Woodwinds I Brass I Percussion I Strings I Voice I Piano I Jazz Studies I Theory and History I Primary Office Staff
Dr. Gordon R. Brock, Chair
Dr. Gordon R. Brock (B.S. Sec. Ed. Dickinson State University, M.M. Michigan State University, D.M.A. University of Colorado-Boulder) is Chair of the Department of Music and Director of Bands at the University of North Florida. At UNF, he conducts the Wind Symphony and Chamber Winds, performs in the Florida Saxophone Quartet, and instructs courses in conducting and woodwind performance. Under his leadership, UNF Department of Music continues to garner recognition as one of the leading performance-based programs in the country. Under his direction, the UNF Wind Symphony performed at the 2007 Florida Music Educators Association State Conference and most recently at Carnegie Hall as part of the Excellence in Education Concert Series.
Before joining UNF, Dr. Brock was the Director of Bands at the University of North Dakota, and conductor of the Greater Grand Forks Youth Symphony and Grand Forks Chamber Ensemble. Under his direction, the UND Wind Symphony performed at two North Dakota Music Educators Conferences, the 1999 Ohio Music Education Association/North Central MENC Professional Conference, and a joint concert series in Great Britain with the Central Band of the White Russian Army. In addition to an annual CD project dedicated to recording the best in traditional and contemporary wind literature, Dr. Brock instituted an annual Conducting Symposium which attracted both regional and international participants.
Dr. Brock’s career as a music educator encompasses elementary through university levels. Honored by the Alberta Government for his nationally recognized ensembles and contributions to music education throughout Canada, he was also included in the fifth edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers. A frequent guest clinician/adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada, Dr. Brock has served as a guest clinician for the American School in Japan and a Rothschild Foundation artist-in-residence for the Israeli Youth Band Teachers and Directors Association in Zichron Ya'acov, Israel. Most recently, Dr. Brock was acknowledged as a Distinguished Alumnus of Dickinson State University.
Dr. Brock continues to serve as a Research Associate and author for the instrumental music education series Teaching Music through Performance in Band. The series now serves as a primary text in more than 300 universities in the United States and 20 countries. An active performer as a woodwind specialist and guest conductor, Dr. Brock has performed with internationally recognized organizations within the mediums of chamber music, jazz, wind band, theater, dance, and orchestra.
Bunky Green, Director of Jazz Studies
Performer, educator, composer, arranger, lecturer, and music education consultant, Professor Green has 14 albums released in his name on vintage labels such as Chess, Exodus, Cadet, and Vanguard. As an international performer, educator, and lecturer, his European tours have taken him to Poland, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and Africa.
Professor Green received film credit for his background solo work in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, featuring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle. He is Past President and permanent chair of the Past Presidents Council of the world's largest jazz education organization, the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). Professor Green received a rare five star rating from Downbeat Magazine for his album Healing the Pain. Along with Gary Burton, Gerald Wilson, Jackie McLean, and Rufus Reid, he was cited in a 1995 Downbeat Magazine article recognizing the nation's leading jazz educators who are also respected players.
In a 1997 Downbeat article, saxophone great Joe Lovano said, "Bunky personifies what jazz is all about. He's combined all the inspiration of Parker and Dolphy and fused it into an individual voice. He's the kind of player I've always strived to be in my music, taking hold of history and then moving on, through self-expression. Working alongside him has been a real highlight."
In January of 1999, Professor Green was inducted into the IAJE Hall of Fame. In 2003, he was inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame for Jazz Education.
Dennis Holt, Advisor for Music Education
Dr. Holt’s career as a teacher educator encompasses elementary through university levels. Before coming to UNF he taught music in elementary, middle, and high schools in West Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania and music teacher education in the schools of music at the University of Illinois and Ohio State University, where he received the Joseph A. Leeder Memorial Award for Outstanding Graduate Study in Music.
Dr. Holt is an active tenor soloist, and choral singer, having studied with Ken Lesight, Lois Collins, Fritz Kruger, and Joseph Huszti. Dr. Holt has published books, book chapters, and articles in professional journals, including the Music Educators Journal, The Council for Research in Music Education Bulletin, and The Florida Music Director on topics such as strategies for music teaching and learning, assessment tests for music teachers, and portfolios for documenting teaching excellence. He has been awarded funded grants exceeding 2 million dollars.
Dr. Holt serves as a consultant to colleges and schools for the development of long-range plans and the uses of electronic portfolios for the assessment of teaching and learning. In 2005 he received an International Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology.
Dr. Holt was Professor and Chair of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at UNF, 1991-1998. From 1980-1987, he was the Assistant Dean of the College of Education and Human Services.
Rhonda Cassano, flute
Rhonda Cassano has been a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra since 1979, is currently the flute instructor at the University of North Florida, and has served as flute instructor at Jacksonville University. She is an active recitalist and chamber musician, founder of Sound Effects: Music at MOCA, Synergy Chamber Ensemble, the St. Johns Chamber Players, and the St. Mark’s Bach Ensemble. She has appeared as a soloist with the Jacksonville Symphony on numerous occasions. She holds a Master of Music degree from Florida State University where she studied with Charlie DeLaney. In subsequent years she studied with Geoffrey Gilbert, former principal flutist with the Royal Philharmonic under Sir Thomas Beecham, and in master classes with the acclaimed British flutist and former solo flutist with St. Martin in the Fields, William Bennett. In 1987 and 2000, she was a winner of the National Flute Association’s newly published music performer’s competition, and has appeared several times as soloist at the NFA conventions. She was awarded an artist-fellow to the 1989 Bach Aria Festival and has participated in the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival and the Colorado Music Festival.
She is a trained Andover Educator and teacher of Body Mapping, a system developed to help musicians perform with efficient, graceful, coordinated, and effective movement.
Dr. Guy Yehuda, clarinet
Clarinetist Guy Yehuda is recognized as an outstanding talent on the international concert stage around the world today. He is the top prize winner of the 2003 Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition, the 2004 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition, and the 2004 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (as member of the Trio di Colore).
