Our Music Directors
Music Directors
Dr. Jason Priset is on the faculty for Montclair State University and Amherst Summer Early Music Festival. Internationally, Jason has performed in concerts in Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Locally, he has performed at Cathedral of St. John the Divine and at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in Manhattan. Jason holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) from Stony Brook University and a post Doctorate degree from Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona, Spain, and specializes in historical guitars and lute.
Jim Millar is the Director of Music at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Montclair, NJ, Director of Choirs and Orchestras at Tenafly High School, and the founder and Artistic Director of Summer Music in Tuscany, a chamber music festival in Sarteano, Italy. In the fall of 2019, he returned from a half-year sabbatical in Siena, Italy, where he served as a visiting professor at L’Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali “Rinaldo Franci.” He holds Bachelor of Music (piano) and Master of Music (orchestral conducting) degrees from Northwestern University, and has continued his studies at the Aspen Summer Music School, the Goldovsky Opera Institute, and privately with Carl Bamberger, retired, of the Mannes Conservatory of Music.
“There is a very rich tradition of contrapuntal music from the 16th and 17th centuries that I look forward to exploring with the musicians of Montclair Early Music. My interest in this music comes from my love of Brahms. He was a passionate student of the music of the Renaissance, and it informed everything he wrote. In addition, at the Sarteano Choral Conducting Workshop, I was moved by the deep expressive possibilities that are possible within this seemingly austere form,” Jim says.
In his first project with Montclair Early Music Jim worked with both instruments and voice, preparing for the December 15, 2019, Christmas in Italy concert at St. Luke's.
“There is a very rich tradition of contrapuntal music from the 16th and 17th centuries that I look forward to exploring with the musicians of Montclair Early Music. My interest in this music comes from my love of Brahms. He was a passionate student of the music of the Renaissance, and it informed everything he wrote. In addition, at the Sarteano Choral Conducting Workshop, I was moved by the deep expressive possibilities that are possible within this seemingly austere form,” Jim says.
In his first project with Montclair Early Music Jim worked with both instruments and voice, preparing for the December 15, 2019, Christmas in Italy concert at St. Luke's.
Sian Ricketts (voice, recorders, douçaines) enjoys a multi-faceted career as a singer and period woodwinds specialist. This season, she performs medieval, Renaissance and baroque chamber music and orchestral repertoire with ensembles such as Alkemie (NY), Bach Collegium Fort Wayne (IN), Apollo’s Fire (OH), Dallas Bach Society, Piffaro (PA), Forgotten Clefs, and Labyrinth Baroque (NY). In addition to her interest in early music, Sian also regularly performs 21st-century repertoire as both an instrumentalist and singer, and has collaborated with composers such as Jonathan Dawe, Gregory Spears, Elliot Cole, and Mark Nowakowski. Sian is a Visiting Medieval Fellow at Fordham University for 2019-2020, and is also co-director of Fordham University's Collegium ensemble. Sian holds a D. M. A. in historical performance practice from Case Western Reserve University with concentrations in voice and baroque oboe.