2017 CMS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE July 9–13, 2017 Sydney, Australia

PRESENTER & COMPOSER BIOS updated June 19, 2017

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 Spain, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Turkey, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, and South Korea. His music is recorded on Capstone Records, Ravello Records, Potenza, Albany, and Summit Records.

Albonetti, Viara S. A native of Bulgaria, Viara Albonetti holds a Master of Music Degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA. Viara dedicates her professional work to both violin instruction and performance. She is a full-time instructor in violin and chamber music at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT, and adjunct violin and chamber music faculty member in the Department of Music at Southern Connecticut State University. A member of various faculty ensembles, Viara is an active participant in the chamber music series at the Neighborhood Music School. She has performed in many countries in Europe, as well as in the USA, and Canada. For the past decade Dr. Albonetti has been involved in research on the place of folk music in the classical works of composers, focusing on the musical heritage of Bulgaria. This research has brought her work to participation in music events at Carnegie Hall, as well to presentations at international research forums in the USA and abroad. Another area of interest and research for Dr. Albonetti is the development of global music education and violin pedagogy.

Alexander, Justin Justin Alexander is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. A dynamic and versatile percussionist, Justin has performed throughout the United States and the world, with recent performances in Sweden, Costa Rica, and The Dominican Republic.

Justin is co-founder of The AarK Duo, with flutist Tabatha Easley, and Novus Percutere, with percussionist Luis Rivera. Novus Percutere’s recent release, symmetry | reflection, focuses on percussion process music and the chamber works of the UK composer Steve Gisby. The AarK Duo has enjoyed several high-profile performances lately, including The College Music Society’s International Conference and the National Flute Association’s National Conference. Their debut CD, Hair, Cloth, and Thread, features new compositions for flute and percussion by Valerie Coleman, Marco Alunno, Michael Burritt, and John Griffin, and will be released Fall 2016. Justin can also be heard as a guest soloist on the recently-released Volume 3 by The Florida State University Percussion Ensemble, and the upcoming John Psathas Percussion Project disc, Volume 1. Active in the orchestral world, Justin regularly performs with The Richmond Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, and will be principal percussionist for the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival Orchestra in Wintergreen, VA for the 2016 season.

Justin holds the Doctor of Music Degree in Percussion Performance from The Florida State University. His primary teachers include Dr. John W. Parks IV, Dr. Blake Tyson, and Prof. Leon Anderson.

Armstrong, Robin Robin Armstrong teaches General Music at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.

Baldoria, Charisse Charisse Baldoria is an international prizewinning pianist and pedagogue whose artistic explorations have led to interdisciplinary collaborations (poetry, visual arts, improvisation, and dance) and unusual programs. She has performed in five continents and won awards in international and national competitions, such as the San Antonio International and Hilton Head Island International piano competitions.

In recent programs, she negotiates with her Filipino identity by juxtaposing the indigenous with the colonial, performing music from and inspired by Southeast Asia and Spain. She has given a concert at the International Festival of Spanish Keyboard Music (FIMTE) in Almeria, Spain; a series of concerts and lectures sponsored by Spain’s Ministry of Culture and the Instituto Cervantes, and concerts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Awarded a grant by the Cuban Research Institute, Dr. Baldoria did research at Florida International University’s Diaz Ayala Collection, the world’s most comprehensive Cuban music collection. Her explorations have also taken her to Cuba.

A Fulbright scholarship had brought her to the United States, and she finished her master’s and doctorate at the University of Michigan where she studied with Logan Skelton. She is currently a professor at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania where she directs the piano program.

Bellamy, Cayla Advocates for new music, University of Northern Iowa professors Dr. Ann Bradfield and Dr. Cayla Bellamy celebrate new works for both saxophone and bassoon. Bellamy’s performance invitations include summers at the Aspen Music Festival and Indiana Opera Festival, as well as core positions with wcfsymphony; Columbus, Carmel, and Macon Symphony Orchestras; and Athena Grand Opera Company. Bellamy holds the Doctor of Music degree Indiana University and has previously taught with the New York State Education Department, Gwinnett County (GA) Public School System, Indiana University Student Academic Center, and Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Bengtson, Matthew W. Critically acclaimed as a “musician’s pianist,” Matthew Bengtson commands an unusually diverse repertoire ranging from Byrd to Ligeti and numerous contemporary composers. An advocate of both contemporary and rarely performed music, he has concertized extensively in the US, Europe, and Mexico. His recordings can be heard on the Romeo, Navona, Griffin Renaissance, Arabesque, Musica Omnia and Albany record labels.

Mr. Bengtson is lauded as one of the most persuasive advocates of the music of Scriabin and Szymanowski. On his complete Scriabin Piano Sonatas, the American Record Guide writes: “Big-boned pianism, rich tonal colors, and dazzling technique are on display here. Has Scriabin ever been played better?” while Fanfare magazine calls him “a Scriabinist for the 21st century … upon whom future generations can rely for definitive interpretations.” In 2015, he performed in the historic centennial “Scriabin in the Himalayas” festival in Ladakh, India, and is a co-author of the upcoming “Scriabin Companion” for Rowman and Littlefield.

Equally devoted to the music of Karol Szymanowski, he has presented numerous all- Szymanowski duo/solo recitals with violinist Blanka Bednarz. Their 3-CD recording of Szymanowski's solo and violin-piano duo music is due shortly for release on the Musica Omnia label. His paper “The Szymanowski Clash: Methods of Harmonic Analysis in the Szymanowski Mazurkas” was awarded the 2003 Stefan and Wanda Wilk Prize for Research in Polish Music.

Mr. Bengtson is a Steinway Artist and Assistant Professor of Piano Literature at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.

Mr. Bengtson is Assistant Professor of Piano Literature at the University of Michigan.

Bergman, Mark Double Bassist, composer, and author Mark Elliot Bergman is the Director of Strings at Sheridan College. He teaches Double Bass and directs the Sheridan College Symphony Orchestra, Sheridan College Chamber Strings, and the Sheridan College Viol Consort. Mark is the former Principal Double Bassist of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Mato Grosso Chamber Orchestra (Brazil), and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. He spends his summers with the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon and with Assisi Performing Arts in Assisi, Italy. In 2006, Mark founded Virginia Virtuosi, a string trio dedicated to innovative chamber music programs and arts education. The ensemble recently performed at the Kennedy Center, Corcoran Gallery, and National Gallery of Art. They won the first Yale University Alumni Ventures Award in 2008, and were cited by Fairfax Connections for “turning classical music cool.―

Mark’s compositions are published by the British company “Recital Music.― He received the 2011 Strauss Fellowship from the Arts Council of Fairfax County supporting the creation of Shenandoah Suite, a string trio commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of Shenandoah National Park. His first book, In The Groove: Form and Function in Popular Music was published in 2012 by Cognella Academic Press. His second book, Get Up, Stand Up! Higher Order Thinking in Popular Music Studies was published by Scholars Press in 2016. Mark earned his doctorate from George Mason University in 2015. He also holds degrees from Yale University, the Eastman School of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music.

Bowyer, Don Don Bowyer is Professor of Music and Associate Dean of the School of Arts at Sunway University (Malaysia). Having previously served as Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Arkansas State University (USA) and Chair of the Department of Music at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (USA), Bowyer has taught at every level from kindergarten through university in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Sweden, and Malaysia. He received his Doctor of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado, Master of Arts from California State University- Northridge, and Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Active in the fields of composition, music technology, and performance, Bowyer has published more than 60 pieces of music, developed an educational computer program that has been used in at least 120 countries, and has performed as a trombonist in more than 40 countries. Among other performing credits, he spent five years playing trombone on eleven cruise ships in the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska. The first ten didn't sink. [www.donbowyer.com/aground.]

Bowyer and his wife have also served as foster parents, having provided a home to eighteen foster children between 2003 and 2010.

Bradfield, Ann Advocates for new music, University of Northern Iowa professors Dr. Ann Bradfield and Dr. Cayla Bellamy celebrate new works for both saxophone and bassoon. In 2013, Bradfield commissioned and premiered The Mystics by Franklin Piland, and in 2011 she premiered and recorded Wink, with and by percussionist Mark Ford. Bellamy recently performed a recital of new works from Iowa composers, including both acoustic instruments and live electronics. She is also in the process of recording the debut album for her duo Double or Nothing, which includes first recordings of bassoon duos by John Steinmetz and Roger Boutry.

Under the direction of Eugene Corporon with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Bradfield performed and recorded as principal saxophonist on the educational series, “Teaching Music through Performance in Band.”She has been featured at the World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Convention, and North American Saxophone Alliance Region 2 and 4 Conventions.

Bradfield completed her doctorate at the University of North Texas and has served on the faculty of Eastern New Mexico University, Cameron University, Oklahoma State University, and Oklahoma Christian University.

Bronkhorst, Julia After completing her study of French, Julia Bronkhorst dedicated herself entirely to the art of singing, and graduated from the Utrecht Conservatory where she studied under Udo Reinemann. She gave solo performances in countless opera productions. From Mozart and Ravel to Schoenberg and Schnittke (Life with an Idiot, world premiere with the Netherlands Opera). She has performed with various orchestras in places such as Prague, Vienna and Munich. Solo recitals have taken her all over Holland, South Africa and the United States. Besides various radio recordings, she has also recorded a number of CDs including: Henriette Bosmans and her circle, Swewe and Swerwe (a CD featuring South Africa), Rosa Ibérica (with music of the multicultural society of medieval Spain), Julius Röntgen and recently Wolfgang Wijdeveld. Julia combines her many projects with a teaching position at the Artez Conservatory in the Netherlands. In 2015 she sang in the opera by Caroline Ansink: Polen in Plan Zuid and performed in the same year in South Africa in the frame of the 100th anniversary of Elisabeth Eybers. [www.juliabronkhorst.nl]

Brown, Andrea E. Dr. Andrea E. Brown is a member of the conducting faculty at the University of Michigan serving as the assistant director of bands. In this position, she is the conductor of the Campus Bands and director of the Campus Band Chamber Ensembles, associate director of the Michigan Marching and Athletic Bands, director of the Men’s Basketball Band, guest conductor with the Symphony Band and Concert Band, teaches conducting, and a faculty sponsor of a College of Engineering Multidisciplinary Design Project team researching conducting pedagogy technology in support of which she was awarded a 2015 Transforming Learning for Third Century Quick Wins/Discovery grant. Previously Brown was the director of orchestra and assistant director of bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta where she also led research in conducting pedagogy technology and was a member of the Oxford Program faculty. Brown has had several rehearsal guides published in the popular GIA Publications series, “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” and has also presented at the International Computer Music Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the College Band Directors National Association National Conference, the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and the Yamaha Bläserklasse in Schlitz, Germany. Brown completed a DMA in instrumental conducting at UNC Greensboro where she was a student of John Locke and Kevin Geraldi. She is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the US, Europe, and Asia.

