College of Fine Arts and Design
School of Music Faculty
Academics
School of Music Faculty and Staff
Director, UCO School of Music ◊ Division of Winds, Brass & Percussion Faculty ◊ Division of Vocal Arts Faculty ◊ Division of Strings/Orchestras Faculty ◊ Division of Jazz Studies Faculty ◊ Division of Piano/Keyboard Studies Faculty ◊ Division of Music Theatre Faculty ◊ Division of Classroom Studies ◊ Professional Staff
Dr. Keith White, Director, School of Music
Division of Winds, Brass & Percussion Faculty
Dr. Brian Lamb, Director of Bands, Trumpet
David Hanan, Associate Director of Bands
Dr. Emily Butterfield, Assistant Professor, Flute
Dr. Dawn Marie Lindblade, Clarinet
Dr. Lori Wooden, Associate Director of Orchestras & Bassoon
Brian Gorrell, Saxophone, Jazz Studies Division Head & Jazz Ensemble I
Dr. James Klages, Professor, Trumpet
Lee Rucker, Trumpet, Jazz Lab Director & Jazz Ensemble III
Clint Rohr, Trumpet & Jazz Lab Night Manager
Jeff Kidwell, Trombone and Jazz Ensemble II
Division of Vocal Arts Faculty
Dr. Karl Nelson, Director of Choral Studies
Dr. Kevin Eckard, Voice & Director of Opera
Dr. Marilyn Govich, Voice & Head, Division of Opera and Music Theatre
Division of Strings/Orchestras Faculty
Dr. Hong Zhu, Head, Violin & Chamber Orchestra Director
Dr. Ralph Morris, Director of the Symphony Orchestra & Viola
Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher, Cello and Chamber Music Professor
Division of Jazz Studies Faculty
Brian Gorrell, Head, Jazz Ensemble I & Saxophone
Jeff Kidwell, Jazz Ensemble II & Trombone
Lee Rucker, Jazz Ensemble III & Jazz Lab Director
Michael Geib, String Bass, Jazz and Commercial Music Arranging
David Hardman, Percussion & Latin Jazz Ensemble
Danny Vaughan, Jazz Guitar, Jazz Lab Arranger and Midi Specialist
Clint Rohr, Jazz History and Jazz Lab Night Manager
Division of Piano/Keyboard Studies Faculty
Dr. David Forbat, Head & Piano
Dr. Chindarat Charoenwongse-Shaw, Piano
Dr. Valery Kuleshov, Piano, Artist-in-Residence
Dr. Sallie Pollack, Collaborative Piano
Natalie Syring, Piano & Aural Skills
Division of Music Theatre Faculty
Dr. Greg White, Director of Music Theatre
Dr. Kevin Eckard, Voice &Director of Opera
Steven Smeltzer, Music Theatre
Shannon Hurleigh, Music Theatre
Dr. Sandra Thompson, Head & Theory
Dr. Samuel Magrill, Composer-in-Residence & Theory
Earl Hefley, Music Appreciation
Dr. Sion "Ted" Honea, Music History and Head of Graduate Studies
Dr. James Klages, On-line Music Appreciation, Trumpet
Dr. Thomas McCullough, Theory & Composition
Pamela Richman, Music Appreciation
Dr. Darla Eshelman, Vocal Music Education Coordinator
Jeff Kidwell, Instrumental Education Coordinator
Laurie Flewwellin, Administrative Assistant I
Jana Nickel, Administrative Assistant I
Jerri White, Student Retention
Bryan Mitschell, Recording Engineer
Richard Jobe, Staff Accompanist
Mariann Searle, Staff Accompanist
Brian Gorrell, Jazz Ensemble I & Jazz Studies Division Head
Brian Gorrell serves as Head of the Jazz Studies Division for UCO. He is also a former pianist for the Lawrence Welk Orchestra and also manages operation of the Jazz Lab Recording Studio. He serves as the Graduate Advisor for the Master in Music in Jazz and teaches Applied Saxophone, Jazz Ensemble I, Jazz Theory & Analysis, Music Technology, Computer Music Technology, Advanced Recording Technology, CD Album Pre-Production, CD Album Post-Production and Jazz Piano. Mr. Gorrell completed a BM in Music Education from UCO and a MM in Saxophone Performance from Oklahoma City University. Equally proficient on both saxophones and keyboards, Gorrell has produced many commercial album projects including "In Some Other World (1995)," "In the Swing of Christmas (2001)" and "The Jazz Company Live @ the UCO Jazz Lab (2008)." In addition to the Welk Orchestra, Mr. Gorrell has performed on saxophone and/or keyboards with such notables as The Manhatten Transfer, Louie Bellson, Phil Woods, Bill Trujillo, Jay Migliori, Jay Daversa, Clark Terry, The Lennon Sisters, Ralna English, Patti Page, Slide Hampton, Kay Starr, Steve Allen, Jim Nabors, Ty England, Diane Schuur, Christopher Cross, The Temptations, The Drifters among many others. Mr. Gorrell has always been passionate about music education and has been aggressive in developing new programs at UCO, including the minor in Jazz Studies and the MM in Jazz Studies with majors in both performance and commerical music production.
Jennifer Mansour, Adjunct Instructor of Class Piano
Jennifer Mansour joined the UCO piano faculty in the fall of 2011 and teaches class piano. She graduated summa cum laude with a double major in Piano Performance and Music with Electives in Business from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and received her Masters of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. Wanting others to discover the joys of music, she has taught all ages of piano students, including teaching applied and group piano at the University of Oklahoma where she benefitted from studying pedagogy with nationally and internationally known pianists and teachers, Dr. Jane Magrath and Dr. Barbara Fast. She also had the privilege of studying piano with Jim Breckenridge (Southwestern Oklahoma State University) and Ed Gates (University of Oklahoma). In 2010, Ms. Mansour received the MTNA StAR Studio Teacher Fellowship, a prestigious national award given annually to help one music teacher who has exhibited exceptional teaching abilities develop his/her studio. She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) in Piano through the Music Teachers National Association and an active member of the Central Oklahoma Music Teachers Association, Oklahoma Music Teachers Association, Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and the National Guild of Piano Teachers. Ms. Mansour enjoys performing, both as a soloist and collaboratively, and has accompanied Women’s Choruses at University of Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma State University and served as an accompanist at Oklahoma Christian University. She was recognized for her graduate level work as a performer and scholar at OU with the highly regarded Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Award, as well as the Alice and Albert Kirkpatrick scholarship.
Paul Sweet, Adjunct Instructor of Piano
Paul Sweet, winner of the annual University of Central Oklahoma concerto competition and Theodore Presser Scholar, has earned regional acclaim as a talented and dynamic pianist. His competition credits also include semifinalist finishes in the Bartok/Kabalevsky/Prokofiev International Piano Competition and the Nina Wideman International Piano Concerto Competition. He is frequently invited to collaborate with singers, instrumentalists, and orchestras in central Oklahoma and the surrounding region.
With the help of a grant from the University of Central Oklahoma Office of Research and Grants, Mr. Sweet recently completed work on “The Alec Rowley Piano Concerto Project: Casting New Light on an Old Work.” The project culminated in a series of performances in Oklahoma and Arizona of Alec Rowley’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 49 that served as the North American premiere of the work. He will soon offer a published score of the concerto in its orchestral form as well as in his arrangement for two Yamaha Clavinovas, which has already seen several performances across the United States.
Professionally, Mr. Sweet has served on the faculty of Missouri Southern State University as an adjunct piano instructor and vocal music accompanist. He has been employed by Crowder College to accompany that institution’s annual performance of “The Messiah” by Handel. Paul has also served as the principal accompanist of the Heartland Opera Theater in productions of Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” and Menotti’s “The Old Maid and the Thief.” Currently, Paul teaches applied piano as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma and is a piano teacher at the Central School of Music in Edmond, Oklahoma.
In addition to standard favorites, Mr. Sweet enjoys exploring non-standard, often modern, works of the piano repertoire. He plays solo works ranging from Bach to Corigliano. His concerto repertoire includes works by Beethoven, Liszt, Prokofiev, Gershwin, and others.
Paul Sweet is from Joplin, Missouri. He completed his Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he studied with Dr. Leon Whitesell and Peggy Spence. He recently completed course work for his Master of Music degree in piano performance at the University of Central Oklahoma where his teachers were Dr. David Forbat and Dr. Valery Kuleshov, Artist-in-Residence.
October 2011
Jana Nickel, Administrative Assistant I
Jerri White, Outreach
Jerri White holds a B.A. in Education , and an M.A. in Fine Arts. She serves as the Student Retention Volunteer at Central. She comes to us from Louisiana, where she was a member of the faculty of the Theatre Department, and head recruiter/retention person for the School of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Louisiana in Monroe, Louisiana. She was also an academic advisor, and Faculty Advisor for Alpha Psi Omega. Jerri is a professional actress and costumer, with credits ranging from local productions, and regional tours, to an Off-Broadway show.
Dr. Dawn Marie Lindblade, Clarinet
Dr. Dawn Marie Lindblade was appointed to the position of Assistant Professor at the University of Central Oklahoma in Fall 2011. Dr. Lindblade previously taught the clarinet studio at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, La. There she recruited a talented studio of the finest clarinet students from the state and worked diligently to give them many opportunities to perform in masterclasses and recitals. She also taught single reed methods, clarinet choir, and woodwind repertoire. Prior to that position she served as visiting professor of clarinet and chamber music at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. During her time there she worked to revitalize the chamber music program with her energy and enthusiasm. In addition, she was responsible for the design of the clarinet master's degree program. Dawn has also served on the faculty at Alma College in Alma, MI. She has performed in such halls as Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace, Dallas' Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, and Detroit's Max M. Fisher Music Center along with many universities and colleges throughout North America. Dr. Lindblade performed at the 2007 International Double Reed Society Conference in Ithaca and at the 2008 International Clarinet Association Clarinet fest in Kansas City. While in Puerto Rico, Dr. Lindblade performed at the annual Pablo Casals Festival as part of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the Baton Rouge, Lansing, Jackson, Traverse City and Sherman Symphony Orchestras. Dr. Lindblade is an avid chamber music performer and commissioner. In 2008, she premiered the duet ‘Klarinet 3.2' by Puerto Rican Alfonso Fuentes beside clarinetist Kathleen Jones. In 2009, she premiered a commission by Brian McCloskey entitled ‘Two Poems of Robert Frost' (soprano, clarinet, & piano) at Eastern Michigan University's Music Now Contemporary Music Festival. In 2011-2012, Dr. Lindblade will premiere two other commissions, ‘On The Way Back', by Roger Peterson (violin, clarinet, & piano) and ‘Patchwork Vespers', by Philip Schuessler (bass clarinet and vibraphone). Dr. Lindblade completed her doctoral studies in clarinet performance at Michigan State University and her Masters of Music in clarinet performance from the University of North Texas. While at U.N.T. she had the opportunity to perform and record with the distinguished North Texas Wind Symphony on both the GIA and Klavier recording labels. At North Texas, she also developed an interest in instrument repair and studied with technician Ann MacMillan. She completed her Bachelor of Music Education with clarinet performance certification at Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Lindblade studied with renowned pedagogues Dr. Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, Dr. James Gillespie and Dr. Kimberly Cole-Luevano. If you would like to learn more about Dr. Lindblade, please visit her website at www.dawnlindblade.com.
