Conservatory of Music

Mr. Craycraft performs regularly with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as both substitute Principal Percussionist and Principal Timpanist. He has performed with other arts organizations in the area including the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Lyric Opera of the North, the Duluth Festival Opera, Twin Ports Wind Ensemble, and The Big Time Jazz Orchestra. Mr. Craycraft has been a frequent visitor, as a soloist and with various university ensembles, to area schools where he performs and provides clinics. Mr. Craycraft has been the featured soloist at the UWS Tri-State Honors Band and the Northland Youth Music Program. He recently served as Percussion Instructor for the University of Minnesota Duluth's Honor Band Festival and its Northshore Music Festival.

Mr. Craycraft is currently serving as Principal Timpanist of the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra in Lakeside, Ohio (near Toledo). He was a percussionist in the Richmond Symphony Orchestra in Richmond, Indiana from 1999-2004 and also performed with several regional ensembles including the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Craycraft has performed in variety of musical contexts: as a pit musician for musical theater productions, as a former member of the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps, and as a regular performer at new music festivals in the Midwest. He has had the fortune to play under the direction of modern composers such as Steve Reich, Martin Bresnick, Michael Colgrass, John Corigliano, Lukas Foss, and David Del Tredici, et al… Mr. Craycraft performed at the 1999 and 2002 Percussive Arts Society International Conventions at a member of the CCM Percussion Ensemble.

As a current Doctoral candidate at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (CCM), Mr. Craycraft has studied with and performed alongside members of the internationally acclaimed percussion trio Percussion Group Cincinnati with members Allen Otte, Jim Culley, and Rusty Burge. During his residency, Mr. Craycraft performed as soloist with the CCM Wind Symphony and CCM Chamber Players. He is currently at work on a dissertation concerning the percussion Music of William "Bill" Russell. 

Prior to his arrival at St. Scholastica, Mr. Craycraft was a Senior Lecturer and Percussion Instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Superior where he directed the Percussion program and various jazz combos. Mr. Craycraft received his Bachelor's degree from the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio.

CONDUCTING AND COMPOSITION
Steven Smith, conductor and composer

Steven Smith is celebrating his twelfth season as Music Director of the Santa Fe Symphony & Chorus in 2010-11. He also serves as Music Director of the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony, an ensemble devoted to the performance of contemporary music. Since summer 2004, he has also conducted numerous orchestral and opera performances at the Brevard Music Festival.

From 1997 to 2003, Steven served as the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, conducting concerts on the subscription series and at the Blossom Music Festival, in addition to educational and holiday programs. As Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, he appeared with them by invitation at Carnegie Hall.

Steven’s recent guest-conducting activities include appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and Richmond Symphony, as well as numerous programs at Indiana University, including their production of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. Other recent opera productions include Susannah, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Bizet’s Carmen at the Brevard Music Festival, and Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio with Lyric Opera Cleveland.

Orchestral guest conducting has included several seasons with New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia, the Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, Taiwan's National Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Mexico's Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa. In addition, he has appeared with the orchestras of Akron, Colorado, Dayton, Hartford, Kalamazoo, Long Beach, Memphis, Santa Rosa and Toledo as well as at Carnegie-Mellon University and the Aspen Music Festival. He was honored to serve as conductor for the 2009 New Mexico All-State Orchestra.

Mr. Smith is also an active ASCAP award-winning composer. He was named 2008 Ohio Composer of the Year receiving a commission for a new string quartet which was premiered in November, 2008. He has received commissions from the Cleveland Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Eugene Youth Symphony and solo artists. His interactive work Shake, Rattle and Roar has been performed by fifteen orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National Symphony.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Steven earned masters degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also the recipient of the CIM Alumni Association 1999 Alumni Achievement Award. 

