OWU Online | Music Department

Faculty

Faculty by Last Name

Bahr, Jason | Bennett, Cameron | Burdett, Kimberley | Burleson, Brett |

Carpe Diem String Quartet |Fujiwara, Korine| Gaedeke-Riegel, Turid |

Gamso, Nancy M. |Griffin, Larry |Griffith, Robert | Hacker, Jed K. | Hiester, Jason

Kaneda, Mariko | Matsuda, Kenichiro| Nims, Marilyn |Pellegrino, John |

Roden, Timothy J. | Smith, Steven | Szabo, Peter |Watkins, Kie | Yoder, Daryl

Faculty by Area

[ Music Logo ] Our music students, in unison, cite the faculty as the major strength of the music department at Ohio Wesleyan. They are, themselves, accomplished musicians who have additional talents and skills as music educators and mentors. Our students have the unique advantage of working directly with professors, rather than graduate-level teaching assistants.

Professor Robert Griffith (also an Ohio Wesleyan graduate) remembers being heavily influenced by his professors. "I think Ohio Wesleyan tends to hire people who fit into that mold — professors who are interested primarily in teaching and in being there for their students."

BRASS:

Larry Griffin, D.M.A., M.M., University of Minnesota (trumpet performance); B.M.E., Virginia State University. Larry Griffin began studying trumpet under Paul Taylor, principal trumpet of the National Symphony Orchestra in Norfolk, Virginia. Larry also studied trumpet performance with Charles Schlueter, principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony, Manny Laureano, principal trumpet of the Minnesota Orchestra, and David Baldwin, professor of trumpet at the University of Minnesota. Larry Griffin is a professor of music and the director of bands at Ohio Wesleyan University. In addition to conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Brass Choir, Trumpet Ensemble, Pep Band, and Park Avenue Jazz Ensemble, Griffin has an outstanding trumpet studio and teaches Instrumental Conducting and Brass Methods. Griffin has toured extensively as a soloist and clinician, including a 1981 China tour, and continues to teach and perform at the International Music Camp in Manitoba, Canada (1990-2007). In addition, Griffin is an active guest conductor throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Dr. Griffin is a freelance musician, clinician and education specialist for the Conn/Selmer/Leblanc Instrument Company Inc. performing on Selmer, Leblanc, and Vintage One Trumpets. Larry has performed with the Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra, Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. Aside from performing, Griffin maintains a private studio. He enjoys helping young trumpet players develop their talents and explore creativity through music. Dr. Griffin strives to provide students with an exciting environment to learn the fundamentals of music performance.

Jed K. Hacker, B.M., State University of New York, Potsdam; Crane School of Music (Music Performance). Mr. Hacker is a free-lance hornist around the Central Ohio area. He has played locally with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, Welsh Hills Symphony, Southeastern Ohio Symphony and several British style brass bands in Columbus. Previously Mr. Hacker was a soloist at the 1998 IHS Northeast Horn Workshop. In 2000 and 2002 he hosted two horn workshops in Columbus that attracted over 150 horn players from around the Mid-west. Also in 2002 he was the International Horn Society Ohio Representative. Mr. Hacker currently performs with the Ceremony Brass Quintet, Ohio Capital Wind Ensemble, runs the Columbus Horn Group and he keeps a full studio of horn students in the Dublin school district.

Kie Watkins, M.A. (Education Administration), B.M.E. (Music Education), The Ohio State University, D.M.A. in progress (Music Education), The Ohio State University . Mr. Watkins is currently Director of Bands at Grandview Heights High School, where he is entering his 15th year of teaching (14th in Grandview). He studied tuba with Steve Winteregg, Robert LeBlanc and James Akins. Mr. Watkins studied jazz trombone with Gary Carney and Vaughn Wiester. Mr. Watkins has performed with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Columbus Broadway Series, Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra, Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and The Guy Lombardo Royal Canadiens, among many others. Currently, Mr. Watkins works with The Gabriel brass quintet and the Conspiracy Band (R&B) in addition to his freelance work and teaching schedule. Mr. Watkins is an endorsing artist for Conn-Selmer, U.S.A.

