Faculty & Staff

RONALD RODMAN (Director of Symphony Band, Theory, Low Brass) earned his Ph.D. in Music Theory from Indiana University in 1992. His research interests include analysis of music in the electronic media, post-tonal theory in the 20th century, Schenkerian analysis, musical signification, music theory pedagogy, and wind band music history. He serves as a consultant for the AP Music Theory program through the College Board. He has published articles for the Journal of Music Theory, College Music Symposium, and Indiana Theory Review, has contributed chapters to several books on music and film, and is currently writing the article on television music in the New Grove Dictionary of American Music. His recent work is a book, Tuning In: American Narrative Television Music, which is published by Oxford University Press in 2010.

Baritone BENJAMIN ALLEN (Senior Lecturer in Voice) received the B.M.Ed. from Wartburg College. He has studied with C. Robert Larson, Donna Pegors, Lawrence Weller, and, in New York, with Bernard Taylor. He has performed as a soloist with numerous regional and national organizations including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, and the Minnesota Opera. He has taught at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Bethel University, Macalester College and the Minnesota Center for Arts Education. Ben is currently on the voice faculty and coordinator of the voice department at The International Music Camp. His interest in understanding the “cultural voice” to better serve the needs of international students who don’t have experience with Western Vocal concepts, led him to become involved with the East African community in Minneapolis where he sang in the Minnesota Swahili Choir. In several trips to Africa, Ben collected and transcribed original African choral music and several of his transcriptions of the works of Tanzanian composer, Israel Kagaruki have been published by Hal Leonard Publishing. Ben is a past Board Chair for a non-profit agency, Compassionate Solutions for African Development (COSAD) which undertakes economic development using the African choir as the target community within which to develop sustainable enterprise projects.

GWEN ANDERSON (French Horn) has been a member of the Summit Hill Brass Quintet since 1976, which has released numerous CDs and performs regularly in the Twin Cities and outstate area. Anderson studied music at the University of Minnesota and the Eastman School of Music, and horn with Bruce Rardin, Verne Reynolds, and Kendall Betts. Ms. Anderson’s career has taken its share of twists, however: her B.A. is in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota, and she is currently employed as a software engineer.

LAURA CAVIANI (Jazz Piano) received the B.M. in Composition from Lawrence University and the M.M. in Improvisation from the University of Michigan. She also studied with renowned composer JoAnne Brackeen and at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village in Japan. Ms. Caviani has taught at St. John’s University, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the University of St. Thomas, and many middle schools in Minneapolis through the “Harman How to Listen Program,” an outreach program co-founded by Wynton Marsalis. Ms Caviani is a veteran of two decades of performing, recording and composing, including appearances with Toots Thielemans, Bob Mintzer, and Dave Liebman, and touring and recording with star vocalist Karrin Allyson. Now based in Minneapolis, she has five acclaimed recordings to her credit, and a long list of supporting roles with local musicians. Recent projects include her tributes to Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams and Alec Wilder. She is regularly featured with Pete Whitman’s Xtet, vocalists Lucia Newell and Prudence Johnson, and guitarist Joan Griffith, with whom she released Sambanova in 2008. She also appears on the Seattle based Origin Label with vibes player Ben Thomas. As composer, she has created numerous works for jazz ensembles and orchestras. in 2010, Laura was selected to be one of five finalists at the Jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville, Florida. Her most recent release, Going There, was described by music critic Bob Protzman as “piano trio jazz of the highest order.” Laura Caviani’s personal website can be found at: http://www.lauracaviani.com.

LYNN DEICHERT (Trumpet) received the B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the M.M. from Boston University. He has been a member of the American Wind Symphony and has also attended the Tanglewood Music Festival Fellowship Program. His teachers include Roger Voisin, Charles Schlueter, Gene Young, and Clement Volpe. Lynn is a performing musician/contractor in the Twin Cities. He studied piano with his father Bob Deichert. He also tap dances and juggles.

