Faculty & Staff
Office of the Dean
Mellasenah Morris Dean, DePauw University School of Music
Mellasenah Morris earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She completed a Master of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. She studied with Julio Esteban and performed in master classes with such artists as Leon Fleisher, Irvin Freundlich, Fernando Laires, and David Burge. Also, she has received coachings from Ann Schein and William Bolcom.
Caroline Jetton Associate Dean for Academics and Advising
Caroline Jetton serves as Associate Dean of Academics and Advising for the School of Music, Director of Music Teacher Education, and Professor of Music. Her teaching responsibilities are in the area of music education and have included elementary and secondary general music, early childhood, diverse needs, foundations of music education, and student teaching supervision.
Mark Rabideau Director of 21CM | 21CM Area Coordinator
Mark Rabideau is a cultural entrepreneur, busy re-imagining how we must prepare musicians to thrive within the shifting marketplace and cultural landscape of the contemporary moment. Mark’s entrepreneurial spirit has led to serving as producer/host of Live from Smoke (NYC); founder and executive/artistic director for Artists Now (Highland Park, NJ); producer of Worlds End, an original work with the American Repertory Ballet; and founder of Art in Unlikely Places, a project fueled by the belief that art’s transformative powers must be made accessible to the underserved.
Jennifer Soster Music Operations Manager
Jennifer C. Soster serves as the Special Projects Liaison and Assistant to the Dean of the DePauw University School of Music. She previously served as the Executive Director of Alumni Relations (2004–13); Associate Director and Operations Manager for Admissions (1999–2004); Director of the Parents’ Fund and Associate Director of the Annual Fund; and Assistant/Associate Director of Alumni Relations for DePauw University.
Admission and Recruiting
George Palton Associate Director of Music Admission
George Palton is currently the Associate Director of Admissions for the School of Music at DePauw University. He holds degrees in Tuba Performance from the University of Kentucky (DMA, MM) and Music Education (BMME, BM) from Bowling Green State University.
Performing Arts Production Staff
Steven R. Linville Director of Productions
Steven Linville received his Bachelor of Music degree from DePauw School of Music and his Master of Music degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He has performed in a variety of roles, including "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec" in the world premiere of Bernard Rands’ opera Vincent (available on Naxos Recordings), "Mayor Upfold" in Albert Herring, and the tenor role in the Midwest premiere of Scott Perkins’ Charon.
Jaye Beetem Design and Technical Director
Jaye designs scenery/lighting, builds sets for the theatre program and the School of Music, and handles technical needs for Green Guest Artists and other guests. When not in the GCPA Shop, she can be found at Opera in the Ozarks where she has been the Technical Director for the past four summer seasons.
Matt Johnson Audio Technician and Assistant Technical Director
Matt Johnson began recording and producing music while completing his bachelor's degree in trombone performance at the University of Iowa. After earning his Bachelor of Music degree he spent an additional year in Iowa City working for the University of Iowa recording studio. Now working for DePauw, Matt oversees the recording studio, operates live sound equipment, and also assists the technical director.
Kate Grimm Event Production Coordinator
Kate Grimm is a 2015 graduate of DePauw University. She joined the DePauw team in 2017.
Jacqueline Robertson Arts Administration Graduate Intern
As a passionate advocate of the arts, Jacqueline champions classical music through her administrative work in arts organizations to promote beautiful, transformative experiences for the surrounding community.
Jenny Von Gerlachter Grant Writer
After graduating with her B.F.A. degree in Dance Performance from Butler University in 2009, Jennifer Von Gerlachter spent six years working at Louisville Ballet, performing, teaching and managing its outreach programs. Currently, she serves as the grant writer for the DePauw University School of Music and teaches ballet at Fleur-De-Lis Academy of Ballet.
