Faculty & Staff

Justin London received his BM degree in Classical Guitar and his MM degree in Music Theory from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and he holds a PhD in Music History and Theory from the University of Pennsylvania, where he worked with Leonard Meyer. He teaches courses in music theory, the philosophy of music, music psychology, cognitive science, and American popular music. Professor London’s research interests include rhythm and meter, music perception and cognition, and musical aesthetics, often from a cross-cultural perspective. He is currently involved in several joint research projects: micro timings and ensemble coordination in Malian percussion music (with Rainer Polak, RITMO institute, University of Oslo, and Nori Jacoby, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt), the effect of bodily movement on rhythm and tempo perception (with Petri Toiviainen and Marc Thompson, the University of Jyväskylä, Finland), and how the microstructure of musical sounds affects their rhythmic properties (with Anne Danielsen, University of Oslo). Professor London served as the President of the Society for Music Theory in 2007-2009, and President of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition in 2016-2018. For more information, please visit his website.

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 has retired from previous stints as a software engineer and chef/foodtruck owner, and currently enjoys having more time for  music performance and her other passion: handweaving.

Greg Byers, M.M. (Instructor in Cello) uses his talents as a performer, composer, educator and producer to share the joy of music with a diverse range of audiences. His relationship with music began at 2 1/2, when he first studied cello in the Suzuki method. In 2008 Greg became the first person in the history of University of Miami to graduate Summa Cum Laude with a double major in Instrumental Performance/Studio Music & Jazz on cello and bass. Since then he has performed on BBC Two (Later… with Jools Holland) and Univision (Latin GRAMMYs). The winner of the International Journalists Award at the 2020 Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition, Greg was named a Global Music Initiative Artist-in-Residence at MacPhail Center for Music in 2021 & 2022. He is also the recipient of numerous grants, including the 2017 Artist Initiative Grant, the 2020 Next Step Fund and 2022 Creative Support for Individuals. His current projects include The String Showdown, byerself and the Minneapolis String Project. In his spare time, Greg practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and plays with his rescue cats.

LAURA CAVIANI (Jazz Piano)

received the B.M. in Composition from Lawrence University and the M.M. in Improvisation from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where her mentors were Fred Sturm and Ed Sarath, respectively. She has also studied with jazz pianists/composers JoAnne Brackeen and Lyle Mays. She directs the Jazz Area at Carleton, where she conducts the Jazz Ensemble, coordinates all jazz chamber groups and classes, and teaches applied jazz lessons. Over the years, she has toured Japan and Argentina, along with much of the US, both as a freelancer and jazz educator. Recent projects include:

1. Collaborating with Carleton’s Theatre Dept., Spring 2023, “Much Ado About Nothing”
2. Teaching jazz in Scotland with Dr. David Milne in 2022
3. Composing “the Agitators” for Carleton’s Choir, Spring 2021

The Agitators was commissioned by Carleton’s Choir Director, Matthew Olson, and featured over 100 students on Kracum’s stage, including members of the Carleton choir, jazz ensemble, Jazz Choir, and Sax Quartet. This 30–minute work set music to the words of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and Carleton’s own Paul Wellstone, among others. Caviani has recorded with many Twin Cities–based musicians, including most recently Joan Griffith (guitar), Dr. David Milne (sax/flute) and her trio, featuring bassist Chris Bates and drummer Dave Schmalenberger, who perform during a jazz service with her every Sunday at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis.

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.

Julia Ennen (voice)

Julia Ennen is a Twin Cities-based actor, singer, and voice teacher. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Race & Ethnic Studies. After completing two years of AmeriCorps service, her journey took her out east where she earned a Master of Music in Music Theatre and Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy from New York University. She is also proudly trained in Meisner Technique.

Julia served as an Adjunct Instructor of Voice at NYU and performed frequently in both educational shows and in various NYC workshops, readings, and cabarets. Her performing career focuses mainly in musical theatre, and she has performed on many local stages including History Theatre, Theatre Elision, Artistry Theatre, Sidekick Theatre, Lakeshore Players Theatre, Stages Theatre Company, Off Broadway Musical Theatre, The Chameleon Theatre Circle, and The Phoenix Theatre. Julia lives in Minneapolis and works actively as an actor and maintains her thriving private voice studio. For a more comprehensive look at her performance activity and teaching philosophy, please see more at www.JuliaEnnen.com.