ELIZABETH ERICKSEN (Violin, Viola) teaches violin and viola at Carleton College and MacPhail Center for Music and coaches string quartets in the Augsburg College Suzuki Talent Education Program. Elizabeth holds BS and MM degrees from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana where she studied with Paul Rolland. She has also studied with Mary West and coached string quartets with Joseph Gingold and Abraham Skernick. For the past three years, she has been a member of Ensemble L’Autumno, a small ensemble which performs music for strings and piano in the Fall of the year. A founding member of the Sartory String Quartet, she has also been a regular orchestral member of VocalEssence (formerly Plymouth Music Series), where she participated in a wide variety of programs and several award-winning recordings. She plays viola on several CDs of chamber music by Phillip Rhodes (Emeritus Composer in Residence at Carleton.) In the summers, she serves as a coach for GTCYS (Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies) summer Orchestra camp and the Sartory String Quartet Institute (sponsored by MacPhail), an intensive two week experience in the string quartet literature for talented junior high and high school string players.

She was recently voted-in as President-Elect of MNSOTA, the Minnesota chapter of the American String Teacher’s Association.  Previously, she served as secretary for the same organization and also coordinated the MNSOTA State Solo Competition for young string players. She has contributed a number of articles to String Notes, MNSOTA’s journal.  Recently, she has been asked to give several workshops on the string pedagogy films of Paul Rolland (The Teaching of Action In String Playing).

LOREN FISHMAN (Piano) received his M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in piano performance from the University of Minnesota, where he was the recipient of a Berneking Fellowship, and he holds a B.M from Northern Kentucky University, where received the prestigious Dean’s Scholarship and the Commonwealth Scholarship for Academic Excellence. His principal teachers have been Lydia Artymiw, Sergei Polusmiak, and Nina Polonsky. He has appeared as a soloist with the Minnesota Sinfonia, the Schubert Club, and on Classical Minnesota Public Radio, and he has won top awards in various competitions, including the Graves Regional Young Artist Competition, the Tifereth Israel Young Artist Competition, the NFAA National Arts Recognition Talent Search, the MTNA Kentucky State Piano Competition, and the Columbus Symphony Concerto Competition. He is an active chamber musician and has been a featured participant in numerous summer workshops and festivals, including the Niagara Chamber Music Festival, the Summit Music Festival, the Las Vegas Music Festival, and “Musicos de Camara” in Xalapa, Mexico. Before coming to Carleton, he taught piano classes at St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota. Loren is also a prolific cartoonist, and his musical humor panel “Humoresque” is currently published by magazines such as Clavier Companion and Piano Professional. His personal website can be found at www.lorenfishman.com.

ANDREW FLORY (American Music, Music History) received the B.A. from the City College of New York and the M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Andrew teaches courses in American music, focusing on rock, rhythm and blues, and jazz. Andrew was a member of the Royster Society and was awarded the John Motley Morehead Fellowship to complete his dissertation, which was awarded the Glen Haydon Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Musicology from the UNC Music Department. Andrew has read papers at the national meetings of the American Musicological Society, the Society for Music Theory, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the Society for American Music. He has also been invited to speak nationally and internationally at institutions such as the University of Surrey, Princeton University, and the University of Michigan. Andrew has written articles, encyclopedia entries, and reviews on the music of Marvin Gaye, the Beatles, African-American pop singers and balladeers, and Bang On a Can. He has written extensively about American rhythm and blues, and is an expert on the music of Motown. His book, I Hear a Symphony: Listening to the Music of Motown, is forthcoming from The University of Michigan Press. Working directly with Universal Records, Andrew has served as consultant for several recent Motown reissues. He is also co-author of the history of rock textbook What’s that Sound (W.W. Norton).

JANEAN HALL (Enid and Henry Woodward College Organist, and Sr. Lecturer of Organ and Harpsichord) received  a B.S. in education and a B. A. in music from Concordia University, Nebraska  in 1977. Her areas of study are organ performance, and harpsichord performance with principal teachers Dr. Charles Ore, and Dr. Paul Manz. Janean has 40 years of experience as head organist at various churches ( Bethlehem Lutheran, Morristown, Trinity Lutheran, Northfield, and currently Trinity Lutheran, Owatonna). A member of the American Guild of Organists, Janean has performed in recitals from the Twin Cities to Denmark, as well as Bach festivals, and harpsichord workshops. This is her 23rd year at Carleton College serving as organist for official convos,performing with a baroque trio, and playing for college chapels, funerals, and weddings. She teaches the Minnesota Music Listening Class for Waseca High School, in addition to serving as an official judge for the Southern region.

