Natalie L. Haslam College of Music

Jonathan Adams

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ADDRESS
University of Tennessee
College of Music
233 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040
Phone
865-974-7567

Jonathan Adams

Lecturer of Musicology

Jonathan Adams is an ethnomusicologist with broad interests in the gamelan musics of Bali, Indonesia. His experience includes formal study of longstanding ritual and court musics, participation in performances of new and innovative works, as well as instrument building and tuning. To date, he has spent 5+ years living in Indonesia, including a one-year stay (2007/2008) supported by the Indonesian Darmasiswa scholarship program; and a four-year stay (2013-2017) that involved researching seven-tone music associated with indigenous Javano-Balinese poetry, assisting the experiential education program at the School for International Training, and co-founding Insitu Recordings—a transnational initiative that uses the medium of recording to create novel ways to engage with music. He received a BA (General Studies: Ethnomusicology and International Studies: Comparative Religion) from the University of Washington in 2007, where he also spearheaded the realization of an innovative 9-tone gamelan developed by I Wayan Sinti, called Siwa Nada. His research has been supported by the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (Henry Luce Fellowship 2014). He holds the Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of British Columbia. He is director of Insitu Recordings and co-editor of Insitu Recordings Magazine. He is also an avid electronic musician, DJ, and photographer..

Education

PhD, Ethnomusicology – University of British Columbia (2021)
MM, Ethnomusicology – University of British Columbia (2012)
TESOL Instructor Certification – Oxford TEFL Prague (2009)
BA, Ethnomusicology and Comparative Religion – University of Washington (2006)

Evie Chen

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
329 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Phone
865-974-8671

Evie Chen

Lecturer of Violin

Evie Chen is an accomplished violinist from Palo Alto, California. She made her solo debut with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra at age 8 after being the youngest to win the Nafisa Taghioff Award in their Young Artists Competition. Since then, she has received recognition performing concertos with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, California Youth Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony Orchestra. 

In addition to having an active performing career, Evie is a passionate and engaging educator with years of experience teaching at the collegiate and studio setting. Her pedagogical philosophy prioritizes awareness of ergonomic techniques that provide students an unrestricted ability in developing their unique musical voice. As a result, her students graduate from her studio with confidence in their musical independence.  

Evie is also deeply interested in exploring new ways of bringing diverse music to new audiences, advocating for inclusive and holistic musical programming. She has inspired interest in contemporary and folk-based compositions, performing works like Einojuani Rautavaara’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1977) and premiering Erberk Erylmaz’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a piece which was written for her.

Evie received her MM at Rice University with Paul Kantor and is working towards her DMA. She also earned a BA in psychology at the University of Rochester and a BM in violin performance at the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the Performer’s Certificate under the tutelage of Mikhail Kopelman.

Education

DMA – Rice University

MM – Rice University

BM – Eastman School of Music

BA – University of Rochester

Victor Chávez

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
207 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Victor Chávez

Associate Professor of Clarinet, Area Coordinator of Woodwind

Dr. Victor Chávez, Jr. is a Mexican-American, fifth-generation musician from El Paso, Texas. He is currently Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and holds tenured orchestral positions as third/bass clarinetist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; Symphony of the Mountains in Kingsport, TN; and the Tri-Cities Opera Company in Binghamton, NY. Additional teaching engagements include faculty positions at the California Central Coast Orchestra & Jazz Academy (COJAC) and Round Top International Festival Institute.

Internationally, he has lectured/performed at the Round Top Festival Institute, the International Clarinet Association Festivals in Baton Rouge, LA 2014; Madrid, Spain 2015; Lawrence, Kansas 2016; Orlando, Florida 2017; Ostend, Belgium 2018; and Knoxville, TN 2019. Additional international teaching and performance engagements include Costa Rica; France; Kasetsart University and Satit PIM Panyapiwat Institute in Bangkok, Thailand; and the Tainan National University of the Arts in Taiwan. In 2015, he worked with Daraja Music Initiative’s Clarinets for Conservation in Moshi, Tanzania, teaching and advocating for greater awareness and preservation of African Blackwood (mpingo) used to make clarinets.

Nationally, Chávez has presented masterclasses at various universities/institutions across the United States, most notably, the San Francisco Conservatory, Northwestern University, DePaul University, University of Michigan, Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Vanderbilt University, Ithaca College, and the Eastman School of Music. Other national and regional performances include the Brevard Music Festival, the College Music Society Conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and KMTA/TMTA organizations. His solo performances can be heard on National Public Radio’s WUOT 91.9 FM, Knoxville.

