Bass
phillip helm, principal Bass
Phillip serves as a member of the West Point Band, principal bassist of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, assistant principal bassist of the Albany Symphony Orchestra and as a member of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra.
Phillip performs regularly with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Maverick Chamber Players, Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, and the new music group Dogs of Desire. He has performed as a soloist with the West Point Band, the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra and the Albany Symphony.
Phillip has played as first-call substitute with the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonics, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, and the Syracuse Symphony. He has also played with the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Berkshire Bach Society, Kairos Consort, the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Greenwich Symphony, the Amarillo Symphony, the Windham Festival Chamber Orchestra and the Key West Symphony.
His extensive commercial and orchestral work has included playing with such notable performers as Clay Aiken, Joshua Bell, Michael Bolton, Celtic Woman, Cirque Du Soleil, Placido Domingo, Josh Groban, the Irish Tenors, Olivia Newton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Bette Midler, Natalie Merchant, Edgar Meyer, Luciano Pavarotti, and Kenny Rogers. Phillip has also played on the Game of Thrones Live Concert experience tour, the Lincoln Center production of Camelot and the tour of Sponge Bob the Musical.
Phillip has taught at Vassar College, SUNY New Paltz, Bard College, and the Stringendo Music School. He has also been the bass coach with the Empire State and Hudson Valley Youth Orchestra.
Phillip earned his Bachelor of Music from West Texas A&M University where he studied with David Murray. He also attended the Manhattan School of Music college and pre-college divisions, where he studied with Linda McKnight. As a student, Phillip spent his summers studying with Gary Karr on Vancouver Island in Canada. He received additional summer training performing with the Bard College Conductors Institute Orchestra and with the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra. Phillip has also studied with Paul Bresciani, John Feeney, and Leigh Mesh.
Misha Bjerken, Assistant principal bass
Misha Bjerken was appointed Assistant Principal Bass of the Albany Symphony Orchestra in 2025. In addition, he serves as Principal Bass of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Louisville Orchestra, Boston Pops, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. Other summer festivals include the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, and Spoleto Festival USA. In the summer of 2025, he joined the BSO and the Gewandhausorkester Leipzig as part of the Festival Orchestra for the Shostakovich Festival Leipzig 2025. As a chamber musician, Misha has played in Mayfest, Cornell’s International Chamber Music Festival, and performed Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto conducted by Samy Rachid in Boston Symphony Hall as a part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Ligeti Centennial celebration in 2023. Hailing from Ithaca, NY, he holds bachelors and masters degrees from New England Conservatory where he studied with Don Palma and Todd Seeber.
As a bassist, Misha strives to expand the instrument's versatility through different genres by performing in jazz, classical, bluegrass, and folk ensembles. He hopes to help grow the double bass repertoire for students and professionals alike. He wants to not only add music for the bass to the classical repertoire but to make classical music more accessible to younger audiences. He believes that writing and performing new music for the double bass and other previously underrepresented instruments is one step in revitalizing the importance of classical music in American culture.
luke baker
Luke Baker has been Principal Bassist of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra since 2000, and a member of the bass section of the Albany Symphony since 1987. He attended Northwestern University, studying with former Chicago Symphony Principal Bassist Joseph Guastafeste, and New England Conservatory, studying with Boston Symphony Assistant Principal Bassist Lawrence Wolfe. Baker currently teaches bass at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and also at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY and has taught bass at the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY, and Williams College in Williamstown, MA. He maintains an active teaching studio in the Albany, NY area, and has coached the bass sections of the Empire State Youth Orchestra, Vermont Youth Orchestra, and Boston Youth Symphony.
Baker lives in Albany, NY with his wife Karen and two cats. He enjoys gardening, travel, hiking, backgammon and cooking.
Zack Merkovsky
Zachary Merkovsky recently joined the West Point Band as their double bass player. On top of this duty, he maintains a busy freelance career around the NYC metro area and beyond. He is a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Symphony Orchestra, and a former member of the York Symphony Orchestra. He often plays with the North Carolina Symphony, Syracuse Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, New York Classical Players, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and New Jersey Festival Orchestra, among others.
In addition to symphonic literature, Zachary is also devoted to chamber and contemporary music. He is one half of Doubles Duo, an oboe and double bass duo, where he works to broaden the chamber repertoire for this unusual ensemble through both new commissions and his own original arrangements. Zachary has also spent two summers with the Shippensburg Festival, three with the Lucerne Contemporary Festival Orchestra, and four at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival as a guest artist. He can be seen and heard on the soundtrack of Bradley Cooper’s Maestro (2023).
Inspired by his own musical mentors throughout his career, Zachary has a genuine fondness for teaching. In addition to serving as the double bass faculty at Wharton Arts, he was a mentor for the Sussex County Youth Orchestra, Youth Orchestras of Essex County, the Music in Schools Initiative at Yale School of Music, and the John J. Cali Extension Division at Montclair State University. Zack was formerly a member of The Orchestra Now at Bard College; he holds degrees from Yale School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Montclair State University, where he studied with Donald Palma, Orin O’Brien, and Linda McKnight, respectively.
Luke Rogers
Based in New York City, Luke Rogers is an accomplished and sought after bassist in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Originally from Dallas, Texas, he began his professional career in the region as a member of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and as a regular performer with other prominent ensembles including the Dallas Opera, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony. During this time, Luke also received his master’s degree from Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX), after which he joined the Houston Symphony for a season. Before this, he received his bachelor’s degree in double bass performance at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).
Since relocating to New York City in 2024, Luke has joined the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, the Cape Symphony, and most recently the Albany Symphony Orchestra. He also performs regularly with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Ballet, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. He has also attended the Aspen Music Festival as an orchestral fellow, the Brevard Music Center, and the Texas Music Festival.
Most recently, Luke attended the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, where he joined in the pit orchestra for an exciting production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. In his free time, Luke enjoys getting together with his friends to watch soccer games at cafes and pubs across New York City.