The Missouri Fine Arts Academy provides a unique program of artistic, extracurricular, and social opportunities to Missouri's talented high school students, and has done so since 1996. Click here to learn more about MFAA...
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Instructors of the Missouri Fine Arts Academy represent a highly select group. They have been recruited from among the best teachers in Missouri’s schools, colleges, universities, and art organizations. The applications of core faculty members were evaluated by the Academy Director and Coordinator. Finalists were interviewed. Among the characteristics sought in faculty members were knowledge of the subject matter, effectiveness in communication, range of intellectual and cultural interests, evidence of personal giftedness, evidence of professional involvement, experience and interest in working with gifted students, evidence of creativity in teaching, tolerance for ambiguity, commitment to interdisciplinary instruction, adaptability to teamwork, and organizational skills. The faculty and members of the administrative staff are exemplary in their demonstration of these qualities. A diverse faculty is an integral part of the MFAA world. Their primary job function is to provide rich and meaningful educational experiences for the MFAA students with the overlying understanding that everything must occur in a safe and orderly environment. They conduct classes, attend daily assemblies, and assume supervisory roles at extra-curricular events. Many of the core faculty live on campus in Scholars House.
Mark
Anderson
Mark Anderson (core and music faculty) is a multidisciplinary artmaker and visual art educator. He encourages personal development of visual literacy in learners through a combined exploration of design, photography, traditional two- and three-dimensional hand art processes, and digital artmaking media. Anderson is Fine Arts Department Chair at Oak Park High School in Kansas City, MO, where he teaches Art Foundations, Visual Art Photography, Visual Design, and AP Studio Art. Anderson also teaches graduate courses for art educators at the Kansas City Art Institute and is developing an AP Art History course for the University of Missouri. Mr. Anderson is the recipient of the 2008 Missouri Art Education Association (MAEA) Secondary Art Educator of the Year award.
Traci
Bolda
Traci Bolda (core and visual art faculty) is an art educator at Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri, and has been actively involved as a professional in art education since 1998. Ms. Bolda’s experience as an art educator includes public education, art centers, museum education, as well as participation in state and national art education conferences. As an art teacher, her experience within public education has included honors such as being awarded a grant to create a traveling mural with a class of 5th grade students. The mural was then displayed in different locations, such as the Columbia Public Library and the Boone County Government Building. As a museum educator, she worked as an artist-in-residence with the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) and part of the Kraft Art Discovery Program, in which the MCA, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago worked together to integrate the arts into the core curriculum of a Chicago Public School. Ms. Bolda has presented the findings of her graduate thesis research at the 2001 Illinois Art Education Association Conference and the 2003 National Art Education Association Conference. Ms. Bolda holds a Masters of Art in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Rebecca
Bryant
Rebecca Bryant (core and dance faculty) is a dancer/choreographer who collaborates with dancers, musicians, actors and visual artists on both improvisational and choreographed works combining movement, sounds and text. She is a co-founder of the past)(modern performance duo and a Lower Left Performance Collective core artist. She brings dance to the community by performing in traditional theaters as well as site-specific locations, including art galleries, fountains, abandoned electrical factories, rusted spiral staircases, mall escalators, swimming pools and cliff sides. In addition to performing throughout California and around the US, Ms. Bryant has spread her work internationally by performing and teaching in Mexico, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Denmark. She holds a BA in Visual Art from the University of California, San Diego, where she specialized in photography, painting, film and installation, and an MFA in Dance from the University of California, Los Angeles. She teaches modern dance, applied kinesiology and contact improvisation at Missouri State University.
Raymond
Castrey
Raymond Castrey (core and music faculty) is a percussionist/multi-instrumentalist with interests in ethnomusicology and new music. He recently retired from Missouri State University, where he enjoyed a 29-year association with the Department of Theatre and Dance, playing and teaching music for dance. Other experiences include twelve years as a faculty member of the Missouri Fine Arts Academy, five years with the New Arts Festival of F. Myers, FL, and numerous residencies, workshops, and festivals. Mr. Castrey has created music for more than 70 dance, theatre and multimedia presentations, and is active as a performer, teacher, and facilitator of drumming and music activities. He is very pleased to be joining the Missouri Fine Arts Academy for 2008.