Bryan Mitschell, Recording Engineer
Bryan Mitschell, Audio Recording & Production Services Director Bryan Mitschell serves the University of Central Oklahoma as the director of the School of Music's internal Audio Recording & Production Service, a program that started in 2006. He also serves as an instructor of classes focusing in the incorporation of digital technology into collegiate music study. As an Oklahoma native, Mr. Mitschell studied percussion performance, creative writing and commercial music production here at UCO, graduating in 2009 with his MM in Jazz Studies.
Mariann Searle, Staff Accompanist
Mariann Searle is well known for her work as a pianist and music director in the Oklahoma City area. She discovered her love and talent for collaborative work at a very young age, and settled almost exclusively into the world of musical theatre over thirty years ago. Miss Searle was an Assistant Music Director for Music Theatre of Wichita for several years before moving to Oklahoma City in 1983 to accept a position at Oklahoma City University, where she coached such notable Oklahoma singers as Kristen Chenoweth and Kelli O'Hara. She served as Associate Music Director and subsequently Music Director/Conductor for Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma from 1983-2006. She has traveled the country on several national tours and is in the pit orchestras for many of the Broadway national touring companies that come to OKC. Her work can also be heard on a series of CDs released nationally in collaboration with legendary dance instructor Jo Rowan, in which selections from Broadway and the American songbook are used in a fresh approach to ballet barre exercises. She has recently performed concerts with Jodi Benson and Andrea MacArdle through the popular Broadway Tonight series at UCO. At Central since 2003, Mariann coaches music theatre majors and music directs main stage and Jazz Lab shows, as well as assisting with various music theatre classes.
Dr. Wayne Clark, Low Brass
Dr. Wayne Clark is an instructor of Low Brass at the University of Central Oklahoma and a member of the UCO Faculty Brass Quintet. He is also an instructor at Oklahoma Christian University, and he has previously taught at Howard Payne University, Central Texas College, and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. Dr. Clark is a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and an active freelance musician in the Oklahoma City area. A native of central Oklahoma, he has a MM and a DMA from the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Genevieve Craig, Horn
Dr. Genevieve Craig is the instructor of Horn at the University of Central Oklahoma and a member of the UCO Zephyr Wind Quintet and the UCO Faculty Brass Quintet. She is also an instructor at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma and Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma and has previously taught as a sabbatical replacement at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. Genevieve is an active freelance musician and frequently gets to enjoy opportunities to perform with various organizations in the area, including the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, Enid Symphony, and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. Dr. Craig also serves as a clinician and guest artist around the country. In addition, she maintains an active private studio consisting of both middle school and high school aged students. She earned her Bachelors in Music degree from West Virginia University, studying with Dr. Virginia Thompson. She earned both her Masters and Doctor or Musical Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma, where she was a graduate assistant. There she studied with Dr. Eldon Matlick and Ms. Haley Hoops.
Dr. Kris Maloy, Jazz & Commercial Music Arranging
myspace.com/krismaloycomposer Kris Maloy An eclectic composer of many interests and influences, Kris Maloy writes music bridging many styles and genres. His music has been described as “beautifully paced,” and “of great elegance…expansively lyrical” (David LaMarche, New York Concert Review), and his work has received honors and awards in music composition from the American Composers Forum, the Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute, the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra’s Young and Emerging Composers Series, the New York Virtuoso Singers, the Meistersingers, the North American Saxophone Alliance, the University of Kentucky New Music Festival, and numerous awards and honors from the Society of Composers, Inc., and ASCAP. Recent commissions include Quartet in Four Actions for the chamber music group BrightMusic (recently performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall), White Heat for the University of Central Oklahoma’s award-winning Jazz Orchestra, Flourish for Duo Clarion (clarinetist Chad Burrow and pianist Amy Cheng), Visions & Fantasies, a concerto for soloist and orchestra commissioned by the St. Louis School of Music, and Flight of Spirit and Bountiful Sky, both for high school wind ensembles. He has recently been awarded artist residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada, and the Ucross Foundation arts colony in Wyoming. His next major commissioned work in progress is a Double Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra to be premiered in the spring of 2011. Maloy holds degrees in music composition from Oklahoma City University, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in 2000, graduating Summa cum Laude. He received a Master of Music degree in composition from Bowling Green State University in 2002, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 2005. He has studied composition with Donald Grantham, Kevin Puts, Marilyn Shrude, Edward Knight, and Mikel Kuehn, and electroacoustic music with Russell Pinkston, Bruce Pennycook, and Elainie Lillios. An active saxophonist, Maloy has been a featured performer in both classical and jazz settings. He has received two Outstanding Individual Achievement Awards in Jazz from the National Association of Jazz Educators in 1997 and again in 1999 for featured performances at the Wichita Jazz Festival. His performances have also been featured at Society of Composers, Inc. conferences, both regional and national, between 2002 and 2008, and at the North American Saxophone Alliance International Conference in 2002. Maloy was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society in 1999. He is a member of SCI and ASCAP, and currently teaches at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University, the University of Central Oklahoma, and at UCO’s Jazz Lab. He is an instructor in composition, jazz and commercial arranging, orchestration, improvisation, songwriting, saxophone, music theory, and aural skills.
Nicholas Saverine, Voice, Music Theatre
Nicholas F. Saverine - Graduate of The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pa., and Wichita State University, Wichita, Ks. Is thrill to be a member of the music faculty at UCO. In Wichita he has worked on and off stage with Mosley Street Melodrama, Caberet Oldtown, Crown Uptown, Wichita Center For The Arts, Opera Kansas, Stage One, Wichita Community Theater , Music Theater for Young People, and Music Theater of Wichita. Performing throughout the United States and Europe, Opera, Music Theater and Concert appearances include the American premieres of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Ivanhoe (Boston), Rumplestiltskin , Sumidagawa (Philadelphia)and the European premiere of Nixon In China (Vienna, Austria). Opera highlights include Maria Stuarda , Die Soldaten (Boston)The Magic Flute, Christopher Columbus, The Ballad of Baby Doe (New York), Grifflekin(Milwaukee), The Ballad Of Baby Doe(Colorado Springs), The Golden Cockeral (Louisville), Tales Of Hoffmann, Daughter of the Regiment (Shreveport), Gianni Schicchi (Wichita, Philadelphia), The Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County(Boston, Milwaukee, Wichita), Das Land Des Lacheln, Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail,(Austria), etc. Music theater roles include Les Miserables and The Phantom Of The Opera (Broadway), Caroline or Change (West Coast Premiere), Joseph…Dreamcoat, A Christmas Carol, Les Miserables, Babes In Toyland (National Tours), The Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miserables, Tanz Der Vampire (Europe). Most recent regional appearances include: Man Of LaMancha (Chicago), Camelot (W.Va. ), Pirates Of Penzance ,Little Shop Of Horror (Louisiana Lyric Opera),The Baker’s Wife(Arden), Annie Get Your Gun, A Night In The Old Marketplace (Hal Prince), Oliver(Media Theater), Fiddler On The Roof(Syracuse Stages), A Christmas Carol (People’s Light), State Fair, Annie, Annie Warbucks, Les Miserables (Walnut), and at Music Theater of Wichita, Les Miserables , Cats, Phantom, Will Rogers Follies, Footloose, The Most Happy Fella and Children Of Eden, to name but a few. In concert, Mr. Saverine has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Washington National Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony, Colorado Springs Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Wichita Symphony, and in Europe with the orchestras of Berlin, Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Bratislava, Gyor and Beijing, China. Mr. Saverine has sung under the baton of Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, Peter Nero, Ricardo Muti, Klause Tennstadt, Anton Dorati, Zubin Mehta, Seigi Osawa, to name but a few.