Woodwinds
Alistair Howlett Flute
Alistair Howlett was born in Sydney, Australia, and received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He later completed his Masters in Performance at the Hochschule for Music and Theater Munich, Germany, with flute professor András Adorján. From 2006 to 2013, he was Utility Flute with the Opera Australia Orchestra, which performs at the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Candice Kiser Clarinet
Candice Kiser joined the DePauw faculty in 2019 and has been a member of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra as Second Clarinet since 2003. She holds the same chair in the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra (Virginia), and has performed with numerous ensembles such as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Erie Philharmonic, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Baton Rouge Symphony and the Evansville Philharmonic, among others. As a studio recording artist, Ms. Kiser has recorded diverse commercial, educational, and religious musical projects at studios in the Indianapolis area, including many projects for the Hal Leonard Corporation.
Leonid Sirotkin Oboe
As an orchestral performer, Leonid Sirotkin is a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Des Moines Metro Opera. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, he served for almost a decade as principal English horn with the Kirov Opera and Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater under Maestro Valery Gergiev.
Scotty Stepp Saxophone
During 2001-2003 Scotty Stepp was granted a Fulbright Fellowship and a Harriet Hale Wooley scholarship to study in Paris, France, under the direction of acclaimed saxophonist Jean-Yves Fourmeau. Stepp has performed throughout the United States, Europe and China.
Kara Stolle Bassoon
Kara Stolle is principal bassoonist with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. An active recording studio and chamber ensemble musician, Kara has also performed as a baroque bassoonist with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra and as an extra musician with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Brass
James Beckel Trombone and Euphonium
James Beckel is the principal trombonist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and is also a member of the Carmel Chamber Brass Choir. He has appeared as a soloist on many occasions, including with the Indianapolis Symphony.
Robert Danforth Horn
The principal horn of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Danforth has been a member of the symphony orchestras of Grand Rapids, Toledo, and Omaha, and has performed with the Detroit and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras.
Leonard Foy Trumpet
Leonard (Lennie) Foy is Professor of Trumpet at the DePauw University School of Music. A native of the “City of Arts and Innovation”, Winston-Salem, NC, he was born to both a musically dedicated community and musically gifted family. His mother, Elsie Griffin Foy, is a retired soprano and distinguished music educator while his father, the late Bernard T. Foy, Sr., was a renowned pianist and former Supervisor of Music for the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County schools. In 2017, his alma mater R. J. Reynolds Senior High School––a nationally celebrated arts magnet for the past decade––honored the first of its most creative alumni by inducting Lennie as an inaugural member of the Arts Hall of Fame.
Orcenith Smith Tuba | Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion Area Coordinator
The New York Times headline read, “One Who Dares to Reveal a Tuba’s Discreet Charms,” when describing Orcenith Smith’s recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in October of 1997.
Percussion
Ming-Hui Kuo Percussion
Ming-Hui Kuo studied percussion with Dr. Pei-Ching Wu and Mr. Tzong-Ching Ju and was an intern member of Ju Percussion Group from 1993 to 2002. During her time with JPG, she performed in over 500 concerts and hundreds of music-related activities. Her international appearances with JPG include performances in Taiwan, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Macao, Spain, Hungary, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Strings
Nicole Brockmann Viola | String and Chamber Ensembles Area Coordinator
Nicole M. Brockmann enjoys a multifaceted career of performance, teaching, and scholarship. She received her Bacholer of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University and her Master of Music, Artist Diploma, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Yale University. Her viola teachers include Jesse Levine, Paul Silver, and Isaias Zelkowicz.
Andre Gaskins Violoncello
Principal Cellist of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Andre J. Gaskins enjoys a diverse musical career as cellist, conductor, composer and music educator. Maintaining an active schedule as a performing cellist, his recording of Martinu’s Concertino for the Summit Records label was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Awards, in the category of "Best Performance by a small ensemble (with or without conductor)".
Dorian Jackman String Bass
Originally from Billings, Montana, Dorian Jackman is an active freelance double bassist residing in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition to his section positions with the Evansville Philharmonic and Owensboro Symphony, he also performs regularly with a variety of other ensembles, including the Indianapolis Symphony, Nu Deco Ensemble (Miami, FL), Quad Cities Symphony, and IU's New Music Ensemble.
