LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Theatre History
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor, Musicology
Job Titles:
- Galante Director of Choral Studies
Job Titles:
- Assistant Dean of Student Success, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
- Assistant Dean Student Success Counselor
Andreas Giger holds a Lizentiat in Musicology from the University of Zurich, a Lehrdiplom in Piano from the Winterthur Conservatory, and a PhD in Musicology from Indiana University. Between 1998 and 2000, he was Associate Director of the Center for the History of Music Theory and Literature at Indiana University.
Giger's research interests have concentrated on nineteenth-century Italian opera and the work of Leonard Bernstein. He is the author of the monograph Verismo (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 2004) in the Handwörterbuch der musikalischen Terminologie and the book Verdi and the French Aesthetic: Verse, Stanza, and Melody in Nineteenth-Century Opera (Cambridge University Press, 2008), which was supported by a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition, he is the author of articles in many books and journals, including the Journal of the American Musicological Society, the Journal of the Society for American Music, the Journal of Musicology, the Cambridge Opera Journal, Acta musicologica, Studi verdiani, Music & Letters, Nineteenth-Century Music, Nineteenth-Century Music Review, the Cambridge Companion to Verdi, the Oxford Handbook of Opera, the Cambridge Verdi Encyclopedia, and the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, among others. He has edited I due Foscari for The Works of Giuseppe Verdi (Ricordi and the University of Chicago Press, 2017) and Pagliacci (Bärenreiter, 2020), the latter with the support of a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is currently completing the critical editions of Un ballo in maschera (started by Ilaria Narici; for The Works of Giuseppe Verdi) and Cavalleria rusticana (for Bärenreiter), the latter with the support of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Giger has edited (with Thomas J. Mathiesen) Music in the Mirror: Reflections on the History of Music Theory and Literature for the 21st Century (University of Nebraska Press, 2002), for which he has received an ASCAP Deems-Taylor award. He serves on the editorial boards of Nineteenth-Century Music Review, Studi verdiani, and The Works of Giuseppe Verdi. He is co-general editor (with Francesco Izzo) of Masterpieces of Italian Opera (for Bärenreiter).
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Scenic Design
Job Titles:
- Visiting Instructor Entertainment Lighting and Media
Job Titles:
- Student Success / Recruiting Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Clarinet
Biography
Lauded for his "admirable suppleness and beauty of tone" (Allan Kozinn, Portland Press Herald) Bixby Kennedy is one of the most versatile clarinetists of his generation. He has performed concerti with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and New Haven Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Bixby has performed throughout the US and Europe in venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, Marlboro Music Festival, and is the clarinetist for the "explosive" chamber ensemble Frisson. An advocate for contemporary music, in Fall 2025 he joins the storied New York New Music Ensemble which specializes in the contemporary and forward thinking repertoire of our time. He has appeared as a guest artist with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and his performances were featured on national radio broadcasts. As an orchestral musician, Bixby has performed with the MET Opera, NY Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and The Knights in addition to regular engagements with New Haven Symphony Orchestra. On period instruments, Bixby has performed classical repertoire on original and replica instruments throughout the US. He is an alumni member of Carnegie Hall's Ensemble Connect and works as a teaching artist throughout the US. As an arranger, his works have been performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Schumann, Frisson, Ensemble Connect, and Symphony in C. He loves traveling, trying new foods, laughing, hiking, playing tennis, and spending time with his family.
Bixby holds degrees from Indiana University (BM) and Yale University (MM), a postgraduate fellowship with Ensemble Connect, and is a DMA Candidate at the Manhattan School of Music.
Bixby is represented by Thomas Parker and performs on Backun instruments.
Job Titles:
- Manship Professor, Musicology
- Professor of Musicology
Blake Howe is the Paula G. Manship Professor of Musicology at Louisiana State University. He teaches courses and seminars on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music, film music, and performance practice for graduate students, and introduction and survey courses for undergraduates. Recent seminars have included Franz Schubert: Inside, Out; Music and Disability Studies; and Music and Poetry of the German Lied. He has served as co-director of LSU's Collegium Musicum.
With co-author Brett Boutwell, he is writing a textbook titled The Musician in Society (forthcoming from W. W. Norton), based on a course that he helped to develop at LSU. The book is notable for its innovative structure. It features nearly 100 case studies of musicians throughout history and around the globe, and these musicians are grouped together by the roles that they played in their musical communities and traditions: for example, the roles of the instrument maker, teacher, composer, performer, patron, or facilitator.
His research interests are diverse and include nineteenth-century German song, Disability Studies, and film music. He has published on these and other topics in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, Music Theory Spectrum, The Journal of Musicology, The Musical Quarterly, Journal of Music History Pedagogy, and Music Research Annual, and he has contributed chapters to The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Body (Oxford University Press), The Cambridge Companion to Schubert's "Winterreise" (Cambridge University Press), and Schubert's Late Music: History, Theory, Style (Cambridge University Press).
He is co-editor, with Stephanie Jensen-Moulton, Neil Lerner, Joseph N. Straus, of The Oxford Handbook on Music and Disability Studies (Oxford University Press), and co-convenor of the colloquy "On the Disability Aesthetics of Music" (Journal of the American Musicological Society).
He has contributed book and recording reviews to Music and Letters, Notes, Nineteenth-Century Music Review, and the Journal of Music History Pedagogy, and his blog posts have appeared on Musicology Now (American Musicological Society) and The Avid Listener (W. W. Norton). He has presented papers at a number of national and international conferences, including the annual meetings of the American Musicological Society, the Society for Music Theory, the Society for American Music, the Society for Music Analysis, and the Society for Disability Studies. He served as editor of recording reviews for Nineteenth-Century Music Review (Cambridge University Press) and as chair of the American Musicological Society's Study Group on Music & Disability.
In honor of his research, teaching, and service, he has been awarded the LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award, the LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award, the Tiger Athletic Foundation President's Award, and the Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Awards. He is President-Elect of the Southern Chapter of the American Musicological Society.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Assistant Professor, Voice
- Associate Professor of Voice
American baritone Brandon Hendrickson is hailed by Opera News Magazine as having a "mellifluous," and "beautiful baritone." Hendrickson has interpreted standard and contemporary opera, musical theater, concert work, and recital repertoire on domestic and international stages. Recently, Hendrickson portrayed the role of 1st Mate in Des Moines Metro Opera's Emmy Award Winning Production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd. Additionally, he played the role of Captain Smith in an American Prize in Musical Theater First Place Prize Winning production of Titanic: The Musical with Bob Jones University.
Hendrickson has performed with many nationally recognized opera companies around the United States including the Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Annapolis Opera, and The Dallas Opera. His performances on the operatic stage have included key roles such as the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Conte Almaviva and Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Doctor Bartolo in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Marcello and Schaunard in Puccini's La Bohème, the title role in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, and Falke in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss.
A frequent performer of concert repertoire, Hendrickson has been featured as baritone soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at Carnegie Hall as well as with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been recently featured as baritone soloist in Cantata 212 by Bach, Mozart's Requiem, Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms, Duruflé's Requiem, and Mahler's 8th Symphony. In addition to the National Philharmonic Orchestra, Hendrickson has appeared as guest artist with other major orchestras including the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, The American Festival Chorus, Helena Symphony Orchestra, Great Falls Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Southeast Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and Louisiana Sinfonietta.
Dr. Hendrickson was the recipient of an SEC Travel Grant which allowed him to present master classes and perform a recital titled "I Was There," at the University of South Carolina with fellow LSU colleague Dr. Ana Marìa Otamendi. Hendrickson performs frequently by invitation throughout the United States. Having presented recitals in Malaysia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, he also performed the European debut of Paul Sanchez's song cycle "Gothic Atonement" for the Autunno Musicale Festivale in Caserta, Italy.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Musicology
Brett Nathan Boutwell is Associate Professor of Musicology and the William F. Swor Alumni Professor at LSU. He was a Mellon postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University and received a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Illinois.
His research concerns modernist and experimental music since 1945, with particular emphasis on the New York School and the development of minimalism. His articles have appeared in the Journal of the Society for American Music, Modernism/modernity, Contemporary Music Review, American Music, Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, and the Grove Dictionary of American Music. He has held affiliations with interdisciplinary research institutes at both Cornell University and the University of Illinois. Supported by grants, he has studied composers' manuscripts and sketches at the Paul Sacher Foundation (Basel), the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles), and other archives.
Boutwell's courses in music history include American Popular Music (MUS 1600), which he developed for the university's general-education arts curriculum. Students in MUS 1600 nominated him for a university-wide teaching award in 2019. His graduate-level teaching in the School of Music includes seminars on the history of American experimental music and on parallels between modernist visual art and musical composition in the twentieth century. His dissertation advisees are the recipients of grants and prizes from the Institute for International Education, the Southern Chapter of the American Musicological Society, and LSU.
Boutwell is a former president of the Southern Chapter of the American Musicological Society. In 2019, he served as co-chair of local arrangements for the 2019 national meeting of the Society for American Music in New Orleans.
His interests in American music encompass jazz and a variety of popular styles, especially those of Louisiana. He has worked as a local consultant in Louisiana's film and television industry, advising in the selection of period-appropriate music for historical settings, and he has served on the Board of Directors of the Baton Rouge Blues Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the city's blues heritage.
Job Titles:
- Carolyn Mattax Professor of Percussion
- Mattax Professor, Percussion
- Professor of Percussion at the Louisiana State University School of Music
Biography
Brett William Dietz is the Carolyn Mattax Professor of Percussion at the Louisiana State University School of Music. He is the music director of Hamiruge (the LSU Percussion Group). He earned the Bachelor of Music in Percussion and the Master of Music in Composition/Theory from the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. In 2004, Dietz earned his Doctorate of Music from Northwestern University. He has studied percussion with Jack DiIanni, Andrew Reamer, Stanley Leonard, and Michael Burritt while his principal composition teachers include Joseph W. Jenkins, David Stock, and Jay Alan Yim.
