Steven Amundson
Professor of Music — Theory and Conducting
Conductor of the St. Olaf Orchestra
amundson@stolaf.edu

Steven Amundson is in his 28th year on the faculty of St. Olaf College where he is Professor of Music and Conductor of the St. Olaf Orchestra. He also teaches courses in music theory, ear training and conducting, and conducts the Philharmonia. Before his arrival to Minnesota, Amundson held conducting posts at the University of Virginia, Tacoma Community College, and as Music Director of the Tacoma Youth Symphony. He is the also founding conductor of the Twin Cities' based Metropolitan Symphony that he led for five years, and served as Music Director and Conductor of the Bloomington (MN) Symphony from 1984 – 1997. He has held posts on the conducting faculty for the Interlochen National Arts Camp, the Lutheran Summer Music Program and has served as guest conductor for many All-State orchestra festivals throughout the United States. In Minnesota, Amundson has appeared as guest conductor with the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

A commissioned composer and arranger, Amundson is published by MMB Music and the Neil A. Kjos Music Co. His self-published compositions are available through Tempo Music Resource. His orchestral works have received over 400 performances by university, civic and professional orchestras in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia including the Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, Toronto and BBC Symphonies.

A 1977 graduate of Luther College, Amundson obtained the Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University, and did further studies at the University of Virginia, the Aspen Music School and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. In the 1980 International Conducting Competition hosted by the Mozarteum and Austrian National Radio, Amundson won the first (Hans Häring) prize. In 1992, the Minnesota Music Education Association named him "Minnesota Orchestra Educator of the Year." In 1995, Amundson received the Carlo A. Sperati Award from Luther College in recognition of his meritorious achievement in the field of music.

Kathryn Ananda-Owens
Associate Professor of Music — Piano
aok@stolaf.edu

Winner of first prize in the 1993 Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition, pianist Kathryn Ananda-Owens enjoys an active career as performer, teacher, and scholar. A laureate of the American Pianists Association Biennial Fellowship Competition, she made her Asian debut in 1997 under the auspices of the government of Macao and her European debut the same year in Vienna. She has performed as a soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, toured internationally as piano soloist with the St. Olaf Orchestra and has appeared at Lincoln Center. A founding member of the New Horizons Chamber Ensemble, Ms. Ananda-Owens also performed for several years as pianist of the Melius Trio. She received degrees from Oberlin College, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with Julian Martin. Her concerts have been broadcast on radio and television on three continents and recorded on the MSR, Centaur, Limestone, St. Olaf Records, and Westmark labels.  Dr. Ananda-Owens serves on the board of directors of the Performing Arts Medicine Association.

Francesca Anderegg
Assistant Professor of Music — Violin
anderegg@stolaf.edu

Francesca Anderegg graduated from Harvard University in 2005. She holds a Master's degree from The Juilliard School, and was a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at Juilliard as a student of Ronald Copes. Her former teachers have included Robert Mann, Nicholas Mann, Naoko Tanaka, and Lynn Chang. She has participated in many music festivals, including Yellow Barn, The Lucerne Festival Academy, The Perlman Music Program, and the Tanglewood Music Center.

Ms. Anderegg combines a commitment to the highest standards of classic repertoire with the intellectual breadth and eclecticism of contemporary music. She made her New York debut in February 2007, performing the Ligeti Violin Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Diego Masson. The New York Times lauded her performance for its "dark, mournful tone" and "virtuosic panache." Often serving as concertmaster of the contemporary music ensemble AXIOM, she led Miller Theatre's performance of Elliott Carter's opera "What Next?," a performance that was rated one of classical music's top 10 events in 2007 by Time Out magazine.

Her performances of contemporary music have led to collaborations with today's leading composers, both in Europe and in New York. At the Lucerne Festival in 2009, she performed Pierre Boulez's "Anthèmes II" for Solo Violin and Electronics, in collaboration with the Paris-based IRCAM studio. At the Lucerne Festival, she has had leading roles in works by Tristain Murail, Bruno Mantovani, Ivan Fedele, and Kaija Saariaho. At New York's Le Poisson Rouge, she performed "Shaker Loops" and "Road Movies" by John Adams in 2009, in a concert attended by the composer. She also worked with New York Philharmonic composer-in-residence Magnus Lindberg, performing his Clarinet Quintet in several New York City venues in March 2010.

A versatile musician, Ms. Anderegg is equally at home as a soloist and chamber music artist. Her chamber music credits include performances with Itzhak Perlman and members of the Perlman Music Program in major venues throughout the country, for which the Chicago Sun-Times praised her "astonishing assurance." In 2008, she had her Carnegie Hall debut, performing in Weill Recital Hall as a participant in the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop series with Pamela and Claude Frank.

In 2010, Ms. Anderegg was awarded the Lenore Annenberg Fellowship in the Performing Arts, a major career grant. Her solo debut CD, containing music by Elliott Carter, George Perle, and Arnold Schoenberg, was released by Albany Records in July 2012.

Scott Anderson
Instructor in Music — Clarinet
anderss@stolaf.edu

B.M. clarinet performance, Eastman School of Music, a student of Stanley Hasty; M.M. clarinet performance, Northwestern University, a fellowship student of Robert Marcellus: additional study with Leon Russianoff, Rosario Mazzeo, Franklin Cohen, Mitchell Lurie, and Keith Underwood. Anderson has held the position of Principal Clarinetist in the Honolulu Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, and at a number of summer festival orchestras, including the Carmel Bach Festival, Glimmerglass Opera, and Colorado Music Festival. He was a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; while in the Los Angeles area, he also worked frequently as a studio recording musician. He has recorded on the CRI, Albany, Well-Tempered and Marco Polo labels and performed as concerto soloist at several venues across the United States and in Mexico.  Mr. Anderson taught previously at Grand Valley State University (Michigan), California State University Sacramento, and at the University of California at Berkeley and Davis. He also currently serves on the summer faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Anton Armstrong
Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professorof Music — Voice and Conducting
Conductor of the St. Olaf Choir
armstron@stolaf.edu

Anton Armstrong is the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professor of Music at St. Olaf College and Conductor of the St. Olaf Choir, a position he assumed in 1990. He came to this position following ten years in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he served on the faculty of Calvin College and conducted the Campus Choir, the Calvin College Alumni Choir and the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus.

A graduate of St. Olaf College, Anton Armstrong earned a Master of Music degree at the University of Illinois and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. He holds membership in several professional societies including the American Choral Directors Association, Choristers Guild, Chorus America, and the International Federation for Choral Music. He also serves as editor of a multicultural choral series for Earthsongs Publications and co-editor of the revised St. Olaf Choral Series for Augsburg Fortress Publishers.

