Neighborhood Strings Staff

Patrick Chatham served as principal cellist with the Worcester Youth Symphony Orchestra from 2015-2019 under the artistic executive director Jonathan Colby. He was also with the Worcester Youth Honors String Quartet and the
Worcester Youth Baroque Orchestra from 2016-2019. Patrick studied cello with Betsy Bronstein in Worcester. From 2019-2020 he performed with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Orchestra and Medwin quartet. Patrick was a Young Artist in Residence at the First Unitarian Church of Worcester from 2017-2019 as a soloist and with the honors string quartet. He has also attended the Global String Intensive Summer Program at Berklee College of Music twice and attended
the New England Conservatory’s summer orchestra institute.

Patrick is currently the Junior High Strings Director at the Bancroft school in Worcester, and is currently a member of the Symphony Pro Musica Orchestra under conductor Mark Churchill. Patrick enjoys freelancing across New England, performing at weddings, school musicals, shows at the Hanover Theater, retirement homes, and private functions. He is currently a faculty member at the Worcester Music Academy and Thayer Conservatory where he gives private
lessons.

Originally from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, cellist Joe Cracolici is the Program Manager of Neighborhood Strings. He received his Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music and Accounting at the College of the Holy Cross as the John E. Brooks Music Scholar, and earned his Master of Music degree in Cello Performance in Boston at the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

As an orchestral musician, Joe has made festival appearances at the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, the Eastern Music Festival, and the Trentino Music Festival in Mezzano, Italy performing as principal under such conductors as Gerard Schwarz, José-Luis Novo, and J. David Jackson. In local orchestral settings, he has performed with such orchestras as the New England Repertory Orchestra, the Du Bois Orchestra, the Apollo Ensemble of Boston, the Boston Civic Symphony while internationally, he has appeared on multiple occasions with Orquesta Iberacademy in Medellín, Colombia under conductors Alejandro Posada and Roberto Gonzalez-Monjas.

As an orchestral soloist, Joe has performed the Haydn Concerti with the Stockbridge Sinfonia and Holy Cross Orchestra, while as an individual performer, he had the honor of opening the Dedication Concert of the Prior Performing Arts Center at Holy Cross with selections from the Bach Cello Suites.

A strong believer and passionate advocate for chamber music, Joe has collaborated with and performed alongside many musicians to present both traditional masterworks and exciting premiere performances of contemporary works. While at Longy, Joe served as the cellist of Trio Idoneus and the Trevi Quartet, regularly presenting chamber music classics by Fauré, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Debussy alongside historically underperformed or new compositions by such composers as Fanny Hensel, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. Outside of these groups, Joe has collaborated in chamber performances with celebrated artists including violinists Katherine Winterstein and Michelle Ross, violist Sergio Munoz-Leiva, pianist Adam Golka, and cellist Jan Müller-Szeraws, among many others. In his chamber music studies, Joe has had the privilege of working with members of the Cassatt String Quartet and Horszowski Trio, while as an individual cellist, he has performed in masterclasses for cellists Zlatomir Fung, Julian Schwarz, Elizabeth Anderson, Nicholas Finch, and Gwen Krosnick.

As an educator, Joe has worked in both public school and music school settings, having previously taught at the Boston String Academy, in the Somerville Public Schools, and in the Longy Sistema Side-by-Side program. Outside of teaching at and assisting with the administration of Neighborhood Strings, Joe is also on the faculty at the Pakachoag Music School and the Concord Conservatory of Music, and serves as the Lower Strings Orchestra Coach at Clark University.

Ariana Falk, Executive Director / Cello is an arts leader, educator, and cellist committed to building community through exceptional music education and performance. As Executive Director of Worcester Chamber Music Society, she leads the organization’s artistic, educational, and strategic initiatives, including Neighborhood Strings, a tuition-free Creative Youth Development program serving more than 115 Worcester youth.

Before becoming Executive Director, Ariana served for more than a decade as WCMS’s Education Director, helping to shape Neighborhood Strings into one of the nation’s leading youth music initiatives. A former Fellow at Community MusicWorks in Providence, she believes that music has the power to foster belonging, build confidence, and create opportunities for young people to thrive.

An accomplished performer, Ariana continues to appear regularly as a chamber musician and soloist. She has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout North America, including appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, and on live broadcasts for WGBH and WVPR. She has collaborated with distinguished artists including Menahem Pressler, Paul Katz, and Joan Tower, and has premiered dozens of new works by living composers.

Ariana earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University and Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from the Yale School of Music, where she received the Aldo Parisot Prize. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Yale College. A Fulbright Scholar to Germany, she serves on the board of the Massachusetts Fulbright Association and on the faculty of Clark University.

Rohan Gregory, violin – Rohan Gregory is a violinist that has cultivated a wide-ranging expertise in chamber music, new music and world music. He has played with the Apple Hill Chamber Players, the Ancora Ensemble and award-winning Boccherini Ensemble and was also a founding member for ten years of the Arden String Quartet, performing new music concerts in New York, Boston, Amsterdam and St. Petersburg, Russia.  He has recorded on for Centaur records.