Dietz is in demand as a clinician and soloist throughout the United States and abroad. Recent performances have taken him Paris, France (perKumania International Percussion Festival), Bongkok, Thailand (College Music Society International Conference), and General Roca, Argentina (Patagonia International Percussion Festival), and appearances at Carnegie Hall (New York City). He has performed at several Percussive Arts Society International Conventions and is a founding member of the Tempus Fugit Percussion Ensemble. TFPE has performed throughout the United States and Europe and has released two compact discs (Tempus Fugit and Push Button, Turn Crank) that have received great critical acclaim. Dietz has released numerous compact disks with ;Cat Crisis Records including Seven Ghosts: The Percussion Music of Brett William Dietz, In Motion: The Percussion Music of David Stock, and Nocturne.
An avid composer, Dietz's music has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, East Asia and Australia by numerous ensembles including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Orchestra, Dallas Wind Symphony, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Arizona MusicFest, Eastman Wind Ensemble, National Wind Ensemble, North Texas Wind Symphony, New Music Raleigh, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, River City Brass Band, Northwestern University Wind Symphony, Duquesne University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Louisiana State University Wind Ensemble. His compositions have been featured at the 1998 College Band Directors National Association Eastern Division Conference, and the 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Dietz's composition, Pandora's Box received its New York Premiere at Carnegie Hall by the National Wind Ensemble conducted by H. Robert Reynolds. His opera Headcase was premiered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Called "haunting and powerful - a remarkably sophisticated score that blends words, music and visual displays to touch the heart and mind" by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the opera relives the story of the stroke Dietz suffered in 2002.
He was a recipient of the 2005 Merrill Jones Young Composers Band Composition Contest, the 2002 H. Robert Reynolds Composition Contest, 3rd Place Winner of the 2002 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest, and the 2001 Pittsburgh Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts. His composition five-0 for brass quintet received an award from WFMT (Chicago Classical Radio) and was premiered live on the air as part of the station's 50th anniversary (2001). He has also received numerous teaching awards at Louisiana State University including the 2010 School of Music Teaching Excellence Award and the 2011 LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award.
In addition to his work at Louisiana State University, he has also served on the music faculties of Duquesne University, Westminster College (New Wilmington, PA), and the Merit School of Music in Chicago. Dietz endorses Pearl/Adams Percussion, Vic Firth Sticks, and Zildjian Cymbals. When not composing, performing, or teaching, he spends all of his free time with his wife Jennifer, his son Owen, and his daughter Tessa.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Composition
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor, Clarinet
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Tuba & Euphonium
Charlie Goodman is a tuba performer and educator who has recently been appointed Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He previously held teaching positions at Valdosta State University and Southeastern Louisiana University. He holds degrees from the University Colorado Boulder, the University of Georgia, and Western Michigan University. His primary teachers include Michael Dunn, David Zerkel, Deanna Swoboda, Fritz Kaenzig, and Robert Whaley.
As a performer, Dr. Goodman holds the principal tuba chair of Sinfonia Gulf Coast, based in Destin, Florida, and has previously held similar positions in the Valdosta and Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed with the Colorado Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Orquesta Filharmonica de Jalisco, the Round Top Festival Orchestra, and the New World Symphony. He is a member of Isomer Quartet, whose debut album of new transcriptions for tuba euphonium quartet, entitled New Folder, was released in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Adjunct, Film & Television
- Film and Television
Job Titles:
- Professional - in - Residence
- Professional - in - Residence, Scenic Technology
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Experimental Music & Digital Media
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor / Costume Design
Job Titles:
- Professional - in - Residence, Co - Head of Dance
Job Titles:
- Visiting Instructor, Composition
Job Titles:
- Professor, Manship Director of Bands
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Music Education
David Dockan is currently a PhD candidate in music education at the University of Kentucky. His responsibilities include serving as a teaching assistant at the university, where he teaches classes on music in the elementary classroom, rehearses the community music ensembles of New Horizons, and supervises student teachers. He is an active clinician and writer on topics such as informal music learning, hip-hop, Orff Schulwerk, Modern Band, and popular media in the elementary classroom. He was recently published in the Music Educators Journal and invited to present at the International Society for Music Education (ISME) symposium in Helsinki, Finland. Prior to his time at Kentucky, Dockan received his BM from West Virginia University and his MM from Kent State University, and taught for five years in Prince George County Public Schools in Virginia. He is also a certified Orff Schulwerk teacher from the Eastman School of Music.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Music Education
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Voice
- Galante Family Associate Professor, Voice
Dennis Jesse (Associate Professor, Voice) has found much success in a wide range of vocal styles and characterizations in a career that has taken him from the madcap world of operetta to the dramatic depths of grand opera. He has appeared in more than 40 operettas including: Desert Song, The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, Gräfin Maritza, Die Fledermaus, and The Merry Widow. His operatic credits include the title roles in Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia, as well as lead baritone roles in I Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly, Faust, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, La Boheme, Cavalleria Rusticana, Carmen, Romèo et Juliette, and The Crucible.
He has appeared in numerous productions with Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Eugene Opera, Knoxville Opera, Nevada Opera, Sacramento Opera, Pensacola Opera, Shreveport Opera, Triangle Opera Theater, Opera Idaho, Amarillo Opera, Metro Lyric Opera, El Paso Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Southwest, Ohio Light Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Opera Lenawee, Jefferson Performing Arts Society, and he toured for two years with the National Opera Company as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Taddeo in L'Italiana in Algeri and Belcore in L'Elisir d'amore. He has received critical acclaim as a well rounded singing actor.
"Whenever Dennis Jesse entered, he completely took over the stage as the toreador Escamillo. He showed an excellent and complete grasp of the character and a strong command of the language and nuance of the score."
Job Titles:
- Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor, Cello
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor, Jazz Studies
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Appointed Associate Professor of Oboe at the Louisiana State University School of Music
- Associate Professor of Oboe
Oboist, educator, and arts administrator, Dr. Andrew W. Parker is the newly appointed Associate Professor of Oboe at the Louisiana State University School of Music. He has performed throughout the United States and internationally at some of the world's most prestigious concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kimmel Center, The Long Center, Texas Performing Arts, The Peace Center, Seoul Performing Arts Center, Symphony Space NYC, and Westchester Performing Arts Center, along with many others.
Dr. Parker previously held teaching positions as the Assistant Professor of Oboe, Graduate Coordinator, and Summer Music Camp Director at Oklahoma State University, Lecturer of Oboe and Music Technology at Brevard College (NC), and was the Woodwind/Brass coach for the Greenville County Youth Orchestra. He is a sought-after educator and has been invited to give master classes, reed-making seminars, career development workshops, and recitals at the Arizona State University, University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Hartt School of Music, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Arkansas, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Bowling Green State University, Central Washington University, Arkansas State University, Middle Tennessee State University, and the Usdan Center for Performing and Visual Arts, among other colleges and high schools around the United States.
As an avid orchestral and chamber musician, Dr. Parker has held positions with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, and the Brevard Philharmonic. He has performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Mozart Orchestra of New York, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Asheville Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Round Rock Symphony Orchestra, Temple Symphony, Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, Symphony Space All-Star Orchestra, and Le Train Blue New Music Ensemble, along with performances in Seoul, Korea with Symphony S.O.N.G (Symphony Orchestra for a New Generation). In 2020, Dr. Parker joined the Maryland Chamber Winds (now the Newfound Chamber Winds) as oboist and Director of Artistic Operations where he has assisted in the planning and creation of their summer wind conducting summit and competition, band director workshop, and chamber music fellowship program. Additionally, he has been a guest artist performer and chamber music instructor at the Composers Conference and Chamber Music Festival. Dr. Parker has also made solo appearances performing Aaron Copland's Quiet City with New York City-based chamber orchestra Ensemble Du Monde, W.A. Mozart's Oboe Concerto with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, and numerous performances with the Oklahoma State University Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra including Oscar Navarro's Legacy Concerto, Joseph Haydn's Oboe Concerto, Gustav Holst's Fugal Concerto, and the United States premiere of Martinez Gallego's Concerto for Oboe and Wind Band.
Along with his teaching and performing engagements, Dr. Parker has worked extensively in Arts Administration focusing his efforts on arts education. Most recently, he was the Artistic Administrator for the Brevard Music Center, Managing Director of the Yale Philharmonia/New Music New Haven Ensemble, and Orchestra Manager for the Atlantic Music Festival in Waterville, Maine.
Dr. Parker received his Bachelor of Music degree from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, Master of Music from the Yale University School of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. He has attended numerous summer festivals including the Texas Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Brevard Music Center Festival and Institute, Atlantic Music Festival, and the Roundtop International Music Festival. His major teachers have been Rebecca Henderson, Stephen Taylor, Humbert Lucarelli, Johnathan Blumenfeld, and Valerie Sulzinski. He has concurrently participated in master classes with Robert Botti, Richard Woodhams, Louis Rosenblat, Robert Atherholt, Ann Leek, Eric Ohlsson, Mary Ashley Barrett, Adam Dinitz, and Jason Lichtenwalter.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Co - Editor
- Manship Associate Professor, Music Theory
- Member of the Society for Music Theory
- Professor
Bazayev is also a co-editor (with Christopher Segall) of Analytical Approaches to 20th-Century Russian Music (Routledge, 2020), which features thirteen chapters of analytical essays from Rachmaninoff to Gubaidulina.
