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

Kathryn Ananda-Owens, Associate Professor of Music:  Piano.  B.A., Oberlin College (Phi Beta Kappa); B.M., Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Pi Kappa Lambda); M.M., Peabody Conservatory of Music; D.M.A., Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Julian Martin.  Previous teachers include Robert McDonald and Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein, in addition to collaborative studies with Earl Carlyss and Ellen Mack, and summer studies with Sergei Babayan and Paul Schenly.  Winner of first prize in the 1993 Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition, Ananda-Owens enjoys an active career as performer, teacher, and lecturer. 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. Her European debut took place the following year in Vienna. Ananda-Owens has appeared as a soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, toured internationally with the St. Olaf Orchestra, and collaborated with flutist Alison Potter in performances at Lincoln Center. A founding member of the New Horizons Chamber Ensemble, Dr. Ananda-Owens performs regularly as the pianist of the Melius Trio, has recorded with violinist Hector Valdivia, and collaborated with members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in the inaugural concerts of the North American Bridge Festival. Her concerts have been broadcast on radio and television on three continents. An expert on the keyboard cadenzas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, she is currently at work on a book on the subject. Ananda-Owens is actively involved with the Performing Arts Medical Association, and serves on the association's Education and Research Committee. She has been a member of the St. Olaf College faculty since 1997.

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.

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.

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

With a voice the Boston Globe called “extraordinary in range, tonal quality, musicianship, and dramatic effect, “soprano Tracey Gorman has gained a reputation for excellence in opera, recital, and concert.  Ms. Gorman has performed operatic roles with the Minnesota Opera and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and performed as soloist with the Minnesota Choral Union, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Rochester Aria Group.  Ms. Gorman 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. Gorman performed with the St. Olaf Orchestra at Alice Tulley Hall and performed Britten’s War Requiem with the Chapel Choir and the St. Olaf Orchestra.  Ms. Gorman 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. Gorman earned a B.M. degree in both vocal performance and K-12 vocal music education from St. Olaf College, a M.M. degree from the University of Minnesota and is currently completing her D.M.A. under the tutelage of Glenda Maurice at the U of MN.

John Ferguson
Elliot & Klara Stockdal Johnson
Professor of Organ and Church Music
Minister of Music to the Student Congregation
ferg@stolaf.edu

Ferguson earned a B.M. from Oberlin, an M.M. from Kent State University, and a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Russell Saunders. His responsibilities include directing the church music-organ program, teaching organ and conducting the St. Olaf Cantorei.  Ferguson came to St. Olaf in 1983 from Minneapolis where he served Central Lutheran Church as Music Director and Organist, an appointment accepted in 1978 after a 15-year tenure on the music faculty at Kent State University.  While at Kent State he also served as Organist-Choirmaster of the United Church of Christ, Kent, Ohio during which time he served as music editor for the United Church of Christ Hymnal, 1974.  He has spent summers as visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and was invited to spend sabbatical leave time as visiting professor at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

He is respected as a fine teacher and performer, and his skill as improviser and leader of congregational song has received national acclaim.  Each year he prepares and leads many festivals across the country both for local congregations and professional gatherings.  A Ferguson hymn festival is much more than an inspiring organ recital, according to Emily Brink, Past President of the Hymn Society, "He involves everyone present in a glorious community of sound.  Everyone gets to perform."

Dr. Ferguson is the author of numerous books and articles on church music and organ building.  His choral and organ music is published by Augsburg, Concordia, Galaxy, G.I.A., Hope, Kjos, Morning Star, Selah and Stainer and Bell.   In 2005 his composition, “Who Is This” for choir and viola was awarded the prestigious Raabe Prize for excellence in sacred composition.

Since joining the St. Olaf faculty, Ferguson's skills as choral conductor and creative arranger have become more widely known.  He brings a special combination of experience as choral singer (Oberlin College Choir under Robert Fountain), church musician (both part-time and full-time) and participant in the St. Olaf choral tradition to his workshops in conducting and repertoire for church choirs which are considered highlights at conventions of professional organizations.  He has been invited to design and present hymn festivals for national and regional conventions of both The American Guild of Organists and The American Choral Directors Association as well as many national gatherings of church musicians.  He has presented such events abroad as well both in Asia (Seoul, Korea) and Europe (in the National Cathedral of Norway, Nidaros Dom, Trondheim, as a part of the celebration of the millennium of the birth of St. Olaf).

Lori Folland
Staff Pianist
ronningl@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.

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.

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
martin@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.

Jun Qian
Assistant Professor of Music — Clarinet
qian@stolaf.edu

clarinet studio website

Dr. Jun Qian, an endorsing artist for the Paris-based Selmer Company, is the Assistant Professor of Music in Clarinet and Chamber Music at St. Olaf College in US. He has also taught music theory at Eastman, chamber music at Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China, and performed as the principal clarinetist of Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. Qian holds a B.M. from Baylor University , the M.M. and D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music with full scholarship.  In 1997, Qian won the first prize for the Orchestral Excerpts Competition and third prize in the Solo Competition at the International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition. He became the first artist who won both competitions in the same year in the history of the ICA.  Qian was the music producer and soloist for Steven Laitz's Book "The Complete Musician" published by the Oxford University Press in US.  Qian has given many master classes and appeared as a recital /concerto soloist in many major cities around world.  He made his Carnegie Hall debut performing Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 with North American Elite Symphony Orchestra, performed as the soloist at Japan Kyoto International Arts Festival, and appeared on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" with the Grammy-award winning Ying Quartet in US.  He has introduced many western clarinet concertos for the first time in full orchestral version to Chinese audiences including Copland Concerto (2003) with Shanghai Symphony.   International appearances as principal clarinetist also include the world famous Eastman Wind Ensemble's tours of Asia in 2000 and 2004. His CD, Premiere Rhapsodie, and video, Playing the Clarinet, were released under the Nanjing Shine Horn label in China. They have been two of the most popular clarinet playing and teaching materials on the Asian market since 1998.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.