Brown, Timothy J. Timothy J. Brown holds a doctorate in Music Theory and Composition from the University of Northern Colorado, earning the Graduate Dean’s Citation for Outstanding Dissertation. He holds degrees from the State University of New York, Goddard College, and has studied with composer John Corigliano. Brown’s compositions span a variety of media and styles, ranging from art songs to full orchestral works to unaccompanied choral pieces and chamber works. His CD “Infinity”was released in 2005 and “Songs of Light, Songs of Shadows”in 2006. In 2008, excerpts from his song cycle for chamber ensemble, “In Flanders Fields,”were released. He has been named a recipient of ASCAP PLUS Awards annually since 2005. In 2006, Brown was awarded the “Lois Bailey Glenn Award for Teaching Excellence”by the National Music Foundation. A National Board Certified Teacher, he is the recipient of the 2015 Dr. John M. and Gladys N. Bates Award for Outstanding Contributions in Human Relations, Multiculturalism, and/or Diversity Education from the Colorado Education Association. Brown was selected for the 2012 “Essentially Choral” program of The American Composers Forum. He received a Meet the Composer Grant in 2009. Dr. Brown was a Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2007, 2010, and 2011, and a Fellow at the Melodious Accord with composer Alice Parker in 2007. He was a Fellow at the Millay Colony for the Arts in 2008. His music has been heard in the United States, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Canada, and Brazil.

Bruce, Judy Judy Bruce, composer and pianist, is a native New Yorker and a longtime resident of New Castle, Pennsylvania. She began her musical career as a pianist and accompanist performing in Butler, PA, Pittsburgh, NY, Youngstown, OH, and New Castle, PA. She performed in the Port Washington, NY Library Series, many times at the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts in New Castle, and was a winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Auditions.

She has been actively composing for the last seventeen years and has written works for solo piano, piano duet, piano and violin, piano and flute, piano and saxophone, woodwind trios and quartets, string quartets, band pieces, and orchestral works. Her works have been performed at Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, Youngstown State University in OH, Eckerd College in Fl., Seton Hill College in PA, Indiana University of PA, Suny University in Pottsdam, NY, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and at many local venues in Pa and Ohio. Her orchestral piece, "Changes," was chosen in 2011 for a public reading session by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and her piano concerto, "Celebration," was recently premiered by the Renova Festival Orchestra in New Castle, Pa. as well as her flute sonata, performed by Renova faculty. Her piano duet, "Motions," was chosen by The College Music Society to be performed in Buenos Aires, Argentina and at Suny University, Pottsdam, NY. She has studied with composers David Stock and Erberk Eryilmaz.

Carruthers, Glen Dr. Glen Carruthers has been Dean of the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, since 2010. Earlier in his career he was Dean of Music at Brandon University and founding Chair of Music at Lakehead University. He has published extensively in the fields of musicology and post-secondary music education in such journals as Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, Journal of Musicology, Music Review and International Journal of Music Education. He is a contributor to several books published in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia, and has presented conference papers and guest lectures in seventeen countries. Dr. Carruthers has served on many national and international boards and is past-chair of the Commission on the Education of the Professional Musician of the International Society for Music Education. He served on the board of the Canadian University Music Society for many years and held the role of president, and was recently named an honorary member of the Society. He has served on the national board and regional councils of the Canadian Music Centre and is currently a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Fine Arts Deans. His current research involves post-secondary music teaching and learning, community music in academe, music and democracy — particularly as reflected in the life, philosophies and works of Percy Grainger — and musical performance as aural historiography.

Cornett-Murtada, Vanessa Vanessa Cornett is the Director of Keyboard Studies and Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul. An international clinician, she has presented workshops and master classes around the United States and in the U.K., Canada, Ireland, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Finland, Argentina, South Africa, and Taiwan. She is an active clinician for national conferences of the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and College Music Society. She has also presented at the World Piano Conference, International Society of Music Education World Congress, International Conference of the Arts in Society, Annual Symposium of the Performing Arts Medical Association, the Centre for the Study of International Governance, and at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.

Her publications include book chapters in the fourth edition of Creative Piano Teaching, papers in American Music Teacher, the MTNA eJournal, Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, College Music Symposium, Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, Clavier Companion, and The Canadian Music Teacher / Le Professeur de Musique Canadien. She received outstanding teaching awards from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the Music Academy of North Carolina. She earned her D.M.A. in piano performance and literature from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her B.M. in piano performance and M.M. in piano pedagogy from West Virginia University. She currently serves on the CMS Committee for Musicians’ Health in Education.

Cowden, Tracy E. Tracy Cowden’s professional life centers around making music with others, whether in duos, chamber music, or orchestral settings. In her position as associate professor of piano and vocal coach at Virginia Tech, she shares her love of ensemble music through frequent performances with visiting artists and colleagues, and by mentoring undergraduates in solo and collaborative performance. Cowden’s recent concerts feature a wide range of music and partners, from the music of Jane Austen’s songbook with soprano Julianne Baird, to klezmer-influenced music with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein and cellist Nick Cannelakis, to American fiddle music with violinist Mark O’Connor. She is also active in commissioning and performing 21st century chamber works. Her interest in poetry and art song has led her to commission two song cycles, including one by Gregory Hutter that features the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and another by Daron Hagen titled Vegetable Verselets, which features poetry by Margaret Hays, for which Cowden was honored with the Albert L. Sturm Award for Excellence in the Creative Arts.

Cowden is the chair of the music program in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech, where she has been honored for her work as a teacher with a Certificate of Teaching Excellence. Also active as a clinician and lecturer, she has presented master classes and workshops on topics related to collaborative music-making and creative programming across the country. She holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Western Michigan University.

Dickinson, Paul J. Paul Dickinson is a composer and educator who teaches Composition and Music Theory at the University of Central Arkansas. Among his honors and awards are grants from the Fromm Music Foundation, the Arkansas Arts Council, the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), a BMI Award, and numerous commissions. His music has been performed throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia and is recorded on Capstone Records.

Dickinson, Stefanie C. Stefanie Dickinson is Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the University of Central Arkansas. She holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Georgia (BM) and Auburn University (MM) and in music theory from Northwestern University (MM) and the Eastman School of Music (PhD). Her primary areas of research include the music of Liszt’s late experimental period, issues in analysis and performance, and music theory pedagogy. She has presented her work at regional and national conferences of the Society for Music Theory and The College Music Society, and at international meetings of CMS, the Dutch–Flemish Society for Music Theory, the 12th Biennial International Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, the International Conference on Music and Gesture, and the First National Symposium of Musical Analytics in Shanghai. Her articles can be found in GAMUT, Seque, College Music Symposium, and Liszt 2000: The Great Hungarian and European Master at the Threshold of the 21st Century, published by the Hungarian Liszt Society in honor of the millennial anniversary of the state of Hungary.

Dumlavwalla, Diana Canadian pianist, Diana Dumlavwalla is an Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy at Florida State University. Previously, Diana taught at Western University where she developed the faculty’s inaugural doctoral piano pedagogy course. Additionally, she was an instructor at the University of Toronto, University of Windsor, Wilfrid Laurier University, the Beckett School in Kitchener and was also the director of the Children’s Piano Pedagogy Program at the University of Toronto. She also serves as a member of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s College of Examiners and adjudicates at local, regional and provincial festivals.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Diana has performed in North America, Europe and Australia. Her performing interests also extend to new music. She has presented lecture recitals and papers at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference (Phoenix), National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (Chicago), John Weinzweig Symposium (Toronto), Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference (Queensland), London International Piano Symposium (U.K.) and the International Society for Music Education World Conference (Glasgow).

Diana completed the Doctor of Musical Arts Performance degree at the University of Toronto studying piano with James Parker and piano pedagogy with Midori Koga. She received her Master of Music (Piano Performance) at the Royal College of Music in London, Honours Bachelor of Music (Piano Performance and Voice) at Wilfrid Laurier University and an Associate diploma from the Royal Conservatory. She has studied with many other fine pedagogues including Agnes Olsheski, Virginia Blaha, Heather Taves, Yonty Solomon and Logan Skelton.

Easley, Tabatha Tabatha Easley is Assistant Professor of Flute at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Director of Richmond Flute Fest. In addition to presenting concerts and masterclasses throughout the U.S., South America, Scandinavia and Japan, she has also been a soloist with the Fairbanks Symphony, Astoria Sinfonia in New York, the Cole Conservatory of Music Orchestra, Orange County Arts High School Orchestra, Virginia Commonwealth University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, as well as the Orchestra “EAFIT”in Medellín, Colombia.

Since 2013, Ms.Easley has been a member of the AarK Duo with percussionist Justin Alexander. Committed to presenting new works for flute and percussion, the AarK Duo have commissioned and premiered new pieces by Valerie Coleman, John Griffin, and Marco Alunnoâ, and have performed in Sweden and across the United States. Their first CD, Hair, Cloth and Thread will be released in 2016.

