly would not be enjoying a life surrounded by music and performance today.
Dave Nadal - BHS Class of 1988
David Nadal is a guitarist and composer who earned degrees from Yale University (MMus) and Manhattan School of Music (BM) after graduating from BHS in 1988. He can be heard on New Focus, New Albion, EVHA and Fluff-Tone recordings. He helped bring the final works of Elliott Carter to publication as a music editor for Boosey & Hawkes and has worked behind the scenes on hundreds of new works ranging in scale from operas to chamber music. He has several music publications to his credit; among them are his complete transcriptions of the Lute Songs of John Dowland (Dover) which has become a popular source for the repertoire and is used throughout the world. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City.
Sue On - BHS Class of 2009
Sue On (she/her) is a dynamic conductor, accomplished violinist, and dedicated educator with extensive experience in music education and arts administration. She is currently serving as the Artistic Director of the Lakeland Youth Symphony and conductor of its Symphony Orchestra in addition to being the Artistic Director and conductor of the Rowan Youth Orchestra and the Rowan Youth String Orchestra at Rowan University’s Community Music School. Sue is the conductor of the Repertory Orchestra with the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra (NJSYO), an El Sistema program, where she has the privilege of working with coaches who are members of the esteemed New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, Sue made history by being the first woman of Asian descent to conduct at Mechanics Hall alongside the Worcester Youth Orchestras during their Four Orchestras Festival in Worcester, Mass. Her recent engagements also include serving as a guest teaching artist at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where she conducted the Palestinian Youth Orchestra and taught violin.
Frank Picarazzi - BHS Class of 1990
Frank Picarazzi (Class of 1990) is a composer and percussionist. A graduate of the University of Connecticut in percussion performance, Frank has composed several orchestral, choral and chamber works, with performances New York (Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the DiMenna Center of the Performing Arts) as well as in Rome, Italy. Frank is particularly devoted to the performance of the vibraphone, for which he’s had a number of works published. He resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Robert Pierzak - BHS Class of 2002
Robert Pierzak (BHS '02) is a composer/producer/educator. He received his doctorate in music composition from the University of California San Diego in 2015 and after taught pop music at UC San Diego and served as part of the piano faculty at Villa Musica in San Diego through 2024. Bob received the 2003 BMI Student Composition Award, along with the Carlos Surinach Prize for being the youngest recipient that year. He received his Bachelors in Music from Ithaca College and his Masters from the Eastman School of Music, where he frequently performed 20th and 21st century chamber repertoire either as pianist or conductor. He has had his music performed in Norway, Poland, and all around the United States. Since 2013, he has been behind the experimental pop studio project Mayor Taco Ghost, releasing albums and performing in San Diego, LA and Tijuana.
Richard Shillea - BHS Class of 1976
Richard graduated from Bunnell High School, received his masters degree from the University of Michigan, and earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Richard was a prominent musician who served as principal clarinetist with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra for many years as well as numerous other ensembles, broadway shows, opera orchestras, and national tours. Richard was on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music, the Hartt School of Music, and Fairfield University. Sadly, Richard passed away in 2011.
Kersten Stevens - BHS Class of 2002
Kersten Stevens, Queen of The Violin, is a 2002 graduate of Bunnell High School who received her undergraduate degree as a double major in Music and African American Studies at Yale University, Class of 2006. She is a six-time winner of the historic Amateur Night and Showtime at The Apollo; she's performed with renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter and international jazz bassist Christian McBride and performed for esteemed notables President Barack Obama, Ray Charles, Denzel Washington, Dionne Warwick and Yanni among others! A multi-hyphenate, Kersten is also a highly sought-after Digital Arts Marketer, serving the world famous Apollo Theater as its Director of Digital Marketing. Kersten now celebrates her highly anticipated new album, QUEEN RISING, co-produced and featuring performances by the 8x Grammy Award-winning McBride. Learn more at www.kerstenstevens.com or find her on social media @kerstenstevens.
George Stoffan - BHS Class of 1989
George Stoffan has received Fulbright Awards to the Czech Republic and Hungary. He was Principal Clarinetist and Concertmaster of the United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C. With this ensemble, he performed in eight national tours, appeared as soloist on several occasions, and performed in fourteen recordings, some of which are available on the Naxos label. He has also performed in several recitals at conferences of the International Clarinet Association. His recording, A Postcard from Europe, was characterized by the Detroit Free Press as benefiting from “Stoffan’s warm expression and confident attack.” He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Indiana University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Stoffan serves on the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.
Dave Syzdek - BHS Class of 1998
David Syzdek graduated from Bunnell High School in 1998. He earned both his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education (2003) and his Master of Music degree in conducting (2006) from the University of Connecticut. Since 2010, he has been the band director at New Milford High School (New Milford, CT). He is the conductor of the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Orchestra as well as the Director of the Marching Band, Jazz Band, Winter Percussion and Winter Guard. The band program in New Milford has traveled across the country from Florida to California, performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York as well as Symphony Hall in Boston. David was the New Milford Public Schools Teacher of the Year in 2018. David is married to Elizabeth Syzdek who also graduated from Bunnell High School in 1998, and has three children, Jeremy, Ian and Ashley.
Heather Thorn - BHS Class of 1999
Heather Thorn is a jazz xylophonist in Orlando, FL where she performs with her band Vivacity and as a freelance percussionist. She holds a degree in Music Performance with a minor in Theatre from Ithaca College. In 2019 and 2022, she was featured with Vivacity as the headline act for the I Love Jazz International Jazz Festival in Brazil. She was also a guest soloist with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021 for the Holiday Pops concert. Heather has a private studio of 30 students in addition to working as a guest clinician at several schools and universities across the US!
Heather's website is www.vivacitymusic.com