HOP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Manager of Impact and Community Alliance
Job Titles:
- Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Belonging
Job Titles:
- Marketing and Communications Designer
Job Titles:
- Piano / Keyboard Technician
Crystal Fielding trained and received certification at Boston's North Bennet Street School, and is a Registered Piano Technician through the Piano Technicians' Guild. In addition to her work at the Hopkins Center, Crystal works seasonally at Marlboro Music Festival and at Yellow Barn Music Festival. Previously, she has worked as a keyboard technician at Tanglewood and Eastern Music Festivals, and at Boston University's College of Fine Arts. While protecting pianos from entropy is her chosen occupation, Crystal previously studied biology and behavioral ecology, and she may often be found in forests and mud puddles. Her home and personal shop are located in Townshend, Vermont.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Manager of Fellowships and Student Initiatives
Daniel Burmester is an educator, manager, scholar, and artist. As Manager of Fellowships and Student Initiatives, he's tasked with developing innovative curricula to inspire student agency in arts-based initiatives, contributing to The Hopkins Center's student programming needs, and advancing The Hop's interdisciplinary spirit in integrating the arts across campus. As an educator, he has many years of experience teaching in classrooms that range from kindergarteners to doctoral students and as an administrator focusing on program and curriculum design. Daniel has worked as an actor, technician, and manager in the Performing Arts. In his doctoral work at Lesley University, where he received his Ph.D. in Educational Studies, and master's work at Emerson College, where he received his MA in Theatre Education, he studied the emotion of awe and its potential benefits in adolescent learning. He strives to help students see the world as marvelous and support them in making beautiful, innovative things happen.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Director of Bands and Senior
- Director of Bands, Senior Liaison for Hopkins Center Ensembles
Dr. Brian Messier is Director of Bands and Senior Liaison for Hopkins Center Ensembles, where he directs the Wind Ensemble and Marching Band, and teaches courses in applied conducting, musical leadership and arts entrepreneurship. After arriving at Dartmouth in 2019, Messier launched a Mexican Composition Competition, which he has since stewarded into The Mexican Repertoire Initiative at Dartmouth; a musical, cultural and diplomatic initiative sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth. The initiative is committed to bringing Mexican repertoire to the international stage, providing opportunities for Mexican composers, combating institutionalized racism in educational and professional performing ensembles, and bringing artists together across borders. In the spring of 2023, the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble toured Mexico in partnership with the US Department of State and the Mexico Ministry of Culture's celebration of the 200th Anniversary of Diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico. Recently, the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the 2024 CBDNA Conference at Cornell University, where they will offer a program of original Mexican repertoire for wind band.
In addition to his work at Dartmouth, Messier is founder and Artistic Director of the 2016 American Prize-winning Valley Winds based in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, a group for which he also won the 2023 American Prize in conducting. Prior to his position at Dartmouth, Messier served as Artist in Residence and Director of the Wind Ensemble at Williams College, and served for 11 years in the public schools of Belchertown and Amherst, Massachusetts, receiving invitations to perform at the state conference with each program respectively. Lauded for his work with ensembles ranging from youth to professional, Messier is in high demand as a clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor.
Messier received his bachelor's degree in music education from Ithaca College, his master's degree in wind conducting from the University of Massachusetts, and his doctoral degree in conducting from the University of Minnesota where he studied with Craig Kirchhoff.
Job Titles:
- Senior Box Office Manager
Job Titles:
- Box Office Manager for Patron Relations
Job Titles:
- Assistant Conductor for Choral Ensembles
- Member of the Dartmouth College
Ms. Mellinger has been a member of the Dartmouth College faculty since 1996. In addition to her duties as voice instructor (Senior Lecturer), she serves as the Assistant Director and Vocal Coach of the Handel Society and the Glee Club. Ms. Mellinger presents solo recitals and chamber music concerts on campus through the ChamberWorks Series. Ms. Mellinger is a former director of Cantabile, a Women's Chorus based in Vermont and New Hampshire. In addition, Ms. Mellinger has directed church choirs and has served as both Stage Director and Music Director for numerous community theater productions. She is a sought-after clinician in the field of vocal production, having most recently worked with the University Chorus and Chamber singers of Brandeis University.