Active in several professional organizations, Ms. Easley is the Assistant Secretary for the National Flute Association after having served as the Collegiate Flute Choir Competition Coordinator for five years. College Music Society International Conferences have taken her to Finland, Sweden and Argentina. She has also performed at the Society of Composers Inc. National Conference, the International Double Reed Society Conference in Tokyo, Japan, and the National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors National Conference.

Ms. Easley holds a doctoral degree from the Eastman School of Music; the first Alaskan to do so. She is also a contributing editor in Charles West’s 2016 publication, Woodwind Instruments: Purchasing, Maintenance, Troubleshooting and More. [www.tabatheasley.com]

Espina-Ruiz, Oskar Oskar Espina Ruiz has been described by the press as a “masterful soloist” and a “highly expressive” clarinetist who “brings forth the notes with an energy that reaches down to one’s soul.” Over the past ten years Espina-Ruiz has performed at major concert halls and festivals to high critical acclaim, including concerto performances at the Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia, and recitals at Carnegie’s Weill Hall in New York, the Corcoran Museum in Washington DC, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Oji Hall in Tokyo, the Madrid Royal Superior Conservatory, the Beijing and Shanghai Conservatories and Radio Television Hong Kong.

He has appeared as soloist with the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony (Russia), St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic (Russia), Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción (Paraguay) and Bilbao Symphony (Spain). His chamber music collaborations include the American, Shanghai, Cassatt, Escher and Daedalus quartets, the Quintet of the Americas, pianists Benjamin Hochman, Ursula Oppens and Anthony Newman, cellist David Geber (founder, American String Quartet) and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra artists. He has been featured as soloist at the 20th Tokyo Summer Festival, the European Mozart Academy “performing throughout European capitals”, the St. Petersburg Palaces XIII. International Music Festival (Russia) and the VI. Festival Internacional de Música Clásica Contemporánea de Lima (Peru).

Dr. Oskar Espina Ruiz is clarinet artist-faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and artistic director of the Treetops Chamber Music Society, and the Music Mountain Festival in Connecticut, while keeping a busy concert schedule.

Fast, Barbara Dr. Barbara Fast, Frieda Derdeyn Professor of Piano and Piano Area Chair, coordinates the group piano program as well as teaches graduate and undergraduate piano pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma. She has received numerous awards honoring her teaching, including: 2014 University of Oklahoma Regents Award for Superior Teaching; 2013 OMTA Teacher of the Year; MTNA Collegiate Chapter Advisor of the Year 2009 and 2007; 2008 Irene and Julian Rothbaum Presidential Professor of Excellence in the Arts at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Fast co-founded the National Group Piano/Piano Pedagogy Forum held for the first time in 2000, with the tenth GP3 forum scheduled for 2018. She has served on the Editorial Board of the MTNA E-Journal, and as Associate Editor of Piano Pedagogy Forum, the first keyboard journal on the WEB. She has presented numerous workshops on practicing, technology, sight reading, ensemble music, newly published music, and historical keyboard pedagogy at International and National College Music Society Conferences (CMS), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Conferences, The Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP), World Piano Pedagogy Conferences (WPPC), and the European Piano Teachers Conference (EPTA). She has served on numerous national and state MTNA and NCKP piano pedagogy related positions. Dr. Fast currently serves as Past-President of the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association (OMTA). Additionally she has performed in chamber settings in England, Russia, and Japan as well as presented lecture recitals and master classes throughout the United States.

Ferenc, Anna Anna Ferenc is Associate Professor of Music Theory at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. She holds degrees in Music Theory from McGill University and The University of Michigan as well as an ARCT Piano Performer Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto. She is a past-recipient of Postdoctoral Fellowships from the Izaak Walton Killam Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her research interests include the work of composer Nikolai Roslavets, the transformation of chromatic harmony into post-tonal compositional practices of Roslavets and Scriabin, and instructional strategies that promote learner agency in music theory pedagogy. She has presented on these topics at national and international conferences of the College Music Society, the Society for Music Theory, the Canadian University Music Society, the Dutch-Flemish Society for Music Theory, the Canadian Association of Slavists, and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education among others. She has contributed essays to publications by Oxford University Press and Routledge as well as to Grove Music Online. Her articles on the scholarship of teaching and learning and on music theory pedagogy have appeared in College Music Symposium, Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, and Engaging Students.

Fowler, Andrew Andrew Fowler is a composer, pianist, and vocalist. He is an associated faculty member at Coastal Carolina University, in Conway, South Carolina. His works have received acclaim in venues such as Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Nobel Conference on Peace, and Piccolo Spoleto.

His recent song cycle “Songs of Travel” received Honorable Mention at the Song Cycle Competition for the 2016 U.S.A National Association of Teachers of Singing Conference. His oratorio “An Outbreak of Peace” (2012), based upon the remarkable story of the 1914 “Christmas Truce” of World War One, and his choral/orchestral/dramatic work “Directions for Singing” (commissioned for the tercentenary of the hymn writer Charles Wesley’s birth) are widely performed. As a native South Carolinian, his interest in local history has led to works such as his 2010 opera “The Prince of Tides” (libretto by Fowler based upon the celebrated novel by Pat Conroy).

He received his B.A. (piano) and M.A. (music theory) from the University of South Carolina and the Ph.D. (music theory) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Hackel, Erin Dr. Erin Hackel is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado, Denver. She received her Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from James Madison University, a Masters in Opera from Binghamton University and a Doctorate in Voice Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is an active performer with Central City Opera’s Outreach Ensemble, and has been a featured soloist in many Colorado vocal ensembles.

Dr. Hackel’s award winning a cappella groups, MIX and Lark have traveled across the United States and Europe competing and performing. Both groups have been BOSS and SOJAM champions, and have won multiple Contemporary A cappella Recording awards (CARAS). MIX and Lark have been praised for their innovation and professionalism and have been singled out for their boundary changing work in collegiate a cappella. The groups have collaborated with the Swingle Singers, headlined the National A cappella Convention, and won the Most Innovative Group award at the Aarhus Vocal Festival in Aarhus, Denmark.

Dr. Hackel’s research and publication history centers on the lives of female composers and performers. Her original research on Norwegian musicians Agathe Backer Grøndahl and Nina Grieg has appeared in articles in the Journal of Singing. And her work on contemporary vocalists Dame Vera Lynn and Yvette Guilbert has appeared, or is slated to appear, in Women in Music. Dr. Hackel maintains an active profile as a presenter of workshops and classes at vocal festivals around the country on healthy contemporary singing, collaborative arranging techniques, and demystifying the pedagogy of modern singing styles.

Harbin, Douglas A. Doug Harbin is a composer/pianist residing in Moorhead, Minnesota. Performances of Harbin’s compositions have occurred throughout the United States and Canada, and England. His works have been included in regional and national conferences by the Society of Composers Inc., College Music Society, and the CFAMC. Harbin has earned several awards, grants, and notable performances. In the fall of 2012, he received a Professional Development Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts to serve his second residency as an artist at the Banff Centre (Banff, Canada). His string quartet, “Red on Black,”was premiered by the world renowned St. Lawrence String Quartet in 2010. His orchestral work, In the Shadows of the Moonlight, won the 2008 Arizona State University Symphonic Orchestra’s Composer Competition and has aired on Phoenix’s classical radio station KBAQ.

As a performer, Harbin has played piano and harpsichord with the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, harpsichord with Arizona State University’s Baroque Ensemble, and on piano with the Phoenix tango ensemble, Los Zapatos Furioso. Always promorting new music, he has premiered works by many emerging and established composers.

Harbin graduated from Arizona State University with a DMA in music composition in 2011 and has taught at Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, Mesa Community College, and Taylor University. In 2011, Harbin was the Artistic Co-Director for Arizona Opera’s Summer Music Program at Rosie’s House, a Phoenix-area nonprofit Music Academy that serves the under-served youth. Currently, Harbin is an Assistant Professor of Music at Concordia College.

Harding, Scott R. Scott R. Harding (b. 1968) is a lifelong Michigander. Dr. Harding earned the BM in Theory/Composition from Central Michigan University, and the MM and PhD in Composition from Michigan State University. A member of the CMU School of Music faculty since 1998, Dr. Harding teaches in the core theory/aural skills area, coordinating the ear-training curriculum and working privately with composition majors. An active composer and performer, his art music focuses on small chamber ensembles that showcase intricate playfulness and knotted interwoven lines. With Tess Miller he is a founding member and co-director of the Great Lakes Art Music Ensemble, a composer/performer collective who believe that modern art music should be accessible to everyone, and strive to achieve that goal through touring, lecturing and recording. In what little spare time remains, Dr. Harding is also the drummer and co-lyricist for the American rock band Iron Fist, whose second album Breaking The Rock is due in early 2017.

Helppie, Kevin Today’s composer/performer, Kevin Helppie has been involved professionally in choral and vocal music for over 30 years. He has directed collegiate and church choirs in Washington, Oregon, North Dakota, Kentucky and Texas. Kevin is a frequent solo vocal performer throughout the Northwest. He was a guest teacher and recitalist in Finland, Latvia and China. In collaboration with Forrest Kinney, he has composed & published two books of modern art songs. Kevin has a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Washington, Master of Music Degree from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Western Washington University. Dr. Helppie has served on the board of directors of Cascadia Concert Opera, the Executive Board of the Oregon Chapter of National Association of Teachers of Singing and is Professor of Music at Western Oregon University, where he oversees the vocal program.