Gary Keller is perhaps best known as the professor of saxophone at the University of Miami, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1982. A native of Buffalo, New York, his playing embodies the "upstate tenor" tradition in the mold of Don Menza, Bobby Militello, and Larry Cavelli, as well as the "East Coast" jazz mainstream.  Gary maintains an active performance schedule and he has toured/recorded/performed with a wide diversity of jazz artists and ensembles including Woody Herman, Frank Sinatra, Dave Liebman, Ira Sullivan, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jaco Pastorious, The Jaco Pastorious Big Band, John Pizarelli, Maria Schneider, Jim McNeely, Manny Album, Billy Hart, Kenny Werner, Adam Nussbaum, Chico O'Farrill, Kenny Wheeler, Clare Fischer, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Shelly Berg, and the University of Miami Concert Jazz Band and the American Jazz Philharmonic.  He has performed at major jazz clubs and festivals throughout the world, including Blue Note Tokyo, North Sea Jazz Fest, Montreal Jazz Fest, Duc Du Lombards, and the Bimhaus.  Gary's Debut recording Blues For an Old New Age was awarded a near perfect score from Penguin Jazz, terming it "extremely well done" and "a thinker's delight."  Outside the jazz realm, Keller has performed/recorded with the Florida Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Naples Symphony, St. Petersburg (Russia) Symphony, Chamber Music Palm Beach.

Gary Keller is the leader and founder of the Miami Saxophone Quartet and a Conn-Selmer endorsed artist.  He has both written and been the subject of articles in publications including the Saxophone Journal, Woodwind Player, IAJE Journal, and the Saxophone Symposium. His Jazz Chord/Scale Handbook (Advance Music) is in use at universities worldwide.  For more information, click here.

During her two decades in arts administration, Karen Gahl-Mills has been widely recognized for her innovative perspective on the role that arts institutions can play in building vibrant communities. A proven communicator and strategic planner, she has built a reputation for a stellar combination of leadership, artistic vision, and financial responsibility.

Ms. Gahl-Mills was named executive director of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture in November, 2009. She takes the reins of CAC at a critical time for an organization that, in fewer than three years, has become one of the nation's top five sources of local public funding for arts and culture. To date, 145 Cuyahoga County organizations have been awarded CAC grants worth a combined total of more than $33.5 million.

Most recently, she served as president and executive director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the largest cultural organization in Central New York. With a $7.5 million annual budget and a 39-week season, the orchestra reaches over 225,000 people through nearly 200 full-orchestra and ensemble concerts that take place in 18 counties throughout the state.

Ms. Gahl-Mills launched her career in arts management in 1990 in Los Angeles, where she worked for an award-winning cinematographer as part of a team creating national and international advertising for Philip Morris, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, General Motors, and other global brands. Her work soon led her to Chicago and back to her roots as a musician, first as a development officer for the celebrated Ravinia Festival, summer home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and then as Managing Director of The Rhythm Cafe, an award-winning advertising music production company. Prior to her arrival in Syracuse in 2006, Ms. Gahl-Mills was the executive director of the Westchester Philharmonic in suburban New York City, Westchester County's only professional symphony orchestra.

Ms. Gahl-Mills holds a Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. A vocalist and former cellist, she currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband, Laurence Mills-Gahl, a software developer and trombonist.

One of the world’s leading artist-teachers of viola, Peter Slowik was recently profiled by the Strad magazine as “a man of limitless enthusiasm and purpose” who “mentors high achievers, students who make their mark in top musical positions the world over.”   He has recorded on the Deutsche Grammophon, deutsche harmonia mundi/BMG, American Grammophone, Erato and Cedille labels.  An active chamber musician, Mr. Slowik has performed with cellists Anner Bylsma and Leonard Rose, the Mirecourt Trio, the Saint Petersburg and Vermeer Quartets, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and members of the Cleveland, Chester, Orford, and Smithson quartets. Past orchestral associations include service as Principal Violist of the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, Concertante di Chicago, and the American Sinfonietta.

    As a teacher, Slowik  has been featured at six International Viola Congresses, presented recent Master Classes in Australia, New Zealand, China, the Czech Republic, and Canada. He has served on the faculty of Cleveland Institute of Music, Northwestern University, and Indiana University.  He is currently chair of the String Division of Oberlin Conservatory, and will teach at the Eastman School of Music Spring Semester 2011.   Slowik has received the highest teaching awards of both Oberlin College and Northwestern University, and in 2002 received the Maurice Riley Viola Award from the American Viola Society for "outstanding teaching, scholarship, and performance.” Slowik’s viola students have won prizes in numerous competitions, including the ASTA National Solo Competition, the Chicago Viola Society Solo Competition, the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the Ohio Viola Society  Solo Competition, and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.  They perform in such major American orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and National Symphony, and in university appointments throughout the country. 

