Conservatory Faculty(in alphabetical order)
| Peter Arnsteinpiano | |
| BM, Manhattan School of Music; MM, University of Illinois; DMA University of Wisconsin-Madison | |
| Dr. Arnstein is well known in the Twin Cities area as a pianist and composer. He has often served as pianist and harpsichordist with the Minnesota Orchestra, and has accompanied many members of the Twin Cities’ two main orchestras and college music faculties. A winner of international competitions in both composition and piano, he has toured the Midwest as pianist and composer-in-residence for the Sylmar Chamber Ensemble, was a frequent pianist with the Macalester Trio. Dr. Arnstein’s compositions include more than a hundred chamber music works, hundreds of piano solos and duets, and music for orchestra and chorus. His music has been published in both the United States and Europe. More at www.peterarnstein.com | |
| David Birrowpercussion | |
| BM, University of Miami; MM, University of Minnesota | |
| David Birrow is a percussionist and educator in the Twin Cities. A versatile performer, his interests range from Orchestral to World Music to Jazz to New Music. He has performed throughout Europe and South America as an orchestral percussionist. Locally, David performs with RenegadeEnsemble, a contemporary chamber group. He also plays vibraphone with a jazz quartet. | |
| Karen Brooksbassoon | |
| M.M., New England Conservatory of Music. B.M., Music Education, University of Lowell | |
| Sarah Carmackoboe | |
| BA, New England Conservatory of Music; MM, University of Minnesota | |
| Sarah is an active freelance oboist. She plays with the Wild Indigo Reed Trio and with Pavia Winds Woodwind Quintet. | |
| Kim Craigpiano | |
| BA cum laude, San Jose State Universtiy, MA (music), University of Minnesota; Doctoral Studies in piano, University of Minnesota | |
| Orieta Dadoviolin | |
| As a youth Orieta Dadi won numerous national competitions, and has been featured in broadcasts of Albanian National Radio and Television. Her solo appearance with the Tirana Philharmonic at age fourteen received critical acclaim. Beyond her native country, she also performed chamber music concerts in Italy, Germany and France. Ms. Dado followed her musical studies in the USA, and became a winner of the Naftzger Grand Prize, Jefferson Young Artist the Jefferson Symphony, Aspen Young Artists, Hays Symphony, and the Starling Orchestra; and has been featured on a live broadcast of Radio Kansas and on an NPR program in Athens, Georgia. A founder and member of the Emery Trio, she has performed and presented master classes in various summer festivals in Georgia and Kentucky. Additional chamber music performances include those in Aspen Music Festival, Schleswig- Holstein Music Festival, the Cincinnati Bachanalia, and participation in master classes for the Tokyo String Quartet, Rosamünde String Quartet, Opus X Piano Quartet, James Tocco and Yehuda Hanani. Orieta received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where she studied with Orieta with Itzhak Perlman, Kurt Sassmannshaus, America’s foremost teacher Dorothy Delay, Piotr Milevsky and Chee Yun Kim. For several years she was a violin and music theory teacher of the Staling Chamber Orchestra program. Currently she is a substitute musician for the St.Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, an Associate musician of the Columbus (OH) Symphony, and is finishing her Doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati. More at www.dadoviolin.com | |
| Julie Elhardviola da gamba | |
| BA, Concordia College; Performing Artist's Certificate, The Royal Conservatory of Music - The Hague, Netherlands | |
| Julie Elhard appears regularly as a soloist and chamber musician and has made several appearances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, including performing Bach's St. Matthew Passion under the direction of Nicholas McGegan. She has been a guest artist with Apollo's Fire (Clevelend's Baroque orchestra) and performs regularly with The Lyra Baroque Orchestra. She was awarded a Jerome Foundation grant to study vielle and early string playing with Margriet Tindemans and received a Performing Artist Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Netherlands. Elhard has taught at workshops in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and at the Viola da Gamba Society of America's national Conclaves. Julie has createda Suzuki-style program for children to play the viola da gamba. | |
| Cléa Galhanorecorder & Baroque Ensemble conductor | |
| BM, College Santa Marcelina, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Composition Studies, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil; MM, New England Conservatory of Music, Fulbright Scholar; Post Graduate Studies, The Royal Conservatory of Music - The Hague, Netherlands | |
