Violinist Gregory Durozel, active as a soloist, orchestral, and chamber musician, has performed solos with the Ars Flores, Sewanee Symphony and the Coral Gables opera Orchestra.He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Professional Studies Certificate from The Manhattan School of Music where he was a student of Peter Winograd and a Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School under Ronald Copes. He was also a student of the late Joey Corpus whom he had the pleasure of working closely with for several years during his time in New York.

Born and raised in Tappan, New York, flutist Melissa Aleles found her love for music starting at a young age. Influenced by her older brother, Melissa began her studies at the age of seven, and swiftly recognized she wanted to perform music ever since. She continued her studies all throughout high school, where she participated in the Juilliard School Pre-College program.

Melissa recently earned her Masters Degree in flute performance at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Michael Parloff. During her time at the Manhattan School of Music, Melissa was the winner of the Fuchs Chamber Competition for two consecutive years, and recorded with Albany Records for their Opera Theater’s production of Cendrillon. In addition, Melissa was accepted in the New York String Orchestra, where she performed in Carnegie Hall during their 50th anniversary under the baton of Jamie Laredo, and collaborated with musicians Joshua Bell, Anthony McGill and Emily Skala.  

During her summers, Melissa participated in various music festivals. At the National Orchestral Institute, she performed a live recording of Aaron Copland’s Outdoor Overture, and George Gershwin’s American in Paris under the baton of James Judd with Naxos Records. Melissa had the pleasure of working with conductors Carl Topilow, Karina Canellakis, Tania Miller, Teddy Abrams, and Anu Tali at the National Repertory Orchestra. Other festivals include Eastern Music Festival, Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Kinhaven Music School.  

Melissa earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Performance at SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Music under Dr. Tara Helen O’Connor, and holds a minor degree in Arts Administration. Her former teachers include Bart Feller and Wendy Stern.

Melissa currently resides in her hometown of Tappan, where she continues to perform, teach and inspire young musicians around the local area. She’s currently the Operations and Community Relations Coordinator with the Westchester Philharmonic, and serves as an arts administrator and faculty member of BridgeMusik.

Joseph Douglas is a classical guitarist who played in the 2019 Labor Day Concert at FPC. He also participated in the Summer Monday Bluegrass services last year. His bio is below.

Joseph is a world-class guitarist and pedagogue who is best known for his chamber performances and innovative music instruction. As a member of the Third Rail Flute and Guitar Duo, Joseph has performed at The Morgan Library regularly and premiered new works by Cypriot composer Aris Antoniades, Christine Elise Chen, and Milad Yousufi. Joseph also performs with other chamber musicians across the US and was recently invited to Juilliard Pre-College’s anniversary celebration as part of a guitar chamber performance. As a soloist for the Long Island Classical Guitar Society, Narnia Arts Summer Festival, and Reaching for the Arts, he brought his historically informed playing and knowledge of the guitar’s greatest repertoire. He is well known for his sensitive and evocative playing of the works of Giuliani, Sor, Matiegka, and Regondi. 

Featured Performers: Sopranos Cherisse and Cherissia Williams. Cherisse sang at the memorial service for FPC member Jim Ely, and both Cherisse and Cherissia joined our virtual choir for Easter Sunday, singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. They were also slated to perform in the Bach Festival, which had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Identical twin sopranos Cherisse and; Cherissia Williams are Brooklyn, NY natives. They recently starred in the Verizon Quadruplets Holiday commercial. Cherisse and Cherissia hold a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from Westminster Choir College. Cherisse holds a Masters of Music from Ithaca College and Cherissia holds a Masters of Music from Manhattan School of Music. After finishing their masters, the two obtained a Professional Studies certificate in opera from Manhattan School of Music. Cherisse and Cherissia have performed in several operas and musicals throughout the country such as Mile Long Opera, The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel, Carmen, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Falstaff, L’enfant et les Sortilèges, Nine, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Mikado, and The Wizard of Oz; just to name a few. Cherisse & Cherissia have been soloists for The Altino Brothers and sing their arrangements. The twins are the owners of The Sparkle Twins. The Sparkle Twins embellishes shoes with genuine Swarovski Crystal at an affordable rate. They also offer Mouth Masks to protect you from unwanted germs! 

Organist Chere Ko has played several services at FPC as a substitute organist, she was also a performer in last year’s labor day concert, and was slated to join us for the Bach Festival, which had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Born in Hong Kong. Chere graduated from the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music (U.K.). She was the first female recipient of The Flentrop Scholarship, which enabled a residency at the Flentrop Orgelbouw and further studies with renowned Dutch organists. Chere was the recipient of the Artistic Excellence Award (Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University) and the John R. Rodland Memorial Organ Competition (Third Prize). She has given recitals at notable venues such as Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Portland, OR), St. Mark’s Cathedral (Seattle), St. George's (Hanover Square, London), Central Synagogue (NYC), Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (NYC). She also participated in the Pipedreams broadcast - Pipedreams Live – Indiana University II!  Her past teachers includes Janette Fishell (Indiana University) and David Briggs (Artist-in-Residence at St. John the Divine).

As a tribute to the dedication of our former Director of Music and the many hours of service she has given to the music program at First Presbyterian Church of Rutherford, we are pleased to be offering a $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior who plans on majoring in music.