On the world music scene, Rohan has toured extensively. His travels have taken him to Europe with the Klezmatics, to Thailand with multi-ethnic flute player Abbie Rabinowitz, to India with the Indo-jazz group Natraj and to the U.S. west coast with Sophia Bilides Greek Folk Ensemble. Recently he has played nationally and internationally with the flamenco guitarist Juanito Pascual. Locally, Rohan is a member of the Lyric Opera Company and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He coaches chamber music for the Walnut Hill School, teaches at the College of the Holy Cross, and spends his summers coaching at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber music in New Hampshire, at Music at Port Milford in Ontario, Canada, and at the WCMS ChamberFest Music Camp.

Violist and violinist, Gerdlie Jean Louis, from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is a musical educator that has attended and worked with several El Sistema-centric programs, like Neighborhood Strings, throughout their musical career. During their time studying at El Sistema Program Kids4Harmony they were a member of the Elayne P. Bernstein Octet, Elayne P. Bernstein Ensemble, and a junior faculty member before graduating from Pittsfield High School. Having studied under musicians like Alla Zernistkaya, Courntey Clark, and Jorge Soto, Gerdlie was able to participate in the Longy Sistema Side by Side Orchestra, the YOLA National Festival and the YOLA National Institute where they performed with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2019.

Before graduating with a BA in Music from Clark University in 2025, Gerdlie participated in the Clark University Symphony Orchestra, the Goddard Quartet, Robbie Wilson’s senior capstone “The Forest is Full of Color,” and the Pickle Jars, a local band on campus. Studying under musicians Peter Sulski, Devin Cowan, and Anton Boutkov they completed two recital projects titled “Tall Tales for a Short King” and “Good Luck Clarkie” with the help of Clark faculty Yelena Beriyeva and John Freyermuth.

As a chamber musician, Gerdlie has worked with the Berkshire-based Pluto String Ensemble, performing at The Foundry, a local performance space in West Stockbridge, during the summers of 2023 and 2025 alongside musicians like Leila Paredes, Geivens Dextra, and Gerdrose Jean Louis. They are also the principal violists of the Stockbridge Sinfonia Orchestra, based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Susan Kirchhausen, violin/viola grew up in Baltimore, MD and began studying piano and violin as a youngster, making the switch to viola in the 7th grade.  A veteran of All-Eastern, State, County, and regional youth orchestras, Susan studied with members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She spent summers at various music festivals, including Brevard Music Center, Grand Teton, and the Eastern Music Festival.  A graduate of Florida State University (Music Performance – Viola), she earned her Master’s in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Susan has been a private music teacher in Central Massachusetts since 1996. Operating out of her Fiskdale (formerly Worcester) studio, Susan’s students currently span the region from Hopkinton to Sturbridge, and encompass grade school children to adults. While her primary focus is in the interconnection of one-on-one lessons, she also has extensive chamber music coaching experience and has conducted adult and youth orchestras. In addition to her busy teaching schedule, Susan maintains an active performance schedule as a freelance violist throughout  New England and beyond.

A versatile musician, Susan enjoys performing and teaching many genres of music.  Before making her home in New England, Susan made her way up the East Coast playing with the Disney All-American College Orchestra and the Tallahassee, Greensboro, and Savannah Symphony Orchestras. She has particularly enjoyed working with such artists as Sarah Chang, Jian Wang, Ray Charles, The Moody Blues, Dave Brubeck, Judy Collins, Rosemary Clooney, Matt Catingub, Mariachi Cobre and the Irish Tenors. 

Susan currently performs with the New England Repertory Orchestra, the Quinebaug Quartet and many other ensembles throughout New England. For the 2024-25 school year Susan will conduct a string ensemble at the Joy of Music Program in Worcester, and is excited to be joining the faculty of both Neighborhood Strings (Worcester) and the Rectory School in Pomfret, CT.

Peter Sulski, Ensemble Director/violin/viola, has performed in over 30 countries as a member of the Apple Hill Chamber Players, London Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, Cyprus Chamber Orchestra, and Al Kamandjati Baroque Ensemble (Palestine). He returned to his native Worcester in 2002, after holding the position of Head of Strings of the Edward Said National Palestinian Conservatory.

Mr. Sulski is a c0-founder and member of the Worcester Chamber Music Society, which performs over twenty concerts annually in the New England region. Peter is also the founder of Chapel Royal Concerts in Brighton, England, now entering its 25th season, presenting over 40 concerts annually.

He currently appears as principal violist with Odyssey Opera, Camerata New England, and the Vista Philharmonic.  Other chamber music activities include the Pedroia quartet, (along with Jae Lee, a founder of A Far Cry), the Chameleon Ensemble,  duo partnerships with pianists Yundu Wang and Jonathan Yasuda, Boston Musica Viva, Clark 2021 Contemporary Ensemble, and the Al Kamandjati Baroque Ensemble.

Other activities and professorships include Concert Master of  Bach Consort, specializing in baroque violin concertos, and positions at Assumption University, and Worcester State University.

He received his undergraduate education at the Eastman School of Music, and holds Artist Diplomas from the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Royal Academy of Music, London. Peter is a former fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center.

Mr. Sulski is a United States Cultural Envoy to Jerusalem for his work bringing music to young Palestinians living in refugee camps. He is also a solo recording artist for Parma Records.