Richard
Cline
Richard Cline (core and visual art faculty) spent two years after high school working for Sperry Rail Service, traveling throughout North America obtaining an education from the classroom of life. His was inspired by his travels to embrace his calling in art, so he quit his job and enrolled at St. Charles Community College, which he attended from 1991 to 1993. Mr. Cline spent the summer of 1992 in Spain studying art and experiencing the birthplaces of many great artists. He was a co-founder of Zebra studios in St. Peters, Missouri, a non-profit venue available to local artists and students to show their work. During this time, Mr. Cline participated in various art shows, including a solo exhibition at the college in St. Charles in 1996. He transferred to The School of The Art Institute Chicago in 1994 where he focused on sculpture and ceramics. He participated in several small group shows there including the “Coyote Art Festival” in Wicker Park, IL and was featured on the cover of the 1998 course catalog for the Oxbow School of Art in Saugatauk, Michigan. Mr. Cline received his B.F.A. in 1997 from the School of The Art Institute Chicago. He also received a master’s degree in Education Administration in 2004 from Lindenwood University. He currently teaches at Hope High School in O’Fallon, Missouri, a school designed specifically for at-risk youth.
Todd
Graber
Todd Graber (core and music faculty), a native Ohioan, is currently an Assistant Professor at the State University of NY-Oswego where he teaches private voice, music theory, conducts the Musical Theatre productions and performs actively as recitalist. His students have achieved success on and off Broadway and with numerous national touring shows; on the operatic stage; and have begun their own teaching careers. Dr. Graber has performed professionally with numerous American Opera companies and made his European debut in Biel, Switzerland, singing the role of Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. His latest appearance in Don Giovanni prompted Britain’s Opera magazine to proclaim him “…a clear, even, unforced tenor singing as if Mozart sat at his right hand.” Recent solo engagements include the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio and an appearance with the Anonymous Four in Voices of Light. Dr. Graber is a founding member of the vocal ensemble SATB. Currently in its sixteenth year, the group records and performs vocal chamber music in various recitals throughout the US – most recently in famed Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music and in Cleveland’s Severance Hall.
Jon
Herbert
Jon Herbert (core and theatre faculty) is a full-time instructor of theatre in the brand new fine arts program at Ozarks Technical Community College. Mr. Herbert is a graduate of Missouri State University (MA, Theatre 2007). He has been acting, directing, and teaching theatre for over 15 years in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and California. At OTC, Mr. Herbert teaches acting, script analysis, performance studies, and directing. He has also taught acting and playwriting through OTC’s continuing education program. In addition, Mr. Herbert has coordinated a youth dramatics program at Midtown Carnegie Library. Local acting credits include Twilight: Los Angeles, 365 Days/365 Plays, and Midsummer Night’s Dream. Local directing credits include Picasso at the Lapin Agile and The Journey with Jonah.
Andrea
Land
Andrea Land (core and visual art faculty) recently completed her Master of Fine Arts in photography at the San Francisco Art Institute in California. She is a recipient of the 2006-2008 San Francisco Art Institute MFA Fellowship award and studied with renowned artists Doug Hall, Trisha Donnelly, John Priola, Reagan Louie and Henry Wessel. Her educational background also includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography, a Bachelor of Arts in French and a minor in art history from Missouri State University (MSU), Cum Laude, 2005. Exhibitions in 2007-2008 included those at Red Ink Studios, San Francisco, CA; the Diego Rivera Gallery, SFAI, San Francisco, CA; and the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, St. Louis, MO (winner of the Metzger Memorial Photography Award). She was also recently contacted by RennerBarbosa Gallery in Los Angeles, California; is a finalist for ArtChicago 2008; and was published in the spring 2008 issue of PDN.edu (Photo District News Education). Ms. Land greatly enjoys teaching photography at the San Francisco Art Institute, the University of California at Berkeley with Academic Study Associates and Missouri State University with the Missouri Fine Arts Academy. Additionally, she extends her passion of photography to work with fine arts journals/publications (Internship/Externship with Aperture based in New York City and The New Yorker database), gallery work as coordinator of the Still Lights Gallery at SFAI, and volunteer with PhotoAlliance (including guests such as Olivia Parker, Rinko Kawauchi and Abelardo Morell). Her affinity for the fine arts and French also led to work overseas. During the fall of 2005, Ms. Land taught English in Paris, France and also successfully completed an intensive French study at the Universite Paul Valery III in Montpellier, France (2000-2001). Opportunity also allowed for attendance at ParisPhoto 2007/2005 and the International Photography Festival 2003, in addition to research at the European House of Photography (Paris, France 2005-2006).