In June of 2017, Chávez performed his Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall with pianist Dr. Joong Han Jung as part of the Víjon Duo. Other notable performances include The Cleveland Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Opera, Waco Symphony Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Belton Symphony Orchestra, Marble City Opera, Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of the Mountains, Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra, and the Big Ears Festival. As an active soloist, has performed Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto, Weber’s Concerto No. 2 in Eb, Navarro’s – II Concerto, and Spohr’s Concerto No. 4 with various orchestras.

Chávez earned various prizes as a performer: twice at the El Paso Artists Guild Concerto Competition; twice at the Entergy Young Texas Artists Competition; Baylor University Concerto Competition; the International Sorantin Concerto; DePaul University Concerto Competition; and the Round Top Festival Concerto Competition. He has attended the Brevard Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, and Round Top Music Festival and has earned degrees from Baylor University-BME, DePaul University-MM, and The Eastman School of Music-DMA. His primary pedagogues include Larry Combs, Guy Deplus, Jon Manasse, Julie DeRoche, Kenneth Grant, Dr. Richard Shanley, Dan McKelway, Alan Olson, and Vin Richards.

In 2006, Chávez was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Lusk Fellowship, allowing him to study in Paris, France under the tutelage of Guy Deplus. While in Paris, Vic conducted his Fulbright research in pedagogy, performance practice, and literature. In 2019, Chávez was awarded the Artistic Directorship to host the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest® at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with over 1,700 clarinetists and guests in attendance. He and his Artistic Leadership Team set and currently hold a new Guinness World Record for the Largest Clarinet Choir ever assembled consisting of 367 people.

He has served as a board member for the Marble City Opera in Knoxville, TN as well as various AFM union positions in both Tennessee and New York. He has served as a judge for the International Clarinet Association’s orchestral excerpt competition, as well as regional competitions in the state of Tennessee.

In his spare time, Chávez enjoys spoiling his 112 lbs. Rottweiler puppy, Violet, and listening to K-Pop’s SHINee.

Chávez is a Buffet Crampon Artist and plays on Buffet Crampon clarinets.

Education

DMA, Clarinet; Minor in Music Education – Eastman School of Music (2013)
MM, Clarinet – Depaul University (2009)
Fulbright Scholar – Paris, France (2007)
BME – Baylor University (2006)

Maria Fernanda Castillo

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
206 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Phone
865-974-6748

Maria Fernanda Castillo

Assistant Professor of Flute

Flutist, musicologist and entrepreneur Maria Fernanda Castillo has been offering intentional and meaningful performances that can contribute to the search for balance in the music world. Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville, and co-founder of the Latin American Music Initiative, Maria has found approaches to teaching, research, and performances that not only highlight the importance of standard works in the flute canon but also help the inclusion, awareness and accessibility of works by underrepresented composers.

Hailed by the New York Times as a flutist who performs with “…virtuoso panache,” Maria debuted in New York City with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas in 2008, under Alondra de la Parra. Additionally, in 2009 she had her professional debut as a soloist in Venezuela with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra under Mtro. Carlos Riazuelo. She has also performed as a soloist with the Caracas Municipal Symphony under Mtros. Rodolfo Saglimbeni and her husband, Régulo Stabilito. Her latest collaboration include the performance of Shadow of Sirius for flute and wind ensemble by Joel Puckett with the University of Tennessee Wind Ensemble conducted by John Zastoupil.

Co-founder of the Latin American Music Initiative-LAMI (www.laminitiative.org)  with her husband, orchestra conductor Régulo Stabilito, they are committed to advocating for raising awareness of Latin American repertoire. LAMI has allowed them to reach a large community by performing, recording, lecturing and editing Latin American works. Her work with LAMI has allowed her to be part of the 2020-2021 Mellon Public Engagement in the Humanities Fellow. As a musicologist, Maria has created an online flute catalogue with 143 flute works by Venezuelan composers, helping the repertoire be known and accessible for performers all over the world and develop a new approach to flute etude study by contextualizing etudes based on their historical context. In Addition, she is part of a group of 9 Latin American female flutists to create the largest catalogue of flute works by Latin American composers (https://flautalatinoamerica.com/)

As an orchestral musician, Maria frequently performs with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. She has served as principal flute in orchestras in Venezuela, México and the United States. She was the Associate Principal of the Caracas Municipal Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Venezuelan Symphony, the Venezuela National Philharmonic, the Miami City Ballet, the New World Symphony, the Sphinx Symphony, the Mazatlán Sinfonietta, the “Sinaloa de las Artes” Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Acadiana Symphony and the Lake Charles Symphony.

