An Enduring People

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Paula Pepperstone is deeply immersed in Jewish music, and has performed, lead services, taught, and/or produced concerts throughout New York, New Jersey, and the Midwest, as well as Jerusalem and Montreal. She graduated from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance, a Jewish Studies Certificate, and a Minor in Theatre, and is a proud Singing Hoosier alum. She earned a Master of Sacred Music and Diploma of Hazzan (Cantor) from the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Cantorial School while receiving several prizes and awards and became the first female cantor in Kentucky. She recently spent 9 years in Syracuse serving the Jewish community in a variety of capacities. She is currently the cantor of Ahavath Achim – Hebrew Congregation in Wichita, Kansas, and enjoys exploring this new (to her) part of the country with her family. She treasures opportunities to perform classical music and Jewish liturgical or concert music, as well songs of the Great American Songbook, Broadway, and Second Avenue.

John Friedrichs currently holds the positions of Bass Clarinet/Assistant First Chair Clarinet with Symphoria and Bass Clarinet/3^rd Clarinet with the Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra. Originally from Southern California, he performed with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. Friedrichs attended the Eastman School of Music earning a degree in Music Performance as well as a Performer’s Certificate. While at Eastman he studied with D. Stanley Hasty, Michael Webster and William Osseck. Friedrichs’s other teachers include Melvin Warner, Edward Yadzinski and Michele Zukovsky. Friedrichs also performs with the Society for New Music, the Buffalo Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic and Glimmerglass Festival. He can be heard on the recent release of Greg Wanamaker’s CD, “Light and Shadows, Waves and Time” performing Greg’s composition for solo bass clarinet, “Out of Mind, Into Body,” available on PARMA record label.

Laura Freeman is a collaborative pianist from Rochester, NY who specializes in vocal accompanying. Laura earned a B.S. in Piano Performance from Roberts Wesleyan College and is currently pursuing an M.M. in Collaborative Piano at Syracuse University. She was also the 2020 recipient of the Roy S. Harner Music Scholarship. Laura has performed as a choral accompanist for the Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale, the RWC Men’s Choir, and the SU Crouse Chorale. Laura has also served as a church musician for several churches in the Rochester area including the First Congregational Church of Riga, St. Pius X Church, and the United Methodist Church of North Chili. Recently, she was invited to participate in a master class with the Mirror Visions ensemble, a contemporary American ensemble. Laura teaches private piano lessons and is a graduate assistant at Syracuse University.