2020 Faculty

New York, New York

Broadway Credits include: The Importance Of Being Earnest (Gwendolyn) and Tom Stoppard’s Travesties (Cecily). 13 seasons at The Stratford Festival in Canada playing dozens of roles including: Juliet, Rosalind, Cordelia, Olivia, as well as 2 seasons at The Shaw Festival playing: Joan in Saint Joan and Ann in Man And Superman.  She has acted on stages across Canada, the UK, and the US and played the role of Rachel Peabody in the Disney Film Eloise At Christmastime (with Julie Andrews). Sara teaches intensives at The Academy for Classical Acting (Shakespeare Theatre DC), The Cleveland Playhouse/Case Western MFA Program, and University of Victoria (Canada) She is a regular guest at The Classical Studio at NYU coaching Shakespeare. Sara was assistant to John Broome, Head Of Movement at The Stratford Festival over 7 seasons, and she recently completed a solo training intensive in Pure Movement at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Fresno, California

Dr. Cari Earnhart serves as the Director of Choral Activities at California State University, Fresno. In demand as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator, Earnhart has worked with choirs in the US and abroad, holding positions in Florence, Istanbul and Dubai. She has conducted honor choirs and served as clinician for choral festivals across the US and Canada. She frequently presents workshops on Arabic Choral music, conducting techniques and vocal health for singers and conductors. An accomplished vocalist, Earnhart has performed professionally in the US, Europe and the Middle East. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Oklahoma State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting with related field studies in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of North Texas. She is delighted to be returning for her third year as faculty at OSAI!

Manhattan, Kansas

Dr. Julie Yu is Professor of Music and Co-Director of Choral Studies at Kansas State University where she oversees the undergraduate choral ensembles and the masters in music choral program. Her choirs have performed in Carnegie Hall, Hawaii, Washington DC, as well as in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, and Italy.

She holds a BME degree from the University of Central Oklahoma, MM degree in choral conducting from Oklahoma State University, and the DMA degree in choral conducting from the University of North Texas.

Before joining the Kansas State faculty, she taught at Norman North High School in Norman, Oklahoma and San José State University.

She has given presentations, conducted, and/or her choirs have performed for state and regional conferences of ACDA, NAfME, and the European MEA Conferences. She is president of SWACDA. She was an International Conducting Exchange Fellow for the American Choral Directors Association to Kenya.

k-state.edu/mtd/choirs

Stillwater, Oklahoma

Julie McCoy has performed as guest soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, New Orleans Opera and others.

Representing the U.S. State Department, Ms. McCoy served as an Artistic Ambassador in a tour to Israel, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Syria. As a member of Conspirare Chamber Choir, she sang on several recordings including Considering Matthew Shepard (2016) and as a soloist on Sacred Spirit of Russia, winner of the 2015 Grammy® Award for Best Choral Performance. Ms. McCoy performed and recorded with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in France and New York City.

Ms. McCoy holds the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. A dedicated teacher, she has taught at the University of North Texas, TCU, Oklahoma State University, and Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth. She was on the choral staff of the Oklahoma Arts Institute in 2000-2002 & 2005.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Bryan is a teacher, filmmaker, and photographer who currently serves as Chair and Associate Professor of Film at Oklahoma City University. His professional experience includes working for Panavision-Chicago and as a freelance producer, writer, editor, and cameraman based out of Atlanta where he won a Southeast Region Emmy Award. His film interests include American independent cinema and personal documentary, and his writing is included in "Devised and Directed by Mike Leigh," a collection of essays on the British director’s work that Bryan co-edited with Marc DiPaolo.