GAO HONG  (Chinese pipa player and composer) began her career as a professional musician at age 12. She graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing where she studied with pipa master Lin Shicheng. She has received numerous awards and honors, including First Prize in the Hebei Professional Young Music Performers Competition, a Beijing Art Cup, an Asian Pacific Award, and fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, and Meet the Composer and Sorel Organization in New York. In 2005 Gao Hong became the first traditional musician to be awarded the prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship, and in 2012 she became the only musician in any genre to win four McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians. As a composer, she has received commissions from the American Composers Forum, Walker Art Center, the Jerome Foundation, Zeitgeist, Ragamala, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Danish guitarist Lars Hannibal, Theater Mu, IFTPA, and Twin Cities Public Television. She has performed throughout Europe, Australia, Argentina, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and the United States and has participated in such events as the Lincoln Center Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, and international  festivals in Paris, Caen,  Milan, and Perth. She has performed countless U.S. and world premieres of pipa concerti with organizations such as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Heidelberg Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony, and the Women’s Philharmonic (San Francisco), among others. She is also Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, China Conservatory of Music, Tianjin Conservatory of Music, and Hebei Provincial School for the Arts in China. Gao Hong’s personal website can be found at: www.chinesepipa.com.

MARTHA JAMSA (Flute) received the B.F.A. from the University of Minnesota and the M.M. in Flute Performance from Indiana University. During the past two decades she has been an active member of several major ensembles, including the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Dakota Wind Quintet, as well as a substitute flutist/piccoloist for the Minnesota Orchestra. She has taught flute at South Dakota State University, the University of Sioux Falls, Macalester College. She has also served on the Board of Directors for several organizations, including the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Upper Midwest Flute Association.

JAY JOHNSON (Percussion, African Drum) received the B.F.A. and M.M. degrees in Percussion with an emphasis on Ethnomusicology from the University of Minnesota. He has performed dozens of world premieres at major festivals and concert halls throughout the United States and Europe. He can be heard locally in concert or on recordings with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera Company, Plymouth Music Series, Dale Warland Singers, and others.

GREG KEEL (Saxophone) has been on the faculty at MacPhail Center for Music since 1995, teaching saxophone, directing community partnership ensembles, and instructing in the jazz combo and summer camp programs. Greg is also on the faculty at Carleton College in Northfield and Hamline University in St. Paul. He has performed with a wide range of entertainment luminaries including Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme, The O’Jays, Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, The Fifth Dimension, Frankie Valli, Lou Rawls, Doc Severinsen, Bobby Vinton, Bob Hope, The Temptations and the Minnesota Orchestra.

Yaron Klein (oud) received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He teaches Arab music and oud, in addition to Arabic language and literature. Dr. Klein was trained both as a (Western) classical violinist, studying with Avigdor Zamir (Haifa) and Maurice Crut (Paris), and as an oud and Arab violin player, studying with Bassam Saba (NY) and Taiseer Elias (Haifa). He collaborates regularly with various Middle East musicians, and performs locally, as a member of the Minneapolis based Amwaaj ensemble.

MERILEE KLEMP (Oboe, English Horn) received the B.A. in Music Education from Augsburg College, the M.A. in Musicology from the University of Minnesota, and the D.M.A. in Oboe Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. Her notable accomplishments include an impressive list of featured recordings including Falls Flyer: Music for Oboe and Guitar (Schubert Club), Carols and Lullabies (RCA) and The Music of William Grant Still (Collins Classics) with Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota, The Three Hermits (D’Note) and A Chamber Fantasy (Innova 539) by Stephen Paulus, Singing Wilderness: Music of Cary John Franklin (Singing Wilderness), Fritz Bergmann’s Minnesota Landscapes (Innova), as well as CD’s by Janet Jackson, Elton John, Mariah Carey, and on the series of Lifescapes recordings distributed throughout the country. She has performed regularly with the Minnesota Opera, the VocalEssence, and is a frequent recitalist and soloist in the Twin Cities. Her principal teacher was Richard Killmer and she received a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship for further study with John Mack.

