MUSIC STAFF

Robert René Galván, Music Director, was born in San Antonio, Texas. At present, he is Music Director and Conductor of the Bronx Concert Singers and Professor of Conducting & Choral Studies at the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music in New York City where he trains young conductors and directs the conservatory chorale. For four seasons he served as conductor of the Springfield Symphony Chorus in Massachusetts and was Coordinator of Performing Arts at Manhattan College and Music Director/Conductor of the Manhattan College Singers in New York City. While at the college, he also formed the Manhattan Sinfonia, an orchestra of young professionals which he still directs.

Galván earned a M.M. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Advanced studies in conducting were undertaken at the University of Texas where he served as conductor of the University Chorus and Longhorn Singers for which he received the Texas Excellence in Teaching Award. During his time in Texas Galván was the conductor of the Austin Philharmonic, associate conductor of the Austin Choral Union, principal guest conductor of the Austin Choral Artists and director of the Choir of the First Unitarian Church of Austin. He received his B.M. from Southwest Texas State University where he studied conducting, voice, piano and cello. During his studies there he presented numerous recitals by assembling his own ensembles and also delivered multi-media lectures on the music of Gustav Mahler. He made his formal debut at the Rome Festival in Italy before matriculating.

As a guest, Mr. Galván conducted the Vancouver Chamber Choir in a symposium entitled The Art of the Hand. More recently, he conducted the Pacific Chorale and members of the Pacific Symphony at the California Conducting Symposium. He also appears as arranger and conductor on a CD released in November 1999 entitled Jam & Spice, the Songs of Kurt Weill. Robert has maintained a private voice studio for the past fifteen years and some of his students have gone on to study at the Mannes School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the Eastman School of Music and the opera program at Graz, Austria. An accomplished poet, Galván's collection of poems is entitled Meteors.

Tamara Cashour, accompanist since 2009, is also accompanist for singers and opera workshop in the Mannes College NEXT Division, NYC since 2008. She was appointed Music Director/Organist-Choir Director at the Presbyterian Church of New Rochelle in June, 2008. For six years she was on the Collaborative Pianist Faculty of William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ. For nine years, Ms. Cashour was on the Vocal Accompanying Staff of the Manhattan School of Music, and for three years at the Long Island Conservatory of Music.

Ms Cashour is a composer of song cycles, piano music, chamber music, music theatre, incidental music and sacred music for organ and choir. She is a multi-year ASCAPlus Composer Award winner 2008-2012 and 2015. Her recent composition: Queens Suite for strings and harp, was chosen for the IAWM 2015 International Conference, and a 2015 BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) grant. Her compositions have premiered at: Symphony Space, Queens College LeFrak Concert Hall, St. Peter's Citicorp, Brandeis University, Columbia University, 47th St. Theatre (musical City Sketches), Theatre Lab NYC and at the Two Lands, One Voice Festival in Rome, Italy.

As a collaborative pianist, Ms. Cashour has performed /premiered the works of many new music composers of opera, art song and solo piano pieces, including those of John Harbison, Ricky Ian Gordon and Dorothy Chang, as well as New York Composer Circle members Debra Kaye, Nataliya Medvedovskaya and Noah Haverkamp. Ms. Cashour made her Carnegie-Weill Hall Accompanying debut in February, 2002.

Ms. Cashour has presented papers and/or her compositions at: Gettysburg College (2014),Brandeis University, Truman State College, and The University of Missouri. She holds a BA in Music Theory from Columbia University (NYC) and an MA in Opera Directing/Performance (with a concentration in feminist/avant-garde theatre studies) from New York University.