Shannon Hurleigh
Shannon Hurleigh studied Dance Performance at Oklahoma City University and completed a second bachelor's degree in Musical Theatre at The University of Central Oklahoma. She holds an MFA in Theatre Arts from Texas Tech University. Shannon is currently the Executive Director of Summerstock Productions in Edmond. She has directed and choreographed for many collegiate and regional productions throughout the United States including Summerstock, City Rep Theatre in Oklahoma City, College Light Opera Company in Massachusetts, Lubbock Moonlight Musicals, Lubbock Summer Repertory Theatre, Experimental Artists Theatre in Texas, University of Central Oklahoma, Southern Nazarene University, and UCO's Broadway Tonight. Her favorite productions include "Annie Get Your Gun" for Summerstock Productions (Director/Choreographer), "The Music Man" for College Light Opera Company (Director/Choreographer), "Vanities" at Lubbock Summer Repertory Theatre (Director), University of Central Oklahoma's Production of "Steel Pier" (Choreographer), "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" for the show's international home at Lubbock Moonlight Musicals (Choreographer), and the world premiere of Broadway Tonight's production of "Flipside: The Patti Page Story "(Choreographer). While living in New York, Shannon worked for BASE Entertainment, a production company in Manhattan. During her tenure at BASE she had the pleasure to work on several Broadway shows including "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me" and Cirque du Soleil's "Wintuk", as well as the Las Vegas productions "Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular", "Peep Show", and "Jersey Boys" among others. Shannon is an Associate Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Dr. Darla Eshelman, Vocal Music Education Coordinator
A native of the Phoenix area, Dr. Darla Eshelman is Associate Professor of Music Education and Program Coordinator for the Vocal Music Education degree at UCO. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education, supervises student teachers and conducts “Cantilena,” the university women’s chorus. She is founder and artistic director for the Young Choirs of Central Oklahoma, a community based weekly choral program for students in grades 5-9. In addition to performing, the program also provides weekly lab experience for UCO vocal music education majors. Dr. Eshelman is currently state president for the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association. In addition, she is a member of and has served on the boards of NAfME, ACDA, and OAKE. She is an active choral music composer with a variety of works published and performed regularly. She most recently was commissioned to compose an SATB piece for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, in honor of their centennial celebration. Dr. Eshelman is frequently invited as a guest clinician and conductor for elementary and secondary choirs, and has presented workshop and honor performance sessions for the Organization of American Kodaly Educators, American Choral Directors Association, Music Educators National Conference, Oklahoma Music Educators Association and Oklahoma Choral Directors Association. Dr. Eshelman received her undergraduate degree in vocal music education from Grand Canyon University, Master’s degree in General and Choral Music Education from Arizona State University, and Ph.D. in Music Education with Kodaly Emphasis from the University of Oklahoma where she studied with Dr. Joy Nelson. Previous teaching positions include Music Education Coordinator and Women’s Choir Conductor at Oklahoma Baptist University, Graduate Research Assistant and Instructor at the University of Oklahoma, Kodaly specialist for Whitebead Schools in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma and K-8 music and choral specialist for the Peoria Public School District in Phoenix, Arizona. She currently resides in Edmond with her husband Corky and their son Connor.
Steven Smeltzer
Steven Smeltzer, a director, choreographer and instructor, is very happy to be a part of the Music Theatre faculty at UCO. He has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Florida State University, a graduate certificate from Burt Reynolds Institute for Theatre Training, 25 years of professional experienec in theatre and is a long-standing member of the Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. As a teacher, Mr. Smeltzer has taught at many colleges and universities throughout the US. For over 10 years (off and on), he has taught in Sweden at the Folk University and the Gothenburg University. He has toured throughout Europe and the US as a performer, as well as a director and choreographer. Most recently, Mr. Smelzter directed and choreographed the first national tour of "The Great American Trailer Park Musical"which was featured at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival in Scotland. In Europe, he has directed and choreographed long running productions of "Hair," "The Golden Musicals of Broadway" and "The Best of Broadway." In the US, Mr. Smeltzer has directed and choregraphed numerous productions of "Nunsense," "Rocky Horror," "A Chorus Line," "Once On This Island" and "West Side Story," among others.
Dr. Linda Owen
Linda Owen joined the piano faculty at UCO in 2005, teaching applied and class piano. As a staff accompanist from 2004-2005, she accompanied two choirs, voice and instrumental student lessons and recitals, as well as other performances. From 1974-2004, Dr. Owen taught applied and class piano, piano pedagogy and choral accompanying at Oklahoma City University. She also accompanied choirs and numerous recitals, opera rehearsals, lessons and master classes. She was coordinator of a bi-weekly student recital series and was producer and pianist in several piano duo and duet recitals. Dr. Owen has taught instrumental, vocal and classroom music at the elementary and middle-school levels in public and private schools in Minnesota, New Jersey and Oklahoma; she has served as choir director at several Oklahoma City area churches; and she has performed as keyboardist with The Mallet Machine, a professional percussion ensemble. She is a life-time singing member of Canterbury Choral Society of Oklahoma City and has been a section leader and assistant accompanist for the group. She frequently serves as an adjudicator for piano competitions throughout OK. She studied piano accompanying and coaching at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She spent a summer as an opera coach and accompanist at Arkansas's Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony (now Opera in the Ozarks). She received her BA in piano from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN; her MM in piano performance from Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, IN; and her PhD in music education in piano pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Owen is an active member of Music Teachers National Association and the Oklahoma and Central Oklahoma Music Teachers Associations. She is a member and officer of the Oklahoma City Pianist's Club, and she was elected to membership in the honor societies of Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Alpha Iota. With her husband, Harry Miller, who is a member of the Board of Directos of both Chamber Music in Oklahoma and the Civic Music Association, Dr. Owen has actively supported area music and arts organizations for many years.
Dr. Barbara Streets, Head of Vocal Arts Division
Dr. Barbara Streets, assistant professor, is Head of the Vocal Arts Division at UCO. Her teaching duties include Applied Voice and French and German Singing Diction. She holds a BM in music education, a MM in voice and a PhD in music education from OU. She also holds Certification for Level I, II and III in Contemporary Commerical Music Vocal Pedagogy. Dr. Streets taught elementary and junior high music and served on the faculties of Mid-America University and Southern Nazarene University. She has served as an adjudicator for the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association, National Association of Teachers of Singing and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. Dr. Streets is a cantor at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and is active as a recitalist and oratorio soloist. She has been a featured soloist at conventions of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and has presented an Artist Series Recital for the NATS Texoma Region Fall Conference. She presented a concert with organist Richard Jobe for the 13th Annual Midwinter Organ Conference at Baylor University. Her article on the songs of the English composer Michael Head appeared in Vol. 22 of "The Journal of British Music" in 2000. In December 2003, Dr. Streets was a member of the People to People Ambassador Program's Music Education Delegation to South Africa. In 2005, Dr. Streets recorded a scene from David Yeagley's opera "Jacek" with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra for Opus One Recordings.
Richard Jobe, Accompanist
Richard Jobe, staff accompanist, joined the UCO School of Music in January 1997. His accompanying duties include applied studio voice, several choral ensembles, master classes and faculty/guest artist recitals. As an organist/harpsichordist, he has been a feature soloist with the UCO Choral Society, Chamber Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. Also a singer, he has participated in productions by the UCO Music Theatre/Opera as a principle singer, chorus master and orchestra member. After attending Oklahoma Baptist University, Mr. Jobe has served as Organist/Assistant at Mayflower Congregational Church (UCC) since 1989 and Tenor Soloist at Temple B'nai Israel since 2001, both in Oklahoma City.
Dr. Robert Glaubitz, Voice
Dr. Robert Glaubitz, tenor, is well-regarded as a performer, teacher and researcher. He is best known for his website "The Aria Database" (www.aria-database.com), an online repository of information on more than one-thousand operatic arias. The Aria Database has received numerous awards and has been featured by the "New York Times" and "Australian Public Radio. It has been aiding singers in their preparation of arias since 1996. Dr. Glaubitz has performed frequently throughout the U.S. He is a member of the Conundrum Duo with guitarist Carey Harwood which performs a diverse selection of classical music for voice and fretted instruments including guitar, lute, mandolin and banjo. The Conundrum Duo has performed at the Colorado Mahlerfest, the New York City Duo Fest, concert series in several states, as well as several recital tours on the East Coast and in the Great Plains. In 2007, the Conundrum Duo won first-place and "Audience Favorite" at the prestigious Bruce E. Ekstrand Competition. As a soloist, Dr. Glaubitz recently performed on the Chazen Recital Series in a concert broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio and sang as tenor soloist in Handel's "Messiah" with the Green Bay Symphony Choir. Dr. Glaubitz has appeared in lead roles in a wide variety of shows including "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Die Fledermaus," Iolanthe," "HMS Pinafore," "Carmen," "The Old Maid and the Thief," "The Mikado," "The Music Man," "Trial By Jury," "The Merry Widow" and "Pirates of Penzance." He also has a strong interest in new music. From 1995-1999, he was a member of the Performance 20/20 chamber music group at the University of Hartford where he premiered numerous compositions. In 2003, he appeared in a lead role in the premiere of Randall Shinn's "Sara McKinnon." In 2007 and 2008, he premiered roles in two original musicals based on the story of "Adam and Eve." Dr. Glaubitz received his DMA in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder with his major document exploring the issues of a guitar and voice collaboration, including a study of available repertoire. He received his MM in Vocal Performance from CU-Boulder as well and his BM in Vocal Performance from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford. He previously held full-time positions on the faculty of Northern State University and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Dr. Marilyn Govich, Head of Opera and Music Theatre Division
Dr. Marilyn Govich, professor of applied voice, is Head of the Opera and Music Theatre Division of the School of Music at UCO. She holds a DMA in Vocal Performance from the University of Oklahoma where she received the Provost's Outstanding Dissertation Award. She was also co-winner of the Biennial Dissertation Award of the National Opera Association. Dr. Govich has performed leading roles in "Die Fledermaus," "The Crucible," "Cosi Fan Tutte," "Abduction from the Seraglio," "The Medium," etc. and has performed professionally in "Ragtime," "Timeless," Jekyll and Hyde," "Footloose," "Man of La Mancha," "Oliver," "Desert Song" and "Once Upon a Mattress." She was a soloist with the Oklahoma Collegium Musicum and is an active recitalist, oratorio soloist, adjudicator and clinician. She has twice sung at the National Conference of the National Opera Association in New York City and has twice presented Artist Recitals at the Texoma Regional Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Dr. Govich has recorded a scene from the David Yeagley opera "Jacek" with the Polish National Radio Symphony in Katowice, Poland for Opus One Records. She is extrememly proud of her students who have become outstanding teachers and those who have performed in Europe, China, Japan, Canada, on Broadway (including her daughter and son), Broadway national tours, cruise ships and numerous regional theaters.
Pamela Richman, Music Fundamentals
Pamela Richman, soprano, is orginially from Chicago. She received her MM in vocal performance from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and her BM from Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University. She has lived in OK since 1988. She taught elementary music for ten years in Oklahoma City, while maintaining a private vocal studio. Ms. Richman has directed the youth choir for the Inter-Congregational Sunday School of Emanuel Synagogue and Temple B'nai Israel and has been a cantorial soloist for both congregations. She sings opera, oratorio and chamber music and is a specialist in the performance of contemporary music. She has premiered numerous compositions, many written especially for her. An avid performer, she has also participated in musical theater productions at UCO as well as in the community. Ms. Richman has been a member of the music faculty at UCO since 2000. She teaches Class and Applied Voice, Aural Skills I and II and Music Fundamentals. She is a founding member of the Edmond Chamber Players. In addition to her duties at UCO, she has been very active in the arts community of Edmond and serves on the board of the Edmond Arts & Humanities Council.