In 2010-11 Elizabeth Bishop returns to roster of the Metropolitan Opera for its productions of Don Carlos and Iphigenie en Tauride, to Washington Concert Opera to sing Principessa in Adriana Lecouvreur, to Pittsburgh Opera as Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmelites, and sings Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Verdi's Requiem with Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Her 2009-10 season engagements included appearing as Second Norn in Götterdämmerung, Meg Page in Falstaff and Gertrude in Hamlet, all for Washington National Opera; Amneris in Aida with Atlanta Opera; as soloist in Verdi's Requiem with Utah Symphony, also New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; Adalgisa in Norma at the Chautauqua Institution; and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.

Her engagements for the 2008-09 season included her return to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Second Norn in Götterdämmerung, performing Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath with Pittsburgh Opera, and Magdalene in a concert performance of Der Meistersinger with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She also appeared as soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with the National Philharmonic, Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Maine, Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with both the Florida Orchestra and the Chautauqua Institution, and sang in concert at the Arizona MusicFest.

Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1994, Elizabeth Bishop has returned several times in such roles as Fenena in Nabucco, Venus in Tannhäuser, and Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites. She is a regular presence at Washington National Opera, having appeared as Eboli in Don Carlo, the leading role of the Marquise de Merteuil in Conrad Susa's The Dangerous Liaisons, Fricka in Das Rheingold, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and Emilia in Otello. A former Adler Fellow and member of its Merola Opera Program, Ms. Bishop has returned to San Francisco Opera to sing Tisbe in La Cenerentola, the Mother in Harvey Milk (recorded for the Teldec label), Antonia's Mother in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte. Other notable U.S. engagements include appearances as both Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana and Sara in Roberto Devereux with Washington Concert Opera; Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible with Mobile Opera; Waltraute in Götterdämmerung with Dallas Opera; and Offred in the North American premiere of Poul Ruder's The Handmaid's Tale with Minnesota Opera. International opera credits include principal roles with Teatro Carlo Fenice, Pacific Opera Victoria, and Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Ms. Bishop's tremendous career on the concert stage includes performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Tippett's A Child of Our Time, under the baton of Roger Norrington; and in Ligeti's Requiem, under Esa-Pekka Salonen. She has performed Mozart's "Coronation" Mass, and both Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder and Liebestod with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Mozart's Requiem with the National Philharmonic, and Mass in C Minor with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra; Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony No. 2 with the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra; and Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. She was engaged for further performances of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with the Malaysian Philharmonic, again with Donald Runnicles; sang Messiah with Nicholas McGegan conducting the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Duruflé's Requiem with the National Symphony Orchestra; Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Louisville Symphony, and Lobgesang with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Verdi's Requiem with both National Philharmonic and The Washington Chorus; and Bach's Magnificat with Phoenix Symphony.

Ms. Bishop has also appeared in solo recitals in both San Francisco and Tokyo as well as for the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC. She is a former member of the Juilliard Opera Center and a winner of the 1993 Metropolitan National Council Auditions.
 

VOICE AND OPERA
Ken Weiss
Principal Coach, Washington National Opera

Principal coach Ken Weiss has been an assistant conductor at Washington National Opera since 1998. He has served on the coaching staffs of Wolf Trap Opera, the Baltimore Opera's Young Artist Program, Western Opera Theater, the Maryland Opera Studio, and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. As a conductor, he has led Così fan tutte for the Opera Theater of Lucca, Die Zauberflöte for Opera North in New Hampshire, and The Daughter of the Regiment for Opera New England. He is also a frequent lecturer for the Opera's education division. Mr. Weiss is a graduate of the University of Maryland, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program.