Josie
Mai
Josie Mai (core and visual art faculty) is an artist and teacher from Kansas City. She received her undergraduate degree and certificate in art education from the University of Kansas. She then taught art to urban and suburban high school students in the Kansas City area’s public schools and not-for-profit organizations such as Studio 150 and Chameleon, Inc. During the summers she takes groups of volunteer artists, teachers, and therapists to the poorest neighborhoods of Nairobi, Kenya to do community art projects as well as attempt to meet the basic needs of orphaned African children. Ms. Mai received her Masters of Fine Arts degree at Parsons School of Design in New York City in order to explore new territory, develop as an artist, and earn a degree to enable her to teach at the college level. Ms. Mai is currently an Assistant Professor of Art and Art Education at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri where she continues to teach, develop her art work, curate, and exhibit. She is also a founder and the Executive Director of Soulfari Kenya Inc. Please visit www.josiemai.com and www.soulfarikenya.com.
David
McTier
David McTier (core and theatre faculty) is Associate Professor of Theatre at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, where he teaches theatre history, dramatic theory and criticism, and experimental theatre. Raised on a cattle farm in rural Georgia, he holds a Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism from the University of Texas. During the past eighteen years, he has taught on the faculties of the University of Kentucky, the University of Vermont, Agnes Scott College, and Rockhurst University. Dr. McTier has been an active participant in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), and, in 2004, he won the Kennedy Center's Faculty Fellowship in Criticism and attended the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Named multiple times to Who's Who Among America's Teachers, he has spent seventeen summers teaching gifted and talented high school students at the Governor's programs in Virginia, Georgia, and Missouri. Check out his website at www.davidmctier.info.
Don
Nichols
Don Nichols (core and music faculty) is a percussionist, composer and improviser dedicated to artistic innovation and multidisciplinary performance. In addition to his role as Missouri State University's Dance Program Musician, Mr. Nichols founded the dance/music duo PMPD with Rebecca Bryant and is a member of the percussion ensemble Red Fish Blue Fish. In 2000, Mr. Nichols became the first percussionist to receive a Fulbright Fellowship to Sweden, where he worked on numerous solo and ensemble percussion projects. In addition, he has been featured in numerous festivals and concerts throughout Australia, Europe and the USA including Disney Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the Melbourne Festival, and the Agora Festival in Paris. Mr. Nichols has performed and worked with such artists as Max Roach, Evelyn Glennie, Daniel Barenboim, the Martha Graham Dance Company and Roger Reynolds. He holds degrees from Northwestern University, the Musikhögskola in Pitea, Sweden, and the University of California, San Diego.
David
Ollington
David Ollington (core and dance faculty) is an Associate Professor of Dance at Kansas State University and is thrilled to return for his third summer at the Missouri Fine Arts Academy. A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, he holds a BA in Theatre from Kansas State and an MFA in Dance from Texas Christian University. Mr. Ollington choreographed Seussical for the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City and the Seattle Children’s Theatre. He is a two-time recipient of commendations from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for his musical theatre choreography. He has set dances for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The American Heartland Theatre, the Heartland Men’s Chorus, aha! dance theatre, Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, City in Motion Dance Theater, ARC Dance Productions of Seattle, and for the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida. He has performed at the Unicorn Theatre where he played Gregory in Love! Valour! Compassion, Starlight Theatre, the New Theatre Restaurant where he also served as Dance Captain, at the Great Plains Theatre Festival where he has also directed, and for the Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music. He’s taught Dance at the Ballet Academy of Cedar Rapids, the University of Missouri/Kansas City, Avila College, and Kansas City Kansas Community College. The Kansas City Press Club presented Mr. Ollington with two awards in 2003, First Place for Best Entertainment Writing and the President’s Award for Outstanding Work, for his Theatre and Dance column in EKC Magazine.