Dr. Bazayev is an active member of LSU's interdisciplinary community of scholars. She is the music liaison to the Ogden Honors College, where she serves on the Faculty Advisory Board (2014-present). She has also taught and developed two new interdisciplinary courses for the Honors College-Intersections Between Music & Art in the 20th Century; and Music and Power: From Stalin to 9/11.
Dr. Bazayev has served as an advisor and first reader on several dissertations and master's theses from theory, musicology, and performance departments. She has also given a number of pre-concert lectures for the LSU Orchestra concerts at Union Theatre
Dr. Bazayev is an active member of the Society for Music Theory, for which she served on the Executive Board of Directors (2017-2020), and she was the founding chair of the Russian Music Theory Interest Group (2013). She has previously served on SMT's Committee on the Status of Women (2010 -12), as the coordinator for proposal and article mentoring programs. She was also the local arrangements chair for SMT's annual meeting in New Orleans (2012). Bazayev currently serves as Associate Editor of Music Theory Online (a flagship journal of the Society for Music Theory).
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Music Therapy
Dr. Molly Austin is a board-certified music therapist with nearly a decade of clinical experience across a wide range of populations, from early childhood to older adults. She is best known for her pioneering work as the first full-time music therapist within the Florida Department of Corrections. There, she developed and led a music therapy program for adult male inmates with mental illnesses for five years. She also established a partnership with Florida State University's music therapy program, enabling practicum students to gain hands-on experience within the correctional setting.
In addition to her work in corrections, Dr. Austin has extensive clinical and supervisory experience in eating disorder treatment centers, where she has mentored both music therapy and mental health counseling students and interns. During her graduate studies, she also supervised music therapy students in early childhood centers, middle schools, and high schools.
Dr. Austin's research interests include censorship in music therapy, anxiety reduction through preferred music, and creative arts therapists' personal experiences with secondary traumatic stress. Her master's thesis demonstrated the effectiveness of a music therapy-based stress management curriculum in reducing perceived stress among incarcerated individuals. Her dissertation focused on music therapists' censorship practices within a school system. She has presented her research at regional, national, and international conferences, including the Southeastern Regional and National American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) conferences and the World Congress of Music Therapy. She is also actively involved in professional service and currently serves as Second Vice President of the Southeast Region Chapter of AMTA.
Dr. Austin holds a Ph.D. in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy and a Master of Music in Music Therapy from Florida State University. While at FSU, she was an appointed member of the Dean's Student Advisory Council, a finalist for the Graduate Student Leadership Award, and a recipient of the Mary J. Hilliard Music Therapy Scholarship. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from Converse University, where she was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Artist
- Assistant Professor of Trumpet
International performing artist, Dr. Ross Ahlhorn, currently serves as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Louisiana State University, and the principal trumpeter of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Ahlhorn has previously held teaching positions at the University of Central Arkansas, Washington and Lee University, Southern Virginia University, and James Madison University.
Job Titles:
- Office Coordinator
- Front Office Coordinator, School of Theatre
Job Titles:
- Edith K. Kirkpatrick Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Voice
Job Titles:
- Dean
- Dean, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Violin
Espen Lilleslåtten is currently associate professor of violin at Louisiana State University. Previously he served for fifteen years as concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and is currently concertmaster of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. During the summers, he is an artist faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he is also principal second violin of the Aspen Chamber Symphony.
He has recently been invited as guest associate concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, and has performed with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra as associate principal violist with Klaus Mäkelä, recording Sibelius Symphony No.1 and Kodaly Danses from Galanta.
As a soloist, he has appeared with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and given recitals at the Bergen International Festival. He premiered the Concerto of Psalms for two violins and orchestra by Dinos Constantinides at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, and at a recital in Carnegie Hall.
Mr.Lilleslåtten is also an active chamber player. The Amarillo String Quartet, consisting of the string principals of the Amarillo Symphony, has been actively engaged in music education in schools in west Texas spreading enthusiasm for music. For years, Espen was a violinist with the Logos String Quartet, which was based at LSU. He spent two semesters and several summers as a guest artist at the Banff Center for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. Among the artists with whom he has performed chamber music are the Harrington String Quartet, the Aspen Trio, the Pacifica String Quartet, Stafen Jackiw, Isaac Stern, Menahem Pressler, Sylvia Rosenberg, Bonnie Hampton, Natalia Gutman, Lynn Harrell, Joshua Bell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Joel Krosnick.
Mr.Lilleslåtten began studying the violin at age five with his father, a violist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, Mr. Lilleslåtten continued his studies in the U.S., earning his Master of Music degree from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music as a student of Camilla Wicks, as well as an artist diploma in chamber music and violin performance with Ian Swensen at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Music Education
Job Titles:
- Professor Emeritus
- Professor of Black Drama & Playwriting, Louise and Kenneth Kinney Professor
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Professor of Acting and Directing, Gresdna a. Doty Professor
Job Titles:
- Mary Barrett Fruehan Associate Professor, Opera
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of the School of Music, Carl Prince Matthies Memorial Professor, Music Education
- Director, School of Music
Job Titles:
- Production Manager / Head MFA Technology / Design
- Professor of Theatre Technology, Technical Director, and Production Manager
Job Titles:
- Roy & Margaret Gianelloni Alumni Professor, Music Education
- Senior Vice Provost
Jane Cassidy is the Roy and Margaret Gianelloni Professor of Music Education at Louisiana State University. Currently she is serving as Senior Vice Provost. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, she continues to teach classes in music education, supervise graduate research, and maintain an active research portfolio. Her teaching responsibilities have included courses in elementary music education, music in special education, psychology of music, and measurement and evaluation. Dr. Cassidy has presented workshops on current issues in elementary music education including the inclusive music classroom, curriculum development, classroom management strategies, and teacher effectiveness. Her research interests center around musical development of infants and children, music education for children with special needs, music perception, and teaching/learning strategies. Most notably, her research with critically premature infants elicited cross discipline interest from the music therapy and medical communities for its impact on establishing protocol for presentation of music in the NICU.
She has an extensive record of research presentation at conferences of NAfME: The National Association for Music Education and the American Music Therapy Association. She has published in music education and music therapy journals, has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research in Music Education and the Journal of Music Therapy, and as Chair of the Music Education Research Council of MENC. In 1999 she was awarded a prestigious Distinguished Professor Award for excellence in teaching, research, and service at LSU.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director
- Instructor
- Assistant Director, School of Music Instructor of Music Education
- Instructor of Music Education Assistant Director of the School of Music
Biography
Jason Bowers is Instructor of Music Education and Assistant Director of the School of Music at Louisiana State University where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education. Through his work at LSU, he has cultivated community partnerships with area public and private schools with a goal of developing mutually beneficial collaborations. He also coordinates the student teaching experience for music education majors.
Dr. Bowers is highly involved in the Baton Rouge musical community. He is the Director of Children's Music at First United Methodist Church, which includes leading the K-2 and 3-5 grade Children's Choirs. In addition, he performs with the Chancel Choir and the handbell ensemble, Woodland Ringers. As an active choral clinician and adjudicator, Bowers was selected as a charter member of the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association, and currently serves as their Board of Directors Vocal Vice President.
Bowers' research focuses on choral program (re)building, school-university partnerships, multicultural music education, and culturally relevant pedagogies. He is published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, and the Journal of Voice. Bowers has presented at the National Association for Music Educators Music Research and Teacher Education Conference, the Society for Music Teacher Education Symposium, the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, the Louisiana Music Educators Association Conference, the American Choral Directors Association Regional and National Conferences, the Symposium for Research in Choral Singing, the Texas Music Educators Clinic/Convention, and the Mid-South Music Education Research Symposium.
Prior to joining the faculty at Louisiana State University, Bowers taught in public schools in the Houston and Baton Rouge areas for nine years. He was named 2008-2009 Zachary High School Teacher of the Year and 2011 Baton Rouge Symphony Music Teacher of the Year. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education; a Master of Music, choral conducting concentration; and a Doctor of Philosophy, music education concentration from Louisiana State University.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Virtual Production and Immersive Media
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Keyboard Pedagogy
- Assistant Professor of Music
Dedicated to performing a wide range of solo and chamber repertoire, Jeong-Eun Lee serves as Assistant Professor of Music in Collaborative Piano at Louisiana State University. Prior to joining LSU, she held faculty positions at the University of Texas at San Antonio as Assistant Professor of Instruction and at Indiana University as a Visiting Professor and Postdoctoral Scholar. Her previous appointments also include collaborative piano roles at the State University of New York at Geneseo and Riverside City College in California.
A devoted chamber musician, Lee is the founding pianist of Trio Zenia, alongside violinist Jacob Schafer and cellist Patricia Ryan. She was previously the pianist of the San Francisco-based Trio 507, recognized at the Coleman National Chamber Music Competition. A passionate advocate for duo piano repertoire, Lee continues to present a broad and dynamic range of programs throughout the United States. Her commitment to contemporary music has led to collaborations with Loop38 and performances in the SOLI Chamber Ensemble's 30x30x30 Project.
Since making her orchestral debut with the Skagit Valley Symphony, Lee has performed as a soloist with numerous ensembles across the country, including the Seattle Symphony, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, and the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. Her festival appearances are equally distinguished, featuring engagements at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, CollabFest in Denton, TX, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the National Flute Association, and SongFest in Los Angeles. In 2024, she was honored as an invited artist at SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, directed by Renée Fleming. During the summer, she serves as a collaborative pianist and performance coach at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Lee earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music, as well as her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Jean Barr and Nelita True. She holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied under Yoshikazu Nagai.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Associate Professor / Area Head, EMDM
- Experimental Music & Digital Media
Biography
Jesse Allison is a leader in sonic art technology, thought, and practice. Dr. Allison holds the position of Associate Professor of Experimental Music & Digital Media at Louisiana State University. As part of the Cultural Computing focus of the Center for Computation & Technology, he performs research into ways that technology can expand what is possible in the sonic arts. Prior to coming to LSU, he helped to found the Institute for Digital Intermedia Art at Ball State University and Electrotap, an innovative media arts.