Harriet Moore Harp and Folk Guitar
Harriet Thompson Moore has performed solo and symphonic works with many orchestras throughout the United States, including the North Carolina, Duke University, University of North Carolina, and Indiana University symphony orchestras. She has recorded numerous CDs with DePauw and Indiana State University faculty.
Tarn Travers Violin
Noted for his “polished, atmospheric performances,” Tarn Travers has performed throughout the Unites States, Europe, and Japan. Equally comfortable in all different aspects of the violin repertoire, he was a prizewinner at the Heifetz Guarneri auditions in 2001, which led to a performance on the historic “ex-David” Guarneri, the favored violin of Jascha Heifetz.
Piano Performance
May Phang Piano | Keyboard Area Coordinator
May Phang performs regularly as soloist and chamber musician, in venues such as the Goethe Institute in Bangkok, Tianjin Conservatory Concert Hall in China, Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, Place-des-Arts in Montreal, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington D.C., Chicago Cultural Center, Detroit Institute of Art, and at festivals such as the Singapore Festival of Arts, Montreal International Piano Festival, Karol Szymanowski Festival, Poland, and Festival de música de cámara de Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Secondary Piano & Staff Accompanist
Laura Brumbaugh Staff Accompanist | Vocal Coach
Laura Brumbaugh is a vocal coach and staff accompanist at DePauw University School of Music. She is also on the faculty of the Savannah Voice Festival and serves as music director for the Centerstage Theatre Company’s summer productions in Boulder, Colorado.
Sean Cavanaugh Staff Accompanist
Pianist Sean Cavanaugh has been recognized for his electric and engaging interpretations of music across a wide range of musical styles. He has performed numerous solo and chamber music recitals across the United States, as well as a number of concerto performances.
Amanda Hopson Secondary Piano | Vocal Coach | Senior Staff Accompanist | Accompanying and Secondary Piano Coordinator
Amanda Hopson is a summa cum laude graduate of Augustana College, where she earned her bachelor's degree in piano with Sharon Kleinhuizen Jensen. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees at The University of Texas at Austin, studying with Danielle Martin.
Natalia Rachford Secondary Piano | Staff Accompanist
Russian born pianist Natalia Rachford started her music education at the age of seven in the music school of her native city Rostov-on-Don. She studied under Vera Klyachko, student of the famous Russian pianist Vladimir Sofronitsky, who was a student and friend of Alexander Scriabin.
Tony Weinstein Secondary Piano | Vocal Coach | Staff Accompanist
Tony Weinstein's principal teachers have included the eminent Luba Edlina-Dubinsky at Indiana University, Sedmara Rutstein and Haewon Song at Oberlin, and Derison Duarte at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts.
Secondary Piano
Maureen Carkeek Secondary Piano
Maureen Carkeek received her degrees from DePauw University as an organ major and a SMM from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She held positions at St. George's Episcopal Chapel and the Dutch Reformed Church in Jersey City.
Voice
André Campelo Baritone
Brazilian baritone André Campelo is increasingly recognized for his abilities—as both a singer and as an actor—in a wide range of musical genres, from madrigal to opera, and art song to oratorio.
Troy Castle Vocal Pedagogy
Troy Castle has been recognized for his robust bass-baritone voice, the regional and national success of his voice students, and the quality of his original research. He has covered and performed leading stage roles, including Mr. Laurence in Little Women: The Broadway Musical, Capulet in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Melchior in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Bartolo in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Kerry Jennings Tenor | Voice and Vocal Stage Productions Area Coordinator
Tenor Kerry Lee Jennings enjoys a career that encompasses opera, oratorio, recital, and chamber works. On the operatic stage, performance highlights include over forty lead and supporting roles comprised of early, standard and contemporary repertoire, recently singing the role of Ernesto in Sankt Anton, Austria.
Steven R. Linville Musical and Musical Theatre Scenes
Steven Linville received his Bachelor of Music degree from DePauw School of Music and his Master of Music degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He has performed in a variety of roles, including "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec" in the world premiere of Bernard Rands’ opera Vincent (available on Naxos Recordings), "Mayor Upfold" in Albert Herring, and the tenor role in the Midwest premiere of Scott Perkins’ Charon.