COMPOSITION / ELECTRONIC MUSIC:

Jason Bahr, D.M., M.M., Indiana University, B.M., University of Missouri - Kansas City. Dr. Bahr teaches Music Theory, Analysis, Counterpoint, Electronic Music and Composition. Dr. Bahr earned a B.M. in Composition from the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory of Music and a M.M. and D.M. in Composition from Indiana
University. Dr. Bahr previously served as an Assistant Professor of Music Theory
and Composition and HARP Research Fellow at Mississippi State University, an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at Cottey College, a Visiting Instructor of Composition and
Chair of the Composition Department. His composition teachers were Gerald
Kemner, James Mobberley, Samuel Adler, Claude Baker, David Dzubay, Don
Freund, and Eugene O'Brien. Bahr's compositions have received more than 200
combined performances in thirty states and eight foreign countries. These
include performances at conferences of the College Music Society, the Society of
Composers, Inc. the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, the New Music
North Festival (Canada), Sound New, Summer Music Series (Chester, England), the
inaugural ppIANISSIMO festival (Sofia, Bulgaria), and the Sixth International
Review of Contemporary Music (Belgrade, Serbia). Those who have performed his
works include Tim Adams, Jr., Winston Choi, Wendy Gillespie, Volti, the Indiana
University Symphony Orchestra, the California State-Northridge Orchestra, the
Butler Symphony Orchestra, the Indiana University Children's Choir, newEar, Nota
Bene, Walter Cosand, Paul Higdon, and the Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas
City. Dr. Bahr has received awards and grants from the Fromm Foundation, the
MacDowell Colony, Northridge Composition Prize, the American Music Center,
Renee B. Fischer Piano Composition Competition, Kubik International Prize,
ASCAP, SCI, the Cambridge Madrigal Singers Bahr the Mountain Chamber Players,
the Biloxi (MS) School District, percussionist Grant Braddock (Exit 9), conductor
Theresa Spencer (Cottey College), the Mississippi Music Teachers Association, the
University of Oklahoma Percussion Ensemble, and English hornist Krista Riggs.
Tauromee Music and Keyboard Percussion Publications publish his works. He is a
member of ASCAP, the College Music Society, the Society of Composers, Inc., and
the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers.

MUSIC EDUCATION:

Steven Smith, M.M., State University of New York, Potsdam; Crane School of Music (Music Education), B.M., State University of New York, Potsdam; Crane School of Music (Music Education). Mr. Smith teaches music education methods courses, Conducting I, and Music Appreciation. Mr. Steven Smith earned an Associate's Degree from Onondaga Community College (Syracuse, NY), and a B.M. and a Master of Music Education from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York ( SUNY) at Potsdam. Mr. Smith studied Euphonium with William Harris, Principal Trombone with the Syracuse Symphony, and with Dr. Peter Popiel at the Crane School of Music. Mr. Smith performed with Avant Garde Jr. Drum and Bugle Corps. Prior to teaching at Ohio Wesleyan University, Mr. Smith was the Director of High School Bands at the New Albany Plain Local School District (OH). Mr. Smith was the band director at the Mound Westonka Central High School (MN), Gates-Chili Central High School (NY), and Director of Instrumental Music at the Chateaugay Central School (NY). He has conducted high school Wind Ensembles and Concert bands, high school Jazz Ensembles, and organized all aspects of instrumental programming for grades 4 - 12. Mr. Smith has taught courses in the public schools including Intro to Guitar, Music Technology, Music Theory, and Instrumental lessons on all wind and percussion instruments. Mr. Smith has worked with student teachers from The Ohio State University, Capital University, Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, and Roberts Wesleyan University Rochester, NY. Mr. Smith has been a guest conductor of the Clinton County Junior High All County Band (NY) and a co-director of the Monroe County Jazz Festival (NY).

