IN DAL CHOI, Professor; Baritone, Vocal Area Coordinator
In Dal Choi, baritone, was born in Korea. Before coming to the United States, he was a member of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra as a violist. He received his voice training at the Julliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mozart Conservatorium in Germany, and at Indiana University where he was granted his Doctor of Music Arts. Dr. Choi has been a soloist in major oratorios such as Brahm's Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Verdi's Requiem, Haydn's Creation, Mendelsohn's Elijah, Handel's Messiah, Rossini's Stabat Matter, Orff's Carmina Burana, Bloch's Sacred Service etc. He has performed major roles in operas including Pagliacci, Tosca, Rigoletto, Traviata, Fidelio, Cosi Fan Tutte, Madama Butterfly etc. He has appeared in concerts and recitals over a hundred times in America, Canada, Korea, China and Hong Kong including recitals at Lincoln Center and Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City. As conductor, he has directed the Festival Chorus for the International Festival sponsored by New York City and United Nations, and the Greater Choral Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He is a professor of Music at James Madison University.
Email: choiid@jmu.edu
JOHN LITTLE, Professor; Tenor
B.S., State University of New York at Fredonia; M.M., Southern Illinois University; D.M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Former student of Richard Sheil, Burt Kageff, Marjorie Lawrence, Mary Elaine Wallace, Ronald Hedlund, David Lloyd, John Wustman and Todd Duncan. Numerous appearances as a solo tenor in both concert and opera.
Email: littleja@jmu.edu
DOROTHY MADDISON, Assistant Professor; Soprano
Soprano Dorothy Maddison received a BM degree St. Olaf College and her MM and DMA in vocal performance at Arizona State University. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and during her professional career in Europe as a lyric-coloratura soprano, she was a full-time soloist with the Stadttheater of Döbeln, Germany, where she performed the roles of Olympia, Antonia, Guilietta and Stella in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Euridice in Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers, and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. She toured Germany singing Christine in the Yeston-Kopit version of Phantom of the Opera. Dr. Maddison is co-author of Kein’ Angst Baby!, a book to help singers audition in Germany. Her discography includes the CD Christmas Art Songs and Songs for Brenda and Bertha featuring the song cycles ME(Brenda Ueland) by Libby Larsen and Brautlieder by Peter Cornelius. She is professor of voice and opera at JMU where she teaches studio voice, solo vocal literature, coaches opera productions, and is developing a summer abroad program for singers in Germany through the JMU Office of International Programs. She has performed as a soloist at JMU in oratorio and contemporary music concerts, as well as with the symphony orchestra and band. Off campus, she has performed in concert and oratorio in the USA, England, Germany and most recently Brazil. She performs regularly with the contemporary music group Colloquy. During 2007 she will appear as the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, perform with the JMU symphony band at the Kennedy Center in the spring, and give further concerts in London and Brazil. She lives in Harrisonburg with her husband Ian Maddison, a retired radiologist, and their two cats, named Sweet and Sour.
Email: maddisdx@jmu.edu
DON RIERSON, Assistant Professor; Director of Opera and Music Theatre
A native of North Carolina, Dr. Rierson received his undergraduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an MM in Opera Production and Ph.D. from the Florida State University. He has directed and served on professional production teams at The Florida State Opera, The Spoleto Festival, The Ash Lawn Summer Festival, Central City Opera and Indianapolis Opera. As Director of Opera and Music Theater at The University of Northern Iowa, he received state recognition for his 1997 production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro as well as acclaim for the 2001 production of The Magic Flute, the inaugural main stage production for the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. The same year, he received the Jean S. Schwartz Memorial Endowment to begin a Music Theater training program for the Gallagher Center and establish a regional company to serve the University and the Cedar Valley.
As Head of International Studies at the American College of Switzerland, he directed Greek Theater and operettas in the Romand region while coordinating study abroad programs for student artists from American Universities. He also lectured on site on topics related to Opera and Art History in Florence, Rome, Venice, Paris and London.
Email: riersodg@jmu.edu
CARRIE STEVENS, Associate Professor; Mezzo-Soprano
Carrie Stevens is highly regarded for her versatility in concert, chamber and operatic venues, spanning styles from Baroque to contemporary music. She has performed with conductors Jeffrey Kahane, Ivan Fischer, Helmuth Rilling, Roger Norrington, Michael Morgan and Carl St. Clair, among others. Her concert experience includes performances with the Oakland Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra. She has enjoyed appearances with the Richmond Chamber Music, Staunton Music Festival, Crested Butte, Kalamazoo Bach, Austin Bach Society, and Oregon Bach Festivals and has been a Fellowship recipient at the Stonybrook Bach Aria Festival. A 1992 winner of the Upper Midwest District Metropolitan Opera Auditions, her operatic experience includes the title roles of Purcell’s Dido and Handel’s Xerxes, as well as Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo, the Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Ma Moss in Copland’s The Tender Land, Elmire in Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe. Carrie has a particular interest in contemporary music and has been involved in many premieres including works by Kirke Mechem, Ofer Ben-Amots, John Baboukis, and Russell Burnham. She holds a Doctorate of Music from the University of Minnesota and is currently Assistant Professor of Voice at James Madison University.
Email: stevencl@jmu.edu
BRENDA K. WITMER, Part Time Instructor; Soprano
B.A., Goshen College, Indiana; M.M., James Madison University. Ms. Witmer taught and performed for two years in Paris, France, before joining the faculty of JMU’s School of Music and, more recently, that of Opera-Festival di Roma (Italy). She is an active member of NATS, and a recipient of the 1993 NATS Internship Award. A member of the College Music Society, she was invited to present lecture-recitals for CMS National Conventions in Puerto Rico and San Francisco.
