ELITE PREPARATORY ACADEMY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chairman of EPA Board of Education
Dr. Riley was born and raised in Manhasset, Dr. Riley is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University and received his Ph.D. from The Graduate Center of CCNY. He and his wife, Dr. Keming Liu, a noted translator of Chinese poetry and a professor at CUNY, live in New York and Cutchogue on the North Fork. As an educator and Dr. Riley published his latest book, "Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism," bringing the number of books he's authored to 32. Other books include "The Jazz Age in France," "The Art of Peter Max," "Art at Lincoln Center," "The Arts and the World Economy," "Color Codes" and "The Saints of Modern Art." His next book, a study of Rodin in Chinese and English, will be published by the Chimei Museum. Dr. Riley's monographs include those on Ben Schonzeit, Fritz Bultman and Peter Max, with most published by Abrams. As a sought after guest commentator on the art market as well as other topics, Dr. Riley has appeared on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, ABC and Fox News. Mr. Riley is also the director of Nassau county museum of art.
Job Titles:
- Musical Theater and Vocals Teacher
Corinne has been teaching privately off and on since 2011, ranging in ages and styles of music. She wants to show her students the power of performance and song. She is always her students' biggest cheerleader!
Dan brings international experience in education to our school. He holds a BS in Chemistry and Physics from University of Bucharest, Romania. Dan has also studied philosophy and pedagogy at "Goetheanum" University in Dornach, Switzerland. He is fluent in four languages. In USA, Dan has been very active in the Waldorf pedagogy. He holds a Waldorf Teacher Certificate from Center for Anthroposophy, Wilton, NH. His most recent interest is educational technology. Currently Dan is pursuing a Master in Instructional Technology at Touro College, NYC. Dan is an accomplished 4-Dan master in the mathematical board game of GO (Wei Qi). He likes to travel, to cook, to work in the garden and meet new people.
Job Titles:
- Math Teacher / Associate of Applied Science, Gordon College, Punjab University
Skilled High School and College Teacher with proven ability to improve student learning, Eddie is a highly experienced High School Teaching Professional with a strong dedication to the total development of his students. In his combined 34 years of instructing expertise, both at the College and High School level, he has always considered teaching more as a mission to educate and motivate the students, rather than a profession. Eddie has worked as Adjunct Lecturer in Mathematics, Math teacher at Susan Wagner High School as well as Coordinator for the Alliance for Minority Participation at Discovery Institute, College of Staten Island. Eddie adds tutor to his list of skill sets at the College of Staten Island, and currently serves as our Math Teacher for EPA High School.
Job Titles:
- Dean of Students / Head of Guitar Department
Frankie is a graduate Cum Laude in Music Education from NYU. As an educator he has arranged and adapted numerous musicals, plays and movie's into successful workshops and staged productions for students in the USA, Europe and Asia. His primary instrument is guitar however Di-Donato is an accomplished instrumentalist on a many instruments. Though a Veteran of the NYC Rock scene through the late 80' and 90's, he is fluent in all styles and has studied guitar with jazz great Randy Johnston and world percussion with Sir John Hatfeld. He is a BillBoard award winning songwriter and won several festival awards for film score. He most recently is composing music for his "New Illuminati Chamber Ensemble" which is an eclectic and exciting 5 piece group.
Job Titles:
- Communication Arts / Graphic Design Teacher
Joseph is a graduate of Roanoke College, where his foundation in the graphic arts began. He has worked as a Senior Art Director for many promotional ad agencies throughout the Tri State Area, eventually landing as CEO and Owner of his very own designfirm, focusing on web development and motion graphic design. He has won many accolades including the BOLI Award for best package design series, and has been a commissioned artist for the likes of NYC Arts for Transit and the City of Yonkers NY.
Joshua Walker is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator originally hailing from Northern New Jersey. After learning the saxophone at 8, Joshua embarked on a lifelong journey in the pursuit of knowledge. This journey led him to study Jazz Saxophone at Western Connecticut State University under the tutelage of Jimmy Greene, Andrew Beals, and Dave Noland. While finishing his undergraduate degree Joshua was able to perform in a variety of large and small ensembles throughout the Tri-State Area. After graduating in 2017 he relocated to New York City to pursue a Masters Degree at Purchase College. While at Purchase College, Joshua studied privately with Ralph Lalama (Saxophone) and Ingrid Jensen (Composi-tion/Music Theory). In addition to his studies, Joshua was also performing in venues in New York City and beyond, including Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, The Blue Note, Silvana, The Shrine and many more.
Mr. Hwang is a certified math teacher who graduated from Brown University with a Master's degree in Mathematics. He has been teaching various levels of high school math for over 15 years, including SAT Math, Precalculus, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and AP Statistics. Mr. Hwang is a true "Math Guru" and he teaches the fundamentals of mathematics to help students, and his main goal is not only for students to excel on exams, but also to build a solid foundation in mathematics used to solve real world problems and future advancement.