Research and invention interests include computer interactivity in performance, distributed music systems, mobile music, interactive sonic art installations, hybrid worlds, and multi-modal artworks, those that can be experienced through a variety of means. As such, he manages the Media Interaction Laboratory and Library (MILL), co-directs the Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana (LOLs), and heads up the Mobile [ App | Art | Action ] Group (MAG) for the CCT.As an artist, Allison has disseminated his work around the globe through live performance art, interactive installations, virtual and hybrid worlds interventions, and presentations. Recent performances/exhibits include the Pixilerations Festival, New Instruments for Musical Expression (NIME), Siggraph, Techfest Bombay, International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the IUPUI Intermedia Festival, Boston Cyberarts Festival, and the Society for Electro Acoustic Music in the United States. Allison received his doctor of musical arts in composition from the University of Missouri - Kansas City
Job Titles:
- Piano Technician, School of Music
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor, Horn
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Instructor, Guitar & Jazz
- Member of Society for Mathematics
Guitarist and music theorist, John Bishop, holds degrees from Berklee College of Music (BM, Performance, cum laude), University of Louisville (MM, Jazz Studies), Louisiana State University (Ph.D., Music Theory). He was a student of Jimmy Raney. Teaching experience includes assignments at Louisiana State University, University of Louisville, Southern University, Baton Rouge Community College, River Parishes Community College, East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools Talented Music Program, and Jamey Aebersold's Summer Jazz Workshops.
Bishop is a member of Society for Mathematics and Computation in Music, Society for Music Theory, and Jazz Educator's Network.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Theatre History, Billy J. Harbin Professor
John Madere is a Bassist/Composer residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Madere holds the Bachelor or Music Degree from Louisiana State University (2005), the Master of Music Degree (Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) and the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree with a Minor in Jazz Studies from LSU (2011).
Madere maintains a busy schedule of freelance bass playing. He is equally at home in both the jazz and classical idioms. Madere is currently principal bassist of the Baton Rouge Symphony, a position he has held since 2007. Along with regular performances with the Baton Rouge Symphony, he has also performed with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Acadiana Symphony, and was formerly the principal bassist of the Louisiana Sinfonietta. He has appeared as a soloist with the Louisiana Sinfonietta and the Baton Rouge Symphony and is currently commissioning a new solo work for the Southeastern Louisiana University Symphony Orchestra.
Madere teaches Talented Music in East Baton Rouge Parish School System and is an adjunct faculty member at Southeastern Louisiana University where he is a lecturer of double bass, instructor of music appreciation, and director of the University Lab Band at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. He has been a visiting instructor in Jazz at LSU since the 2024-2025 school year where he conducts the LSU Lab Band and teaches jazz bass lessons.
Madere released his album featuring all original compositions titled "Chemistry," in 2011. The album features Madere along with LSU School of Music faculty Willis Delony and Brian Shaw as well as other LSU alumni. He released an ambient album titled "Jambient Vol. 1" in 2020 on the Earthship Records Label.
Madere has studied with the Robert Nash, Yung-chiao Wei, Bill Grimes, Willis Delony, Albert Laszlo and Brian Shaw. He has performed with artists from both classical and jazz fields such as Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenowith and Branford Marsalis.
Job Titles:
- Professional - in - Residence
- Professional - in - Residence, Props Master
Job Titles:
- Visiting Assistant Professor
Job Titles:
- Assistant to the Director, Office Coordinator, School of Music
Job Titles:
- Business Manager, Department of Bands
Job Titles:
- Charles & Mary Barre Alumni Professor of Flute
Biography
Katherine Kemler is the Charles and Mary Barré Alumni Professor of Flute at Louisiana State University, and flutist with the Timm Wind Quintet. She has been a regular visiting teacher at the Oxford Flute Summer School in England and the Académie Musicale Internationale de Colombes in France. She has been invited to perform and teach at the International Flute Seminar Bruges, Belgium.
A graduate of Oberlin, she received her M. Mus. and D.M.A. degrees from S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook. Her major teachers include Samuel Baron, Robert Willoughby, and Mark Thomas. She has also studied in masterclasses with Marcel Moyse, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Julius Baker, William Bennett, Andras Adorjan, and Michel Debost.
Dr. Kemler has taught masterclasses and performed solo recitals at Ecuadorian Flute Festivals in Quito and Guayaquil, Guatemala, Cape Town, South Africa, Panama, Dominican Republic, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Adelaide Conservatorium in Australia, the University of Western Australia and the Perth Music Academy. She performed with an LSU colleague at the IDRS Conference in Grenada, Spain in 2018. She has also taught and performed at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China, the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts, the Beijing Concert Hall and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She has performed at seventeen National Flute Association conventions in Denver, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Boston, Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, New York City, Charlotte, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City as well as at the British Flute Society National Convention in 2014. She has been featured on the covers of American Piper Magazine, Flute Talk Magazine, and also Flutist Quarterly, the official magazine of the NFA.
Dr. Kemler has appeared as soloist with the British Chamber Orchestra in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, and with the Orchestra Medicea Laurenziana throughout Italy, including Florence, Naples, and Salerno. She has toured extensively as a soloist, with the Kemler/Benjamin flute/harp duo, and with the Timm Wind Quintet. She has appeared in China, England, Poland, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, France, Ecuador, Guatemala, Australia, Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Spain, South Africa, and throughout the United States, and made solo broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and National Public Radio. She has recorded four CDs with Centaur Records, Inc., Virtuoso American Flute Works, Sky Loom, for flute and harp, Sonatina with LSU pianist Michael Gurt, and Lipstick, a CD of contemporary works. She has also recorded on the Orion and Opus One Labels.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Saxophone
Job Titles:
- Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor, Viola
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, School of Theatre / Executive Associate Dean, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
- Director, School of Theatre, Executive Associate Dean
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Costume Technology
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Director, LSU Gospel Choir
- Instructor / Director of the LSU Gospel Choir
Biography
Laurence Hebert is a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana. In addition to teaching gospel choir at LSU, Laurence teaches ear training, music theory and applied piano at Southern University. Laurence is also the Faculty Advisor for the Beta Zeta chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Fraternity at Southern University. In 2015, Laurence was a featured artist in the Spirituals, Blues and Gospel Music concert series in Costa Rica, performing and conducting masterclasses in playing blues and performing gospel music. In 2017, Laurence worked with gospel artist LaVonte Heard and served as music director on his debut album Doxology Live. Currently, Laurence serves as the co-director of music at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Job Titles:
- Creative Coordinator, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Violin
Recently interviewed by the Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Violinist LIN HE made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in November 2014, after a performance there earlier that year with principal players from the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra in orchestral setting. Over the past seasons, he performed the Bruch Scottish Fantasy with the Sonoma County Philharmonic, Korngold Concerto with the Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Shippensburg Symphony, and the Sibelius Concerto with the Lake Charles Symphony.
Inspired by the Complete Sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, Faure, Mozart and Schubert for Violin and Piano in the past several seasons, 2020-2021 season of concerts include Magnard Sonata for Violin and Piano in multiple venues; chamber recitals as the violinist of Caladium Piano Trio; violin soloist of the Vivaldi/Piazzola Four Seasons and Mark O'Connor Surrender the Sword with the Rapides Symphony and Telemann Concerto for Four Violins with the Baton Rouge Symphony; violinist with principal players of major orchestras for the Concert of Solidarity for the Rohingya Refugees at Carnegie Hall; solo recitals and masterclasses at Indiana State University, Texas Tech University, Baylor University, University of Southern Mississippi, University of Oklahoma and Northern Illinois University; and series of concerts and masterclasses in mainland China and Taiwan.
He has presented recitals at universities across the United States and China. Recently, he shared stage with Shanghai String Quartet and violinist Charles Castleman; performed solo recitals and gave master classes at Arizona State University, Florida State University, Longy School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Houston, University of Las Vegas, University of North Texas, and University Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
As an orchestral player, Mr. He has performed with the Shanghai Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and New World Symphony. He is a regular addition to the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Voice
Praised for her "...lustrous, warm and deep [sound]..." American mezzo soprano, Lindsay Kate Brown, is quickly making her mark in the world of opera.
For the 2023-2024 season, Lindsay performs a recital for the George London Foundation, featuring works of Berg, Higdon, Marx, and others, in the historic Morgan Library in New York City. January 2024 marks her return to The Dallas Opera in Sir David McVicar's production of Strauss' Elektra as both the Third Maidservant and the cover of Klytänestra. In her recent 2022-2023 season, Lindsay began with the New Choral Society in Westchester, New York as the Alto Soloist is Mozart's Requiem. Lindsay then made her conducting debut with Syracuse Opera and Tri-Cities Opera, performing Menotti's Amahl and Night Visitors. In February 2023, Lindsay made her debut with The Dallas Opera as Wellgunde in Wagner's Das Rheingold in a new and innovative production directed by Tomer Zvulun. Finishing her season, Lindsay made her debut as the Alto Soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the Southern Florida Master Chorale in April 2023.
Other recent credits include contracts with The Metropolitan Opera to cover both The Inkeeper in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov with Maestro Sebastian Weigle, Big Stone in Aucoin's contemporary opera Eurydice with Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Marcellina in the famous Richard Eyre production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, the covers of Minkswoman, The Stewardess, and Older Woman in Dove's Flight with The Dallas Opera, and her Santa Fe Opera debut singing the roles of Hippolyta in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream conducted by Maestro Harry Bicket and Marcellina in Laurent Pelly's new production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.
