Our group has come together from many places; together with our wonderful audiences and listeners, we have truly become a global ensemble. We trained as classical musicians at the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music, SUNY Stonybrook, Brooklyn College, and Oberlin College; institutions that inspired our passions for music education and engagement with our audiences. We have been fortunate in our careers, friendships, and travels to have the opportunity to explore many different areas of music, including jazz, composition, conducting, and many musical traditions from around the world.

Our Members

Laurie Friedman

CLarinet, Native American Flute, Percussion, ShoFar

Laurie Friedman holds the Bachelor of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music where she was a full scholarship student of Leon Russianoff. She received her Master of Music Degree from Brooklyn College, during which she was awarded the Abraham Klotzman Memorial Scholarship. Ms. Friedman was chosen to participate in the prestigious Blossom Music Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra. Subsequently she won the Principal Clarinet position with the Beersheva Orchestra in Israel. She has performed with many Orchestras including the Long Island Philharmonic, Village Light Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, New Jersey Pops Orchestra, the Goldman Band, and the Tulsa Ballet Orchestra. Along with Ms. Dansker, she is a founding member of the Galliard Quintet with concerts nationwide including performances at the Gardner Museum, Boston, the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh, The Jewish Museum (NYC), and the Jacksonville Museum of Arts. She has written several children’s stories for Woodwind Quintet and Narrator including The Pied Piper of Hamlin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Peer Gynt. She has also performed for the Austrian Embassy, The Beethoven Festival, and was a Faculty Artist for the Silver Bay Music Festival. She has performed for numerous radio performances on WQXR, WBAI, and WNYC in New York City and for WCLV in Cleveland. Ms. Friedman is currently Professor of Clarinet Studies at Hofstra University and Instrumental Instructor at Brooklyn College Academy. She has taught at Brooklyn College, College of Staten Island, Sacramento State University and California State University at Davis. She has also coached chamber music at the Chico-Sac Workshop held at Sacramento State University.

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Adam Morrison

Keyboard, Piano

Adam Morrison completed studies in piano and composition at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem and later earned an MFA in World Music Studies at California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. He studied privately with David Bar-Illan, Joanne Brackeen and Gary Dial while still in high school, was a member of Karl Berger’s Creative Music Orchestra in Woodstock and worked with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Jack DeJohnette and Frederic Rzewski.

Adam emigrated to Israel in 1980 and was a founding member of the award-winning jazz-rock band “Tslil Shachen.” A benefit performance in the town of Neve Shalom (a Jewish and Arab village) was the first of an ongoing series of concerts that Mr. Morrison has continued to produce, combining musicians from diverse backgrounds; raising awareness and funds for reconciliation for an important cause. In 1990, Adam formed a quartet of Israeli musicians that performed at an event honoring both the Dalai Lama and Elie Wiesel. Currently, Adam divides his time between teaching, performing and recording. He performs in NYC often with Adam Nussbaum, Chris Potter, Elliot Zigmund and other jazz icons as well as with ethnic music figures such as Hassan Hakmoun (Morocco), Nilsson Matta (Brazil) and Ara Dinkjian (Armenia).

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Jeff Adler

composer, Bass Clarinet, Native American Flutes

Jeff Adler is a prolific composer and woodwind musician from New York City. In addition to being the resident composer for the Hevreh Ensemble, he writes extensively for The Jewel Orchestra of St. Paul’s Church, Brooklyn and for two World Music Ensembles: Malamalama and THG Orchestra of Mt. Pisgah and has recorded a CD of his original Native American Flute music. He composed the music for the Vita Nova production of the theatrical work, Harriet and Anne, which had its New York premiere in September 2005 at the Producer’s Club in New York City. His work titled “ In Search of Unification” for Bass Clarinet and Marimba was premiered in May 2005 in California at Sacramento State University. The work was also featured in an April 2006 concert by the Omni Ensemble in New York City.

As a clarinetist, Jeff has performed with many orchestras such as: The American Symphony, The Long Island Philharmonic, The Connecticut Grand Opera The Queens Symphony, Queens Oratorio Society and The Long Island Symphony. He was a member of the Silver Bay Music Festival, The Adirondack Chamber Players and the new music group, Infusion. He is currently on the faculty of Bard College at Simons Rock and he has recorded for Opus One and CRI Records, the Queens Symphony and Queens Oratorio Society. In addition, he has performed frequently with Broadway Show Orchestras including Les Miserables, The Lion King, Crazy For You, Beauty & the Beast, Secret Garden, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Caroline or Change, Titanic, Jekyll & Hyde, Passion, and Wicked.

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