Mr. Kovalcin, a physics enthusiast, has coached many students on the US Olympiad team and has even helped write a Physics textbook. He has been teaching physics for over 36 years at various institutions, including Monmouth County Science and Engineering Center at Manalapan High School. Mr. Kovalcin has gained many experiences with students by teaching AP Physics I, II, C Mechanics and E&M, Honor Physics, and Olympiad Physics, as well as coaching the Manalapan High School Physics team in the National Science League to first place. Mr. Kovalcin's classes are also filled with exciting laboratory experiments that enhance the classroom environment. He clearly explains difficult concepts to students and specifically, the origins and applications of the laws of physics.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Board
- Head of Schools / Member of Executive Board
Mr. Yi Qian is a highly dedicated and passionate educator and musician. Throughout his educational career, Mr. Qian has placed particular emphasis on enhancing the school's overall strength and social impact through curriculum building, school spirit, values development, leadership team building, talent development, and college advancement planning. Elite Preparatory Academy has vastly grown under Mr. Qian's leadership into an outstanding private school in New Jersey and an exceptional music specialty school within the United States. Mr. Qian holds a Master's Degree in Music Performance from Northwestern University. Prior to serving as EPA's Head of School, Mr. Qian was the founder and director of iSchool of Music and Art located in Long Island, New York. He also serves as the director of the Pre-College division of the Musiktage am Rhein Music Festival in Germany. He has accompanied his students to world-famous venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the National Center for the Performing Arts in North America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Qian was awarded "Distinguished Contribution as an Asian American" in Nassau County, New York State, in 2009.
Mr. Ziyu Liu is an influential artist who has in-depth research in both Chinese painting and European landscape oil painting. He has held 9 individual exhibitions internationally and participated in more than 20 international exhibitions. Many of his works are collected by museums, companies and individuals in China and Russia.He has published many academic articles in Chinese, Russian, and English journals. In 2020, Tsinghua University Press in Beijing published his book "Manuscripts of Russian 19th Century Painting Masters-Sketching Figures".
Ms. Pross is currently teaching AP Chemistry at West Windsor Plainsboro High School for over 10 years, with over 20 years on teaching honor Chemistry and AP Chemistry. She has a master's degree and has also been an AP college board exam free response reader/grader for the last 6 years. She has helped countless students during her tenure to achieve the highest possible level of understanding in all chemistry concepts and AP chemistry exam, with this past year having a 95% passing rate with majority of the passing students scoring a 5. In addition to her teaching, she is also the Science Olympiad and Science Bowl Coach who has taken her teams to multiple state and national championships.
Job Titles:
- Artistic Director / Master Degree in Piano Performance
Ms. Vivian Zheng began playing the piano at the very early age of 4. She received many awards during her childhood and adult life. In 2005, she was the top prize winner of the Mozart for Young Pianist Competition in China. The very next year, she won 1st prize in the Eleventh American Open Competition for Young Pianists. In addition, she was invited by Shan Dong University and Weihai television station to hold a solo piano concert named "The Dance of Fingers" and further, that same year, she was selected to perform in one of the biggest Chopin music festivals and the PULSAR festival in North Europe. Vivian also won the Excellent Piano Teacher award from the Forte Music Competition, served as a judge for the Golden Key Piano Competition and performed at Carnegie Hall.
In her college years, she was awarded a full scholarship and traveled to Denmark to study with the Director of the Music Department, one of the most famous Scandinavian Pianists and Composers, Niklas Sivelov. Referring to Vivian, Niklas said, "As a natural performer, her music just flowed through her blood," In addition to Niklas Sivelov, Vivian has also studied with several world-renowned teachers, including, Dmitri Bashkirov, Jens Elvekjaer, and Philip Kawin.
Along with teaching piano, Vivian serves as a music ambassador, where she organizes concerts and music festivals in order to contribute to a cultural exchange between Europe, North America, and Asia.
Job Titles:
- Piano and Chamber Music Teacher / Master of Music, the Juilliard School
Pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera ranks among the most highly regarded and diverse chamber artists performing today. She maintains a career that has taken her to every major American music center and abroad to Europe, Russia, and Asia. Recent performances include those at Alice Tully Hall, Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Jordan Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Kennedy Center, and Salle Cortot. She has appeared at the Caramoor, Bard, Grand Teton, and Cape Cod music festivals, and has performed with the chamber music societies of Philadelphia and La Jolla. She has recorded for Sony, EMI, Audiophon, and Centaur Records.
Ms. Cassidy-Polera has collaborated with leading soloists, including David Shifrin, Matt Haimovitz, Carter Brey, Antonio Meneses, Aurora-Natalie Ginastera, Yo-Yo Ma, and Leonard Rose. Winner of the accompanying prize at the VIII International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, she regularly collaborates with laureates of the Queen Elisabeth, Tchaikovsky, and Naumburg international competitions.
Originally from New York City, Robert was raised in South Florida, where he began his musical studies on both violin and piano. Robert went on to study violin performance at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD with Violaine Melancon of the Peabody Trio. After receiving his Bachelor's, he attained his Master of Arts and Graduate Artist Diploma in Performance at Montclair State University where he studied with Weigang Li of the Shanghai Quartet. While at Montclair, Robert was the Graduate Assistant of the Orchestra.
Robert has been featured as guest soloist with numerous orchestras in Florida, New York, New Jersey, and along the East Coast, and has collaborated with some of the world's most iconic musical figures such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Jamie Laredo, and many others. Internationally, Robert has performed in several chamber music settings including East China Normal University, Western District Chamber Music of Hong Kong, and the ‘Konzert im Kirchgarten' series in Hanover, Germany. Robert is also a member of the Violin Faculty at the Cazadero Performing Arts Camp in Cazadero, CA, and currently runs the violin program at the Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark, while also accompanying the RTA chorus on piano.
Yunus N. ANGINER is a passionate political scientist and historian. He completed his school years both in Turkey and the USA. After graduating from International Relations in the USA, he specialized in the Middle East politics and history. The historical, cultural, social and economic texture of this geography, which shape the lives of most of the peoples of the world today, has always attracted him. He has conducted research in various universities abroad in this field He continued his studies on Palestine-Israel uninterruptedly. His first research and articles were published at different Universities. He taught History, Political Science, English in different countries.