Job Titles:
- Music Director of Orchestral and Choral Programs
In 2017-2018, Mr. Ciabatti conducted Madama Butterfly at Opera North (NH), and Hansel and Gretel and Don Giovanni (directed and featuring Nathan Gunn) at the Lyric Theatre at Illinois.
In 2016, Mr. Ciabatti conducted Tosca at Opera North (NH), directed by Russell Treyz, and Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream at the Lyric Theatre at Illinois, directed by Christopher Gillett. In 2015, he made his South American debut conducting the Universidad Central Symphony Orchestra in Bogota, Colombia, where he also taught master classes in orchestra and Italian opera. With La Nuova Aurora Opera, he conducted full productions of Handel's Rodrigo (2015) and Purcell's King Arthur
As a pianist and vocal coach in Italy, Mr. Ciabatti worked for the Cherubini Conservatory, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Florence Opera Academy. He has played for masterclasses of Renée Fleming, Nathan Gunn, William Matteuzzi, Donald George and Isabel Leonard. Since 2016, he has been music director and vocal coach of "Scuola Italia per Giovani Cantanti Lirici" in Sant'Angelo in Vado (Italy), and this summer will join the faculty of "Opera Viva!" in Verona as vocal coach.
Mr. Ciabatti holds degrees in piano, choral conducting and orchestral conducting from Italy and the United States.
Job Titles:
- Director, Woodworking Instructor
Job Titles:
- Howard Gilman '44 Executive Director
Job Titles:
- Director of Financial and Administrative Operations
Job Titles:
- Director, Ceramics Instructor
Jessie Sullivan is thrilled to be joining the Hopkins Center Team. Jessie is coming with over 20 years of professional experience as a Technical Director and Production Manager. Her master's degree is in Project Management from Drexel University. Originally from New York, Jessie has been managing and overseeing multiple venues as part of a college campus with concurrent events for the last 16 years as Director of Production in the mountains of Pennsylvania. With experience in both indoor and outdoor venues, her specialized skills include risk management, complex project management, and event safety compliance.
Job Titles:
- Film Program Manager
- Film Programming and Operations Manager
Job Titles:
- Director, Dartmouth College Dance Ensemble
As a teacher, John offers dance master classes in the United States and abroad. He has taught at institutions including Princeton University, Barnard College, George Mason University, Laban Centre in London, School of Visual Arts, University of California, Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Washington. He was invited to give the keynote address to the Utah Dance Educator's Conference in November 2016. John is the Director of the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble, and is a founding teacher of Dance for PD®, an ongoing collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group.
Job Titles:
- Executive Producer
- Managing Director
Joshua Price Kol '93 is the Managing Director/Executive Producer at the Hop. Joshua returned to Hanover from the West Coast where he was Director of Education for the San Francisco Jazz Festival Organization. Prior to moving westward he was the Assistant Director of Community Works, one of New York City's largest providers of arts education services, where he oversaw a multicultural performance series serving 65,000 public school students each year. Also while living in NYC, Joshua managed Merkin Concert Hall and the performance facilities of the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1993 with an A.B. in Drama modified with Art History and began his arts administration career at the Hop, working in Operations and Programming.
Job Titles:
- Jewelry / Metals Instructor
Job Titles:
- Associate Director for Facilities
Job Titles:
- Post Graduate Fellow - Student Initiatives
Job Titles:
- Assistant Conductor, Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra
Job Titles:
- Howard Gilman '44 Executive Director
- Howard L. Gilman '44 Director
Job Titles:
- Director of External Affairs
Job Titles:
- Assistant to the Director
Job Titles:
- Choreographer - in - Residence
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Curator of Academic Programming
Job Titles:
- Producing Operations Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Assistant Ceramics Instructor
Job Titles:
- Production Office Manager
Job Titles:
- Jewelry / Metals Instructor, Director of the Claflin Jewelry Studio
Job Titles:
- Director, Coast Jazz Orchestra at Dartmouth
Job Titles:
- Senior Production Manager