MARK KRUSEMEYER (Recorder) received the Ph.D. from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands), and has studied with Sue Carduelis (formerly Susan Prior) and Steve Silverstein, and in workshop or master class settings with Paul Leenhouts, Michael Lynn, and Marion Verbruggen. Dr. Krusemeyer has performed locally, and in Calgary as part of the Trio d’Accord and with the Calgary Bach Festival Society. He has made numerous transcriptions for recorder ensembles, especially the music of Bach.

Justin London (Music Theory, Music Psychology, Cognitive Science, Musical Aesthetics, and American Popular Music) received his B.M. degree in Classical Guitar and his M.M. degree in Music Theory from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and he holds a Ph.D. in Music History and Theory from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of several articles in the recent revision of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and the Cambridge History of Western Music Theory and his book, Hearing in Time, (Oxford University Press) is a cross-cultural exploration of musical meter. He is currently involved in several joint research projects: microtimings in Malian drumming (with Rainer Polak & Nori Jacoby, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt), the effect of bodily movement on tempo perception (with Petri Toiviainen, Birgitta Burger, and Marc Thompson), and how the microstructure of musical sounds affects our sense of beat and swing (with Anne Danielsen and Alexander Refsum Jensinus). Professor London has held visiting Professorships or Fellowships at the University of Cambridge, UK (2005), the University of Jyväskylä, Finland (2014), and the University of Oslo, Norway (2016). He served as President of the Society for Music Theory in 2007-2009, and is currently President of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition.

CONNIE MARTIN (Bass) received the B.A. from Whitworth College and the M.M. from the University of Illinois. She is a core member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and performs regularly with the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra and substitutes with the Minnesota Orchestra. Her primary teachers include Peter Lloyd and Jim Clute of the Minnesota Orchestra.

ANDREA MAZZARIELLO (Composition) is a composer, performer, writer, and teacher. His work crosses popular and art music approaches, obsessing over technological intervention, instrumental technique, and the power of language. So Percussion, NOW Ensemble, Newspeak, and many others have performed his concert music. The Queens New Music Festival, Make Music New York, and the Wassaic Festival have presented his songs and spoken word. He’s taught at Princeton University, Ramapo College, and the So Percussion Summer Institute.

MATTHEW McCRIGHT (Piano)

American pianist Matthew McCright has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific as piano soloist and chamber musician. He has thrilled audiences and critics alike with imaginative programming that places the greatest piano repertoire alongside the music of today’s most innovative composers. A native of Pennsylvania, McCright now resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is a member of the piano faculty of Carleton College. An accomplished recording artist, McCright has released six solo recordings; his most recent What is Left Behind on the Proper Canary label, as well as three albums on innova Records (Second Childhood, A Waltz through the Vapor, and Blender), the piano works of Gene Gutchë on Centaur Records, and the release on Albany Records of the piano music of Olivier Messiaen. His solo touring shows include Evening Preludes, The People’s Music, Contemplations: The Music of Olivier Messiaen, Connecting Flights, There and Back Again, and Endurance.