Since his North American Concerto debut with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian, Mr. Yehuda has toured extensively in Europe, North America, and Israel. As principal clarinetist, Mr. Yehuda has performed with the Israel Philharmonic, Lucerne Contemporary Festival Orchestra, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, among others as well as guest clarinetist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Yehuda performed on tours of Europe and the U.S. under the batons of top conductors including Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Yuri Temirkanov, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Sir Andrew Davis, and Daniel Barenboim. He performed and collaborated with the world's top composers and performers such as Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, and George Benjamin. A highly demanded musician he has performed as soloist and chamber musician at the Spoleto Festival (USA), Verbier Festival and Lucerne Festival ( Switzerland ), Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Parry Sound Festival, Domain Forget Festival, Fountain Arts concert series, and at the Israeli Chamber Music Festival at Kfar Blum.
Dr. Yehuda is a sought after recitalist throughout North America and Europe. He has performed as soloist in prestigious halls and venues such as Carnegie Hall, Domain Forget, (Canada), Chicago Symphony Hall, Palacio Fuz in Lisbon, Mann auditorium in Tel Aviv, and Dame Myra Hess Chamber Series to name a few. He is a particularly active chamber musician and tours extensively with the award-winning chamber music group: Trio di Colore (with Yuval Gotlibovich - Viola and Jimmy Briere - Piano) of which he is the founding member. Dr. Yehuda has appeared numerous times as a guest artist on CBC Canadian Radio, Radio-Canada, WFMT Chicago, DRS Swiss Radio, Portugal National Radio, and Israel's Classical radio station, as well as TV appearances on Israel's Channel 2 and Chicago's Channel 25. Mr. Yehuda has recorded with Hal Leonard productions, IU New Music Ensemble, and number of live recordings for the CBC. A new CD recording by Dr. Yehuda for solo and trio music by French composer Jean Francaix, was released on the XII-21 Canadian Label in 2009 as well as a new CD recording with Albany records in the same year.
Professor Yehuda has given master classes throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Israel and taught clarinet at Indiana University's Jacob School of Music. He is a Selmer-Paris artist and an active clinician in the U.S. and abroad and has been frequently invited to judge on national and international competitions. Over the summer months is the Artist–Teacher resident at the acclaimed Orford festival in Canada.
Currently he serves on the faculty of the University of North Florida as Professor of Clarinet where he also teaches music theory and Chamber Music. As an accomplished conductor, Dr. Yehuda served as Conductor-in-Residence of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in Toronto, working with maestros George Cleve, Leon Fleischer, and Gary Kulesha. And during his studies at Indiana University, Dr. Yehuda worked with conductors David Effron and Imre Palo. Dr. Yehuda is also a published composer and winner of the prestigious Israeli Sharet Composition Award, having worked individually with Pierre Boulez, P.Q. Phan, Alexander Rappoport, Yinaam Leef, and Haim Permont. Dr. Yehuda studied with distinguished clarinetists James Campbell, Eli Eban, Charles Neidich, Larry Combs, Howard Klug, Avrahm Galper, Alfred Prinz, and Yitzhak Katzap. He received his Doctorate and Master's Degrees from Indiana University Jacob School of Music, as well as a Performer Certificate, the highest honor given to a performer at this venerable institution. Prior to that Dr. Yehuda received his Artist Diploma and Bachelor's Degree from the Glenn Gould Professional Music School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Claudia Minch, oboe
Claudia Minch has been a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra since 1979. Professor Minch, who plays the oboe, English horn, and the Oboe D'Amore in the Symphony, was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She earned her Bachelors and Masters degree graduating with honors.
While she was in Boston, Ms. Minch performed with the Portland (Maine) Symphony and toured extensively with the New England Ragtime Ensemble under the direction of Gunther Schuller. Her woodwind quintet, Quintet de Legno, won the Young Artists Guild Competition in New York, in 1977, and was given a Carnegie Recital Hall debut.
Since moving to Jacksonville, Professor Minch has performed with the Savannah Symphony and has participated in the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Spoleto, and the Cullowhee Summer Music Festival. She has appeared as soloist with the Jacksonville Symphony, the Brunswick Civic Orchestra, the UNF Faculty Woodwind Quintet, and at local Chamber Music Concerts and churches.
Dr. Michael Bovenzi, saxophone (Music Theory & Music Recruiting Coordinator)
Dr. Bovenzi currently teaches saxophone and serves as an instructor in music theory, computer music applications, woodwind courses, and chamber music. After serving four years at the University of North Florida as adjunct faculty, Director of Public Relations, and visiting faculty in the Department of Music, Michael now holds the position of Assistant Professor and Music Theory coordinator.
As a performer, Dr. Bovenzi is an active soloist of contemporary music and has performed and premiered numerous works at national meetings of the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) and the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS). His studio recording of Ed Martin’s Apparitions appears on the compact disc Wavefields, a compilation of music from the Experimental Music Studios of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Bovenzi has also appeared as a soloist with the University of Florida Symphony Orchestra, University of Florida and University of Illinois Jazz Bands, and University of North Florida Wind Symphony. He is featured on the album Hot Sonatas, a collection of jazz-influenced chamber music by Dr. Gary Smart.
Dr. Bovenzi has held teaching positions at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida, where he taught saxophone, woodwind techniques, and coached chamber groups. He has maintained successful private teaching studios in Florida and Illinois and his students frequently receive recognition at the county and state level. His renowned teachers have included Debra Richtmeyer, Jonathan Helton, Chip McNeil, and Joe Lulloff. Dr. Bovenzi holds the Doctorate in Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois, with a minor in music theory. He earned his undergraduate degrees in performance and composition, and a Masters degree in performance from the University of Florida.
Laura Dwyer, secondary flute
Coming soon.
Dr. Randall Tinnin, trumpet
Dr. Randall Tinnin (Rutgers University, D.M.A., Juilliard, M.M., and the University of North Texas, B.M.) is the Associate Professor of Trumpet, and the director of the Brass Ensemble at the University of North Florida.
An active soloist, Dr. Tinnin has appeared throughout the U.S.and in the U.K., and won the 2006 North American Brass Band Association Solo Contest. New York area engagements include appearances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Queens Philharmonic, and WQXR-NY radio broadcasts. Early music appearances include the American Bach Society, San Francisco Bach Choir, St. Bartholomew’s Chamber Orchestra, and the NYC chapter of the Early Music Foundation.