Barbara Paré Soprano
Barbara Paré has extensive singing experience in opera, oratorio, and recital repertoire. She has sung with nationally known opera companies and orchestras and recorded Bernard Gilmore's Five Folksongs for Soprano and Band, for the Klavier Label, with the Cincinnati Wind Symphony under the direction of Eugene Migliaro Corporon.
Caroline B. Smith Mezzo-soprano
Caroline B. Smith is an active recitalist, master class clinician (11 Classical Singer National Conventions, IAA, NATS, Kentucky Governor's School, South Carolina Governor’s School, and throughout the United States) and adjudicator (Classical Singer Nationals/Regionals, NATS, MTNA, NSAL ISSMA, Prelude, Overture).
Jessica Usherwood Soprano
Soprano Jessica Usherwood is an active performer and soloist. As a recitalist, she has performed works including Messiaen’s Chants de terre et de ciel, William Bolcom’s Let Evening Come, André Previn’s Honey and Rue, and Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs. She serves as the soprano of the International Chamber Artists (ICA) of Chicago. With ICA, Jessica has performed on Chicago’s “Live from WFMT” recital series and presented works such as Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem, Britten’s Les Illuminations, Ginastera’s Cantos Del Tucumán, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and Morton Feldman’s Journey To The End Of Night.
Jazz Studies
Leonard Foy Trumpet
Leonard (Lennie) Foy is Professor of Trumpet at the DePauw University School of Music. A native of the “City of Arts and Innovation,” Winston-Salem, NC, he was born to both a musically dedicated community and musically gifted family. His mother, Elsie Griffin Foy, is a retired soprano and distinguished music educator while his father, the late Bernard T. Foy, Sr., was a renowned pianist and former Supervisor of Music for the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County schools. In 2017, his alma mater R. J. Reynolds Senior High School––a nationally celebrated arts magnet for the past decade––honored the first of its most creative alumni by inducting Lennie as an inaugural member of the Arts Hall of Fame.
Steven Snyder Director of University Jazz Ensembles | Jazz Piano
Steven Snyder is a pianist and organist who maintains an active playing schedule locally, nationally and internationally. Snyder was selected as one of 66 pianists from all over the world to compete in the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition, which was held in Paris, France, in October 2002.
Sandy Williams Jazz Guitar
Sandy Williams has been a fixture on the Indiana music scene for several decades. His live performance credits span performing with Idina Menzel, John Waters, Liza Mennelli, Marvin Hamlisch, alt-country rocker Steve Earle, Michael Feinstein’s live PBS special, the Steve Allee Big Band, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.
Dance
Deborah Grammel Dance
Under the direction of George Verdak, Deborah Grammel has performed in the following classical ballets: Les Sylphides, Swan Lake, Raymonda, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. In conjunction with her studies at Butler University, she also trained in Michigan City, New York City, Houston, Chicago, and Miami.
Core Musicianship
Matthew Balensuela Music History
Matthew Balensuela’s books include Music Theory from Boethius to Zarlino (co-authored with David Russell Williams, Pendragon Press, 2007) and the critical edition of the Ars cantus mensurabilis mensurata per modos iuris (Nebraska, 1994).
Nicole Brockmann Musicianship
Nicole M. Brockmann enjoys a multifaceted career of performance, teaching, and scholarship. She received her Bacholer of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University and her Master of Music, Artist Diploma, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Yale University. Her viola teachers include Jesse Levine, Paul Silver, and Isaias Zelkowicz.
Eliza Brown Theory and Musicianship | Composition | Composition Area Coordinator
Eliza Brown is a composer of concert music, music-theater, and opera. Her works have been performed throughout the Americas and Europe by leading interpreters of new music, including Ensemble Dal Niente, Spektral Quartet, ensemble recherche, International Contemporary Ensemble, Network for New Music, Ensemble SurPlus, Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, and Wild Rumpus New Music Collective.
Elissa Harbert Music History
Elissa Harbert is a musicologist specializing in music of the United States, focusing especially on cultural memory and historical representation in dramatic productions for stage and screen. She previously taught at Northwestern University and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Macalester College.
