Faculty

Dr. Arthur Haecker (trombone) is currently Professor of Trombone at Converse College in South Carolina. Prior to his appointment at Converse, he was Principal Trombonist of the Amman Symphony Orchestra  and the Amman National Conservatory’s low brass instructor. Before joining the ASO he enjoyed a successful performing career in the United States, performing with such groups as the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, The Illinois Opera, and the Illinois Symphony. In addition, Arthur has participated in the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Brevard Music Center, and the Southern Illinois Music Festival. He has also shared the stage with artists such as Ray Charles, Arturo Sandoval, Patrick Sheridan, and Christine Brewer.  He also performed on the Grammy Award winning recording of William Bolcom’s “Songs for Innocence and Experience.”  An accomplished chamber musician, Arthur has been a member of many brass quintets and choirs, including the Aurora Brass, the Converse Brass Quintet, the Arbor Brass, and the Old Capitol Brass. He formerly served on the faculties of Hillsdale College and Millikin University. Arthur received a BM from the Eastman School of Music, a MM from the University of Michigan, and completed a DMA from the University of Iowa.

www.ahaecker.com   

Jens Larsen -  Mr. Larsen holds a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance from Old Dominion University, where he studied with Dr. William Bartolotta, and a Master of Music in trumpet performance from Rice University, where he studied with Armando Ghitalla.  Mr. Larsen also completed studies at Indiana University, where he studied with Charles Gorham.  Mr. Larsen currently teaches trumpet at Newberry College and Converse College, and performs with the Greenville Symphony as Co-Principal Trumpet and the Symphony Orchestra of Augusta as Second Trumpet.  He also performs extensively in the Southeast with various other ensembles, including the Greenville Brass Quintet, the South Carolina Pops Orchestra, and the South Carolina Philharmonic.  Mr. Larsen also plays with numerous Broadway National Tours that travel through the region.

Prior to joining the faculty at the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary in 2003, Mr. Larsen taught private lessons in Atlanta and Houston, as well as music appreciation at several Atlanta-area colleges.  Mr. Larsen has made appearances with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, the DeKalb Symphony, the Cobb Symphony, Orchestra Atlanta, the Converse College Faculty Brass Quintet, the Converse Sinfonietta, the North Carolina School of the Arts Festival Orchestra, the Virginia Wind Symphony, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and the Festhaus Polka Band and Starlight Jazz Orchestra at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

         Choral           Conductors  

Matthew Erpelding (choral conductor) is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Iowa where he served as an instructor as well as Assistant Conductor of the University Choir and Assistant Conductor of Kantorei. Previously, he had been the first student ever appointed to the position of Conductor of the University Choir while pursuing his Masters Degree from Northern Illinois University, and received the Graduate Teaching Assistant Award for his contributions. Matthew is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Beta Kappa and has been awarded the University of Chicago Outstanding Teacher Award, and Second Prize at the 2012 Sacra Profana Composition Contest. He has also served as guest conductor for the Little 10 Choral Festival and accompanist for the IMEA District II and VIII Festival Choirs at Augustana College and Northern Illinois University. After serving as Department Chair and Director of Choral Activities at Boylan Central Catholic High School, and Choir Director of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids, Matthew is currently Director of Choral Activities at Hopewell Valley Central High School in Pennington, New Jersey.

www.matthewerpelding.com

Dr. Allyss Haecker (soprano) is currently the Director of Vocal Studies at Newberry College (SC), where she teaches voice, vocal pedagogy, diction, world music and directs the Newberry College Singers.  Allyss formerly served as the Director of Vocal Studies at the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. Prior to receiving her doctorate in Choral Conducting and Literature (University of Iowa), she received her bachelor’s degree in choral music education from Converse College (SC) and a master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana, IL). Allyss is also an active soloist having performed Mozart’s “Requiem” (Spartanburg Festival Chorus), Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” (BACH Society of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois), Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb” (Performing Arts Institute), Bach’s “Magnificat” and “St. Matthew Passion” (Ann Arbor Cantata Singers), Haydn’s “Creation” and Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” (Performing Arts Institute), Charpentier’s “Te Deum” (Iowa City Chamber Singers), and Faure’s “Requiem” (Dozan Wa Awtar). Her operatic roles include the Witch in Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” and Poppea in Monteverdi’s “L’incornacion di Poppea.”  

www.allysshaecker.com

Dr. James Patrick Miller pursued his graduate studies at Ithaca College and later the University of Minnesota, where he received his Doctorate in Musical Arts in conducting. Recognized for his work with both vocal and instrumental ensembles and as a conducting pedagogue, Miller is currently assistant professor and conductor at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, where he conducts the wind ensemble, symphony band, and teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting. As a guest artist, Dr. Miller frequently leads workshops and clinics for vocal and instrumental ensembles throughout the U.S. His prior teaching appointments include Gustavus Adolphus College, Cornell University, and Ithaca College. Miller has premiered works with the Sapphire Chamber Consort, Cornell University Chorale, the Cornell University Wind Symphony, Ithaca College Wind Composition Forum, St. Olaf College Valhalla Band, Gustavus Adolphus College Wind Orchestra, and the University of Massachusetts Wind Ensemble. Dedicated to conducting pedagogy, he recently founded the UMass Summer Conducting Institute and is writing a book on the instruction of undergraduate conducting. Miller has been published in the American Choral Directors Association National Choral Journal, is a past graduate level winner of the American Choral Directors Association National Conducting Competition, and his research on composer Karel Husa’s saxophone concerto has been featured at College Band Directors National Association regional and national conferences.

www.umassbands.org

Tim Early (head of the dance program) serves as co-director of the Philadelphia based modern dance company Opus 1 Contemporary. In addition to working with many independent choreographers, he continues to perform with Philadelphia companies including Brandywine Ballet and Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. Currently on staff at Temple University, he has served at Mount Holyoke College as a visiting artist and has choreographed for Lafayette College, Moravian College and West Chester University. He trained with master teacher Jonathan White in the Vaganova method and is also trained in the techniques of Limon, Graham, Horton and Wigman.  