Dr. Armstrong is widely recognized for his work in the area of youth and children's choral music. He served for over twenty years on the summer faculty of the American Boychoir School, Princeton, New Jersey and held the position of Conductor of the St. Cecilia Youth Chorale, a 75 voice treble chorus based in Grand Rapids, from 1981-1990. He is the founding conductor of the Troubadours, 30-voice boys' ensemble of the Northfield Youth Choirs since 1991. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Boychoir School, the Board of Chorus America and the Board of Choristers Guild. In June 1998, he began his tenure as founding conductor of the Oregon Bach Festival Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy.

Anton Armstrong has conducted the St. Olaf Choir in critically acclaimed solo concert performances at the 59th National Conference of the Music Educators National Conference in April 2004, the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music in August 2002, and at the 1999 National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Chicago, Illinois. In February 2005, The St. Olaf Choir shared the stage with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in presenting the finale concert for the national conference of the American Choral Directors Association at the new Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, California.

Christopher Aspaas received his Ph.D. in Choral Music Education at The Florida State University in Tallahassee, his M.M. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, his B.M. in Voice Performance from St. Olaf. Christopher has served on the faculties of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

At St. Olaf, Aspaas conducts the Viking Chorus, a 90-voice ensemble of first-year student men, and also leads the Saint Olaf Chapel Choir, a 100-voice ensemble specializing in the performance of oratorio and larger multi-movement works. In 2009, Aspaas led the Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s monumental oratorio, Elijah, and recently conducted the Brahm's Requiem in April 2011. In addition to conducting, he leads coursework in choral literature, choral conducting, and private applied voice. In 2008, Aspaas was appointed as the Music Director and Conductor for Magnum Chorum, a Twin Cities choral ensemble who is “Transforming Audiences through Artistry and Spirit.”

His travels as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator have taken Christopher to Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Masschusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and twice to the Sultanate of Oman. He has conducted All-State Choruses in Kentucky, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin, and recently led the 2009 Anacrusis Boys' Honor Choir in Minnesota.

Praised in Gramophone for his “abundant energy, powerful fingers, big sound and natural musicality,” pianist Christopher Atzinger has performed in Austria, Germany, England, Italy, France, Spain, and Canada in addition to performances throughout the United States highlighted by concerts in New York at Carnegie Hall (Weill), New York University, St. Paul’s Chapel, Liederkranz Hall; in Chicago at the Dame Myra Hess Series and PianoForte Salon Series; and in Washington, D.C. at the Phillips Collection.  In addition to live performances broadcast on WFMT, WJR, KPAC, WXEL, and WGTE radio, his artistry has been heard on WGBH, KING-FM, Minnesota and Wisconsin Public Radio, and on Chicago and Cincinnati television. Mr. Atzinger has performed at the Banff International Keyboard Festival, Brevard Music Festival, Bridge Chamber Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institution, lectured at the Juilliard School and Berklee College of Music, and has given masterclasses across the country. 

As a medalist of the New Orleans, San Antonio, Cincinnati, Shreveport, and Seattle International Piano Competitions, Atzinger has been praised by critics for his “personal interpretive vision” and “virtuoso aplomb”.  He was also winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs Artist Competition, the Simone Belsky Piano Competition, and the Premio Città di Ispica prize at the IBLA Grand Prize Competition in Ragusa-Ibla, Italy in addition to receiving honors from the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, the National Society of Arts and Letters, and MTNA.  Additionally, he has received grants and fellowships from the Theodore Presser Foundation, the American Composers Forum, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Foundation La Gesse, and the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation.  

In addition to degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan, Atzinger earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.  He counts among his teachers Julian Martin, Robert McDonald, Anton Nel, David Renner, and Carolyn Lipp.  Prior to his faculty appointment at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, he taught at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.  Mr. Atzinger is represented by Parker Artists, New York (parkerartists.com).

Berger received a bachelor's degree Phi Beta Kappa from St. Olaf College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in music from the University of Minnesota. Berger is especially interested in contemporary music methods, the child voice, and Garmston and Costa’s Cognitive Coaching. She studied Dalcroze eurhythmics under Robert Abramson of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Berger was named Minnesota Classroom Music Educator of the Year in 1990 and taught in public schools for more than twenty years before joining the St. Olaf College faculty. She chairs the group of music education faculty for the State of Minnesota (MNSMTE),  is an active keyboard performer and music education presenter.

Kathy Blough
Music Catalog Librarian
blough@stolaf.edu

Kathy earned a B.A. in Music from the University of Southern Maine and graduated from the University at Buffalo's Music Librarianship program with a Masters degree in Library and Information Science. She is an active member of the Music Library Association and has served on state and regional library committees. She is currently a member and former chair of the Southeast Library System's Advisory Board. Kathy has taught music cataloging workshops at various Minnesota locations.

James E. Bobb
Assistant Professor of Organ and Church Music
Minister of Music to the Student Congregation
Conductor of the St. Olaf Cantorei
bobb@stolaf.edu

James E. Bobb joins the St Olaf faculty with more than 20 years’ experience directing church music in Lutheran and United Church of Christ congregations.

Bobb holds performer’s certificates and M.M. degrees and in organ and harpsichord performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music where his teachers included Russell Saunders and David Craighead in organ and Arthur Haas in harpsichord. His undergraduate work was at Capital University where his teachers were Janet Linker in organ and Frank Hussey in piano.

As the Minister of Music at First Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio from 2009-2012, Bobb presided over a three-manual 1972 Rudolph von Becherath organ of 73 ranks, a four-manual 1931 W. W. Kimball organ of 66 ranks, four parish ensembles and two concert series. He also taught organ and organ literature at Capital University in Columbus. For fifteen years prior to that, Bobb served the Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word in Rochester New York.  There he led parish ensembles of all ages, conducted the St. John Passion and other works by Bach, Buxtehude, Schütz, Gabrieli, Purcell, and Telemann, and led the choir on a tour of Sweden. Also in Rochester, he was director of the Rochester Bach Festival, an instructor in Sacred Music at the Eastman School of Music, Adjunct Professor of organ at Nazareth College, and a chapter dean of the American Guild of Organists.

Though legally blind as a result of the retinal disease choroideremia, Dr. Carter maintains an active performing and teaching schedule. He is cellist of the Melius Trio, Artistic Director of the Bridge Chamber Music Festival, and recently served as Cello Editor for the Minnesota String Teachers Association newsletter, StringNotes. Dr. Carter has served as Principal Cellist of the Wichita Symphony, performing as soloist with that ensemble in addition to the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has been on the faculty of Wichita State University, as well as the Rocky Ridge Music Center and currently the Red Lodge Music Festival and the Interlochen Summer Music Camp.

Dr. Carter can be heard on Centaur Records in “3 Pieces for Solo Cello” by Phillip Rhodes and works by Amy Beach, and on the Limestone label with the Melius Trio.

