Ryan Zwahlen
Chair, Music Department
Ryan is one of Southern California’s most sought-after oboists. He has performed multiple times with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Diego Symphony under the batons of Zubin Mehta and Bramwell Tovey. Additionally, he has played with many orchestras in the region including the LA Ballet, Culver City Chamber Orchestra, Riverside Philharmonic, Bakersfield Symphony, San Bernardino Symphony, Santa Monica Symphony, the Center Stage Opera Orchestra and in 2009 he joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Washington) as Principal Oboe. Zwahlen has also been featured in the recording studio on feature films and commercials.
Zwahlen’s passion for music is not limited to orchestral performance. He is deeply committed to chamber music as the Executive Director of the Definiens Project, a non-profit, contemporary chamber music organization. Thanks largely to his leadership, the group completed a residency at UCLA in 2007 and was the Resident Ensemble of the 2009 Fresno New Music Festival. Residency activities were also conducted at LA Valley College, Biola University and USC throughout the 2009-2010 school year. Ryan’s other chamber music activities have included the Tonoi Ensemble, LA Harmonie Ensemble, Santa Monica Symphony Wind Quintet and most recently as a founding member the Vientos Trio. Ryan has also been featured as a conductor. He conducted works at the 2009 Fresno New Music Festival and will be conducting David Conte’s America Tropical (libretto by Oliver Mayer) in October 2010 as part of USC’s Vision and Voices program.
Ryan has taught at both UCLA and Citrus College in California and he joined the faculty of the Las Vegas Music Festival for its 2006 season. In the fall of 2010, Ryan will join the faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Academy as Chair of the Music Department. He has also committed his time and energy to the Children’s Music Workshop of Los Angeles and to the Santa Monica/Malibu United School District.
His debut solo CD, “In the City at Night,” consists of eight solo English horn pieces all written for him. He has also been featured on a CD of wind chamber music by Jenni Brandon.
Ryan is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Chamber Music and Oboe at UCLA. He received his Master of Music degree from Arizona State University and his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He has studied with Marion Kuszyk, Martin Schuring, and Nancy Ambrose King.
Douglas
Ashcraft
Piano instructor
Pianist Douglas Ashcraft has performed to acclaim in recitals
and concerts throughout the United States and in Europe.
A winner of prizes in many competitions, he began his
formal training as a student of Aldo Mancinelli. Masters
and doctoral degrees followed at the University of Southern
California where he worked with pianist John Perry. During
those summers he participated in classes at the Aspen
Music Festival and the Holland Music Sessions in Alkmaar,
Netherlands as a student of pianists John O’Conor,
Marie Francoise Bucquet, and Gyorgy Sandor. As a result
of his participation in the Holland Music Sessions he
was invited to perform in a recital at Amsterdam’s
famed Concertgebouw.
In addition to his solo work Douglas Ashcraft is an active chamber musician and has performed in recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Jacqueline Du Pre Hall at Oxford University in England.
Mr. Ashcraft’s performing career has included radio
broadcasts on New York’s WQXR and live chamber music
recitals on KKGO, KMZT and KUSC in Los Angeles, and BBC
Radio 3 in London.
Read Dr. Ashcraft's Blog
Peter
Askim
Music Director and Composer-in-Residence
Active as a composer, conductor and bassist, Peter Askim
is the Music Director and Composer-in-Residence of the
Idyllwild Arts Academy. He has been a member of the Honolulu
Symphony Orchestra and served on the faculty of the University
of Hawaii-Manoa, where he directed the Contemporary Music
Ensemble and taught theory and composition.
As a composer, he has been called a “Modern Master”
by The Strad and has had commissions and performances
from such groups as the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the
Honolulu Symphony, the International Society of Bassists,
the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Idyllwild Arts Orchestra,
the Portland Chamber Music Festival, and Serenata Santa
Fe, as well as by performers such as flutist/ conductor
Ransom Wilson, Metropolitan Opera soprano Lauren Flanigan,
Grammy-nominated soprano Judith Kellock and violinist
Timothy Fain. His compositions are published by Liben
Music Publishers and the International Society of Bassists,
and his music is recorded on the Gasparo and Albany labels.
His compositions have been performed at the Aspen, Bowdoin,
Music At the Anthology, June in Buffalo and Bang On A
Can festivals, among others, and have frequently been
broadcast on WNYC and Hawaii Public Radio. Mr. Askim won
the 2002 International Society of Bassists Composition
Competition for Eight Solitudes and is a frequent recitalist
for the International Society of Bassists, the Hawaii
Contrabass Festival and the World Bass Festival in Wroclaw,
Poland. He performed and recorded his bass concerto Islands
at the International Society of Bassists convention under
the direction of flutist/ conductor Ransom Wilson.