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Maria began her flute studies at the age of nine with Venezuelan flutist Luis Julio Toro. She holds a Bachelors, Specialist and Doctorate of Music degrees from the University of Michigan as a student of Amy Porter; a Masters of Music from the University of Miami under Christine Nield-Capote; and a Masters in Latin American Musicology from the Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Maria currently resides in Knoxville Tennessee, where she divides her time between her work as an educator, performer and activist; and practicing Ashtanga Yoga  or playing golf.

Education

DMA, Music Performance with Certificates in Musicology, Arts Administration, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)- University of Michigan (2020)
Specialist in Music in Music Performance – University of Michigan (2018)
MM, Latin American Musicology- Universidad Central de Venezuela (2018)
MM, Music Performance- University of Miami (2006)
BM, Music Performance- University of Michigan (2004)

Keith Brown

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
251 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Website
https://music.utk.edu/jazz/index.php
Phone
865-974-5927

Keith Brown

Distinguished Lecturer of Percussion, Area Coordinator of Jazz

Keith Brown is a Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Tennessee where in addition to teaching applied drum set, he is the Director of Jazz Bands and coordinator of small Jazz Ensembles. He is an active performer playing regularly with several groups including Mark Boling’s Trio Life, and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra where he has performed with (among others) Monty Alexander, Mulgrew Miller, Hank Jones, John Clayton, Maceo Parker, Wycliffe Gordon, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Terrel Stafford, Stefon Harris, Karrin Allyson, Gregory Porter, Ingrid Jensen, John Pizzarelli, Ken Peplowski, Eric Reed, James Morrison, Warren Wolf, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and Christian McBride

He has also performed with Zim Ngqawana, Marvin Stamm, Doc Severinsen, Tommy Flanagan, Jerry Coker, Rick Simerly, Will Campbell, Greg Tardy, Donald Brown, Jeff Coffin and others.

He is featured on numerous CDs including several with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, and Boling, Brown, & Holloway. His recording with South African Saxophonist Zim Ngqawana Zimology In Concert (USA 2008) won a SAMA for best traditional jazz recording in 2008.

He is an active clinician giving both drum set workshop/clinics and with regional honor jazz bands.

He endorses Meinl cymbals and Innovative Percussion drumsticks. He is very involved with the Percussive Arts Society and has contributed articles to its official publication

Andrew M. Bliss

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
131 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Website
https://www.andybliss.net/
Phone
865-974-4882

Andrew M. Bliss

Associate Professor of Percussion, Director of Percussion Studies

Andy Bliss is a solo artist, conductor, curator, and educator who maintains a dynamic career of musical collaboration. Residing in Knoxville, TN, his performances have been heard locally at the Tennessee Theatre and the Square Room, and abroad in locations such as the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music (Germany), the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), the Patagonia Percussion Festival (Argentina), the LiveWire Festival in Baltimore, and Stanford’s Cantor Center for Visual Arts.

His repertoire ranges from 20th-century masterworks by John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, and Steve Reich, to the performance and advocacy of contemporary composers such as John Luther Adams, David Lang, and Mark Applebaum. His passion for new music has propelled Andy to collaborate on new works with a wide range of today’s leading composers and musicians such as Christopher Adler, Christopher Burns, Evan Chapman, David Crowell, Nicholas Deyoe, Marc Mellits, Lewis Nielson, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, among many others.

Last season, Andy returned to Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival, revisiting John Luther Adams’ Four Thousand Holes with the nief-norf Project and performing Become Ocean with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; joined Atlanta’s Chamber Cartel for an evening-length performance of Iannis Xenakis’ Pleaides at the Goat Farm Arts Center; presented the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) International Convention’s New Literature Showcase Concert; appeared in solo recitals at the McCormick Marimba Festival in Tampa, FL and the statewide PAS Day of Percussion in Illinois; and collaborated in Lexington, KY with Dieter Hennings and an all-star cast on a performance of Pierre Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître.

In the 2016-17 season, Andy will perform on double tenors in Brooklyn’s Panorama with the Crossfire Steel Orchestra; curates the PASIC Focus Day “Celebrating the European Avant-Garde,” a 6-concert event over two days; performs Jennifer Higdon’s percussion concerto under the composer’s baton; conducts the Eastern United States premiere of Mark Applebaum’s Rabbit Hole; directs a performance of Michael Pisaro’s Hearing Metal 3; and performs the world premiere of Constellations by Christopher Burns, an evening-length work for solo percussion and multimedia, written for Bliss.