A recent graduate of the studio at Houston Grand Opera, Lindsay made her HGO debut in 2019 as Giovanna in Tomer Zvulun's production of Verdi's Rigoletto and subsequently portrayed the roles of Gertrude in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Sister Berthe in My Favorite Things: Songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. As part of her duties in the studio, Lindsay has also studied the demanding roles of Léonor in Donizetti's La Favorite, Charlotte in Massenet's Werther, Herodias in Strauss' Salome, and Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal.
An avid concert performer, Lindsay has performed on the concert stage as the mezzo soloist in several oratorios and as a featured soloist. Lindsay has performed as the soloist in the works of Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn as well as many other composers. Lindsay has performed in concerted works with orchestras, including Mahler's infamous Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Lindsay also had the opportunity to perform in the world premiere of Santino DeAngelo's Narcissus as Liriope in a sold- out performance in January 2016; perhaps one of her personal career highlights thus far. Most recently, Lindsay performed two of Mahler's greatest works, Urlicht and Der Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt, with orchestra at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music.
A lover of art song, Lindsay performs the works of Mahler (Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen, Rückert Lieder), Wagner (Wesendonck Lieder), Elgar (Sea Pictures), and Tchaikovsky, among others. Lindsay made her New York City debut in November 2019, performing in recital with Dorothy Gal, soprano, William Guanbo Su, bass, and Kyle Naig, pianist, at Opera America. In October 2020, Lindsay performed her first Liederabend, featuring the works of 15 German composers.
Lindsay has received a number of awards and distinctions from competitions, young artist programs, and institutions; Most notably, Lindsay was a Finalist in the Metropolitan National Opera Council Auditions, where she performed "Sgombra è la sacra selva...Deh! Proteggimi, o Dio" from Bellini's Norma and "Da! Chas Nastal! Prastitye Vi" from Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under Maestro Bertrand de Billy. The week prior, Lindsay was a recipient of a George London Award from the George London Foundation. Lindsay was the first prize recipient in Opera Columbus' Cooper-Bing Competition in May 2019. In April 2021, Lindsay was named a recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation for her excellence in the industry as a young artist. In February 2018, Lindsay placed third in Houston Grand Opera's Eleanor McCollum Competition, an International Competition for up and coming singers. During her time at Rice University, Lindsay was the winner of the Becky and Ralph S. O'Connor Artist Diploma Fellowship. She has also won the Concerto Competition at both of her prior institutions (Binghamton University and Mansfield University). In the summer of 2017, Lindsay was awarded a New Horizons Fellowship from Aspen Music Festival and School, allowing her to be an active participant in the Aspen Opera Center.
Lindsay made her professional debut with Tri-Cities Opera in 2014 as Giovanna in Verdi's Rigoletto, and has continued work with Tri- Cities, playing Marthe Schwertlein in Gounod's Faust and Marta in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and covering roles in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and both Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri and Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
An advocate for education in the arts, Lindsay founded the non-profit organization United in Opera in December 2020. The goal of United in Opera is to provide information, resources, and access to mentorship to young members of the opera community. As of March 2024, United in Opera has grown to over 3,000 followers.
Lindsay graduated in May 2018 from Rice University in Houston, TX with an Artist Diploma in Opera Performance. In 2016, Lindsay graduated from Binghamton University in Binghamton, NY with a degree in Opera Performance. While in Binghamton, Lindsay participated in a number of operas, concerts and events with the regional opera house, Tri-Cities Opera. In 2013, Lindsay graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in Mansfield, PA with degrees in both Music Performance and Music Education. Lindsay is represented by Adam Cavagnaro of Promethean Artists.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Development, LSU Foundation
Job Titles:
- Biological Sciences
- Professor
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor / Area Head, Composition
- Associate Professor of Composition
Composer Mara Gibson is originally from Charlottesville, VA, graduated from Bennington College and completed her Ph.D. at SUNY Buffalo. She also attended London College of Music as well as L'École des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau, France and the International Music Institute at Darmstadt, Germany. She has earned grants and honors from the American Composer's Forum; the Banff Center; Louisiana Division of the Arts; Arts KC; the Banff Centre; Meet the Composer; the Kansas Arts Commission National Endowment for the Arts; the International Bass Society; ASCAP, the John Hendrick Memorial Foundation; Virginia Center for the Arts; and Yale University. Recently, she enjoyed a residency at the MacDowell Colony and was awarded an ATLAS grant (32K) through the Louisiana Board of Regents for her bassoon concerto (2021). Internationally renowned ensembles and soloists perform her music throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe. Dr. Gibson has also had performances of her works at prestigious festivals and universities around the country and the world, most notably the Bowling Green New Music Festival (Ohio), Amici Della Musica (Udine, Italy), University of Melbourne (Australia), Thailand International Composition Festival (performances in multiple consecutive years), Reaktorhallen (Stockholm, Sweden), Daegu International Computer Music Festival (Korea) and the Beijing Modern Music Festival.
Gibson's music has been described as "shocking, gripping and thought-provoking... conjuring a flurry of emotions" (PARMA recordings). She is a regular cross-disciplinary collaborator, having worked with choreographers, visual artists, writers, film makers and musicians. In 2015, Gibson released her first portrait CD, ArtIfacts, with her second recording, Sky-born, following in November 2017 through Navona/Parma Recordings. The later presents works including Blackbird, which feature Cascade Quartet. The music draws inspiration from a variety of artistic mediums: "haunting and epic with visceral energy." As Gramophone magazine describes, "repertoire on this recording was mostly inspired by poetry and paintings. What binds these pieces are Gibson's concise handling of musical materials and her spectrum of sonic approaches. Sky-born displays a compelling contemporary voice with a restless imagination, able to morph other forms of artistic expression into daring, musical odysseys."
In August 2017, Gibson was selected as the first-annual commissioned composer for the Baroque on Beaver Orchestra led by Robert Nordling. The ensemble showcased her piece, Secret Sky, music inspired by the bird migration patterns on the island. Collaboration is integral to Gibson's process; whether through her music, collaborations or teaching, she hopes to achieve a relationship between the macro and micro. In 2019, Gibson premiered four new works White Ash, The Clockmaker's Doll, Four Modes and Mirror, Mirror and traveled to Athens, Greece to record Secret Sky with the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra which was selected to be included on a compilation CD released by Navona in 2020 (Prisma IV). Additionally, Secret Sky was included in the 10th annual season opener by the Chicago Composers Orchestra and a newly arranged version was included by LSU Symphonic Winds. In 2020-21, Mara's work was dedicated to her large-scale new bassoon concerto Escher Keys inspired by the work of M.C. Escher; "bassoonists will be thrilled to hear such imaginative new rep for the first time, as it represents a substantial new addition to the repertoire for the bassoon; it is highly inventive and profound." (50 International Double Reed Society - IDRS, volume 44). The collaboration has recently been declared a semi-finalist for the American Prize; equally challenging was coordinating the recording and successful premiere of this concerto within the constraints placed on musical performance by the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, as.a part of this video premiere she presented Galetea's Dream, a staged song cycle where "each song gains its haunting presence through an existential twist. A chilling atmosphere hangs over the performance, and Gibson's music abstractly engages the three narratives, accentuating their mood of existential isolation, as felt by women." (Fanfare Magazine).
In her most recent work she incorporates extra-musical materials into vocal and instrumental performance, and integrates increasingly challenging subject matter with effective (and often unusual) instrumental and vocal delivery styles; these techniques extend performance practice and portray strong emotional content that defines the heart of her overall concept - the arc of the musical and theatrical development.
Prior to LSU, Dr. Gibson taught as an Associate Teaching Professor at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance for over ten years, where she was founder of the UMKC Composition Workshop and co-director/founder of ArtSounds. From 2015-2017, she coordinated undergraduate composition, managing to triple the Conservatory's undergraduate composition enrollment. Gibson has also contributed to New Music Box and in fall 2017, she joined Louisiana State University as a Visiting Assistant Professor; fall 2018, Gibson became Associate Professor of Composition at LSU. She is now area coordinator with tenure and founded the Constantinides New Music Ensemble who had their debut performance at Carnegie Hall in April of 2022. Since her arrival at LSU, the composition studio has more than doubled in size.
Mara was awarded a sabbatical (fall 2023) and she working on her first opera with Ann McCutchan (libretto) inspired by Lee Smith's novel The Devil's Dream presumed to be roughly based on the country music powerhouse Carter family. This fall, Mara has been composing at the prestigious Moulin a Nef in Auvillar, France.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Music Education
Job Titles:
- Mary Barrett Fruehan Associate Professor, Opera
Job Titles:
- Visiting Professional - in - Residence
- Visiting Professional - in - Residence, Collaborative Piano
Job Titles:
- Business Manager, School of Theatre
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Music Director
- Associate Professor of Opera
American conductor and pianist Michael Borowitz is currently in his seventh year as Music Director and newly tenured Associate Professor of the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera.
Now in his fifth season as Music Director, and first year as Artistic Director with Opéra Louisiane, he will conduct performances of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance.
He just returned from his second summer in Novafeltria, Italy with La Musica Lirica conducting performances of Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri.
His current recordings (all on the Albany label) include Offenbach's Bluebeard, Kern's The Cabaret Girl, Herbert's Mlle. Modiste (also released on DVD by Operetta Archives), and Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore and Patience. Newly released on DVD by Operetta Archives is Mr. Borowitz conducting the 2007 Ohio Light Opera production of Kálmán's The Duchess of Chicago.