Hsu, Chia-Yu Born in Banqiao, Taiwan, Chiayu is an assistant professor of composition at UW-Eau Claire. She was the winner of Lakond prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Suzanne and Lee Ettelson Composer’s Awards, 2013 IAWM Search for New Music, Copland House Award, Lynn University international call for scores, the 2010 Sorel Organization recording grant, music+culture 2009 International Competition for Composers, the Sorel Organization’s 2nd International Composition Competition, the 7th USA International Harp Composition Competition, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Awards, the Maxfield Parrish Composition Contest, the Renée B. Fisher Foundation Composer Awards among others. Her work has been performed by the London Sinfonietta, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, the Lynn Philharmonia Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, Ciompi Quartet, and Prism Quartet. She has received her Ph.D. at Duke University, Master of Music at Yale University School of Music, and Bachelor of Music at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Jenkins, John Daniel J. Daniel Jenkins is an Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of South Carolina. Author of several articles, conference presentations, and lectures on Schoenberg, he is the editor of Schoenberg’s Program Notes and Musical Analyses, published in the series “Schoenberg in Words” by Oxford University Press. His research has been supported by the Austrian-American Educational Commission (Fulbright Austria), the Avenir Foundation, the Presser Foundation, and the Office of the Provost, the Walker Institute of International Studies, and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program of the University of South Carolina.

Johanson, Michael Michael Johanson’s music reflects a deep interest in bringing together materials drawn from a wide range of styles and approaches. His work is informed by an abiding interest in timbral possibilities, a wide-ranging harmonic palette, and an interest in extended instrumental techniques. Johanson’s compositions have been performed by distinguished soloists and ensembles throughout the states and in England, China, Switzerland, Thailand, and France.

Performances and/or commissions include those from the International Beethoven Project; Portland Piano International; the Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival; Fear No Music; Third Angle; VIR Men’s Ensemble; June in Buffalo; Resonance Ensemble; Williams College Chamber Players; the Lewis & Clark College Orchestra; Trio Bella Voce, the Northwest Horn Orchestra, Post-Haste Duo, Portland Percussion Group, the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, and the Oregon Repertory Singers.

Johanson has received awards/fellowships from the American Music Center, ASCAP, MacDowell, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Wildacres Residency, and Palazzo Rinaldi. He is the 2015 recipient of the Oregon Music Teachers Association Composer of the Year Award, and he received the Gil Seeley Prize in Composition in 2009. Johanson’s music has been recorded by saxophonist Frederick Hemke, trombonist Garth Simmons, and pianist Justin Bartlett. His music is published by September Hills, Honeyrock Publishing, and Dorn Publications.

He is Chair and Associate Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he also serves as Artistic Director of the Friends of Rain new music ensemble.

Ko, Eunbyol A native of South Korea, Eunbyol Ko has been praised for her artistry and intelligence as a soloist and chamber musician. She maintains an active international career, with performances in Canada, Brazil, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Italy, the Czech Republic, China, South Korea, and the United States. As an orchestral soloist, she has appeared with the Kyungwon Philharmonic Orchestra, the Queen City Chamber Orchestra, and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. She is a prize-winner in numerous national and international competitions.

A dedicated chamber musician, Ko has performed with members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, China National Symphony Orchestra, and the Seoul Philharmonic. She has also served as a chamber music coach for the Starling String Project and has been the official collaborative pianist for the Young-Pyong International Clarinet Festival in South Korea, the Henri Marteau International Violin Competition in Germany, the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Austria, and the Great Wall International Music Academy in China.

Ko is currently on the piano faculty at Middle Tennessee State University. Her students over the years have been the recipients of numerous national and international awards, including MTNA state and regional competitions, the National YoungArts Competition, and the Dayton Philharmonic Competition. She also maintains an active schedule as an adjudicator, presenter, and masterclass teacher.

Ko received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano from the Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music and her Master’s degree in Piano from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Lipke-Perry, Tracy Dr. Tracy Lipke-Perry is an enthusiastic teaching artist and a versatile performer, collaborator, and coach.

Highlights of her performing career include recitals with artists such as Alicia McQuerrey of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Yamaha artist, Mary Karen Clardy; international bass trombonist, Jonathan Warburton; and Canadian Brass trombonist, Achilles Liarmakopoulos. Recent highlights include commissioning and premiering works by Libby Larsen, John Luther Adams, Laura Kaminsky, and Gwyneth Walker; a residency at the Conservatoire de Lyon, France; a recital at the La Côte Flute Festival in Switzerland; and the awarding of a fellowship by the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, the only IonE fellowship in the arts in the University of Minnesota system.

Dr. Perry’s pedagogical interests focus on applying current scientific research to enhance understanding of piano technique. She has taught Motor Learning and Development at the collegiate level and presented her work at national and international conferences including the 2016 International Society for Music Education World Conference, 2011 MTNA/NATS National Convention, and the 2009 Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities.

Dr. Perry holds a D.M.A. degree in piano performance with a minor in neurophysiology from the University of Arizona, an M.M. degree from the University of Utah, and undergraduate degrees in both piano performance and mathematics. She is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Minnesota Duluth where she co-chairs the piano area, teaches piano and piano- related courses, coordinates accompanying, and oversees the collaborative program.

Malone, Ryan Ryan Malone leads an eclectic musical career with interests in composition, Renaissance and chamber music, as well as Moravian music and culture. He received an A.M. and Ph.D. from Duke University where he was a Mary Duke-Biddle Fellow in Music Composition. He previously earned a B.A. in Music from the College of the Holy Cross, where he held the distinction of Liturgical Music and Organ Scholar, and studied organ performance with James David Christie.

Ryan is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA where he teaches courses in Music History, Theory, and Organ. His current research interests include Moravian liturgical music during the American Civil War. He is also in the process of preparing the first critical edition of the complete choral works of Johann Friedrich Peter.

Marx, Maurita Murphy Maurita Murphy Marx, clarinet, retired this past December from the University of Iowa, where she taught for thirty-two years. Her clarinet performances include many prestigious invitations from the internationally renowned Cleveland Quartet to the National Symposium of Brazil. A diverse performer, her Brazilian choro music CDs have received high critial acclaim internationally; “with command of the idiom, accomplished clarinet playing, verve, warmth and intensity” (Eurocass). Her choro mentors in Brazil include clarinetists Nailor Proveta and Paulo Sergio Santos, and pianist Rafael Dos Santos. Dr. Marx has received the Collegiate Teaching Award at the University of Iowa along with an invitation to speak at the institution’s commencement exercises. This included her first jazz performance of Amazing Grace as part of her speech. In turn, her students have won first prizes exclusively in international clarinet competitions. Dr. Marx is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music along with the highest distinction of the Performer’s Certificate. Her graduate degrees are from Michigan State University. Her professional service includes being elected to the executive Board as Secretary of the International Clarinet Association for six years. Dr. Marx has produced three CDs titled Over the Fence and Red Hot & Brazilian with Brazilian pianist Rafael Dos Santos, and Te Amo Brazil with eight-string guitarist Michele Ramo.

Mascolo-David, Alexandra “A splendid pianist—refined, searching and expressive, and her playing is loaded with insight and interpretative detail.” So wrote The Washington Post, after Alexandra Mascolo-David’s performance at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in the nation’s capital.

Ms. Mascolo-David has performed and led workshops and master classes in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including a New York debut recital at Carnegie Hall in 2004, favorably reviewed in The New York Concert Review.

Portuguese pianist Alexandra Mascolo-David has devoted the last two decades to exploring and unearthing the music of Portuguese and Brazilian composers, especially that of Francisco Mignone. She is in the forefront of presenting Mignone’s piano music, and her performances, especially of his “Valsas brasileiras” have been widely acclaimed.

She is also a founding member of Yara Ensemble, devoted to exploring the rich landscape of Iberian-American culture and heritage through music.

Ms. Mascolo-David is a sought out and devoted teacher. National and international pianists attend Central Michigan University (CMU) to study under her guidance. Her students have won prizes in auditions and competitions and are consistently successful in their careers. She is an active participant in the movement devoted to performance anxiety management. Her contributions to this cause include the development and implementation of a successful performance anxiety management course at CMU, as well as lectures and workshops throughout the US and abroad.

Ms. Mascolo-David has taught at the Interlochen Arts camp, Iowa State University, and currently is Professor of Piano at Central Michigan University.

McCachren, Renee Renee McCachren serves as Professor of Music at Catawba College in North Carolina, where she teaches music theory and music history. She received the Ph.D. in Music Theory and M.M. in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas, and the B.M. in Piano Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Through several study grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, she completed further study at Harvard University, Brandeis University, and Arizona State University.

She served on the Advisory Board for Music in General Studies for The College Music Society and on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy and is a Past President of Music Theory SouthEast. She authored several articles for the Reader’s Guide to Music: History, Theory, Criticism and for the Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era.

McCachren’s research interests range from the music of Beethoven to comparative studies of ethnic musics in relation to Western compositional practices. She has presented her research at regional, national, and international conferences. She also has participated in music delegations to Indonesia, Eastern Europe, and Russia. She currently holds the Katherine W. Osborne Endowed Chair for Keyboard with the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, which is a member of the New Music for America Consortium whose commission led to the creation of Dreamtime Ancestors.

Miller, Tess Anissa Tess Miller, DMA, CMP®, is a Michigan-based performer, instructor, and therapeutic musician. She holds faculty positions at Alma, Albion and Olivet Colleges as well as the Michigan State University Community Music School. Dr. Miller is a member of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and performs as a freelance artist throughout the state. Dr. Miller co-founded the Mackinac Island Community Foundation Summer Concert Series where her collaborative multi- artistic media project, Telephone: An Artistic Response Chain, was premiered in 2014. She is a founding member of various chamber music ensembles including Extreme Duality (flute and double bass), Everon Duo (flute and percussion), and The Great Lakes Art Music Ensemble. In 2010, GLAM released a CD entitled Latin Dance Project under the White Pine Record Label. Dr. Miller is a regular CD and new music reviewer for the Flutist Quarterly, a publication produced by the National Flute Association. Recently, Dr. Miller became a Certified Music Practitioner through the Music for Healing and Transition Program™ and provides live, prescribed music at the bedside of patients at McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital. She lives in St. Johns, MI with her husband Scott R. Harding and daughter Roslyn.