As a conductor, Mr. Askim has served as Music Director
of the Branford Chamber Orchestra and makes frequent guest
conducting appearances, including the Sewanee Philharmonia,
the Oregon Festival of American Music, the Wroclaw (Poland)
Chamber Orchestra Sotto Voce and the Honolulu Symphony
Orchestra. He has premiered numerous works, including
compositions by composers Richard Danielpour and Christopher
Theofanidis and has collaborated with such artists as
the Miró String Quartet, ‘cellist Matt Haimovitz,
violinists Ian Swensen and Todor Pelev and ‘cellist
John Walz. He has also received critical praise as a jazz
artist in such publications as Jazztimes, the New York
Post and New York Newsday.
He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende
Kunst in Vienna and holds bachelors, masters and doctoral
degrees from Yale University, where he graduated with
Distinction in Music. He also holds a Doctor of Musical
Arts degree in Composition from the University of Texas
at Austin. He studied composition with Dan Welcher, Donald
Grantham, Anthony Davis, Jan Radzynski, Syd Hodkinson
and David Finko, and double bass with George Rubino, Diana
Gannett, Donald Palma, Wolfgang Harrer and Ludwig Streicher.
More information and sound samples at:
www.peteraskim.com
Double
Bassist Magazine - "Making Connections" (Page
1 & 2)
Double
Bassist Magazine - Page 3
Nelms
McKelvain
Piano instructor
Nelms received his Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance
from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and his Master
of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin
where he studied with John Perry. He was an instructor
of piano at East Carolina University and free-lanced as
a performer, accompanist and teacher in New York. In the
Los Angeles area, Nelms served on the faculty of the Los
Angeles Conservatory of Music and was an assistant teacher
to John Perry for ten years. He joined the faculty of
the Academy in 1989, became Music department chair in
1990 and Dean of the Arts in 1992. He has performed solo
and chamber concerts throughout the United States.
Todor Pelev
Violin/Chamber Music Instructor
Todor Pelev first attracted international attention when
he captured the silver medal in the Wieniawski International
Violin Competition in Poland and first prize in the Bulgaria’s
National Violin Competition. After graduating from the
Sofia Conservatory as a student of Boyan Lechev - a protégé
of David Oistrakh, Mr. Pelev continued his studies with
Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School and with Donald
Weilerstein at the Eastman School of Music, while being
his assistant. He won the Eastman Concerto Competition
and the National Symphony Orchestra Competition. He was
also the first prize recipient in the Baltimore Music
Club Competition’s Professional Division and won
the National Contemporary Record Society Competition.
Mr. Pelev has appeared as a guest soloist with major orchestras
including two performances of the Sibelius violin concerto
with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. He has
performed with the Buffalo and Rochester Symphonies, and
with the Baltimore Symphony at the Carnegie Hall. He has
played several times at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
as a soloist in “The Green Umbrella” concert
series and was featured as a soloist at the 70th anniversary
celebration of the distinguished composer John Cage. Todor
Pelev has presented numerous solo recitals and participated
in radio and television broadcasts in Bulgaria, Poland,
Hungary, Taiwan, Japan, Italy, Russia, Canada and in the
United States where his life performances of music by
Mario Davidovsky were broadcasted nation-wide on public
television. Ms. Pelev has performed at the Aspen (Colorado),
the Tidewater (Maryland), the Mackinaw Island (Michigan)
and the Rome (Italy) music festivals, and has been invited
to give concerts and teach at the Bowden Music Festival
in Maine among faculty members from Juilliard, Eastman,
Mannes Schools and the Royal Conservatory, London.
Todor Pelev has been a concertmaster of the Baltimore
Opera, Riverside, South Bay and Redlands Symphony Orchestras
and is presently serving as a concertmaster of the San
Bernardino Symphony and the Redlands Bowl Orchestra .
He has been a faculty member of the California Institute
for the Arts, the University of Redlands, the Pomona College
and the Claremont Graduate University. His former students
include winners of national and international competitions,
concertmasters of important orchestras and college/conservatory
professors.
Todor performs on the 1731 Carlo Bergonzi, “The
Ex-Constable” violin, featured on the recording
“The Glory of Cremona”
Adjunct Music Faculty
Mark Almy
Voice Instructor
Sara Andon
Flute Instructor
Flutist Sara Andon is an international soloist and recording
artist known for her ravishing tone and deeply engaging
musical interpretations. A versatile performer in many
music genre including solo, chamber, symphonic, opera,
ballet, jazz and Broadway, she has performed all over
the world in major concerts venues and on many TV and
radio broadcasts.