For nine years he was Artistic Director of Nevada Opera, and for five seasons he was Music Director for Ohio Light Opera. He has been a guest conductor for La Musica Lirica, Des Moines Metro Opera, Baltimore Concert Opera, Opera Delaware, Pensacola Opera, AVA Ballet, Eastman School of Music, Opera Idaho, Opera Southwest, Rimrock Opera, Opera Columbus, The Reno Philharmonic and the LSU Symphony Orchestra, as well as assistant conductor with The Metropolitan Opera, Indianapolis Opera and Cleveland Opera.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Professor of Piano
Michael Gurt is Paula Garvey Manship Distinguished Professor of Piano at Louisiana State University. He won First Prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 1982, and was a prize winner in international competitions in Pretoria, South Africa, and Sydney, Australia. He has performed as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Capetown Symphony, the China National Symphony Orchestra, and the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa.
He has made solo appearances in Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) in New York, Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, City Hall in Hong Kong, the Victorian Arts Center in Melbourne, Australia, Baxter Hall in Capetown, South Africa, and the Attaturk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Turkey.
He recently completed a tour of Brazil. Gurt has collaborated with the Takacs String Quartet and the Cassatt String Quartet, and has performed at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Queensland. He has served on the juries of both the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and the New Orleans International Piano Competition, and he has recorded on the Naxos, Centaur, and Redwood labels.
Gurt serves as Piano Mentor at the National Music Festival in Chestertown, Maryland, and was the chair of the piano department at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival from 1987 through 2007. He has served as Piano Chair of the Louisiana Music Teachers Association, and has taught at two summer music seminars held at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan. Professor Gurt holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Bassoon
Bassoonist Nanci Belmont, praised as "outstanding" by the New York Classical Review, is a dynamic musician enjoying a diverse career as a performer, educator, and arts advocate.
Recognized for her artistry as a soloist, Nanci is the Second Prize winner of the 2016 Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox Competition of the International Double Reed Society. She has appeared as a concerto soloist on multiple occasions, including performances of the Strauss Duett Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon and the Gubaidulina Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings.
Chamber music is an integral part of Nanci's career; she enjoys programming and performing on concert series in New York and beyond. From 2012-2014 she was the bassoonist with Ensemble Connect - a Program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute. A proponent of the music of our time, she is a member of The City of Tomorrow, a wind quintet dedicated to the performance and expansion of contemporary repertoire. In other contemporary chamber music ventures, Nanci has collaborated with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Argento Chamber Ensemble, and Talea Ensemble.
As an orchestral musician, Nanci has performed with ensembles including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, and New York City Ballet. Memorable international experiences include performances of Peter Grimes in the United Kingdom for the Benjamin Britten Centennial and a European tour with Ensemble intercontemporain in collaboration with the Lucerne Festival.
Nanci aims to cultivate meaningful relationships and relevant musical experiences through performance and in her role as an educator, she strives to cultivate curious, lifelong learners in music. She is currently the Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Louisiana State University, and previously served on faculty at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. Nanci has presented master classes at a variety of colleges and universities across the country and spends part of her summer on faculty at the Trentino Music Festival Chamber Music & Orchestral Studio in Italy. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Florida State University. Her primary bassoon teachers include Jeff Keesecker and Frank Morelli.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Stage Movement
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Associate Professor of Music Theory
- Co - Editor
- Music
Dr. Lucas' interdisciplinary research combines music theory with ethnography, sound studies, and ecomusicology. Much of her work focuses on the analysis-broadly conceived-of extreme metal music. Issues that arise in analyzing this music, such as extreme loudness, rhythmic complexity and screamed vocals, require critical examination of the tools of musical and cultural analysis, and facilitates reflection on how musical analysis deals with those issues across other repertoires.
Her articles on metal music appear in Music Theory Online, Popular Music, and the Journal of Sonic Studies. She has also published chapters in edited volumes, including work on concert light shows in the Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory and writing on Nicki Minaj in Analyzing Recorded Music: Collected Perspectives. Her article "Performing Analysis, Performing Metal: Meshuggah, Edvard Hansson, and the Analytical Light Show" won the 2023 Adam Krims Award from the SMT's Popular Music Interest Group.
Dr. Lucas is co-editor (with Laura Moore Pruett, Merrimack College) of the collected volume Teaching Difficult Topics: Reflections from the Undergraduate Music Classroom, published by the University of Michigan Press in 2024. Other current and forthcoming projects include a chapter on expanded instrumentation in global folk metal, work on experimental musician Lingua Ignota, and an SMT Pod episode in collaboration with artist and educator Mazbou Q.
Dr. Lucas has additionally presented her research at annual meetings of the Society for Music Theory, American Musicological Society and Society for American Music, as well internationally at conferences in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany and Finland.
As a teacher, Dr. Lucas has taught all levels of music theory, from fundamentals through advanced undergraduate and graduate courses. At LSU, she has developed courses on rhythm and meter, analysis of metal music, music and violence, and sonata form, among others. She especially enjoys teaching courses in popular music as well as courses for non-majors that assist students from a wide variety of backgrounds in developing critical listening skills. She also enjoys supervising graduate students and helping them to get their work out into the world.
Before coming to LSU in 2019, Dr. Lucas held appointments at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington (Aotearoa New Zealand) and the University of Iowa. She holds a PhD in Music Theory from Harvard University, and BA in Music and German Studies from the College of William and Mary. Dr. Lucas has also done expert witness work for music copyright disputes.
Job Titles:
- Student Services Data Coordinator, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean of Research, Creative Practice & Community Engagement
- Herndon Spillman Professor, Piano Pedagogy
Job Titles:
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice
Job Titles:
- Artist - in - Residence
- Artist - in - Residence, Voice
American tenor Paul Groves enjoys an impressive international career having performed at the world's leading opera houses and concert halls. After studying at LSU under Professor Robert Grayson, Mr. Groves came to national attention as a winner of the Met's National Council Auditions in 1991. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Young Artists Development Program, Paul Groves made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1992 as the Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. He returned to the MET as Camille de Rosillon in The Merry Widow, opposite Placido Domingo and Frederica von Stade; and as Don Ottavio in nationally-televised season-opening performances of Don Giovanni opposite Bryn Terfel and Renee Fleming. In 2006, he created the role of Jianli in the world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor, opposite Placido Domingo. Paul continues to be a premier leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera.
In addition to the MET, Mr. Groves has also graced other world renowned American opera stages with stellar performances as Fenton in Falstaff with the San Francisco Opera, Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and as Fritz in a new production of La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein directed by famed Hollywood director Garry Marshall with the Los Angeles Opera. In Massenet's Le Cid with Boston's Odyssey Opera, he performed in a rare role debut singing Rodrigue. He also sung Berg's Lulu at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by James Levine. As a Louisiana native, Paul Groves has sung in the title role in Gounod's Faust, Les contes d'Hoffmann, and Verdi's Un ballo in Maschera.
Known internationally as a world-class tenor, Paul Groves made his debut at Italy's La Scala in 1995 as Tamino in the opening night performance of Die Zauberflöte, with Riccardo Muti conducting. He has since returned to La Scala for several roles including as Renaud in Gluck's Armide and Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore - the first American tenor invited to La Scala for this role. Mr. Groves made his debut with France's Opéra de Paris as Fenton in Falstaff with later performances as Tamino in Berlioz's Faust, and in Mozart's Idomeneo. His debut at London's Royal Opera Covent Garden was in the role of Faust's Tamino. In Austria, he has performed with the Vienna Staatsoper in roles including Camille in Die lustige Witwe, Carlo in Linda di Chamounix, Flamand in Capriccio, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier. In 2009, the tenor sang his first performances as Massenet's Werther with Opera National du Rhin. At Opéra de Lyon, he performed in Stravinsky's Perséphone, for which Opera Today praised "his splendid portrayal of Eumolpus" at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. His work in Europe is extensive including his debut as Albert Gregor in Janacek's The Makropulos Case with the Frankfurt Opera, performances as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at The Salzburg Festival, in the title role of a critically-acclaimed production of La damnation de Faust plus as Pylade, Belmonte, and Tamino during the 2006 Mozart anniversary season.
A gifted concert performer, Paul Groves has sung with the world's leading orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Rome's Academia di Santa Cecilia, the Czech Philharmonic, and the Munich Philharmonic. Performances with orchestras include his debut with the New York Philharmonic in Berlioz's Requiem conducted by Charles Dutoit, a debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with the world premiere of John Harbison's Requiem conducted by Bernard Haitink at Boston's Symphony Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall, a concert showcasing Haydn's Die Schöpfung and Stravinsky's Les Noces performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a debut with the Munich Philharmonic and James Levine performing Haydn's Die Schöpfung. Groves was also a major voice in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at Cleveland's Severence Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall. Other Carnegie Hall performances include Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. The works of Benjamin Britten figure prominently in Paul Groves' concert repertoire. Performances of Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings was performed with the Atlanta Symphony, while Britten's War Requiem was sung with the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the St Louis Symphony and at Paris' Festival de St. Denis, led by Kurt Masur. During the 2015/2016 season, Groves appeared in a Berlioz trilogy - Boston Symphony Orchestra for the Te Deum, San Francisco Symphony for the composer's Requiem, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Roméo et Juliette.