Violinist Takako Masame has been a member if the Cleveland Orchestra since 1985.  Ms. Masame attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo and received an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Dorothy Delay. An active chamber musician, she performs as a founding member of the Amici String Quartet and the Cleveland Chamber Collective.  Ms. Masame has frequently given master classes at Baldwin-Wallace and we are fortunate to welcome her once again. 

Dr. Hong has studied with internationally acclaimed musicians Julian Martin, Leon Fleisher, Daewook Lee, Yong Hi Moon and Dominique Weber. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Peabody Conservatory. Currently she is Assistant Professor of Piano at Missouri State University, and serves as Co-Vice President of Auditions for the Missouri Music Teachers Association.

Wei-Han Su
Associate Professor, Missouri State University

An accomplished soloist, chamber musician and teacher, Paul York has appeared in recital and with orchestras in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. York serves on the string faculty at the University of Louisville, where he maintains an active teaching and performing schedule. Recent solo appearances include a performance of Karel Husa’s Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Colored Field for Cello and Orchestra with the Louisville Orchestra and Vivaldi’s Double Concerto in G Minor with internationally acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. York is a member of the Louisville String Quartet and was a founding member of The Logsdon Chamber Ensemble, a Texas Commission of the Arts Touring ensemble as well as ensemble-in-residence at Hardin-Simmons University. In April of 2006, he performed recitals throughout Japan. As a champion of contemporary music, Mr. York has commissioned works for the cello by such composers as Stefan Freund, Marc Satterwhite, Steve Rouse, Paul Brink, and Fredrick Speck.  He also premiered Alfred Bartle’s new orchestration of Bartok’s First Rhapsody for cello with the Sewanee Festival Orchestra.

Mr. York has participated in numerous summer festivals. He is currently a member of the artist faculty at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, where he performs solo and chamber works, in addition to his teaching schedule. He has also performed at Strings in the Mountains in Colorado, the Abilene Chamber Music Series, and served as principal cello with the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra. He has held principal cello positions with numerous regional orchestras and performed as a member of the cello section of the Saint Louis Symphony under the direction of Leonard Slatkin.

Mr. York received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and his master of music degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he studied with Ronald Leonard. Other teachers include Gabor Rejto, Owen Carman, and Louis Potter. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Mr. York was selected to participate in the prestigious Piatigorsky seminar at the University of South California. Mr. York can be heard on the Centaur, Arizona University Press and CRS labels and is presently recording a CD new works written specifically for him.

ARTS MANAGEMENT
Katie Rose
Promotions Manager
House of Blues Cleveland, Live Nation
 

Kathryn LaBouff grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and attended the University of Michigan School of Music, where she earned her B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. in voice performance. She also studied at the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where she earned a performance certificate. LaBouff is assistant chair of the voice department at Manhattan School of Music, and has coached opera productions for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and the Washington National Opera. Her book, Singing and Communicating in English: A Singer’s Guide to English Diction, was published by Oxford University Press in 2007. She has been on the Manhattan faculty since 1984 and the Juilliard faculty since 1986.

KEYBOARD
Hye-Jung Hong
Assistant Professor, Missouri State University

Dr. Hong has studied with internationally acclaimed musicians Julian Martin, Leon Fleisher, Daewook Lee, Yong Hi Moon and Dominique Weber. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Peabody Conservatory. Currently she is Assistant Professor of Piano at Missouri State University, and serves as Co-Vice President of Auditions for the Missouri Music Teachers Association.

Wei-Han Su
Associate Professor, Missouri State University

    Wei-Han Su is Associate Professor of Piano at Missouri State University. Previously he has served on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory, Peabody Preparatory and the Missouri Fine Arts Academy. Dr. Su's concert activities have taken him to major cities in the U.S., England, Russia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. He has performed in such prestigious venues as the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre, England, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the Hall of Columns, Russia. In 1991, he made his orchestral debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 under the baton of internationally acclaimed conductor Sir Simon Rattle. Dr. Su was a featured recitalist at the Walnut Hill Summer Music Festival in Boston, Massachusetts in 1999 and 2004. He has performed at the Missouri Music Teachers Association State Convention, and has recently presented recitals on concert series in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.