Dr. Thomas McCullough, Cello
Dr. Thomas McCullough is an active composer, conductor, cellist and teacher. Dr. McCullough holds a DMA in Composition from Florida State University where he also received an MM in Composition. He also holds degrees in conducting and cello performance from UCO. His list of compositions include works for choir, orchestra and chamber music, but the majority of his works are vocal art songs and opera. Dr. McCullough has studied with many distinguished musicians including cellists Tess Remy-Schumacher and Lubomir Georgiev and composers Ladislav Kubik, Ellen Taaffe-Zwilich and Carlisle Floyd.
Dr. Samuel Magrill, Composer-in-Residence
Dr. Samuel Magrill is a Professor of Music and Composer-in-Residence at UCO where he has taught music theory and composition since 1988. Previously, he taught at the University of Wyoming and California State University, Long Beach. He obtained his BM in Composition from Oberlin Conservatory and MM and DMA in Composition from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. His composition teachers have included Ramiro Cortes, Joseph Wood, Randolph Coleman, Ben Johnston, Edwin London, Herbert Brun and Kenneth Gaburo. Dr. Magrill has written more than one hundred compositions for a variety of instruments from solo piano and chamber music to choir, wind ensemble and symphony orchesta. His works have been performed throughout the U.S., abroad and many regional and national conferences. He has received numerous awards and commissions, including ones from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Music Center, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Illinois Arts Council, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), the Oklahoma Music Teacher's Association, the American Composer's Forum's Continental Harmony Program and faculty research grants and merit credit awards from UCO. In Fall 1997, Dr. Magrill was chosen as the Hauptman Fellow for the UCO College of Liberal Arts. In Spring 2000, he was inducted into SAI as an Arts Associate and won the AAUP-UCO Distinguished Creativity Award. In May 1995, he performed his compositions at the Alternativa and Art Reality Festivals in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia and lectured at the Theremin Center, a computer music studio at the Moscow Conservatory. In Summer 2001, he traveled to Australia, where his "Cello Rag Rag" for soprano and cello quartet and his "Double Concerto" for two cellos and chamber orchestra were premiered. His four one-act operas--"The Gorgon's Head," "Paradise of Children and the Gremlins Who Stole It," "Showdown on Two Street" and "Circe's Palace"--written from 1997-2000, were produced at UCO. In Summer 2004, the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra, conducted by Dr. John Clinton, performed his "Summer Song" on their European tour. In 2007, the Vivace Flute Quartet performed his "Tango Flauto" in Chile and Costa Rica. In Summer 2008, the UCO Concert Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Karl Nelson, performed his "Prayer for Peace" on their Italy tour. His CDs include a two-disc set of electro-acoustic music entitled "The Electric Collection," his four operas and collections of music for cello and other instruments. Dr. Magrill is also an active pianist and accompanist, performing in faculty and student recitals at UCO and other schools in the region. Since 2007, he has worked closely with choral director, Dr. Karl Nelson, and has accompanied the UCO choral ensembles. He studied piano with Harlow Mills, Robert Turner, Dadi Mehta, John Perry, Ian Hobson and Dean Sanders and chamber music with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld. His interest in world music led him to collaborate with M.V. Narasimhachari. Together, they produced two volumes of "The Music of India: An Introduction" (1996-2003). Dr. Magrill also collaborated with the Jayamangala School of Music and Dance to transcribe Carnatic music into western music notation. The result was a Music Score Book for "Music Transcends--An International Conference on Music" which took place May 8, 2004 in Greenbelt, MD. His work with Indian music came to fruition when he present his "East-West Duo" for violin, cello and mridangam in a concert of his music in Chennai, India on January 1, 2005. A member of Society of Composers, Inc. since 1984, Dr. Magrill has been Region VI Co-Chair from 1994-2000 and 2004-2007. He hosted a regional conference in 1993 and the national conference in 2004. Other memberships include: the American Music Center, ASCAP, Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lamda. Dr. Magrill has been an active member of the College Music Society since 1983 and the UCO Representative since 1995. He has attended the regional CMS meetings annually for over twenty years with few exceptions. He hosted a regional conference in 1999 and served as President of the South Central Chapter from 1999-2003. In 2009, he began a three-year term as board member in composition for the national organization.
Earl Hefley, Clarinet and Saxophone
A native of Oklahoma City, Earl Hefley is a veteran music educator, conductor and performing musician. He is presently an instructor at UCO where he teaches clarinet, saxophone and music appreciation for non-majors. Mr. Hefley plays soprano saxophone in the UCO Faculty Saxophone Quartet. He was a band and orchestra director for 10 years in the Putnum City schools in Oklahoma City. Just recently, he completed four years as music director and conductor of the Oklahoma Community Orchestra. Currently, he spends his summers conducting the Jubilee Community Orchestra in Asheville, NC, a summer community orchestra project he co-founded in 1993 for the western NC area. With over 30 years experience as a free-lance musician, Mr. Hefley still feels one of his favorite "gigs" is that of saxophone, flute and clarinet soloist with the Howard Hanger Jazz Fantasy. He has toured through countries in the Mediterranean and Asis with the Jazz Fantasy. He also participated in recent recording projects with the Jazz Fantasy releasing the CD's "Elementary Blues," "A Simple Christmas," "Dog Breath and Other Mind Boggling Hits for Kids" and "Be Still My Soul." His newest recording is called "All Shall Be Well." Also being remastered and released on CD is his first album with Howard Hanger, "Cool Morning Air," which was recorded in 1986. Mr. Hefley's woodwind improvisations frequently accompany Howard Hanger when he leads events sponsored by the United Methodist Church and other organizations for spiritual and personal enrichment; included have been events in Columbia, Birmingham, Minneapolis, Omaha, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Fayetteville, New York, Asheville, Lake Junaluska, Phoenix, Nashville, Oklahoma City and Salt Lake City. In the last three years, he has, along with Howard Hanger, been a co-leader of tour groups visiting ancient sacred ritual sites in Greece, Cete, England and Ireland. An active musician in the Oklahoma City area, Mr. Hefley's music is heard in a variety of settings from big bands and jazz combos to the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra. He has enjoyed playing in bands and orchestras for such artists as Glenn Campbell, Jack Jones, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Jim Nabors, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Mills Brothers, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Richard Harris, Bernadette Peters, Liberace, Arthur Fiedler, Johnny Mathis, Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart, Doc Severinsen, Arturo Sandoval, Sandi Patti, Kathy Lee Gifford, Amy Grant and Manhattan Transfer. He holds a BM from the Oklahoma City University and a MM from UCO.
Dr. Sandra Thompson, Music Appreciation
Dr. Sandra Thompson is an associate professor of music and associate director of choral studies and has been a member of the UCO faculty since 1989. Dr. Thompson completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Thompson is currently the Artistic Director of the Ambassadors’ Concert Choir, a community choir of 80 voices in the Greater Oklahoma City area. She was a member of the choir for several years prior to becoming an assistant to the Artistic Director/Founder, Dr. Kenneth E. Kilgore. The choir has been recognized internationally having performed with the renowned Mineria Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and with opera greats, Leona Mitchell and Simon Estes. The choir has also performed with gospel legend, Richard Smallwood. Dr. Thompson has collaborated with many Oklahoma City music theater directors including: current director of UCO’s Music Theater and producer of Broadway Tonight Dr. Greg White, UCO’s Billie Thrash, Shannon Hurleigh, Benton Jones, former UCO director of Music Theater Carveth Osterhaus and the late Tamara Long. Some of her most memorable productions include "The Man of LaMancha," "Into the Woods," "Company," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "High Society", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with Broadway director Dennis Courtney and the world premiere of “Flipside: the Patti Page Story” conceived, written and directed by Dr. Greg White. Most recently, she was a soloist with the UCO Women’s Chorus “Cantilena” directed by Dr. Darla Eshelman. In fall 2002, Dr. Thompson was the music director for UCO Broadway Tonight's production of "Hello, Dolly!" which starred Carole Cook in the title role. She has been the pianist for many Lyric Theater seaons and is remembered as Hattie in Lyric's production of "Kiss Me Kate" and as Addaperle in their production of "The Wiz." Active as an adjudicator and clinician, Dr. Thompson recently conducted the Oklahoma City Public Schools Elementary Honor Choir and was the guest conductor for the Oklahoma City Public Schools All-City Middle School Honor Choir three times. She has adjudicated many OSSAA contests for both Junior High/Middle School and High School competitions. Her teaching duties at UCO include freshman theory and aural skills; Music Appreciation; and Cantare, the men's chorus. In her tenure at UCO, Dr. Thompson has been responsible for preparing the chorus for UCO's opera production of "Porgy and Bess," and she was the conductor for George Bizet's "Carmen: A Concert Version " and "Hansel and Gretel." Dr. Thompson is pianist and assistant director of music at the Evangelistic Baptist Church; a member of the Board of Directors of both the Ambassador's Concert Choir and Allied Arts organization; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; and the American Choral Director's Association.
Natalie Syring, Aural Skills
Natalie Syring has been on the UCO faculty since Fall 2004, teaching music theory and aural skills. She comes to OK from TX, where she served on the faculty of Sam Houston State University for 10 years and on the faculty of North Harris/Montgomery College for seven years teaching applied flute, music theory, music appreciation, musicianship, piano, chamber music and flute choir. She continues to perform as principal flutist of The Woodlands Symphony Orchestra, a position she held for 14 years and as the flutist of the Syring-Blakeman flute and guitar duo. In OK, she has also been performing with two different venues: modern flute with small jazz combo and baroque flute with a baroque chamber ensemble. Ms. Syring is a member of the National Flute Association and has performed on several of their national conventions. She is a past winner of the NFA Master Class Competition and holds the office of Archivist/Historian. In Spring 2004, she initiated the Oklahoma Flute Society's Honor Flute Choir for Junior and Senior high school students from across the state. She conducts the Honor Flute Choirs as well as the OFS Adult Flute Choir. Ms. Syring has also served as co-chair of the OFS Flute Festival and the OFS Flute Fair. In TX, she was president of the Houston Flute Club and was also involved with many flute choirs and festivals throughout the years. Her other professional music associations include: MTNA, TMTA and OMTA. She recently finished a 4-year term as chair of the Texas State MTNA Competition. Her degrees are in Music Education and Flute Performance.