      Guitar

Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine describes Dr. Zane Forshee as “one of his generation’s finest guitarists.” Active both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles, recent concert engagements have taken him across North America, Europe, and Asia, where his live performances have been noted for possessing “a beautiful ever-flow that held the audience captivated” (Retriever Weekly).

Zane has been featured at the Palacete de Amezúa (Madrid), the Joseph Joachim Konzertsaal (Berlin), the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the New York City Classical Guitar Society, and the Chimei Museum (Taiwan). He has given collaborative performances with Opus 1 Contemporary Dance Company, in addition to solo and chamber recitals for the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society, the Omaha Guitar Guild, and the Endless Mountain Music Festival.

His debut recording Initial has been praised for its “Superb musical and technical skill” (Minor7th.com). Classical Guitar Magazine states “Forshee immediately establishes his credentials as an excellent player, with clarity, precision and an abundance of fine technique.”

Winner of numerous top prizes which include the first prize in the National Guitar Workshop International Solo Guitar Competition and the top prize in the Montpelier Artist Recital Competition. Zane was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Spain in support of his current recording project of contemporary Spanish works for solo guitar. In addition to these awards, he has been the recipient of two Peabody Institute Career Development Grants.

Zane holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree, Master of Music Degree, and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University.  Presently, he is the Visiting Guitar Faculty for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, in addition to his duties at the Peabody Institute, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the Performing Arts Institute Summer Music Festival in Pennsylvania. Zane Forshee is a D’Addario Artist and plays on D’Addario strings.

David Bixler (jazz band conductor) has performed and toured with the orchestras of Lionel Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Duke Ellington and Bobby Sanabria. Since 2000, Bixler has been a member of the Grammy-nominated Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra; taking over the lead-alto chair two years ago. The band has toured throughout Europe, North America and Central America, in addition to performing at Birdland in New York City each Sunday.  His debut jazz quintet CD, titled Lost In Queens, was released in May 2000. In fall 2003, Bixler released his second CD, Show Me The Justice, which received national airplay and critical praise for demonstrating his creative abilities as composer as well as improviser. His current CD, Call It A Good Deal, was released in July 2006 on the Zoho label and features all original compositions by the performer. The disc has garnered critical acclaim and in addition to receiving 3 1⁄2 stars in Down Beat, it was an honorable mention selection in All About Jazz’s “best of 2006.”  Since 2008, he has served as the Director of Jazz Studies at Bowling Green State University. to view David's web site go to www.davidbixler.com.    

Thomas Heinze (jazz band conductor) is professor of oboe and jazz band conductor at Marywood University. He holds a bachelor’s in music education and master of music in oboe performance from West Chester University and has served as principal oboist with the Allentown Band for 37 years. Formerly the principal oboist with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Tom is active as a solo recitalist and chamber musician in the Mid-Atlantic area and performs with numerous ensembles in Northeastern PA. In addition, he is musical director and saxophone soloist with the Big Band Ambassadors. Tom was a music specialist in the Palmerton PA prior to his appointment at Marywood.

Rick Holland is a versatile musician and veteran performer with musicians and organizations such as the Louie Bellson Big Band (Chicago Based Band), Jimmy Dorsey, Hendrik Meurkens, Buddy De Franco, Natalie Cole and the Terry Gibbs Big Band. Holland has now recorded 7 albums as a leader and co-leader with national and international labels. He has collaborated with Evan Dobbins on two noteworthy albums, Trilby and In Time's Shadow,with the Little Big Band. Ollie Bivins of All About Jazz LA Quotes, “And it is this individual musicianship, particularly with trumpeter Holland, along with the quality of the original compositions that makes In Time’s Shadow a treat. Rick Holland (Trumpet) and Evan Dobbins (Trombone) lead a group of New York area musicians who could give the more well-known big bands in New York and Los Angeles a run for their money.”

Rick’s other releases include, Positive Settings, (Cadence, 2001) and There Will Never Be Another You, (Cadence, 1999), featuring the Rick Holland Quartet. Rick also has made two significant recordings with long-time playing partners Hendrik Meurkens, You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To, (Cadence, 2002) and with Kerry Strayer, (Rhombus Records, Speak Low, 2003). His albums have been highly praised by the All Music Guide, Jazz Improv Magazine, Cadence Magazine, Detroit Jazz, All About Jazz and the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, JAM Magazine.

Rick has now been teaching privately for the last 25 years. He has maintained studios in Chicago, Ill., the Central and Western Michigan areas and Central New York. He has taught people of all ages, from beginning students to Doctoral candidates in Music. He is currently writing 5 volumes on Jazz Improvisation, and wanting to complete a beginning volume for trumpet for beginning trumpet players. Rick’s students can be heard from Professional circles to Community ensembles. In 2005, Rick received his Doctoral degree in Classical performance from Michigan State University. He is a Carol Brass Performing artist, active performer and clinician and has served on the music faculties of Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College.

www.rickhollandproductions.com

www.rickholland.net

James Orfanella (jazz band conductor) has been a professional musician and music educator for over 20 years with a bachelors degree in music education for the University of North Texas. Currently teaching at Valley View High School in Archbald, PA, he performs in a wide variety of styles from jazz to rock to classical. He is currently studying traditional Japanese shakuhachi flute under Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin at the Ki Sui An dojo. Jamie is also half of  "Tribal Waves" a duo which combines a variety of world wind instruments- including didgeridoos, flutes and jaw harps, with percussion ranging from drum set to Tibetian singing bowls to create an improvisational ambient trance experience."

Rich Thompson is an Associate Professor of jazz studies and contemporary media at the Eastman School of Music. In addition to his duties as artist/teacher of drum set, he also directs the Eastman Jazz Lab Band, and is a member of the Eastman Jazz Trio/Quartet with Harold Danko, Clay Jenkins and Jeff Campbell.