Christensen received a B.M. from Illinois State University, a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois, and a Master’s degree in Musicology from the University of Minnesota. She is a member of the Music Library Association (has served as MLA Board member, Program Chair, and is currently a member of the Career Services and  Development Committee), the Music Library Association’s Midwest Chapter (has served as Chapter Chair and is currently chairing the Bylaws Committee), and the Society for American Music. Research interests include information literacy in music and early twentieth-century American music. She has published articles in American Music, Notes, Research Strategies, and Reference and User Services quarterly.

Kurt Claussen
Instructor in Music — Saxophone
Claussen@stolaf.edu
Kurt Claussen Saxophone Website

Kurt Claussenhas taught saxophone and band for more than twenty years, working with students at all levels from beginner through adult. Since 1995, he has been a band and woodwind specialist at Falcon Ridge Middle School in Apple Valley, Minnesota. In addition to his school duties, he is adjunct instructor of saxophone at St. Olaf College, and also maintains a select private saxophone studio. Mr. Claussen freelances throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and has appeared as a solo and quartet recitalist and clinician in the US, Canada, Norway and Germany. He holds the performer’s Certificat from the Conservatoire National de Region de Bordeaux, France, where he studied with eminent saxophonist and teacher Jean-Marie Londeix. He earned the Master of Music degree in saxophone performance from the University of Minnesota, studying with Ruben Haugen, and the Bachelor of Arts in music education from St. Olaf College.

Anna Clift
Instructor in Music — Cello
clift@stolaf.edu
http://www.celloanamericanexperience.com

Dan Dressen is a Professor of Music and Associate Dean for the Fine Arts at St. Olaf College. Dr. Dressen’s career as a tenor spans more than thirty years. His operatic performances include appearances with Washington Opera, Cleveland Lyric Opera, Nautilus Music Theatre and the Minnesota Opera with whom he was heard recently as Marquis de l’Isle in Dominick Argento’s CASANOVA’S HOMECOMING and as the First Jew in SALOME by Richard Strauss. Other recent Minnesota Opera performances include the Poul Ruder’s A HANDMAID’S TALE, the world premier of THE GRAPES OF WRATH by Ricky Ian Gordon and in the American premier of THE FORTUNES OF CROESUS by Reinhard Keiser. An active concert performer and recitalist, Mr. Dressen has performed in Minneapolis and St. Paul with the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale, Dale Warland Singers, Bach Society, and recently in the Schubert Club’s Summer Art Song Festival.  He has a long and active relationship with VocalEssence and at Plymouth Congregational Church as tenor soloist. At St. Olaf he is currently developing a center for Nordic art song. He edited a seven-volume anthology of opera arias by Benjamin Britten for Boosey and Hawkes and recently was elected to serve as Co-Chair on the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Music.

Margaret Eaves-Smith
Associate Professor of Music — Voice
eavessmi@stolaf.edu

Margaret Eaves-Smith, Associate Professor of Voice, B.M., M.M. in Vocal Performance, Cleveland Institute of Music; student of George Vassos. Soprano, Margaret Eaves-Smith, a native of Havre, Montana, was first recognized as a rising talent early in her career when she received the Artist Award from the National Association of Teachers of Singing in 1973. She has achieved both national and international awards in the Regional Metropolitan Opera, S-Hertogenbosch, and Geneva vocal competitions as well. She has sung with the L'Orchestra de la Suisse Romande and the Minnesota Orchestra, and under the direction of James Levine, Louis Lane, Margaret Hillis and John Rutter. Her coaches have included George London, Elly Ameling, Gerard Souzay, Dalton Baldwin, and James King both in the United States and Europe. Additional study includes master classes in Graz, Austria and Aldeburgh, England. Before her tenure at St. Olaf, she taught on the faculty of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. With many years experience as a recitalist, adjudicator and with special interest in the performance of lieder, chanson, and oratorio, Margaret has served as a dedicated teacher to St. Olaf students since 1979. In May of 2004, Ms. Eaves-Smith was the recipient of an alumni achievement award for excellence in teaching from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Julie Elhard
Instructor in Music — viola da gamba
Collegium Musicum (sem II)
elhard@stolaf.edu

Instructor in Music, Julie Elhard, viola da gamba, appears regularly as a soloist and chamber musician and has made several appearances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, including the St. Matthew Passion by Bach under the direction of Nicholas McGegan. She has been a guest artist with Apollo's Fire in Cleveland and is a founding member of Violes Egales and Glorious Revolution Baroque. Ms Elhard was recently awarded a 2011 Artist's Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She also received a Jerome Foundation grant to study vielle and early string playing with Margriet Tindemans and received a Performing Artist Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Netherlands. She has taught at workshops in North America and at the Viola da Gamba Society of America's national Conclaves. Ms. Elhard currently teaches viola da gamba at Macalester College, and also at the St. Paul Conservatory of Music where she has developed a Suzuki-style approach for children to learn the viola da gamba.

Tracey Engleman
Assistant Professor of Music— Voice, Vocal Pedagogy and Vocal Literature
engleman@stolaf.edu

With a voice the Boston Globe called “extraordinary in range, tonal quality, musicianship, and dramatic effect, “soprano Tracey Engleman has gained a reputation for excellence in opera, recital, and concert. Ms. Engleman has performed operatic roles with the Minnesota Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Skylark Opera, and performed as soloist with the Minnesota Choral Union, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Valley Chamber Chorale, the Rochester Aria Group and numerous other regional orchestras.  Ms. Engleman has also won numerous awards including the Austin Lyric Opera Young Artist Competition in Austin, Texas, the Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus Regional Artist Competition, the Minnesota NATS Artist Award, and  was a regional finalist in the 2002-2003 Metropolitan Opera Auditions.  Ms. Engleman performed with the St. Olaf Orchestra at Alice Tulley Hall and has performed Britten’s War Requiem, Mendelssohn's Psalm 42 and Elijah and Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard with the Chapel Choir and the St. Olaf Orchestra.  Ms. Engleman spent two summers as a Vocal Fellow at the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center where she coached with Phyllis Curtin, Dawn Upshaw, Martin Katz, Ken Griffiths, and Lucy Shelton and has performed the music of several of the worlds most prominent contemporary composers.  Ms. Engleman earned a B.M. degree in both vocal performance and K-12 vocal music education from St. Olaf College and M.M.  and D.M.A. degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Lori Folland
Staff Pianist
folland@stolaf.edu

Lori Folland is a staff pianist at St. Olaf College. Prior to her appointment in 1991, she served as a collaborative pianist at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a chamber musician, Lori has been extensively involved with the collaborative art of music making. She has appeared on the “Y” Concert Series in Pittsburgh, on the Twin Cities Schubert Club Artist Series, the Bridge Chamber Music Fistiveal, and on numerous recitals with friends and colleagues, and has soloed with the St. Olaf Philharmonia.  Her live performances have been recorded for broadcast on WQED, Pittsburgh. She collaborated with JoAnn Polley, clarinet, to record works by Litaize, Bozza, Devienne, and Rameau. Their CD is entitled “French Music for Clarinet and  Piano”. Lori has also been active as a piano teacher and piano competition adjudicator.