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 his B.A. from the City College of New York and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 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, was published by The University of Michigan Press in 2017. Working with Universal Records, Andrew has served as a consultant for several recent Motown reissues. He is also co-author of the history of rock textbook What’s That Sound (Norton). He has been invited to speak nationally and internationally and is active in both the American Musicological Society and the Society for American Music. Andrew teaches courses in American music, focusing on rock, rhythm and blues, and jazz.

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 31st 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.

Zacc Harris (Lecturer in Jazz and Blues Guitar) is a guitarist and composer based in Minneapolis, MN. He is a founding member of the acclaimed modern jazz collective Atlantis Quartet, which was formed in 2006 and has since released five albums. In 2015, the group won the prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists.

Harris has released three albums as a leader on Shifting Paradigm Records: The Garden (2012), American Reverie (2017), and Small Wonders (2021). Small Wonders received a 4-star review in DownBeat Magazine and was included in their Best Albums of the Year list.

In 2017, Harris was named the Twin Cities’ Best Jazz Artist by City Pages, which praised him as “a remarkably fluid guitarist” who “has positioned himself at the center of the Twin Cities jazz world…Whether playing alongside the McKnight-winning Atlantis Quartet or fronting his own Zacc Harris Group, Harris makes his mark, incorporating lessons from the greats into his own forward-looking style.”

Harris has toured throughout the US and UK, with notable performances at London’s Ronnie Scott’s, and the main stage of the Twin Cities and Iowa City Jazz Festivals. His fourth album as leader, Chasing Shadows, will be released in November of 2024.

He has taught at Carleton College since 2014 and at Hamline University since 2009, and has a Bachelor’s degree in music from Southern Illinois University.

Moira Leanne Hill (Instructor in Early Music and Recorder) is a scholar of musicology with research interests in sacred music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, historical performance practice, keyboard tablature notation, and evolutionary musicology. She earned an A.B. in music from Harvard, an M.A. in musicology from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in music history from Yale. Her dissertation investigated the context, content, and impact of C. P. E. Bach’s passion settings. During her doctoral studies, she spent a year in Leipzig as Junior Fellow at the Bach Archive with assistance from a DAAD grant. After receiving her doctorate, she taught at Yale before relocating to Northfield. In 2018 she received the William H. Scheide Prize of the American Bach Society for her work on scribes employed by C.P.E. Bach. In 2023, her edition of his Passion Cantata appeared as part of a scholarly series of that composer’s complete works.

As an avid performer of works from the early music repertoire, Moira plays multiple keyboard instruments, including organ, harpsichord, and clavichord. She has studied with Eduardo Bellotti, Peter Sykes, and Murray Forbes Somerville, and has participated in numerous organ academies across Europe. She has served as assistant organist at the Hildebrandt organ of the church of St. Wenzel in Naumburg (Saale), Germany, an instrument famously inspected by J.S. Bach. Recently she has taken up Baroque and Renaissance recorder and is branching out to other early wind instruments including crumhorn and shawm.

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 2019 she became the only musician in any genre to win five 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. She is also a board member of American Composers Forum. 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.

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.

ANDREA MAZZARIELLO (he/him) is a composer, performer, writer, and teacher. His musical practices include writing songs, making electronic music, and working in notated traditions. His work explores spoken and sung treatments of his own original text, plays with computers and other kinds of electronics, and engages the physiology of performance in novel ways. He writes about listening, musical media, and pedagogy, and teaches and mentors music-makers working in a wide variety of genres and approaches. His music has been performed widely in North America and Europe, and appears on releases by New Amsterdam Records, SEAMUS, Proper Canary, and his own One More Revolution records. The Operating System published his first book, One More Revolution: A Love Song, on Vinyl, in 2018. He teaches composition and music technology at Carleton College, directs the composition program at the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, and mentors and collaborates with young beatmakers, producers, and songwriters in schools and community organizations in Northfield, MN.