Andy has made a practice of regularly working with younger composers, performers, and scholars, encouraging inquisitive modes of musical questioning and sustained collaboration with future generations. He is the Artistic Director of nief-norf, whose summer festival is now in its seventh year; there he performs, teaches, and conducts while curating a dozen concerts annually. The festival serves as a yearly contemporary music retreat, where more than fifty international participants enjoy an immersive environment of collaboration, experimentation, and support. Additionally, since 2011, Andy has served as the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Tennessee, where he founded the Ensemble Knox (resident chamber percussion group), the UT Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the UT Contemporary Music Festival.

A devoted music educator, Andy has presented recitals, lectures, and master classes at the Northern Illinois University New Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy (NCPP), Association for Technology in Music Instruction’s (ATMI) National Conference, and the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic, and has held residencies at the Universities of Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, South Carolina, and many others.  He currently serves the Percussive Arts Society as a member of the New Music Research committee and is Past President of the PAS Tennessee Chapter. Bliss has served on the adjudication jury for both the Music for All National Percussion Festival and the PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition, and his method book Multitudes (Innovative Percussion) is a widely used pedagogical resource nationally. As a member of the Knoxville community, Bliss spends two weeks annually touring his Steelband and Brazilian Ensemble to Knox County public schools, fusing live performance with cultural and historical community engagement.

A native of Milan, IL, Andy’s percussion studies were mentored by James Campbell, Rich Holly, Robert Chappell, Orlando Cotto, Liam Teague, Cliff Alexis, and the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps. He is proud to be a Yamaha Performing Artist and thanks Zildjian, Innovative Percussion, Evans, Black Swamp, and Meinl Percussion for their generous support and sponsorships. When not performing or with his students, Andy can be found consuming as much baseball as possible––either watching the Chicago Cubs on television, or playing a game of backyard catch with his wife Erin, and their son, Donovan.

Education

DMA, Percussion Performance & Pedagogy, University of Kentucky (2008)
MM, Percussion Performance & Pedagogy, University of Kentucky (2006)
BM, Percussion Performance, Northern Illinois University (2004)

Angela Batey

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
213 & 117C Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Website
https://music.utk.edu/choral/index.php
Phone
865-974-6649

Angela Batey

Interim Associate Dean for Access and Engagement; Interim Director of Graduate Studies; Director of Choral Activities

Angela Batey is recognized as a prominent conductor, clinician, adjudicator and teacher whose wide variety of experience encompasses professional, university, high school, community and church choruses. Having recently served as Interim Director of the School of Music, Batey is currently Associate Director of the College of Music for Graduate Studies, Director of Choral Activities and James Cox Professor of Music. She conducts the Chamber Singers and teaches conducting courses at the graduate levels. Batey is also Director of Music at Farragut Presbyterian Church.

She is a Past-President of the Tennessee American Choral Directors Association and is currently serving on the Executive Board of Southern Division ACDA.  Batey has been Associate Conductor of Schola Cantorum of Florida, a professional chorus and Associate Music Director of the Florida Ambassadors of Music, and Festival Director of the International Cathedral Music Festival.

Batey has appeared as a clinician for the American Choral Directors Association, South Carolina Music Educators Association, Florida Vocal Association, East Tennessee Vocal Association, West Virginia Vocal Association, Georgia Vocal Association, and is a frequent adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor of choral festivals, honors choirs and educational workshops. Her concern for excellence in education is the focal point of her teaching career.

Batey holds two degrees from Birmingham-Southern College in Music Education and Musical Theatre, a master’s degree from The Florida State University in Music Education and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of South Carolina. In addition, she has studied Conducting with Hugh Thomas, Joseph Flummerfelt, Robert Shaw, Colleen Kirk, Clayton Krehbiel, Andre Thomas, Don V Moses and Larry Wyatt.

Education

DMA, Choral Conducting – University of South Carolina (1995)
MME, Music Education – The Florida State University (1986)
BA, Musical Theatre – Birmingham-Southern College (1984)
BME, Music Education – Birmingham-Southern College (1983)

Wesley Baldwin

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
328 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Website
https://www.wesleybaldwincello.com/
Phone
865-974-0706

Wesley Baldwin

Professor of Cello

Cellist Wesley Baldwin holds degrees from Yale College, the New England Conservatory, and the University of Maryland. He performs throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a soloist and chamber musician. As a soloist with orchestra he has recently appeared with the Laredo Philharmonic, the Oregon Mozart Players, the Symphony of the Mountains, and the Aberdeen, Bemidji, Bryan, Chattanooga, Florence, Germantown, Johnson City, Hot Springs, Knoxville, La Porte, Oak Ridge, Manchester, New River Valley, Salisbury, Wintergreen, and Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestras, among others. His passionate and charismatic performances have been widely lauded.