David Hagedorn is an Artist in Residence in the Music Department at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where he teaches percussion, jazz studies, and world music. St. Olaf Jazz I received an award for best undergraduate large jazz band in the Downbeat magazine 2011 student music awards. 

He received a DMA in Percussion Performance from the Eastman School of Music,where his principal teacher was John Beck.  He also holds a MM in Percussion Performance from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Vic Firth, of the Boston Symphony, and a BS in Music Education from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Marv Dahlgren and Paula Culp, of the Minnesota Orchestra. He attended the Banff Jazz Workshop in 1981 and 1990, studying with vibist Karl Berger, drummers Ed Blackwell, Abraham Adzenyah, and Marvin “Smitty “Smith.

His latest release, Horizon, with pianist Dan Cavanagh, was released in December of 2010. Hagedorn also has an album, Solid/Liquid on the artegra label in SACD format released in October of 2003. He is featured on Songs from the Lonely Avenue by the Brian Setzer Orchestra, and also with pipa artist Gao Hong on Quiet Forest, Flowing Stream. Other albums with local artists include Subduction the Phil Hey Quartet, live at the Artists Quarter, Where’s When with Pete Whitman’s X-tet, the Out to Lunch Quintet, live at the Artists Quarter, and many recordings with the vocal group Cantus.  He recorded two albums with the George Russell Living Time Orchestra on Blue Note Recordings: the African Game, nominated for a “best big band” Grammy in 1986, and So What.  Tours with George Russell, included concerts at Kool Jazz Festivals in Saratoga Springs, New York and San Diego, California and club appearances at Sweet Basil in New York City and at the African American Cultural Center in Philadelphia. He played vibes and marimba on Twin Cities jazz singer Debbie Duncan’s album, It Must be Christmas on Igmod Recordings. In 1984, he received an honorable mention award from Down Beat magazine for a performance with alto saxophonist Nelson Rangell.
           
Hagedorn has performed in academic setttings with: David Berkman, Anthony Braxton, Armen Donelian, Gil Evans, Urbie Green, Happy Apple, Thad Jones, Vince Mendoza, Tiger Okoshi, Julian Priester,  Rufus Reid, Clark Terry, Steve Turre, and Kenny Wheeler. He has also performed with Anthony Cox, Bobby Shew, and Roy Hargrove.  He has appeared on the Prairie Home Companion and Good Evening, shows on Minnesota Public Radio, and also at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Jazzfest.

Alice Hanson
Professor of Music — History and Literature
hansona@stolaf.edu

Hanson received a B.A. in music from Wells College, Aurora, NY and master’s and Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Illinois, Champaign, IL. She studied at Universität der Stadt Wien at Vienna, Austria, under a Fulbright-Hayes grant. Her specialty is the music of Vienna during the 18-20th centuries, but she also has interests in opera and American music. Her publications include a monograph on Music in Biedermeier Vienna (Cambridge University Press) and articles for Music and Letters, Anterem, and in the Oxford Biographical Dictionary of Music.

Janis Hardy, a native Minnesotan, has performed leading roles for many of our country’s major opera companies including the Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Boston Opera, Wolftrap Center for the Performing Arts and Kansas City Lyric. As a member of Minnesota Opera’s Resident Ensemble for more than ten years, she sang roles created for her in  many world premieres including Argento’s Postcard from Morocco and Susa’s Transformations as well as many traditional roles, including Cherubino, Dorabella, Mrs. Peachum and Widow Begbick.  

Soloing with orchestras, she has been conducted by, among others,  Neville Marriner, Klaus Tennstedt, Dennis Russell Davies, Hugh Wolff and Aaron Copland, and by Philip Brunelle in VocalEssence since its inception.  As a guest soloist she has appreared with many organizations including Minnesota Orchestra, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Sioux Falls, Duluth  and Kansas City symphonies. As a festival soloist, she has appeared with the Aldeburgh Festival in England, The Oregon Bach Festival, The Cabrillo Music Festival in Aptos, California, The New Texas Festival and Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest.   Among her discography, are a solo album of Copland’s Old American Folk Songs and Grieg’s Haugtusa as well singing the role of “Ma” in  Copland’s Tender Land for Virgin records and  “Sister” in Larsen’s In A Winter Garden.   

Ms Hardy’s concert repertoire reflect her eclectic interests, ranging from all of Bach’s passions, most of Handel’s oratorios to premieres of works by Randall Davidson and Libby Larsen.

Ms Hardy has been a frequent guest on Minnesota Public Radio’s, A Prairie Home Companion as well as collaborating with Garrison Keillor in concerts and  recordings.  She has also collaborated with Bobby McFerrin on an opera project, libretto by Tony Kushner. 

Her acting credits include Theatre de la Jeune Leune, The Children’s Theater, Frank Theater and Theater Latte Da. Ms Hardy can be heard each August, along with her good friends Maria Jette, Molly Sue McDonald and Dan Chouinad in the popular “Sopranorama” performances at The Southern Theater in Minneapolis. She is also the founder and artistic director of The Theater Playshop, a lyric theater camp for children that performs musicals written by Ms Hardy at the Howard Conn Theater, Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis.

In addition to her performing career, Ms Hardy co-founded and co-directs the Lyric Theater program with her colleague, Professor James McKeel.

Philip Hey
Instructor in Music — Percussion
hey@stolaf.edu

Artist in Residence, Philip Hey, drummer and affiliate faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Music, was born in New York City and grew up in Philadelphia. His early years were influenced by the music of the 1960s; his parents had music playing in the home “all the time” and he was fortunate to receive encouragement from his high school band director. Several years of study at the University of Minnesota in American Studies and Afro-American Studies and private study with Edward Blackwell, who defined drumming style in America, led Hey into a career in jazz. Hey has performed in concert, in clubs, on video, on national radio and television. He can be heard on several recordings, most notably Tribute to Mingus, released by the Tom Hubbard Ensemble.

Paul Hill
Instructor in Music— Percussion
hill@stolaf.edu


Paul Hill graduated from the University of MN - Twin Cities in 2000 with a Masters Degree in Percussion Performance, as a student of Fernando Meza.  Since then he has become an active freelance percussionist and teacher in the Twin Cities, and Twin Ports areas.  He is the former Principal Percussionist & Assistant Principal Timpanist of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, as well as having played with the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Mill City Summer Opera,  Winnipeg Symphony, and may local theaters including the Guthrie, Children's Theater, and Chanhassen Dinner Theater.  Paul also plays drum set with various local big-bands, and a Radiohead Tribute band.  Paul teaches at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Olaf College, St. Joseph's School of Music, as well as privately.  Paul has recorded with Michael Colgrass, and Gunther Schuller, Minnesota Opera for the world premiere of Silent Night (2011), and is currently starting up a custom drum, and mallet making business.