McCright’s festival participation includes Bang on a Can at MassMOCA, Printing House Festival of New Music (Dublin), Late Music Festival (UK), SEAMUS, Hampden-Sydney Chamber Music Festival, Engelbach-Hart, Kodály Institute, Perilous Night, Fringe, Bridge, Spark Festival of Electronic Music, SPLICE, Festival of Lakes, Rayuela, Source Song, Seward Arts, Zeitgeist Early Music, Duquesne University’s Summer Music, Music 2000, CCM Village Opening, and Minnesota Composers Alliance, as well as programs for the American Composers Forum across the country. McCright completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota, Master of Music Degree in Piano from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and earned his Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance, Magna Cum Laude, from Westminster College. His past teachers include Lydia Artymiw, Lisa Moore, Nancy Zipay DeSalvo, and Richard Morris. He is represented by Proper Canary Artist Services. For more information please visit: www.matthewmccright.org

NICOLA MELVILLE (Piano) received the B.M. from the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), and the M.M., D.M.A., and the Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Melville has commissioned and premiered many works by composers in the United States and her native New Zealand. She has recorded the complete piano rags of William Albright for the Equilibrium label; her most recent CD, released on Innova Recordings, features thirteen new commissions by award-winning composers from around the US, and is now available online. As well as being an advocate for new music, her ongoing interests include interdisciplinary performances that combine music with other Arts in live performance.

ELINOR NIEMISTO (Harp) received the B.M. and M.M. in Harp from the University of Michigan and shortly thereafter went to Nova Scotia where she played in the Atlantic Symphony in Halifax. She began teaching at Carleton in 1981 and currently holds endowed chairs in both the Rochester and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Niemisto also teaches harp at St. Olaf and Luther Colleges and Suzuki Harp in Northfield and Owatonna. She performs regionally in choirs, churches, and community orchestras.

NINA OLSEN (Clarinet) received the B.M. in Performance from the University of Denver, the M.M. in Woodwinds, clarinet specialist, from the University of Michigan, and the D.M.A. in Clarinet Performance from the University of Minnesota. She is a member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, and has also performed with other area groups including the Minnesota Sinfonia, the Duluth-Superior Symphony, and Thursday Musical. She is on the faculty of the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis, where she is also chair of the Winds, Brass, and Percussion Department.

Matthew J Olson (Choir) leads a diverse career as a conductor, choral composer, singer, songwriter, arts administrator, and music educator. In the upcoming 2017-18 season, he will serve as: Artistic Director of Oratory Bach Ensemble, a professional baroque orchestra and choir; Visiting Director of the Carleton College Choir; Instructor of Voice at North Hennepin Community College; Guest Conductor of Magnum Chorum; and Assistant Conductor of The Singers, with whom he will lead performances of Joby Talbot’s choral symphony Path of Miracles. His choral compositions and arrangements, which are published with Colla Voce and Santa Barbara, receive increasing performances in the U.S. and abroad. He studied choral and orchestral conducting at St. Olaf College, The Oregon Bach Festival, Michigan State University, The Canford Conducting School (U.K.), and The University of Minnesota. More information may be found online at www.matthewjolson.com. 

ZACHERY PELLETIER (Cello) received the B.M. in music education with an orchestra emphasis from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and with additional post-graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  He has taught 14 years at all levels in the public school setting.  Zack has played in the cello sections of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Chippewa Valley Symphony, Central Wisconsin Symphony, and Green Bay Symphony.  His principal teachers have been Laurence Leviton, Betsy Highland-Husby, and Donald Tracy.

RICK PENNING (Voice) received the B.A. in Music from Luther College, the M.M. from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the D.M.A. from the University of Minnesota. He has a wide range of performing experience including operatic roles and concert appearances with leading American regional opera companies and orchestras. He can be heard on recordings with the Plymouth Music Series Ensemble Singers (now Vocal Essence) and the Cathedral Choir of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral (Minneapolis). He has appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion” as well as Minnesota Public Radio, Dakota Public Television, and CBS’ television program “CBS Sunday Morning.” His voice students have won awards and have gone on to perform with professional opera companies and orchestras across the country and overseas. Besides a busy home voice studio, he is also on the faculty of Augsburg College.