Mr. Thompson received a bachelor's degree in music education and in percussion from the University of Oklahoma, and a master's degree in jazz studies and contemporary media (performance) from the Eastman School of Music. Continuing to tour with the Count Basie Orchestra, Rich joined the Eastman faculty in 1996. Rich appeared with the Count Basie Orchestra at the President's Inaugural Ball in 1997 and recorded a live video at the well-known jazz venue Birdland. Rich has also been a featured soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic from 1994-2005, as well as with many major orchestras in the United States and Canada. In addition, he has toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra.

Thompson has recorded numerous times in the U.S. and France with renowned pianists Bill Dobbins, as a co-leader with James Williams (of Art Blakey fame,) and has also recorded and performed with singer Bobby McFerrin. Rich "freelances" out of Rochester and New York City, appearing with the Eastman Jazz Trio, the Eastman Jazz Quartet, and Trio East. He was featured on Tito Puente's 1996 CD release Jazzin, a collaboration CD with Tito Puente, Puente's latin rhythm section and the Count Basie Orchestra. Rich was a Semifinalist in the Thelonious Monk International Drum Competition in 1993 and has played numerous times with pianist Marian McPartland, guitarist Gene Bertoncini, trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie, guitar legend Joe Pass, and trumpet/flugelhorn great Clark Terry.

Rich has given master classes and concerts at numerous colleges in the U.S., France, Denmark, Thailand, Japan, and Newfoundland. He has taught jazz at the Eastman School of Music Summer Jazz Workshop for ten years, and has been featured since 1993 as an artist in residence at the Birch Creek Music Center in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. At Birch Creek he has been spotlighted on two CD's and received the Woody Herman Jazz Award for inspirational teaching. Rich currently serves as the chairperson for drum set solo selection for the NYSSMA Manual in New York State and tours nationally and abroad with the Byron Stripling Quartet!

Copies of Trio East are available through the Eastman Bookstore.

www.richthompson.net

Jazz Coordinator

Kyle Vock(jazz bass), holds a B.S. in jazz studies from SUNY New Paltz where he studied jazz bass with John Menegon. He holds a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Jeffrey Campbell. As president of the New Paltz Jazz Society from 2005 until 2008, Vock was successful in organizing and planning workshops and performances by musicians like Rufus Reid, Karl Berger, and Jack Dejohnette. Kyle performed regularly throughout the Hudson Valley with a dance and music revue entitled “A Perfect Gift: All that is Jazz” and has recorded a CD with the group in 2008.   Kyle is currently a freelance musician and teacher in Rochester, N.Y.  

Jr. PAI    Faculty

S. Todd Christopher (voice faculty), music director for PAI’s production of “Cabaret,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “The Threepenny Opera,” "Oliver!,” "Fiddler on the Roof," and “Two Gentleman of Verona,” received his bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University in music education and a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University in vocal performance.  While at NAU, Todd served as a graduate assistant where he conducted the men’s chorale and opera orchestra. Currently, he holds the position of Performing Arts Coordinator of Ashley Hall School.

Rex Henriques (choreographer) graduated from the College of Performing Arts (now University of the Arts) in 1991 with a B.F.A. in ballet. After graduating top in his class, he traveled throughout South America, Mexico, and the United States as a professional performer. Some of his credits include Tommy Djilas in Music Man, Harry Beaton in Brigadoon, and Dream Curly in Oklahoma in addition to performing on cruise ships and throughout Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and New York. Rex is currently in his 14th year as a professor of dance in the Musical Theater Department at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA where he has just completed choreographing his 9^th musical, Big River starring Tony nominated Forrest McClendon. Rex also successfully owns and operates the Bucks County Dance Center in Bensalem, PA for the past 25 years.

William Roudebush  (director of PAI’s musical theater program), has directed well over 275 productions at such theaters as Actors Theater of Louisville, Cleveland Play House, The Hanna Theater, Syracuse Stage Company, Walnut Street Theater, Mint Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theater and the John Houseman Theater in New York City. He is nationally known as an educator, having taught at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Temple University, Virginia Commonwealth University and The University of the Arts. In 1995, he developed an innovative curriculum for the Walnut Street Theater School, for which he earned an award from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts honoring the unique outreach program. Author of “Acting by Mistake,” Roudebush brings more than 36 years of teaching and directing experience to PAI where he collaborates with his students and professional staff. Bill is currently a full-time lecturer in theater department of the University of Miami.

 Music History

Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine describes Dr. Zane Forshee as “one of his generation’s finest guitarists.” Active both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles, recent concert engagements have taken him across North America, Europe, and Asia, where his live performances have been noted for possessing “a beautiful ever-flow that held the audience captivated” (Retriever Weekly).

Zane has been featured at the Palacete de Amezúa (Madrid), the Joseph Joachim Konzertsaal (Berlin), the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the New York City Classical Guitar Society, and the Chimei Museum (Taiwan). He has given collaborative performances with Opus 1 Contemporary Dance Company, in addition to solo and chamber recitals for the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society, the Omaha Guitar Guild, and the Endless Mountain Music Festival.

His debut recording Initial has been praised for its “Superb musical and technical skill” (Minor7th.com). Classical Guitar Magazine states “Forshee immediately establishes his credentials as an excellent player, with clarity, precision and an abundance of fine technique.”

Winner of numerous top prizes which include the first prize in the National Guitar Workshop International Solo Guitar Competition and the top prize in the Montpelier Artist Recital Competition. Zane was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Spain in support of his current recording project of contemporary Spanish works for solo guitar. In addition to these awards, he has been the recipient of two Peabody Institute Career Development Grants.

Zane holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree, Master of Music Degree, and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University.  Presently, he is the Visiting Guitar Faculty for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, in addition to his duties at the Peabody Institute, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the Performing Arts Institute Summer Music Festival in Pennsylvania. Zane Forshee is a D’Addario Artist and plays on D’Addario strings.

