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
Office: 540.568.6970
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
Office: 540.568.8042
KEVIN MCMILLAN, Assistant Professor; Baritone
Kevin McMillan is a renowned performer and vocal pedagogue. His performing career has spanned over 25 years with more than 750 concerts, 15 professional recordings, a Grammy award, a Gramophone award and numerous Juno award nominations. A number of his students have proceeded to establish performing careers, both in North America and Europe, and those who have chosen to follow other paths, have done so possessing scientifically-sound and historically-informed perspectives on singing.
Critics have praised his "elegant lyric baritone voice" and "singularly remarkable interpretive skills" in appearances with virtually every major North American orchestra, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony.
He has also established a presence in Europe, with appearances in centers such as London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, and Prague. He has worked with such conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez, Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Neeme Jarvi, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Kurt Masur, Sir Roger Norrington, Hellmuth Rilling and the late Robert Shaw and Sergiu Commissiona.
After preliminary schooling at the Universities of Guelph and Western Ontario in Canada, Mr. McMillan studied at the Britten-Pears School in England, and attained a Master's Degree at the Juilliard School in New York. His primary focus has always been the oratorio and orchestral repertoire, and his vocal flexibility and scholarly musicianship have afforded him a broad range of styles and periods - from Monteverdi and Bach to Britten and Penderecki.
He has also taken an active role in the creative process, having had several contemporary works written expressly for him, such as the title role in Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' oratorio, Job, which he premiered in Canada, Britain and Israel. He also sang the Canadian premiere of Songs of Milarepa by Philip Glass.
Despite an unfortunate farming accident 30 years ago that left him a partial paraplegic, he has had the opportunity to perform a number of operatic roles in concert/semi-staged performances. Mr. McMillan is a pre-eminent recitalist. He has been described as an "outstanding Schubertian" whose "voice of glowing freshness and beauty is at the service of an intelligent, lively and distinctive personality."
Professor McMillan is excited to join the faculty of the James Madison University School of Music for 2009 - 2010.
Email: mcmillkj@jmu.edu
Office: 540.568.6583
Website: http://www.kevinmcmillan.ca/
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
Office: 540.568.4164
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
Office: 540.568.6393
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
Office: 540.568.6044
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 December 2008 for a Doctorate in Musical Arts (DMA) in Music Education at Shenandoah University.
Mr. Smith was Choral Director for Rockingham County Public 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 an active workshop presenter for Collegiate Music Educators National Convention (CMENC) 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 choral director/choreographer and previously served on the voice faculty at Mary Baldwin College and the piano faculty at Lynchburg College and Shenandoah Conservatory. Mr. Smith has been serving on the School of Music faculty at James Madison University since 2001. He teaches courses for musical theatre majors including group piano, group acting/singing and private voice. He also teaches jazz and show choir methods for music education majors.
Mr. Smith is a member of National Association of Teachers of Singers (NATS), and Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA). He is an active adjudicator for NATS competitions, District and All Virginia Chorus, District Festival, the Virginia Bland competition, piano festivals, and local and state pageants. 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, Virginia and resides in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Email to: smithsz@jmu.edu
Office: 540.568.6044
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
Office: 540.568.3686