Ms. Andon has performed with several orchestras and ensembles
including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony,
Glendale Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles
Mozart Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Orchestra New England,
Redlands Symphony, San Francisco Western Opera Theater,
Miami City Ballet Touring Orchestra, Desert Symphony,
California Philharmonic, Pasadena Pops and Hollywood Bowl
Orchestra. She has worked with such world renown conductors
as Kurt Masure, David Zinman, John Maucheri, Jorge Mester
and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Ms. Andon has also performed with the orchestras for many
Broadway musicals including "Les Miserables,"
Disney's "Beauty and Beast" and the critically
acclaimed hit Broadway show "Wicked" currently
playing at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Ms. Andon has performed
throughout the United States, Italy, France, England,
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece and China including
performances at Carnegie hall, Lincoln Center's Alice
Tully Hall, Merkin Hall (NYC), St. Peter's Basilica in
Rome, "CBS Sunday Morning," Greek Theater, Universal
Amphitheater and the Walt Disney Concert hall in Los Angeles.
She is also the solo flutist with the string chamber ensemble
Da Capo Players based in Orange County as well as Mirror
Visions, a vocal chamber ensemble based in New York and
Paris, France specializing in newly commissioned works
as well as traditional repertoire.
She has been a featured soloist at numerous music festivals
including the Ojai Music Festival (CA.), Norfolk Chamber
Music Festival (CT.), Grand Teton Music Festival (WY.),
Music at Penn's Woods (PA.), Sunriver Music Festival (OR.),
London, England Baroque Flute Festival and the Los Angeles
Bach Festival.
Other solo performances include "Sundays LIVE at
Six" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with
simultaneous radio broadcasts formally on K-MZRT, FM 105.1,
now broadcasted on KCSN, FM 88.5. Ms. Andon was invited
to perform with world renown flutist Ransom Wilson the
Double Flute Concerto (1995) by Steven Stucky (formally
composer-in-residence with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
and currently their New Music Consultant) at Zipper Hall
in downtown Los Angeles. She has also performed with Jeanne
Baxtresser, former principal flutist with the New York
Philharmonic and has made many other solo appearances
performing various concerti by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart,
Griffes, Arnold with several Southland orchestras and
chamber ensembles including the Redlands Symphony and
Mozart Classical Orchestra of Orange County performing
the Mozart Concerto in 'D' Major, K. 314 with her own
original cadenzas.
Ms. Andon received the Master of Music degree in Flute
Performance from USC studying with Janet Ferguson and
Roger Stevens, both former principal flutists with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also earned a postgraduate
Artist Diploma from the Yale School for Music studying
with Ransom Wilson, virtuoso soloist and solo flutist
with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. At Yale,
she was awarded the Thomas Nyfenger Prize for "Outstanding
Performer." Additional studies and master classes
have been with Jim Walker, Jeffery Khaner, Paula Robison,
Sam Baron, Mindy Kaufmann, Judith Mendenhall, Mark Sparks,
Marina Puccinini, Julia Bogorad, William Bennett and Julius
Baker.
Ms. Andon is the Principal/Solo Flutist with the Redlands
Symphony Orchestra. In 1996 she was invited to join the
esteemed faculty of the University of Redlands School
of Music and the Idyllwild Arts Academy, an international
high school of the performing arts.
She is currently an active freelance musician in Los Angeles
and has worked with various artists such as Earth, Wind
and Fire, Kelly Clarkson, Il Divo, Annie Lennox, Scorpions,
Peter Frampton, Jose Feliciano, Dariush, John Tesh, Moody
Blues, Michael Crawford , Brian McKnight and Josh Groban.
She has been on screen for "GETSMART -THE MOVIE"
(2008) as well as the TV show "Avenue 60 and the
Sunset Strip" ( 2006). She can also be heard on many
projects in the TV and Film industry such as "Rush
Hour 3" (2007) and "The Promotion" (2008)
and the Emmy Award-winning daytime dama, "All My
Children" as well as "American Idol "and
numerous projects for the Tokyo Disney 25th Anniversary.
She is also a concerto soloist /recitalist in demand and
has recently completed various classical recordings that
include The Complete W.F. Bach Duo Sonatas, The Complete
J.S. Bach Trio Sonatas and Mozart Duos, op.75 (1-6) as
well as a solo CD, Classical Music for Women.
Please visit her personal website for further information
and current performance schedule at www.SaraAndon.com
Carolyn Beck
Bassoon instructor
Carolyn Beck is the Principal Bassoonist with the Redlands
Symphony and the San Bernardino Symphony, and performs
with several other orchestras in the Los Angeles area
including the Glendale, New West, and Long Beach Symphonies,
as well as studio recording orchestras.