 Music Theory

Amanda Cook - recently completed her M.M. in flute performance at Kent State University. At Kent State, she served as the Graduate Flute Assistant and Division of Bands Librarian and frequently performed with the KSU Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and New Music Ensemble. She graduated summa cum laude from  George Mason University with a B.M. in Flute Performance. Amanda has maintained private flute studios in Connecticut and Virginia and has served on the instructional staff of the Judith Lapple Summer Woodwind Camp. She has placed in several competitions including the MTNA Senior Woodwinds Competition, the Hampton Roads Flute Faire, and the George Mason University Concerto Competition. She has performed as a member of the American Festival Pops Orchestra as piccolo/3rd flute. She has also performed on masterclasses for Bonita Boyd, Gary Schocker, and Shelley Binder.

Christina Roytz (music theory faculty/head music librarian) is a cellist in the Amman Symphony Orchestra and a faculty member of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at King’s Academy, Amman, Jordan. As a guest soloist, she has performed numerous works with orchestra including Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, and Faure’s Elegie. In 2010, she was also the featured soloist in the premiere of Charles Loos’s In C (Minor) for cello and piano. Formerly the cellist in the New Century String Quartet and the Amphion String Quartet, she was featured live on the National Public Radio. Prior to moving to Amman, Christina was a member of  the Ashland, Mansfield, and Lima symphonies and was a substitute cellist in the Toledo Symphony. She completed her B.M. at Cleveland State University and holds a Masters Degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where she is the recipient of a full-tuition fellowship.   

Orchestral Conductors

Conductor Paul Hostetter is the Ethel Foley Distinguished Chair in Orchestral Activities for the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, the Conductor and Artistic Advisor for the acclaimed Sequitur Ensemble, the Principal Conductor of the NY Concerti Sinfonietta, and the Founder and Artistic Adviser to the Music Mondays chamber series in New York City. He has held professorial appointments at Montclair State University, New York University, and William Paterson University, and was the Music Director of the Colonial Symphony, the Music Director of the High Mountain Symphony, Artistic Director of the Winter Sun Music Festival, Music Director of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, and the Associate Conductor for the Broadway productions of Candide and The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm. As a guest conductor he has appeared with opera companies including the New York City Opera, the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, Genesis Opera, Peak Performances, and has served an assistant to James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera. He has also appeared with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Naples Philharmonic, the Syracuse Symphony, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Music from China, the Stony Brook Summer Music Festival, the Performing Arts Institute Festival Orchestra, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, the Columbus Ballet, and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra among others. His extensive discography includes recordings on the Telarc, Koch, Mode, CRI, Albany, Tzadick, Naxos, Argo, Decca, Delos, Deutsche-Grammaphon, New World, Polygram, Pro-Arte, RCA Victor, Sony Classical, and Warner Brothers labels, and these have received numerous honors including a Grammy Award, a Downbeat Critics Award, five stars for performance in the BBC Music Magazine, and two NY Times Top Five annual listings. He has premiered over seventy works by composers including Pulitzer Prize Winners David Del Tredici, Ned Rorem, and Lewis Spratlan, and recently conducted the co-premiere of the opera Elmer Gantry by Robert Aldridge, which won the 2012 Grammy for best classical composition. A former percussionist, he performed regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. He received degrees in performance from the Florida State University and the Juilliard School of Music and resides in Columbus, GA with his wife, violist Elizabeth Schulze Hostetter and his daughters Vivian and Asha.

www.paulhostetter.com

http://music.columbusstate.edu

Kenneth Jernigan (orchestral conductor), is often sought after to conduct all-state festivals because of his high musical standards and his ability to inspire young musicians to winning performances. Jernigan earned his bachelor’s degree from the Aaron Copland School of Music and his master’s degree from Lehman College in New York.  Jernigan is an orchestra and band clinician and is currently employed at Hastings-on-Hudson High School where he conducts the  orchestra, band and jazz ensembles each of which havwe earned numerous festival awards.  At PAI Jernigan has conducted both the symphony and chamber orchestras and serves as co-director of PAI’s Junior Division.    

Lawrence Loh (orchestra conductor) was recently promoted to Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and is entering his fourth season as Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.  He was brought to national attention in 2004 when he substituted last-minute for an ailing Charles Dutoit with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Conducting Stravinsky’s Petrouchka and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, Loh received enthusiastic acclaim from orchestra players, audience members and critics, alike.  As Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, he conducts a wide range of concerts including classical, educational and pops. Lawrence Loh held the positions of Assistant and Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony from 2001-2005. In 1998, Loh received his Artist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from Yale University, also earning the Eleazar de Carvalho Prize, given to the most outstanding conductor in the Yale graduating class. During his years at Yale, he was chosen to be the Assistant Conductor of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and Apprentice Conductor of the Hot Springs Music Festival. He received further training at the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival and School and has additional degrees from Indiana University and the University of Rochester.

    Percussion

Tim Broscious is currently serving as professor of western percussion at the National Conservatory in Amman, Jordan and Principal Percussion for the Amman Symphony Orchestra.  Tim holds degrees from The Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford (MM and GPD) in percussion performance and from Samford University (BA) in music education. He is currently enrolled in the Doctoral Program (DMA) program at The Hartt School, where he is a member of Hartt’s “Performance 20/20” honors chamber music program. Tim has studied percussion with Benjamin Toth, Dave Samuels, Tracy Wiggins, Alexander Lepak, Shane Shanahan, Joe Galeota, John Amira, Rogerio Bocatto, and Grant Dalton. Tim and Gene Koshinski (also on the PAI faculty) established the Quey Percussion Duo in 2003. One year later, they were semifinalists in the prestigious Universal Marimba Competition (Belgium), where they were the last American duo to remain in the competition.  A percussion ensemble composer and arranger, he is endorsed by Sabian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion and HoneyRock publications.  