Morgantown, West Virginia

Violinist Dr. Mikylah Myers’ performances have been called “energetic and virtuosic” by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and “captivating” by Boulder, Colorado’s Daily Camera. Myers is Assistant Dean of Student Artistic Achievement and Professor of Violin at West Virginia University. She has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. She was formerly concertmaster of the San Juan Symphony and was a 19-year member of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon. Myers received her doctoral and master’s degrees in violin performance from the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, where she studied with Fredell Lack, and her bachelor of music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she studied violin with Roland and Almita Vamos. She was also a four-year-member and co-captain of the Oberlin College varsity women’s soccer team. She can be heard on Delos and Parma Records.

music.wvu.edu/faculty/mikylah-myers

Houston, Texas

Karel Butz is the Head Orchestra Director at Jordan High School in Katy, Texas. His orchestras have performed at the Midwest Clinic and are consistent UIL Sweepstakes Winners, Texas Honor Orchestra State Finalists, and National Honor Orchestra Winners in the Foundation for Music Education Mark of Excellence Competition. Under his direction, the Beckendorff Junior High School Honor Orchestra was named the 2019 Texas State Honor Orchestra and 2019 Houston Cup Winner. He is a frequent guest conductor, lecturer, and clinician around the country. His music is published by Musica Propria, Inc. and has been performed worldwide. His book, Achieving Musical Success in the String Classroom (2019), is published by Oxford University Press. Mr. Butz has performed in several orchestras, including the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, and Spoleto Festival USA. He is a freelance violinist in Houston. Mr. Butz graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

karelbutzmusic.com

Fort Worth, Texas

Dr. Misha Galaganov, chair of strings at TCU, has performed in Russia, Korea, China, Italy, Israel, Czech Republic, Mexico, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and the USA in many prestigious venues, including Concertgebouw, Carnegie, and Shanghai Concert Halls. He has premiered more than 20 compositions by composers from all continents. An active advocate for chamber music, Galaganov has founded and directed chamber music programs in the Greater Youth Orchestra of Fort Worth, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, and at TCU (Chamber Music Roundup festivals and Academy). He was also a co-founder of the chamber music program at Steinway Hall in Fort Worth. Galaganov has taught in many festivals and given master classes in Europe, America, and Asia. Many of his viola and violin students have successful solo, teaching, and orchestra careers in many countries around the world. Galaganov performs and records on Mansuy a Paris viola.

Iowa City, Iowa

Acclaimed for his musicality and virtuosity, Volkan Orhon was a prizewinner in the Concert Artists Guild Competition in NY and was the co-first place winner of the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. Additionally, he distinguished himself as the first double bass player ever to win the grand prize overall at the American String Teacher's Association Solo Competition.

Orhon has performed with internationally recognized musicians including Gary Karr, Fazil Say, as well as JACK, Emerson and Tokyo String Quartets.

Orhon has recorded CDs under the Albany, Centaur, and Crystal Records labels. Most recently, he recorded the Double Bass Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, a work written for him by the composer David Gompper.  This recording will be released under the Naxos label in 2020.

Orhon is the professor of double bass at the University of Iowa.

volkanbass.com

Chicago, Illinois

Deb Stevenson has been a freelance oboist in the Chicago area for over 30 years. She is founder and oboist with the Metropolis Quartet. She is also a member of the Metropolis and Lake Forest Symphonies, and is co-founder of the Mozart Journey—a collaboration with the St. Charles Singers and orchestra. Other groups frequently performed with are the Milwaukee Symphony, Ars Viva Orchestra, Handel Week Festival, and the Apollo Chorus. Ms. Stevenson can be heard on recordings of the Strauss Alpine Symphony and Stravinsky's complete Firebird with the Chicago Symphony; I Know Where I'm Going and Christmas in St. Charles with the St. Charles Singers; The Soundstage Sessions with Stevie Nicks, Messiah with Apollo Chorus; numerous recordings for GIA music publishing company and the Milwaukee Symphony; and Music from the Bolivian Rainforest with the Metropolis Symphony. As a contractor, Ms. Stevenson has hired performers for the St. Charles Singers concerts, recordings and Mozart Sacred Choral Works series—the Mozart Journey, as well as for the Heartland Voices and Canterbury Singers. In her work for the Paramount Arts Center, the Rialto Square Theater, and the Chicago Theater, she has provided musicians for artists such as Bernadette Peters, Bob Newhart, Marie Osmond, Smokey Robinson, Eddie Vedder, Video Games Live, and Mannheim Steamroller. She has provided orchestras for the Paramount Arts Center’s highly acclaimed, in-house-produced Broadway musical series. In addition to teaching at Wheaton College, Vandercook, and North Park Universities, she also maintains an active private teaching studio. Her students have gone on institutions such as Eastman, Interlochen Arts Academy, DePaul, Roosevelt, the University of Illinois, and the President’s Own Marine Band. Ms. Stevenson has studied oboe and English horn at the University of Louisville, Northern Illinois University, Boston University, and Northwestern University, where she received her Master of Music degree. She has studied with Grover Schiltz, Ray Still, Marion Gibson, Carl Sonik, and Larry Thorstenburg.