Dr. Valery Kuleshov, Piano, Artist-in-Residence
Dr. Valery Kuleshov and his wife, Kate, came to UCO in 1998. He serves as the Artist-in-Residence for the College of Fine Arts and Design. Dr. Kuleshov is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation whose awards include a Gold Medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition (1987), a Silver Medal at the Van Cliborn International Piano Competition (1993) and the first prize at the Pro Piano Competition (1998). Dr. Kuleshov has toured the world performing in some of the world's best concert halls including New York's Carnegie Hall, the Milan Conservatory in Italy, the Great Halls of the Moscow Conservatory and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. He was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia, near what is now Kazakhstan. He began playing by ear at the age of five. Teachers soon noticed his talent and by the age of seven, he had left home to enter the prestigious Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory. At age nine, he made his concert debut in the Conservatory's Great Hall. He briefly studied with piano legend, Vladimir Horowitz. In 2001, he released "Homage to Vladimir Horowitz.' a CD of Dr. Kuleshov's transcriptions of his mentor's works. He has also released several other CDs. Dr. Kuleshov performs concerts each year at UCO. Students in the UCO Symphony Orchestra often get the opportunity to accompany his during his performances and at times, Dr. Kuleshov gives a solo performance. UCO, the College of Fine Arts and Design and the School of Music are honored to have Dr. Kuleshov's time and talents as part of its educational experience.
Dr. David Forbat, Head of Piano/Keyboard Studies Division
A member of the UCO piano faculty since 2005, David Forbat teaches applied piano, piano ensemble, piano accompaniment and class piano. He holds a DMA from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, a MM from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music and a BM from the University of Southern California. His teachers included John Perry, Frank Weinstock, Claude Frank and Ann Schein. Prior to 2005, he held full-time teaching appointments at Geneva College (PA) and William Carey College (MS) and part-time appointments at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University (PA). Dr. Forbat maintains an active performing schedule as both solo recitalist and collaborative pianist. During the 2007-08 season, he performed solo recitals in PA, MS, TX and OK. He routinely collaborates with members of the UCO music faculty and UCO large ensembles such as the Concert Chorale and Wind Symphony. In 2006, he performed a gala recital with the Metropolitan Opera soprano Leona Mitchell. Additional collaborative performances recorded at the 2005 Vicksburg International Chamber Music Festival with tenor Don Frazure may be accessed online through the Mississippi Public Broadcasting website (www.mpbonline.org). Aside from traditional recitals, Dr. Forbat has presented informative and cross-disciplinary programs entitled "Liszt and the Italian Poets," "The French Connection" and "Schumann's Carnaval, Op.9." He also provided pre-concert commentary for piano recitals sponsored by the Civic Music Association Concert Series in Oklahoma City. During the spring 2007 semester, he was awarded a Pedagogical Research Grant to explore the integration of keyboard studies with moveable-Do solfege. On this topic, he was the featured presenter for the College Faculty Forum at the 2007 State Convention of the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association. He continues to refine a "Piano through Solfege" curriculum and composes supporting pieces directed toward adults.
Dr. Carol Chiang, Piano
Dr. Carol Chiang is a native of Taiwan and joined the piano faculty at UCO in fall 2009. She teaches applied piano and class piano. Dr. Chiang received her DMA in Piano Performance and Pedadgogy from the University of Oklahoma, a MM in Piano Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BFA in Piano Performance from the Tunghai University in Taiwan. Her teachers include: Dr. Jane Magrath, Dr. Juanelva Rose, Dr. Todd Welbourne and Howard Lubin. In addition to her teaching duties at UCO, Dr. Chiang is a frequent chamber music collaborator and accompanist. She has served as an appointed accompanist for the International Society of Bassists, Canterbury Choral Society in Oklahoma City and Opera for the Young in Wisconsin. As a pedagogue, she has presented master classes for piano studies in NH, OK and Taiwan. Dr. Chiang continually seeks opportunities to serve the community teaching young children and judging for local piano competitions and auditions in the OK area. As an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, Oklahoma Music Teachers Association and the College Music Society; she has given presentations on pedagogy at the CMS South Central Chapter.
Dr. Chindarat Charoenwongse-Shaw, Piano
Chindarat Charoenwongse is from Bangkok, Thailand. She received a Bachelor of Fine and Applied Arts in Piano Performance with first class honors from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and Performer’s Diplomas from Trinity College of Music, England. As a Fulbright scholar, she graduated with a Master of Music from Eastman School of Music. She obtained Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from University of Oklahoma. She studied piano with Nina Svetlanova, Barry Snyder, Anton Nel, Rebecca Penneys, Malcolm Bilson, and Edward Gates. Her piano pedagogy studies were with Tony Caramia, Jane Magrath, and E.L. Lancaster. Her international performances include concertos with the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts Orchestra of Chulalongkorn University, Chulalongkorn University Symphony Orchestra for Her Royal Highness Princess Galayani Vaddhana. In June 2006, she performed as a soloist with the Thai National Symphony Orchestra to honor His Majesty the King of Thailand’s 60th Anniversary of His Accession to the Throne. She is a member of the Arcadia Piano Trio which has performed in the U.S., Canada and Thailand. Prior to joining the University of Central Oklahoma faculty, she taught at Chulalongkorn University, Kasetsart University, and Chintakarn Music Institute where she served as the director of piano department. An active piano pedagogy clinician, she presented both in Oklahoma and Thailand workshops, master-classes, and lectures for Alfred and Hal Leonard publications on various university campuses including Mahidol University, Rangsit University, and Srinakharinwirot University.
Dr. Chindarat has been a piano faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma since 2000 and served as the Piano Division Head during 2005-2010. She is honored to serve as the director of the Music Outreach Program which brings music to the Oklahoma communities.
Danny Vaughan, Guitar, Jazz Guitar Ensemble
Danny Vaughan has been a jazz guitar instructor at UCO since 1993. He holds a BA in Guitar Performance and a MM in Music Education. In addition to teaching applied guitar, he has taught music theory and has served as musical director and arranger for various UCO productions. Mr. Vaughan's teaching approach is a theory-based curriculum emphasizing the understanding of chord and scale progressions along with the practical skills necessary to be a professional musician in today's job market. He is also the author of "Patterns for 21st Century Guitar," a hyper-modern system for improvisation and composition. Prior to UCO, Mr. Vaughan taught at Rose State College, Oklahoma Baptist University and Southern Nazarene University. He brings to his teaching a wide range of musical genres and stresses stylistic versatility. Not only has he performed with the Oklahoma City Symphonic Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, Ballet Oklahoma and Lyric Theater, he is equally at home with traditional New Orleans jazz, country, bluegrass, rock and fusion. The contemporary church music field is another area in which he possesses experience and expertise. Mr. Vaughn has previously conducted a seminar entitled, "Music in the Contemporary Worship Service" at Southern Nazarene University. Mr. Vaughan's goal is that the UCO Jazz Lab will be known for producing professional guitarists who are thoroughly equipped for the modern music workplace.
Theodora Morris, Violin Instructor
Theodora Morris is an adjunct instructor of violin and recorder at UCO and Rose State College. She is also a member of the UCO Faculty String Quartet. A native of Vienna, Austria, she completed her education at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna with diplomas in violin (1973) and recorder (1976), studying with Gynter Pichler, Edith Bertschinger, Rene Clemencic and Elisabet Schaftlein. She also studied historical performance practices with Eduard Melkus. In 1984, Ms. Morris moved to AZ, studing violin with Eugene Lombardi and string pedagogy with William Magers at Arizona State University. Ms. Morris taught strings and recorder in the Vienna public schools for ten years and performed regularly with the Capella Academica Wien, the Stadtmusik Wien, the orchestras of the Wiener Volksoper and Theater an der Wien and the Mozart Oper Salzburg. Since moving to the U.S., she has been a member of the Sun City Symphony (in AZ), the Lawton Philharmonic, the Enid Symphony and has served as concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Community Orchestra. As a member of the UCO Faculty String Quartet, she has performed chamber music throughout Oklahoma, the Southwest, Thailand and Germany. She has been a featured soloist with the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Community Orchestra, the Jubilee Community Orchestra of Ashville, NC, the UCO Symphony, the UCO Chamber Orchestra and the Thai National Symphony in Bangkok, Thailand. During the summers, she serves on the faculties of the UCO Chamber Music Camp and the Inspiration Point String Camp in Eureka Springs, AR.
Scott Johnson, Classic Guitar
Scott Johnson's repertoire and technique are both highly diverse and unique as he composes in wide-ranging styles, performs internationally anywhere from small bars to concert halls and records as a soloist and a studio musician. A typical performance includes music ranging from the traditional classical guitar repertoire of the renaissance, baroque, classical and romantic periods to more popular styles including flamenco, blues, pop arrangements, country, folk, funk and world music. In addition to a diverse repetoire, Mr. Johnson combines an arsenal of techniques ranging from traditional classical and flamenco to more modern and unorthodox percussive approaches. These percussive techniques, which he began developing in 1999, lend certain pieces a highly rythmic and danceable feel; so that, at times, the listener is given the impression that he/she is listening to a band and not just a single guitar.
Lu Deng, Violin
Lu Deng received her MM from Northwestern University and BA from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China. She started to play violin when she was four years old and appeared frequently as a concert violin soloist at the age of 13. In the First Chinese Youth Violin Competition in 1980, she won the honor prize. Ms. Deng has served as the Guest Concertmaster in the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra and also has been a member of many other orchestras including the Chicago Civic Symphony and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. She has taught as an applied violin instructor at UCO and Oklahoma Christian University. She has also taught string classes at the Paris District schools in TN and Suzuki Violin at Michigan State University.