Recent solo performances include two performances of
the John Williams bassoon concerto "The Five Sacred
Trees" in November 2004 with the Redlands Symphony,
and a performance at the International Double Reed Society
in June 2005 of "Breath and Touch", by Alex
Shapiro. Her solo CD "Beck and Call" was released
in November 2005 on Crystal Records and can be purchased
on amazon.com, crystalrecords.com and from other vendors.
Dr. Beck is currently the adjunct bassoon professor at
the University of Redlands and Pomona College, and has
taught at The University of Texas at Austin. She also
teaches bassoon students at Idyllwild Arts Academy and
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. She was formerly
principal bassoonist of the Buffalo Philharmonic and the
Orchesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain.
She received the degrees of Doctor of Musical Arts from
the Manhattan School of Music, Master of Music from the
Yale School of Music, and Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance
from California State University, Northridge.
Paul Carman
Saxophone/Jazz instructor
Saxophonist Paul Carman has been playing jazz “his
way” around Los Angeles for over 35 years. He is
a veteran of the Frank Zappa Band of the late 1980's (in
Frank's own words, "The Best Band You Never Heard
in Your Life.") He toured with Zappa and recorded
on the aforementioned CD plus "Make a Jazz Noise
Here", "Broadway the Hardway", and several
other Zappa compilations. Other artists Paul has played
and recorded with include Kei Akagi, Vinny Golia, Bruce
Fowler, Larry Koonse, Chad Wackerman, Kim Richmond, Brad
Dutz, as well as the usual list of show band types (ie.
Dick Dale and the Del Tones).
Paul has led many of his own original jazz groups over
the years including “Mother Tongue”, “E.S.P.”,
“Triorbits”, “Flying V”, and his
current band “Fourbits”. He is a also member
of the Los Angeles avant collective “WEDU”,
a collaboration with trombonist Joey Sellers and saxophonist
Matt Zebley. An accomplished composer he has released
4 critically acclaimed CD’s under his name and has
composed and recorded music for several independent films.
Paul is very passionate and committed to jazz education.
He has taught jazz, jazz history, saxophone, and computer
music applications at USC, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton,
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Saddleback Collage, and several
high schools around the country. He is the developer of
the acclaimed jazz teaching tool “CD Metronome”
used in virtually every jazz school in the world. Paul
also maintains a private teaching practice where he mentors
young students into the jazz world. Paul is currently
professor of jazz studies and saxophone teacher at Idyllwild
Arts Academy in Idyllwild, California where he resides
with his family.
Francisco J. Castillo
Oboe/Woodwind Ensemble instructor
Francisco Castillo earned his Master of Music in oboe
performance from the University of Southern California
and a Bachelor and Licenciatura in oboe, composition and
orchestral conducting from the University of Costa Rica.
As an oboist, Francisco was a prizewinner at the 34th
Chamber Music Competition in Colmar, France, with the
USC Graduate Woodwind Quintet and he won the first William
Criss Memorial Award at USC in 1985. Francisco is principal
oboist with the Redlands Symphony, California Philharmonic
Orchestra, and the Pasadena Pops Orchestra. Mr. Castillo
has performed with many orchestras including the San Diego
Symphony, San Diego Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New
West Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Long Beach
Symphony, Riverside Philharmonic, Burbank Symphony Orchestra,
San Bernardino Orchestra and the Santa Barbara Symphony
Orchestra. Mr. Castillo works and records for the movie
industry and has performed on CDs with many different
artists. Most recently Francisco recorded the Concerto
for Oboe and Orchestra by Charles Fernandez with
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, England, under
the direction of the composer. Mr. Castillo’s principal
oboe teachers were William Criss, David Weiss, Alan Vogel,
David Busch, Claudio Bondi, Hernan Masis and Barbara Northcutt.
Many of his students have won major solo and chamber music
competitions in the United States, and his students have
continued their studies at the best universities and music
schools in the United States.
Terry Cravens
Terry was a member of the Louisville Orchestra and the
Austin Symphony. Additionally he has performed with the
Vienna Philharmonic, San Antonio Symphony, and the Los
Angeles Philharmonic. He participated in twenty-two first
edition recordings with the Louisville Orchestra conducted
by Robert Whitney, and the Mozart Requiem, Bruckner’s
Seventh Symphony, and Wagner’s Die
Walkure with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by
Istvan Kertesz and Georg Solti. Currently he is an active
free-lance performer in the Los Angeles area and is a
member of the Pasadena Symphony, the Los Angeles Master
Chorale Sinfonia, and the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra.