Monson, Linda Apple Dr. Linda Apple Monson, International Steinway Artist, is also a Distinguished Service Professor at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia where she serves as Director of the School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Dr. Monson was awarded the George Mason University 2012 Faculty Member of the Year. An honored recipient of the George Mason University 2009 Teaching Excellence Award, Dr. Monson has also been selected for the Fulbright Senior Specialist Roster, in collaboration with the U.S. State Department and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. An active international concert artist, lecturer, and master class clinician, Dr. Monson has given solo piano recitals, lecture-recitals, and piano master classes in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. An advocate of new music, Dr. Monson has presented numerous world premieres of solo piano works written for her. Recent lecture-recital performances include Nanjing Normal University, China; Dublin, Ireland; Oxford, England, and for the Alban Berg Symposium in Hannover, Germany. She has presented lecture-recitals at CMS International Conferences in Stockholm, Sweden; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Bangkok, Thailand; Madrid, Spain; and San Jose, Costa Rica. She has also presented lecture-recitals at College Music Society National Conferences in Miami, Florida; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City, Utah, San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, California. She is a past President of the CMS Mid-Atlantic Region. Professor Monson earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University and a Diploma in Piano Performance from Musica en Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Moore, Sean A. Sean A. Moore was born in Memphis, TN in 1967. Mr. Moore has a B.M. and an M.M. in the area of piano performance from the University of Memphis. Sean has performed as a soloist and accompanist extensively and participated in numerous piano competitions, winning several.

In 1996, he was a semi-finalist at the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, OH. In 1997, Mr. Moore performed Voyants for piano and orchestra by composer Barbara Kolb with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Sean currently lives and works in Laurinburg, NC as a full-time faculty member at St. Andrews University. Duties include Chair of Music Program, instructor of music and staff accompanist. He was piano instructor and staff accompanist at Christian Brothers University in Memphis from 2000-2004 and taught class piano at the University of Memphis. Both were adjunct positions.

Mr. Moore has performed his original works for piano as composer/pianist at three regional College Music Society Chapter Conferences. In 2011 his Abstract/Proposal Topic: The Passacaglia: Baroque through the 20thCentury; was accepted by the CMS International Conference, Seoul, South Korea. In 2013 his tango for piano Tempest was chosen for performance at the CMS International Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

He has also written original music for student film projects at St. Andrews. Mr. Moore is also a songwriter, arranger and a member of BMI. He was station manager for the local cable community access channel in Laurinburg for three years and has worked as a church musician for over 25 years.

Murtada, Salam Salam Murtada is a native of Amman, Jordan. He was a semi-finalist in the Fourth Van Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in 2004, a semi-finalist in the Washington International Piano Artist Competition in 2006 and a prize winner in the Greensboro Music Academy National Piano Competition in 2000. He has been featured on WDAV 89.9 FM (Charlotte, NC), several newspapers in North Carolina, the Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Tribune, the London Times, HDTV and BBC Radio. In addition to competing, he enjoys performing for various fundraising and community events. He believes in the power of music to heal and build peace between people and nations. His piano instructors include John Ruggero of Raleigh NC, Christine Kefferstan of West Virginia University at Morgantown, Lita Guerra of the University of Texas at Austin, and Samia Ghannoum in Amman, Jordan. He has also coached with Walter Hautzig and Vanessa Cornett-Murtada and is currently a composition student of James Callahan. A professional civil and environmental engineer, Salam spends his days conducting hydrologic and hydraulic watershed and floodplain modeling for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Nash, Anne Jennifer Anne Jennifer Nash is a light-lyric soprano with an “uncommon beauty of expression and musicianship.” –Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times.

Upcoming engagements include the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, a recital and master class at Washington State University, Sister: Show Me Eternity, a multi-media touring collaboration between Skidmore College, the University of Nebraska-Kearney, and Concordia College on the life of poet Emily Dickinson, the premier of René Clausen’s 2017 oratorio The Passion of Jesus Christ, and participation in the 2017 CMS International conference in Sydney, Australia with composer/arranger Dr. Douglas Harbin and ethnomusicologist/clarinetist Dr. Katherine Palmer, performing works of Peruvian composer Armando Guevara Ochoa.

She has appeared with the Opera Philadelphia, Florentine Opera, Opera New Jersey, Opera Saratoga, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Lancaster Opera, National Opera Company, Interlochen Arts Festival, Bard SummerScape, among others, singing the roles of Susanna, Zerlina, Pamina, Despina, Nanetta, Adina, Armide, Alice Ford, Laurie, and Anne Trulove. Upcoming art song projects include the premier and recording of composer Allen McCullough’s Lotte Lehmann Foundation commission The Blue Symphony.

Discography: Donal Oge by Libby Larsen on “New American Song@SongFest”, June 2016.

BA (Music and French) Dickinson College, MM Peabody Conservatory, DMA University of Michigan. Ms. Nash is Assistant Professor of Voice at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and Artist-Faculty at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy.

Noone, Michael J. Musicologist and choral director Michael Noone is Professor and Chair of Music at Boston College. He earned his PhD at King’s College, Cambridge and has held research fellowships at Cornell’s Society for the Humanities, Boston College’s Jesuit Institute, and the Australian National University’s Humanities Research Center. Noone has also held academic appointments at the Universities of Hong Kong and New South Wales. Noone’s first book, Music and Musicians at the Escorial was hailed as “trailblazing’ and his more recent El Códice 25 de la catedral de Toledo (described as ‘spectacular’) presented codicological work that unveiled hitherto unknown works by Morales, Guerrero, Lobo and many other composers of Spain’s Golden Age. Noone has published articles in Early Music, Revista de Musicología, Reales Sitios, Scherzo, Musicology Australia, Goldberg, and Notes.

As a performing musician, Noone has recorded more than 24 commercial CDs and appears regularly as conductor on concert platforms throughout the world. In 2012, he won the Gramophone award in the ‘Early Music’ category for his ten CD set of the Sacred Works of Tomás Luis de Victoria. More than 350 individual music tracks conducted by Noone are available on iTunes and more than 40 videos of his performances have found their way onto YouTube and Vimeo. In 2006 Noone was honored by His Majesty Juan Carlos I for his contribution to Spanish music through publications, concerts and recordings. In the same year he was inducted into Spain’s Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo.

Palmer, Katherine Dr. Katherine Palmer is an active educator and performing musician residing in Phoenix, Arizona. Currently the Museum Educator at the Musical Instrument Museum, Katherine is in charge of developing and teaching MIMkids sequential educational programs. Katherine earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts (clarinet) and a Master of Arts (ethnomusicology) from Arizona State University. Her master’s thesis focused on the Venezuelan music education program (El Sistema), identity formation, and nationalism; her doctoral research was centered on the Peruvian composer, Armando Guevara Ochoa, and his works for wind instruments. Committed to research and performance, Katherine has presented papers, presentations, and performances throughout the United States and abroad at conferences for the International Clarinet Association, Society for Ethnomusicology, and College Music Society.

Additionally, Katherine is an adjunct instructor of clarinet and music humanities at Maricopa Community Colleges, a Faculty Associate in the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts at ASU, and maintains a private teaching schedule. Katherine is the Assistant Director for Clarinets for Conservation, a non-profit organization that provides music and conservation education in Moshi, Tanzania during the summer months to primary and secondary students. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Miami (FL) in clarinet performance with a minor in anthropology and a Masters of Music in clarinet performance at ASU.

Park, Sooah Dr. Sooah Park is an active opera performer whose roles include Oscar, Countess, Susanna, Michaela, Salud, Boy, Pamina, Antonia, and Goldentrill . Dr. Park’s performance experience includes a broad array of musical idioms and styles. She has performed in the countries of Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Finland, and South Korea. In 2015-16 season, Ms. Park performed a soprano soloist in Bach’s Cantata 140 with the Tyler Civic Chorale and a soprano soloist in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with East Texas Symphony Orchestra.

She is also an avid recitalist. She has performed a recital at The College Music Society’s International Conference in Sweden and Finland in 2015 in which she presented songs by Jean Sibelius. Dr. Park presented a lecture at the National Opera Association convention in Indianapolis in 2016 and a lecture recital at NATS Texoma region conference in 2015.

Aside from her performing career, her directing scene from The Old Maid and the Thief was one of four finalists in the Collegiate Opera Scene Competition graduate category at the 2015 National Opera Association convention in Greensboro, NC.

Currently, Dr. Park is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Texas at Tyler. She holds a Doctoral and a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Eastman School of Music.

Parker, Sylvia Sylvia Parker is Senior Lecturer of Music at the University of Vermont, where she teaches piano and music theory. Parker performs frequently as piano soloist and ensemble player in Vermont, nationally and internationally. Her CD entitled “Bela Bartok: Peasant Jewels” is published by Centaur Records (2014) and includes his complete piano settings of authentic peasant melodies. Her earlier CD of solo piano music by Bartok, Griffes, Mozart and Scarlatti is also published by Centaur Records (2006). Her journal publications about Bartok include “Bela Bartok's Other Microcosmos” in MTNA e-Journal (2014), “A Riverton Retreat: Royal Charter to State Forest” [about his time in Vermont] in Vermont History (Winter/Spring 2010), “Bela Bartok's Arab Music Research and Composition” in Studia Musicologica (2008), and “Bartok at the Crossroads: A Classical Sonatina from Five Rumanian Folk Dances” in College Music Symposium (2003). In Fall 2016 she taught a UVM course entitled “Bela Bartok: Music and Man.”

Quilliam, Megan Megan Quilliam was born and grew up in South Africa until her family moved to the United States in 2001. She received a degree in musicology from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2012 and is currently working towards her PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests include music and migration, South African music in diaspora, and African art music. Her dissertation centers on opera and musical theater in South Africa.