Nicholas Steward, Percussion Instructor
Nicholas Steward is an Instructor of Percussion at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he directs and arranges for the Marching Drumline, teaches applied lessons, and instructs the Percussion Techniques class. In addition, he teaches at Oklahoma Christian University, and is the drumline instructor at Edmond North High School. Nicholas received his Bachelors degree from Central Michigan University, where he studied with Robert Hohner and David Zerbe. He received a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from Oklahoma City University, studying with David Steffens, principal percussionist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. He is currently working on his dissertation to complete a Doctor of Musical Arts degree through the University of Oklahoma. While in residence at OU, he studied with Lance Drege. Nicholas currently performs as principal percussionist with the Enid Symphony Orchestra. His past orchestral experience includes performances with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Tulsa Ballet Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra, the Midland Symphony, and the West Shore Symphony. He also performs as a freelance musician, appearing with Lyric Theatre, the Poteet Theatre, the Sooner Theatre, and as a jazz drummer in the Oklahoma City area. Nicholas is a founding member of the percussion quartet Drum Engine, which had its premier performance in early 2010. As an avid marching percussion arranger, he has written for high school and university bands in Michigan, Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma. His recording credits include Far More Drums with the Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble, and the Enid Symphony Orchestra’s Oklahoma: Where the West Remains. Nicholas is a University Artist with Encore Mallets.
David Hardman, Latin Jazz Ensemble
David Hardman is the Director of Percussion Studies at UCO and previously taught at the University of Miami, the University of South Florida and St. Petersburg College. He is in demand as a percussion and drumset artist throughout the Southeast. He has performed and/or recorded with numerous world-class musicians incluing jazz players Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman and Nat Adderly. He has also performed with "Yes," Ray Charles and Barry Gib among other pop acts. He plays frequently with the Woody Herman, Larry Elgart and Jazz Surge big bands as well as The Brass Band of Battle Creek. On the orchestral side, Mr. Hardman has performed with the Florida Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra, New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. With degrees from the University of Cincinnati and Ball State University, Mr. Hardman is currently as candidate for a PhD in Musical Arts degree at the University of Miami. During the summer, he is on the percussion faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp in MI.
Dr. James Klages, Professor of Trumpet
Dr. James Klages is a professor of trumpet at UCO and teaches trumpet and directs the UCO Trumpet Choir. Prior to coming to OK, he had the honor of being the only person in the 20th Century to be directly hired as the Cornet Soloist by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C. He also played solos throughout the U.S. with bands and orchestras and has been featured as soloist at many national band conferences and conventions. Since leaving the Marine Band, he has continued his solo career throughout the U.S. and the Middle East. In 1996, he was chosen to be the trumpet soloist for the historic first performance of Handel's "Messiah" given in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Israel. Dr. Klages is an active trumpet soloist and clinician. Most recently, he and the UCO Trumpet Choir performed for the International Trumpet Guild convention in Denver, CO. He received his BA from the State University of New York at Fredonia and his MA and PhD from Indiana University, Bloomington. His teachers have included James F. Burke, Dr. William B. Dederer, Charles Gorham, Edmund Cord and John Rommel.
Bernie Guzik, Tuba/Euphonium
Bernie Guzik has taught tuba and euphonium at UCO since 1992. He is a graduate of the prestigious Julliard School of Music where he studied with Joe Novotny, a tubist with the New York Philharmonic. A native of Cleveland, OH, Mr. Guzik graduated from Cleveland Heights High School and studied with Chester Roberts of the Cleveland Orchestra. As the principal tuba of the Tulsa Philharmonic since 1984, Guzik maintains an active performance schedule. Mr. Guzik has played with the American Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leopold Stokowski, and he was the assistant principal tuba of the New York Philharmonic. He has toured and recorded with the Kansas City Philharmonic and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. He is the principal tubist on Cleveland's Grammy-winning recording with Pierre Boulez conducting. In addition to his teaching duties, Mr. Guzik plays tuba in the UCO Faculty Brass Quintet.
Kadee Bramlett, Oboe
KaDee Bramlett teaches oboe, music theory, and aural skills and is a member of the UCO faculty wind quintet. She holds a Master of Music degree in oboe performance from Arizona State University, where she studied with Martin Schuring, and she holds a Bachelor of Music degree in oboe performance from the University of Central Oklahoma where she graduated as the Class Marshall for the College of Arts, Media, and Design (now the College of Fine Arts and Design). In addition to teaching at UCO, she is a freelance performer and maintains an active private studio of oboe, piano, and recorder students. Ms. Bramlett is the founder and director of Quantum Calm, a modern chamber music ensemble with the mission of performing in venues such as yoga studios, labyrinth walks, and meditation classes. Ms. Bramlett is a member of the International Double Reed Society and Pi Kappa Lambda. She strives to guide and inspire her students to become successful, professional musicians in an ever-changing music industry. _____________ For more information about Quantum Calm visit: http://www.quantumcalmmusic.com For more information about KaDee Bramlett's private studio visit: http://www.okcmusiclessons.com
Dalycia Phipps, Voice
Dalycia Phipps, mezzo-soprano, is an Oklahoma native. She attended Oklahoma City University receiving a Bachelors degree in Voice Performance in 1993. She has performed with several professional companies including Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Tulsa Opera, Light Opera Works (Chicago IL), Cleveland Opera (Cleveland OH) and is a member of the OKC Philharmonic Pops Chorale. Some favorite productions include Carmen (Carmen), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Sister Berthe (Sound of Music), Beauty and the Beast, Fiddler on the Roof and Evita. Dalycia received her Masters Degree in voice from Boston University in 1999. She has toured overseas and performed with several professional choral groups as well. Dalycia is a member of NATS and NAMTA. Also a classically trained pianist, she has operated her own studio teaching voice and piano since 2003. Wife to an incredible husband (Tim) and mother of two beautiful girls (Iriana & Amélie) Dalycia is thrilled to be part of the UCO family!
Dr. Emily Butterfield, Assistant Professor
Dr. Emily J. Butterfield teaches applied flute, flute choir, chamber music and woodwind methods. She is a flutist with the UCO faculty wind quintet and serves as president for the School of Music's Pi Kappa Lambda chapter. Prior to joining the UCO School of Music, Dr. Butterfield served on the faculties of Muskingum College, Morehead State University, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Mount Vernon Nazarene University and the Chamber Music Connection, Inc. She is the founding member of Favorable Winds, a wind quintet based in Columbus, Ohio, and has performed in the Southeast Ohio Symphony, Ashland Symphony, Columbus Bach Ensemble and the Newark-Granville Symphony. In February 2008, she played in the New Sousa Band for its performance at the Ohio Music Educator's Conference in Cincinnati. Dr. Butterfield has presented master classes at universities and festivals in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin and has performed at national and regional music conventions including the 2004 and 2005 National Flute Association flute conventions. She has served as an adjudicator for many music organizations such as the National Flute Association, Central Ohio Flute Association, Upper Midwest Flute Association, OMTA, MMTA, Madison Flute Festiva and San Diego City Schools. A native of Michigan, Dr. Butterfield received a BM from Michigan State University, a MM from Florida State and a DMA from Ohio State University. Her teachers include Katherine Borst Jones, Charles DeLaney, Clement Barone, William Bennett and piccolo studies with Jack Wellbaum. In 2004, she won a Convention Performer's Certificate and in 2002, won third-place in the Kentucky Flute Society Young Artisit Competition. In 2005, the National Flute Association selected Dr. Butterfield's DMA document, "The Professional Life and Pedagogy of Clement Barone," as a winner in its Doctoral and Dissertation Competition. Her writings appear in "Flute Talk" and "The Flutist's Quarterly."
Dr. Sion "Ted" Honea, Head of Graduate Studies
Dr. Ted Honea combines expertise in scholarly research and practical performance in a way that is rare among university music faculty. Well-known in the U.S. for his articles on horn pedagogy and performance practice, he also maintains an active performance career, performing repertoire from all periods of literature for the horn. Returning home to teach at his alma mater, Dr. Honea holds a BM from UCO, a MA and is ABD in Musicology from the Eastman School of Music and a second MA and PhD degree in Classics from the State University of New York-Buffalo. He has also studied horn with Verne Reynolds, Paul Ingraham and Melvin Lee and natural horn with Richard Seraphinoff. Dr. Honea has authored numerous scholarly and pedagogical publications, including articles in "The Horn Call," "Music Educators Journal," "Music Reference Services Quarterly," "MLA Notes," "American Music Teacher," "Ad Parnassum," "Journal of Religious History," "Classical World," "Journal of Ritual Studies," "Journal of Academic Librarianship," "Journal of Library Administration" and "New Library Scene." He has served as a member of the preservation committee research library group and music library association, treasurer of the American Liszt Society and current archivist for the International Horn Society. Dr. Honea is a member of the American Musicological Society, the Society for American Music, the International Horn Society, the College Music Society and the National Association of Schools of Music. He received the UCO "Vanderford Distinguished Teacher Award" for the College of Fine Arts and Design in 2006 and the University's "Modeling the Way Award" in 2008. Dr. Honea has recently focused his efforts in scholarship on the history of wind literature, its performance practice and performing on the natural horn. Previous staff employment included service at Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music (1978-1998) where he was conservator, head of rare books and special collections and archivist. Previous faculty appointments include the University of Rochester (1986-88), Eastman School of Music (1991-98) and George Eastman House Institute for Conservation (1992-98).
Dr. Hong Zhu, Violin and Chamber Music Professor
Dr. Hong Zhu teaches violin and chamber music and plays regularly with the faculty quartet and Edmond Chamber Players. He received his undergraduate degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China and advanced degrees from Michigan State University. Dr. Zhu made his violin solo debut at the age of 15 in Guiyang, China. At age 22, he was awarded England's Menuhin Prize as a member of the China Youth String Quartet and was later selected by the Chinese government to study in the Sydney Conservatory. In that capacity, he toured the country giving chamber-music recitals, including a concert broadcast live from the Sydney Opera House. Returning to Beijing, he was appointed Associate Professor of Violin at the Central Conservatory of Music. Concurrently, he became assistant concertmaster of the China Youth Symphony and concertized with the orchestra in Switzerland, West Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Great Britain. Prior to joing the UCO faculty, Dr. Zhu taught at Murray State University in Kentucky, University of Michigan-Flint and the Flint Institute of Music. He has been teaching at the Colorado Music Festival Summer String Camp since 1996. He gives solo and chamber music recitals frequently. He has also served as the concertmaster, assistant concertmaster and principal second violin of many orchestras including the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Midland Symphony Orchestra and Michigan State University Orchestra.
