String Faculty

Fredonia's string faculty:

2024 String Camp Faculty:
subject to change

Natasha Farny (Cello) performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician. She published two CD's, "French Cello Music "and “Women’s Voices,” and an article on women composers. Recent concerts have taken her to Arizona, New York City, Ontario, and Colorado. In 2022-2023, she premiered Avner Dorman's new Double Concerto for Cello, Piano, and Orchestra. Upcoming concerts include appearances on WNED public radio, Saugerties ProMusica, Florida State University, and a concerto with JoAnn Falletta in Tennessee. She received degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, the Eastman School of Music, and the Juilliard School. 

Elizabeth Handman (Guest Conductor and Clinician) is currently one of the Arlington High School’s Award Winning  Orchestra Program directors and a conductor at Stringendo. She is a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Orchestra (1996-present) and Principal Violist of the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra (2018-present). Elizabeth free-lances with many orchestras in the Tri-State area including Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra in CT and Albany Symphony Orchestra. Elizabeth guest conducted at Ithaca College’s Summer Music Academy, Intermediate Division 2021 and is on faculty of Stringendo’s Summer Strings Camp since 1998 and on faculty of The Elisabeth Morrow Summer Strings Festival in Tenafly, NJ since 1999. She was also on the faculty of the  Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division for 5 years (1995-2000).

Kieran Hanlon (Double Bass) is Assistant Professor of Double Bass and Jazz at The State University of New York at Fredonia. In addition to his teaching, Kieran is a first call performer in both the classical and jazz idioms, and enjoys a diverse performing career in both genres (among others) across Upstate New York and Pennsylvania. An active orchestral performer, Kieran is Principal Bass of the Erie Philharmonic, and works as a substitute double bassist with the Detroit Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Rochester Philharmonic. 

David Rose (Viola) has served as a titled player of numerous orchestras, including Associate Principal of the Vancouver Symphony, Principal Viola of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and Acting Assistant Principal of the San Francisco Symphony. Also active as a baroque performer, he has toured and recorded with Toronto's Tafelmusik. Mr. Rose studied viola at the University of British Columbia, and also Indiana University. He serves as associate professor of Viola at Fredonia, and teaches in the summer at the Rocky Ridge Young Artists Seminar in the Colorado Rockies, as well as the Fredonia Summer Music Festival String Camp. 

Emily Schaad (Violin and Conductor) has directed orchestral programs at Clemson University, South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, Greenville County Youth Orchestras, and Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestras. In New York, she has taught in Liberty, Hyde Park, and Arlington School Districts, and was a founder of Stringendo Orchestra School in Poughkeepsie, NY. She is active as a region and all-state conductor, opera conductor, orchestra consultant, and old-time fiddler.

Rick Webb (String Camp Director) earned degrees in viola performance from Bowling Green State University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. After over a decade as a school music educator, he earned the Ph.D. in Music Education from Northwestern University in 2012. Dr. Webb currently serves as an Associate Professor at SUNY-Fredonia. He is a published educational scholar, composer and arranger, and an active string clinician/conductor, working with honors orchestras around the United States. Dr. Webb has also served on the faculties of DePaul University, The University of Massachusetts, Boston University, and The University of Florida.