Ramirez, Miguel Miguel J. Ramirez holds a Ph.D. in the History and Theory of Music from the University of Chicago, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts in Oboe Performance from Boston University and an Artist Diploma in Orchestral Studies from the Hochschule für Musik of Frankfurt, Germany. As an oboist, Dr. Ramirez has performed with the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra and the Paducah Symphony (Kentucky). As a musicologist, he has taught at the Universidad de Costa Rica, the University of Chicago, Mansfield University, and Western Kentucky University, and he is currently teaching at James Madison University. Dr. Ramirez’s research interests include Austro-German music and culture in the nineteenth century, the music of Anton Bruckner, the history of tonal theory, neo-Riemannian theory, eighteenth-century performance practice, and the cultural links between Germany and Latin America during the Third Reich. He has presented papers at the 2013 College Music Society International Conference in Buenos Aires and the 2014 American Musicological Society National Conference, and his research has been published in Music Analysis, Music Theory Online, and The Bruckner Journal.

Robison, John O. John Robison is Professor of Musicology and director of the Early Music Ensemble at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He received his doctorate in musicology from Stanford University in 1975, and has been on the USF music faculty since 1977. The author of A Festschrift for Gamal Abdel-Rahim, Johann Klemm: Partitura seu tabulatura italica, and Korean Women Composers and Their Music, his research interests include Renaissance lute music, German Renaissance composers, the development of the fugue, performance practices, and contemporary composers from diverse African, Asian and Latin American cultures. A versatile musician who performs professionally on string and woodwind instruments, he has done numerous solo Renaissance lute recitals over the past forty-three years, and also performs regularly on the viol, Renaissance/Baroque recorders, Renaissance double reeds, Baroque oboe, and oboe/English horn. His articles on Renaissance, Baroque, and Twentieth-Century topics have appeared in various American, European and Asian journals, and his presentations as a scholar and a performer have taken him to many parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. He created the world music survey course at the University of South Florida in the early 1990s, and also teaches a course on intercultural composers of the twentieth/twenty-first centuries. He is currently completing a scholarly edition of the works of Jacob Meiland for the American Institute of Musicology, and recently completed a book on Indian composer John Mayer that will be published by CMS. Two of his most recent projects are Chinese composers Zhu Jianer and Wang Xilin.

Rozman, Jure Jure Rozman is an Assistant Professor and Music Program Coordinator at Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was born in Slovenia, where he received his first musical instruction. His studies continued at the prestigious University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where he graduated in the class of legendary Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. Jure completed his Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in United States with Constance Carroll and Michael Gurt, respectively. In addition to his regular studies, he has worked with many renowned pianists, such as Jacob Lateiner, Arbo Valdma and Menahem Pressler.

Jure has won many awards, including first prizes in Slovene National Piano Competition in 1995 and 2001. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Europe and US and has presented solo and chamber music recitals in Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Czech Republic and US.

Jure has made several audio and video recordings for the Slovene National Radio, including works by Brahms, Del Tredici and Slovene composers Ramovš, Škerjanc and Matičič. He is also active as a chamber musician, accompanist and vocal coach. One of his projects was a performance of complete works for solo piano by Hugo Wolf in composer’s birth-house.

Finally, Jure Rozman is a strong advocate and presence in the music program at Broward College. He has spearheaded many of the program’s musical and academic offerings, including NASM accreditation and creation of innovative concert opportunities in South Florida.

Sink, Damon W. Damon Sink is a faculty member in the Commercial and Electronic Music program at Western Carolina University where he teaches courses in MIDI, synthesis, and recording arts, and directs both the Music Technology Ensemble and the Western Carolina Civic Orchestra. He is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition with Joel Hoffman, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Samuel Adler. He is a Life Loyal member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity as well as an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota as a Friend of the Arts.

In addition to his creative work as a composer, Dr. Sink is active in other areas of media production, advertising, video, and film. Before joining the faculty at Western Carolina University, he served as a full-time member on the faculties of Xavier University and The University of Dayton and founded dalSegno Media, an audio/visual production company. Other academic pursuits include topics in the history of music theory as well as the development of rich media modes of analytical presentation.

Dr. Sink maintains a busy schedule as recording engineer and producer including past and ongoing projects with Ballaton Brass, Rick Sowash, Terry King, Mary Southworth, Philip Amalong, Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet and the American Trombone Quartet. He is also active member of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI) and has recently accepted a three-year appointment as Editor of the CMS Symposium Audio Performance Archive, (which he would love to talk to you about!)

Solomon, Nanette Kaplan Nanette Kaplan Solomon, pianist and Professor Emerita of Music at Slippery Rock University, performs frequently as soloist and chamber musician. She was on the faculty of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania from 1977–2014, where she coordinated the piano program, and taught music history, form and analysis, music skills, and women and music classes. She has presented lecture-recitals at many CMS national and international conferences.

She is a founding member of the Slippery Rock Piano Trio, as well as the Kaplan Duo, with her sister, pianist Iris Kaplan Rosenthal. With those groups, she performed throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and at numerous venues in New York State. A former board member of The College Music Society, she was recently named editor of the CMS online Symposium Audio Performance Archive. She also served on the editorial board of the American Music Teacher. She has been a board member of the International Alliance of Women in Music, for whose journal she writes frequent reviews, and serves on the board of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association. Her three compact discs – Piano Music of Nikolai Lopatnikoff (Laurel), Character Sketches, and Sunbursts (Leonarda) have received critical acclaim. Her 2015 CD Badinage: Piano Music of Mana-Zucca has been garnering stellar reviews.

Dr. Solomon received her early training as a scholarship student at the Juilliard School, where she studied with the late Edgar Roberts and Mme. Rosina Lhevinne. She received a B.A. degree magna cum laude from Yale College, where she studied with the late Ward Davenny and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, an M.M. from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with the late Claude Frank, and a D.M.A. from Boston University School for the Arts, where she studied with the late Leonard Shure.

Sorley, Rebecca Dr. Rebecca Sorley holds the position of Professor of Music at the University of Indianapolis where she is Director of Student Support and Coordinator of the Music Business Concentration. She teaches piano to all levels from Pre-College through Piano Majors. Dr. Sorley holds degrees in piano from Butler, Indiana and Ball State Universities and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis. She has served as a masterclass clinician for the National Collegiate Honors Conferences in Kansas City, Denver, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C. In addition, she has judged numerous piano competitions from the district to international levels. She enjoys studying music by women composers and has performed for the Festival of Women Composers International at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Athena Conference in Murray, Kentucky. Other performances include Mu Phi Epsilon International Conventions in Oakland, California, Jacksonville, Florida and Rochester, New York and the National Collegiate Honors Conferences in San Antonio, Denver, Washington, D.C. and Kansas City. She has worked as an orchestral keyboardist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the Evansville Philharmonic. Along with daughter, Allegra Sorley, Rebecca has performed in eight benefit concerts to raise funds for causes in Indiana and around the world. In addition, the mother/daughter duo performed in a live national radio broadcast for WFMT in Chicago. Dr. Sorley also serves as organist at St. John's United Church of Christ in Indianapolis.

Sovkoplas, Adam Adam Sovkoplas completed his DMA in Composition at the University of Kentucky under the instruction of Joe Baber in May of 2013. His previous composition instructors include Richard Urbis, Trent Hanna, and Thomas Couvillon. Compositions by Sovkoplas have been performed nationally and internationally at various conferences and festivals including the 2nd Annual Festival of New Organ Music, London, England (2007), the OrvietoMusica Festival in Italy (2008), and the 2010 International Computer Music Conference in New York, the 2012 International Summer Arts Institute in Italy, and the International Double Reed Society conference in Oxford, Ohio (2012). Sovkoplas won the Symphony of the Mountains “Magnum Opus: A New Composer’s Competition” in 2012 for his composition titled Tom Bombadil. From 2007-2011, Sovkoplas organized the 1st through the 5th annual Kentucky New Music Festivals. His one-act plays have been produced and staged regularly by the Bluegrass Mystery Theatre of Lexington, KY since 2011. Sovkoplas currently teaches music theory and composition at Eastern Kentucky University, Asbury University, and Marshall University. [http://www.societyofcomposers.org/members/AdamSovkoplas]

Steinbach, Richard “...a mesmerizing performance by an artist who both totally understands the composer's magical world, and also possesses the virtuosity to present it to us. Any composer--myself included-- would be privileged by an interpretation as intelligent and powerful as Mr. Steinbach's.” -- American Composer, John Corigliano

Pianist Richard Steinbach performed his solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall in New York on June 12, 2015. Steinbach's Carnegie Hall debut featured the premiere of his seventh CD titled FUSION: New Music for a New Age, and was the culminating event for the international “Fusion Project” that Steinbach launched in 2013. Dr. Steinbach has performed extensively as both soloist and collaborative artist in concerts throughout the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Great Britain, South America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru), Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and The People's Republic of China. As the grand prizewinner in the France Piano International Competition, he performed his solo debut recital at the Salle Cortot in Paris in January 1996.

Dr. Steinbach is currently a Professor of Music at Briar Cliff University, Sioux City, Iowa, where he was appointed the M. A. Martin Everist Foundation Artist-in-Residence. He holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Colorado, the Eastman School of Music, and the Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Iowa. Post-doctoral work includes study and master classes with Dominique Merlet, Noel Lee, Roy Howat, Pascal Devoyon, Dorothy Taubman and John Bloomfield. [www.RichardSteinbachPiano.com]

Stoner, Kristen L. Kristen Stoner, flutist and composer, is Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Florida. During her 15 years at UF, she has given nearly 400 solo, chamber, and orchestral performances across Europe, South America, and the United States. Her two solo recordings, Images and Colors, feature contemporary unaccompanied flute compositions and have garnered extremely positive reviews. Together with Manabu Takasawa, piano, she performs as Duo Anno 1647, a chamber ensemble that formed at the CMS International Conference in 2015 and toured Paris and Dublin in its first year. An active performer and masterclass teacher, she has been featured at several national and international conferences and at major universities in North and South America. In 2013, she was the only invited soloist from the United States to perform at the XXVIII Festival Internacional de Flautistas in Lima, Peru. Dr. Stoner has performed as principal flutist of the Ocala Symphony for 14 years and of the Florida Lakes Symphony for 4 years.