Dr. Tinnin’s research has been published in the International Trumpet Guild Journal and the Journal for the Arts in Society.
He appears regularly with his trio, Serafini Brillanti, including a performance at the Chicago Brass Festival in March of 2009.
Kevin Reid, horn
A native of Florida, Professor Reid is currently the principal hornist of the Jacksonville Symphony. Prior, he was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. Professor Reid’s former teachers include Greg Hustis and William Capps. He has played with symphony orchestras in Dallas, Waco, Tallahassee, Albany, Aspen, Boston, Breckenridge, and the Dominican Republic.
Professor Reid maintains an active role in chamber music, performing several times a year with the First Coast Woodwind Quintet. He spends his summers teaching and performing at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Note: For Dr. Dickman and Dr. Hines' bios, please see Jazz Studies section on this page.
Charlotte Mabrey, percussion
Charlotte Mabrey is the Gerson Yessin Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Florida. Since 1977, Professor Mabrey has been the principal percussionist of the Jacksonville Symphony. As a result, she has performed as soloist with the JSO on several occasions, including on Milhaud’s Concertino, Ney Rosauro’s Concerto for Marimba and Strings, and Concerto for Percussion by Richard Rodney Bennett as a part of the JSO Master Works Series.
Professor Mabrey’s duties at UNF include applied percussion lessons, percussion techniques, the “Live Music in Jacksonville” lecture class, and conducting the UNF Percussion Ensemble, which is extremely active both on and off campus. The group’s performances include area colleges, at guest artists with the JSO, and at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention.
Each year Professor Mabrey presented as entertaining and eclectic recital at UNF titled, “An Evening of 20th Century Music.” This innovative programs included works for solo marimba, multiple percussion, and chamber ensembles, as well as original works with fellow artist, Robert Arleigh White. In 1997, Professor Mabrey established the “Evening of 20th Century Music” Scholarship Program. After 25 years, this event had its last performance in 2008.
In 2001, Professor Mabrey was named Distinguished Professor at UNF.
Kevin Garry, percussion
Kevin Garry is currently entering his 17th season with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Prior to joining the JSO, Kevin was a member of the New World Symphony (Miami Beach) where he performed regularly under the leadership of Michael Tilson Thomas. While living in Michigan, Kevin was Principal Percussionist with the Flint Symphony Orchestra (1988-1991) and a member of the Saginaw Symphony and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. In 1992, Kevin was elected by his colleagues to be the recipient of the New World Symphony’s Community Board Award for Leadership and Artistic Excellence.
Kevin started drumming in the fourth grade as a member of the Colonial Musketeers Fife and Drum Corps while growing up in Hackettstown, New Jersey. He remained with the group for eight years marching in parades festivals and competitions. Kevin won the New Jersey State Rudimental Snare Drum Championship in 1979 and 1981. His primary rudimental snare drum instructors were famed DCI instructor Bobby Thompson, and Peter Hubert. Throughout Middle School and High School, Kevin studied snare drum and drum set with Vincent “Muzzy”Mizzoni, and studied timpani and keyboard percussion with Alfred Jorgensen, timpanist with the New Jersey State Opera. During his college years, Kevin performed with Disney’s All-American College Band (1986), the American Waterways Wind Orchestra (1987), the National Repertory Orchestra (1988), Summit Brass (1988), and the Pacific Music Festival (1991). Kevin graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in Biology and a B.M. in Percussion Performance. While at Oberlin, Kevin studied with Michael Rosen. He received his Masters Degree from the University of Michigan where he studied with Dr. Michael Udow and Salvatore Rabbio.
Kevin currently heads the percussion department at Stetson University, serves as an adjunct instructor at the University of North Florida and maintains a large private studio in the Jacksonville area.
Charles Rankin, percussion/concert band
Charlie Rankin earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Instrumental Music Education from the Florida State University College of Music. As an undergraduate student, he had the opportunity to perform in a variety of ensembles, including the FSU Marching Chiefs in which was a member of the "big 8" drum line and ultimately served as assistant drum major for the 2000 season.
Professor Rankin was appointed as an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Florida in the fall of 2007. His responsibilities include conducting the University Concert Band and teaching courses in music education. During the summer months, Professor Rankin serves as the Assistant Camp Director for North Florida Music Camps which are hosted at UNF. In addition to his University appointment, Professor Rankin is currently the band director at Pacetti Bay Middle School in St. John's County Florida where he was selected as the 2008 - 2009 Teacher of Year.
Professor Rankin started his career in music education teaching general music to primary grade students at Dr. W. J. Creel Elementary School in Brevard County, Florida. In 2002, he was appointed as the band director at Orange Park Junior High School in Orange Park, Florida. In 2004, he was recognized as the Teacher of the Year at Orange Park Junior High School. He is a member of Florida Bandmaster's Association, National Band Association, Florida Music Educators Association, and the Epsilon Iota chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Note: For Danny Gottlieb's bios, please see Jazz Studies section on this page.
Dr. Simon Shiao, violin/viola
Dr. Simon Shiao is a versatile performer who holds the distinction of having performed at Carnegie Hall in three different capacities, as a recitalist and with both string quartet and orchestra.
Dr. Shiao has appeared around the world in concert, as well as on broadcasts of CNN's Science and Technology program and on Public Radio's Live on WGBH Radio. Highlights of his performances include concerts at the Museum of Oceanography in Monte Carlo, the U.S. Embassy in Vienna , the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston, and as soloist with the New World Symphony in Miami. He has also appeared at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, A Winter Festival in Jerusalem, and the Heidelberg Schloss Festspiele in Germany. As co-concertmaster of the New World Symphony, Dr. Shiao led that orchestra at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and John Adams.
Dr. Shiao currently performs with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Wyoming. At the University of North Florida he teaches violin and viola and is the Director of Orchestral Studies. He has adjudicated the Music Teachers' National Association Young Artist Competitions and the UNF String Competition, and has presented lecture-recitals and master classes at numerous universities and conservatories in the U.S., Belize, Taiwan, and China. He is currently the chair of the solo competition for the Florida Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.
Dr. Shiao holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Dr. Nick Curry, cello
Dr. Nick Curry is the cello professor at the University of North Florida. Before this appointment, he was the professor of cello and the cellist in the Rawlins Piano Trio at the University of South Dakota.