Dr. Lori Wooden, Head of Winds and Percussion
Dr. Lori Wooden holds a PhD in Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin, a MM from the University of Minnesota and a BS in Music Education from St. Cloud University. She is currently a member of the Enid Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to moving the OK, Dr. Wooden was a member of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra (contra bassoon), the Madison Symphony Orchestra (contra bassoon), the Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra (principle bassoon) and the Greater Rochester (NY) Women's Philharmonic Orchestra (bassoon). In addition to being the head of UCO's winds & percussion division, Dr. Wooden also teaches bassoon, currently coordinates the wind chamber music program and is the associate conductor of the UCO Symphony Orchestra. She also teaches music theory. Her teachers include John Miller and Mark Kelly (Minnesota Orchestra); Chuck Ullery (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra); Richard Lottridge (Chicago Symphony); Abe Weiss (Rochester Philharmonic); and Jill Marderness (Quintessence-Phoenix, AZ). Before moving to OK, Dr. Wooden was the assistant conductor and manager of the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Hochstein Music School in Rochester, NY as well as a music faculty member at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the Monroe Community College. She has served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. From 1988-2003, Dr. Wooden was the instructor of bassoon and saxophone at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, MI. She is a founding member of the "Crosswinds Reed Trio" and actively promotes chamber music in the area.
Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher, Cello and Chamber Music Professor
Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher, Cello and Chamber Music Professor
Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher was born in Cologne, Germany and has studied with Boris Pergamenschikow, Maria Kliegel, Siegfried Palm, Jacqueline de Pre and William Pleeth. As a Fulbright Scholar, she studied with Lynn Harrell in his Piatigorsky class at the University of Southern California and was awarded her MM. As "most outstanding graduate of the year for performance, academic excellence and leadership," she received her PhD under the supervision of Eleonore Schoenfeld.
Dr. Remy-Schumacher has won first prizes in Germany's Jugend musiziert, New York's International Artist Competition (string division) and Rome's Carlo-Zecchi Competition with pianist Dr. Michael Staudt. She has been a concert soloist for many years performing in Asia, Australia, Europe and the U.S., including the Wigmore Hall in London, Jubilee Hall in Singapore and the Carnegie Recital Hall in New York and Bradley Hall in Chicago. In The New York Concert Review, Edith Eisler wrote about her most recent Carnegie Recital Hall performance, “Ms. Remy-Schumacher’s technique is disciplined… Her bow control and mastery of the fingerboard are complete; her intonation is excellent. Dr. Remy also performed at the Brisbane Biennial Festival, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and the Contempofest (Australia), the Weatherfield Music Festival (U.S.) and the Internationaler Klaviersommer (Germany). She has recored for WDR, NDR and MDR (Germany), WNYC New York, K-USC Los Angeles, ABC National, Australia, MBS-FM Melbourne, Australia and Swiss and Italian television. Her CDs include her own transcriptions of Robert Schumann's "Dichterliebe" with Marcus Reissenweber and Christoph von Sicherer, works by "In Sun Cho" for the Contemporary Music Society in Seoul, Korea, Villa Lobos with guitarist Stefan Gasse, the "Ibert Cello Concerto" recorded in 1999 at Radio Hilversum combined with solo cello works by Henze, Lutoslawki, Stahlke, Magrill, and the Rachmaninov Sonata in g-minor with pianist Michael Staudt. She just released a CD of Cello Compositions by Sam Magrill and recently recorded "Trios" by Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven as well as the first volume of the "Suites for Cello Solo" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Following her appointment at James Cool University from 1992-1998, she is now a professor for cello and chamber music at UCO. She is a co-founder of the UCO Outreach Music program together with Dr. Chindarat Charoenwongse. For the academic year 2010/2011 she was appointed Visiting Fellow Performance at Harvard University. For the academic year 2011/2012 she was appointed Visiting Scholar at Harvard University and Reviewer for the national ASTA magazine.
For more information, visit: www.tessremy.com
Dr. Ralph Morris, Director of the Symphony Orchestra
Dr. Ralph Morris joined the faculty of UCO in 1991. He is the Director of the Symphony Orchestra, teaches viola and chamber music and is a member of the UCO Faculty String Quartet. He is the former Director of the UCO School of Music. He holds a BM from Texas Christian University and a MM and PhD in Musical Arts from Arizona State University. In addition, Dr. Morris studied violin, viola and historical performance practice with Eduard Melkus at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna. His teachers have also included William Magers and Kenneth Schanewerk. A native of Fort Worth, TX, Dr. Morris is a former member of the Fort Worth Symphony. While living in Austria for eight years, he specialized in the performance of Baroque and Classical music, performing with the Capella Academica Wien and the Wiener Barock Solisten in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. He also performed throughout Europe and Japan as a member of the orchestras of the Wiener Volksoper, the Theater an der Wien and the Mozart Oper Salzburg. He has also conducted the UCO Chamber Orchestra in performances at the Merkin Hall in NYC, the Eroica Hall in Vienna, Austria, the Central University of Finance and Economics and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. As a member of the UCO Faculty String Quartet, Dr. Morriss has performed chamber music throughout OK, the Southwest, Thailand and Germany. He has been a featured soloist with the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Community Orchestra, the Jubilee Community Orchestra of Ashville, NC, the UCO Symphony, the UCO Chamber Orchestra and the Thai Symphony in Bangkok, Thailand. During the summers, he serves on the faculties of the UCO Chamber Music Camp and the Inspiration Point String Camp in Eureka Springs, AK.
Dr. Greg White, Director of Music Theatre and Opera
Dr. Greg White is not only the Director of Music Theatre & Opera at UCO, but he also is the Director of "Broadway Tonight!" He teaches, produces and directs shows for both acclaimed programs. He also oversees the popular student vocal performances at the UCO Jazz Lab. An alumnus of UCO, Dr. White holds a BM in Music Theatre and a MA in Creative Studies. His favorite acting credits include: the Broadway National Tour of Rodger's and Hammerstein's "State Fair" (as Harry) with John Davidson; the original New York cast of "Nunsense A-men!" (as Amnesia); the Broadway National Tour of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (as Miles Gloriosus) starring Rip Taylor; "Oklahoma!" (as Will Parker) featuring Broadway greats Terrence Mann and Tony Award-winner Shuler Hensley; "Forever Plaid" (as Frankie); "Hello, Dolly!" (as Cornelius); the originial cast of "It's a Wonderful Life!" (as George Bailey); "The Wizard of Oz" (as the Scarecrow) with new pop-sensation Joanna Pacitti. Dr. White has appeared locally at Lyric Theater of Oklahoma, Discoveryland!, and the National Outdoor Home of Oklahoma. As a director, Dr. White has worked throughout the U.S. and most notably, at the North Carolina Theater and the historic Bucks County Playhouse. Directing credits include: "Children of Eden" which won the Best of Raleigh 2000 Award; "Forever Plaid;" "Nunsense A-men!;" "South Pacific;" "Camelot;" "Oliver!;" "Oklahoma!;" "The Music Man;" and many more. He has also directed numerous productions at UCO and has also helped found UCO's popular summer program "Straw Hat Music Theatre Works," where he directed its inaugural production. Dr. White has also performed as a featured vocalist throughout the world (more than 40 countries to date) on major cruiselines.
Dr. Karl Nelson, Director of Choral Studies
A native of the Chicago area, Dr. Karl Nelson has served as the Director of Choral Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma since August of 2006, where he conducts the Concert Chorale, Chamber Singers, and Edmond Community Chorale.
A student of Kenneth Fulton, Michael Butterman, Jindong Cai, Chester Alwes and Joe Grant, he earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His previous positions include Director of Choral Activities at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, William Carey College in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and director of choirs at St. Joseph's Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Under the direction of Dr. Nelson, the University of Central Oklahoma Concert Chorale has toured throughout Italy in 2008, performed at the Oklahoma Music Educators Conference in 2009 and 2010, and most recently, the College Music Society National Conference in September 2010. He has served as clinician and adjudicator on numerous occasions, working at the grade school, high school, college, and community levels. Dr. Nelson also has experience as the conductor of various church choirs as well as musical director for several musical theatre productions. He currently serves as the St. Mary's Episcopal Church Chancel Choir director. When not directing music, he loves woodworking, watching his beloved Chicago Cubs and spending time with his loving wife, Jena, two children, and black lab, Wrigley.
Dr. Kevin Eckard, Voice and Director of Opera
Dr, Kevin Eckard, bass-baritone, is currently an Associate Professor of Voice and the Director of Opera. He is a native of South Carolina and has received his DMA from the University of South Carolina and his MM from Indiana University. Dr. Eckard has performed frequently throughout the U.S. as well as in Italy, Austria, Poland and Great Britain. He has performed as a soloist in the Messiah Festival in Lindsborg, KS; the International Choir Festival in Chester, England; the Indianapolis Opera; the Tulsa Opera; the Denver Opera; the Witchita Opera; the Colorado Symphony; the National Repertory Orchestra; the Pueblo Symphony; the Boulder Philharmonic; the Carmel and Anderson Symphonies in Indiana; the Indianapolis Symphony; the Augusta Opera; the Opera Carolina; the Canterbury Choral Society; the Enid Symphony and the Lyric Theater of Oklahoma City. Dr. Eckard was also a three-time winner of the South Carolina District Metropolitan Opera Competition and a regional finalist. He has been the featured soloist in productions of Mozart's "Requiem," Brahm's "German Requiem," Faure's "Requiem," Handel's "Messiah," Haydn's "Creation" and " Lord Nelson's Mass" and Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony." Among his many operatic credits, he has performed the roles of Schaunard in "La Boheme," Boris Godunov in "Boris Godunov," Blitch in "Susannah," Bob in "The Old Maid and the Thief," Dulcamara in "Elixir of Love," Monterone in "Rigoletto," Raimondo in "Lucia di Lammermoor," Budd in "Albert Herring," Masetto in "Don Giovanni," Secret Policeman in "The Consul," Escamillo in "Carmen," and Mikado in "The Mikado." Dr. Edcarkd has also recorded portions of David Yeagley's opera "Jacek" with the Polish National Radio Symphony as well as "Lessons and Carols" with the St. John's Cathedral in Denver, CO. In his capacity as Director of Opera, he has worked with his colleagues to develop a strong program for operatic studies. He is committed to helping students realize their potential as they pursue their dreams in music.