An advocate for great music from all eras, Mr. Baldwin is one of the only performers of several little known and new concerti for cello, including recently those by Sollima, Wagenseil, Jacob T.V., Behzad Ranjbaran, and Alan Shulman. His recording of music for cello by Alan Shulman, released by Albany records, enjoyed widespread critical acclaim. He has also recorded for the Naxos, Zyode, and Innova labels. His most recent CD release, his fourth on the Centaur label, features the chamber music of Arthur Honegger.

Wesley was the founder of the Plymouth String Quartet, with whom he was a top prize-winner in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and a finalist in the Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition. He was also cellist of the James Piano Quartet for five years, with residencies at both Sweet Briar College and the Wintergreen Festival. Solo and chamber music performing honors Baldwin has received include the Prix Mercure, Homer Ulrich Awards, and a Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Performing Artist Fellowship.

As a member and principal cellist of the New World Symphony, Baldwin performed with many of the world’s great conductors and toured Japan, Scotland, England, Argentina, and Brazil. His orchestral colleagues there selected him as the recipient of the New World Symphony’s Community Board Award for artistic integrity and leadership. For many years Wesley served on New World Symphony regional audition committee panels throughout the U.S.

Dr. Baldwin has performed chamber music at the Aspen, Cazenovia, Hot Springs, Ojai, Sandpoint, Mainly Mozart, May in Miami, Skaneateles, and Sub-tropics Music Festivals, and internationally in Italy, France, Monte Carlo, Spain, Austria, Brazil, Argentina, the United Kingdom, and Costa Rica. In 2017 and again in 2018 he visited China, performing and teaching in Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Nanjing, Ningbo, and other cities.

In the summers he performs and teaches at the Michigan City Chamber Music Festival, the ARIA International Academy, and at the Wintergreen Festival, where he is the principal cellist of the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, and serves as the chair of strings of the Wintergreen Festival Academy.

Currently Professor of Cello at the University of Tennessee, where he received the Chancellor’s Award for Professional Promise, Wesley previously taught at the University of Maryland and at Florida International University, where he was artist-in-residence with the Plymouth Quartet. He. His former students play and teach throughout the United States and Malaysia, an include a 2021 Marshall Scholarship Fellow.

Dr. Baldwin’s commitment to string education extends beyond his work at the University of Tennessee. He founded and directs the Tennessee Cello Workshop, an annual three-day gathering of more than 170 cellists of all ages from throughout the United States held each February. After serving as conductor of the Knoxville Youth Chamber Orchestra for 15 years, he now serves as Director of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Association Chamber Music program. In Knoxville he also serves as Co-Director of the Knoxville Suzuki Academy.

Wesley lives in Knoxville with his wife, soprano Melisa Barrick Baldwin, and four wonderful children.

Education

DMA, Cello Performance, with honors – University of Maryland (2000)
MM, Cello Performance, with honors— New England Conservatory (1991)
BA, Russian and East European Studies, cum laude—Yale College (1987)

Music Samples

Alla sarabanda: tranquillo by William Bolcom from Suite No. 1 in C Minor. Live performance by Wesley Baldwin at the Society for New Music by Amber Music.

Allison Adams

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
208 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Website
www.allisondadams.com
Phone
865-974-7532

Allison Adams

Interim Director of Undergraduate Studies, Associate Professor of Saxophone

Allison Dromgold Adams holds a B.M. in Music Education and Performance from Ithaca College, a M.M. in Music Performance from the University of Minnesota, and a D.M.A. from Arizona State University. She has taught saxophone at both Ithaca College and Cornell University. In addition, she has also served on the faculty of the Nief-Norf Summer Music Festival and Ithaca College’s Summer Music Academy teaching Yoga for Musicians, in addition to studio saxophone. Her non-college teaching experience includes directing elementary and middle school band, and teaching private woodwind and piano lessons.