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he studied cello with David Starkweather from the University of Georgia. Nick received his bachelors of music from Vanderbilt, where he studied with Grace Mihi Bahng. While at Vanderbilt, he served as Professor Bahng's teaching assistant, and was the recipient of the Jean Keller Heard Award for Excellence in String Playing. Nick then served as Hans Jorgen Jensen's teaching assistant for five years at Northwestern University, where he earned his Masters degree and Doctoral degree. He also was the teaching assistant to Professor Jensen at the Meadowmount School of Music for four summers. While at Northwestern, Nick soloed with the Northwestern Philharmonic Orchestra and won the Northwestern Chamber Music Competition. Nick has played in masterclasses for Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirschbaum, Paul Katz, David Geber, the Emerson String Quartet, the Pacifica String Quartet, and the Blair String Quartet. Private studies have also included Harvey Shapiro, David Finckel, and John Kochanowski. Nick has played concerts in Taiwan and all over the U.S. In April of 2006, he performed as a soloist on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion where he played the King Amati cello.
Dr. Roslyn Rensch-Erbes, harp
Professor Rensch-Erbes was brought to Juilliard on a Summer Orchestra Scholarship and later studied musicology with Drs. Willi Apel and Paul Nettl. She has played harp programs throughout the Chicago area and was, for six years, first harpist with the Chicago Civic Orchestra.
Professor Rensch-Erbes taught harp for three years at the University of Illinois, and was Professor of Humanities at Indiana State University from 1965-1988. She is the author of four internationally-known reference books on the harp. Professor Rensch-Erbes has been elected to membership in Pi Kappa Lambda (music honorary) and Phi Kappa Phi (humanities honorary), and is an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota (music sorority) and of several chapters of the American Harp Society and the United Kingdom Harp Society.
Dr. Jason M. Lindsay, string bass
Jason Lindsay is among the most versatile and in-demand bassists in Florida. His career has spanned the gamut from Touring with Tony-Winning Broadway productions to his critically acclaimed recordings for Klavier Records in Boca Raton.
A graduate of Florida State University and the University of Miami, Jason earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts while studying with Lucas Drew in Miami. A former faculty member of the Suwanee Summer Music Center, South Carolina Governors School of the Arts, the New World School of the Arts, and the University of Miami, Jason has been an Artist for the past 11 seasons with the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, and is featured on 5 of their critically acclaimed CDs. Jason currently performs with the Jacksonville Symphony and the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra.
Melissa Barrett, violin
Coming soon.
Dr. Krzysztof Biernacki, baritone (Head of Applied Voice)
Baritone Krzysztof Biernacki established strong reputation as a powerful performer, versatile stage director, and talented pedagogue. Born and raised in Poland, his professional credits include opera, oratorio, concert, and recital performances in Canada, United Sates, and Europe. Dr. Biernacki holds degrees from University of Manitoba (B. Mus.), University of Western Ontario (M. Mus.), and University of British Columbia (D.M.A). He holds the position of Assistant Professor and Head of Applied Voice at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
As a singer Dr. Biernacki has appeared in principal roles with Vancouver Opera, Manitoba Opera, Calgary Opera, Orchestra London Canada, Theaters of Jablonec and Usti nad Labem in Czech Republic, as well as opera ensembles of University of British Columbia and University of Western Ontario. Highlights of his operatic engagements include Eugene Onegin, Barber of Seville, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Cunning Little Vixen, La Fanciulla del West, Rigoletto, Carmen, Dido & Aeneas, The Crucible, Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Der Freischütz, Un Ballo in Maschera, Don Pasquale, Gianni Schicchi, and Merry Widow.
Dr. Biernacki’s commitment to contemporary music is highlighted by world premiere performances heard on CBC Radio and CBC Saturday Afternoon at the Opera including a highly acclaimed production of Filumena co-produced by the Calgary Opera and Banff Centre for Performing Arts. Last summer Dr. Biernacki made his Carnegie Hall debut with UNF Wind Ensemble (now Wind Symphony) performing works of Tchaikovsky and Tosti. Last October he was reengaged for a recital of opera arias and duets at Carnegie Zankel Hall.
Praised for excellent musicianship and respected as a solo recitalist, Dr. Biernacki frequently performs song recitals ranging in repertoire from Haydn to Szymanowski, Shostakovich, and Britten. His concert and oratorio appearances include Vancouver, Winnipeg, Okanagan, and Calgary Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Vancouver Bach Choir. His summer 2009 engagements included solo recitals in Italy and Poland, concerts with North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and two opera engagements at the European Music Academy in Czech Republic where he is on faculty as a stage director and faculty member. Additional stage directing accomplishments include establishment of highly successful UNF Opera Ensemble which produces two complete opera productions per year, engages in community outreach, student recruitment, and propagation of operatic arts in the Jacksonville community.
Dr. Biernacki is often engaged as an adjudicator, competition judge, masterclass presenter, and clinician. He is in high demand as a voice teacher and his students have been accepted to prestigious graduate programs including Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, University of Michigan, Boston Conservatory, and New York University.
Dr. Cara Tasher, soprano (Director of Choral Activities)
Due to her own meaningful experiences in organizations such as the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Atlanta Symphony Chorus, Trinity Choir at Wall Street, Conspirare, and Experiment in International Living, Cara Tasher, Director of Choral Activities, strives to instill the passion for excellence in choral music in her singers along with an appreciation of different cultures. Recently she had the honor to serve as chorus master for Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. She has performed as a soloist at Chicago's Grant Park, NYC's Merkin Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Dublin's National Concert Hall and continues to keep a limited voice studio.
Tasher has prepared masterworks for professional organizations and worked with numerous high schools and community ensembles including the Cook County Jail Choir, University of Texas Longhorn Singers, the University of Cincinnati choruses, and the Japan Youth Choir. During her tenure as associate conductor of the Young People's Chorus of New York City, she designed two ensembles and two annual workshops that continue to bloom. For the past five years she has continued that momentum as artistic director/conductor of the Instituto Piaget Vocalizze Festival throughout Portugal and has been active as guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Dr. Tasher studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, winning the 2006 university-wide Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Texas at Austin, La Sorbonne, and Northwestern University. Tasher is editor of the IFCM International Choral Bulletin Composer's Corner and serves as R&S Chair for University Choirs for Florida ACDA.
