CTS Staff

WHITNEY CLAIR 

Director of Operations

*Joined CTS in 2014.

    Whitney Clair holds the position of second trombone with the Firelands Symphony Orchestra (Sandusky, OH) and frequently performs with various other ensembles throughout Ohio and New York including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphoria (Syracuse, NY), the Akron Symphony Orchestra, and the Canton Symphony Orchestra. In addition to performing, Whitney actively pursues her other interests in music such as teaching and arranging/transcribing. She currently teaches private lessons in low brass for the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory division and the Hathaway Brown School (Shaker Heights, OH).

    Whitney received a Bachelor of Music degree in trombone performance with a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY) in 2010. She then graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2012 with a Master of Music degree in trombone performance. Her primary teachers have included Massimo La Rosa, Mark Kellogg, Dr. John Marcellus, and Mark Salatino. Whitney grew up in Rochester, New York and currently resides in South Euclid, Ohio.

Collaborative Pianists

Kathryn Goodson

*We welcomed Kathryn to the CTS family in June 2017.

Kathryn Goodson is an international collaborative pianist, teacher and coach. Called “générateur de couleurs et de lumières” by the Journal de Genève, she commands repertoire ranging from baroque through contemporary and improvisatory genres. In addition to her work as a duo partner, she collaborates with composers, multiple dance disciplines, and orchestral ensembles, including a 2013 Detroit Symphony Orchestra Carnegie Hall performance under Leonard Slatkin. Particular affinities for wind instrumental and vocal music unite in her signature master class, Songs4Winds, which she has taught at the Cleveland Trombone, Pokorny and other low brass seminars.  At the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, Goodson has served as pianist-coach for faculty and students across four departments since 2002; she returns annually as Head Pianist to the George Shirley Vocal Competition. In Germany, she has given American Art Song master classes at the music school in Karlsruhe since the 1990’s; in the fall of 2024 she will teach in Freiburg. 

On recordings Goodson’s keyboard collaborations with instrumentalists and singers have been featured on Equilibrium, Albany, Innova and Blue Griffin, presenting first-time recordings of works such as Castelnuovo-Tedesco songs with soprano Caroline Helton, and core duo repertoire with both bass trombonist Randall Hawes and saxophonist TImothy McAllister.  As performer, curator and producer she spearheaded Belle Nuit, a Navona release of “sparkling heights” (American Record Guide), featuring saxophonists Donald Sinta and McAllister, hornist Gail Williams and long-time partner, Hawes. 

Goodson’s activist husband John Hieftje, Mayor of Ann Arbor 2000-2014, inspires her own passion for community engagement. Some results of this commitment: Ives Festivals in the U.S. and abroad; 19 years of performances as founding pianist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra Kinderconcert series; dozens of Concert4aCause events under the auspices of Ann Arbor’s Northside Community Church, where Goodson now serves as Director of Musical Engagement. Dr. Goodson’s degrees include the collaborative piano MM & DMA from the University of Michigan under Martin Katz and the BM in piano performance from Oberlin Conservatory. A Fulbright Scholar twice, she was awarded highest honors for the Liedgestaltung Konzertexam from the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe with Hartmut Höll and Mitsuko Shirai.  

YING-Ho Joanna HUang

*Joanna joins the CTS family in 2024

A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Ying-Ho Joanna Huang began her musical journey by studying the piano at 5 and the french horn at 9. She is a recent graduate of Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). Previously, Huang received her Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano from CIM in 2020. In 2018, Huang graduated with her Master’s Degree, double majoring in the Horn and Collaborative Piano Performances from CIM, studying with Richard King and Anita Pontremoli. 

During her time at CIM, Huang has performed numerous Recitals, orchestra concerts, chamber music performances, New Music Ensemble, and greater Cleveland community outreach performances as a horn player and a collaborative pianist. She has received Academic Honors and twice received the Cleveland Heights Alumni Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon Rosa Lobe Award- one of the Dean Awards in Accompanying “Recognizing the highest level of artistic achievement in the collaborative piano department.” Huang has worked with members of the Emerson String Quartet, the St. Petersburg String Quartet, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, and the Canton Symphony Orchestra. She recently won the First Prize of the CIM 29th Annual Darius Milhaud Performance Prize Concert in 2023, and she had the honor to perform in the masterclass of Michael Tilson Thomas in 2022.

