Malcolm J. Merriweather, Music Director
Stevie Ryan, Accompanist
Wai Hei (Ryan) Cheung, Assistant Conductor
Kimberley Cohan, Operations Director

Barbara Scharf Schamest, President
Jon Lowy, Vice-President
Don Harrison Secretary
Christopher Platt, Treasurer
Jonas Cartano, Board Member
Kathryne Singleton, Board Member

Nicole Yuen, Board Member
Amanda Kelly, Board Member
Ryan Mesina, Board Member
Cyndee Socci, Board Member
John Stolen, Board Member
Diana Young, Board Member

Malcolm J. Merriweather, Music Director

GRAMMY nominated conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather is Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and Music Director of New York City’s The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra. He is an Associate Professor and the Tania León Endowed Chair at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

He is a sought-after interpreter of symphonic choral works most recently conducting grand performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Handel’s Messiah. In addition to core symphonic repertoire, he is known for the world premiere recordings of The Ballad of the Brown King, Credo, and Simon Bore the Cross by Margaret Bonds (AVIE Records) with The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra. A frequent guest conductor, he has conducted the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Novus Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ensembles under his baton have performed at venues that include The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Madison Square Garden, Brooklyn Academy of Music Westminster Abbey, and at the Vatican before Pope Francis. At the invitation of Solange Knowles, he joined the interdisciplinary studio and creative agency, Saint Heron, for performances with Voices of Harlem and The Clark Sisters in Glory to Glory: A Revival of Devotional Art.

Merriweather has earned degrees from Eastman, Manhattan School of Music, and Syracuse University and was a fellow at Tanglewood. Connect with him on Twitter and Instagram.

Steven Ryan, Accompanist

Steven Ryan has been Dessoff’s accompanist and featured keyboard soloist since 1997. He has played celesta with the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall; piano, harpsichord, and organ with Dessoff; and synthesizer with the Moody Blues. Conductors he has collaborated with include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Charles Dutoit, Neeme Jäarvi, Sir Neville Marriner, Gerard Schwarz, and Maxim Shostakovich.

In 2012 Steve was a featured artist in Dessoff’s first Midwinter Festival, performing Robin Holloway’s Gilded Goldbergs at Weill Recital Hall with Catherine Venable. In 2011–12 he also appeared on the Stamford Symphony recital series, performed Grammy Award-nominated composer Robert Aldridge’s Piano Trio, and toured in Austria.

Steve is a regular accompanist at Montclair State University, working with the choirs and in voice studios. In recent years he has performed in Russia and France, and played several solos with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra. In 2000, he won second prize at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, and in 2001 he took first place in the Concours des Grand Amateurs de Piano in France.

Kimberley Cohan, Operations Director

Operations Director Kimberley Cohan is a nonprofit professional, actor, singer, dancer, and teaching artist. She has worked at nonprofit organizations and theatre companies throughout the country, including serving as the Programs Director at Theatre Bay Area (TBA) and the Director of Operations at the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA). While at TBA, Kimberley helmed the creation of the Performing Arts Worker Relief Fund at TBA — ramping up an entirely new emergency relief fund over several weeks; collaborating with partner organizations, funders, and media relations to successfully raise over $650,000 and distribute nearly 800 grants in less than a year. Having joined The Dessoff Choirs as Operations Director in April 2022, Kimberley has overall responsibility for chorus operations of The Dessoff Choirs, reporting to the President of the Board of Directors and working with the Music Director, the Board, the marketing and development committees. She collaborates with the Music Director on all operational details related to concerts, rehearsals, and events, while also serving as the administrator for all technology used by Dessoff.

Kimberley has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music, Economics, and Environmental Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz. As a performer, Kimberley recently made her NYC theater debut in the new musical Holiday In Heaven at Theater for the New City. www.kimberleycohan.com

Wai Hei (Ryan) Cheung, Assistant Conductor

Wai Hei (Ryan) Cheung is a conductor, violinist, bass-baritone, and music educator based in New York. Cheung currently serves as the assistant conductor for The Dessoff Choirs. His conducting experiences include semi-professional choir, community choir, children chorus, collegiate choir, and church choir. A passionate educator, Cheung has taught at Azusa Pacific University and various music institutions across Southern California.

Cheung has been actively performing at prestigious venues, music festivals, choral competitions, musical conferences around the world. He has competed in Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, World Choir Games, 15th International Chamber Choir Competition Marktoberdorf, and Florilège Vocal de Tours. He has sung mass by invitation at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, and has performed in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, France, Latvia, China, Hong Kong, and the United States. Cheung has been a featured performer at Xi’an International Choral Festival in China and both national and regional conferences of American Choral Directors Association. Cheung was a winner of Azusa Pacific University Concerto Competition in 2023.

Cheung has been part of recording projects such as award winning and Billboard #1 on Traditional Classical Album Echoes of Grace: Choral Music of Patti Drennan, the “The Immersive Choir” with Jasper Randall, Richard Burchard: Into the light, and Compassion album of Sangeeta Kaur.

Cheung earned his Master of Music in Choral Music from the University of Southern California, where he studied conducting under Dr. Tram Sparks, Dr. Cristian Grases, Grant Gershon, Dr. Troy Quinn, and Dr. Jacob Sustaita. Cheung also holds an Artist Certificate and a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Music Education from Azusa Pacific University, where he studied violin under Yuki Mori, Min Jung Park, and Dr. Alex Russell.