Judith Farmer
Bassoon instructor
Judith received her education at Indiana University and
at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna. Her principal
teachers were Karl Oehlberger and Mordechai Rechtman.
From 1984 to 1996 she was principal bassoonist of the
Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, performed and toured
regularly with the Camerata Academica of Salzburg
and with numerous chamber music ensembles in Vienna. For
the 1995-96 season she held the position of visiting professor
at the Horchsuchule fur Music in Graz, Austria.
In 1996 Ms. Farmer moved to Los Angeles and since then
has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los
Angeles Chamber Orchestra and others. Her recordings as
a soloist and chamber musician are available on Albany
and Ex-House Records.
Anne
Farnsworth
Jazz Piano instructor
Anne resides on the music faculties of the University
of Southern California and Occidental College and is the
author of Jazz Vocal Techniques. She lives in Los Angeles
after making Boston her home base for several years. There,
she divided her time between performing and teaching at
the John Payne School of Music and her alma mater, New
England Conservatory. Anne has toured extensively, crisscrossing
the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, and the Caribbean,
and has happily shared the stage with jazz legends Harry
"Sweets" Edison, Johnny Griffin, Jaki Byard
and Herbie Hancock. Her latest recording, Saturday Morning,
was released in December 2001.
Yehuda
Gilad
Conductor/Professor/Clarinetist.
At the USC Thornton School of Music, Mr. Gilad has developed
one of the most sought after clarinet studios in the world,
evidenced by the number of new applications he regularly
receives. The accomplishments of Mr. Gilad's teachings
can be best noted through the success of his students,
many of which are competition winning performers and principal
players in ranking orchestras throughout the world. Former
students of Mr. Gilad are currently members of the New
York Philharmonic, Cincinnati and Minnesota orchestras
and the Stockholm, Sweden, Hong Kong, China and Seoul
philharmonics. Mr. Gilad has also produced prizewinners
of the New York Philharmonic Young Artists Competition,
the Pasadena Instrumental Competition, the Dos Hermanas
Competition and other prestigious competitions. In addition
to his positions as professor of Music at USC and as master
teacher at the Colburn School of the Performing Arts,
Mr. Gilad is regularly invited to present master classes
and performances at music conservatories and festivals
worldwide. He has been invited to such institutions as
Kings College, Sweden, the Winter Festival in Spain, the
Curtis Institute, the Mannes College and the Manhattan
School of Music, among others. An accomplished clarinetist,
Mr. Gilad has performed with the Marlboro Music Festival,
Bowdoin Music Festival, San Francisco Chamber Music Festival
and the Israel Philharmonic. He has collaborated as performer
and conductor with many of today’s most prominent
artists including Gil Shaham, Jeffery Kahane, Sara Chang,
Joseph Kalichstein, Vladimir Fletsmand and David Jolley.
Mr. Gilad has had an instrumental role in the founding
and forming of several notable chamber ensembles and festivals.
From 1982 - 1993 he directed the Malibu Strawberry Creek
Music Festibal, an acclaimed annual event that provided
Los Angeles with "a summer festival in which inspired,
enthusiastic performance and intelligent varied programming
are the norm" (Los Angeles Times.) Mr. Gilad also
founded the Yoav Chamber Ensemble which performed at the
Merkin and Carnegie Recital Halls, and the Colburn Woodwind
Chamber Players, which toured Germany, China and major
cities throughout the U.S. Mr. Gilad’s success as
a conductor equals that of his renown as a performer and
teacher. For his contribution to music, Mr. Gilad has
earned numerous accolades including the Distinguished
Teacher Award from the White House Commission on Presidential
Scholars, the Teacher of the Year Award from the Colburn
School, the Israel-America Cultural Foundation Scholarship
and the Robert Simon Award in Music. His former teachers
include Herbert Zipper, Daniel Lewis, William Schaefer,
Mitchell Lurie and Giora Feidman. In addition, Mr. Gilad
participated in numerous master classes with Sergiu Celibidache
and the late Leonard Bernstein. Dedicated to fostering
increased public appreciation and support of classical
music in the United States and abroad, Mr. Gilad has made
frequent appearances on various broadcasts including NBC,
CBS, WQXR, WMTR, KUSC, NJN, Cablevision, and the national
television of Mainland China.