Thomas
Polett
Thomas Polett (core and music faculty) is currently an Associate Professor of Music at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, where he is the Director of Low-Brass/Jazz Studies and Chair of the Division of Fine Arts. He has held similar positions at Georgia College, Limestone College, and North Greenville College (SC). Dr. Polett earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Mansfield University of PA in 1986, a Master of Music Performance from Arizona State University in 1988, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Trombone Performance from The University of Georgia in 1997. He has studied trombone with Philip Jameson, Gail Wilson, Stephen McEuen, Scott Hartman, and Joeseph Alessi. Dr. Polett has performed with numerous professional symphony orchestras, including the Charleston Symphony, Greenville Symphony, Asheville Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and the Arizona Ballet Orchestra. He is a former member of the South Carolina-based Aurora Brass Quintet, which twice toured Italy, was the 1995 American representative to the Verona International Brass Festival, and served as the Resident Brass Quintet for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. Dr. Polett has made recent solo appearances at the Eastern Trombone Workshop, College Music Society, and Missouri Music Educator’s Association Conference. Dr. Polett was a member of the Cramer Trombone Choir at the 1999 International Trombone Festival in Potsdam, NY, and performed for the 2000 New York Brass Conference as a member of the Missouri Brass Consortium. Dr. Polett is married and has three young children. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and racquetball and remodeling his 100+ year-old Victorian home.
Susan
Rieger
Susan Rieger (core and dance faculty) has been dancing, choreographing and educating in universities, schools and studios throughout the Midwest for the past fifteen years. She served as artistic director of aha! dance theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was also on the faculty of Longview Community College and City in Motion. Ms. Rieger is now artistic director of the 940 Dancers in Lawrence, Kansas. She received a Kennedy Center Award (KCACTA) for choreography in the original play “Lost” at Rockhurst University in January 2004 She received a BA with Honors in Dance from the University of Iowa. She has performed with City in Motion Dance Theater, Kambour Dance Theatre and A Company of Dancers, as well as being a founding member of aha! dance theatre. Her choreography has been featured in the Mid-America Dance Network showcases and reviewed in Dance Magazine. Ms. Rieger’s work has been influenced by contact improvisation, artists in other disciplines and her work as a psychotherapist.
Jung
Mee
Spooner
Jung Mee Spooner (core and music faculty), a native of Seoul, Korea, has displayed remarkable musical versatility as pianist, vocalist, and choral conductor. Mrs. Spooner holds Bachelor degrees from Missouri State University in both Piano and Voice Performance and holds a M.M. in Choral Conducting under the tutelage of Dr. Guy Webb. As a pianist Mrs. Spooner has competed successfully at several state and national piano competitions and was awarded the Kiefer-Young Memorial Scholarship as the outstanding piano student at MSU. She has performed in masterclasses by such noted artists as John Nakamatsu, Anne Koscielny, Stéphane Lemelin, and Krassimira Jordan. She studied piano with Dr. Logan Skelton (Univ. of Michigan) and Dr. Shun-Lin Chou (California State Univ., Long Beach). Mrs. Spooner has served as assistant to Dr. Guy Webb and the University Concert Chorale as well as the MSU Gospel/Collegiate Choirs. She conducted the Concert Chorale’s international tour to Europe and Scandinavia and appears on their latest CD Songs for Scandinavia. During her studies at MSU she was awarded several academic and performance scholarships from Brevard Music Center, The Korean-American Scholarship Foundation Competition, Pi Kappa Lambda Honorary Membership, Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities, and the Golden Key National Honor Society. Up until her recent move, Jung served on the vocal faculty at the University of Idaho’s Lionel Hampton School of Music. She currently is a faculty member at the Missouri Fine Arts Academy since summer 2004 and is active nationally as an adjudicator at various music competitions. Mrs. Spooner is nurturing a private music studio in Lawrence, Kansas.