Marilyn Smart, soprano
Professor Smart's musical career has been both active and diverse. She has worked with such luminaries as Robert Shaw, Seiji Ozawa, and Dave Brubeck, and has sung in unique venues in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Professor Smart’s singing has delighted audiences not only in public and university concert halls, but also in rural American schools, special cultural outreach venues in Japan, and even Eskimos villages in northern Alaska.
Awarded a special citation by the Ford Foundation's Contemporary Music Project, she has long championed the work of contemporary composers and, with her husband, composer-pianist Gary Smart, is recognized for their performances of American art song. A former student of Margaret Harshaw, Josef Metternich, and Phyllis Curtin, Professor Smart has taught at the University of Wyoming, Kobe College, and Osaka University. Since joining the faculty of UNF in 1999, she has performed as soloist with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, for the Friday Musicale, the St. Cecelia Society, and many other local musical organizations. At UNF, she teaches Applied Voice, French, Italian, and German Diction, as well as Vocal Literature.
Kimberly Gelbwasser, voice
Coming soon.
Dr. Gary Smart, piano/composition
Dr. Smart's career has encompassed a wide range of activities as composer, classical, and jazz pianist, and teacher. Always a musician with varied interests, he may be the only pianist to have studied with Yale scholar/keyboardist Ralph Kirkpatrick, the great Cuban virtuoso Jorge Bolet, and the master jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. A true American pluralist, Dr. Smart composes and improvises a music that reflects an abiding interest in Americana, jazz, and world musics, as well as the Western classical tradition.
Dr. Smart’s compositions have been supported by the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Music Educator's National Conference, the Music Teacher's National Association, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Smart’s music has been performed in major venues in the U.S., including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, as well as venues in Europe and Asia. His "Concordia" for orchestra won the Concordia Jazz Composition Award and was premiered at Lincoln Center, New York.
Dr. Smart's compositions are published by Margun Music (G. Schirmer) and his work has been recorded on the Mastersound, Capstone, and Albany labels. His CD’s The Major’s Letter, which features his songs for voice and piano, American Beauty – a ragtime bouquet and Hot Sonatas, a collection of jazz-influenced chamber music, have been released recently by Albany Records. Projected CD projects include Turtle Dreams of Flight, original music for solo piano performed by the composer, and Bright Eyed Fancy, a collection of chamber music works made in collaboration with several UNF music faculty members. His Song of the Holy Ground for string quartet and piano won the 2008 John Donald Robb Composers’ Competition and was premiered at the 2009 Robb Composers’ Symposium at the University of New Mexico.
Dr. Smart has spent two residencies in Japan, teaching in programs at Osaka University and Kobe College. He has also taught in Indonesia as Distinguished Lecturer in Jazz under the auspices of the Fulbright program. From 1999-2003, he served as Chairman of the UNF Music Department. Dr. Smart is currently the Terry Professor of Music at the University of North Florida.
Dr. Erin Bennett, piano/pedagogy
Coming soon.
Jazz Studies - More Info
Bunky Green, saxophone
See top.
Michelle Amato, voice
Michelle Amato is a dynamic vocalist whose abilities to convey the deep passion of a lyric, as well as soar effortlessly through the stratosphere, are making her one of the most in demand names in music today.
Amato performs regularly at the Van Dyke Café on South Beach, Timpano's Restaurant, and The Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, as well as numerous music festivals. She has been a featured soloist with the Memphis Symphony, the South Florida Pops, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Orlando Philharmonic, and the All-American College Orchestra at Epcot Center. Michelle also stays extremely active in the recording studio singing and contracting for Royal Caribbean, Costa and Carnival Cruise Lines, Warner Brothers and Shawnee Press Publishers, Walt Disney World, and numerous jingle production companies throughout the country. She has performed and recorded with an incredibly diverse array of artists including Liza Minelli, Jon Secada, Al Green, Sandi Patty, Jon Hendricks, Donna Summer, Michael McDonald, Celia Cruz, Rita Marley, and has most recently been recording and touring with world renowned composer Yanni. Her solo work can be heard on his latest CD Ethnicity and she is a featured soloist on his newest video, Yanni Live. She recorded the title cut on Dirty Martini's debut CD Save Your Love for Me and her own debut CD I'm All Smiles is completed and available for purchase at www.michelleamato.com.
Michelle, who holds a Master's degree from the prestigious University of Miami School of Music, is also in great demand as an educator and clinician. She has coached vocalists for Cirque du Soleil and taught private students and directed jazz vocal ensembles at The University of Miami, Miami Dade Community College, The University of Memphis, Rollins College, and is currently teaching at The University of North Florida. She has conducted vocal master classes and clinics for the International Association of Jazz Educators, The North American Cultural Center in San Jose, Costa Rica, and various groups at Walt Disney World, including the popular Voices of Liberty, a group she also had the pleasure of performing in for several years. Her adjudicating duties include the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, the Florida Vocal Association, and various jazz societies.
Lynne Arriale, piano
Lynne Arriale, Winner of The Great American Jazz Piano Competition, has performed extensively with her trio over the past 15 years. Highlights include performances at the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center, Jazz At Lincoln Center, Diet Coke's Women in Jazz Festival, The Gilmore Piano Festival and other international festivals including Cannes MIDEM, Burghausen, Stuttgart, Spoleto Arts, Cork, Montreux, Montreal, Monterey, Sardinia, North Sea, Pori, San Francisco, Ottawa, Rochester, Portugal's Estoril, Zagreb, Norway's Silda Jazz, Jacksonville, and Australia's Perth and Brisbane Jazz Festivals. Her trio has toured Canada, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Romania, Norway, Sweden, The Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia. As part of Japan's “100 Golden Fingers” tour, Arriale performed with jazz legends Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Barron, Harold Mabern, Junior Mance, Monty Alexander, Roger Kellaway, Ray Bryant, and Cedar Walton.
