Kirk Muspratt, Music Director and Conductor

Kirk Muspratt (Music Director and Conductor) recently received the Conductor of the Year award from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. He was also named “Chicagoan of the Year” in classical music by John von Rhein and the staff of the Chicago Tribune. In honoring Muspratt, von Rhein said, “Ask the delighted adults and kids who this year flocked to his concerts in west suburban Glen Ellyn with the New Philharmonic Orchestra … They will tell you he made concert going an interactive experience that was both enlightening and — are you ready? — fun.”

Recognized as one of the outstanding figures in the new generation of conductors, Muspratt has garnered international critical acclaim as a “born opera conductor” (Rheinische Post), “a knowledgeable musician who delivers superbly controlled, gorgeously shaped readings” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), and “friend to local music” (Midwest Beat Magazine). The Los Angeles Times declared, “Watch him!”

This season marks the 22nd anniversary of Muspratt being both Music Director of New Philharmonic and Artistic Director/Music Director of DuPage Opera Theatre (now New Philharmonic Opera). In his last fifteen years, productions featured Otello, Madama Butterfly, Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Barbiere di Seviglia, Hansel and Gretel, La Boheme, Faust, Otello, Tosca, The Beggars Opera, Elixir of Love, Turandot, Gianni Schicchi, Cosi fan Tutte, The Mikado, La Traviata, and Die Fledermaus.

In 2017 and 2009, New Philharmonic was awarded Professional Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.

In his first months at New Philharmonic, Muspratt instituted a Side-by-Side program for local high school students. Five years ago, Muspratt initiated a popular Solo Competition for Children that results in a child performing at every New Philharmonic concert.  In order to involve the community to the maximum, Muspratt has created “Just Ask Kirk™” cards for audience members’ questions and a “Kirkature™” cartoon to help advocate the credo: “Classical music is for everyone.”

Muspratt begins his 26th acclaimed season as Music Director of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra (NISO). In 2006, with NISO, he initiated the South Shore Summer Music Festival.

From 1991 through 1996, Muspratt served as resident conductor to Lorin Maazel at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Prior to that, he was appointed as associate conductor to Joseph Silverstein at the Utah Symphony Orchestra (1990-1992). From 1987 through 1990, Muspratt served as assistant conductor to Leonard Slatkin at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as well as music director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. He was music director of the Alberta Ballet from 1997 through 1999. At the New York Philharmonic, Muspratt has served as a cover conductor. During the 2018 and 2019 season Muspratt served as a guest conductor at the Joffrey Ballet.

In addition to his work in Pittsburgh, Utah and St. Louis, Muspratt has guest conducted the orchestras of Los Angeles, Montreal, London, Korean Broadcast Symphony, Detroit, Rochester, National Arts Center, Vancouver, Knoxville, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Victoria, Thunder Bay, New Orleans, Stamford, Binghamton, Lafayette, South Bend, Puchon, Annapolis, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Baltimore Chamber Symphony. Summer debuts have included the Tanglewood, Chautauqua and Sewanee Music Festivals and the Banff Center for Performing Arts.

Read more about Maestro Muspratt on his website.

Benjamin Nadel, Assistant Conductor

Benjamin Nadel is a classically trained conductor, pianist and violinist based in the Chicago area. He is currently the Associate Conductor and Orchestra Librarian for the New Philharmonic and held those same positions at the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra from 2016-2024. In addition, he is the Music Director for the Youth Symphony of DuPage, and the Orchestra Director for the Northwest Indiana Symphony Youth Orchestra and North Central College.

From 2011 – 2015 Nadel spent his summers with the Midwest Institute of Opera, as the assistant conductor to Maestro Joshua Greene of the Metropolitan Opera. While there, he conducted productions of Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, and Carmen in addition to assisting and coaching productions of Die Zauberflöte and La Cenerentola.

Nadel began his conducting studies with Dr. Glenn Block at Illinois State University while completing his undergraduate degree in Music Education. He then went on to receive his MA in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Iowa with Dr. William LaRue Jones. He has participated in several summer music festivals, including a program with Cincinnati Conservatory as a part of the summer music festival in Spoleto, Italy.