Lee Rucker, Jazz Ensemble III & Jazz Lab Director
Lee Rucker has been teaching at UCO since 1981. Mr. Rucker has served since that time as the Director of the UCO Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Ensembles I, II and III, Music Theatre Pit Orchestra and many smaller jazz groups. His ensembles have been recognized with numerous awards on the state, regional and national levels for musical excellence. As a performer, he has worked with the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Louis Bellson Orchestra as a featured soloist. He has also performed with countless other nationally recognized artists throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Brian Lamb, Director of Bands
Brian Lamb is the Director of Bands at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he conducts the Wind Symphony, teaches conducting and instrumental music education courses, and guides all aspects of the UCO band program. Dr. Lamb made his Carnegie Hall debut in May, 2005, performing with UCO friend and colleague Tess Remy-Schumacher in the Weill Recital Hall. In March, 2006, Lamb and the UCO Wind Symphony performed for a full house in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. The UCO Wind Symphony, with Lamb as conductor, has garnered national attention and acclaim from audiences, composers, and critics alike for outstanding and creative performances and for playing an active role in commissioning projects and consortiums, including work with Carolyn Bremer, Richard Danielpour, and the National Wind Ensemble Consortium Group. Lamb received the bachelor's degree in music education from Baylor University, the master's degree in trumpet performance and literature from the University of Notre Dame, and the doctor of musical arts degree in conducting from the University of North Texas. He has studied conducting with Eugene Corporon, Michael Haithcock, Larry Rachleff, Alan McMurray, and Jack Stamp; and his trumpet teachers have included John Haynie, Barry Hopper, and William Scarlett. Prior to his UCO appointment, Dr. Lamb was the Director of Instrumental Studies at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri. Before beginning his doctoral study, he served as director of bands and chairman of the fine arts department at James Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas. Still active as a trumpet performer, Dr. Lamb currently plays in the UCO Faculty Brass Quintet, and he has been a member of the Texas Wind Symphony, the Waco Symphony and the South Bend Symphony. Having taught in Texas, Missouri, Indiana, and now Oklahoma, Dr. Lamb is very active as a clinician and guest conductor all over the southwest, and his groups have received acclaim for performances at regional, state, and national conventions. He has contributed several published works to various journals and textbooks, and he is the author of "Music is Magic," a children's radio program that aired on KCSC-90.1 FM. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, the College Band Directors National Association, Oklahoma Music Educators Association, Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, Music Educators National Conference, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, and he was recently honored as a Friend of the Arts by Sigma Alpha Iota.
Jeff Kidwell, Jazz Ensemble II
Jeff Kidwell is a Music Instructor at UCO and teaches Applied Trombone and Jazz Ensemble. He is also the Assistant Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Director of Jazz Lab Operations. From 1998-2006, Kidwell served as Assistant Director of Bands with the Edmond Public Schools; his duties included Marching Band, Symphonic Bands and Jazz Ensembles at the high school and middle school level. Prior to coming to Edmond, Mr. Kidwell taught in the Norman Public Schools, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University. He is a highly sought after musician/clinician who has performed with the likes of The Temptations, The Four Tops, Pete Fountain, The Supremes, Brandford Marsalis, Randy Brecker, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Toby Keith, Wayne Newton, Vince Gill and Amy Grant among others. He also performsn for Lyric Theater, The Oklahoma City Philaharmonic Orchestra and the Civilized Tribe Dixieland band. Jeff has been a musician for Norwegian Cruise Lines and played for national tours of Broadway musicals such as "Wicked," "Peter Pan, "Spam-A-Lot," "The Will Rogers Follies," "The Rat Pack" and "The Color Purple." He is a top-call studio musician and functions as a trombonist and arranger for one of the Southwest's top party and show bands "Souled Out." Mr. Kidwell has been a featured clinician and educator throughout the Southwest including the New Mexico State Jazz Ensemble contest, the OBA-OKJE All-State Ensembles and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute Honor Jazz Ensemble. He lives in Edmond, OK with his wife, Susan, and their three daughters, Madeline, Gracie and Emma Jane.
David Hanan, Associate Director of Bands
David Hanan is the Associate Director of Bands: he conducts the Symphonic Band and directs the Marching and Pep Bands. Mr. Hanan also teaches Instrumentation, Form and Analysis and Instrumental Music Education courses. Mr. Hanan received a BA in Music Education from Missouri Western State, a MM in trumpet performance from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Kansas City in Missouri. Still active as a trumpet performer, he has been a member of St. Joseph Symphony. Having taught in Missouri, KS and now in Oklahoma, he is currently active as a clinician and guest conductor all over the tri-state region. Mr. Hanan is a member of the College Band Directors National Association of Oklahoma Music Educators Association, Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, Music Educators National Conference and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Dr. Keith White, Director of the School of Music
Dr. Keith White is also a professor of music and has a PhD in Fine Arts Administration with a secondary concentration in composition from Texas Tech University; a MM in Theory/Composition and a BA in Music Education from Wichita State University; and advanced studies in composition with Morton Subotnick at the California Institute of the Arts. He is active as a composer, music theatre director and arts consultant. Dr. White has taught music in K-12, community college and university settings. His creative research interests center around electro-acoustic compositions and multi-disciplinary performances.
Dr. Sallie Pollack, Piano
Pianist Sallie Pollack joined the piano faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma’s School of Music in the fall of 2009. Dr. Pollack received a Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma in Piano Performance from Texas Christian University. She was a recipient of the 1996 Fulbright Scholarship for study at the Royal Conservatory of Belgium where she was awarded the Premier Prix in Piano Performance. After completing a Master of Music in Chamber Music and Accompanying from the University of Illinois, she worked as staff accompanist at Texas Tech University until 2000. Dr. Pollack entered the prestigious Doctor of Musical Arts program in Collaborative Piano at the Manhattan School of Music in 2003 where she was awarded a full assistantship and received her degree in 2009. As soloist, Dr. Pollack has performed with the Fort Worth Symphony, the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra, TCU Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado College Summer Conservatory Orchestra. Her many awards and competitions include finalist in the Concours International Bach Competition in Brussels, and winner in the Van Cliburn Piano Institute Concerto Competition. As collaborator, she has played in Carnegie Hall three times, toured extensively with the Texas Boys Choir, played for the Fort Worth Ballet, coached opera for Theatre-Hof in Bavaria, the Illinois Opera Theatre, and the TCU Opera Workshop. She has also been a performer in music festivals in Colorado, North Carolina, Nevada, Belgium, Canada and South America. Dr. Pollack can be heard singing with her family in over 600 songs for various publishers of elementary music textbooks in use throughout the country. Sallie has been a student of John Forconi, Eric Dalheim, José Feghali, Dalia Ouziel and Pamela Paul and has collaborated with Phil Smith, Renee Siebert, Charles Castleman, Alexa Still, Richard Nunemaker, Andrew Shulman, and Evan Wilson. She recently recorded new music by Ukrainian-American composer Virko Baley with acclaimed soprano Lucy Shelton for Cambria Music. Dr. Pollack makes her home in Edmond, OK with her husband and three children.
Michael Geib, String Bass
Michael Geib, instructor of classical and jazz double bass, joined the UCO Faculty in 2010. He earned his bachelors degree from Clemson University and his master's degrees from the Florida State University College of Music, where he is also currently a doctoral candidate. His principal teachers have included Melanie Punter, Rodney Jordan, Ian Bracchitta, and Delbert Felix. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Geib has performed with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and served as principal bass for Sinfonia Gulf Coast. He has performed on multiple recordings for the Naxos Label, including Ellen Taafe Zwilich: Millennium Fantasy, Images, Peanuts Gallery in 2009, where he was principal bassist and a featured soloist. He has performed in festivals nationally and abroad, including the Ringling International Arts Festival in Sarasota, Florida and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has also been featured on a number of radio broadcasts, including Performance Today on American Public Media and Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? on National Public Radio. As a jazz musician, Mr. Geib has performed with Marcus Roberts, Jason Marsalis, Marcus Printup, Stefon Harris, Walt Weiskopf, Martin Bejerano, Kevin Bales, Quentin Baxter, Tim Horner, Leon Anderson, and Paul McKee, among others. He has frequently performed in such venues as The Jazz Corner on Hilton Head Island, and has performed internationally in such clubs as The Music Village in Brussels, Belgium. He is an active jazz composer, having written original music for the Clemson Players production of Susan Lori Parks' 365 Days/Plays and the Wishbone Theatre Collective production of The Story of Pete and Pickles. His works have also been featured as part of the Florida State University Jazz Festival and Showcase. An active theatre orchestra musician, Mr. Geib has performed in the musicals Beauty and the Beast, South Pacific, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, The Last Five Years, Little Shop of Horrors, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Big River, and Footloose, among others. In 2010, he performed in the world premiere of i.d., a new musical by Gibson and Staskel. The run of this show played to sold-out audiences at the Elon Center for the Arts and received rave reviews from critics.
Dr. Roxane LaCombe
A native of San Diego, Dr. Roxane LaCombe has delighted audiences with her equal ease in opera, oratorio, and art song. She has performed the title roles in The Elixir of Love, I Pagliacci, The Marriage of Figaro, Susannah, The Boy Friend, The Old Maid and the Thief, The Medium and Die Fledermaus. In the summer of 1997, LaCombe had her European debut under the auspices of Elysium – between two continents with recitals featuring Brahms and Schubert as well as music by composers killed in the Holocaust. In February of 1998 she appeared in concert with Rescued Music by Victor Ullman and Pavel Haas at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. She returned to Europe to give concerts with Elysium and its program Music from Theresienstadt in Vienna, Sarajevo and Munich. LaCombe has been the featured soloist in productions of Bach’s St. John Passion, Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes, Requiem and Coronation Mass, Fauré’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Schubert’s Mass in G and John Rutter’s Requiem. Before joining the faculty at The University of Central Oklahoma, she was on faculty at The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith as Director of the Opera and Music Theater Workshop. Her teaching duties at UCO include applied voice, vocal literature and Italian, French and German diction. LaCombe maintains an active career as a regional soloist, adjudicator and clinician. She also maintains a residence in France, where she returns each summer for performances and to study repertoire with Maestro Jean-Pierre Marty. LaCombe holds degrees from The New England Conservatory of Music, San Diego State University and The University of Oklahoma.
100 North University Drive, Edmond, OK 73034 | (405) 974-2000