Tenor Groves has also appeared in many recitals worldwide. He sang Berlioz's Te Deum with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra led by Seiji Ozawa. For London audiences, he performedwith the BBC Symphony under the baton of Sir Colin Davis for Szymanowski's Symphony No. 3. The tenor's debut at the Proms, led by Sir Charles Mackerras, was in Haydn's Die Schöpfung. He was first heard with the London Philharmonic as Berlioz's Faust. In 2005 Mr. Groves sang his first performances of The Dream of Gerontius at London's Royal Albert Hall. In France, his Orchestre de Paris debut was in Mahler's Das Klagende Lied. At Italy's La Scala, Groves appeared in concerts of Mozart's Requiem in a memorial performance for Giuseppe Sinopoli, led by Riccardo Muti. He has also sung with the Czech Philharmonic in performances of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, led by Sir Charles Mackerras.
Paul Groves has an extensive recording repertoire with over 80 CDS with Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Records, Sony Classics, Phillips Classics and Naxos Records under the baton of orchestral greats such as Maestros James Levine, Seiji Ozawa and Sir Colin Davis. He also recorded the role of Belmonte in a video and audio recording of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, filmed in Istanbul and led by Sir Charles Mackerras, for the Telarc label. Of note, Mr. Groves was invited to perform at the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in front of a live national television audience in 2004.
Job Titles:
- Director of Bands
- Distinguished Professor of Piano
- Professor of Musicology
Inessa Bazayev is Paula G. Manship Professor of Music Theory and Faculty Senate President at the Louisiana State University. She was the director of the international festival Stravinsky in America (February 2022). Her past festival projects include the international Symposium on Prokofiev and the Russian Tradition (February 2016).
She has taught at LSU since 2009 and her previous teaching appointments include Oberlin Conservatory (2008-2009) and the City College of New York (2005-2008).
Dr. Bazayev's research focuses on Russian and Soviet music, Russian Futurism, history of Russian music theory, and voice leading in twentieth-century music. Her articles and reviews on these and other topics have appeared in Music Theory Spectrum, Dutch Journal of Music Theory, Music Theory Online, and Theoria, among others. Most notably, she organized two sets of publications that were part of special issues for Music Theory Online: "Perspectives on Twentieth-Century Russian Theory," a collection of six essays (2014); and the second, "Prokofiev at 125," a collection of three essays (Spring 2018). The former issue was a major publication since Gordon MCQuere's edited tome on Russian music theory from 1993.
She has taught music theory at all undergraduate and advanced levels including tonal and atonal repertoires. These courses include species counterpoint, tonal and chromatic harmony, aural skills (both tonal and atonal), and post-tonal theory. At the graduate level, Bazayev has developed three new courses: Analysis & Performance, Soviet Music & Literature (both of which are graduate seminars), and Remedial Theory Online, which was developed as part of the Manship Fund for Academic Excellence (awarded in 2013). She currently runs both graduate and undergraduate summer theory review modules, which she developed.
Technology plays an important part in Bazayev's teaching. Each course has its own website on which students may find material for the course, including worksheets, recordings, and practice dictations. As an extension of this pedagogical work, she completed a digital media project for W.W. Norton Company that developed the online supplement for Concise Introduction to Tonal Harmony by Poundie Burstein and Joseph N. Straus. Bazayev authored all assessment questions (nearly 2,000 for InQuizitive software program), 2016 (1st ed.); 2020 (2nd ed.).
(2015-16).
Dr. Inessa Bazayev is the recipient of a number of prestigious teaching and research awards from LSU, which include Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award (2015), Paula G. Manship Professorship for Excellence in Music (2013-2014), Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award (2014), and Summer Research Stipend (2011), among others.
Bazayev founded the Music Forum lecture series that promotes scholarship, pedagogy, and professional development workshops in music theory, musicology, music education, and performance graduate programs. Since its conception in Spring 2010, the Music Forum has had over a hundred events, among them include invited guest lectures by J. Peter Burkholder, Noriko Manabe, Lisa Margulis, Simon Morrison, Lynne Rogers, William Rothstein, and Joseph N. Straus. Dr. Bazayev was also the co-chair of the First Biennial LSU Colloquium (2011).
Inessa Bazayev received her PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (2009) under the tutelage of Joseph N. Straus.
Job Titles:
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Therapy
Job Titles:
- Career Coach, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor, Film and Television
Job Titles:
- Student Success and Recruiting Coordinator, School of Theatre
Job Titles:
- Professor Emeritus
- Professor Emeritus of Voice
Robert Grayson served as Chair of the Voice/Opera Division (1987-2016) at the LSU School of Music. A leading tenor at the New York City Opera for a decade, Grayson has sung throughout the USA at many great opera houses including Chicago Lyric, Cleveland, Miami, Tulsa, and Spoleto. Professor Grayson has been cited as a "Rising Star" by the LSU Alumni Magazine, has been the recipient of the Phi Kappa Phi award for "Outstanding Creativity in the Arts" and has received commendation from the Student Government Association for "Outstanding Teaching." Grayson was recognized in 2016 for his legacy at LSU with a Gala Performance featuring several of his successful former students. In addition, his studio was named in his honor the "Robert & Karola Grayson Award for Excellence in Singing" was established.
Making his New York debut as Faust opposite Samuel Ramey's Mefistofele, Grayson sang over 100 performances as leading tenor for the New York City Opera in such operas as La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, and Carmen. With that company he opened new productions of Tosca, Norma, and La Traviata. Grayson has appeared as leading tenor with numerous performing organizations: The Spoleto Festival, Italy, Israel Philharmonic in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem & Haifa, Santa Fe Opera, Arizona Opera Company, Canadian Opera, Tulsa Opera, Miami Opera, Wolftrap, Saratoga, Cleveland, ARTPARK, San Diego Opera, Costa Mesa Opera, Los Angeles Opera Theatre, Washington National Opera, Kennedy Center, and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera. Grayson may be heard as "Caesar" on New World Records Antony & Cleopatra by Barber which won a GRAMMY.
He has performed with Beverly Sills, Jerome Hines, Tatiana Troyanos, Samuel Ramey, Susan Graham, Elizabeth Futral, Jeffrey Wells, Paul Groves, Lisette Oropesa, Chad Shelton, Marilyn Niska, and has sung under the batons of Charles Mackerras, Richard Bonynge, Eduardo Muller, Julius Rudel, Bruno Rigacci, and Walter Herbert.
From 1998 to 2002 Professor Grayson served as the first General-Artistic Director of the LSU Opera, during which time productions were increased from two to four per year, two state-wide tours were undertaken, and budgets were quadrupled through fund raising and engagement of the community. The Patrons of LSU Opera were formed, the LSU Opera Endowment was initiated, the 75 Voices were born. Extant opera groups were cultivated and integrated into the support system for LSU Opera, including BRAVO (Baton Rouge Area Volunteers for Opera) and BROG (Baton Rouge Opera Guild).
Robert Grayson has produced a number of outstanding professional singers. Foremost among these artists is Tenor Paul Groves who has made auspicious debuts at the MET, La Scala, Vienna, Munich, and Glyndebourne. Soprano Lisette Oropesa, who has electrified the operatic world at the MET, La Scala, Covent Garden, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Glyndebourne, Opera di Roma, etc. Tenor Chad Shelton, of the MET, New York City Opera, Houston Grand, San Francisco, Strasbourg; Tenor Matt Morgan, of New York City Opera, the Pittsburgh Opera, National Grand Opera, Fort Worth Opera; Baritone Noel Bouley, Deutsche Opera, Opera San Jose, Opera Koln. Baritone Shon Sims of New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Colorado Festival Opera; Soprano Kimla Beasley of Houston Grand; Character tenor Edward Dacus of Ohio Light Opera, New Orleans Opera; TenorMatt Morgan, of New York City Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, National Grand Opera, Fort Worth Opera; Heldentenor Andrew Zimmerman, Aachen, Pfortzheim, Germany; Baritone Kenneth Brundage, Ohio Light Opera, New Orleans Opera; Mezzo Soprano Kathleen Clawson, regional orchestral soloist; Soprano Dawn Harris, Ohio Light Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre. Two Tucker Award winners, and one Beverly Sills Award winner from the MET.
In the Fall of 2007 Grayson founded Opera Louisiane, a professional regional company which brought some of the world's great singers to Baton Rouge and has presented fully-staged operas to school children and to the community with more than 30,000 attending over the years. Grayson stepped down at the end of the season in 2011, with the company "in the black" and with a reserve for the following season.
Grayson maintains studios at LSU, in Dallas, and frequently in New York City. His passion for the pipe organ is shared by his wife, Karola. They were introduced as freshmen by their organ professor. They have one amazing daughter and three most amazing grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Professor, Music Theory
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Voice
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor, Voice
Job Titles:
- Martin Howard Director
- Martin Howard Director of Orchestral Studies
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Dean of Access & Engagement, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
- Associate Professor of Theatre History
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Artist - in - Residence
- Artist - in - Residence, Orchestral Percussion
Shawn Galvin has served as percussionist and timpanist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 1996 during which time he has performed around the world and with many of the world's leading classical music conductors and soloists. He can be heard on numerous PSO recordings including the 2018 release of the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony which was awarded the GRAMMY for Best Orchestral Performance. Shawn has also served as percussionist and timpanist of the United States Navy Band, Washington, DC (2001-2008), and as a member of Tempus Fugit Percussion Ensemble.
Shawn is the founder and curator of New Music Raleigh, "the Southeast's most plugged-in musical collective devoted to the work of living composers" (Indy Week). NMR develops and presents bespoke contemporary classical performances and collaborative events. NMR has released albums featuring the chamber music of D.J. Sparr and Brett William Dietz's Headcase: An Opera Introspective.
Shawn has conducted productions at the Arizona Opera, North Carolina Opera, and Duke Performances. He also served as conductor for the Big Star Third Live tour with members of R.E.M., Wilco, and Yo La Tengo as well as Kurt Vile and Sharon Van Etten. He has produced collaborative events for the National Gallery of Art, the North Carolina Symphony, CAM Raleigh, and the Hopscotch Music Festival, and has served on panels for New Music USA and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.