| Internationally renowned recorder player Clea Galhano is an accomplished performer of early, contemporary and Brazilian music. Galhano has performed in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe as a chamber musician, collaborating with recorder player Marion Verbruggen, Belladonna,Lanzelotte/Galhano Duo and the Galhano/ Montgomery Duo and Jacques Ogg. As a featured soloist, Galhano has worked with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Hogwood , Nicholas McGegan and Emmanuelle Haim, Lyra Baroque Orchestra and New World Symphony. Among other important music festivals, Ms. Galhano has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Tage Alter Music Festival in Germany. A popular teacher and ensemble director, Galhano regularly conducts workshops across the United States and Brazil. | |
| Asako Hirabayashiharpsichord & continuo | |
| Asako Hirabayashi is recognized internationally as both a masterful composer and gifted harpsichordist. She has been awarded numerous grants and scholarships. In May 2009, she won the coveted McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians. As a composer, Asako has won a number of competitions and grants. In 2008, she won the American Composer Forum's Subito grant to support her first commercial recording project. Her piece "Fandango" won the honorable mention award at the 2008 Alienor International Composition Competition, and Asako was invited to perform her own piece as well as other participants' pieces at the competition. | |
| Ora Itkinpiano | |
| BM, Tel Aviv University; MM Hebrew University of Jerusalem | |
| Ora Itkin was born in Moscow, Russia, where she received her early music education. She later moved to Israel, earning a BM in music from the University of Tel-Aviv and a MM from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has been awarded an educational grant, the Karen Sharet Award, from American-Israeli Cultural Foundation. | |
| Elizabeth Kenopiano | |
| BA, Whitworth College; MA, University of illinois; Dalcroze training, Longy School of Music | |
| Betsy holds music degrees from Whitworth College and the University of Illinois, and Dalcroze Certification from the Longy School of Music, where she is also a License candidate. She is Early Childhood chairperson for the Minnesota Music Teachers’ Association, a former Director of Western Illinois University’s Preparatory Piano School, and has written for the Dalcroze Journal. Betsy is also active as a piano accompanist and church musician. | |
| Ivan Konevpiano and music theory | |
| BM, Manhattan School of Music; MM, University of Illinois; DMA University of Wisconsin-Madison | |
| Rena Krautclarinet | |
| BM and BA, Northwestern University; MM, Rice University; DMA, University of Minnesota | |
| Rena Kraut is Adjunct Instructor of Clarinet at St. Cloud State University. She holds positions with the Duluth-Superior and Green Bay Symphony Orchestras, and has also performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as a guest artist at the University of Central Florida and Emporia State University, and was selected to perform at the 2004 Southern Chapter Conference of the College Music Society. Rena directs the SPCM Clarinet Choir, and is the director of our summer Children's Music Workshop. | |
| Oleg Levinpiano | |
| Diploma with honors, College of Music, Mogilev, Belorussia; BA, University of Minnesota; DMA, University of Minnesota | |
| Mag McDermottirish fiddle | |
| Mag McDermott has an extensive background in Irish fiddle, including both performance and teaching. Her repertoire spans old and new, from incendiary reels to soulful airs. She is devoted to educating youth in playing proficiency, confidence in performance, and musical group camaraderie on the violin and viola. She uses a wide range of musical material and has developed a unique instructional approach for groups and individuals. Her playing can be heard on a number of recordings, and she delights in performance, from concert settings to ceili dance, illuminating the range of Irish fiddle. | |
| Patricia McPhersonpiano | |
| BM, Boston University; MM, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | |
| Patricia McPherson is an active soloist and chamber musician in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Her solo performances have included appearances with the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra, the Eastern Music Festival Young Artist Orchestras, the Raleigh Symphony, and the University of North Carolina Symphony. Ms. McPherson has appeared at the Oregon Piano Festival and was a regional winner and national finalist in the Music Teacher’s National Association Young Artist Competition. McPherson holds a M.M. degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.M. from Boston University where she was a student of Bela Nagy. She also was a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she supervised the festival’s accompanying program. Currently on the faculty of the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music, as well as maintaining a private studio at home, Ms. McPherson collaborates with several Twin Cities choirs, including the Minnetonka Chamber Choir and Symphony Chorus, the Apollo Male Chorus and Partners in Praise Girls Choir. | |
| David Moorechoir and music theory | |
| BM cum laude, Florida State University; MM, University of Cincinnati, Conservatory of Music | |