The Lynne Arriale Trio's tenth and current release, LIVE, won the German Record Critics Award for its CD/DVD of their 2005 Burghausen Festival performance. Previous releases include Come Together, Arise, which hit #17 on Billboard, #1 on UPI’s Best Jazz CDs ‘03, and along with its predecessor, Inspiration, reached #1 on national jazz radio, #1 in New Yorker Magazine’s Best CDs ’03 and also won that year’s German Record Critics Award. Lynne received the SESAC Award for Come Together. The trio’s earlier CDs include Live at Montreux, Melody, A Long Road Home, With Words Unspoken, When You Listen, and The Eyes Have It. Arriale has been featured in Billboard, Downbeat, JazzTimes, JAZZIZ, the BBC Magazine, the London Times, on the covers of One Way and M Magazines and covered extensively in other international print media. She has performed in concert and on NPR's “Piano Jazz" with Marian McPartland, two “Jazz Set" performances, hosted by Branford Marsalis and Dee Dee Bridgewater and "Weekend Edition." Other media appearances include CNN/FN’ Biz, NPR’s Jazz Piano Christmas - Live from The Kennedy Center, radio and television interviews throughout the US, UK and Europe, including the BBC, Radio France and German National Television. PBS is currently featuring Arriale's trio on "Profile of a Performing Artist," a series that has included Luciano Pavarotti, Diana Krall, and Elvis Costello.
Lynne conducts educational clinics and master classes throughout the United States and Europe, has been a faculty member of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Workshops, the Centrum Port Townsend Jazz Workshop, and the Thelonious Monk Institute. She has performed at three IAJE conventions, APAP, and CMJ conventions, has served as an IAJE Resource Team Member in piano pedagogy, a member of the IAJE Sisters in Jazz Advisory Board, and has served as an adjudicator and guest artistic director of the Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Competition. Lynne has adjucated the Montreux Jazz Festival Piano Competition, the American Pianists Association Fellowship Awards, The Kennedy Center's Mary Lou Williams Competition, and the Great American Jazz Piano Competition. In August ’08, Arriale presented an extraordinary new lineup of iconic musicians on her new CD/DVD, Lynne Arriale – The Bennett Studio Sessions. In addition to Arriale as leader/composer/arranger, the band features jazz legend George Mraz on bass; Anthony Pinciotti on drums, whose work with James Moody and John Abercrombie has received high critical praise; and the great All-Star, Randy Brecker on trumpet and flugelhorn. The project was recorded at the multi-Grammy and Emmy Award winning BENNETT STUDIOS, and will include video documentation of behind the scenes footage of the CD recording, a bonus DVD program of a live, private, “in-studio” audience concert, and up close and personal interviews with each artist.
Dr. Marc Dickman, trombone/euphonium
Dr. Marc Dickman, from Valdosta, Georgia, is a founding member of the acclaimed jazz studies program at the University of North Florida. Dr. Dickman earned degrees from Troy State University, McNeese State University, and the University of North Texas. His versatility on euphonium, trombone, bass-trombone, and tuba in the classical and jazz styles places him in much demand in the United States.
At UNF he teaches applied low brass and jazz ensemble. His students have won awards in the jazz and classical areas. Dr. Dickman was a featured jazz artist at the 2000 International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, the 2001 ITEC in Lahti, Finland, the 2002 ITEC in Greenville, NC, and the 2004 ITEC in Budapest, Hungary, and the 2005 and 2008 U.S. Army Tuba Euphonium Conference.
Dr. Dickman is a founding member of the groundbreaking jazz ensemble, the Modern Jazz Tuba Project. The MJT Project has two critically acclaimed releases; Live From the Bottom Line, and Favorite Things. Marc’s CD, A Weaver of Dreams, is available at cdbaby.com and tubagear.com. It is the first jazz euphonium recording to be available through popular services such as iTunes and Real Networks. Dr. Dickman has performed in the following countries: USA, Japan, Finland, Hungary, Paraguay, Uruguay, Canada, Honduras, and Columbia. Dr. Marc Dickman is a Besson performing artist.
Danny Gottlieb, drumset
Danny Gottlieb is one of the most popular jazz drummers in the world. While best known as a founding member of the original Pat Metheny Group, Danny has performed and recorded with some of the greatest names in music. They include: Gary Burton, Gil Evans, Sting, Bobby McFerrin, John Mclaughlin, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Gomez, Lew Soloff, Al Di Meola, Jeff Berlin, Michael Franks, The GRP Big Band, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Jon Faddis and the Carnagie Hall Jazz Orchestra, the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Jim Hall, the Manhattan Transfer, Larry Coryell, the NDR Big Band (Hamburg), the WDR Big Band (Cologne), Booker T and the MG's, and the Blues Brothers band featuring Steve Cropper and Eddy Floyd.
Danny's projects have included performances at the Internatioanl Association of Jazz Educators Convention in Toronto; National Asscociation of Music Merchandisers Convention (Anaheim); Jacksonville Jazz Festival; Hamburg (Germany) Jazz Festival; Hannover (Germany) Jazz Festival; Paderborn(Germany) Percussion Festival; European and U.S. Military benefit concerts with bass playing actor Gary Sinise (with wife Beth Gottlieb on percussion), including a concert at the Pentagon and Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.; a feature at the Alabama Day of Percussion; a Paris concert with guitarist Nguyen Le; the JVC Jazz Festival in New York with bassist Jay Leonhart and trombonist Wycliff Gordon; the International Composer's workshop featuring Jim McNeely and Bill Holman; recordings with guitarist Muriel Anderson, guitarist Peter Fessler, bassist Jeff Berlin, and a live DVD featuring the NDR Big Band of Hamburg, Germany.
A long time student of legendary jazz drummer Joe Morello, Danny's teaching experience includes Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, and the University of South Florida in Tampa. A graduate of the University of Miami, Danny brings 30 years of professional experience, musical diversity, and enthusiasm to the UNF Jazz Faculty.
Barry Greene, guitar
Barry Greene began playing guitar in 1971, at the age of 10-years-old. Strongly influenced by Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, George Benson, and Pat Martino, Barry has developed into a world class guitarist, arranger and composer. He has recorded or performed with such artists as Tim Hagens, Danny Gottlieb, Gene Bertoncinni, Scott Wendholt, Kenny Drew Jr., Adam Nussbaum, Warren Berndhardt, Russell Malone, Ron Affif, and Colin Bailey.