Dr. Gene Koshinski, percussionist and composer, has delighted audiences worldwide with his dynamic performances and creative programming. He is currently Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Minnesota Duluth and in demand as a soloist and chamber musician having performed in Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Jordan, Slovenia, Canada, and throughout the United States. In 2002, Koshinski won the National MTNA Percussion Competition in Cincinnati, OH and in 2004, finished 3rd in the prestigious Universal Marimba Duo Competition in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. As a composer, Koshinski was named this year’s recipient of The ASCAP Foundation Nissim Prize for his work Concerto for Marimba and Choir. Throughout his career, Koshinski has worked with many notable performing organizations and artists including NFL Films, Late Show with David Letterman, Mary Wilson (the Supremes), David Samuels, Wycliffe Gordon, Philadelphia Boys Choir, The Lettermen, Hartford Symphony, Lehigh Valley Choral Arts, Minnesota Ballet, and is currently section percussionist for the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and a member of Nebojsa Zivkovic’s Jovan Perkussion Projekt. For his work with NFL Films, he can be heard on the Emmy award-winning soundtrack A Century of NFL. Performances have also been heard on the CBS, PBS, and ESPN television networks as well as NPR. In addition, he has recorded for the Naxos, Innova, MSR Classics, and Equilibrium record labels. Koshinski is a founding member of the Quey Percussion Duo, a touring group established to generate new works for percussion while also bringing standard repertoire to a broad audience. He also serves as Director of Percussion at the annual 6-week Performing Arts Institute International Summer Music Festival in Kingston, PA. Recently, Koshinski served as a judge for the 2009 Percussive Arts Society Solo Competition at the PAS International Convention in Indianapolis. He recently published a method book entitled The Additive Method of Two-Mallet Study, which focuses on keyboard percussion technique and performance. As an advocate for new music, Koshinski has commissioned and premiered works by renowned composers including Stuart Saunders Smith, Alejandro Viñao, David Macbride, and Dave Hollinden. He holds degrees from West Chester University (BM) and The Hartt School (MM and DMA). His method book, solo albums, and over 20 published compositions are distributed internationally, with many of his compositions receiving frequent global performances. Gene Koshinski is sponsored by Korogi Marimbas, Sabian Cymbals, Remo Drum Heads, and Innovative Percussion and his works are published by HoneyRock, Bachovich, and C. Alan Publications.

www.genekoshinski.com

        Piano

Dr. Ann DuHamel (piano) Praised for her “…profound and mystical” playing as well as her enthusiastic teaching, pianist Ann DuHamel serves as Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of Minnesota, Morris, where she coordinates and teaches solo, collaborative, and group piano, as well as piano pedagogy. She will complete a DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa in 2013, under the tutelage of Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. Prior to her time at UI, she was Assistant Director of the Central MN Music School (now Wirth Center for the Performing Arts); Ann has also served on faculty at the College of St Benedict/St John’s University in Collegeville, MN; the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City; and the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pennsylvania. Ann has been fortunate enough to coach and work with such esteemed pianists as Vladimir Feltsman, Ian Hobson, Susan Starr, John Wustman and Frederic Chiu. Past performances include venues in Bulgaria and Italy as well as across the U.S., including appearances at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in New York and the San Francisco Festival of Contemporary Music. A champion of new music, Ann is founding pianist of ensemble: Périphérie, which recently received an invitation to join the artist roster of Distinguished Concerts International New York. She is currently at work on her dissertation on the Nocturnes of American composer Lowell Liebermann, for which she received a fellowship from the University of Iowa; she has also been awarded a University of Minnesota Imagine Fund grant to record these pieces in 2013. Recent concerto appearances have included works by Mozart, Schnittke, and Frigyes Hidas; upcoming engagements include tours across the upper Midwest with saxophonist Preston Duncan and ensemble: Périphérie, as well as presentations and performances in Halifax, Buenos Aires, and Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, New York.

Thomas Hrynkiw (piano) began his studies with Joseph Jacobs and Anne Liva and later studied with Dora Zaslavsky at the Manhattan School of Music. He has been hailed as a pianist of dramatic power and poetry. At the age of nineteen, he won first prize for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with Leopold Stokowski conducting and in 1967 he won the gold medal at the Geneva Competition. Tom has also won the Frank Huntington Beebe Award, the Harold Bauer Award and the National Music Teachers Association Award. He has played major concerts both in Europe and the United States, including appearances at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Constitution Hall in Philadelphia. Tom has appeared at the Newport Festival in Rhode Island, where he served as the music advisor, senior artist and vocal director to their director. A sought after performer of chamber music, he has recorded accompaniments to more than 800 works and solo pieces, including the Four Ballades and the Four Scherzi of Chopin, for Disklavier PianoSoft. He has had a long association with Metropolitan Opera basso Paul Plishka, performing recitals not only in America but abroad, including appearances in the former Soviet Union.

Dr. Eun Mi Ko (piano) brings a wealth of performance and educational experience to the Performing Arts Institute. She traveled to the United States after receiving an Undergraduate degree at Seoul National University to pursue graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music in Piano Performance and Literature under Rebecca Penneys. In addition to serving as a teaching assistant for the piano studio at Eastman, she has had students of all ages and levels at the Eastman Community Music School and the Finger Lakes Community College. Eun Mi also enjoys playing and teaching chamber music, and has been a collaborative pianist and accompanist at the Eastman Community Music School, Hochstein School of Music and Dance, Nazareth College, Eastman School of Music, The Quartet Program, and Chautauqua Music Festival. In 2009, she performed both sets of Chopin etudes for a recital tour which included Boston, New York, South Carolina, New Zealand, and Korea and was later invited to Nazareth College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the Chautauqua Music Festival as a guest artist. In 2011, she was the assistant director for the Women in Music Festival, organizing concerts and the New York City Tour for thirty-five female composers and distinguished composer-in-residence, Hilary Tann. She has directed a post -1900 chamber music concert series, Music After 1900 and continues to collaborate with instrumentalists and ensemble groups. Please visit her website:

www.eunmiko.com  

Dr. Wen-Chi Cathy Liu (Piano Division Chair) is currently pursuing her doctorate degree, with a major in piano performance and minor in piano pedagogy at Temple University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Curtis Institute of Music as well as a master’s degree and professional study degree from Temple University.  At age 16, Cathy gave her debut concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall performing Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor. She has also toured in the United States and Asia many times, appearing in major concert halls such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in NY, Jordan Hall and Symphony Hall in Boston, Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and the National Concert Hall in Taipei.  She currently teaches at Temple University and Chestnut Hill Academy.   