| J. David Moore has written over 200 arrangements of vocal jazz, spirituals, barbershop quartet, Celtic mouth music, Civil Rights marching songs, early American hymn tunes, sixteenth-century madrigals, and folk music in Ukrainian, Gaelic, Austrian, Brazilian Portuguese, French, and Latin. His recent projects explore music for lute quartet, the poetry of Sylvia Plath, raucous British drinking songs, and the singing meditations of the Taize Community. He has had a long and productive relationship with The Rose Ensemble. David has founded and directed two professional a cappella ensembles since graduate school: Cincinnati-based The Village Waytes and St. Paul's Dare To Breathe, with whom he performed, recorded, and was awarded the McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists in 2001. He has won numerous grants, awards, and residencies from many organizations such as ASCAP, the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and the American Composers Forum. He has been commissioned by many varied organizations such as The Alchemy Project The Arizona Master Chorale, The Choral Arts Ensemble of Rochester, The Minnesota Opera (for whom he wrote a 20-minute opera about alien invasion with a group of fourth-graders), MUSE Women's Choir, The Sapphire Chamber Consort, Shawn Womack Dance Projects, The South Bend Chamber Singers, and The Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus. | |
| Bill Olsonsaxophone and clarinet | |
| BA, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire; MM, Eastman School of Music | |
| Jean Allison Olsonrecorder | |
| BA, Bethel College; Graduate Studies in musicology, University of Minnesota | |
| Teresa Richardsoncello | |
| BM, Indiana University; MM, Indiana University | |
| Cellist Teresa Richardson's solo appearances include concerto performances with the Century Chamber Orchestra and the Metropolitan Symphony, of which she is principal cellist. Ms. Richardson has performed in many orchestras, including the Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Evansville Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, National Repertory Orchestra, and Duluth Superior Symphony. She served as principal cellist of the National Orchestral Institute. | |
| Kimberly Sueokachoir & voice | |
| BM, University of Evansville; MM, University of Minnesota | |
| Vocalist Kim Sueoka has appeared as a soloist in The Owatonna Arts Center Chamber Music Series, The Schubert Club’s Summer Songfest and Courtroom Concert series, Minnesota Guitar Society's Local Artist Concert series, The American Composers Forum SoundCheck Concert series, and The Royal Hawaiian Band's 'Iolani Palace Outdoor Concert Series. She currently sings with The Rose Ensemble, Full Moon Rabbit, with lutenists Phil Rukavina and Paul Berget, and with guitarists Wade Oden and Todd Tipton. She has performed and recorded works by Minnesota composers Abbie Betinis, Carol Barnett, Christopher Gable, Jeffrey Van, Todd Harper, and Libby Larsen. She is a voice instructor at The St. Paul Conservatory of Music and an adjunct professor of voice at Inver Hills Community College. Originally from Kaua'i, Hawai'i, Kim presently resides in the Twin Cities. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at the University of Evansville, Indiana, and a Masters Degree in vocal performance at the University of Minnesota. In 2005, she was awarded a Cultural Community Partnership Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to research the vocal music of ancient to early 20th century Hawai‘i and present a series of concerts and educational activities in the state of Minnesota. She received a finalist award in the McKnight Foundation’s Performing Artists Competition in 2007. | |
| Wendy Tangen-Fosterviolin | |
| BS (music), University of Idaho; MM, University of Wisconsin - River Falls | |
| Dedicated to the Suzuki Approach, Wendy Tangen-Foster has been teaching Suzuki private and group lessons for ten years. Wendy has studied Suzuki Pedagogy with such renowned teachers as Joanne Bath, Ronda Cole, Alice Joy Lewis, Nancy Lokken, Edmund Sprunger, and Craig Timmerman. She has completed Suzuki Violin Teacher Development Units 1 through 5, Violin Practicum, Books 1-4 Overview, Books 1-6 Overview, and Every Child Can. An avid performer, Wendy has studied chamber music with the Philadelphia String Quartet, the Lafayette String Quartet, and the Apple Hill Chamber Players and has performed as a first violinist with the Washington-Idaho Symphony, the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in the Twin Cities. Wendy’s interest and expertise expands beyond classical, having studied jazz violin and improvisation with Randy Sabien. | |
| Sandy Watermanearly childhood | |
| BS Music Education University of Minnesota | |
| Sandy is a composer of children’s musicals and writes and directs a children’s show annually at Unity Church -Unitarian in St. Paul, since 1990. Ms. Waterman also designs and teaches classes for music and theater students at the White Bear Lake summer program. She directs for Stepping Stone Theatre and Brooklyn United Methodist Church. | |
Conservatory Staff
Cléa Galhano
Executive Artistic Director
Elaine Evans
Administration Associate
Laura Nortwen
Administration Associate
Executive Artistic Director
Elaine Evans
Administration Associate
Laura Nortwen
Administration Associate