Martin Hodel
Associate Professor of Music — Trumpet
Conductor of the St. Olaf Philharmonia
hodel@stolaf.edu
Streaming Concert Archive

Martin Hodel has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player in the US and around the world.  During the 2005-06 season he played full time in the trumpet section of the Minnesota Orchestra, with whom he has recorded and plays extra.  As Principal and Solo Trumpet with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, Hodel toured the U.S. and Japan, and he has toured coast to coast in America with the Dallas Brass.  He has also shared the stage with jazz artists Joe Henderson, Maria Schneider, Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi, David Murray, and Jimmy Heath, and has toured Germany with organist Bradley Lehman as part of the Hodel-Lehman Duo.  A CD by the Duo, In Thee is Gladness, recorded in Emden, Germany has been released on Larips Records.  Hodel appears as a soloist on seven other compact discs, has performed live on the nationally-broadcast radio program, A Prairie Home Companion, on Minnesota Public Radio, on public television, and on national broadcasts of the radio programs Sing for Joy and PipeDreams.  Since 1997 he has been the trumpet professor at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.  Hodel holds a doctorate in trumpet performance and a performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music, a master of music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Goshen College.  His teachers have included Charles Geyer, Barbara Butler, Allen Vizzutti, James Ketch, Raymond Mase, Craig Heitger, David Hickman and Anthony Plog.  On a recent sabbatical, Hodel studied Baroque (natural, valveless) trumpet and 18th-century trumpet literature in Europe with Dr. Edward H. Tarr, the leading expert on early trumpets and trumpet literature.

John Jensen
Staff Pianist
jensenj @stolaf.edu

John Jensen, BA, Occidental College (Calif.) and MA piano performance, University of Southern California. Principal teachers were Gwendolyn Koldofsky and John Crown (piano), and Halsey Stevens and Ingolf Dahl (composition and 20th century techniques.) He works regularly with the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO, and is sought after as a collaborative pianist, playing with fine artists in concerts and music festivals across the country. He often appears on St. Paul Sunday Morning and A Prairie Home companion and has performed with artists such as Doc Severinson, Andy Williams, and Nancy Wilson.  He is co-founder of Helios, a classical-jazz quartet, and is the pianist in a jazz-only quartet of musicians from the Twin Cities. His discography includes solo recordings of classical piano, jazz, ragtime music, and chamber music with various artists. He received a Grammy nomination, a Stereo Review “Record of Special Merit” award, and a “Record of the Year” citation from the Village voice.

Kathy Kienzle
Instuctor in Music — Harp
kienzle@stolaf.edu

Kathy Kienzle, studied with Marcel Grandjany, Susann McDonald and Susanna Milldonian. She earned a B.M. from the Juilliard School and a M.M. from the University of Arizona. She place third in the Sixth International Harp Competition in Jerusalem, won second place in the American Harp Society National Competition (Young Professional Division) in 1969, and was a recipient of a 1991 Minnestoa State Arts Board Individual Artist Fellowship. Kienzle has been affiliated with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera, the Oregon Bach Festival and the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin. She has served on the faculties of Bethel and Macalester Colleges, the University of Kansas, the University of St. Thomas and the College of St. Catherine. Kienzel currently serves on the faculties of the University of Minnesota's School of Music, Augsburg College and the MacPhail Center for Music.

Nancy Lee
Instuctor in Music — Music Education
lee@stolaf.edu

Instructor in Music, Nancy Lee, holds a B.A. in music education from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. She has been at Southwest High School as the Vocal Music Director since the fall of 2000. Ms. Lee has taught in Slinger and Milwaukee, WI, Prior Lake, MN, Trenton, New Jersy, and Farmington, IA.

Dana Maeda
Instructor in Music — Oboe and Music Education
maeda@stolaf.edu

Dana Maeda, graduated from St. Olaf College with a BM degree in Oboe Performance, Vocal Education and Instrumental Education. She then earned a MA in Education from St. Mary's University. Her primary oboe teachers include Julie Madura and Rhadames Angelucci. In addition to 25 years as a private instructor, she has previously served on the faculty of Bethel University and Crown College.

Dana spent 14 years in the public and private schools teaching band, choir, and classroom music. Her experiences have included instruction at the high school, middle school and elementary levels.  The final 9 years were devoted to elementary classroom music instruction with an emphasis on early childhood development.

Dana currently performs with the Rochester Orchestra and is a founding member of WindWorks Woodwind Quintet. She is active as a free-lance performer in the Twin City area. Some of the ensembles she has performed with include the Bach Society of Minnesota, Minnesota Sinfonia, Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, Arius, Minnetonka Choral Society, Dolce Wind Quintet, and Moody Blues. Dana frequently assumes the coaching/clinician role. These opportunities have included St. Olaf Band Day guest lecturer and soloist, high school master classes on the art of chamber music, judging regional solo/ensemble competitions, and coach for the Minnesota All-State Orchestra woodwind section. In addition to working with the St. Olaf oboe studio, she also coaches chamber ensembles and teaches woodwind methods.

Jill Mahr
Instructor in Music — Flute
Conductor of Handbell Choirs
mahrj@stolaf.edu

Jill Mahr, holds a B.M. degree in flute performance and music education with a jazz minor from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She earned a M.M. degree in Flute Performance at Northwestern University, where she studied with Walfrid Kujala of the Chicago Symphony. In addition to flute instruction, Ms. Mahr directs the St. Olaf Handbell Choir, the St. Olaf Chapel Ringers, and oversees the direction of the student-led Manitou Handbell Choir.  She is an active member of AGEHR (American Guild of English Handbell Ringers) and is former secretary of Area VII. Ms. Mahr is principal flute in the Mankato Symphony Orchestra and has a private flute studio in her home.

Timothy Mahr
Professor of Music — Composition and Conducting
Conductor of the St. Olaf Band
mahr@stolaf.edu

www.stolaf.edu/people/mahr

Timothy Mahr holds a B.M. degree in composition and a B.A. degree in music education from St. Olaf College and a master's degree in trombone performance and a D.M.A. in instrumental conducting from the University of Iowa. An internationally acclaimed composer, Dr. Mahr received the 1991 Ostwald Award in the ABA Band Composition Contest for his composition The Soaring Hawk. He was elected to the American Bandmasters Association in 1993. Formerly director of bands at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and founding conductor of the Twin Ports Wind Ensemble, Dr. Mahr is the principal conductor of the Minnesota Symphonic Winds and is active as a clinician and guest conductor nationally and internationally. Recent commissions have come from the United States Air Force Band, the Music Educators National Conference, and the American Bandmasters Association. Twenty-five of his works have been published, with many released on compact disc recordings and included on state contest lists. Dr. Mahr is a past-president of the North Central Division of the College Band Directors National Association (1999-2001), has served on the Board of Directors of the National Band Association (1996-98) and was a founding board member of the Minnesota Band Directors Association.