Will Pearson Musicianship
William Pearson, a composer and organist, studied composition at SUNY Purchase with Suzanne Farrin, Du Yun and Huang Ruo, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Erik Lund and Erin Gee. He also briefly studied organ and harpsichord with David Higgs and Bill Porter at the Eastman School of Music.
Scott Spiegelberg Theory and Musicianship | Core Music Studies Area Coordinator
Scott Spiegelberg is interested in the perception of timbre, theory pedagogy, improvisation, and popular music analysis. He is researching how much average listeners are aware of timbre, what timbral sources they can identify, and how much information about timbral sources and qualities affect music enjoyment.
Music Education
Caroline Jetton Director of Music Teacher Education | Music Education Area Coordinator
Caroline Jetton received her B.M.E from Murray State University, M.M. from the University of Memphis, and Ed.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At UIUC, she was the recipient of the Marilyn Pflederer Zimmerman Doctoral Fellowship in Music Education.
Nancy Summitt Instrumental Music Education
Nancy Summitt received her B.M.E. from Arkansas Tech University, M.M. in Music Education from the University of Central Arkansas, and Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Memphis.
Jodi Menke Program Coordinator for the Music Teacher Education Program
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from Cedarville University, Jodi spent several years in the field of education, including classroom teaching, overseeing an after-school learning center, and working with individuals with dyslexia. She now serves as the Program Coordinator for the Music Teacher Education Program.
Ensembles
Craig Paré Director of University Bands; Large Ensemble Area Coordinator
Appointed to the School of Music faculty in 1993, Craig Paré directs the University Band and Symphonic Band, as well as teaches conducting, Percussion Techniques, Brass Techniques, and Music Education Lab. Under his direction, the DePauw University Band has produced ten critically acclaimed compact discs through its CD Recording Project, issued commercially on the Mark Masters label.
Eric Schmidt Director of University Choirs
Hailing from Germany, Eric Schmidt went to Salt Lake City in 2012 to study choral conducting at the University of Utah. Since then, he has performed with numerous groups on the choral landscape in Utah and served as both the associate conductor of Utah Chamber Artists and as the assistant conductor of the Utah Symphony Chorus. In 2016, he made his debut with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall.
Orcenith Smith Director of University Orchestras
The New York Times headline read, “One Who Dares to Reveal a Tuba’s Discreet Charms,” when describing Orcenith Smith’s recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in October of 1997.
Steven Snyder Director of University Jazz Ensembles
Steven Snyder is a pianist and organist who maintains an active playing schedule locally, nationally and internationally. Snyder was selected as one of 66 pianists from all over the world to compete in the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition, which was held in Paris, France, in October 2002.
University Music Faculty
Ayden Adler University Music Faculty
Ayden Adler holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), and the Eastman School of Music (M.A., D.M.A., Ph.D.), her professional background and experience encompasses music performance, scholarship, teaching, and administrative positions at some of the nation’s most esteemed music institutions.
Music Library and Technology
Lynn Rodriguez Hohenstein Music Library Manager
Lynn Rodriguez Hohenstein was classically trained on piano, performed with obscure rock bands on the East Coast in the ’80s, studied jazz at Berklee College of Music, and studied history at Thomas Edison State University. While raising her children, she taught music classes, ensembles and individuals. After living in all of the major urban areas along the East Coast, she now enjoys a quieter life living on a small farm in Indiana—except when she cruises around on her noisy Harley-Davidson or is practicing her bagpipes!
Veronica Pejril Coordinator of the Music Instructional Technology Center (mitc)
Veronica Pejril composes new and experimental music and teaches methods in contemporary music making with digital tools. An alumna of the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois and the Computer Music Center at Princeton, she studied composition with Paul Lansky, Steven Mackey and Milton Babbitt.
Z. Sylvia Yang Music and Performing Arts Librarian
Zoua Sylvia Yang joined the DePauw community in 2016 as the Music and Performing Arts Librarian. She holds master’s degrees in Library and Information Science and in Music History and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and has served as an Association of Research Libraries/Music Library Association Diversity & Inclusion Initiative Fellow.