An avid performer, she is a member of the Nief-Norf Contemporary Music Ensemble and the tenor saxophonist in the Estrella Consort, a saxophone quartet devoted to the performance of new music. Adams frequently performs with the Knoxville Symphony and has been featured in recitals across the country. She has also performed at the World Saxophone Congress, the International Saxophone Symposium, the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) conferences, and the International Clarinet Association conference. She was featured as a concerto soloist at the 2019 NASA Region 7 conference at Western Carolina University. Adams is currently co-authoring a saxophone method book, which focuses on pedagogy for collegiate methods class students and adult beginners.

Besides her study of the saxophone, Adams’ main area of research centers around performance injuries, wellness for musicians, and the integration of yoga into music performance. A chapter on her recovery from focal dystonia is available in the collection Notes of Hope, published by Mountain Peak Music. She has also authored an essay on yoga for musicians, which can be found in the multi-media resource Cross Training for Musicians (available through Mountain Peak Music as well).

Her main saxophone teachers have included Timothy McAllister, Eugene Rousseau, and Steven Mauk. She is a D’Addario Performing Artist. For more information, please go to www.allisondadams.com.

Education

DMA, Music Performance – Arizona State University (2012)
MM, Music Performance – University of Minnesota (2008)
BM, Music Education and Performance – Ithaca College (2006)

Katherine Benson

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ADDRESS

University of Tennessee
College of Music
333 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Phone
865-974-7530

Katherine Benson

Lecturer of Piano

American pianist Katherine Benson is an important artistic voice of her generation through her “stunning” (ArtsKnoxville) performances and passion for innovation and arts leadership.

A native of Jonesborough, TN, Katherine is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, adjudicator, and teacher, and has performed across the USA and abroad in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. Highlights from the 2023-2024 concert seasons include Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra, Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Clara Schumann’s Concerto in A Minor with Spectrum Orchestra, as well as solo recitals in Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Washington, and North Dakota.

An avid chamber musician, Katherine is the Artistic Director and pianist for The Paramount Chamber Players (TPCP), one of the premier chamber music ensembles of the Appalachian Region and in its twentieth concert season. Since taking her role with TPCP in 2020, Katherine has organized and performed nearly three dozen concerts with the ensemble, including a professionally recorded and entirely virtual 2020–2021 concert season.

Katherine is deeply passionate about arts leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration, and her

innovative projects have been sponsored by multiple grants from the University of Tennessee and Rackham College at the University of Michigan. With her colleagues at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Katherine co-founded the Knoxville International Piano Festival and Competition (KIPFC), hosted annually in the Spring semester at the UTK College of Music. KIPFC brings together nearly one hundred pianists each year for a weekend of concerts, masterclasses, lectures, and competitions. To learn more about KIPFC, visit https://music.utk.edu/events/piano-festival/

In another recent project, Painting Sound, Katherine explored the intersections of visual art, music, and film. She commissioned seven new works of art from graduate and undergraduate visual art students, each new artwork created directly in response to a solo piano piece and filmed in real-time. This ultimately culminated in a unique recital and gallery exhibition experience that showcases the real-time creative process of each artist in tandem with the piece of music that inspired the artwork. This project was featured in a lecture titled Painting Sound: A Case Study in Fostering Creativity and Collaboration Across the Arts presented at the 2023 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy.

In demand as a masterclass clinician and adjudicator, Katherine places great importance on encouraging and supporting the next generation of musicians. She recently presented masterclasses at the University of Mary, Whitworth University, the Blount County Keyboard Teachers Association, the Evelyn Miller Young Artist Series, and the Knoxville International Piano Festival, working with a diversity of age groups from elementary students to collegiate artists. Katherine has also served on the jury for multiple competitions, including the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Tennessee Music Teachers Association Piano Competitions, and the Alabama and Florida Music Teachers Association Piano Competitions.

Katherine has additionally garnered numerous triumphs in over a dozen international and national piano competitions, having won top prizes and recognitions in the Heida Hermanns, Seattle, Kerikeri, Walled City Music, Teresa Carreño, and Thousand Islands International Piano Competitions.

Katherine holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Eastman School of Music, and Northwestern University. Her teachers have included Arthur Greene, Nelita True, James Giles, and Chih-Long Hu.

At the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Music, Katherine maintains a vibrant studio of undergraduate and graduate piano performance majors, in addition to teaching classes in piano pedagogy, piano literature, chamber music, and keyboard harmony.

Visit www.katherinebensonpiano.com for concerts, project updates, recordings, and more.

Education

DMA, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Artist Certificate, University of Tennessee Knoxville,
MM, Piano Performance, Northwestern University
BM, Piano Performance and Literature, Eastman School of Music,