MUSIC HISTORY:

Timothy J. Roden, Ph.D. (Musicology), M.M., Northwestern University; B.M., Houghton College. Dr. Roden teaches music history, world music, survey of music literature, music appreciation, and occasional honors courses on musicological topics. Grants from Northwestern University and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst made it possible to spend a year in Berlin, Germany researching material for his dissertation on German orchestral lieder. Since that time he has contributed an article on Schumann's lieder to the NATS JOURNAL, published an edition of orchestral lieder (A-R Editions, 2007), has prepared ancillaries (study guides and CD-ROMs, Instructor’s Manuals, and test banks) to accompany the past four editions of the music appreciation text LISTENING TO MUSIC (Thomson-Schirmer) by Craig Wright. Dr. Roden has also co-authored the anthologies that accompany MUSIC IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION (Thomson-Schirmer) by Craig Wright (Yale) and Bryan Simms (USC). He also serves as the Director of Graduate Fellowships and Scholarships for Ohio Wesleyan.

LIBRARIAN: Peter Szabo earned his Master of Library Science degree from the University at Buffalo, and has two degrees in music (an M.A. from Eastern Illinois University, and a B.A. from Rutgers University). In addition to his duties as the music librarian, he is also library liaison to three other academic departments at the university (Black World Studies; Fine Arts; Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies).

ORGAN:

Robert A. Griffith, M.M., University of Michigan; B.M., Ohio Wesleyan University; post-graduate work, University of Illinois; Licentiate Diploma in Organ Performance (L.R.A.M.), Royal Academy of Music, London, England, where he as a Fulbright Scholar; additional study at the International Summer Academy for Organists, Haarlem, Holland. Mr. Griffith was awarded second prize in the Organ Playing Competition, Fourth International Organ Festival, St. Albans, England. He has studied with Robert Glasgow, Jerald Hamilton, Douglas Hopkins, Rexford Keller, Marie-Claire Alain, and Anton Heiller and has performed in the United States, England, Germany and Holland. At Ohio Wesleyan University, where he teaches organ, he is the Marian Y. Rudd Professor of Liberal Arts and was presented the 2004 Bishop Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award.

PERCUSSION:

Kimberley Burdett, D.M.A, M.M., B.M., B.M.E., The Ohio State University. Ms. Burdett teaches percussion and percussion ensemble and recently completed her doctorate in percussion performance at The Ohio State University, where she studied with Susan Powell and Joseph Krygier. She had the opportunity to perform with the OSU percussion ensemble at both the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, as well as to conduct and solo with the ensemble in various performances. Ms. Burdett has also served as a conductor and as steel band director for the Greater Columbus Youth Percussion Ensemble. Since 1997, she has been the percussion director for Teays Valley High School, where she directs the percussion ensemble and instructs and arranges for the marching percussion section, in addition to working with the drill design and instruction elements for the entire marching band. She has also been the director of the instrumental combo for the award-winning Teays Valley show choir, Prominent Rendition, since 2006.

PIANO:

Cameron Bennett, D.M.A., M.M., Manhattan School of Music; B.M., University of Western Ontario; A.R.C.T., Royal Conservatory of Music - University of Toronto. Dr. Bennett teaches piano, chamber music, twentieth-century theoretical techniques, is a member of the Duvall Trio, and serves as Chair of the Department of Music at Ohio Wesleyan University. He has had an active and varied career as a performing musician, teacher, and music administrator. Dr. Bennett has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Russia, and the Far East. He is a founding member of the Marble Cliff Chamber Players (www.marblecliffchamberplayers.org), and performs regularly with the Snake River Chamber Players in Keystone, Colorado. He served for many seasons as chamber music performer and coach at the Victoria International Festival in Victoria, Canada, and as staff accompanist at The Juilliard School. He has taught previously at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and has given master classes at the Beijing Central Conservatory, Shanghai Conservatory, and the Chinese Cultural University in Taipei, Taiwan. His performances have been featured on WOSU-FM in Columbus, Ohio and in Taipei, on the Taiwan Television Network. Dr. Bennett continues to be in great demand as a collaborating pianist. In recent seasons, he has performed with pianist Cecile Licad in a duo-performance with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, was featured in a chamber music performance at the Ohio Theatre, and has performed with cellists Zuill Bailley and Clancy Newman, clarinetists Richard Stoltzman and Robert Spring, violinists Charles Wetherbee and Yenn-Chwen Er, and bassoonist George Sakakeeny. Dr. Bennett has held numerous administrative positions throughout his career, including: Executive Director of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio from 2003-2006; a previous term as Chair of the Department of Music at OWU from 1998-2003; and Executive Director of the MidAmerica Chamber Music Institute from 1995-2000. He has studied piano with Constance Keene, Ronald Turini, Robin McCabe, Peter Katin, Pierre Souvairan and Irina Kugucheva and has studied chamber music with Harvey Shapiro, Lorand Fenyves and Raphael Bronstein. Dr. Bennett is a member of and holds the College Teacher Certification Diploma from the Music Teachers National Association, and is also a member of the College Music Society, Chamber Music America, and the Ohio Music Teachers Association. He is currently a Commissioner on the Upper Arlington Cultural Arts Commission and served previously on the executive boards of both the Music Teachers National Association and the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra.

Mariko Kaneda, D.M.A., Graduate Center C.U.N.Y., M.M. Mannes College of Music, Premier Prix Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris (France). Dr. Kaneda teaches applied and class piano and serves as department staff accompanist. An award-winner, she has won prizes at the Montreal International Piano Competition, the Maria Canals International Piano Competition and the European Piano Competition in Luxembourg. Her orchestral appearances include engagements with the Strasbourg Philharmonic orchestra, the Bordeaux-Aquitaine Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, and the Kingsport Symphony Orchestra. She has performed numerous recitals and chamber music concerts in Japan, France, and Australia. Her appearances in the U.S. include recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has appeared as guest artist with the Ambrosia Trio and has performed at the East End Chamber Series in Adelaide, Australia, the Bard Music Festival, Sunday at Central, and the Banff Music Festival. She is currently a member of the Lighthouse Chamber Players. She has studied with Dominique Merlet, Jacques Rouvier, Edward Aldwell, and Carl Schachter.

STRINGS:

CHAMBER MUSIC: Carpe Diem String Quartet, in residence at Ohio Wesleyan University, is an exciting group that has captured the imagination of audiences, the respect of critics, and is becoming one of the most versatile ensembles of their generation. Carpe Diem has earned critical acclaim with innovative programs, electrifying performances, and a passion for audience engagement. This season, Carpe Diem continues several ambitious projects: the complete recordings of the nine string quartets of Sergey Taneyev on the Naxos label, and a performance cycle of the complete Shostakovich quartets. The quartet continues its collaboration with Columbus Dance Theater, and their joint project "The String Machine", was aired by WOSU-PBS television through 2007-2008. Carpe Diem has created an exciting program with international Accordion and Bandoneon performer Peter Soave, "¡Viva Piazzolla!” This program was featured in June, 2008 at the prestigious Fontana Music Festival. The quartet is committed to changing the concert experience of chamber music. Using innovative programming, thematic concerts, and popular music for younger generations, cameras and video to assist in the visual presentation, as well as speaking from the stage to better engage the audience, Carpe Diem is bringing new audiences into the concert hall and revitalizing the chamber music recital. The quartet, violinists Charles Wetherbee and John Ewing, violist Korine Fujiwara and cellist Diego Fainguersch, is dedicated to music education and outreach, and regularly performs educational programs specifically designed to relate to students of all ages and establish classical music's relevance to their lives. Carpe Diem champions the music of living composers, and has premiered and given first Mid-West performances of works by Osvaldo Goljov, Nicholas Maw, Donald Harris, Gunther Schuller, Ken Fuchs, Clancy Newman, Andre Hajdu , Jonathan Leshnoff, Carter Pann, Bruce Wolosoff, Kevin Putts, Richard Smoot, William Thomas McKinley, Danny Elfman, Frank Bennett, Korine Fujiwara, and Eric Sawyer, among others.