Connie Martin
Instructor in Music — Double Bass
martinc@stolaf.edu

Double bassist Connie Martin performs and teaches in Minnesota, where she
has lived since 1982.  She is a core member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, and also performs with the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra and as substitute with the Minnesota Orchestra.  She is currently on the faculties of Saint Olaf and Carleton Colleges.  Ms. Martin earned the Master of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and Bachelor of Arts from Whitworth College (Spokane, Washington).  She also serves as Associate Editor for Bass World, the journal of the International Society of Bassists.

In addition to her musical career, Ms. Martin also does grant research and writing for nonprofit organizations.

Janet McGrath
Music Library Associate
mcgrath@stolaf.edu

James McKeel
Professor of Music — Voice and Lyric Theater
mckeel@stolaf.edu

James McKeel, baritone, has sung over 70 roles with opera companies and festivals throughout the United States as well as England's Aldeburgh Festival, Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Baltimore Opera, Muny Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Guthrie Theatre, Plymouth Music Series, Dale Warland Singers, Kennedy Center, New Works Ensemble, Midwest Opera Theatre, Dale Warland Singers, and the Minnesota & St. Paul Chamber Orchestras. Performances range from The Magic Flute & The Marriage of Figaro to La Boheme & Carmen to premieres of Casanova’s Homecoming, The Juniper Tree, and the award-winning A Death in the Family. Other performances include Lady in the Dark, Sweeney Todd, and TheThreepenny Opera, the critically-acclaimed world-premiere of The Three Hermits, the award-winning Paul Bunyan with England’s Aldeburgh Festival, and As You Like It at the Guthrie Theatre with Val Kilmer and Patti Lapone. His recordings include The Mother of Us All, Voices from Lost Realms, PaulBunyan, The Three Hermits, Visions, and The Hero of Hamblett. Mr. McKeel's artistic collaborators have included Philip Glass, David Hockney, Dominick Argento, Raymond Leppard, Wesley Balk, Philip Brunelle, Joan La Barbara, Morton Sobotnick, Stephen Paulus, William Mayer, and Salvatore Murdocca.

An avid composer, Mr. McKeel has written over 60 operas, operettas, musicals, choral works, arts songs, and song cycles which have received commissions, grants, and premieres from the Kennedy Center, Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Composers Forum, Jerome & Blandin Foundations, Midwest Opera Theatre, Southern Theatre, Twin Cities Opera Guild, and Bel Canto Voices, among others. His premiered works include the Minnesota Opera children's opera, Jargonauts Ahoy, which toured for two years, played to over 20,000 students, and was featured in a PBS special on reading, In Reference to a Child, a choral song cycle commissioned by the Bel Canto Voices, featured in the Kennedy Center's "Year of the Child" concert, and toured throughout the South Pacific, and Reveille to Requiem, a Civil War opera funded by the Blandin Foundation , SEMAC, and St. Olaf College. His published works include the choral work ChristmasDawning (Shawnee Press) and Sherlock Holmes: Solitary Insect (Blackbird Books, Australia).

Recent activities include A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein with Henry Charles Smith, the composition of two independent New York film scores Dan Ruff and Plague,

stage direction of Christopher Columbus, La Finta Giardiniera, L'enfant et les Sortileges, and a grant from the Twin Cities Opera Guild to produce a touring version of his children's opera The Hero of Hamblett written with critically-acclaimed New York author/illustrator Salvatore Murdocca. In 2007 he reprised his role as the Bishop in The Three Hermits with St. John's University and premiered his jazz-age opera Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum with St. Olaf College. In 2008-09 he will play the role of Galileo directed by Gary Gisselman and will oversee the second production of Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum with St. John's University.

Mr. McKeel co-directs the Lyric Theatre Season and teaches Opera Workshop, Acting for the Lyric Stage, and Voice.

Kent McWilliams
Associate Professor of Music — Piano
Department Vice Chair
mcw@stolaf.edu

McWilliams holds a B.M. and a M.M. in Piano Performance, from the University of Toronto and a D.M.A. from the University of Montreal. He lived in Poland for a year, where he studied with Andrzej Jasinski and researched the Polish folk elements in Chopin's mazurkas and polonaises. He also studied in Germany, where he earned an Artist Diploma with highest distinction under pianist Oleg Maisenberg at the Stuttgart Musikhochschule. McWilliams has enjoyed a successful performing career, having performed in over a dozen countries, and has been an award winner at competitions of Porto (Portugal), the Regina Symphony, the Canadian Music Competitions and the Canadian National Competitive Festival of Music. He performs and records chamber music as a member of the Meridian Trio. McWilliams joined the faculty at St. Olaf after having previously held teaching positions at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada and at the Glenn Gould Professional School in Toronto. Also active as a clinician, he has presented performance and pedagogy workshops across North America.

Justin Merritt
Associate Professor of Music — Theory and Composition
merritt@stolaf.edu

Composer Justin Merritt (bn. 1975) was the youngest-ever winner of the ASCAP Foundation/Rudolph Nissim award in 2001 for Janus Mask for Orchestra.  He is the winner of many other awards including the 2011 McKnight Fellowship, the 2008 Copland Award, the 2008 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute Award for River of Blood, the 2006 Polyphonos Prize for Hay Días, the 2006 VocalEssence Essentially Chorale Competition for Adoro Te Devote, the 2000 Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Composition Competition Award for The Day Florestan Murdered Magister Raro, and the 2001 Kuttner String Quartet Competition for Ravening. His music has been heard across North America, Europe, and Asia. Hear more music by Justin Merritt at www.mooneast.com.

Reinaldo Moya is a Venezuelan American composer whose music is often inspired by literature. Through his explorations of the relationship between music and literary texts, Moya finds an outlet for his own personal sense of drama and lyricism.

He received a Masters degree from The Juilliard School, where he is currently a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow. His teachers at Juilliard included Samuel Adler and Robert Beaser. In 2006, he graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University, where he studied with John Beall.

Mr. Moya is the recipient of Meet the Composer's 2011 Van Lier Fellowship, as well as multiple Morton Gould Young Composer Awards from ASCAP. In 2011, he was awarded the Aaron Copland Award which led to a residency in Aaron Copland's historic New York home. In 2007, Mr. Moya's String Quartet was premiered by the Attacca Quartet at the Museum of Modern Art. His orchestral work Aurora Australis was awarded the Walter Friedman Memorial Prize for Orchestral Composition in 2008, and was premiered by the Juilliard Orchestra under Jeffrey Milarsky.