MATTHEW McCRIGHT (Piano)

American pianist Matthew McCright has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific and on such prestigious stages as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and Ireland’s National Concert Hall. 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 eight solo recordings; his most recent Hanging by a Thread on the Proper Canary label, What is Left Behind also on the Proper Canary label, Endurance on the Vox Novus 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 piano music of Olivier Messiaen on Albany Records. His solo touring shows include Evening Preludes, The People’s Music, Contemplations: The Music of Olivier Messiaen, Connecting Flights, There and Back Again, Forward Looking Back, 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, Oh My Ears, 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.

Natalia Moiseeva (violin)  Violinist Natalia Moiseeva holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia, and a DMA degree in Violin Performance from the University of Minnesota, United States.

She is a prizewinner of national and international competitions, and she has appeared as a soloist with orchestras both in the United States and in Europe. Ms. Moiseeva served as an Assistant Concertmaster of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra between 2014 and 2023.  Ms. Moiseeva is a recipient of a 2020 Artist Initiative Grant and 2022 Creative Support for Individuals Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Moiseeva also teaches Applied Violin at Macalester College and plays with the Minnesota Orchestra.

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 an endowed chair in the Rochester (MN) Symphony. Ms. Niemisto has earned credits in Suzuki Harp through Book 5 and serves on the Suzuki Harp Curriculum Committee.  She performs regionally in choirs, churches, and community orchestras.

Brooke Okazaki Hailing from Norman, Oklahoma, Brooke McCorkle Okazaki is an Assistant Professor of Music at Carleton College. She specializes in opera, film music, and the music of modern Japan. Okazaki has published on a wide variety of topics including the operas of Richard Wagner, the music of Star Trek, environmentalism and Godzilla, and Japanese punk rock. In her spare time, she likes to exercise, play with her children Kai and Ema,  and jam on double bass with local band Tractörhead.

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) Director of Choral Activities at Carleton College where he directs the Carleton Choir and Carleton Voices, teaches courses in conducting and choral arranging, and serves on the voice faculty. Additionally, Matthew is Artistic & Managing Director of Bach Roots Festival (formerly Oratory) and Associate Conductor of The Singers – MN Choral Artists. The Minnesota Star Tribune called Bach Roots Festival’s 2019 performances of Bach’s B Minor Mass “masterful” and of St. John Passion they celebrated the “many strands of excellence…that came together in a gripping realization.” Recently, Matthew led The Singers in performances of Joby Talbot’s 17-voice choral symphony, Path of Miracles; he also served as chorusmaster for The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s production of Bach’s St. John Passion for which the chorus was praised for being “scrupulously prepared” in a performance that was “one of the most satisfying you could ever hope to hear.” (Star Tribune)

A passionate music educator, Matthew often leads high school choir festivals and recently served as both Visiting Professor at St. Olaf College, and a visiting conductor at Florida State University’s College of Music. In 2024, he was named Minnesota’s Music Educator of the Year (collegiate) by the MMEA. Additionally, Matthew is an experienced singer/songwriter, and an award-winning composer and arranger with works published by Colla Voce, Santa Barbara, SMP, and via his website www.matthewjolson.com. 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.

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 VocalEssence) 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.

THOMAS ROSENBERG (Cello) is nationally known as a dynamic performer, teacher and chamber coach. He has been Artistic Director of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition since 1981 (www.fischoff.org)  teaches cello and chamber music at Carleton and Macalester Colleges, and is Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Music Academy. He also maintains a pre-college home studio where over thirty of his students have performed on NPR’s “ FromThe Top”, have won many awards, gained acceptance to the top music schools, and are members of  professional orchestras and chamber ensembles. As well as regional and national awards for teaching, he has been presented in masterclasses at music schools throughout the United States. Tom is a Prize-winner at the Munich and Portsmouth International Quartet Competitions and three-time Naumburg Award finalist, performs with the Isles Ensemble (http://www.islesensemble.org), and has been a substitute player in both the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra. He has performed with jazz greats Charlie Hayden and Al Foster in Carnegie Hall, performed in all of the major concert venues in NYC as solo cello of the New York Chamber Ensemble and was the founding member of the highly acclaimed Chester String Quartet with whom for twenty years he toured internationally and made numerous recordings. Tom is a graduate of Oberlin as a student of Richard Kapuscinski and The Eastman School of Music where he was teaching assistant to both Paul Katz and Laurence Lesser. His chamber music studies have been with the Budapest, Cleveland, Juilliard, Guarneri and Tokyo quartets. www.tomrosenbergmusic.com

