2017 CMS Great Lakes Regional Conference Bios: Original Scores

Adams, Daniel C. Daniel Adams (b. 1956, Miami, FL) is a Professor of Music at Texas Southern University in Houston. Adams holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (1985) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music from the University of Miami (1981) and a Bachelor of Music from Louisiana State University (1978). He currently serves as the College Music Society Board Member for Composition. Adams is the composer of numerous published musical compositions and the author of many articles and reviews on topics related to Twentieth Century percussion music, music pedagogy, and the music of Texas. His most recent article, “Indeterminate Passages as Temporal and Spatial Components of Three Selected Compositions for Snare Drum Ensemble” was published in the Fall 2013 issue of the Journal of the National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors. His book entitled “The Solo Snare Drum” was published in 2000. He is also the author of two entries published in 2009 in the Oxford Encyclopedia of African-American History 1896 to the Present and has authored a revision of the Miami, Florida entry for the Grove Dictionary of American Music. Adams has served as a panelist and lecturer nationally and internationally. In 2011 he presented, by invitation, a composition master class at Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea Adams’s music has been performed throughout the United States, and in , Germany, Belgium, , Turkey, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, and South Korea. His music is recorded on Capstone Records, Ravello Records, Potenza, Albany, and Summit Records.

Chuaqui, Nicolas Nicolas Chuaqui (b. 1990) has recently had his music performed at June in Buffalo (2016), Dartmouth College Festival of Contemporary American Music (2015), Midwest Composers’ Symposium (2015), and Florida Electroacoustic Student Festival (2015). In May 2016, his opera, The Forest of Dreams, which tells the story of the “vanished” British colony of Roanoke, was premiered by New Voices Opera of Bloomington, Indiana.

Nicolas holds a BA from Dartmouth College (2012), and will graduate with an MM from Indiana University in 2016. In 2012 he received the Eugene Roitman ‘46 Award from Dartmouth College, as well as High Honors for his orchestral composition Icarus. In 2014 he was a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award with his first string quartet, Zeugma. Nicolas is also an accomplished performer in piano, voice, and conducting, and has premiered many student composers’ works. He has recently been a featured soloist in the world premiere of John Gibson’s In Flight, as well as minor parts in David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion. He also served as musical director of his college vocal group, and in 2011, lead the group to a 2nd place finish on Season 3 of NBC’s “The Sing-Off.”

Biography of Alice Baldwin (performer): Alice Baldwin, a native of Laramie, Wyoming, is a doctoral student in harpsichord performance at Indiana University. Alice holds a Master’s degree in harpsichord from IU, but started her musical life as a pianist and holds a Bachelor’s degree in piano from the University of Wyoming. As a pianist, she placed highly in and won several competitions, including being the youngest ever winner of the Wyoming Young Artist Competition, subsequently making her solo debut with an orchestra at the age of fifteen. Most notably during her time at IU, she has been a piano soloist with the Chamber Orchestra for Frank Martin’s Petite symphonie concertante and was a finalist in the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra’s concerto competition in 2012. She is currently a member of the early music ensemble Arethusa Musica, and is active as a continuo player and pianist throughout the United States.

D’Ambrosio, Michael Mike D’Ambrosio is Associate Professor of Theory and Composition at Murray State University in Kentucky and has been there since fall 2008. He has held previous teaching positions at Jacksonville State University (AL), Oklahoma State University, University of Dayton, and Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). He received his D.M.A. and M.M. degrees in music composition from CCM where he studied with Joel Hoffman and Ricardo Zohn- Muldoon (now at Eastman). Originally from Long Island, New York, Mike did his undergraduate work at Lehigh University where he double-majored in music and accounting. Recent commissions include the Luther College Trumpet Ensemble, the Murray State University Wind Ensemble, Kentucky Center’s Governor School for the Arts Faculty Quintet, Celeste Johnson (Professor of Oboe at Oklahoma State University), and Larry Wyatt (Director of Choral Studies at the University of South Carolina). Mike’s music has been performed by the Philadelphia Brass, Monarch Brass, Shepherd School Brass Choir (Rice University), Indiana University Brass Choir, Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music (CCM) Wind Ensemble, and by soloists and chamber musicians throughout the United States. His Wind on the Island won both the 2009 Cincinnati Camerata Composition Competition and 2007 University of South Carolina Choral Composition Contest and was performed in June 2008 at the Cultural Prelude to the Olympics at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Mike has also received ASCAPLUS Awards for the past seven years and has music published with C. Alan Publications, Potenza Music, Triplo Press, and Dorn Publications.

Biography of Ashley Cumming (performer):

Dr. Ashley Cumming is in demand as a soloist, chamber and orchestral hornist worldwide. As the hornist in Spark Brass, Ashley tours the U.S. with the dynamic brass and percussion ensemble. Alongside her varied orchestral commitments including former principal horn with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Ashley is a frequent recitalist and arranges solo and group performances for a variety of events.

Ashley is the Assistant Professor of horn at Murray State University. She has previously held academic and studio teaching appointments at Marian University, Indiana University–Purdue University of Indianapolis, University of Indianapolis and Vincennes University. Her private studio includes students of all levels, and she brings a diverse and positive approach into her teaching.