DOUBLE BASS: John Pellegrino, M.M., The Juilliard School; B.M., Manhattan School of Music, Assistant Principal Bass of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Since joining the CSO in 1989, John has performed regularly in the Grand Teton Music Festival (WY) and in the Peninsula Music Festival (WI). Frequent calls from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony have allowed Mr. Pellegrino to play, tour and record with those ensembles. Other past orchestral appearances have included concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra (OH), the New Jersey Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Lake Placid Symphonietta, the New York Virtuosi and the Philharmonia Virtuosi (NY). Before moving to Ohio, John was a section member of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. In second grade, John was introduced to the mono-lin by the instrument's inventor, Rhode Island College professor Robert Currier. After teaching a classroom full of youngsters on this one-string instrument, Currier assigned the cello to John. Private instruction began shortly after beginning the cello with his aunt, Carol Pellegrino. With guidance and support from his parents and aunt, a deep love and appreciation for music and teaching began--ultimately leading to discovering the double bass in high school. After a few years of hard work, and strong encouragement from Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra conductor

Nedo Pandolfi, John moved to New York to earn an undergraduate degree from Manhattan School of Music and a masters degree from the Juilliard School of Music. John has enjoyed teaching on the faculties of Ohio Wesleyan University, the Warwick Music Festival (RI), Kinhaven Music Camp (VT) and Worthington's Chamber Music Connection (OH). Some of Mr. Pellegrino's top students have gone on to win and place in competitions held by the International Society of Bassists, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Interlochen Arts Camp and Philadelphia Orchestra. As of June, 2007, Mr. Pellegrino became a performing member and board member of the East Greenwich, RI based chamber music organization, Music On The Hill.

GUITAR: Brett Burleson, B.M., Capital University. Mr. Burleson teaches applied guitar and guitar methods. He has studied jazz guitar with Stan Smith and classical guitar with Karl Wohlwend. Mr. Burleson has performed and recorded with groups that vary in genre from Pop to Avant Garde and has toured throughout the United States and Spain. He also teaches at Kenyon College and Capital University.

VIOLIN/VIOLA: Korine Fujiwara, M.M., The Juilliard School; B.M., Northwestern University. A Montana native, Ms. Fujiwara has studied violin with Joseph Fuchs and Myron Kartman, respectively. Her other mentors include Harvey Shapiro, Robert Mann, and Joel Krosnik. Ms. Fujiwara is a founding member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet (www.carpediemstringquartet.com), ensemble-in-residence at Ohio Wesleyan University, where she is Instructor of Violin and Viola and also a member of the Duvall Piano Trio. A devoted and sought-after chamber musician, her performances can be heard on the Naxos label. She is a founding member of the Marble Cliff Chamber Players, based in Columbus and Delaware, Ohio. She has also been heard throughout the Northwest United States on public radio as a performer at the Olympic Music Festival in Seattle, Washington with members of the Philadelphia String Quartet. Critics have described her performances as “engaging” and “with finesse and perfection.” Korine regularly appears with the Snake River Chamber Players in Keystone, Colorado, both as a performer and as an arranger. She has been invited to participate in numerous music festivals, including the MidAmerica Chamber Music Festival, the Victoria International Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Focus! Festival of 20th Century Music at Lincoln Center, and the Summergarden Festival at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, where she collaborated with composer John Cage. She was an Artist/Teacher-in-residence with the Icelandic Youth Orchestra in Reykjavik, Iceland. Ms. Fujiwara has received many awards and prizes, including the Hjalmer and Emma Kivekas Award, the Raymond Cerf Memorial Scholarship in Violin, and the Fetzer Prize for outstanding performance. She is a member of the music honorary society Pi Kappa Lambda. One of Central Ohio’s most sought-after teachers, students of Ms. Fujiwara have been accepted into the performance programs of such institutions as Indiana University, Cincinnati College Conservatory, and Northwestern University, to continue their musical studies. Korine began her orchestral career with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. She has been a member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra since 2001, and prior to that, she was a principal player and soloist with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra.

