Music Box Theatre
Opened April 18, 2024
Suffs Musicians
ANDREA GRODY
CONDUCTOR/KEYBOARD 2
Emily Whitaker
Keyboard 1/Accordion/Associate Conductor
Emily Pecoraro
Reed 1 - PIccolo/Flute/Clarinet/
Bass Clarinet/Soprano Sax/Bari Sax
Chris MacDonnell
Reed 2 - Flute/Oboe/English Horn/Clarinet/Alto Sax
Liesl Whitaker
Trumpet 1
Rebecca Steinberg
Trumpet 2
Sara Jacovino
Trombone/Euphonium
Rosa Avila
Drums/SPD
Beth Callen
Acoustic guitar/electric guitar/Mandolin/Tenor Banjo
Yuka Tadano
Acoustic Bass/Electric Bass
Mazz Swift
Violin
Dara Hankins
Cello
Music Team
Kristy Norter
Music Coordinator
Andrea Grody
Music Director/Music Supervisor/
Incidental Music Arranger/Vocal Arranger
Emily Whitaker
Associate Music Director
Michael Starobin
Orchestrator/Incidental Music Arranger
Shaina Taub
Incidental Music Arranger/Vocal Arranger
Jane Best and Patrick B. Phillips
Score Coordinators
Emily Grishman, Adriana Grace, and Alden Terry
for Emily Grishman Music Preparation
Music Copyists
Musician Bios
Emily Pecoraro
Reed 1 - Piccolo / Flute / Clarinet / Bass Clarinet / Soprano Sax / Baritone Sax
Broadway: The Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes (2018-present), Suffs (2024), Dancin' (2023 revival).
Off-Broadway: Only Gold (MCC), Suffs (The Public).
Regional Tours: 42nd Street, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady.
Jazz/Pop Credits: The Temptations, The Four Tops, 8-Bit Big Band, Ed Palermo Big Band, Hal Willner's Amarcord, Red Baraat, Lady Lamb, and many others.
Administration: WIJO Mentors (Program Director), The Variousound Sessions (Artistic Director, Curator), The Quarantined Woodwind Ensemble (Director).
Proud member of Local 802, Maestra, WIJO, and
NASA (the saxophone one, not the space one).
Education: The Boston Conservatory, Ithaca College,
The Streets™️.
For full bio and more please visit:
www.empecmusic.com
Chris MacDonnell
Reed 2 - Flute / Oboe / English Horn /
Clarinet / Alto Sax
Chris MacDonnell, a graduate of The Juilliard School, is a clarinetist and multi-woodwind specialist. Regularly performing in various Broadway and off-Broadway productions, Chris has subbed on over 40 shows, most recently as a regular on New York, New York and currnetly on Suffs. Chris has been the chairholder at Radio City for The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes for the past three years. Prior to that, she has also filled in as a substitute for many years. She is often seen performing at venues such as Paper Mill Playhouse, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Northeast Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Walnut Theatre and The Philly Pops in Philadelphia, and the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Before arriving in New York, Chris toured on various national tours including The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. Featured as a clarinet artist on the Washington D.C. radio station WPFW “The Jazz Collectors,” Chris has served two U.S. Presidents in the “President’s Own” Marine Band as a clarinetist and saxophonist and performed abroad as principal clarinet in the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira in Brazil and the Nova Philharmonia Portuguesa in Portugal.
Currently, she is a woodwind instructor at the United Nations International School and is busy scheduling concerts with her quartet, The Fort Lee Saxophone Quartet. She also plays with numerous ensembles ranging from woodwind quintet to big band and has accompanied artists such as Bernadette Peters, Florence Henderson, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Conducting master classes at various Universities within the United States, South America, and Taiwan, Chris has also recorded two CDs, “Enchanted Saint Saens” and “Clarinet Rhapsody,” hailed as “beautifully played and well-deserved of its title.” Her latest recording, “Chris’ Journey, A Whimsical Collage of Music,” is a piece composed for her showcasing her multi-woodwind talents on 11 woodwinds depicting various musical styles.
As a busy artist commissioning and performing new works for the clarinet, she is a repeated invited performer for the International Clarinet Association’s annual Clarinetfest. Chris is also a Yamaha Performing Artist and a D’Addario Performing Artist.
Website: www.winds4you.com
YouTube Page: Winds4You
Rebecca Steinberg
Trumpet 2
Sara Jacovino
Trombone / Euphonium
NYC based trombonist Sara Jacovino is an ambitious performer, composer, and arranger who has drawn the recognition of many of her peers nationwide. She has received awards from the BMI Foundation, Downbeat Magazine, the Airmen of Note, The International Trombone Association, and the IWBC amongst others.
Sara performs as a bandleader of her own quintet and is associated with many prominent jazz institutions including: The Birdland Big Band, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Band, Michael Feinstein, the Diva Jazz Orchestra, Johnny Mandel, and Lou Marini Band. An active member of the Broadway scene, she currently performs in the musical Suffs. Sara is an in demand session musician for studio and television work. Select credits include, The Macy's Firework Show and Parades, South Park, The Colbert Show, Disney, NBC, Hulu, numerous cast and large ensemble albums. In addition to her playing, Sara is sought after for commissioned works of music in various styles and ensemble configurations.
Sara is an XO Performing Artist and plays Doug Elliot Mouthpieces
Rosa Avila
Drums / SPD
Rosa Avila was born in Germany and spent her childhood between Mexico and Vienna, Austria.
She has performed with artists such as The Lennon Sisters, Ann Margret, Glen Campbell, Shari Lewis, Debby Boone, Elkie Brooks, and Petula Clark, and was the drummer for Andy Williams from 1992-2008. She plays drums in the all-women jazz group Sheroes with band leader Monika Herzig.
In 2018, she held the drum chair at Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway. She held the drum chair in the Off-Broadway shows Chick Flick, Broadway Bounty Hunter, Love in Hate Nation, for colored girls at the Public Theater, Shaina Taub’s Suffs at the Public Theater, and John Leguizamo’s Kiss my Aztec.
She can be heard on drums in the 2020 Grammy-winning album All the Ladies by Joanie Leeds.
She has been a sub in the Broadway shows Hadestown, Shucked, and Back to the Future. She currently holds the drum chair at Suffs.
Beth Callen
Acoustic Guitar / Electric Guitar /
Mandolin / Tenor Banjo