Steven
Spooner
Steven Spooner (core and music faculty) has performed around the world and is quickly becoming one of the more noted American pianists of his generation. He has performed solo recitals at prestigious venues such as the Salle Cortot in Paris, Holland's Vredenburg Centre, Budapest's Great Hall of the Liszt Academy, Geneva's Fête de la Musique and numerous halls across Europe, Latin America, South America, and the United States. Dr. Spooner's orchestral engagements include recent performances with the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin during their 2005 tour of North America. Last year he made his Carnegie Hall recital debut in a tour sponsored by the Hungarian Government and this season will perform in Chicago, Washington D.C., Budapest, Italy, and Taiwan. Dr. Spooner is a prizewinner at each of the seven international piano competitions he has entered and top prize winner at both the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the Artlivre Chopin/Liszt International Piano Competition. He was awarded First Prize and recipient of the Niekamp Career Grant as most outstanding pianist in French music at the Paris Conservatory and selected by the American Pianists Association to represent the United States at major international piano competitions. He is an active chamber collaborator and has performed with some of the brightest instrumental stars of today including Silk Road Bassist Daxun Zhang, Philadelphia Orchestra Trombonist, M. Dee Stewart, and prize-winning violinist Leor Maltinsky. Dr. Spooner has released two solo recordings on the EMR Classics Label and has studied at Loyola University, Paris Conservatory, Moscow and Tbilisi Conservatories in the former Soviet Union, and earned his doctorate at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has served as guest artist-in-residence at Paris Conservatory Summer Sessions and has been appointed to the Artist Faculty of the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy. Dr. Spooner currently serves on the piano faculty at the University of Kansas and specializes in workshops and lectures on a variety of performance and pedagogical topics. A dedicated and caring teacher, his students have already been named winners of several prizes at national piano competitions.
Emily
Squires
Emily Squires (core and visual art faculty), a native of St. Louis, received a BFA in Printmaking and a BA in Community & the Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. After living, teaching, and creating for a year in South Africa, Ms. Squires relocated to Philadelphia, PA. She currently teaches and works for the Mural Arts Program, a non-profit organization committed to free access to art education for young people and urban transformation through the creative process. Ms. Squires works independently out of Studio 1241, a local printmaking collective. In her spare time, she enjoys baking bread. Ms. Squires has been associated with the Missouri Fine Arts Academy for several years as a student, resident assistant, and now as a faculty member. (MFAA Alum, 1999)
Henry
Vick
Henry Vick (core and theatre faculty) is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri but was born in Charleston, West Virginia. As a member of Actors Equity, Mr. Vick has appeared at Kansas City’s Unicorn Theatre, Heart of America’s Shakespeare Festival, and the Acting Company based in New York City. Mr. Vick loves reading, writing, learning new things, listening to music and following baseball. Favorites include U2, TV’s Lost, the White Stripes, Kansas City Royals, Chess, Science and History. Mr. Vick is the author of several plays and continues to develop new works. He currently lives in New York City where he is pursuing a career in theatre. (MFAA Alum, 1997)
Per Course
Darice
Avakian
Augustson
Darice Avakian Augustson (instrumental faculty) has 30 years experience teaching harp and piano to all ages from beginners to college level and 43 years experience as a performer. She received a BM in harp and voice from St. Francis University where she studied with Sister M. Charles Zeverinck, OSF. She has also studied with Lucy Lewis at Oberlin College. Mrs. Augustson has performed with the Warrenton Virginia Chamber Orchestra; the Concert Band, Orchestra and Chorale of East Central State University in Ada, Oklahoma; the Oklahoma City String Ensemble; Tangerine Tent Summer Theater at Lewis University in Lockport, Illinois; and Bella Musica in Springfield, MO. She is a co-founder of Harps for the Heart, a non-profit organization that provides live harp music at the bedside. She is also a member of Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, Theta Chi Sigma, and the American Harp Society.
