Staff

Alexander Yudkovsky

Executive Director

Alexander Yudkovsky has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. He has appeared on tour as a soloist with the New American Chamber Orchestra and with the Brandenburg Collegium, and as concertmaster of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra for three years he was featured regularly in televised chamber music performances. Mr. Yudkovsky was born in Leningrad and came to the U.S. at the age of fourteen. He received his musical education at the Leningrad Special Music School, the Juilliard School, and the Rotterdam Conservatory. In recent years Mr. Yudkovsky has been increasingly recognized for his leadership in education in the arts. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of The School for Strings, Mr. Yudkovsky served as the Chairman of the Music Department at the Harlem School of the Arts and Music Director of the New Jersey State Youth Orchestra. Mr. Yudkovsky is also a founding member and co-director of the Lighthouse Chamber Players, an annual chamber music festival on Cape Cod.

Kerry Farrell

Operations Manager

Kerry was most recently the General Manager of the Belleayre Music Festival in the Catskill Mountains. He received a degree in Music Performance from the University of California, Los Angeles and performed in an array of musical situations throughout Southern California as a trombonist. After working on administration projects at the Young Musicians Foundation and the American Youth Symphony, Kerry went to work full time for the Henry Mancini Institute. Here he created education programs in cooperation with the Los Angeles Unified School District and many other large educational institutions in Southern California. In 2007 he joined the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, CO as Executive Director. An opportunity to work with Alondra de la Parra at the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas brought him to New York City. Kerry’s wife, Keve Wilson, plays oboe on Broadway a Portuguese Water Dog named Bugsy.

Denise Ward

Operations Assistant

Denise Ward is a multifaceted creative and arts education advocate with a passion for community building. Originally from Houston, TX, she attended Houston’s renowned High

School for the Performing And Visual Arts, and while there was a member of the Houston Grand Opera High School Voice Studio and a frequent finalist for performance competitions held by the Houston Symphony, National YoungArts Foundation, and NAACP. Denise graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Boston University and had the distinct honor of performing for the Congressional Black Caucus at the Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

Prior to moving to NYC, Denise was a member of the Houston Grand Opera (HGO) Chorus for four seasons, featured in the World Premiere cast of HGO’s Marian’s Song and numerous productions, such as Theatre Under the Star’s production of Ragtime and Solange’s film When I Get Home. Now based in New York City, for most of her professional career she has worked in arts administration for multiple arts organizations across the country in Operations, Programming, Digital Media Management, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Denise is the co-founder of Ready Collective, a Black-owned and female-led boutique creative agency that specializes in branding, social media strategy, and everything in between. She is also proud to be the Founder and Chair of the HSPVA Black Alumni Network, Inc. whose purpose is to connect alumni and champion the next generation of HSPVA artists and professionals. In her spare time Denise enjoys posting on her blog Bougie on a Budget which serves as a resource “for the modern woman conserving her coin.”

Evelyn Jacobson

Bookkeeper

Evelyn was born and raised in New Jersey. She has 2 beautiful daughters and 2 wonderful grandchildren. Evelyn has been a staff accountant/bookkeeper for more than 20 years, starting in legal accounting and then moving to an accounting firm with diversified clients. She has extensive experience with Quickbooks and tax preparation. Evelyn has been with The School for Strings since 2011.