Meet the instructors
Jeff Alpert –Program Coordinator / Jazz Ensemble /Percussion
Jeff Alpert is a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music in Boston from which he earned a Bachelors of Music in Percussion performance and Music Education in 1985. Since moving to Europe in 1991, he has been an active performer with various orchestras including the Hamburger Symphoniker and the NDR Symphony Orchestra. He is also an avid jazz vibraphonist and has formed his own trio with whom he performs regularly in addition to being an active member of “Unfulfilled Desires”, a jazz/funk collective based in the US and performing regularly in both the US and Europe. Mr. Alpert has alternately taught both classroom music and given private percussion lessons at ISH since 2002.
Marjorie Patterson - voice/piano/director of Junior Choir
Marjorie Patterson began her professional career at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival in her native Canada at age twenty before continuing her voice studies in New York. She received an Honors Bachelor of Science degree with a minor in piano from the City University of New York and a Master of Music in vocal performance from the Juilliard School. A prize winner in the Concours Internationale de Musique de Montreal and the "Joy in Singing" Song Competition and a finalist in the Pavarotti Competition and Metropolitan Opera Auditions, she has performed repertoire such as Strauss’s Four Last Songs, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Verdi’s Requiem with symphony orchestrasin Canada, Holland, Germany, Slovakia, and Russia. Formerly on the faculty of the Brooklyn College Preparatory Center, she is currently preparing several publications and web sites intended to help children to develop a sense for the crucial connection between written music and sound through audiation and sequential learning.
Toki Adeyefa – Saxophone/Clarinet/Flute
Tofi Adeyefa was born in Nigeria and has been a resident of Germany for over 20 years. He has worked both as a professional actor and musician. He studied at the Hamburg Music Conservatory as well as the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has worked as both an instrumentalist (he also plays bass and keyboards) and composer/arranger for various German theatre, radio and television productions.
Andrea Benecke – Piano
Andrea Benecke completed her piano studies in Hamburg at the “Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst”. The development of her musical career was supported by a grant from Rotary International and the Lion’s club. She has won several piano competitions and gives frequent solo and chamber music concerts. Her passion is found in performing the music of Claude Debussy. In this regard, she called on her compositional abilities in transcribing his Préludes for Piano, Vol. 11, for orchestra, which she recorded in 2007. Miss Benecke teaches piano to many gifted students both privately and at the Johannes Brahms Conservatory in Hamburg. She has also worked as a chamber music coach at the “Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival”. In 2006, she released a CD of a new interpretation of the baroque composer Johann Matteson’s “Die wohlklingende Fingersprache” (“the nice sounding sign language.) Learn more about Andrea Benecke at www.konzertpiano.de
Sebastian Drescher – Trumpet
Sebastian Drescher, born 1978 in Hamburg, started learning the trumpet at the age of six. Studying with the infamous trumpet teacher Bob Lanese, he was able to develop his musicality and technical skills far enough to play in various bands and orchestras, among them the Jugendorchester Bramfeld and the LandesJugendJazzOrchester Hamburg. Finally, his love for music led him to study the trumpet at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem, Holland, under the guidance of Angelo Verploegen (from 2003-2009). After finishing his studies in The Netherlands Sebastian Drescher returned to Hamburg and started to work here as a freelance musician and music teacher..
Jennifer Hymer – Piano
Pianist Jennifer Hymer has received degrees in music from the University of California at Berkeley and Mills College in Oakland with additional piano studies in Germany. In 1996 she moved to Germany where she co-founded the ensemble WireWorks with her husband composer Georg Hajdu. She has had much experience teaching piano and chamber music, with her own piano studio Piano Events located in Eimsbüttel. Jennifer Hymer has had numerous performances as a soloist and with her ensemble in Germany, Budapest, Portugal, Mexico, South America and the U.S. She has performed in many festivals with invitations this year to perform in cities such as Oakland, New York, München, Vienna and Hamburg.
Sebastian Nagel - Guitar
Sebastian Nagel is an accomplished local guiarist, playing and recording with a variety of bands ranging from jazz to funk to experimental/progressive rock. He completed his guitar studies on the German-Dutch border and still performs concerts there. He also records for various studios in Hamburg.
Julia Semenova – Violin
Julia Semenova was born in Moscow and studied violin in Moscow and Budapest where she performed as a section violinist with symphony orchestras in both Temesward and Arad (Romania). During this time she was active performing solo and chamber music concerts. In 1988 she settled in Hamburg and performed with the Hamburger Symphonkier, Staatsoper and Klassikphilharmonie. She has served as concert mistress for the “Hanseatischen Kammer-Ensembles” since 1989. She has taught violin and viola at the Johannes Brahms Conservatory since 1990 as well as the Volkshochschule in Oststeinbek, Schleswig-Holstein
Igor Trekoussov - Guitar
Igor Trekoussov is a virtuoso guitarist accomplished in all musical styles. In his homeland of Russia, he used to have to listen to the “Voices of America”, which was monitored (and censored) by the KGB, in order to listen to jazz. Even with this handicap, Igor’s talent prevailed and he is as comfortable playing Charlie Parker as he is Johann Sebastian Bach. Since leaving Russia, he has lived and performed in Paris, Lausanne and has called Hamburg his home since 1996. His passion for his instrument is transmitted to his students along with all the necessary tools.
Albert Vila – Cello
Albert Vila was born in Ohio where his parents had immigrated from Barcelona. Here he began his musical studies and completed his Master of Music degree at DeKalb in Illinois. He has been living in Hamburg for nearly 20 years. His international concert activities include both solo and chamber music concerts. He performed in the Hamburg production of "Cats" and is a member of the Etta Scollo Band. He is also currently teaching cello at the Jugendmusikschule Hamburg.
Gerold Donker - Bass