Greene currently has three CDs out as a leader Sojourner, At Home, and Urban Jazz. Just Jazz Guitar Magazine says his improvisations were creative with impeccable technique, while 20th Century Guitar wrote,"Greene's work has all the urgency of the best of Pat Martino's work . . ." and allaboutjazz.com describes him as "an excellent player, a superior musician with power to spare..." Barry Greene has several books published with Mel Bay Publications. He continues to endorse Thomastik-Infeld strings, Clarus amplifiers, Raezors Edge speaker cabinets, and Buscarino Guitars.
Greene has performed at the Long Island Guitar Show held in New York, for the past five years and has been an instructor at the prestigious National Guitar Workshop held each summer in Connecticut for the past eight. Greene is a Professor of Jazz Guitar at UNF, where he has been since 1995. He has composed or arranged over seventy pieces of guitar ensemble music, as well as several big band compositions.
Dr. Clarence Hines, trombone
Dr. Clarence Hines has received recognition and awards for several of his compositions and arrangements, including Downbeat Magazine awards for Best Jazz Arrangement and Best Performance. His works have been premiered at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the International Association for Jazz Education Conference, and most recently at the Rochester International Jazz Festival and the International Tuba – Euphonium Conference. Dr. Hines’ works were featured in recent performances by the U.S. Army’s Jazz Ambassadors and the Army Blues, and can also be heard on the UNF Jazz Ensemble I recordings And the Melody Still Lingers On, Second Thoughts, and Things To Come. UNC Jazz Press, the largest publisher of advanced music for jazz ensembles, publishes many of Dr. Hines’ compositions.
In addition to performing throughout the United States and Canada, Dr. Hines has also toured Central America and Europe and performed with Slide Hampton, Bob Brookmeyer, Dick Oatts, Richie Cole, Johnny Mathis, Josh Groban, the Temptations, Allen Vizzutti, John Pizzarelli, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Harry James Orchestra. His festival appearances include the North Sea Jazz Festival, the East Coast Jazz Festival, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, and the Rochester International Jazz Festival.
Prior to teaching at UNF, Dr. Hines coached combos and directed the Jazz Lab Band at the Eastman School of Music where he also studied composition and arranging with Bill Dobbins and Dave Rivello. Dr. Hines has also served on the faculty of summer music programs such as the Birch Creek Summer Jazz Session, Eastman Summer Jazz Studies, and the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camp.
Dennis Marks, bass
Dennis Marks, one of the most in-demand bass players on the jazz scene, has been playing with Arturo Sandoval for years. In addition, he has performed with many of the great musicians of today, including Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Liebman, Bob Mintzer, Maynard Ferguson, and Pat Metheny. Dennis has appeared on Sandoval's last six recordings, including the Grammy-Award Winning: Hot-House. For one of the recordings, My Passion for the Piano, he wrote two of the compositions.
He has performed at almost every major jazz festival during the last several years, including the JVC Festival in New York, the Playboy Festival in L.A., and the North Sea Festival in Holland. In 1996, Dennis recorded his debut album Images on the Fantasy/Contemporary label. This album, which contains all original compositions, has received much critical acclaim.
Dennis has been very active in the educational field, teaching at Florida International University for nine years and at the University of Miami for two. He has given clinics at Virginia Tech, the University of Illinois, and the University of Texas. Dennis holds a B.M. in Jazz Performance and a M.M in Studio Jazz Writing from the University of Miami.
Dr. William Prince, Professor Emeritus
Bill Prince comes from a background rich in music. He has performed with numerous bands and orchestras including Buddy Rich, Billy Maxted, the NORAD BAND, the Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Jacksonville Symphonies, and the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. His TV credits include The Today Show, The Tonight Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Steve Allen Show, and numerous other shows throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Bill has appeared on over 50 albums recorded in the studios of Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Miami including his The Best Kept Secret In Jazz (Revelation Records). He can currently be heard on Duffy Jackson's CD, Swing! Swing! Swing! and Buddy Rich's rereleased CDs, Mercy Mercy, and The Best of Buddy Rich. One of Bill's unique talents is his ability, to perform professionally on several instruments. For example, although he played trumpet with Buddy Rich, he was first offered a chair in the saxophone section. In the NORAD Band he regularly played tenor sax though he was often called upon to also play trumpet. In the various symphony orchestras listed he usually played clarinet or bass clarinet, though he has also performed on trumpet and saxophone. His performing instruments include trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, flute, clarinet, saxophone, piano, and electric bass. He also writes his own arrangements for his solo endeavors.
Bill holds the Doctor of Music Arts degree with a major in Theory and Composition from the U of Miami. He has taught at Florida Atlantic U, the U of Colorado/Denver, St. Francis Xavier U, Nova Scotia, and the U of North Florida. He has performed or lectured at more than 100 colleges and universities and conventions throughout the USA and Canada. He has also performed and/or lectured in various countries in Western and Eastern Europe, most of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. At the U of North Florida Bill has received an Undergraduate Teaching Award and an Outstanding Teaching Award. His student groups twice won the NAJE/Southern Comfort Collegiate Dixieland Jazz Band competitions. Corre Chica, an original band score, was awarded first place in an NAJE Composition Contest.
As an indicator of his teaching success, on the UNF Jazz Ensemble's recent CDs, 15 of the 24 selections were arranged or composed by his students. Bill's future dreams include the release of a big band CD on which he will write all the music and play all the parts; the writing or a book on jazz orchestration; and the writing of a concerto for jazz clarinet and symphony orchestra.
J.B. Scott, trumpet (Director of Great American Jazz Series)
From Philadelphia, Professor Scott was the first graduate of the UNF Jazz Program and a former student of Arturo Sandoval. Beginning his career with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus (Japan), he then became the musical director and cornetist with the world-renowned Dukes of Dixieland for over three years.
Professor Scott was featured on two CDs, the PBS special A Salute to Jelly Roll Morton and performed with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Professor Scott has performed with such major artists as Al Hirt, Paquito D’Rivera, Ken Peplowski, Red Hollaway, Eddie Higgins, Jeff Hamilton, and Lynn Seaton. His festival appearances include the Elkhart Jazz Festival, Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, Montreux Jazz Festival, Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Clearwater Jazz Holiday, and at various IAJE Conventions. He performs frequently as a featured artist and as co-leader of the Lisa Kelly & JB Scott Jazz 5tet (Mainstream), the Swamp Dog Jazz Band (Dixieland), and the Florida Jazz Plus (Big Band) music organization.