He has received commissions from Trio 180 (Resident ensemble at the University of the Pacific) and the New York Choreographic Institute. His opera Generalissimo, based on the life of a fictional Latin American dictator, is currently under development in conjunction with playwright Jessica Foster. Mr. Moya's music is published by the American Composers Alliance.

Catherine Ramirez
Assistant Professor of Music — Flute and Theory
ramirez@stolaf.edu

catherineramirez.com

Winner of the Sallie Shepherd Perkins Prize for Best Achievement from the Rice University Shepherd School of Music, flutist Catherine Ramirez has gained recognition for her vivid and compelling interpretations of both classical and contemporary music, as well as for her engaging teaching.  Reviewed as “wonderful, an astonishing artist” whose conviction and communication are “incredibly powerful,” Ms. Ramirez has performed as a solo, chamber and orchestral musician in Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, and throughout the United States, including a recent performance at the Kennedy Center.  Selected from hundreds of applicants, she will also perform at the 2011 National Flute Association Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.  A strong advocate for music education, Ms. Ramirez served as a panelist for the 2010 Hispanic Career and Education Day held at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston, and presented a concert series of accessible Latin and South American chamber music for ‘at-risk’ youth.  She has been a guest artist at Brigham Young University, New Mexico State University, University of Utah and the University of Texas at El Paso.  Beginning in September 2010, Ms. Ramirez joined the music faculty at St. Olaf College in Minnesota.  She earned degrees from Occidental College, the Boccherini Music Institute (Italy), Queens College and the Yale University School of Music, and is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rice University.  Her major teachers include Melissa Colgin-Abeln, Gary Woodward, Marzio Conti, Tara Helen O'Connor, Ransom Wilson and Leone Buyse.  Visit catherineramirez.com for more information.

Catherine Rodland
Artist in Residence — Theory and Organ
rodland@stolaf.edu

Catherine Rodland, whose playing has been described as "transcendent" (The American Organist), is Artist in Residence at St. Olaf College. She graduated cum laude with departmental distinction in organ performance from St. Olaf in 1987.  She received both the MM and DMA from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where she was a student of Russell Saunders.  At Eastman, Catherine received the prestigious Performer's Certificate and the Ann Anway Award for excellence in organ performance. She is a prizewinner in several competitions including the 1994 and 1998 American Guild of Organists Young Artists Competition, the 1994 Calgary International Organ Competition, and the 1989 International Organ Competition at the University of Michigan for which she recieved first prize.  She concertizes extensively throughout the United States and Canada including such venues as the Crystal Cathedral, Woolsey Hall at Yale University, St. Thomas Church in New York City, and the chapel at Duke University.  During the summer of 2002 Catherine toured in Germany performing in Berlin and Brandenburg.

At St. Olaf,  Catherine teaches a full studio of organ students as well as music theory and ear training classes.  She performs regularly at St. Olaf, in 2007 dedicating the new Holtkamp organ in Boe Memorial Chapel, and performing as a featured soloist with the St. Olaf Orchestra and the St. Olaf Band.  These performances were all recorded for the nationally syndicated radio program "Pipedreams" on NPR and released as CDs through St. Olaf Records.  A specialist in Baroque and 20th century music, Catherine has presented masterclasses on Baroque performance practice and has been a regular part of the Belvidere Chamber Music Festival in Memphis, TN which features yearly premieres and performances of music of living
performers. In 2011 she released two CDs:  “Dedication”, and “American Weavings”, the latter recorded in Boe Chapel with violist Carol Rodland.  This collaborative CD features works commissioned and premiered by the Rodland Duo.

Prior to returning to St. Olaf to join the faculty, Catherine worked as Minister of Music at First Church of Christ in Glastonbury, CT.  She built a large multiple choir program which culminated in her advanced childrens' choir tour of England in the summer of 2001.  She currently is director of the Hosanna and Jubilate Choirs encompassing children in grades 2 – 8 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Northfield.  She is also director of the musicianship program for the Northfield Youth Choir. Co-author of the book "Choristers' Training Program" for the Royal School of Church Music in America, Catherine has presented workshops on childrens’ choirs for several organ programs at other universities and church music conventions.

Ina Selvelieva
Instructor in Music — Piano
selvelie@stolaf.edu

Bulgarian pianist Ina Selvelieva has performed as soloist with many orchestras and has appeared in numerous solo and chamber performances in her native country, as well as in Austria, Romania, Serbia, and the United States. She has won numerous competitions both in Bulgaria and the United States, including the UW Symphony Orchestra concerto competition, and the UW-Madison Beethoven piano competition. Her awards include the Pancho Vladigerov Competition in Bulgaria and the Artist Presentation Society Award in St. Louis, Missouri, among others.

Ray Shows
Instructor in Music— Violin and Viola
shows@stolaf.edu

Ray Shows received his M.Mus in violin performance from Boston University (magna cum laude) and his B.mus from Florida State University. He made his solo violin debut with orchestra in his native Atlanta. A McKnight Fellowship prizewinner in 2004, Ray is a founding member of the acclaimed Artaria String Quartet and has performed concerts in major concert halls in New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, across the U.S. and in Europe. He has been a featured artist on ABC television, National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting and at the L'Epau Festival in France. An Artist/Teacher in Residence at the renowned Tanglewood Institute and at The Quartet Program, Shows is currently Artistic Director of the Artaria Chamber Music School, Stringwood Festival, and the prestigious Saint Paul String Quartet Competition. His students attend major conservatories, are Schubert Club prizewinners, and have appeared on National Public Radio's From the Top. Appointed to multi-year teaching residencies at Boston College, Viterbo University, Florida State University and Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory, Shows is the recipient of
prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the Heartland Fund. In 2010 he was awarded the MNSOTA Master Teacher Award. His principal teachers were Roman Totenberg and Gerardo Ribeiro. Eugene Lehner, Raphael Hillyer, and members of the Emerson, Cleveland, Budapest, Muir and La Salle Quartets have mentored him in chamber music. Ray plays on a rare French violin made by Andrea Castagneri, Paris 1735 and bow by French archetier Pierre Simon. He has been serving on the faculty of St. Olaf since 2000.

Robert C. Smith
Associate Professor of Music — Voice and Solo Vocal Literature
smithr@stolaf.edu

ROBERT C. SMITH, baritone, Associate Professor of Music. B.M., St. Olaf, M.M., Yale University, D.M.A., University of Texas. Major teachers have included Phyllis Curtin, Donald Hoiness, Barbara Honn, Mary Kaye Schmidt, and Darlene Wiley with additional study in Milan, Italy with Rita Patané. Prior to his current position at St. Olaf, Dr. Smith served on the faculties of the University of New Mexico, the Berkshire Choral Festival and the University of Vermont.

