Encore Staff
Meet the Encore Staff
The Encore faculty is comprised of teaching artists from all across NYC, representing a range of musical instruments, genres, traditions, and professional performance experience. Several Encore faculty members teach at our local community schools in our Encore Outreach program as well. We believe in employing “positive-psychology” teaching methodologies in our private lessons and group classes, emphasizing culminating projects and performances, and drawing upon the real-word experiences that our music faculty bring to music education at every level.
Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas
Director of Musical Arts
Dr. Samuel Torjman Thomas is the Director of Musical Arts for the Sephardic Community Center. He oversees all music programming for Encore and for Encore Outreach. In addition to his…
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Zach Birnbaum
Guitar, piano, songwriting, & early childhood
Zach has been a gigging musician since the age of 15. He received two Bachelors of Music from Rowan University in 2020, concentrating his studies in Music Composition, Jazz Guitar,…
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Jeremy Brown
Violin, strings, & ensembles
Jeremy Brown is a Brooklyn, New York based performer, recording artist and educator. Jeremy’s original sound merges the technical mastery of a lifetime of classical study with deep knowledge of…
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Ty Citerman
Guitar, early education, & composition
Ty Citerman is a Brooklyn, NY-based guitarist, composer and bandleader who writes, performs and teaches music across the spectrum of jazz, rock and contemporary classical. He is a founding member…
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Levi Claiborne
Dance & creative movement
Levi Claiborne grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and started dancing in the 80’s club scene. Since then he has worked with Mariah Carey, R and B singers Joe and…
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Moshe Elmakias
Piano, composition, & jazz improvisation
Moshe Elmakias is an Israeli composer and pianist currently based in Boston. With a virtuosic personal style (he began studying classical piano at age 6), he is one the most…
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Avinoam Ettun
Guitar, composition, & digital music production
Avinoam Ettun is a NYC-based contemporary music performer-composer, improviser, and educator. Known for compositions for large ensembles and his string quartet, Ettun merges electric guitar with chamber music. Collaborating across…
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Itay Goldberg
Woodwinds (sax, flute, clarinet), piano, drums, & early childhood
Itay Goldberg is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in New York. Born and raised in Israel, his love for music was triggered at an early age. He started playing classical…
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Hillai Govreen
Winds, piano, ukulele, & early education
Hillai Govreen is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in New York. Born and raised in Israel, her love for music was triggered at an early age. She started playing classical…
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Noa Havakook
Voice, improvisation, piano,& early education
Noa Havakook is a Jazz singer based in New York City. Born and raised in Israel, Noa’s passion for music blossomed at an early age. After studying Jazz in the…
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Kushaiah Hooper
Drumset, percussion, & buckets
Kushaiah is a native to New York City, and began exploring his musical gifts on the drum set at the tender age of 8 years old. He attended Adlai E.…
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Tamir Lifshitz
Guitar & general music
Tamir Lifshitz is an Israeli guitarist, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Born and raised in Tel Aviv in a musical family, Tamir received a rich musical education from…
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Yoni Perkins
Guitar, bass, rock ensemble, & senior therapeutic music
Known best for his performance work on the guitar and bass, Yonatan has composed music for a variety of different settings and genres, ranging from radio and Youtube commercials for…
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Fitzgerald Samuel
African drums & early childhood
Fitz Sam has twenty years of experience playing and teaching African and Caribbean drums. Mr. Fitz has taught students from two years old to senior citizens. Although he’s studied many…
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Amanda Saul
Vocal arts, piano, musical theater
Amanda Saul is a graduate of Western Illinois University with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance. While at WIU she was a student of Assistant Professor of Voice, Dr.…
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Sagit Shir
Early childhood, vocals, piano, & drums
Sagit Shir’s professional musical path began when she was 18 years old. She was one of very few to be accepted into the official entertainment unit of the Israeli military,…
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Keith Sisterhenm
Voice, brasswinds, composition, music theory, & general music
Keith attended the Hartt School in Connecticut, focusing on classical trombone. Keith is fluent and experienced in various musical styles, including classical and musical theater. He is a composer, in…
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Tal Vasserman
Bass, violin, & piano
Tal Vasserman is an Israeli Bass player, composer and educator based in New York. Tal has played with the Yonatan Volztok big band and shared the stage with musicians such…
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Frank Vitolo
Woodwinds (sax, clarinet, flute), music theory, & improvisation
A recipient of the Steinhart Talent Award Scholarship and the Barney Josephson Award of 2022, Frank Vitolo has a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from New York University. He teaches…
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