Staff Trombonists

Chris Graham - Trombone 

*Chris joined us first as a Participant in 2012 and 2013, and has been on our staff since 2015.

    Christopher Graham is currently the principal trombonist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he also holds the second trombone position with the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Chris maintains a prominent international orchestral career while based in the Cleveland area. He has performed with the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Symphoria (Syracuse, NY), the Orlando Philharmonic and more.

    A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Chris received his Bachelor of Music from McGill University, where he studied with James Box, principal trombone of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Chris also graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2010 with a Master of Music, studying with Richard Stout of The Cleveland Orchestra and most recently returned to the Cleveland Institute of Music to earn an Artist Diploma in 2013, under the guidance of Massimo La Rosa, principal trombone of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Wesley Thompson - Trombone

*Wesley was a member of CTS since 2013, and joined our staff in 2017.

    Wesley Thompson is an active freelancer throughout South Florida. He has performed with the New World Symphony, Boca Symphonia, and the South Florida Jazz Orchestra. Before moving to Florida he performed with the Penn’s Woods Festival Orchestra for 3 seasons from 2013-2015, and as a regular substitute with the Altoona Symphony Orchestra. Wesley has played in concert with artists such as John Williams, Quincy Jones, Dave Liebman, Monica Mancini, John Faddis, and Janis Siegel. Wesley can be heard on several CDs including Pocono Git-Down by Rick Hirsh’s Big Ol’ Band and an upcoming release in February 2018 by the Frost School of Music’s Concert Jazz Band, Europa: Explorations for Large Jazz Ensemble.

    Wesley received his Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania in 2013. He then earned a Master of Music in trombone performance from Penn State University in 2015 as well as a Professional Performer’s Certificate in 2016. Wesley is currently a graduate fellow with the Henri Mancini Institute while pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. His primary teachers have been Timothy Conner, Mark Lusk, Michael Clayville, and James Olson. Wesley currently lives in Miami with his beautiful wife Kylla. 

Mary Tyler - Trombone

*Mary joined CTS first as a participant in 2014 and our staff in 2018.

    A native of Gainesville, Florida, Mary Tyler is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Northwestern University. She has performed with the Ars Viva, Oistrakh, Northbrook, Lexington, and Berkshire Symphony Orchestras, as well as Phoenix (Boston) Orchestra, and Gainesville Chamber Orchestra. In 2005 and 2007, Ms. Tyler was the winner of the American (formerly Eastern) Trombone Workshop’s National Classical Solo Competition, hosted by The United States Army Band, “Pershing’s Own”. 

    An avid chamber musician, Ms. Tyler is a member of Axiom Brass and has performed with the Triton Brass Quintet. She was a founding member of the Obsidian Brass Quintet, and with that group was a winner of the International Brass Quintet Competition, a finalist at the Alice Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and semi-finalist at the Plowman, J.C. Arriaga, and Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions.

    Ms. Tyler is a student of Michael Mulcahy, Timothy Higgins, Douglas Wright, Christopher Davis, and Randall Hawes. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 2011 and her Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, where she was a student of Toby Oft. Ms. Tyler is an alumna of the Tanglewood Music Center, Lake George Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Cleveland Trombone Seminar, Alessi Seminar, and Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar.

    In her spare time, Mary enjoys knitting sweaters, baking spectacular desserts, and running half marathons.

Graphic Design

Julie A. Cajigas

*We've enjoyed Julie's designs for the seminar since its inception in 2012.

    Julie Cajigas is a professor of practice in The University of Akron School of Communication and a faculty fellow for the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches public relations (graphic design and writing), social media, and journalism, and advises the Buchtelite student publication and the PRSSA chapter. Cajigas is the recipient of UA Achievement Awards for Outstanding Teacher and Outstanding Mentor, and the PRSSA Davis Young Award for Exceptional Mentors.

Cajigas has also received the Faculty Champion award from the University of Akron EX[L] Center for Community Engaged Learning and is an ACE Scholar. Cajigas’ research interests include social media, interpersonal communication in a social media context and cyberbullying.