About us!
Quintocracy, a wind quintet based in the Capital Region of Upstate New York, firmly believes in the idea that music is for all. Classical music shouldn’t be limited to traditional settings and the music we listen to and perform should be as diverse as the culture we live in. Their interactive concerts draw in listeners who otherwise would not know they were interested through their sassy and engaging discussions and superb artistry. Watch Quintocracy break the classical ensemble mold and join their community today!
Melanie Chirignan is a flautist known for her musicality and versatility of repertoire. Her eclectic tastes have led Melanie to collaborate with many different performers and ensembles. As an orchestral player, she has performed with: New York Chamber Players Orchestra, Albany Pro Musica, Octavo Chamber Orchestra, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, Garden State Philharmonic, the Chelsea Symphony, Gateway Classical Music Society, among others. As a chamber musician, Melanie has performed with jazz bass legend, Nat Reeves, traditional Irish harpist Hailey Hewitt, Philadelphia Fife and Drum Corps, guitarists Scott Hill, Oren Fader, and the Alturas Duo. She has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Opera America, the DiMenna Center, Tenri Cultural Center, for Composer's Voice Concert Series, Cornelia St. Cafe, the Connecticut Guitar Society, at many public library concert series’ including Troy, the Windsor Historical Society, the New Britain Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Windsor Art Center, and the Wadsworth Museum of Art, Proctors, among others. As a soloist, Melanie has been featured with the Chelsea Symphony, performing "Poem" by Charles Griffes.
Melanie has also worked closely with many composers and has premiered new works by Nolan Stolz (Princess Ka'iulani, released on SCI/ Parma Recordings), Masatora Goya, Sean Pallatroni, Brendon Randall-Myers, and made the world premiere recording of the Delian Suite, from a body of international composers in the Delian Society. She has recorded several works for Masatora Goya's album, Dream Of Sailing, available on ITunes and Amazon. She also recorded "Latinos Ni de Aqui Ni de Alla" on the Latin Heartbeat Orchestra album, El Regreso.
Originally from Hauppauge, NY, Melanie Chirignan earned her bachelor’s in Music Performance and Music Education graduating magna cum laude from SUNY Fredonia and her master’s degree in Flute Performance at the Hartt School. A certified music teacher, she has taught general music, chorus, and orchestra, and has taught every level from elementary school to conservatory level students. With Alturas Duo, Melanie has taught workshops on the "Origins of South American Folk Music" through Hartford Performs. She is currently freelancing and teaching in the Capital Region and is a BOCES presenter for flute master classes.
Kelly Lockwood is an oboist that teaches and performs in the Albany, NY area and around the Capital Region. Kelly attended SUNY Fredonia where she studied under Dr. Sarah Hamilton and received her bachelor’s degree for music education. She went on to obtain her master’s degree at the Hartt school at the University of Hartford and an Artist Diploma from SUNY Purchase where she studied with Humbert Lucarelli for both degrees while living and working in Hartford CT and New York City, respectively.
Kelly has performed with many different groups including the Southern Tier symphony, the Rome Festival Orchestra, the New York Repertory Orchestra, the Chelsea Symphony (with which she performed the Vaughan Williams Oboe Concerto), the Glens Falls Symphony, Octavo Singers, the Woodstock Symphony, the Catskill Symphony, the Capital Region Wind Ensemble, and the Skidmore Orchestra. Kelly also plays chamber music and shows throughout the Albany region, namely with the wind quintet Quintocracy, though she has performed with Gotham Winds in New York City, as well as the upstate chamber music group Music Among Friends and as part of the concert series Chamber at the Chamber in Gloversville, NY. Kelly teaches in her own private studio in Albany as well as out of Gloversville Community Music and the Guilderland Music Academy.
Michael Dee, clarinet
Las Vegas born clarinetist, Michael Dee, is a versatile soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician based in New York’s Capital Region. Since graduating from Manhattan School of Music’s Orchestral Performance Program in 2013, under the tutelage of Mark Nuccio, Michael has performed with the New York Philharmonic, West Point Military Academy Band, served as the principal clarinetist for Bergen County Symphony Orchestra and Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, and is currently a regular substitute musician with the Albany, Schenectady, and Glens Falls Symphony Orchestras and is on faculty at Skidmore College.
Kathryn Svatek is a horn player and private teacher in the Albany area. As an orchestral player, she regularly performs with Albany Pro Musica Orchestra, Burnt Hills Oratorio, Octavo Singers, the Broad Street Chorale, Glens Falls Symphony, and is third horn in the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra. She is also a regular member of the Capital Region Wind Ensemble. In addition to teaching privately from her home studio, Svatek is the adjunct horn professor at both SUNY Schenectady and Union College. As a chamber musician, she is a member of multiple woodwind quintets, primarily Quintocracy and Zephyr Winds, and has been a part of the Tuesdays at Noon concert series at both the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and St. Paul’s Church in Troy as well as the First Fridays series at First Presbyterian Church in Albany.
A native of upstate New York, Kathryn earned her Bachelor of Music in music education from the Crane School of Music. She then continued on to her Master of Music degree in horn performance at Michigan State University. While in Michigan, she was also an active freelancer and teacher throughout the greater Lansing area, performing in symphony orchestras, including the Lansing Symphony, ballet orchestras, and chamber ensembles, and as adjunct trumpet and horn faculty at Spring Arbor University. Throughout her playing career, Svatek has had the honor of performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, and the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. She currently resides in Loudonville with her family and maintains Svatek Music, her private lessons studio.
Susan Loegering Daves, bassoon
Before returning to the capital district in 2010 Susan Loegering Daves played principal bassoon in the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans for 17 years. For most of that time she was on Orchestra board including serving as president of the musicians committee. While in New Orleans she taught bassoon and chamber music at Loyola and Tulane Universities. Mrs. Daves has also toured extensively with the Meliora Winds woodwind quintet including having management with Concert Artists Guild and being on Performance Today on NPR. Ms Daves currently teaches at Skidmore College and is principal bassoon with the Clinton, Schenectady and Catskill symphonies. She also has performed with the Albany Symphony, Glens Falls symphony and Symphoria in Syracuse. She resides in the Capital Region with her husband and twin boys.