ABOUT

Sharon Powers, Artistic Director, flute, piccolo, alto flute: READ BIO >>

Sharon Powers is the Founder, Artistic Director and Flutist of Winds in the Wilderness Concerts. An active performer and teacher in the Berkshire-Hudson area, she is currently on faculties of Bard College at Simon’s Rock and the Berkshire Music School and performs with the Berkshire Theater Festival and other ensembles. Sharon has enjoyed a multicultural career as Professor of flute, chamber music and general music as well as establishing orchestral programs at the International School of Paris, France; Chulalonghorn University and The French School of Bangkok, Thailand; Greenwich House Music School, NYC. She has soloed with orchestras like the National Symphony of Thailand and performed in major halls in NYC. Ms. Powers studied flute with Samuel Baron and Jean-Pierre Rampal and at the Aspen Music Festival, l’Academie Internationale d’Ete, France, and music at Bennington College, The Julliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

She has enjoyed leadership roles with community-generated arts organizations, formerly as President of The Bangkok Music Society and currently with Winds in the Wilderness Concerts, where she continues to pursue her passion for creating eclectic programs and bringing new sounds to local listeners. In 2019 Winds in the Wilderness Concerts received a ‘Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition in recognition of outstanding and invaluable service to the community.’

Sharon plays flute, piccolo and alto flute and, as the founder, has been with Winds in the Wilderness since its inception in the fall of 2009.

John Myers, guitar, pipa, sitar: READ BIO >>

John Myers, guitar. A native of Baltimore, MD, John performs regularly as a jazz and classical guitarist, in groups and as a solo instrumentalist. His compositions include the award-wining West Lake Cycle, Paintings in Song, a suite based on the art of Norman Rockwell, and works for Winds in the Wilderness. His CD Look In features his original jazz compositions and performances on guitar, clarinet, and electronic instruments. Dr. Myers earned a PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland and a M.M. from Howard University. He studied jazz composition at Towson State University with Hank Levy, a pioneer in the use of odd time signatures in jazz. His publications include Way of the Pipa, a book on the Chinese lute, and numerous articles on music history and related topics. John, who formerly taught at UMBC and other colleges in Maryland, teaches Music, Interactive Arts, and other subjects at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and directs the Simon's Rock Jazz Ensemble. John’s interest in new media, including animation and three-dimensional environments, stems from his early work in CD-ROM development. This eventually led him to pursue animation projects with Swiss artist Etienne Delessert and the Atlanta Symphony as well as with Crescendo Chorus. Along with music, John is fascinated with new computer-based art forms and their relationship with traditional art forms, including implications for representing and defending cultural diversity. In 2019, he began studying flamenco traditions, and collaborating as a guitarist-composer with dancer Kati Garcia-Renart. In March 2020, they performed in a new play; Federico García Lorca: Poet, Playwright, Revolutionary directed by Aimée Michel, premiered at the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke MA. Dr. Myers currently serves as the head of the Division of Arts and Aesthetics at Simon's Rock.

John has been with Winds in the Wilderness since 2012 playing classical and jazz guitar, pipa and sitar and composing. Many of his compositions are featured in our programs. ‘Together in the Wilderness,’ composed for the 2020–21 seasons, is a suite of five pieces written for and about each of the players in the ensemble.

Pete Toigo, bass: READ BIO >>

Pete Toigo, a Columbia County, NY, native, has been active as a jazz and classical bassist in the Hudson Valley and beyond for several decades. He’s been named Best Jazz Bassist by Metroland Magazine and performed on recordings listed in the Penguin Guide to Jazz, receiving four star reviews in Downbeat magazine. In 2006 he toured Japan with Terry Adams of the rock band NRBQ. Recent recordings include Tim Olsen’s Creature of Habit on Planet Arts Records, Tom Scarano’s Jazz at Foster’s on Zinnia Records and Terry Adams release Talk Thelonious on Euclid Records. Pete is also included in the DVD release of the Century 67 film This is Gary McFarland. He began his long association with John Myers in the early 1990s with the jazz trio Realtime. He teaches double bass and bass guitar at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

Pete has played classical and jazz bass with Winds in the Wilderness since 2014.

Judith Dansker, oboe, english horn: READ BIO >>

Judith has performed as a chamber musician with many ensembles including The New York Baroque Consort, Galliard Woodwind Quintet, Trio Sonata and The Berkshire Bach Society. She has also played with orchestras that include the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Columbia Philharmonic Orchestra, International Chamber Artists, Columbia Lyric Opera and the New Orleans Philharmonic. For her performance with the Galliard Quintet at Carnegie Recital Hall, the New York Times has said: “her lovely solo lines were very skillfully handled”. She has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, The Library of Congress and the Frick Museum. She is currently a member of the Hevreh Ensemble which has toured internationally, most recently for the Krakow Jewish Cultural Festival and the POLIN Museum of Jewish History in Warsaw. This past spring and summer the group was scheduled to tour China and Argentina; due to the pandemic, all was canceled and a new creative project was born! Judith started a blog, “A Musician’s Travels.” Here she chronicles her inspiration through hikes in nature, plays improvisations in bucolic spots on recorder, oboe and Native American Flute, and the blog of course includes recipes and FOOD! Judith holds a Bachelor Degree and a Masters Degree from the Julliard School of Music and currently serves as Professor of Oboe at Hofstra University where she also teaches chamber music and directs the Recorder Ensemble. She also serves on the music faculty of Bard College at Simon's Rock.

Judith has played with Winds in the Wilderness since 2012.

Ronald Gorevic, violin, viola: READ BIO >>

A native of London, England, Ronald Gorevic has had a long and distinguished career as performer and teacher, on both the violin and viola.

As a violist he has been a member of several well known string quartets, including the Chester quartet, Rowe Quartet, and Laurentian quartet, spanning over twenty years and covering most of the quartet repertoire. He has toured throughout the U.S., S. Germany, Japan, Korea and Australia and has been broadcast on radio stations across the U.S., S.W. German radio and the Australian Broadcast network. As a violinist he has performed in major U.S. cities including New York, Chicago, Cleveland and Atlanta and has performed in London where he gave the British premieres of pieces by Donald Erb and Ned Rorem. Ronald is a founding member of the Prometheus Piano Quartet, with whom he recorded for Centaur. He has also recorded for Koch International and Crystal records. Recent solo performances include the complete Beethoven violin sonatas, the Bach cello suites on the viola and Bach sonatas and partitas for violin. In the summer of 2021 he will record all of the Bach cello suites and the Chaconne on the viola for Centaur records. Mr. Gorevic is currently on the faculty of Smith College, JNEC Prep department and Bard College at Simon’s Rock where her teaches both violin and viola.

Ronald has played violin and viola with Winds in the Wilderness since 2011.