Adirondacks

Erin Alcorn (she/her) is an opera singer, vocal pedagogue, and arts administrator with over 14 years of professional performance and teaching experience. She joined ArtSmart as a vocal mentor in 2018 in inner-city Philadelphia and currently serves as both a virtual mentor to students in remote areas of the Adirondacks and as Manager of Individual Giving and Communications. 

Erin is passionate about vocal pedagogy and providing access to high-quality, student-centered, and gender-affirming vocal instruction. She currently provides vocal instruction to undergraduate students at Cleveland State University. Previously, Erin served as a private-lessons program provider for Philadelphia Futures and Ellis Trust for Girls and as an instructor to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) as a graduate assistant on full scholarship. 

As a singer, Erin has completed young artist residencies with Music Academy of the West, The Song Continues at Carnegie Hall, and The Dallas Opera. She has performed as a soloist and ensemble member with Queen City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Tri-Cities Opera, and the Dallas Opera. Erin holds degrees in vocal performance and opera from the Oberlin Conservatory and University of North Texas College of Music. She is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate, having completed all coursework except her dissertation, at University of Cincinnati CCM. Erin currently resides in Columbus, OH with her husband, three cats—Ellafitz, Willow, and Ash—and many houseplants.

Administratively, Erin has worked in communications and fundraising for Tri-Cities Opera, the Philly POPS Orchestra, Jazz Attack: Philly’s Home for Lindy Hop, and as a board member for Voces Intimae: The Art of Song. 

Mentoring Philosophy:
A good mentor supports, guides, embraces, celebrates, and uplifts the mentee in a way that serves the mentee’s uniquely lived experience and personal goals. A good mentor asks more questions than gives answers, offers perspective, and opens doors, helping the mentee to adopt a growth mindset. They help the student realize and embrace themselves. They see the mentee as an equal, not to be created but to be freed.

“What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.”
— We Make the Road by Walking by Myles Horton & Paulo Freire

“And the thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so that you can be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”
— Maya Angelou

Robert “Bob” Halek (he/him) is a much sought after drummer, percussionist, clinician, teacher, and conductor from upstate New York. In addition to teaching as a public school band teacher. He is an adjunct music professor at Skidmore College and Schenectady County College School of Music. Bob keeps a very busy performance schedule, performing many diverse styles with diverse legendary and regional musicians. His current schedule includes performances with The Empire Jazz Orchestra, Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble, and The Capitol Region Wind Ensemble. Bob was named District-wide Teacher of the Year in the East Greenbush School District where he teaches instrumental music.

Mentoring Philosophy
A good mentor is someone that loves helping others, will take the time to understand how each student understands and will teach to the student’s understanding level. The mentor will take time to patiently explain why, how, where, and when symbols appear in the music and how to respond to it. The mentor will also take the time to find appropriate music and materials to teach with but also to slowly expand a student out of their musical comfort zone to grow.

“It’s not hard; it’s new. It takes time to get used to something new. This is what growth is.”

Adam Hutcheson (he/him) earned both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Jazz Saxophone Performance from the University of North Texas, where he played lead alto in the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band and taught jazz saxophone lessons. While in Texas, he was named a finalist in the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) jazz saxophone competitions in 2010 and 2012. Recently, he performed as a featured jazz soloist with the Oklahoma State University Jazz Orchestra at NASA 2024 and judged the NASA Collegiate Jazz Competition in 2021. Adam is an active clinician, having taught at jazz festivals and camps nationwide, and was the featured jazz clinician at the 2024 U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium. He currently serves on faculty at Skidmore College and Ocean County College, where he teaches jazz improvisation-based courses. Adam is an artist for Conn-Selmer and D’Addario Woodwinds, playing exclusively on Yanagisawa saxophones and D’Addario Venn reeds.

Mentoring Philosophy
A good mentor encourages, motivates, and helps students grow in their musicianship. A good mentor also reminds students of the value of learning music as a powerful tool for self-expression and promoting creativity.

“All art is disguising work!” — Jerry Seinfeld

“Life is short, but art is long. Leave a legacy behind that will speak for you.” — Don Cheadle

Evan Mack (he/him), winner of the 2024 American Prize in composition, has devoted much of his compositional life to opera and song. His first major operatic composition Angel of the Amazon premiered in 2011 by Encompass New Opera Theatre at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City. Two years later, Fresno State Opera premiered The Secret of Luca, the first of several collaborations between Mack and librettist Joshua McGuire. In August 2016, Mack and McGuire’s American grand opera Roscoe premiered at Seagle Music Festival and received its orchestral world premiere with the Albany Symphony starring Metropolitan Opera star Deborah Voigt. Their multicultural Christmas show for children Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena is quickly becoming a holiday standard. Other works include Beach and Moan, #IsOperaDead, The Ghosts of Gatsby, and Dragon’s Breath. Mack was named 2018 Professional of the Year by Musical America, and is a Senior Teaching Professor at Skidmore College. In 2020, Mack founded We Are Instrumental, an organization that supports better access to music in K-12 public schools in the Adirondacks. He lives in Ticonderoga, NY with his wife Kristin and two sons Carter and Henry.

Mentoring Philosophy
My life’s mission has been to provide access to music to as many people as I possibly can, and one of the ways to do so is by mentoring young musicians and opening their world to limitless potential.

“Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”– Leonard Bernstein