        Strings

Dr. Lisa Burrell, (violin/viola) resides in Houston, Texas, where she serves on the faculty of Lone Star College, teaches privately, and is active in chamber music performance. She served as a full time violin/viola professor at Sam Houston State University from 2004-2009.  She is currently studying to become a fully licensed practitioner in the Feldenkrais Method, and is, as of December 2011, an Authorized Teacher of Awareness through Movement®.

As a clinician and teacher, Lisa’s work centers on ear training/musicianship, coaching chamber music and providing technique classes with an emphasis on healthy playing/injury prevention. She has given over 100 clinics in Texas public school string programs, in addition to college and university master classes in the US, Central/South America and the Middle East. She has been invited to present at teacher in-services, the Texas Orchestra Directors’ Association Convention, Texas Music Educators’ Association Conference (2009, 2010, 2012), the American String Teachers Association Conference (2010, 2011), and the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL (2010).

Lisa performs with Musiqa, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of new works in conjunction with visual art, film, dance and other mediums of expression.  Lisa has performed as a part of the Burrell-Blondel Duo since 1996, and appears regularly with pianist Yung-Chiu Wang.  Since 2005 she has been involved in organizing and performing benefit concerts with fellow chamber music enthusiasts to raise money for the AFAL teacher education fund of Lascahobas, Haiti, and the Ixtatan Foundation of San Mateo Ixtatan, Guatemala.  Recent recital and chamber music performances have taken her to Mexico, Panama, Ecuador and Jordan.

Lisa is a graduate of the University of Virginia (B.A.), and Northern Illinois University (M.M.), and she received her doctorate in violin performance from the University of Houston in 2002.  Her former teachers include Raymond Montoni, Mark Rush, Mathias Tacke, Shmuel Ashkenasi and Lawrence Wheeler. She studies the Feldenkrais Method with Paul Rubin and Julie Casson Rubin.

Dr. Kari Giles (violin) began her studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts before pursuing her masters in Chamber Music from the San Francisco Conservatory and doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota. Her solo and chamber music credits include the NCSA Summer Music Program, Charlotte Chamber Music, Ethos Ensemble, and the Madison Park String Quartet, of which she is also a founding member. Kari is notably the 2001 Winner of the San Francisco Conservatory Concerto Competition and recording artist on "Dark Dances: Compositions by John Allemeier." She has performed with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Spoleto Festival USA, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, and is currently Assistant Concertmaster with the Charlotte Symphony. In addition, Kari has taught at the St. Joseph’s School of Music, UNC Charlotte, Queens University before accepting her current position at the Community School of the Arts.

Maaike Harding (cello) studied under Richard Aaron and Desmond Hoebig at the Cleveland Institute of Music where she earned her Bachelor and Masters degrees in Cello Performance. Her festival credits include the Perlman Chamber Music Program Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Music Academy of the West. Maaike has notably won Top Prize in the Fischoff Chamber Competition, named Cello Fellowship Winner of the Music Academy of the West, and Grand Prize Winner of the Ohio American String Teachers Association Chamber Music Competition. She has performed with the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, participated in the “Conservatory Project” Performance at the Kennedy Center, and was featured as a Guest Soloist with the Rochester Symphony. Maaike began her teaching career in 2008 at the Valor Summer Conservatory and later the Hathaway Brown School and the Avon School of Music. She has simultaneously performed with the Akron Symphony, the Canton Symphony, and City Music Cleveland before accepting her current position in the New World Symphony.

Julia Shulman received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance and her Masters of Music from Longy School of Music. An active free-lancer and teacher, Julia is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music.  She has studied under the tutelage of Istvan Lukacshazi, Michael Klinghoffer, Pascale Delache-Feldman and James VanDemark.  Shulman is the classical bass faculty on staff at PAI. 

Christiane Appenheimer Vaida(cello) completed her musical studies at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Frankfurt, Germany, under the tutelage of Professor Susanne Mueller-Hornbach and has undertaken additional studies with Gerhard Mantel, Siegfried Palm, Hubert Buchberger, Ulrich Voss and Menachem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio).  Before moving to Northeastern Pennsylvania, she taught at Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, and headed the string department for the Buseck Music School while performing regularly both as soloist and chamber musician throughout Germany.  Currently a member of Marywood University’s string faculty, Christiane also serves as an artist-in-residence at Wyoming Seminary. In addition, she is an active free-lance performer with various chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout the region.

Suzanne Wagor (viola) possesses a Master of Music Degree in Viola performance from The Julliard School where she studied under Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory. There, she was also a recipient of the Alma Williamson Moreton Scholarship in Viola, the Satterwaite Scholarship, and the Edward John Noble Foundation Scholarship. Prior education includes The School for Strings, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Preucil School of Music. Suzanne has attended numerous festivals as a professional and a student, including the Casalmaggiore International Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival,The Quartet Program at Bucknell, Audubon Quartet Seminar, Interlochen Arts and the Texas Music Festival. In addition to serving as faculty, Suzanne served as Artistic Director at the Five Seasons Chamber Music Festival and Fellowship Program Coordinator at the Garth Newel Chamber Music Institute. Her teaching credits include Suzuki violin and viola instructor at the Lucy Moses School, Music Conservatory of Westchester, Northern Arizona University, Cedar Rapids Symphony School, Coe College, and the Oberlin Conservatory Preparatory division, and chamber music instructor with The School for Strings, New York Symphonies Chamber Music Program, the Diller-Quaile School of Music, and Northern Arizona University. Suzanne has performed with Five Seasons Chamber Music, the Meria Trio, School for Strings Faculty Quartet, Red Cedar Chamber Music, and the Euclid String Quartet, and served as Principle Viola with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra. Suzanne was also a finalist in the National ASTA String Competition in both 1992 and 1996, and received top prize in the Lucy Weed String Competition in 1992 and 1994.