Professor Scott also presents workshops and popular “Jazz for Kids” community outreach concerts for jazz festivals and elementary to high school children. He is much in demand as a YAMAHA trumpet artist/clinician and adjudicator. An Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at UNF, Professor Scott teaches trumpet, jazz ensembles, and various jazz related courses. He has co-released three recordings Home, Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now, and Memories of Tomorrow.
Dr. Peter Mathews
Peter Mathews was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1944 and studied violin and piano under the Toronto Conservatory system. His early piano training was with Edward Parker, of the renowned Parker family of Canadian pianists. In 1963-64 he studied in England with Morris Taylor, one of the last students of Dame Myra Hess, and received a Licentiate Diploma in Piano Performance at the Royal Academy of Music, London. His undergraduate degree in Music and History is from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Graduate studies include both a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Missouri at Kansas City where he worked with Eph Ehly.
Dr. Mathews conducts choirs, teaches piano, music history, theory, composition, orchestration, and form and analysis. For the past 30 years he has received choral anthem and instrumental commissions from churches and individual musicians from many parts of the United States. While composing music for worship, Dr. Mathews’ commissions have also included art songs and chamber music with voice and instruments in varying combinations.
From 1977-1982 he was the Composer-in-Residence at Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral under John Schaefer in Kansas City. As a male alto, he has sung in the Early Music Consort of Kansas City and in various cathedral churches. Dr. Mathews gained a significant reputation as a conductor and composer in central Florida where he directed the Florida Hospital Chorus, a community choir in Orlando, from 1984-1997; and Orlando XIII, an a cappella group, from 1993-2002. Since 1999 he has served as Choirmaster for St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in DeLand, Florida, and currently teaches music history and form & analysis at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
As a conductor and workshop clinician, he conducted (a commissioned work, Song of the Three Young Men for SATB, brass and organ) at the 1993 Southeast Regional Convention of the American Guild of Organists. The 1994 Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida Choir Festival also featured the composer in this dual capacity. Dr. Mathews was awarded the anthem commission in 1999 for the 49th Annual Sewanee Church Music Conference, long recognized for excellence by the Episcopal Church Standing Commission on Church Music. In January 2000 he conducted two commissioned choral premières at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Augusta, Georgia as part of their 250th anniversary celebration. A fanfare for brass and organ and an anthem were commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the First Congregational Church in St. Joseph, Michigan in 2004.
The music of Peter Mathews is regularly performed at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, Florida under the direction of Ben Lane and Claire Hodge. In 2005 he completed a two-part treble Missa brevis setting for their childrens’ choirs and organ for their European tour during the Christmas season, now available from Alliance Music Publications. The same venue saw the première of his Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in 2007 for the 20th anniversary of the Orlando Deanery Girls Choir conducted by Hazel Somerville, founder of the choir.
Commissioned works of Peter Mathews continue to gain exposure through live performance and compact disc projects for the choirs of Edith Ho (Church of the Advent, Boston), Anton Armstrong (St. Olaf College), and David Brensinger (Atlanta Singers). The 1994 Florida All-State High School Chorus, Boston's Youth Pro Musica, DePauw University, Stetson University, Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, and the Vancouver Chamber Choir have included works by Peter Mathews on their CDs and in their choirs' concerts and tours. His liturgical music was featured in June 2000 at the Regional Convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians held in Orlando. In 2006, the Centaur label issued a CD with his Four Seasons for cello and organ, performed by Donald Moline, Chicago Symphony cellist, and Holy Name Cathedral organist Ricardo Ramirez. His Intermezzo has also been recorded by the Murray-Lohuis Duo in their CD series in Volume 5, All American Works for Violin and Organ by Raven Recordings. Dr. Mathews has written 185 compositions, of which over 80 are published by Alliance, Choristers Guild, H.W. Gray, Kjos, Lawson-Gould, Lorenz, MorningStar, St. James Press, and Southern. All the unpublished works have been engraved by the composer and are available upon request.
Dr. M.J. Palmer
Coming soon.
Lois Scott, Office Manager
Lois has been with the UNF Department of Music for more than 20 years (since 1988) and continues to stay active in the UNF community through her memberships in UNF’s Staff Affairs Committee and the Bookstore Advisory Council. Prior to her employment at UNF Lois worked for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Duval County School Board, and the City of Jacksonville.
As Office Manager, Lois works closely with the Chair and faculty members in UNF’s Department of Music, as well as administrators in various offices throughout the UNF campus. Mrs. Scott manages a variety of tasks including, but not limited to scheduling, contracting, and budgeting. In addition, Lois provides advising services for music students and enjoys giving them the best assistance possible.
Chellie Jones-Harris, Administrative Secretary
After more than 13 years working for Children and Family services in different capacities, Chellie Jones-Harris became a member of the UNF Department of Music support team in 1999.
Harris fulfills the needs of the faculty, staff, students, and prospective students and their parents daily by providing administrative/secretarial support to various departmental divisions. Serving as a liaison between students and departments, operating units within the university and community, as well as assisting a wide range of committee chairs with schedules, coordinating events, and other additional activities, Harris is an integral member of the primary office staff.
Ashley Earles-Bennett, Director of Public Relations
Ashley has been the Director of Public Relations for the University of North Florida’s Department of Music since 2007. Prior to her appointment at UNF, she was Creative Manager for a cell phone carrier whose duties included creating static and animated content (utilizing 3rd party celebrity, college sports, and artist materials) and managing a team that created and prepared content for distribution by major cell phone companies. In addition, she served as Assistant to the Senior Vice President of Marketing for a major website firm, specializing in advertising materials for Web Acquisition Services, which included working with major clients to ensure a successful design solution. Ashley specializes in a wide variety of design services and has won several awards including Employee of the Year Honoree.
Ashley graduated with honors from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications focusing on Advertising and Photography (as well as additional studies in Journalism) and continued her studies through UNF’s Post Baccalaureate Program in English/Literature. In 2008 she was awarded a UNF Grad Program Scholarship for “Excellent Scholarship” and received the same award in 2009. Expected graduation (Master’s Degree in English) is early 2010.
Quick Links