Davies, Ken Wisconsin native Ken Davies has had acoustic and electronic works performed at numerous new music festivals such as the Society of Composers, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Southeastern Composers League (he is a past president), Electronic Music Midwest, International Trombone Festival, National Association of Composers USA, Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, Parma Music Festival, London New Wind Festival (UK), and Sonic Coast (UK). Since 2002, he resides in south Mississippi where his music is published through his own Kenvad Music (see at www.kendavies.net). Awards include the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Performing Arts Fellowship for Composition (twice), the Mississippi Music Teachers’ Association’s Commissioned Composer, and winner of the American Trombone Workshop National Composition Competition. His music studies were at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, , Middle Tennessee State University at Murfreesboro (MA trombone), and the University of Colorado at Boulder (MM composition). His studio cats, Little Fluff and Darius Meow, supervise each piece of new “mewsic” before it goes to press.

Biography of Adam Clark (performer): Adam Clark has been heard as a soloist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist throughout the United States, as well as in Belgium, Italy, Sweden, and South Korea. He has performed in venues such as New York’s Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Sejong Arts Center in Seoul (Korea), the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, and Royce Auditorium in Grand Rapids, and with orchestras including the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Holland Symphony Orchestra, and the San Luis Obispo Symphony, among others. Of his playing, New York Concert Review Magazine wrote, “Clark brought out much beauty in Chopin’s soulfully embroidered melodies. He played with thoughtful expressiveness” and “achieved an excellent blend [with the orchestra].”

A dedicated teacher, Clark has lectured nationally and abroad on diverse topics ranging from technical and musical development to 20th-century pedagogical repertoire. He has been published in American Music Teacher Magazine, the College Music Society’s Symposium, and Piano Pedagogy Forum, and regularly gives masterclasses throughout the United States and abroad. His students have been admitted to outstanding undergraduate and graduate programs in music across the country.

Originally from California, Clark received his B.M. in Piano Performance from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied with Charles Asche. He went on to complete his M.M. at the University of Texas, Austin and D.M.A. at the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music (CCM) where his principal teachers were Nancy Garrett and Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor of Piano at Middle Tennessee State University.

Dietz, Christopher J. In recent years, compositions by Christopher Dietz have been premiered in London, Auvillar (), Montreal, Ottawa, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Houston, Phoenix and Ann Arbor, among others. His works have been performed by numerous contemporary ensembles including Alarm Will Sound, The Orchestra of the League of Composers, Decoda, The East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, The Ensemble, Trio Kavak, as well as traditional ensembles such as L’Orchestre de la Francophonie, The Beau Soir Trio, The Orange County Symphony and The Toledo Symphony. Current projects include works for Duo Scorpio and the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble.

Residencies at Copland House, Canada’s Banff Centre and The Camargo Foundation (Cassis, France) have been important milestones in the development of Christopher’s compositional voice. Recognition of his work has come from honors and awards including ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, The Minnesota Orchestra Reading Sessions and Composer Institute, The Riverside Symphony Composer Reading Project (NYC), The Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music, Random Access Music, The Utah Arts Festival’s Orchestral Commission Prize as well as several academic awards, grants and scholarships. Christopher’s music has been released on New Focus, Navona and Cambria Records.

Christopher holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan as well as degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Wisconsin. He has been on the faculty at Hillsdale College and the Oberlin Conservatory. Christopher is currently an assistant professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio where he teaches composition and directs the new music ensemble. [www.christopher-dietz.com]

Hoose, Shane Dr. Shane Hoose is active as a recording engineer, composer, and percussionist. He holds degrees in music from the University of Iowa (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University (MM) and Ball State University (BM). As an engineer he has recorded all styles of music. Most recently, he has recorded multiple album projects for Central Kentucky artists utilizing analog recording technology, including The Westbrook Trio’s Postmodern Man and Idylwild’s Faces. Dr. Hoose is an active clinician in the area of music technology and has recently given presentations at conferences of the Technology Institute for Music Educators, College Music Society, Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production, and the Music and Moving and the Moving Image Conference at New York University. Dr. Hoose serves as Assistant Professor of Music Industry/Recording Arts at Eastern Kentucky University.

McNair, Jonathan B. Jonathan B. McNair’s music has been performed across the U.S.A., and in Canada, , Puerto Rico, , England, and Germany. Recordings are available on the Capstone (PARMA), ACA Digital, and AUR labels, with a new release of an orchestral work upcoming on the Ablaze label. Selected works are published by Potenza Music, and Keepe Publishing House, and McNairMusic. He was named Tennessee Composer of the Year for 2008 by the Tennessee Music Teachers Association.

McNair has been awarded commissions, residencies, and recognition from national, regional, and local agencies, including the American Composers Forum, the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, St. Edward High School, CreateHere (Chattanooga), Ballet Tennessee, Chattanooga Downtown Partnership, Choral Arts of Chattanooga, the Texas Composers Forum, the Ohio Arts Council, ASCAP, I-Park, The Hambidge Center, and the Ucross Foundation, among others. McNair studied composition at The Cleveland Institute of Music, Southern Methodist University, and Appalachian State University. He is the Ruth S. Holmberg Professor of American Music at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he frequently produces contemporary music concerts. He is past- president of the Southeastern Composers League, and hosted their 2014 and 2008 Forums.

