Pablo Masis – Brass Ensemble Coach

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Pablo grew up in northern Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation and in Billings, Montana.  He studied classical trumpet at Lawrence University with Robert Levy, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree.  Following a year of Graduate study in classical trumpet with Dennis Najoom at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he moved to New Orleans, where he studied with Terence Blanchard, Clyde Kerr Jr. and Ed Petersen, and received a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans.

Pablo has performed with a variety of New York-based ensembles including Kyle Saulnier’s Awakening Orchestra, Bobby Sanabria’s Multiverse Big Band, the David White Jazz Orchestra, the Dan Pugach Big Band, and the NYC Brass Choir. In 2012 Pablo released his second recording with a quintet of musicians from New York, titled “Intrinsic,” featuring Chad Lefkowitz-Brown on tenor sax, Alex Brown on piano, Linda Oh on bass, and Jared Schonig on drums.

Pablo has appeared across the United States and Europe including New York, Seattle, Portland, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Kansas City, Washington DC, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Poland. Pablo has presented concerts and masterclasses at Rocky Mountain College, South Dakota State University, Augustana University, and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

In February 2015, Pablo traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan where he was a guest artist with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music for their Winter Academy.

Mitzy Nonaka – Flute Ensemble Coach

Versatile and energetic flutist Mitzy Nonaka has a varied career, performing with regional orchestras, chamber ensembles, and recording for media projects. Dedicated to promoting social justice values through music, she regularly contributes to the efforts of Protestra: An Activist Orchestra. Mitzy can be heard in recent recordings with Ensemble 2I2 and Light Opera of New York, Key Glock: Ambition for Cash, View and Chew on Amazon Prime and Bite Size Broadway, an award-winning musical podcast. 

As an educator, Nonaka is dedicated to sharing the joy of music with any student with curiosity and provides lessons for students across NYC, with several receiving scholarships to study. She is on faculty at the School of The Holy Child Rye, directing instrumental ensembles.  

Mitzy earned her Bachelor’s in Music at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music with Tara Helen O’Connor and her Master’s in Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with Thomas Robertello, where she was the recipient of the Graduate Tuition Award and Dean’s Scholarship.

Christopher Foss – Woodwind Ensemble Coach

Christopher Foss (he/they) is a bassoonist, multi-instrumentalist, and teaching artist with experience performing on Broadway tours, contemporary music ensembles, regional orchestras, and collaborating with traditional music artists of various styles. He has played in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall and toured for two continuous years across China, India, and much of Southeast Asia with the broadway show The Sound of Music. Chris specializes in bassoon and clarinet in addition to the other woodwinds and is a dedicated student of traditional Kinko-ryu shakuhachi flute playing. He is a graduate of the contemporary performance MFA program at California Institute of the Arts, and has completed additional orchestral training at the Gaetano Donizetti Institute in Bergamo, Italy and Lynn Philharmonia. He is formerly contrabassoonist with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra and American Youth Symphony, and has played with regional orchestras across the East and West coasts.

Chris has been coaching woodwind players since 2010 during his degree studies at the University of New Hampshire. His approach as a teacher is shaped by the generosity of his own mentors and curiosity in the learning process itself. He is currently adjunct lecturer of music at Brooklyn’s City College of Technology, and has given classes at university music programs in California, Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, and New York. He is an active teaching artist working within elementary classrooms and beginning band programs across the city, and has been lucky to work with students aged 4 and up.