STRING METHODS: Turid Gaedeke-Riegel, M.A., The Ohio State University (Music Education), B.M., Arizona State University (Music Education/String Concentration) teaches string methods. Mrs. Riegel has taught strings/orchestra at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in the Scottsdale, Arizona Unified School District and the Hilliard City, Ohio School District. Her students in Hilliard consistently earned excellent and superior ratings at OMEA Solo and Ensemble and Large Group Adjudicated Events. Prior to her public school experience, she was Graduate Assistant to Dr. Robert Gillespie at The Ohio State University. At OSU she assisted/co-taught the undergraduate string methods courses and string rehearsal skills labs, supervised student teachers, and co-conducted the Columbus Symphony Junior Strings Orchestra. She has also served on the faculty of The Ohio State Midwest String Teachers Summer Workshop. Mrs. Riegel currently teaches a full studio of violin/viola students in the Columbus area and is Assistant Concertmaster of the Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra. She has completed teacher training for Suzuki Violin Books 1-3. Mrs. Riegel is a member of the American String Teachers Association and the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: Kenichiro Matsuda, violist and native of Japan, Ken came to the United States in 1977 after three and a half years playing with the New Japan Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa. He attended Northern Illinois University where he received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Ken directs the Ohio Wesleyan Chamber Orchestra. He was a member of the Grant Park Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Buffalo Philharmonic before joining the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in 1987. Ken is also active chamber musician. He has toured in Japan with the Columbus String Quartet (1988) and Estonia with the Sonus Artis String Quartet. (1999) In January 2002, he played U.S. premiere of Kristof Penderecki's Sextet at OSU. Ken is a founding member of the "High Street Four" String Quartet. Alongside his duties with the CSO and "High Street Four", his musical interests expand to conducting and teaching. He was the conductor of the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra of Columbus from 1989 to 1996, and is the director of the "Hanamizuki no Kai", Japanese Women's Chorus a post he’s held since 1995. Ken has taught viola at Calvin College, Denison University, and the Ohio State University, and has given master classes on viola and orchestral repertoire at the College Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati and the Ohio State University. Currently, Ken is also visiting Assistant Professor of Viola at Ohio University, Athens. In the summer, he teaches at the "Csehy Summer School of Music" in Langhorne, PA and at the "Master Works Festival" in Winona Lake, IN. His teachers have included Nobuko Imai, Jerry Horner, and Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet. He plays a viola made by Tetsuo Matsuda of Chicago, 1998.

VOICE:

Jason Hiester, M.M., (Voice/Choral Conducting) Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music; B.M. (Performance) University of Miami in South Florida. Mr. Hiester teaches voice, conducting, and directs the opera and choral programs. He has been performing professionally for over a decade in a variety of genres including opera, oratorio, choral and jazz. His credits include roles with West Palm Beach Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Columbus Opera, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera and concert work with Miami Bach Society, Musica Sacra of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky Symphony, Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati, Springfield Symphony, and Vocal Arts Ensemble of Springfield. Mr. Hiester is an active conductor and has directed all levels of singers from children to professional in numerous works ranging from renaissance to contemporary. He was a winner of the Schloss Leopoldskron competition in Salzburg Austria and West Palm Beach Opera Competition. Mr. Hiester’s upcoming performance engagements include singing Archibald Craven in a Columbus Opera and CAPA’s fall production of The Secret Garden, Parpignol in La bohème, and he will be covering the role of Ramiro in Columbus Opera’s production of La Cenerentola.