A brilliant and collaborative conductor, Hannah Schendel is driven to perform and program compelling music that explores the human experience. In addition to serving as Visiting Conductor of the Carleton Orchestra, Schendel serves as Cover Conductor with the Minnesota Orchestra where she has assisted Osmo Vänskä, Ruth Reinhardt, and Tito Muñoz, and as Music Director of the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra. Schendel has recently participated in masterclasses with renowned maestri including the Järvi Academy/Pärnu Music Festival with Paavo Järvi, LEAD Foundation!/Fiskars Summer Music Festival with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Eva Ollikainen, and the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music with Cristian Măcelaru. Other highlights include serving as Assistant Conductor for Gregory Spears’ renowned American opera, Fellow Travelers, as Cover Conductor for Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and was a semifinalist in the 2023 Sergey Kussewitzky International Conducting Competition.

Schendel studied orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Mark Gibson, and has been mentored by Johannes Schlaefli, Marin Alsop, Larry Rachleff, Joe Miller, Kathy Romey, Jonathan Martin, and Michelle Miller Burns, among many others.

TRAVIS SCHILLING (Electric and Acoustic Bass) has performed 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, in recent years Travis could be
found on stage with the Legendary 70s group Gypsy, and Minnesota’s own IV Play.
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 twenty years and has
self-published his own method books. Travis was on the McNally Smith College of
Music faculty from 2007 to 2018, where he helped develop curriculum and several
programs, including a slap bass course and a master class series which included such
artists as Bryan Beller, Victor Wooten and Gary Willis.

David Schmalenberger (drums) Dr. David Schmalenberger recently performed on drumset/percussion with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Bill Simenson Jazz Orchestra, Karrin Allyson, DAT Trio, the Uptown Brass, Marilyn Maye, Rebel Fiddle, Take That Back!, the Childrens Theatre Company, and the Freier Department.  He also recently recorded with trumpeter Chuck Lazarus, the Laura Caviani trio with Chris Bates, guitarist David Martin, Adi Yeshaya, guitarist Joel Shapira, and Take That Back!

Schmalenberger received his DMA in Percussion Performance and World Music from West Virginia University, Masters in Performance from the University of Michigan, and BM in Jazz Studies from Capital University.  David endorses Premier drums and Paiste cymbals.

Jeremy Tatar (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Music at Carleton. In 2024, he completed a PhD in music theory at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and his teaching and research interests include sample-based hip hop, disability studies, Polish modernism, and the music of Morton Feldman. Jeremy has previously taught theory and ear training at McGill and the University of Sydney, and his newest project explores representations of disability in recent popular music.

Christopher Thomson (saxophone)

Thomson is a saxophonist, composer, and educator based in Minneapolis, MN focused on creating genre-defying music that incorporates electronic, classical, jazz, and eclectic musical styles in his work as Cedar Thoms with releases Celestial Being (2019) and Brighter Days Ahead (2021) in addition to his work as a saxophonist with other artists.  He passionately explores creative possibilities when musicians get together for collaboration and has worked with artists such as Bon Iver, S. Carey, Father John Misty, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mason Jennings, Dylan Hicks and Small Screens, Anthony Cox, Dosh, among others.  Thomson holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Education in Learning Design and Technology from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

He lives with his wife, Emma, their two children, Avi and Eden, and their spirited dog, Benny.

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.

Ben Valine is a multi-instrumentalist currently based in Minnesota.  He has performed with Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs and opened for John Legend, Sting, and The Jacksons.  While living in Tennessee he worked as a session player and arranger, collaborating with members of the Nashville Cats.  Ben has taught on the music faculties of Belmont, Judson, and Concordia St. Paul.  He has master’s degrees in commercial guitar and classical viola from Belmont, and an undergraduate degree in music from the University of Northwestern, St. Paul.

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; when she joined the cooperative the membership was about 50 households.  By 2015 it had grown to over 10,000.  She retired from working there in 2021 but still continues a strong interest in nutrition and health.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.