Aside from his work as a professional conductor, Nadel has a strong connection and personal interest to music education. He believes that one of the most important aspects of being an artist is to pass along that experience and knowledge to the next generation of musicians. To that end, Nadel has worked with several high school ensembles in the Chicago area, including New Trier, Metea Valley, Glenbard West, Glenbard South, and Stevenson High School. His work has included side by side concerts with New Philharmonic. He has also led conducting workshops for the Opus Chamber Music camp, North Central College, and Illinois State University.

Nadel is a current member of the International Conductor’s Guild (ICG), and the Illinois Council of Orchestras (ICO).

Paula Cebula, Consultant

Paula Cebula is a versatile musician and seasoned arts administrator with a deep history in the Chicagoland area. As the long-serving General Manager for New Philharmonic orchestra at the McAninch Arts Center, a position she has held since 2000, she oversees all aspects of the orchestra’s operations. Cebula worked alongside both New Philharmonic conductors, Harold Bauer and Kirk Muspratt. Her administrative expertise is built on 16 years of prior management and buying experience in retail at Marshall Field’s.

Cebula is also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, playing professionally on saxophone, clarinet and flute, in both classical and jazz styles. Her musical talents extend to the piano and ukulele, and she teaches privately. Her extensive education includes an Associate’s in Music from College of DuPage; a Bachelor’s in Fashion Merchandising from Northern Illinois University; an MBA in Marketing from Dominican University and Master’s in Music from Northern Illinois University. In addition to her roles in Chicago, she is involved in several music outreach programs in Southwest Florida.

Ms. Cebula will continue her relationship with New Philharmonic as a consultant for the 2026-2027 season.

Karen Dickelman, Orchestra Manager & Personnel Manager

Karen Dickelman assumed the Orchestra Manager position of New Philharmonic at the start of the 2026-2027 season. She also serves as the orchestra’s Personnel Manager and has been a member of the viola section since 1980.

Her performing experience is extensive – having performed with many orchestras, chamber ensembles and opera companies. Karen is a former Principal Violist with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and has performed under the batons of Sir Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, Sergiu Comissiona and Carlo Maria Giulini.  Also comfortable in popular and commercial venues she has performed on studio recordings and in live shows with internationally acclaimed artists in a variety of genres.

Karen brings multiple management and leadership experiences to the New Phil team, having also held positions in the finance and investment industries, as well as academia.

Michele Lekas, Concertmaster

Ms. Lekas received her Bachelors and Masters Degree from the Quebec Conservatory of Music in her native Canada, and later studied in the United States with Jaime Laredo, David Cerone and Sally Thomas. She has played in masterclasses for Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szeryng, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and Joseph Silverstein. Ms. Lekas was a member of the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, the chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy (Quebec), and the Camerata Lysy Gstaad (Switzerland). She was also Associate Concertmaster of the New American Chamber Orchestra (based in Spain) and toured with the orchestra in Europe for a year, prior to moving to the United States.

Ms. Lekas is currently concertmaster of the Northwest Indiana Symphony, the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, and the New Philharmonic Orchestra, and is a substitute musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She often appears as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Ms. Lekas has recorded for CLAVES with the New American Chamber Orchestra, for Warner Brothers and NAXOS with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and with Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her classical repertoire, Ms. Lekas works in recording studios, and often performs for Broadway in Chicago productions.

Melissa Bach, Cello

A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Melissa Bach is an active orchestral and chamber musician in the Chicago area, performing with New Philharmonic, Northwest Indiana Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, International Chamber Artists, and Quartet Parapluie, for which she is a founding member. Outside of classical music, Ms. Bach spends a great deal of time in recording studios, recording many styles of music. No stranger to the pop/rock world, she appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman with Bright Eyes, while on the U.S. portion of a world tour. Ms. Bach has also performed live with Peter Gabriel, Idina Menzel, Michael Bublé, Barry Manilow, Kanye West, Kishi Bashi, Sleeping At Last, and Pinetop Seven, among others. She received her Bachelor’s degree with highest honors from DePaul University, where she studied with Christopher Costanza.

Melinda Getz, 2nd Oboe/English Horn

Melinda began studying oboe at the age of 9 and at age 13 was awarded two summer scholarships to study oboe and music theory at the St. Louis Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Barbara Herr of the St. Louis Symphony. She was the youngest player to be accepted as principal oboist with St. Louis Youth Symphony, performing at Powell Symphony Hall. Melinda has performed in numerous woodwind, chamber and orchestral groups throughout the years both on oboe and English Horn.

