Music Director and Alumnus of the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras (GCTYO), Christopher James Hisey, has conducted concerts throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico and China with such notable musicians as Sir James Galway, Tim Janis, Jackie Evancho, James Dunham, Chris Finckel and Deborah Wong.

In addition to his duties with GCTYO, Maestro Hisey serves as Music Director of the American Chamber Orchestra, is Co-founder and Music Director of the Connecticut Philharmonic, and was recently named Music Director of the Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut. He has also served as Music Director of the Civic Orchestra of New Haven, Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra, Troupers Light Opera Company, and Perrysburg Symphony Chorale, and as Associate Conductor of the Perrysburg Symphony, Bowling Green Philharmonia and Opera Theater Orchestras.

Maestro Hisey has been a guest and cover conductor of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony and has made appearances with the Ruse Philharmonic and Pleven Philharmonic in Bulgaria, and the St. Petersburg “Klassika” Symphony, formerly the Leningrad State Philharmonic, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

A champion of new music, Maestro Hisey frequently premieres new works. Emmy award-winning composer Rex Cadwallader recently said of Maestro Hisey’s work, “He is an advocate for new music, and a caring and careful medium through whom my music has been brought gracefully and powerfully to life.“

A passionate and sought after music educator, Maestro Hisey frequently appears as guest adjudicator and clinician at schools and festivals throughout the region. His student orchestras have won top prizes in competition and have been invited to appear at Carnegie Hall, NAFME Eastern Music Festival and other festivals and concerts in the United States and abroad. He has served as Professor of Conducting, Orchestration and Music Director of the Orchestra at Manhattanville College and Professor of Conducting and Music Director of the Orchestra at Fairfield University.

Maestro Hisey is currently the Chairman of the Performing Arts Department and has been Director of Orchestras and Chamber Music at Greens Farm Academy in Westport for more than 20 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree in Conducting from Bowling Green State University. He has been fortunate to study conducting with Emily Freeman Brown, David Effron, Gustav Meier, Donald Portnoy, and Donald Hunsberger.

Currently a doctoral student studying Instrumental Conducting with conductor Edward Cumming at The Hartt School, Ms. Alcine conducts the Hartt Symphony Orchestra and Foot in the Door new music ensemble. Ms. Alcine has also conducted regional orchestras in Connecticut, including the Southern Region High School Orchestra in January 2023 and Western Region High School String Orchestra in February 2022. Before beginning graduate school in 2019, she began her music directing efforts in her teaching career as an elementary school music director of chorus and recorder ensemble in the Elizabeth NJ Public schools. Ms. Alcine holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Rutgers University. 

A native of New Jersey, Ms. Alcine has always lived a life involved with music. She grew up performing in many different ensembles and taking on any necessary roles. Although primarily a violist, Ms. Alcine considers herself a multi-instrumentalist and multi-faceted musician, having working knowledge of instruments in the brass family, flute, percussion, and voice. Ms. Alcine is delighted to be joining GCTYO for her third year, sharing the culture of the symphonic orchestra and fostering a love for different styles of music in her students.

Mr. Sloat is a violinist in the Donn Trenner Orchestra and has performed at Mohegan Sun with Josh Groban, Celtic Woman, and Earth, Wind & Fire. He currently performs in the Danbury Symphony where he has served as Principal Violinist and Principal Violist. He is also a member of the Ives Festival Orchestra and American Chamber Orchestra. As the violist of the Barber String Quartet, he performed concerts throughout Poland on a U.S. Embassy endorsed tour. An active chamber musician, Mr. Sloat is a member of Trio Dolce and the Ives Chamber Players. He has performed regularly throughout New York and Connecticut, including venues such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Stamford’s Rich Forum, Danbury Music Centre and benefit performances for OXFAM and the Kosciusko Foundation. Mr. Sloat has taught in the Fairfield County area for nearly 20 years, and currently serves on the string faculties of Fairfield University, Greens Farms Academy, Westport School of Music, Enchanted Garden and Music & Arts. He has also served as a strings coach for the Western Connecticut State University Summer Strings Camp and conducted at the Monroe Music Enrichment Program.

… that have been passed down to them, continuing a 30-year tradition of excellence.

Brian Ente, a GCTYO alumnus, is a musician and composer who studied at Ithaca College with Gordon Stout and Conrad Alexander. A Connecticut native, he is a former vice president of the state’s chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, and works to improve the performance standards and education of percussion both in his local area of Bridgeport/Fairfield, and across the state, taking part as a composer and judge for the Western Region Music Festival on both the middle school and high school levels. Mr. Ente coaches the GCTYO Percussion Ensemble at weekly rehearsals and conducts at concerts. He also teaches at the Jim Royle Drum Studio and is an active performer.

Currently Director of Bands in the Performing Arts Department at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, Connecticut, Dr. Cadwallader has served as Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Texas in Arlington and Associate Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Colorado. He has taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, Marlborough College in Marlborough, England, Southern Connecticut State University, and the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven. He received his Doctor of Arts Degree in Composition and Music Theory from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, and his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Composition degrees from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Dr. Cadwallader has played with such jazz luminaries as Rufus Reid, Bob Mintzer, Eddie Daniels, Ed Shaunessey, Bill Watrous, Don Menza, Clark Terry, Ali Ryerson, Joe Beck, Giacomo Gates, and many others. He appears as performer or composer on over twenty-five albums including his most recent cds, “A Balm in Gilead,” featuring Tiffany Jackson. That was preceded by “Sweet Perfume In An Alabaster Jar,” and “Quicker Than The Eye,” with bassist Mike Asetta and drummer Artie Dixson and “Broadway – West Side Story,” with flutist Ali Ryerson, bassist Mike Asetta and drummer Artie Dixson. A CD of original contemporary jazz with drummer Rich MacDonald entitled “The Cadwallader/MacDonald Project – YOUR SMILE” was released in 1998 on Jaybird Records. Two other recordings, “Christmas In The Neighborhood” with bassist Mike Asetta, and “In A Mellow Tone,” a tribute to the music of Duke Ellington, were released in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Dr. Cadwallader has also composed several works that have been debuted by the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras under the baton of Christopher Hisey, including “Citizen” in March 2018.

Dr. Cadwallader’s compositions for jazz band have been performed and recorded worldwide. With more than 100 published in the U.S., Japan and England, he is the recipient of awards from downbeat magazine, the NEA and the NEH.