       Voice

Elizabeth Duhr-Ramirez (mezzo), is a  graduate of the Resident Artist Training Program with the Tri-Cities Opera Company. With the company, she undertook the roles of The Mother in Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” Third Lady in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte,” Suzuki in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” and Alisa in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Her portrayal of Mrs. Ott in the Cedar Rapids Opera production of Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah,” was “…A masterpiece of detail, honesty, and conviction.” A versatile performer, her other credits include Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” (Tisbe), Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado” (Katisha), and Britten’s and “The Rape of Lucretia” (Bianca).  Her numerous awards include Second Place and Honorable Mention awards at the City Opera of the Quad Cities’ Young Singer Competition. A finalist in the NATS Competition (Iowa), she was heralded as…An important voice in the 21st century.” She named Undergraduate Scholar in the University of Iowa’s Martha Ellen Tye Opera Theatre, where she also won the Semper Fidelis Award, the Herald Stark Memorial Award in Opera, and a full-term undergraduate scholarship. Known for her unique cross-over abilities, Elizabeth regularly performs music of the cabaret and musical theatre repertoire.  Elizabeth earned a BM in Vocal Performance from the University of Iowa, and graduated from SUNY-Binghamton in May 2007 with a Master of Music degree in Opera.

Dr. Allyss Haecker (soprano) is currently the Director of Vocal Studies at Newberry College (SC), where she teaches voice, vocal pedagogy, diction, world music and directs the Newberry College Singers.  Allyss formerly served as the Director of Vocal Studies at the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. Prior to receiving her doctorate in Choral Conducting and Literature (University of Iowa), she received her bachelor’s degree in choral music education from Converse College (SC) and a master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana, IL). Allyss is also an active soloist having performed Mozart’s “Requiem” (Spartanburg Festival Chorus), Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” (BACH Society of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois), Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb” (Performing Arts Institute), Bach’s “Magnificat” and “St. Matthew Passion” (Ann Arbor Cantata Singers), Haydn’s “Creation” and Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” (Performing Arts Institute), Charpentier’s “Te Deum” (Iowa City Chamber Singers), and Faure’s “Requiem” (Dozan Wa Awtar). Her operatic roles include the Witch in Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” and Poppea in Monteverdi’s “L’incornacion di Poppea.”  

www.allysshaecker.com

Mark Andrew Kratz (tenor) was recently featured as the soloist for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ annual Messiah Sing A Long accompanied by the National Opera Orchestra. He is a 2006 graduate of the Tri-Cities Opera young artist training program and a 2003 young artist for the Tacoma Opera. He holds a Master’s degree in Opera from Binghamton University and a Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the Eastman School of Music.

His roles include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (Cinnabar Theater), Flavio in Norma (Pocket Opera), The Beast in Beauty and the Beast (Capital Playhouse, Juneau Lyric Opera), Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (Tri-Cities Opera, Juneau Opera to Go!), Yamadori in Madame Butterfly (Tri-Cities Opera), Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Tri-Cities Opera.)

Kratz’s other performances include Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Northeast Philharmonic), Britten’s Serenade for tenor and horn (Eastman School of Music), Schubert’s Mass in E-flat (Eastman-Rochester Chorale), Bach’s Magnificat (Binghamton University), and Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Waldpurgisnacht (Binghamton University). He is also the youngest person to have sung at the Newport Music Festival (RI).

Wind Ensemble Conductors

Jerome Campbell (wind ensemble conductor), a conductor of university wind ensembles as well as district, regional, and all-state festivals throughout the Northeast, conducted the Wind Ensemble at PAI. A former university professor of music and department chair, he received the Citation of Excellence award from Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Association in 1990 and the Distinguished Service award in 1998. He is the founder and former conductor of the PAI/Wyoming Seminary Civic Symphony and is immediate Past President of PMEA, District 9.   

Scott Cranston (wind ensemble conductor) is director of bands at New Canaan High School (CT). His ensembles have earned top honors at competitions in Quebec City, Orlando and New Orleans and have been invited to perform both at Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall. They also have performed with distinction at festivals in Paris and London. Cranston, along with three PAI alumni, formed the NCHS Woodwind Quintet in 2005. The quintet was named an All-Connecticut Honor Ensemble in 2006 as well as an MENC All-Eastern Honor Ensemble. Scott performs as principal trombonist with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra and in Broadway National Tours in Hartford and New Haven. He received his BM from the Hartt School of Music and MM degree from Yale University.   

Colonel Timothy Foley led the United States Marine Band from 1996 until his retirement from the Marine Corps in July 2004.  During his 36-year career, Colonel Foley served “The President’s Own” as clarinetist, assistant director, and as the Marine Band’s 26^th director.  As Director of the Marine Band, he also served as the Music Advisor to the White House, regularly conducting the Band at the Executive Mansion. Timothy was trained by Anthony Gigliotti of the Philadelphia Orchestra before entering the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. He was a member of the American Wind Symphony in Pittsburgh, and after joining “The President’s Own” in 1968, Colonel Foley became a featured clarinet soloist and assistant principal clarinetist in 1975.  While serving both as a conductor and clarinetist, he helped to establish the Marine Band’s annual Chamber Music series and developed and coordinated the Marine Band’s “Music in the Schools” program.  He was designated Director of the Marine Band in 1996, and during his tenure, the Marine Band celebrated its 200^th birthday, and became the first musical organization to be selected for the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.  Colonel Foley received the Distinguished Service Medal upon his retirement from the Marine Corps in July 2004. Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, Timothy Foley joined the conducting faculty of the University of Maryland School of Music, where he served as conductor of the University of Maryland Wind Ensemble. He later served as conductor of Washington Symphonic Brass and conductor-in-residence at the University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana.  He has also been a guest conductor for many university and conservatory wind ensembles, including those at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Indiana State University, and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK.  He has served on the board of directors of the Goldman Band, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and the John Philip Sousa Foundation, and he currently remains active as a guest conductor.