Frank Haggard
Voice Instructor
Chris Hanulik
String Bass instructor
Chris Hanulik joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984 and was appointed Principal Bass in 1987. Mr. Hanulik also served as Principal Bass of the Cleveland Orchestra. During his tenure in Cleveland, he made numerous recordings including Stravinsky's L'histoire du Soldat, conducted by Pierre Boulez for Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Hanulik has won prizes from the International Society of Bassists and has also been a featured artist at several of their international conventions. He has also received numerous awards from the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals. Mr. Hanulik appears regularly on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, New Music Concerts, and with the Mozart In Monterey Festival Orchestra. Mr. Hanulik has served on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Kent/Blossom Summer Music Festival, Pepperdine University and California State University Northridge. He has given masterclasses at The Juilliard School, Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, and in Los Angeles as part of the Corwin Seminars. He is currently on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Hanulik attended The Juilliard School where he studied with famed bass pedagogue Homer R. Mensch.
Marshall Hawkins
Electric Bass/Jazz Piano/Jazz Improvisation instructor
Marshall toured the United States with the Miles Davis
Quintet, played two years with Roberta Flack and traveled
with Shirley Horn. He formed the Marshall Hawkins Quintet
in Washington, D.C., and in California, joined Eddie Jefferson
and Richie Cole's "Alto Madness." Marshall performed
the Sonata for Strings and Piano at Howard University
and co-composed and recorded The Tanner Suite to accompany
an art exhibit by Henry D. Tanner. He has made numerous
recordings with major artists and performed internationally.
Matt Johnson
Percussion Instructor
Matt Johnson, drums; has an extensive list of credits
that includes jazz recordings, radio and television commercials,
numerous TV and film sound tracks and countless live appearances
on national and international stages. Well known for his
jazz stylings, Johnson is equally versed in all forms
of pop drumming and has performed with a range of musical
personalities from Andy Williams and the Smothers Brothers
to the Jack Sheldon, Tom Kubis and Steve Allen Big Bands.
Along with his busy performance schedule, he currently
serves on the Commercial Music faculty at Fullerton College,
as well as a member of the faculty for the Idyllwild Arts
Summer Program Jazz Workshop where he teaches classes
in drum set technique and the music business in general.
He currently puts his years of performance experience
to work as an in demand guest artist/clinician and adjudicator
at high school and college jazz festivals. Johnson also
acts as Master of Ceremonies for Forum Music Festivals.
Johnson, a Louis Armstrong National Jazz Award recipient,
began his professional music career as a Disneyland cast
musician in 1978 and is currently an endorsee and clinician
for Aquarian Accessories, Corp and Paiste cymbals. He
is a member of the American Federation of Musicians, the
American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and
the Percussive Arts Society.
Jeremy Kurtz
Double Bass instructor
Jeremy Kurtz is principal bass with the San Diego Symphony. He was one of fourteen soloists to premiere John Harbison’s “Concerto for Bass Viol and Orchestra.” He won first prize in the solo division of the 1997 ISB Double Bass Competition. Jeremy has performed chamber music at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and has performed as soloist with New Jersey's Riverside Symphonia and Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. A graduate of the Curtis Institute and Rice University, he has commissioned and premiere new music and maintains an active interest in jazz, bluegrass, and folk music. He is a member of the ISB board of directors, and chair of the orchestra division of the 2009 ISB Double Bass Competition. His latest CD is “Sonatas and Meditations.” www.jeremykurtz.com
Donald
McInnes
Viola instructor
World-famous violist and teacher, Donald is known for
his appearances with major orchestras, recitals, chamber
music participation, and numerous master classes. His
affiliation with major schools throughout the United States
has included the University of Michigan, the Conservatory
of Music in Cincinnati, and the University of Washington.
In 1985 he accepted an appointment as Professor of Viola
at the University of Southern California. Presently, he
combines a very busy concert schedule with teaching his
classes of viola students from around the world. He has
appeared with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic,
Boston Symphony, Orchestra Nationale de France, Pittsburg
Symphony, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra,
Toronto Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony,
and Seattle Symphony, among many others. Donald is also
a very active recording artist who can be heard on Columbia,
RCA, Deutsche Grammaphon and Angel (EMI) labels.
Jonathan Moerschel
Viola instructor
Jonathan Moerschel was born in Boston, Massachusetts into a musical family. His mother, a pianist, and his father, a cellist in the Boston Symphony, fostered his early studies both in piano and violin. At the age of sixteen, he began studying the viola with John Ziarko in Boston and chamber music with the violist from the Kolisch Quartet, Eugene Lehner.
Moerschel made his Boston Symphony Hall solo debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra directed by Keith Lockhart in 1997 after taking first prize in the Boston Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. He received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in viola performance from the University of Southern California, studying under Donald McInnes and Ralph Fielding, a Professional Studies Certificate from the Colburn School of Music, and an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School in String Quartet Studies.