As a composer, Stoner has had works performed at National Flute Association Conventions, College Music Society Regional Conferences, and as required works for national flute competitions. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and MM and DMA from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Stulberg, Neal Neal Stulberg has been heralded by the Los Angeles Times as “. . .a shining example of podium authority and musical enlightenment,” and has garnered international acclaim for his performances as conductor and pianist. Mr. Stulberg has conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta, Houston, Saint Louis and San Francisco Symphonies, Netherlands Radio Symphony, West German Radio Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and Moscow Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared as opera and ballet conductor with New York City, San Francisco and Netherlands Ballets, Long Beach Opera, Norwegian National Ballet and Hollands Diep Opera Company. Formerly assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Carlo Maria Giulini and music director of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, he is a recipient of the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award, America's most coveted conducting prize.

Stulberg’s performances of Mozart concertos conducted from the keyboard are uniformly praised for their buoyant virtuosity and interpretive vigor. He has recorded orchestral and solo piano works of Lazare Saminsky, Alexander Veprik, Mikhail Gnessin and other composers from the so-called St. Petersburg School of Jewish composers for West German Radio.

A native of Detroit, Mr. Stulberg is a graduate of Harvard College, the University of Michigan, the Juilliard School and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Professor and Director of Orchestral Studies at UCLA, he currently serves as UCLA Music Department Chair and co-director of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Surkin, Charlotte Charlotte Surkin is Professional Voice Trainer and Vocologist. She is currently teaching voice at The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School at Lighthouse Guild, in New York since 1995, (for the blind and visually impaired); Marymount Manhattan College, Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21)/Molloy College and Her previous affiliations were Westminster Choir College, in Princeton, New Jersey, where she taught voice and voice class as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. Wagner College, in Staten Island, New York as an Adjunct Assistant Lecturer in Private Voice Study and director of their Performance Hour Class

Ms. Surkin presented a vocal workshop at the Voice Foundation Symposium in Philadelphia. There she used a PowerPoint presentation given to voice teachers on “Teaching Singing to Blind or Low Vision Students”, which included the following: How Medication Affects the Singing Voice; Braille Music; Hygiene; and Various Pathologies. A demonstration voice lesson was given to two students, one with low vision and one with only light perception followed. She, also, gave this demonstration lecture at Columbia University through New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA) in their Master of Vocal Pedagogy Series. Most recently, the lecture was given for the doctors at Lighthouse International in New York, for their Grand Rounds Demonstration. She has also visited Shenyang, China where she gave a Vocal Master Class to the award winning Liaoning Choir.

Charlotte Surkin successfully completed vocology internships at the Grabscheid Voice Center with Dr. Peak Woo and Dr. Linda Carroll in 2006 at Mr. Sinai Hospital. Ms. Surkin observed Dr. Carroll, Speech Pathologist, treat patients with various speech pathologies from loss of voice through teaching, post-surgical therapy, traumatic injuries and general misuse. She also observed and used spectrographs for patient analysis. For Dr. Peak Woo, Otolaryngologist, she observed him treating patients with various pathologies including the treatment of Spasmodic Dysphonia, as well as Vocal Fold Implant Surgery. In 2002, Ms. Surkin did a vocology internship with Dr. Anat Keidar at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital where she observed Dr. Keidar treat patients with various vocal pathologies.

Ms. Surkin has performed the alto solos in over 30 major oratorios with orchestra in the Tri-State area, including 2 performances of the Messiah in Carnegie Hall as well as the Kennedy Center.

Ms. Surkin holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Temple University, an MA in music from New York University and a certificate in music from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

Tam, TinShi Tin-Shi Tam is currently the Cownie Professor of Music and the Chair of the Keyboard Division at Iowa State University. A native of Hong Kong, Tam holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ from The University of Michigan, Master’s degrees in arts management from Durham University, England and in organ performance from The University of Wales, Cardiff as well as a Bachelor’s degree in music from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a carillonneur member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and a fellow of the Trinity College of Music (London).

A celebrated artist on carillon and organ, Tam has given recitals in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Her researches in campanology have been published and presented at congresses of the World Carillon Federation and The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. A selection of her carillon arrangements of Scriabin’s music was published by Nederlandse Klokkenspel-Verenigin, and her carillon compact disk “The Bells of Iowa State” was released in 2004.

Tardif, Guillaume Canadian violinist Guillaume Tardif is Associate Professor at the Department of Music, University of Alberta. His main teaching and research interests are in the areas of violin and chamber music performance, string literature, and string pedagogy. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has presented concerts at prominent international venues, notably Carnegie-Weill Hall, where he gave in 2011 the first US performance of Paganini’s 24 Caprices in the accompanied version by French composer Raymond Gallois-Montbrun. He is project director for the award-winning Dare to Discover Music Concert Series with the Enterprise Quartet and executive producer of The Genius of the Violin video-documentary (sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada). He has also produced compositions, arrangements, and recordings (e.g. Virtuoso Encores; From the Library of Joseph Szigeti), and presented papers at a number of international music conferences. Recent publications include the chapter Dialogues, Duels, Diets: Leclair, the French Violin School, and the 2-Violin Repertoire (Brepols, 2015) and a book review for Ad Parnassum (October 2015). A frequent guest artist- teacher at international universities and festivals, he also actively promotes local string education and serves as President of the Alberta String Association. Guillaume Tardif studied at the Conservatoire du Québec (Premier Prix de Violon, with Jean Angers) and at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester (Doctor of Musical Arts, with Oleh Krysa). He also completed the EMBA program at the Alberta School of Business and presented there the interdisciplinary course Culture and Creativity [www.guillaume.tardif.com].

Valente, Liana Admired for her performances of traditional operatic, oratorio. and song literature, Soprano Liana Valente is recognized as an exciting performer of contemporary music. She regularly commissions works from both emerging and established composers from across the globe. She has collaborated with such respected composers as Violet Archer, Derek Healey, Timothy Brown, Sharon Shaffer, and William Vollinger, as well as emerging composers Jocelyn Hagen, Jason Lovelace, Christine Arens, and Joel Weiss.

Valente has presented at national and international conferences, including the Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium in Canada, as well as conferences sponsored by CMS, NATS, SAI, MTNA and NFMC. Presentation topics have included; the collaborative process, music of contemporary women composers, advanced vocal techniques, sight-singing in the piano studio, and lecture recitals highlighting music she has commissioned.

Valente is the Classical Voice Area Coordinator at Howard University in Washington, DC. Chartered by the United States Congress in 1867, its mission has remained constant through today; to offer an exceptional education to disadvantaged persons in American society with the goal of eliminating inequities related to race, color, social, economic and political circumstances.

She holds degrees from The University of South Carolina (DMA); The University of Tennessee (MM); and SUNY College @ Fredonia (BM). An experienced arts administrator, Dr. Valente was recently appointed as the National Federation of Music Clubs Representative to the United Nations. In this position she will have the ability to “enhance the musical path of mutual understanding through cultural enrichment at all levels, amateur or professional.”

Vaughn, Beverly Beverly Vaughn is Professor of Music at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey where she is Music Program Coordinator and Coordinator for the Vocal/Choral Program. The choral program enjoys critical acclaim throughout the region for its large-scale oratorio performances as well as for its more intimate select choir and vocal jazz presentations. A mezzo-soprano, Vaughn has also presented workshops, clinics and interest sessions for conferences, symposia, university appearances, etc. in African American Gospel Music world wide in countries including Kenya, China, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Greece, Austria, South Africa, Nigeria, Antigua, Grenada, Brazil, New Zealand, etc. as well as for conference and workshops throughout the United States. She has published articles, book chapters and is currently working on publishing a collection of African & African American Gospel Music for K-8 education in collaboration with African music educators.

Vlahcevic, Sonia K. Sonia Vlahcevic received a Bachelor of Music in piano performance and a Master of Music in piano pedagogy from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. After moving to Richmond and while employed as a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), she earned a Ph.D in music theory from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Some of her post-doctoral training has been at the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Poland and at the Higher School of Music in Stockholm, Sweden.

Presently, while teaching piano and upper level courses at VCU, Dr. Vlahcevic is involved with presenting lecture-recitals at international venues including Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Argentina, Croatia, South Korea, Sweden and Hawaii as well as numerous venues in the United States.

Volker, Mark D. A native of Buffalo, NY, Mark Volker received degrees from the University of Chicago (Ph.D), the University of Cincinnati (Master of Music), and Ithaca College (Bachelor of Music), and is now Associate Professor of Music at the Belmont University School of Music, where he is Coordinator of Composition Studies, and he directs the New Music Ensemble. Known for his colorful harmonic language and orchestration, as well as his facility with both electronic and traditional instrumentations, Mark is a past winner of the SCI/ASCAP international prize, the ERM Masterworks Award, the Tennessee Music Teachers’ Association Composer of the Award, as well as numerous grants and commissions.

Weiler, Sherri Dr. Sherri Weiler, Associate Professor of Music at the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, has previously served full-time on the faculties of Florida State University, Shorter College, and University of Alaska-Anchorage. While in Alaska, Weiler coached Russian language and vocal literature for 12 years with retired Moscow Conservatory piano professor Svetlana Velichko and performed the mezzo solo in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with Mstislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony in October 1992. Her compact disc Russia: Golden Century of Song was released by Centaur in 2001. Her doctoral treatise (2004) centered on the difficulties encountered in Russian diction by American singers. Since 2008 Weiler has served on the Editorial Board of the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s Journal of Singing, has written several article for the JOS, and managed “The Song File” column from 2014-2016. The singer has presented at both the Southern chapter and the 47th national conferences of The College Music Society. Weiler is a native of Greenville, SC; she received BA and M.Ed degrees from Clemson University, the MM degree in vocal performance from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and the DM degree in vocal performance/pedagogy from Florida State University.