Ann Pesavento

ANN PESAVENTO (Bassoon) A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, Ann Pesavento has taught at Gustavus for 36 years and this year, joins the Carleton faculty as adjunct bassoon instructor. Her graduate degrees are from Butler University and the University of Northern Colorado.  In the Twin Cities, Dr. Pesavento has played at the Guthrie Theatre, the Children’s Theatre, the Walker Art Center and as an extra with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. A strong advocate of chamber music, she was a founding member of the St. Paul wind ensemble, Harmonia Mundi, as well as several Gustavus faculty ensembles: the Baroque Quartet, the Woodwind Trio and Tre Kroner Kvintetten (the faculty woodwind quintet). Her several solo recitals have included collaborations with oboe, flute, clarinet, Classical guitar, and string chamber ensembles.  Dr. Pesavento retired from full-time teaching in 2011 but continues to-date as that school’s bassoon instructor and a woodwind chamber music coach. Past-president of the Minnesota Music Educators Association, Dr. Pesavento is active throughout the region as a private teacher, clinician, conductor and adjudicator.

THOMAS ROSENBERG (Cello) is nationally known as a dynamic teacher, chamber music coach, and performer. He is on the faculties of Carleton College, Macalester College and the McNally Smith College of Music and also maintains a busy pre-college private studio of cellists and chamber ensembles.  A member of the Schubert Piano Trio and The Isles Ensemble, he also performs occasionally with other area ensembles including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra.  Since 1981, he has been Artistic Director of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He is recipient of the “Master Studio Teacher Award” from ASTA Minnesota, the McKnight Performing Artist Fellowship Award, Arts Educator of the Year from the Michiana Arts and Sciences Council, the 2007 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award, top chamber music prizes at the Munich (Germany), Portsmouth (England), and Chicago’s “Discovery” Competitions and is a three-time Naumburg Chamber Music Award finalist.  Previously, he was a founding member of the highly acclaimed Chester String Quartet with whom for twenty years he toured internationally, made numerous recordings and was on the faculty of Indiana University South Bend from 1980-1998.  He has performed and taught at many summer festivals including Aspen and Tanglewood and served as Associate Director and taught at “The Quartet Program.” He currently teaches summers at the Green Lake Chamber Music Festival and at the Midwest Young Artists Summer Chamber Music Camp. Tom is a graduate of Oberlin and the Eastman School of Music where he was teaching assistant to both Paul Katz and Laurence Lesser.  Other teachers include Richard Kapuscinski, Alan Harris, Alta Mayer, and for chamber music, members of the Budapest, Juilliard, Tokyo, Guarneri, and Cleveland Quartets.

MELINDA RUSSELL (Ethnomusicology) received the B.A. from Simon’s Rock Early College, the M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Minnesota, and the Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.  Dr. Russell has a diverse background in ethnomusicology, focusing on a variety of musical traditions in North America, Africa, and the Caribbean. She has published articles on reggae and musical taste, on the Macarena craze of the 1990s, on choral music in an Illinois city, on the folksong repertoire of Americans, on the Star-Spangled Banner in contemporary America, and on including applied music components in lecture courses.  She coedited the books Community of Music and In the Course of Performance: Studies in the World of Musical Improvisation.  Her current research concerns the folk music revival in Minneapolis during the late 1950s/early 1960s.  Dr. Russell was formerly the Book Review Editor for the journal Ethnomusicology, and served as President of the Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology. 

MEGAN SARNO earned B.A. degrees (magna cum laude) in Music and French and Francophone Studies from Dickinson College, and the M.A. and PhD. in Musicology from Princeton University. Her research concerns French musical culture. She is particularly interested in the poetics of Symbolism and expressions of spirituality in the arts. Her book project investigates the role of mystery in the philosophy, concert culture, and music composition of 20th-century France. Research for this project has been funded by a Chateaubriand fellowship. She has presented papers at the annual meeting of the American Musicological Society as well as at international conferences on French music in the United States and abroad. She has published articles on the music of Camille Saint-Saëns and Claude Debussy, and her book reviews have been published in Nineteenth-Century Music Review and NOTES: Quarterly Bulletin of the MLA. Before coming to Carleton, she taught at Princeton University, Montclair State University, and St Olaf College; topics of her courses include modernism, American musical theater, the intersection of religion and music, and the role of women in music history.