Moerschel is the violist of the renowned Calder Quartet, which serves as the Quartet-in-Residence of The Colburn School’s Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. The Quartet has collaborated with several pivotal composers including Terry Riley, Thomas Ades, and Christopher Rouse. The Calder Quartet’s recent recording of the string chamber works by Rouse will be released on the E1 label in September of 2009. The Quartet has also collaborated extensively with indie rock band The Airborne Toxic Event and party rocker Andrew WK, and performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
In his spare time, he enjoys sailing the waters of Southern California and cooking. He plays on the “ex-Adam” Gasparo Da Salo made in the late 16th Century on generous loan from the Stradivari Society.
Andrew Park
Piano Instructor
Dr. Park was born in Korea and raised in a musical family. He gave his first public performance at the age of five and won numerous major competitions in Korea, such as the Korea Times Competition and the Jeon-Buk State Music and the Arts Competition. In 1993, he won the first prize of Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition in Palm Desert, California. Dr. Park has participated and performed in the Boston University Summer Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. Dr. Park is actively performing as a solo musician and a chamber musician nationally and internationally. Dr. Park is a devoted performer of chamber music. He travels around to play chamber music with world’s renowned musicians such as Hai Kyung Suh and his own group, the Park Trio. Dr. Park was also invited to have some performances with OMC Orchestra and ICO Orchestra. Dr. Park resides in Fullerton, Orange County area and his students have won the prizes from numerous competitions throughout the country. He is a chairperson of MTNA Annual Evaluation and Sonata/Sonatina competition. He is also a judge of SYMF and MTAC competitions. Dr. Park has participated in teaching piano at the Idyllwild Arts Academy for two years, and he has worked as a first lecturer at USC Thornton School of Music. He completed his entire bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees at the University of Southern California with a world-class pianist, John Perry. He also taught at USC and LACC as a part time piano faculty. Dr. Park currently teaches at Bethesda Christian University in Anaheim, California. As a conductor, Dr. Park is a music director at the Oriental Mission Church(OMC) and the conductor of the Private Eye Youth Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Park has recorded the Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens with Idyllwild Chamber Orchestra for the children of the world and a Christian CD, “priere” with his chamber group, the Park Trio.
Paul
Sahuc
Voice Instructor/Musical Theatre Repertory Instructor
Paul Sahuc is recognized for his versatility as performer,
pedagogue, and conductor. As a baritone soloist, he has
appeared in opera, oratorio, and concerts with such organizations
as The Michigan Opera Theatre, The New Orleans Philharmonic
and The Minnesota Opera. His discography includes The
Royal Swedish Opera recording of Solitär,
and Der Rosenkavalier with The Minnesota Opera.
As a leading man in musical theatre, he has received acclaim
for his portrayals as Frank Butler in Annie Get Your
Gun, The Poet in Kismet, and Lancelot in Camelot, among others. As a conductor, he has
led performances in many genres, including symphonic,
wind, choral, opera and musical theatre. Paul has produced
some of the finest emerging vocal talent in the United
States. his students are frequent guests of The Metropolitan
Opera, The Spoletto Festival, and The Seattle Opera, to
name a few. He holds a Master of Music degree in voice
performance from The Cincinnati Conservatory, and a Bachelor
of Arts degree in clarinet and voice from The University
of Louisiana-Lafayette. Paul's teaching career has included
work at several universities and music festivals, and
he is in demand as a vocal and choral clinician. In addition
to his duties here at Idyllwild Arts Academy, Paul is
currently a visiting professor of voice at the University
of Redlands and maintains a private voice studio. Paul
is represented by Monica Robinson Artist Management of
New York.
Paul Sahuc, Voice Faculty, will appear as Peter, the
father, in Opera Santa Barbara's Special Family Production
of "Hansel and Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck.
The performance is Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 2:00
& 4:00 PM in the Marjorie Luke Theatre in Santa Barbara.
Ticket information is available at:
http://www.operasb.org/currentseason.html
David L. Scott
Trumpet instructor
David has been a free-lance trumpeter and teacher in the
Los Angeles area since 1983. He is Principal Trumpet in
the Riverside Philharmonic Orchestra, the Redlands Symphony,
and the San Bernardino Symphony. He is also Co-Principal
in the New West Symphony. Mr. Scott has recorded three
historically authentic albums with the Americus Brass
Band; The Dodge City Cow-Boy Band, Wild Wild West Music-Buffalo
Bill’s Cowboy Band, and Music of the Civil War,
(Summit Records). Mr. Scott may also be heard on the movie
soundtracks, Geronimo, Son of the Morning Star, the Tri-Star
motion picture Glory, the IMAX presentation The Alamo,
and CBS’s Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. He may also
be heard on Grolier’s CD-ROM software package entitled
Weapons of War, and the upcoming movie Hidalgo. He has
received degrees from the University of Iowa, and the
University of Southern California. As a soloist Dr. Scott
has performed with New West Symphony, Riverside County
Philharmonic, Redlands Bowl Festival Orchestra and the
Ventura Symphony. He has performed numerous cornet solos
with John Philip Sousa Honor Band and the Americus Brass
Band, and chosen in 1986 to play with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic Institute Orchestra, he has performed under
such noted conductors as Andre Previn, Michael Tilson-Thomas,
Gilbert Levine, Sir Charles Groves, as well as Henry Holt,
Stuart Robertson, Patrick Flynn, Boris Brott, Frank Fetta,
Barbara Silverstein, Daniel Lewis, and David Miller. Mr.