Matthew M. Marsit (wind ensemble conductor)  is currently on staff at Dartmouth College as Director of the Dartmouth Wind Symphony. Matthew formerly has held conducting positions with Cornell University, Drexel University, the Chestnut Hill Orchestra and the Bucks County Youth Ensemble.  He has served as a guest conductor, clinician and consultant throughout the eastern United States, and has recently produced a recording project for the United States Military Academy West Point Band.  An advocate for the use of music as a vehicle for service, Matthew has led ensembles on service missions in Costa Rica and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, collecting instruments for donation to schools, performing charity benefit concerts and offering workshops to benefits arts programs in struggling schools.  His current work at Dartmouth allows for outreach projects in the rural schools of New Hampshire and Vermont, working to stimulate interest in school performing arts programs. Matthew attended Temple University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2003, where he studied clarinet with Anthony Gigliotti and Ronald Reuben and conducting with Luis Biava and Arthur Chodoroff.  Additionally, Matthew has studied conducting with some of today’s most prominent instructors including Mark Davis Scatterday, Timothy Reynish and Larry Rachleff.  He holds a masters degree in Orchestral Conducting with Bruce Hangen at The Boston Conservatory.  

Dr. Martin H. Seggelke is a member of the music faculty at the School of Music and Dance at San Francisco State University. He serves as Director of Wind Ensembles, conducting the SFSU Wind Ensemble and Camber Winds, leading the Master of Music program in Wind Conducting, and teaching undergraduate classes in conducting. In addition, he is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the San Francisco Wind Ensemble, a professional level wind band, and a member of the conducting faculty at the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary, and the SUNY Fredonia Summer Music Festival.

Prior to his appointment at SFSU, Dr. Seggelke served as Music Department Chair and Director of Wind Ensembles at the University of Minnesota Morris. He has also previously taught at the Eastman School of Music, the State University of New York in Fredonia and the University of Bremen, Germanyand has held several professional positions as Music Director and Conductor, including the New Opera Theatre Ensemble (NOTE) Bremen, Germany, the Symphonic Wind Band Norderstedt, Germany and the Norderstedt Youth Wind Orchestra.

Martin Seggelke holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and Masters degrees from universities in the U.S., Canada, and Germany. His most influential teachers include Mark Scatterday, Donald Hunsberger, Paula Holcomb, Christoph Eschenbach, Frederick Fennell, and Glenn Price. He is an active guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator, has presented at national and international conferences, and has authored book chapters and articles in various music magazines. An advocate of contemporary music, Dr. Seggelke has commissioned and premiered a large number of new works for wind ensemble.

  Woodwinds

Erica Cice (oboe) holds a BM in performance from Temple University, and upon graduating, joined the oboe section of the Charlotte Symphony during the 2006-2007 season. While at Temple, she studied under Louis Rosenblatt and Richard Woodhams of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 2011, Erica was selected as one of five finalists for the 2011 Fernand-Gillet International Oboe Competition. She competed and was awarded Honorable Mention as part of the International Double Reed Society’s annual convention, held in Tempe, AZ. 

An avid performer of chamber music, Erica regularly plays on the Providence Chamber Music Series in Charlotte. She has also performed on the Charlotte Chamber Music First Tuesday’s series and collaborated on world premiere performances of commissioned works for timpani, woodwind quintet, and piano as part of the Fresh Ink Music Series at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Erica has attended the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2004 to 2007 where she was a Fellow. In August, 2010, she was the only American oboist invited to participate in the first oboe master class at the Académie musicale de Villecroze, France. In the fall of 2011, Erica joined the Davidson College faculty and has previously been on faculty at Gardner-Webb University. She also enjoys teaching privately. Recently, Erica joined the 2012 faculty of the Performing Arts Institute summer program, part of the Wyoming Seminary School in Kingston, PA. Originally from the Boston area, Erica’s early studies were under the guidance of Ron Kaye and her mentor, Wayne Rapier.

Elizabeth Landon, (flute) a native of Canton, Pennsylvania, has served as principal flute of the Charlotte Symphony since September 2006.  She received her master's degree from Rice University in 2005 where she worked with Leone Buyse, and her bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 2001 where she studied with Walfrid Kujala and Richard Graef.  In between degrees, Liz spent two years in Spain where she attended the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya as the first American student of Vicens Prats, associate principal flute of the Orchestra de Paris.  Liz was a Fellow at Tanglewood Music Festival in 2003 and 2004.  In August of 2005, she and her mother, violinist Betty Landon, performed with the World Symphony Orchestra in memorial concerts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.  Liz has performed as a substitute piccolo/principal flute with the Houston Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for the 2005-06 season.  Each summer Liz returns to her Pennsylvania roots by teaching flute at the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary, her high school alma mater.  She also performs in the Endless Mountain Music Festival which brings classical music to Northeastern Pennsylvania including her hometown.

2012 Counselors and Resident Artists

Schwob School of Music, '12

Northwestern University, MM, '14

Columbus State University (GA)

Schwob School of Music, Artist Diploma '13

Indiana University, MM, '14

University of Miami, MM, '14

2012 Professional Interns

Schwob School of Music, '15

Converse College, '12

University of South Carolina, MM, '14

2012 Student Interns

2012 Administration

Benjamin Peck (Assistant Dean of Students) received two Bachelor of Music degrees in 2008 from Peabody Conservatory of Music in Bassoon Performance and Music Education. While there, he received the Outstanding Peabody Citizen award which recognized him as the individual who demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the Peabody Conservatory. He also interned with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Peabody Preparatory School and served as Associate Director of Residence Life. Ben is currently a second year student at Shenandoah University, where he will earn a Master of Science degree in Arts Administration and a Master of Music degree in Bassoon performance.