Shawn has been invited to perform at five Percussive Arts Society International Conventions, and he has appeared as percussion soloist with the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, the Great Falls Symphony, Hamiruge (LSU Percussion Group) and the United States Navy Band. He has presented clinics and masterclasses at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Music for All National Festival, and numerous state educator's conventions as well as at universities across the country.
Currently serving as Artist-in-Residence at the Louisiana State University School of Music, Shawn holds a Master of Science in Arts Administration at Drexel University where his research focused on small-market orchestras and engagement with contemporary music and a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Duquesne University where he studied with Gerald Unger, Andrew Reamer, and Stanley Leonard. Shawn is and artist/educational clinician for Yamaha Percussion and Innovative Percussion.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Bands, Director of the Tiger Marching Band
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor / Acting Head Undergraduate Acting
- Assistant Professor of Acting
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- School of Music Business Manager
Job Titles:
- Stephanie Landry Barineau Associate Professor, Associate Director of Choral Studies
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- Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor, Composition & Electro - Acoustic Music
- Professor of Composition
Stephen David Beck is the Haymon Professor of Composition and Computer Music. He was Associate Vice President for Research & Economic Development from 2015-2024, and before that Director of the School of Music from 2012-2015. He holds a joint appointment at the Center for Computation & Technology (CCT), where he established the Cultural Computing research group and later served as Interim Director.
Dr. Beck received his Ph.D. in music composition and theory from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1988 where he studied with Henri Lazarof, Elaine Barkin, Alden Ashforth, and Roger Bourland. Between 1985-1986, he held an Annette Kade/Fulbright Fellowship to study at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris, France.
His current research interests include large-scale sound diffusion technologies, granular sound synthesis techniques, interactive computer music, and music over networks. At LSU, he led the establishment of the Experimental Music & Digital Media (EMDM) doctoral program and founded the Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana (LOLs).
Dr. Beck has presented lectures and papers on his research in computer music and high-performance computing applications in the arts at meetings of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), the Alliance for the Arts at Research Universities (a2ru), the Global Grid Forum, and the Society of Composers, Inc. He has also served in leadership on the boards of both SEAMUS and the International Computer Music Association.
His music has been performed throughout the world, including performances at Weill Recital Hall, Concert Band Directors National Association Biennial, North American Saxophone Alliance, New Music America, and World Harp Congress. His writings have been published by G. Shirmer, MIT Press, Springer Nature, the Acoustical Society of America and the Computer Music Journal, and his music has been recorded on the SEAMUS, EMF, and Gothic record labels.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to the Dean, HR Analyst, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
Job Titles:
- Adjunct, Costume & Design
Job Titles:
- Professional - in - Residence, Voice
The Tiger Band Hall complex is located north of the School of Music and CMDA buildings, along Aster Street. This state-of-the-art, 17,740-square-foot facility is used for rehearsals by the Tiger Marching Band and the Department of Bands. Recitals, concerts, workshops and other special events are occasionally held here.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director
- Associate Professor
- Barineau Associate Professor / Associate Director of Choral Studies
- Interim Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
- Stephanie Landry Barineau Associate Professor, Associate Director of Choral Studies
Biography
Trey Davis is the Associate Director of Choral Studies, Associate Professor of Music, and the Stephanie Landry Barineau Endowed Professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he conducts the LSU Chorale and LSU Tiger Glee Club, which were both featured at the 2018 Louisiana ACDA Conference. In 2022, Davis conducted LSU's flagship A Cappella Choir. In both physical and virtual classrooms, he establishes "brave spaces" where vulnerability, authenticity, and a commitment to personal growth are top priorities. An ardent and approachable authority, he mentors students developing graduate monographs and teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in choral literature and conducting. Known for adapting unique instructional methods to address individual student needs and the nuances of each composition, his approach to teaching is informed by a profound belief in the communicative power of music; as both artist and instructor, he is driven by the ultimate goal of transferring meaning-from the original composer, through the efforts of conductor and ensemble, to the final offering before an audience.
Davis is recognized as a multifaceted leader in his field for his innovative programming, thrilling performances of virtuosic and unexpected works, and fearlessly creative methodology. He is a fervent champion of early and post-modern music, with research interests such as Jean Richafort's requiem mass and the choral works of David Lang. Davis facilitates and advocates for greater accessibility by coordinating guest lectures, championing underrepresented artists, composers, and scholars. He views music as a vital tool for conveying cultural history and identity as well as a vehicle for understanding and reinforcing broader concepts about the world we all share.
After earning a degree in Music Education at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, Davis completed M.M. studies in choral conducting at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, where he served as graduate assistant to the Symphonic Choir, assisting in preparations for performances with some of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony. He completed D.M.A. studies in choral conducting at Texas Tech University, where his doctoral dissertation, Ennobled suffering in David Lang's the little match girl passion: An examination of profane pietism amid sacred form, won the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize for outstanding research in choral music-the country's top prize for academic writing in his field.
As the Associate Director of Choral Activities for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville from 2012 to 2014, Davis conducted the University Singers, Concert Choir, and Vocal Chamber Ensembles, developed curriculum for Graduate Studies in Choral Music Education, taught courses in choral, general, and elementary education, supervised student teaching, and coordinated the High School Choral Festival. During that time, he also served as the Associate Conductor of the Dubuque Chorale, which performed for the 2014 Wisconsin Choral Directors Association Conference, and conducted the Platteville Children's Choir. He later served a Chorus Master at Opéra Louisiane in Baton Rouge before serving as Director of Choral Conducting Studies at Varna International Music Academy in Bulgaria.
An active vocalist, Davis has performed with the Dubuque Symphony, the Madison Choral Project, Madison Bach Musicians, and as an inaugural member of the Big Sky Choral Initiative in Big Sky, Montana with The Crossing. He frequently conducts All-State and festival honor choirs throughout the country, and has led interest sessions for regional, national, and international conferences held by the American Choral Directors Association, the Louisiana Music Educators Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the College Music Society, most recently in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland.
Davis is the founder, artistic director, and conductor of Red Shift, a 501(c)(3) non-profit performing arts organization and the premier professional choir of Louisiana. Since 2017, the elite choir of vocal artists from across the nation has cultivated a passion for storytelling, specializing in early music, forgotten works of the past, and post-modern works. Red Shift was invited to perform at the 2017 Louisiana ACDA Conference, the 2018 College Music Society National Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, the 2020 Southern Region ACDA Conference, and as part of an interest session at the 2020 World Symposium on Choral Music in Auckland, New Zealand. In addition to concert performances, Red Shift partnered with middle and high school conductor-teachers in 2018 to form the Red Shift Choral Music Institute, a cutting-edge continuing education workshop and capstone concert exploring a variety of pedagogical and artistic themes.
Born in 1965 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the highly regarded jazz drummer, Troy Davis, studied with the great clarinetist and innovator Alvin Batiste at Southern University before heading to New York in 1986. His education took a giant step the following year, when he enrolled in one of the great post-graduate programs in jazz: he joined the band led by vocalist Betty Carter, famous (and feared!) for her demanding but rewarding mentorship of young musicians. Davis spent two-and-a-half years with Carter, touring the world and recording two albums before moving on to the groups led by some of jazz's pre-eminent "young lion" trumpeters of the 1990's: Roy Hargrove, Marlon Jordan, and Terence Blanchard.
Davis has appeared on more than a half-dozen discs by Blanchard- including his self-titled debut and several of the trumpeter's movie soundtrack albums. In 1995 he was a member of the Blanchard quintet that toured Latin America as "cultural ambassadors" designated by the U.S. Information Agency. Since 1994 Davis has also toured and recorded with Jamaican born jazz pianist Monty Alexander; in addition, he has been tapped to work with a virtual encyclopedia of jazz greats, including Ahmad Jamal, Joe Henderson, Kenny Burrel, Milt Hinton, Toots Thielemans, Pharoah Sanders, Paquito D'Rivera, Jimmy Heath, and the Marsalis Brothers.
Job Titles:
- Head of Film and Television
- Visiting Professor, Film and Television
Job Titles:
- Managing Artistic Director
- Managing Artistic Director, Swine Palace
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Instructor of Academic Studies
- Instructor of Music
Biography
Warren Kimball is an instructor of music at LSU. He received his PhD in musicology from LSU in 2017. His research centers on American topics with a specialization in the music of nineteenth-century New Orleans and a secondary interest in popular music. Kimball teaches a variety of courses at LSU, including general education music courses and music history seminars. In 2020, he was awarded the Tiger Athletic Foundation University College Teaching Award for his work with first- and second-year LSU students. Dr. Kimball is also an active performing musician in the Baton Rouge area.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Assistant Director of Bands, Assistant Director of the Tiger Marching Band
Job Titles:
- Alumni Associate Professor of Musicology
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- Audio Engineer, School of Music
Job Titles:
- Boyd Professor, Piano and Jazz Studies
- Professor
Delony is the Boyd Professor of Piano and Jazz Studies in the School of Music at Louisiana State University, where he has been a member of the music faculty since 2000. From 1986-2000 he served on the music faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University and is a former member of the music faculty at Delta State University. He is a past recipient of an Artist Fellowship awarded by the Louisiana Division of the Arts, as well as the Edith Kirkpatrick Arts Leadership Award given by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. He is also a recent recipient of the LSU Distinguished Faculty Award. Delony was a longtime student of the late Jack Guerry at Louisiana State University, and also studied with pianist Ann Schein at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD.
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Professor, Double Bass
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations, Events Manager, College of Music & Dramatic Arts