Scott has toured extensively with the Glenn Miller Orchestra
and the Americus Brass Band.
Kurt
Snyder
Horn instructor
Kurt Snyder has a varied and extensive background in music
performance and pedagogy. As a student at UCLA, SMU and
the Juilliard School his teachers included the preeminent
horn players, Vincent DeRosa and Sinclair Lott in Los
Angeles, James London in Dallas and James Chambers in
New York. Mr. Snyder has been passing that knowledge on,
formerly as professor of horn at the University of Nevada
and the California Institute of the Arts, and currently
as the horn instructor for Idyllwild Arts. His students
have gone on to such distinguished schools as Curtis,
Eastman, USC, Oberlin, Manhattan and the Juilliard School.
Mr. Snyder has performed on more than five hundred motion pictures and television broadcasts with major film composers including Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Randy Newman, Alan Sylvestri, Danny Elfman and James Horner. He has also served as principal horn in concert for such artists as Tony Bennet, Henry Mancini, Luciano Pavoratti and The Three Tenors as well as with numerous Broadway shows. His classical experience includes work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, CalArts New Twentieth Century Players, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Opera. Mr. Snyder has toured and recorded extensively as a chamber musician with the New World Brass Quintet, the Sierra Wind Quintet and the Idyllwild Trio.
Lori
Stinson
Voice instructor
A popular American soloist in the Los Angeles area, Lori
was a Western Region Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera
auditions and a winner in the Richard Tucker Foundation
awards. She has performed with the Los Angeles Opera,
San Diego Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, South Bay Opera,
and Utah Festival Opera, and sang the role of Pamina in
Die Zauberflote at the Redlands Bowl.
John Walz
Cello instructor
Hailed as one of the outstanding cellists of his generation,
John has excited audiences on three continents. Born in
Southern California, John Walz began his studies with
Eleonore Schoenfeld. In 1973, he traveled to Switzerland
to study with Pierre Fournier, becoming one of the French
master’s finest pupils. He has made fourteen tours
of Europe, playing recitals and concertos in such important
musical centers as London, Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne, Rome,
Vienna, Hamburg, and Oslo. 1983 took him to Australia,
where he played in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. His
solo engagements with more than 120 symphony orchestras
throughout the world have included performances of 25
different concertos. Most recently he had the privilege
of performing the Dvorak Concerto in Prague, with the
Czech National Symphony Orchestra. This performance, which
took place in the Rudolfinum, Dvorak’s own hall,
was subsequently recorded and released on Carlton Classics
to great acclaim. Equally at home in chamber music and
orchestral playing, he is currently the principal cellist
with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, having previously
held that position with the Long Beach Symphony for twenty
years. As a chamber music artist, he has played with such
luminaries as Leonard Pennario, Andre-Michel Schub, Mona
Golabek, Nathan Milstein, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Pierre
Fournier. In 1979, John Walz, was a founding member of
the Pacific Trio.
Kenton Youngstrom
Classical Guitar Instructor
Kenton Youngstrom, guitarist, composer, and educator records
and performs internationally with the Falla Guitar Trio
(with Adam del Monte and Gyan Riley), and has appeared
in classical and jazz solo and ensemble concerts
in Europe, the Far East, Canada, Mexico and throughout
the U.S. Youngstrom has performed with numerous
jazz notables including flutist Hubert Laws, pianists
Taylor Eigsti and Dave Brubeck, bassist Putter Smith and
drummer Paul Kribeck. Recent compositions include
the score of Behind the Mask of Zorro (History Channel),
Kengyadu - Three Movements for Guitar Trio and Orchestra
(co-written with Gyan Riley and Dusan Bogdanovic), Mary
Pickford - A Life on Film and Hollywood: Hidden From
View (Timeline Films). Recent arrangements include
works for the L.A. Camerata, Pasadena Jazz Orchestra,
and 7 year ZigZag (Next Step Studios). He directs
the guitar program at the Colburn School of Performing
Arts and is on the faculty at Pepperdine University.
Yao Zhao
Cello instructor