Stephanie
Burnette
Stephanie Burnette (accompanist) received her Masters Degree in Piano Pedagogy under the instruction of Fay Adams at the University of Tennessee. Mrs. Burnette completed her Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance as a National Piano Scholarship Winner under the instruction of Dr. David Northington. She is a member of the National Federation of Music Clubs, Suzuki Association of the Americas, Music Teachers National Association, and served as president for the University of Tennessee student chapter Music Teachers Association during the 2004-2005 school year. Mrs. Burnette maintains a private piano studio and has accompanied many of the young singers at Missouri State University and Evangel University. As of April 2007, Stephanie and her husband Mike have enjoyed the arrival of their beautiful daughter Lucy.
Michael
Burnette
Michael Burnette (vocal faculty) finds himself doing many things. He is first a husband and a father, also a singer, performer, voice teacher/coach, preacher, and choral conductor. Mr. Burnette holds a Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he was a Grace Moore and Roy Acuff scholarship winner. His operatic performance credits include Count Paris in Romeo et Juliette, Figaro & Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Tom/John in The Face on the Bar-Room Floor, and Filiberto in Il Signor Bruschino. He was most recently seen as Figaro and Marcello in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra's "A Night of Arias" concert. His musical theatre credits include Once Upon a Mattress, Grease, and Crazy for You. He is also well acquainted with the concert stage as a bass soloist for Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat, and Hadyn's Theresa Mass. Following graduation, he spent four years in full-time Youth and Music ministry. Mr. Burnette has had a lot of involvement with the National Fine Arts Festival having served at both District and National Fine Arts levels as an adjudicator, voice coach, and workshop clinician. Currently, Mike is on the voice faculty at Evangel University, he is the Director of the Home School Choirs of Springfield, he maintains a private voice studio, and has just completed his final year of graduate studies at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. Finally, he and his wife Stephanie are thoroughly enjoying their beautiful one year old daughter Lucy.
Kathleen
Cowens
Kathleen Cowens (music faculty) earned a BM and MS in Music Ed at Missouri State University. She is a Registered Nurse and a Certified Music Practitioner, playing therapeutic music at the bedsides of patients at Cox Hospital through its Healing Through Music Program. She is a member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, maintains a private flute studio, and is on the faculties of Missouri State and Drury Universities.
Christin
Green
Christin Green (dance accompanist) is returning to the Missouri Fine Arts Academy this summer in a different capacity than when she first entered it. In July of 2003, Christin entered the Missouri Fine Arts Academy as a shy, young percussionist. Three weeks later, she exited armed with purpose, direction, and an inviting mind. She learned that being an artist gave her the unique power to be a dynamic and active citizen of the world. Christin is a 2008 graduate of Missouri State University in French and Feminist Literary Theories. During her educational career at MSU, she created an original and sustaining student organization called Jane D.O.E. – Daughters of Eve for women’s equality and empowerment. For her leadership abilities, Christin was honored with the first Emerging Leader award as part of the Women of Distinction of the Ozarks program. She was also granted the opportunity to attend the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life during the summer of 2007. In July, Christin will be moving to Washington, DC to prepare for her graduate studies at George Washington University where she plans to earn a master’s degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Women’s Studies. Christin is honored to be a part of MFAA again as she ties the roots of her transformation together through her drumming and her work with the many wonderful Academy students.