TRAVIS SCHILLING (Electric and Acoustic Bass) can be seen in a multitude of musical settings, including musical theater, jazz, rock and pop country, performing over 200 shows a year on both electric and double bass. Travis was one of the founding members of the Atlantis Quartet. Their first record, Again Too Soon, received strong positive reviews on both the local and national level.

As an educator, Travis has been teaching bass for over twelve years and has written his own method book, Bassic Training. Travis joined the McNally Smith College of Music faculty in 2007. Since then he has helped develop several programs, including a slap bass course and a master class series which have included such artists as Bryan Beller and Gary Willis.

HECTOR VALDIVIA (Orchestration, Applied Strings, Chamber Music) received the B.M.A. from the University of Wisconsin and the M.M.A., M.M., and D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. His research interests include the music of Eugene Ysaye, Luisa Adolpha Le Beau, and Amy Beach. Dr. Valdivia recently recorded Beach’s “Variations on Balkan Themes” with the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc, Czech Republic. As a violinist, he performs with the Veblen Piano Trio and recently recorded several new works by Phillip Rhodes, Carleton’s Composer-in-Residence.

DAVID WHETSTONE (Raga, Sitar) is a sitarist-disciple of the renowned Ustad Vilayat Khan, having begun his studies in 1971 with Brian Silver. In 1988 he received an American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Research Fellowship, and has collaborated and toured for over 20 years with poet Robert Bly and Rumi translator Coleman Barks, resulting in numerous recordings and films. In 1992 he co-founded and was Artistic Director of Minneapolis’ Ragamala Music and Dance Theater, supplying the entire repertoire from 1992-1997. In 1999 he premiered excerpts of his new opera, White Nights, with the Rochester (MN) Orchestra and Chorus, soloist Dan Dressen, and conductor Jere Lantz.

MARCIA WIDMAN (Piano) received the Bachelor of Music in Piano from Morningside College and the Master of Music in Piano from the University of Michigan where she studied with Benning Dexter. Before coming to Carleton College, she taught at Eastern Michigan University and St. Olaf College. Over a twenty year period, she coached with two Dorothy Taubman teachers, Mary Moran and Teresa Dybvig, and attended ten summer sessions of the Dorothy Taubman Institute. She has a strong interest in historic pianos and how to play them. In 1989 she purchased a piano built by Margaret Hood. It is a copy of a piano built by Nannette Streicher of Vienna in 1816. Its keyboard encompasses 6 1/2 octaves, has five pedals, and is eight feet long. For thirteen years she was organist for the Northfield United Methodist Church. She played year-round for weekly Sunday morning worship, for special services, for memorial services and weddings, etc., and accompanied the Adult Choir. Since 1988 she has been a working member of Valley Natural Foods, a natural food cooperative in south Minneapolis. Valley Natural Foods began in 1977 and presently has over 10,000 members.

LAWRENCE ARCHBOLD (Music History, Criticism, Organ) received the A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California (Berkeley). He has published a book and several articles and essays on both German Baroque and French Romantic organ music, given lectures at national meetings of the American Musicological Society and the American Guild of Organists, and performed over 100 organ recitals.

LAWRENCE BURNETT (Choral Music, Choral Conducting, African-American Music) received the B.M. degree in Vocal Music Education from Texas A & I University, the M.M. degree in Choral Conducting, Vocal Performance, and Vocal Pedagogy from Eastern New Mexico University, and the D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas. His professional background includes solo/stage work with numerous orchestras, choruses, and festivals throughout the country. In 1992 he was awarded the Governor’s Award for African-Americans of Distinction in New York State. Dr. Burnett is an active member of the Music Educators National Conference, and the American Choral Directors Association for which he serves as National Chair of the Repertoire Standards Committee for Ethnic Music and Multicultural Perspectives. See more information about Lawrence Burnett.