Ms. Witmer performs regularly at International Music Festivals, including the International Roussel Festival in France and Belgium, the Music Festival of eský Krumlov (Czech Republic), the Savannah International Arts Festival, and the National Opera Institute of St.Charles’ Art and Music Festival (IL). USA premiers include Vranický's Mass in Eb, as well as Ruzicka's Jazz Mass, presented at the Washington National Cathedral. Other performance credits include Mozart's Cosi fan tutte; Léhar's The Merry Widow; Donizetti's Rita; Stephen Paulus' Village Singer; Beethoven's Symphony No.9, Dvorák's Te Deum; Haydn’s Creation; Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem; Fauré’s Requiem; Händel’s Messiah; Mozart’s Requiem; Bach’s Magificat in D and MacMillan’s Búsqueda.
Ms. Witmer has studied privately with Elly Ameling, Linda Mabbs and Marianna Busching. Coaches have included Kenneth Smith and Stephen Crout.
Email: witmerbk@jmu.edu
PAMELA BEASLEY, Part Time Instructor; Soprano
Pamela Beasley, soprano, has been active as both a performer and teacher for more than twenty years. She has appeared in operatic roles with Fort Worth Opera, Mobile Opera, Birmingham Civic Opera, Pensacola Opera, Southern Regional Opera and UM Lyric Theater. Her performance experience also includes music theater roles, oratorio and sacred concert engagements as well as solo recitals. In 1996, she was featured as a soloist at Carnegie Hall.
Mrs. Beasley is also a member of the Performance Faculty at the University of Virginia and serves on the faculty of Operafestival di Roma, Rome, Italy. She has previously served on the faculties of Auburn University-Montgomery, the University of South Alabama, the University of Mobile, Liberty University, and Mary Baldwin College. In addition to applied voice, she has taught solo vocal literature, vocal pedagogy, vocal diction, and has directed choral ensembles.
Professional activities have included a four-year term as State Governor for Alabama’s Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and past Board Member for VA-NATS. Mrs. Beasley was herself a State and Southeast Regional First Place winner of NATS auditions. Her students have also been winners at State and Regional NATS auditions and at district Metropolitan Opera auditions.
She received the B.M.E. degree from the University of Montevallo and the M.M. degree from Southwestern Seminary. She studied voice with Benjamin Middaugh and Lynda Poston- Smith, and vocal pedagogy with James McKinney (The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults) and Jeanette LoVetri (Somatic Voicework).
Emailto: beaslepb@jmu.edu
DAVID NEWMAN, Part Time Instructor; Baritone
American baritone David Allen Newman enjoys an active and varied concert career throughout North America. Hailed as "electrifying" by the Washington Post and noted by the Sacramento Bee for his "rather perfect oratorio voice," he is in particular demand as a Bach specialist. He has performed Messiah with Tafelmusik, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and with Masterwork Chorus in Carnegie Hall; St. John Passion with the American Bach Soloists, Carmel Bach Festival, Chorale Delaware, and the Bach Chamber Orchestra of Honolulu; and St. Matthew Passion with the Bach Society of St. Louis, Baroque Choral Guild, San Francisco Bach Choir, and a national tour with the combined forces of Santa Fe Pro Musica and the Smithsonian Chamber Players.
In his debut with the Washington Bach Consort, Mr. Newman was noted by the Baltimore Sun for his "exquisitely phrased, velvet-toned Mache dich, mein Herz." Other notable appearances include Bach's B Minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio with The Bethlehem Bach Choir, Coffee Cantata, Easter Oratorio, and Christmas Oratorio with the Santa Fe Bach Festival, and Haydn's Creation with The Honolulu Symphony. He was also a featured soloist in the Sorbonne's 2003 Festival Berlioz in Paris with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra.
He appears regularly as a guest artist with the Four Nations Ensemble, including performances in Lincoln Center and Merkin Hall, and has also performed with the Spoleto Festival, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Metropolitan Opera Guild, Opera Birmingham, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Russian National Orchestra. Mr. Newman has taught voice at the University of California, Davis and San Jose State University.
Emailto: newmanda@jmu.edu
SCOTT ZANE SMITH, Part Time Instructor; Class voice
SCOTT ZANE SMITH received a Bachelors in Music Education (BME) with concentrations in voice and piano from James Madison University. He received a Masters in Music (MM) from the conservatory at Shenandoah University with a concentration in accompanying. He was awarded a full scholarship and an assistantship in musical theatre at Shenandoah University and received the Dean's award for a 4.0 GPA. He will complete his course work in May for a Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA) in Music Education at Shenandoah University.
Mr. Smith was Choral Director for Rockingham County Schools for 14 years and was named to Who's Who Among America's Teachers each year. His choral ensembles traveled throughout the United States and Canada in choral competitions receiving superior ratings. He also produced and directed musical productions. He is a active workshop presenter for Music Educators National Convention (MENC) of How to Produce Musical Theatre in the Secondary School.
Mr. Smith has served on the Summer Music Faculty at the University of Wisconsin as director/choreographer and taught at Mary Baldwin College on the voice faculty. Mr. Smith is currently on the School of Music faculty at James Madison University (JMU), the Conservatory of Music Faculty at Shenandoah University and Lynchburg College faculty. He teaches private piano, musical theatre acting/singing, methods for music educators and group piano.
Mr. Smith is a member of National Association of Teachers (NATS), and Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA). He has recently been listed in Who’s Who Among Americans. Scott Zane Smith is the choral director at the Linville Creek Church of the Brethren in Broadway and resides in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Emailto: smithsz@jmu.edu