Smith has been featured at the Aspen Festival, Madeira Bach Festival (Portugal), Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Covent Garden Festival (London), Prague Spring Festival (Czech Republic), Foire Saint Germain (Paris), and Festival Van Vlaanderen (Belgium). Dr. Smith has been a featured soloist with VocalEssence, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Santa Fe Symphony, Música Antigua de Albuquerque, and the Madeira Bach Festival in Portugal. Recent performances have included appearances at the Library of Congress, the 1999 and 2002 World Symposia on Choral Music, and radio broadcasts on Belgium Radio, Radio France, NPR, and the BBC.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Dr. Smith annually sings more than 60 concerts, appearing in the last few months under British conductors Simon Carrington and Jonathon Willcocks, John Kennedy (Spoleto Festival USA), and Donald Nally (Lyric Opera of Chicago), among others.

Marybeth Stull
Instructor in Music — Hardanger Fiddle
stull@stolaf.edu

Marybeth Stull holds a Bachelor of Music degree (cum laude) in violin performance from Illinois Wesleyan University and did graduate work at Indiana University. Violin teachers include Mario Mancinelli, Illinois Wesleyan, Daniel Guilet, Indiana University and Victor Aitay, Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She played nine years in the Kalamazoo (MI) Symphony Orchestra, for many years in several Twin Cities civic orchestras and was Concertmistress of Exultate. She performs in the Brightwood String Quartet, the Musica Piano Trio and regularly freelances on both the classical violin and hardingfele (hardanger fiddle). She studied the hardanger fiddle with Olav Jørgen Hegge of Valdres, Norway. As a member of the Twin Cities Hardingfelelag, she has performed on the NRK (Norwegian radio) program Alltid Folkemusikk, participated in the annual Landskappleik in Beitostølen, Norway, played for the Minnesota State Senate on Syttende Mai and Nisswa-Stämman Scandinavian Music Festival in Nisswa, MN.

Darrin Thomas
Conductor of the Gospel Choir

Darrin Thomas is a musician, songwriter, and choral director of gospel music, and is committed to sharing this style of music with the world. He strongly believes that every person has a musical talent that can be cultivated into something beautiful and enjoyable. Darrin's passion for music began more than 30 years ago, when he played drums for his father’s church, located in the Twin Cities. It was while watching his mother direct the choir that he became interested in gospel choirs. Under her tutelage, he was given the privilege to be president and choir director of the Greater St. Paul Church of God in Christ. Darrin has worked with various choirs across the Twin Cities metropolitan area teaching, conducting workshops, and coordinating concert performances.

John Tranter
Instructor in Music — Low Brass
tranter@stolaf.edu

John Tranter, M.M. trombone performance, Florida State University; B.M. trombone performance, the University of Kansas. He has served as an Instructor of Low Brass at the University of Minnesota since Spring 2003, and is an active freelance musician in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. In addition to performing regularly with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Tranter has also performed with the Minnesota Opera, the JazzMN Big Band, and many touring Broadway shows at local venues. He is also serving as solo euphonium with the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band. Mr. Tranter has performed and/or recorded with Symphonia (America's first professional tuba-euphonium ensemble), Orquesta Sinfónica de Trujillo (Perú), the Palm Beach Opera, the Kansas City Symphony Brass Quintet, and the American Wind Symphony. Mr. Tranter was the trombonist of the Skyline Brass, an ensemble-in-residence at Drake University, Iowa State University and Grinnell College (funded by the National Endowment for the Arts/Chamber Music America program). Mr. Tranter has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Low Brass and Concordia University—Saint Paul and Normandale Community College. He remains active as a recitalist on all low brass instruments as a guest artist at various universities and festivals, both locally and throughout the Midwest.

William Webb
Interim Conductor of the Norseman Band
webbw@stolaf.edu

interim conductor of the Norseman Band, has directed bands in Minnesota for 34 years, 24 of those years at Edina High School. For the past two years, Bill has thoroughly enjoyed teaching 5th grade beginning band students in Edina. Webb has been awarded the Minnesota Music Educators Association’s “2011 Educator of the Year”, the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies’ “2004 School Music Teacher of the Year”, and Edina High Schools’ “1991 Excellence in Education Award”. Webb is a founding officer and past president of the Minnesota Band Directors Association, has served as president of the Minnesota chapter of Phi Beta Mu, president of the Evergreen Club, and has served for six years on the MMEA Board of Directors and four years on the Minnesota State High School League Board of Directors.  For the past 25 years, Webb has served as the associate conductor of the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, an adult community band based in Edina, founded by Miles Johnson and currently conducted by Timothy Mahr.

Tim Wells
Academic Administrative Assistant
Music Organizations and Music Department
wells@stolaf.edu

Robert Wiemken
Visiting Artist in Music – Collegium Musicum (sem II)
wiemken@stolaf.edu

Artistic Co-Director of Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, he has performed worldwide, recorded extensively, built over 100 programs of Renaissance and early Baroque music and commissioned new works for early winds and chorus. He has been very fortunate to perform with many of the world's leading early music ensembles, in festivals in North and South America and throughout Europe, and in spaces contemporary with the music that helped him define the role, sound and capabilities of double reeds in historic performance settings. He is an eager and well-appreciated teacher and lecturer in college and university settings, having directed the Early Music Ensembles at the Esther Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University for 20 years, bringing the world of early reeds to modern players. He also teaches regularly at festivals and workshops throughout the country. Currently, in addition to his performing, researching, recording and educating responsibilities, he continues to attempt to plumb the depths of early reed technique in an effort to understand the mysteries of these glorious instruments.

Karen Wilkerson
Instructor in Music — Voice
wilkerso@stolaf.edu

Karen Wilkerson, Instructor in Music, is active as a professional singer, conductor, and teacher. She currently sings with the Ensemble Singers of VocalEssence, who recently toured and recorded in England, including a concert with the BBC singers. Wilkerson is in her 16th year as director of adult choirs at Saint Michael's Lutheran Church, Roseville, Minnesota.  She sang and recorded for four years in the Dale Warland Singers, and has performed in over 14 productions with the Minnesota Opera.  Wilkerson is an active recitalist and oratorio soloist, most recently performing in Minneapolis, Virginia and California. She has studied voice with Richard Johnson, of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Mary Kay Schmidt of Minneapolis, Rita Patane, Milan, Italy, and Janet Bookspan of NewYork City. She has served on the faculty of Lutheran Summer Music for over 12 years. She has held faculty positions at Northwestern College and Gustavus Adolphus College. Wilkerson holds degrees in Music from California State University, Northridge, and Westminster Choir College, Princeton New Jersey.