Joel
Griffin
Joel Griffin (instrumental faculty) is a native of Southern Missouri and graduate of Missouri Southern State University with a B.A. in Music Performance and M.M. in Music Theory from Missouri State University. While in college Joel performed with the 1 o’clock Lab Band at Pittsburg State University and the Southern Jazz Orchestra and appeared on several recordings with the band. Joel has studied with Randy Hamm, Dave Pietro, Kim Park, Dr. Charles Thelen, Dr. Phil C. Wise, Dr. Todd Hastings, and Bobby Watson. He is currently on faculty at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, TX and on faculty at Missouri State University's Fine Arts Academy. In demand as a performer, educator and adjudicator all over the country, Joel has performed with names such as: Bob Mintzer, Miles Osland, Vince DiMartino, Bobby Watson, Paul Mckee, Dallas Homb, Billy Hunt, Joan Bender, Allen Hood, Bill Perkins, Kim Richmond, and a recent performance for the current President of the United States, George W. Bush. Joel has played for many musicals such as: 42nd Street, Footloose, Ain’t Misbehavin’, They’re Playing Our Song, Grease, The Pajama Game and others. Joel is a member of several professional organizations such as IAJE, MENC, NBA and CRA. He has published many articles in professional journals across the nation.
Lou
Howard
Lou Howard (accompanist) holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from University of Mary Hardin Baylor and a Masters of Education degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, as well as elementary and kindergarten certifications. Lou’s 27 year teaching career includes teaching elementary music, elementary grades, and kindergarten in Aan Juan, Puerto Rico, and Corpus Christi, Texas. Lou and her family have always loved and participated in many musical activities through the years. Her daughter, Linda, is a professional violinist and lives in New Jersey. Her son, Stuart, is an electrical engineer in Texas. Lou and her husband, Dr. Ronald M. Howard, chose Springfield as their place of retirement in 2000. Since then, Lou has been an accompanist for Children’s Choirs of Southwest Missouri for seven years, the Missouri Fine Arts Academy for five years, and many vocal students for Missouri State University for seven years. Lou traveled to Paris, Normandy, and London during the summer of 2004 with the CCSM Touring Choir.
Jeremiah
Johnson
Jeremiah Johnson (accompanist) has recently come to be known as a well-established performer, teacher, accompanist, and piano technician across the Midwest. As musician since the age of four, Jeremiah has claimed First Prize in the Missouri Music Teachers Association Collegiate Upper Division Piano Competition. In 2007, he took Honorable Mention in the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition. Jeremiah has worked as a piano counselor at the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony Piano and String camp in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Recently, he has accompanied for the Evangel University Opera production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, as well as Springfield Regional Opera’s production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. He is a returning accompanist for the Missouri Fine Arts Academy. Jeremiah is a Friends of Music scholarship recipient at Missouri State University and has received several academic scholarships as well, including the Board of Governors Scholarship and the Missouri State University Leadership scholarship. He participates in a variety of clubs and organizations on campus including: Marching Band, Golden Key International Honor Society, Kappa Kappa Psi, Peer Leaders, Music Major Advisory Board, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Omicron Delta Kappa. In May 2007, Jeremiah graduated Magna Cum Laude in the Honors College with a Bachelor of Music degree from Missouri State University with a minor in English Literature. This fall, Jeremiah will attend the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, to begin work on his graduate studies as a Teaching Assistant in piano.
Amy
Muchnick
Dr. Amy Muchnick (music faculty) possesses a varied background as violist, conductor and clinician. As a violist, she has appeared throughout the United States and in several European settings as both recitalist and as a member of the Hawthorne String Trio. Born and raised in Connecticut, she began her studies at the Hartt School of Music. After joining the Memphis Symphony, she concurrently earned a Master of Music Degree in viola performance from the University of Memphis. In 1988 she was awarded the prestigious Guarneri String Quartet Fellowship to attend the University of Maryland where she received a Doctoral of Musical Arts Degree. Dr. Muchnick is a winner of numerous competitions such as the Emerson String Quartet Competition, Beethoven Young Artists Competition of Memphis, and the Columbia International Chamber Music Competition. Her innovative children's music programs have gained wide recognition for their creativity and educational originality. Dr. Muchnick is currently Professor of Viola and conductor of the Chamber Orchestra at Missouri State University.