STEPHEN KELLY (Music History, Jazz History) received the B.S. from Spring Hill College, the M.A. from Rutgers University, and the Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. He has been a Fulbright Scholar and has published editions of the music of Niccolo da Perugia and co-authored a video tape on the Medieval Monastery. He has also done research focused on the area of jazz reception and the music of Wynton Marsalis. Most recently he has presented “Joan Baez at Spring Hill: A Study of Intersecting Histories.” Dr. Kelly served on the Board of Directors as Treasurer of the College Music Society from 1991 until 1995. In 1997 he was the Associate Dean of the College and was the Dean for Budget and Planning from 1998 to 2004. He currently serves as Treasurer and Board Member of Laura Baker Services Association. He plays sax and clarinet in Occasional Jazz.

ANNE MAYER, Dye Family Professor Emerita of Music, received the B.A. in Music from the College of Wooster and the M.M. in Piano and Music Literature from the Eastman School of Music. At Carleton, she chaired the piano division and was co-chair of the Music Department for fourteen years. In addition to piano, she taught theory, piano literature, keyboard harmony, and coached chamber music. She has performed frequently in the Twin Cities and Duluth and given recitals at many colleges, conferences, and on educational television and National Public Radio. Mayer has also performed in various chamber ensembles and accompanied numerous instrumentalists and vocalists in concert and recording. She is a performing member of Thursday Musical and the Mannheimer Piano Festivals, has served on the Education Advisory Board of the National Piano Foundation and as an officer of the College Music Society, and has published articles for both organizations.

PHILLIP RHODES joined the Carleton faculty as Associate Professor and Composer-in-Residence in 1974. He was appointed the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities in 1981. Born in western North Carolina in 1940, he received degrees from Duke University and the Yale University School of Music. He developed a research interest in traditional Appalachian music which provided not only the basis for several courses he taught at Carleton, but served as important source material for his compositions as well. Music with Appalachian roots is also the focus of his recently released CD, With A Mountain View, which has received international acclaim. Professor Rhodes has been the recipient of numerous commissions and awards including grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a Bush Foundation Fellowship for Artists, the National Opera Association Prize (The Gentle Boy), two Fromm Foundation (Harvard) commissions, and two McKnight Foundation Fellowships. His compositions are published by C.F. Peters, Theodore Presser, EMI, Schott, J. Ballerbach, and Earthsongs Music. Recordings of his works appear on labels including Centaur Records, CRI, First Edition (Louisville), Innova, and New World Records. Major performances of his works include those by the Atlanta Symphony at Carnegie Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Festival and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. A citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters describes Rhodes’ music as “radiating an evocative warmth of expression, while also exhibiting a highly disciplined approach to matters of form, continuity and textual setting.” Phillip Rhodes’ personal website can be found at: www.prhodescomposer.com.

During his twenty-seven years at Carleton, Professor Wells conducted the Carleton Choir and Chamber Singers and taught courses in the music of Stravinsky, Bach, Wagner’s “The Ring”, Survey of Music Literature and Choral Conducting. He served as Co-Chair of the Music Dept., 1973-1982 and in 1972, founded the Carleton Contemporary Ensemble. He also helped organize various music festivals honoring Stravinsky, Haydn, Bach-Handel, and Music of the Americas. Under his direction the Carleton choral groups recorded music by Phillip Rhodes, Steven Mackay and Schubert (with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra). Each spring the Chamber Singers performed staged productions of Gilbert & Sullivan and beginning in 1986, presented annual cabaret shows of music by Weill, Sondheim, Gershwin, Bernstein and others. 

Since arriving in Portland in 1993, has music directed and played for many theater productions. He continues to work extensively with vocalist, Susannah Mars, as Pianist/Music Director.

THOMAS BARTSCH (Collaborative Pianist) pursues an active career as a free-lance pianist and coach/accompanist.  Appearances include Schubert Club, Thursday Musical, Minnesota Fringe Festival, and many competition/audition venues.  In addition, Tom is the Organist and Choir Director at Temple of Aaron Synagogue in St. Paul, and the Organist at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Roseville.

SZU-LING WU (Collaborative Pianist) received B.M. in piano performance and music education from the National Taipei University of Education in Taiwan, a Master of Music degree and an Artist Diploma degree in the Collaborative program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She finished her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 2013. She is currently working for the Minnesota Opera Education program as a piano accompanist.