Marilyn Andrews Nims, M.M. Ohio State University; B.M., Boston University; B.A.(Spanish), Ohio Wesleyan University. Ms. Nims teaches voice, sight singing, diction for singers, and voice methods. A mezzo-soprano, she has been opera or oratorio soloist with many orchestras and choral groups including the Columbus, Mansfield, Central Ohio, Welsh Hills, and Columbus Youth Symphony Orchestras, as well as Cantari Singers of Columbus and the Columbus Bach Ensemble. Representative works have included Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Madame Flora in The Medium by Menotti, Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder, Les nuits d’été of Berlioz, Copland’s In the Beginning, and Verdi’s Requiem. She has performed with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in Souillac, France, and at Carnegie Hall, New York City, and has sung chamber music with the Marble Cliff Chamber Players, OWU’s Duvall Ensemble, MidAmerica Chamber Music Institute, and the sextet, Vocal Colour. Ms. Nims has special affection for the song recital, and her programs present a diverse repertory, often highlighting the vocal music of Spain and Latin America. With a particular interest in zarzuela (a form of Spanish musical theatre), she has served as singer and Spanish diction coach for the zarzuela theatre at Jarvis Conservatory in Napa, California, and has made singing translations of two zarzuelas, Agua, azucarillos y aguardiente and Bohemios, both of which have been produced by the Ohio Wesleyan Opera Theatre. She has studied Spanish art song and zarzuela in Madrid, Spain, with Isabel Penagos, Alejandro Zabala, and Miguel Zanetti, and Portuguese language song with Stela Brandão in New York City. Other teachers have included Mary Davenport, Ludwig Bergmann, Lois Marshall, and Hans Peter Schilly.

Daryl Yoder, M.M. (Boston University); B.M. (Oberlin Conservatory). His teachers have included William Sharp, Susan Clickner and Gerald Crawford. He has performed in a wide range of repertoire, from the 15th century to new music premieres, appearing as soloist with such groups as Apollo’s Fire (the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra), with whom he has recorded music by Handel and Praetorius, the Columbus Bach Ensemble, Boston’s Cantata Singers, the Waltham Philharmonic, Longwood Opera, the South Coast Community Chorale, the Boston University Opera Theatre and the Cincinnati Camerata. As a recitalist, he appeared regularly on the Cantata Singers Chamber Series in Boston and his work was broadcast on WGBH Radio. An active performer of early music, he was a Fellow at Tanglewood’s Bach Cantata Institute under the direction of Craig Smith and has been a member of such noted ensembles as the Handel & Haydn Society, Emmanuel Music and the Boston Early Music Festival.

WOODWINDS:

Nancy M. Gamso, D.M.A. (Woodwinds Performance), University of North Texas; M.M. (Multiple Winds Performance), Florida State University; B.S.M.E., University of Alabama. Dr. Gamso teaches applied woodwinds, history of jazz, woodwind methods, music appreciation, and coaches the woodwind chamber ensembles. She performs regularly as an orchestra musician (all woodwinds) with the Broadway series in Columbus, Akron and Cleveland; as a founding member (clarinetist) with Favorable Winds (woodwind quintet); and as co-principal clarinetist of Capital Winds (wind band). Nancy has performed at the Sarasota Music Festival, the Lancaster Festival, with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, Ohio Valley Symphony, Southern Ohio Light Opera, Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the New Sousa Band. In collaboration with Assistant Professor of Piano, Dr. Tracy Cowden (Virginia Tech.), Dr. Gamso released a compact disc recording, With Blackwood and Silver, in which modern literature for winds (clarinet and flute) and piano explores novel sources of inspiration (jazz, social dance, folk music). View Dr. Gamso’s webpage at: http://www.myspace.com/nancygamso. Nancy Gamso has studied with Fred Ormond (FSU, UMich), John Scott (UNT), and Eli Eban (IU), and participated in master classes with Anthony Gigliotti (Philadelphia Orch), Franklin Cohen (Cleveland Sym), and Stanley Drucker (NY Phil). Nancy’s current research project is to incorporate the techniques of jazz study (memorization, aural learning, transcribing solos, and recording), vocal techniques (relaxation, resonance, body alignment, breathing, phrasing, etc.) and yoga (stretching, practice intentions, calming the body and mind, etc.) into woodwind pedagogy.

Music Department

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