Mertl, Gregory J. “A talent the ear wants to follow wherever it goes” ( Globe), Gregory Mertl has garnered commissions from the Tanglewood Music Center, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Tarab Cello Ensemble, the Phoenix Symphony, the Wind Ensembles of the Big Ten Universities, the Ostrava Oboe Festival, , Kenneth Meyer and the Hanson Institute, the University of Oregon, and the Barlow Endowment for a piano concerto for pianist Solungga Liu and the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, Craig Kirchhoff, conductor to be released by Innova in late 2016.

Mertl has degrees from Yale University (BA 1991) and the Eastman School of Music (Ph.D. in Music Composition 2005) and was a 1998 Tanglewood Composition Fellow, where he had the privilege of working with Henri Dutilleux and Mauricio Kagel. His most recent works are a trio for clarinet, cello and piano for the new music ensemble counter)induction and Letter for a Dying Soldier for the University of Niš Choir (Serbia). He is presently composing a concerto for the French cellist Xavier Phillips.

Biography of Heather Shae Lanners (performer): Canadian pianist, Heather Shea Lanners, has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe as both a soloist and chamber musician. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at Oklahoma State University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada as a student of John Paul Bracey. She then continued her studies in Paris with French pianist, Cecile Ousset. While in Paris, she also earned the Diplome Superieur en Musique de Chambre at the Ecole Normale de Musique. Since the completion of a Master’s degree in Performance and Literature with Barry Snyder at the Eastman School of Music, Ms. Lanners has worked as the Opera Coach at both the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Akron. Professional engagements have included performing regularly as the pianist for the Cleveland Opera on Tour, the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music String Camp, and the Holland Summer Music Sessions. Recent highlights have included solo performances at the Dublin International Piano Festival in August of 2015, and Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Bulgarian State Orchestra of Vidin under the direction of Maestro Christopher Haygood in July of 2016.

In addition to a busy performing and teaching schedule, Lanners is active as a guest lecturer, master class clinician and adjudicator. She has also had articles published in the American Music Teacher journal.

Price, William William Price’s music has been performed in South America, Asia, and throughout the United States and Europe. His works have been featured at numerous international events, including the World Saxophone Congress, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Clarinet Association Conference, the Musica Viva Festival in Portugal, the Musinfo Journées Art & Science in France, the Engine Room International Sound Art Exhibition in London, and the Festival Internacional de la Imagen in Colombia.

An award winning composer, Price’s music has received accolades from numerous organizations, including the Music Teachers National Association, ASCAP, the Percussive Arts Society, the Southeastern Composers League, NACUSA, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Recordings of Price’s music can be found on the Summit, Innova, New Tertian, Ablaze, Mark, New Focus, and Ravello labels, and is published by Honeyrock, Triplo Press, Northeastern Music, Imagine Music, Conners, and Cimarron Music.

Price received his MM and DMA degrees in composition from Louisiana State University, and currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he teaches courses in music theory and composition.

Weimer, Steven

Steven Weimer’s music has been performed by the JACK Quartet, Molly Barth, Fear No Music Quartet, saxophonist Sean Xue, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Chamber Players, CCM Wind Ensemble, CCM Chamber Players, Café Momus, and many others. Performances of his work span from Alaska to Bulgaria, with premieres at festivals such as June in Buffalo, Forum- Festival computer Music Space, North American Saxophone Alliance, Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, and the Music Theory and Musicology SocietyConference. His recent commissions include works for the Kentucky Music Teachers Association, Vandoren, Inc., the CCM Orchestra Program, and tubist Timothy Northcut. He has received first-place awards from the Eta Omicron chapter’s Phi Mu Alpha Composition Contest, the CCM Concerto/Composition Competition, and recently placed as a finalist for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Marilyn Glick Young Composers Competition. Dr. Weimer has enjoyed recent collaborations with American poets in Cincinnati and California; his setting of Kathleen Winter’s Eve, Seducing the Apple will be published in the tenth anniversary edition of the Cincinnati Review. He has degrees from the College- Conservatory of Music (D.M.A.), Bowling Green State University (M.M.), and Western Illinois University (B.M.), and is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Murray State University.

Performer Biographies: Kate Tombaugh, mezzo-soprano, has sung professionally in thirteen states with companies such as the Santa Fe Opera, Performance Santa Fe, Utah Opera, Winter Opera St. Louis, and the Lexington Philharmonic, Jackson Symphony, and Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra ensembles. Her roles range the gamut from classical to musical theatre, with concert repertoire spanning Bach to contemporary works. Please visit her website for more information: [email protected]

Christy D’Ambrosio is an accomplished piano soloist and collaborative chamber musician. She has performed in both solo and chamber capacities throughout the United States. In addition to maintaining a private studio, she has served as Adjunct Instructor at Murray State University in western Kentucky since 2008.