metropolisquartet.com

Nashville, Tennessee

Maya Stone is a champion of music. She has commissioned and premiered several works by American composers. Currently, Stone is the tenured Second Bassoonist with the Huntsville Symphony and Second Bassoon with the Sphinx Symphony in Detroit. Stone is a freelance musician in the Nashville region. She is also passionate about participating in the rise of musicianship and life skills in youth. She gives recitals and master classes around the U.S. each year. Dr. Stone was a visiting professor at Universities in Missouri and Ohio. Prior to that, she was Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Middle Tennessee State University, and in 2004, she held a visiting professorship in Double Reeds at Austin Peay State University. Dr. Stone has a D.M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.M. in from Michigan State University, and a B.M. from SUNY Potsdam. Her teachers include Kristin Wolfe Jensen, Barrick Stees, and Frank Wangler.

Jonesboro, Arkansas

Dr. Christopher Wilson is the Principal Trumpet of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra and Artist/Associate Professor of Trumpet at Arkansas State University. The journal of the Music Critics Association of North America described Wilson’s playing as “eloquent” and “masterful” in a 2018 review. He is an active soloist and clinician and has performed throughout the United States, Italy, and Japan, including multiple featured performances at the International Trumpet Guild Conferences. Previously, Wilson was a member of the United States Air Force Band, Washington, DC, where he was a featured tour soloist performing the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto. Wilson released New Horizons in 2013, a solo album of new original recital pieces for trumpet. The album was featured on National Public Radio as its “delight of the week.” Wilson often performs with the Arkansas Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Memphis Symphony, and Wheeling Symphony orchestras and is a Yamaha Performing Artist/Clinician.

chriswilsontrumpet.com

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

An accomplished knitter, bundt pan aficionado, and Arlington, Virginia native, Dr. Genevieve Clarkson joined the faculty of Oklahoma City University in fall of 2018. Genevieve has performed around the world as a soloist and ensemble player, including performances at the Harbin Opera House in Harbin, China, the Brucknerhaus in Linz, Austria, and the Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto, Italy. Genevieve also serves as Conference Manager for the International Tuba Euphonium Association, and assisted with the planning and execution of the 2014, 2016, and 2019 conferences in Bloomington, Knoxville, and Iowa City. Genevieve studied at Indiana University, Cincinnati Conservatory, and James Madison University and her past teachers have included Daniel Perantoni, Timothy Northcut, Kevin Stees, John Cradler, and John Mueller.

San Francisco, California

Ben Long is a San Francisco-based photographer, writer, and teacher. The author of over two dozen books on digital photography and digital video, he is also the author of several best-selling LinkedInLearning.com photography courses. His photography clients have included 20th Century Fox, Blue Note Records, Global Business Network, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the Pickle Family Circus, and Grammy-nominated jazz musicians Don Byron and Dafnis Prieto. He has taught and lectured on photography around the world, including workshops at the Santa Reparata International School of the Arts in Florence and a class for imaging engineers at Apple, Inc. He occasionally dabbles in computer programming and has written image editing utilities that are used by National Geographic, the British Museum, and the White House. Long was an OSAI acting student in 1985.

completedigitalphotography.com