Marvin
Murphree
Marvin Murphree (vocal faculty) has appeared in opera, oratorio, song recital and musical theatre throughout the United States and Central America and is a National Association of Teachers of Singing Award winner. Among his operatic roles are Don Alfonzo in Cosi fan Tutte, Sgt. Belcore in L'elisir D' Amore, Count Almaviva in Nozze de Figaro and Silvio in Pagliacci. His musical theatre credits include Tommy Albright-Brigadoon, Fred Graham/Petruchio- Kiss Me Kate, Lancelot- Camelot and Curly- Oklahoma. He has been featured soloist for oratorios such as Messiah-Handel, Creation-Haydn,Stabat Mater dolorosa-Pergolesi, Christmas Oratorio-Saint-Saenz. Critics have called his singing "passionate" and "especially vivid." Some of the organizations with which he has appeared are: Springfield Regional Opera, Lyric Artists of the West in Denver, Heart of Atlanta Network, Radio Kansas NPR Network, The Modern Music Festival in Boulder, CO, Trinity Concerts, Central Oklahoma Concert Series, The Kansas City Bach Festival, Jubilate Concerts in St. Louis and colleges and universities throughout the Midwest. Mr. Murphree is a member of numerous professional organizations and holds both Bachelor and Master of music degrees. He has studied voice with Edwin Quistorff, Harry Morrison and Vernon Yenne. He studied voice pedagogy with the late James McKinney. Currently, while maintaining a very active performance schedule, he is a member of the voice faculty at the Missouri Southern State University as well as The Missouri Fine Arts Academy and is the founder and director of the professional Mosaic Vocal Ensemble.
Rose
Mary
Owens
Rose Mary Owens (vocal music faculty) is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Vocal Studies at Missouri State University. Dr. Owens received her Bachelor of Music (Voice) degree from Pittsburg State University, her MA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia and holds two licentiate degrees from the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. During her student days at the Royal Academy and on many occasions in subsequent years, she studied voice with Dame Eva Turner, internationally acclaimed prima donna, dramatic soprano, and teacher. During 1994-95 she spent a Sabbatical Leave serving as an invited Foreign Educational Expert and Visiting Professor of Music at Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, People's Republic of China. A concert she presented there was rebroadcast to approximately 75 million viewers via Gansu Provincial Television. The career of Dr. Owens has been evenly balanced between teaching and performing. Singers from her studio are now singing around the globe. Dr. Owens has sung in numerous oratorios, operas, and musicals here in Springfield, Missouri, and throughout the world.
Mark
Putman
Mark Putman (technical theatre faculty) teaches sound and theatre design and production classes as well as serving as Production Manager for the Theatre & Dance dept. at Missouri State University. This spring, Mark designed sound for the Lied Center at the University of Nebraska for Carousel, which was co-produced by the departments of Music and Dance and the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. In the spring of 2007, he reprised his role as set designer for The Dance On Widow’s Row with St. Louis Black Rep. Company for their 30th season. Mark’s sound designs for The Eumenides and The Merchant of Venice were both included in the USA’s exhibit at the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. His 2004 lighting design for The River Niger at St. Louis Black Rep. was included in World Stage Design 2005 in Toronto. He has also taught theatre design and production at the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State and University of California, Davis where he received his MFA. Mark’s work has also been seen at Goodspeed Opera House, Hartford Stage, Intiman, Santa Fe Opera, the Alley and Theatre Projects of St. Louis.
Jonathan
Reese
Sneddon
Jonthan Reese Sneddon (accompanist) began formal piano lessons at the age of ten in the small town of Galesburg, Illinois, and immediately excelled and devoted much time in the art being guided by Genevieve Yaw. As his repertoire was increased, the next five years revealed a performance spirit through numerous concerts, solo recitals, and competitions. Jonathan entered the Oberling International Piano Competition as one of the youngest contestants. He has also performed concertos as guest soloist with four symphonies, including the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, begin named co-winner of the symphony’s Young Artist Competition. After moving to Springfield, Missouri, Sneddon continues to develop his skills with Dr. Wei-Han Su, associate professor of piano at Missouri State University, and has been a winner of the Springfield Youth Symphony Youth Talent Auditions and twice a winner of the Missouri Music Teachers Association Auditions. Currently, Jonathan is seeking a bachelor’s degree in piano and violin performance at Missouri State University.
