ELECTIVES, ACCOMPANISTS & STAFF
Electives
Sheryl Kurland-Platt, Ed.M. (yoga and mindfulness)
Sheryl Kurland-Platt has spent her academic and professional career working at
both the policy and hands-on level to strengthen families and increase development opportunities for children. She received her BA in Psychology from Pitzer College in 1991 and her Ed.M. from Harvard University Graduate School of Education in the Early Childhood Risk and Prevention Program in 1995. Sheryl is a certified Yoga teacher for children, and a Phoenix Rising Certified Yoga Therapy Instructor/200 hours. She is a graduate of the Mindfulness in Education Institute, and has co-authored and wrote a curriculum for and taught a six-week course on Mindful Parenting. She teaches Mindfulness and Yoga to prenatal women, parents, and children. Sheryl resides in Warren Vermont, teaches at the Warren Elementary School, sits on a variety of education boards and advisory committees, in addition to raising her three teenagers.
Michael Close (Composition)
Michael Close is a composer, cellist, and music educator living in Worcester, VT. He has been a composer-mentor with Music-Comp since 2004, He has been a composer-mentor with "Music-Comp" since 2004, a program which encourages and supports students in composing and arranging music. Michael is the music teacher at Doty Memorial School in his hometown of Worcester and also at nearby Rumney Memorial School. As a cellist, Michael has performed with a variety of chamber music groups including the Eleva chamber orchestra, Arioso, Yellow Sky, and the Living Woods baroque ensemble. He is a prolific composer and has had works performed by the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra (VT), The Birmingham Bloomfield Symphony (MI), The Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, The Playground Ensemble (CO), Chamber Music at the Scarab Club of Detroit, The Eleva Chamber Players (VT), the Vermont Choral Union, and Arioso (VT).
GMSI will miss our retired composition teacher Erik Nielsen who had been teaching (with Pam, Dan and Gretchen!) at GMSI before it even existed and was still a camp in Killington, yet we look forward to Erik visiting AND we are so grateful for him to bring us Michael!
Rupali Agrawal (Art)
Rupali is an artist and dedicated school substitute teacher residing in picturesque Vermont with her son and husband. As a homemaker and devoted mother, she skillfully juggles her roles, extending her artistic passion to teaching both at home and in school. Rupali's involvement with the Vermont Suzuki Violin community began when her son embarked on his musical journey at the age of six. Known for her friendly and approachable nature, Rupali is a joy to work with. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in kindness and patience, with a genuine desire to bring out the best in every student. This summer, she will be imparting her artistic skills at the camp, offering classes in clay art, sketching, mirror art, craft and acrylic painting. Rupali will provide a creative and enjoyable learning experience for all!
Oliver Scanlon
(Traditional Fiddling)
A soulful multi-instrumentalist and spellbinding composer, Oliver began his journey of musical discovery playing the viola with the Vermont Youth Orchestra when he was nine. Shortly after he was introduced to his mentor Pete and the immense parallel universe of fiddle music! His keen interest in fiddling led him to seek out further learning and performing opportunities through Mark Sustic’s “Fiddleheads” program, and soon he began attending music camps where he studied various styles with Alan Jabbour, Kimberley Fraser, Andrea Beaton, Eric Favreau and other master fiddlers. In 2008, Oliver and few talented middle school friends formed a group, The Irregulars, a six piece outfit that has played scores of local dances and festivals, and took first prize in the 2011 Young Tradition Vermont talent contest!
Accompanist
Tim Woos (Accompanist)
is a versatile composer and performer, writing for acoustic instruments and ensembles, as well as for amplified instruments and electronics. He composes concert music, dance music, and music for multimedia. Tim, a native Vermonter, attended GMSI as a student for many years. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and is accompanist for Pam Reit's Vermont Suzuki Violins.
Staff
Kristina Mackulin
Kristina MacKulin began attending GMSI with her daughter Ruby (violin) and her son Jake (flute) in 2004. She became the Assistant Director to Jody Woos for many years and now she is the Administrator. She has all of the Institutional Knowledge and she is the backbone of GMSI. Among many other things, she is responsible for the beautiful booklets we get every year, which tell us everything we need to know every day. She also is responsible for our wonderful camp photo which brings us joy and lives in many of our instrument cases for the entire year.
Francois Secordel
Francois Secordel will be returning to GMSI as the Manager of the Space and the person to go to for all needs and questions. We are so thrilled to have him welcoming and helping everyone all week. He takes great care of everyone and makes Pam’s job so much easier! We like to call him our Camp Concierge!
François Sécordel, a native of France, emigrated to the United States in 1996. He later moved to Vermont and has been a faculty member of the Long Trail School in Dorset, Vermont since 2004. Mr. Sécordel became an American citizen in 2015.
Mr. Sécordel began his violin studies in France at age 10. In France, he played with numerous chamber orchestras and has performed frequently with choruses specializing in works before 1750. He continues pursuing his passion for the choral repertoire as a member of the choral societies in Cambridge, NY and Bennington, VT. Mr. Secordel has performed for numerous productions at the Dorset Playhouse. He has been a member of the Sage City Symphony of North Bennington, VT for fifteen years. In addition to his full-time teaching position as French teacher at the Long Trail School in Dorset, VT, he has served as the conductor of the school's string orchestra.
Mr. Sécordel recently completed the Suzuki Unit 5 Violin course at the Green Mountain Suzuki Institute and is looking forward to furthering his studies when he will complete Violin Unit 6. Mr. Secordel is dedicated to the Suzuki philosophy and maintains teaching studios in Bennington and Manchester, VT.