Tuning into Broadway: Behind the Scenes with Leading Broadway Musicians

Philip Bayton has performed/recorded with a wide variety of artists including JAY-Z and Alica Keys, Billy Joel, The Who, Eagles, Tyler The Creator, Billy Porter, Pavarotti, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, and several others. He recently was in the orchestras of The Wiz and Here We Are at the Shed, and previously Camelot at Lincoln Center, The Music Man, Frozen, as concertmaster of Hello Dolly, Kinky Boots, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and West Side Story. Simon Kafka is a guitarist and pianist based in Brooklyn, NY. He has performed and recorded with many notable artists such as Elle King, Renee Rapp, Jidenna, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lesley Gore and Duncan Sheik amongst others. He also plays guitar and appears on camera for the Ms. Rachel for Littles program which has over 5 billion plays on YouTube alone. Simon writes and performs his original music and is the in house guitarist for Aladdin on Broadway in NYC. Guitarist and songwriter John Kengla has performed with Aaron Lee Tasjan, Mary McBride, Ana Egge, Serena Ryder, Jason Derulo, Jonathan Batiste, Tim Easton, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Deva Mahal, Jamie Mclean, and The Madison Square Gardeners. He has been an orchestra musician on Almost Famous, Hamilton, Rock of Ages, American Idiot, Aladdin, Spider-Man, Kinky Boots, and David Byrne’s Joan of Arc. Cellist Emily Brausa currently performs in The Notebook on Broadway. She has performed throughout the world in a wide array of ensembles and situations. Some recent highlights include: recording for Shawn Mendes’ upcoming album and performing chamber music with Chatter in New Mexico. Emily founded Rockaway Chamber Music, a new music collective that brings classical music to her home surf community of Rockaway Beach, NY. A graduate of The Juilliard School (BM, MM), she is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra and the American Ballet Theater Orchestra. Violinist, music contractor, and music arranger Antoine Silverman began classical violin lessons at the age of three. By 5, he had discovered bluegrass as well, accompanying his father and playing fiddle contests throughout the eastern United States. He was the concertmaster for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway, and has also recorded and performed with Garth Brooks, Moby, Rod Stewart, Ben Folds, Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, Lou Reed, Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional, Lenny Kravitz, Sharon Jones, Rufus Wainwright, and Michael Jackson. Music director, arranger, educator, and pianist Meghann Zervoulis Bate has worked on Broadway in Cabaret, Funny Girl, West Side Story, The Prom, Mean Girls, and Great Comet. Off-Broadway: Here We Are (The Shed), White Girl In Danger (2nd Stage/Vineyard), Only Gold (MCC), The Visitor (The Public), Merrily (Fiasco), Cagney, Rated P. She has worked on multiple productions, including Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Bandstand, and Oliver! at her home base, She also has played keyboard for the Big Apple Circus. Also a music educator and music therapist, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University.