She received a full scholarship to The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, studying with John DeLancie and Richard Woodhams, principal oboists of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Melinda performed with the Curtis Symphony at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. She has performed under conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Gerhardt Zimmerman, Pinchas Zuckerman and Leonard Slatkin .

Melinda has been a member of New Philharmonic for thirty years.

In her non-music time, she has 30 years martial arts background and training, including 3rd degree black belts in Hapkido, Tang So Do, and Kabudo. Melinda was personally asked to attend master classes with Ji Han Jae, teacher of the great Bruce Lee, and was featured in the movie Game of Death. She loves dogs and enjoys spoiling her 2nd Jack Russell Terrier, Taffy.

Melinda also enjoys cooking and considers herself an expert in Greek cuisine —passed down from her mother.

Bill Kronenberg, Violin and Viola

Bill Kronenberg did his undergraduate work at the University of Illinois receiving degrees in philosophy and music education. He received his MM degree in violin performance at Western Illinois University while working as a graduate assistant in the Suzuki program there. His violin teachers include Almita Vamos, Homer Schmitt, & Julian Aaron. He has studied Suzuki pedagogy with John Kendall, Almita Vamos, & Doris Preucil. Bill was an orchestra director and Suzuki violin instructor in the public schools of Lombard and Arlington Heights. He now teaches at the Music Institute of Chicago. He is a popular clinician throughout the country primarily as an improvisation instructor.

He has been a member of New Philharmonic since it’s opening season (it was a kindermusic class at that time.) He has appeared as a violist on radio stations WFMT & WCRX, on television in “The Untouchables”, and at Steppenwolf Theater in “A Clockwork Orange.” He can be heard on recordings with the 3rd Coast String Quartet and Mountain Time.

Claire Langenberg, Cello

Originally from Lancaster, PA, cellist Claire Langenberg has performed throughout the Midwest and East Coast as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. In addition to New Philharmonic, she is a member of the Quad City Symphony and Battle Creek Symphony. In addition to her orchestral playing, Claire is an active freelance musician and has performed with Josh Groban, Barry Manilow, Peter Gabriel, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Kristin Chenoweth, and Paul Potts. She is also the founder and artistic director of Windy City Chamber Musicians, a group of musicians who perform for weddings and corporate events throughout the Chicago area. Claire teaches private cello lessons both at her home and at North Central College, and also enjoys being a Beachbody health and fitness coach. She currently resides in Aurora, IL with her husband and 3 boys. Her primary teachers were Bonnie Thron, Laurien Laufman, David Wells, and most recently Richard Hirshl. Claire holds degrees from the University of Illinois and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Carolyn May, Principal Flute

Carolyn May has been the principal flutist in New Philharmonic since its inception in 1977. She has soloed with the orchestra on Mozart, Nielsen, and Ibert concertos in addition to several of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. When Carolyn joined the orchestra, she had recently married, lived in Bensenville, and taught elementary and junior high band in Park Ridge. In the thirty-some years that followed, she has been balancing performances with child rearing (she and her husband Dave had three sons), teaching flute lessons at College of DuPage and at her studio in LaGrange, receiving her Master’s Degree from Northwestern University, and returning to band directing in School District 102 (LaGrange, LaGrange Park, and Brookfield).

Ms. May recounts, I remember the day I auditioned for New Philharmonic like it was yesterday. My appointment was on a Friday at 5:30 PM with Harold Bauer, the founding conductor of New Phil. I was delayed in traffic on Roosevelt Road’fortunately, Harold waited for me to arrive, and I’m so glad he did! To this day, I treasure playing in New Philharmonic and have only missed one concert in thirty seven years due to the birth of a child. I never take my position for granted.

Nancy Moore, Cello

Nancy Moore played an audition for Harold Bauer (then the conductor of New Philharmonic) in late summer of 1999. It was memorable because she had just moved back to the Chicago area from Alabama and all her belongings (except her cello) were still in storage in that state. She played the audition of solo and orchestral excerpts from memory because neither she nor Harold had music for her to read. She is grateful that he was willing to take a chance on her and let her join the orchestra. While in Alabama, she spent eleven years as a member of the Alabama Symphony and performed with orchestral and chamber groups throughout that state. Since returning to Illinois she has been active as a performer and teacher. She holds degrees in music and computer science.