Weiss, Stephanie Stephanie Weiss, mezzo-soprano, was a regional finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is a regular guest at Deutsche Oper Berlin. Her roles include Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos), Klementia (Sancta Susanna), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Grimgerde (Die Walküre), Marianne Leitmetzerin (Der Rosenkavalier), Giannetta (L'elisir d'amore), Aufseherin (Elektra), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), Venus (Tannhäuser), and Johanna (Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna). In addition to singing at Deutsche Oper Berlin, she has also appeared with Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin Philharmonic, Oper Frankfurt, Konzerttheater Bern, Oper Dortmund, Oper Köln, Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater, Oper Leipzig, Opera Orchestra of New York, and San Diego Opera. Concert appearances include Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony 9, Wesendonck’s Lieder, Mahler’s Symphony 4, and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

Dr. Weiss, currently Assistant Professor of Voice at Arizona State University, holds degrees from New England Conservatory (B.M. voice), Tufts University (B.S. biology and drama), University of Missouri–Kansas City (M.M.), Mannes College of Music (Prof. Studies Dipl.), and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (D.M.A.), where she was previously Assistant Professor of Voice. In the summer, she serves on the faculties of COSI (Centre for Opera Studies in Italy) in Sulmona, Italy and AIMS in Graz.

Welch, James James Welch serves on the faculty as a collaborative pianist and instructor of class piano. He has accompanied State University of New York at Fredonia students and faculty on various instrumental juries and recitals, various master classes, and has vocal coached and accompanied many of the mainstage musicals. He has performed for Peter Schickele, Renee Fleming, Lee Hoiby, Dawn Upshaw, Jake Heggie, Ian Clarke, Eric Ewazen, and Jason Robert Brown.

James also serves on the faculty for the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, CO, as a collaborative pianist. In past summers, he has worked on the faculties for the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and The New York State Summer School of the Arts Choral Program as a collaborative pianist for instrumentalists and vocalists on repertoire including art song, opera, musical theater, choral, jazz, pop and instrumental.

James was a Second Prize winner of the 2007 Bradshaw and Bouno International Piano Competition. He has performed at Fredonia, SUNY Buffalo, East Carolina University, Morgan State University, Western Oregon University, The Rocky Ridge Music Center, Portland, OR, Lucca Italy, and at the Music at Ambialet Piano Festival (now known as Music at Albignac) in Ambialet, France.

James holds a M.M. in Piano Performance from East Carolina University and a B.M. in Piano Performance and a Performer’s Certificate from Fredonia with additional studies in piano with Paul Roberts from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, at his summer festival in Ambialet, France, and in collaborative piano and opera at the Accademia Europea Dell’ Opera in Lucca, Italy.

Wolf, Debbie L. Debbie Lynn Wolf, PhD, is a professor of music, and chair of music education in the School of Music, Cairn University (formerly Philadelphia Biblical University), Langhorne, PA, and adjunct professor at University of the Arts, Philadelphia. She also serves as consultant and chief reader for PRAXIS Music Tests at Educational Testing Services (ETS), Ewing, NJ. Her work in musical development, assessment, and music in special education has been presented at national and international conferences including NAfME, ISME Research Commission, ISME World Conference, ICMPC, and The College Music Society. Publications include contributions to CRME, ISME, PMEA, and ETS. Her most recent research article, Characteristics of Pitch- matching and Rhythm-matching Accuracy of Boys and Girls from Argentina, was published in the International Perspectives on Research in Music Education: Proceedings of the 26th International Seminar of the ISME Commission on Research, London 18-22 July 2016. In addition to presenting this research paper at the Research Commission in London this past summer, she also presented workshops for special interest groups, Assessment in Music Education, and Spirituality in Music Education, at the International Society for Music Education in Glasgow, July, 2016.

Wright-Ivanova, Christina Christina Wright-Ivanova, hailed by critics as “a brilliant collaborative pianist” (Wiener Zeitung, Vienna) and “an ideal partner” (Huffington Post), is currently Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is on faculty as a vocal coach at Dolora Zajick's Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, and has previously worked at the Boston University School of Music, American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and at the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Salzburg.

Dr. Wright-Ivanova has performed as a chamber musician throughout the USA, UK, Europe, Canada, China and South America, appearing in recital with many established artists, including Tchaikovsky Competition Bronze medal cellist Bion Tsang, virtuoso violinist Yevgeny Kutik, Israel Philharmonic violinist Sharon Cohen, and Joachim International Violin competition winner Dami Kim. She has performed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, The Harvard Club, New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall, Old North Meeting House, and internationally at the Reaktorhalle (Munich, Germany), Humboldt University (Berlin), École normale supérieure (Lyon, France), Joanneumsviertel Museum (Graz, Austria), Amici della Musica Paisello Concert Hall (Lucera, Italy), and the Schloss Frohnburg (Salzburg).

She has been heard on Deutschland Radio, WDR3 Kultur Radio, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR Klassik, Munich), Radio Caracas (Venezuela), WORD Madison, WRUV Radio Vermont, and Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). For the past two seasons, she has served as the Artistic Director for the 'North End Performing Arts Professional Artists Concert Series' in Boston. University of Texas at Austin (DMA), New England Conservatory (MM) and the University of Victoria, Canada (BM). [www.christinajwright.com]

Yao, Zijin Pianist Zijin Yao is a DMA candidate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was born in China and received her bachelor and master degree at China Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

A passionate performer, Zijin’s repertoires range from baroque to contemporary. She played many solo recitals around China and United State and was the winner of a series of competitions. A committed piano teacher, Zijin teaches Group Piano Class and Private Piano Lessons and works as a piano instructor in Piano Pedagogy Lab and Piano Pioneer Program. A courageous investigator, Zijin has focused on exploring piano pedagogy alongside the psychology of music performing. She gave presentations in national and international conferences such as 2015 PAMA (Performing Arts and Medicine Association) symposium and 2012 ISME (International Society of Music Education) conference etc. She has published ten articles in Chinese and Canadian musical/psychological journals.

Zacharella, Alexandra A native of New Jersey, Alexandra Zacharella is Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Low Brass at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Zacharella holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in trombone performance from the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, with minors in conducting, music education and jazz studies; a Master of Music degree in Trombone Performance from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance and Music Education from The University of Hartford, The Hartt School.

Zacharella is a Bach Performing Artist and endorses Warburton Music Products. She is an active low brass and wind ensemble clinician and has presented clinics and masterclasses in South Korea, Hong Kong, California, Michigan, Georgia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma to name a few. She presented at the 70th and 65th Annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois and gave the plenary paper for the keynote performance of world-renowned trombonist and Conn-Selmer Artist Christian Lindberg, at the International Conference of the College Music Society in Stockholm, Sweden in 2015. She has performed at International Trombone Festivals in Spain, France, New York, Georgia, Texas and Las Vegas. Zacharella has given numerous presentations, poster sessions and performances at the International Conference of the College Music Society in Argentina and South Korea, at National and Regional CMS Conferences throughout the United States, at the Arkansas Music Educators Conference and the Arkansas Bandmasters Convention. Zacharella maintains a private low brass studio and enjoys working summer band camps and traveling.

Zhang, Wenzhuo As native Chinese, Wenzhuo Zhang began her training on the Yang Qin at the age of five. When she was thirteen, Wenzhuo was given a full scholarship to the highly competitive Arts School of He Bei Province, which accepted only one Yang Qin student every two years. After graduation, she placed first in the Chinese national auditions and was admitted into the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing where she was awarded her Bachelor’s in Yang Qin performance in 2005. In 2006, she came to the United States and earned her Master’s in Music education from the State University of New York in Fredonia in 2007. She was awarded her Doctorate from Boston University in music education in 2015.

As a Chinese classical performer, Dr. Zhang has worked with Chinese orchestras, wind and string ensembles, traditional folk singers, opera companies, and Western wind ensembles, and given a series of lecture-recitals in China and the United States. She has earned many performance-related awards including the Gold Medal in Beijing-National Youth Arts Professional Competition, the Silver Medal in the second New Orient-National Yang Qin Competition, and first place in the International Hammered-Dulcimer Championship in the United States.

As a scholar, Dr. Zhang’s has been invited to give performances and presentations at national and world conferences of the National Association of Music Education, The College Music Society, the American Music Instrument Society, and the International Society for Music Education. Her research interests include multicultural music education and Chinese music and aesthetics.

Zyko, Jeanette Oboist Jeanette Zyko, praised by Fanfare Magazine and ArtsNash for her “refined playing”and “achingly beautiful lines,”enjoys an active career as a chamber and orchestra musician.

A versatile artist, Dr. Zyko has played music ranging from twentieth-century composer Louis Andriessen to Baroque composer Jan Zelenka, and her performances have taken her across the United States and abroad. As a solo and chamber musician, she has played in New Mexico, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and New York’s Carnegie Hall, as well as in Canada, France, Costa Rica, and Argentina.

Equally at home as an orchestra musician, she has performed with the Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, Indianapolis Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Gateway Chamber Orchestra, and Paducah Symphony. Dr. Zyko can be heard on Summit Records with Gateway Chamber Orchestra, and her performances of Mozart’s Gran Partita with this ensemble have earned her high praise from critics.

Prior to joining the faculty of James Madison University in 2016, Dr. Zyko held positions at Austin Peay State University and the University of Costa Rica. She received her training at the Hartt School of Music and Butler University, and she was the first oboist to receive the Doctor of Music Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music. Her teachers have included Humbert Lucarelli, Malcolm Smith, Georg Meerwein, and Stephen Taylor. Her students have won top positions in state and regional ensembles and have received performance scholarships for undergraduate and graduate programs as well as summer festivals.

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