2026 Faculty

Acting

Christine Farrell, Instructor

Cliffside Park, New Jersey

Christine Farrell is an actress, playwright, and professor at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, SAG-AFTRA, and Actors’ Equity Association. Her film credits include The Ice Storm and Fatal Attraction. Stage credits include The Comedy of Errors, Uncle Vanya, Catholic School Girls, Broken Glass, and The Dining Room. On television, she appeared as Detective Pam Shrier on Law & Order. Her published plays, Mama Drama and The Once Attractive Woman, were developed at Ensemble Studio Theatre. A recipient of an NEA Affiliate Artist Grant, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, and an Alfred P. Sloan Grant, her play Our Half of the Sky was selected by the Great Plains Theatre Conference in 2020. This season, she created the role of Ruth in the Off-Broadway production Smart, appears in the web series There Will Be Bowling and 60 Is the New Puberty, and produced the short film Brunch, which won the Audience Award at the 2025 Brooklyn Film Festival.

Kea Trevett, Teaching Associate

New York, New York

Kea Trevett (she/her) is a theater artist, filmmaker, and educator. As an actor, her NY stage credits include Roundabout, Classic Stage Company, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Sheen Center, New Georges, The Lark, and Page 73. Trevett is an Outfest Screenwriting Fellow, a NYSCA Support for Artists grantee, and a NYFA NYC Women’s Fund recipient. Her film collaborations have screened at Outfest, Newfest, Frameline, the Nevada Women’s Film Festival in Las Vegas, and Atlanta Film Festival. Trevett teaches playwriting and Shakespeare for Theatre for a New Audience and Lincoln Center, and Theater & Screenwriting for Sarah Lawrence. She is a founding member of Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, for whom she recently directed a mini series adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and a tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, co-produced with Red Bull theater. She received her M.F.A. at Columbia University.

keatrevett.com

Chorus

Jeffrey Allen Murdock, Conductor

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock is an internationally recognized conductor, clinician, and music educator. He serves as Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music, and Founding Director of the Arkansas Center for Black Music at the University of Arkansas. He is the 2016 Connor Endowed Faculty Fellow, 2019 Most Outstanding Faculty, and the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year. Dr. Murdock has conducted honor choirs and presented in 26 states and 13 countries. His scholarship centers on culturally responsive pedagogy, urban music education, and social justice, with presentations for NAfME, ISME, and ACDA. He currently serves as Past President of the Southwestern Division of ACDA and serves on the national diversity subcommittee. He is also an accomplished gospel conductor, having served on the conducting staff of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. Dr. Murdock holds degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Memphis.

jallenmurdock.com

Creative Writing

Dave Lucas, Instructor

Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Dave Lucas is the author of Weather (VQR / Georgia, 2011), which received the 2012 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. He studied literature and creative writing at John Carroll University (B.A., 2002), the University of Virginia (M.F.A., 2004), and the University of Michigan (PhD, 2014). From 2018-19 he served as the Poet Laureate of the State of Ohio. His writing has appeared with The Atlantic, CNN.com, Granta, The Nation, The Paris Review, Poetry, Slate, and elsewhere. He teaches at Case Western Reserve University and lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was born and raised.

Dance

DeeAnna Hiett, Instructor

Kansas City, Missouri

DeeAnna Hiett, a Texas native, began her professional career with Ailey II after receiving a full merit scholarship to The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She later became a charter member of the Jamison Project under Judith Jamison and went on to perform with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Her performing career includes work with Ballet Hysell, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Quixotic, and the Wylliams Henry Contemporary Dance Theater, where she was also co-artistic director. She has been featured as a guest artist with companies such as Kansas City Ballet and has performed and choreographed in numerous operas and commercial venues. Notably, she appeared at Career Transitions for Dancers’ 22nd Anniversary Jubilee at New York’s City Center. Her choreography has been showcased nationally, including her work "Without a Word," performed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She is a recipient of the Generative Performing Artist Award from the Charlotte Street Foundation. Ms. Hiett currently serves as Professor and Chair of Dance at UMKC Conservatory.

Drawing & Painting

Daphne Arthur, Instructor

New York, New York

Arthur received her B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007, and an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Art in 2009. Recent residencies and fellowships include Project for Empty Space AIR Program, Ucross Foundation Residency, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency, Pocoapoco Residency, MassMoca Artist Residency, and The Alma B. C. Schapiro Residency. She is the recipient of The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Fellowship, the Anne Critz Fellowship, The Ald Held Fellowship at the American Academy of Rome, the Vermont Studio Center’s Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship, The New York Foundation for the Arts Queens Art Fund: New Work Grant, The Newark Creative Catalyst Grant and the For The Artist Grant. Recently her work has been featured in New American Paintings Northeast publications #164 and #170. Arthur is currently based in New York City, where she also teaches at Columbia University.

daphnearthur.com

Film & Video

Alrick Brown, Instructor

New York, New York

Alrick Brown is an Associate Professor of Undergraduate Film and Television at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. An award-winning writer and director, he earned a B.A. in English and a Master of Education from Rutgers University, and an M.F.A. from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a distinguished James Weldon Johnson Professor. His body of film work has screened at numerous international festivals and received multiple honors, including the HBO Life Through Your Lens Emerging Filmmaker Award for the critically acclaimed documentary Death of Two Sons. His debut feature film, Kinyarwanda, was the recipient of the prestigious Sundance World Cinema Audience Award. Brown has previously taught undergraduate courses on the African American image in cinema at Rutgers University, film production at The Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and served as a faculty advisor in the Interdisciplinary Arts M.F.A. program at Goddard College.

tisch.nyu.edu

Bryan Cardinale-Powell, Editor

More information coming soon!

Alan Novey, Technician

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Al Novey is an accomplished filmmaker from Oklahoma City. With a B.F.A. in film and photography from the University of Oklahoma, Novey has spent over two decades mastering the art of cinematography, working across a wide spectrum of genres. His standout projects include Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo (HBO), which garnered critical acclaim at SXSW, as well as Okie Noodling II for PBS and The Flaming Lips’ concert film UFOs at the Zoo (Warner Bros.). Novey’s expertise spans commercial productions, music videos, documentaries, and narrative films. Known for his technical savvy, joking demeanor, and creative vision, he has become a go-to collaborator for top producers and directors seeking high-quality visuals and storytelling. As a film instructor at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, Novey has shared his knowledge with aspiring filmmakers since 2010, further solidifying his role as a leader in the regional film community.

Orchestra

Liza Grossman, Conductor

Cleveland, Ohio

For more than 30 years, conductor and producer Liza Grossman has championed one core belief: empowering artists to trust their own voice is a necessary act. She builds rehearsals as collaborative studios where musicians shape artistic direction, modeling the truth that art is inherently collective. Grossman is the Creative Director and Conductor of the Kaboom Studio Orchestra in Cleveland, Ohio, a Hollywood-style recording orchestra, creating soundtracks for film, animation, video games, albums, documentaries, and broadcast media. Her work blends classical foundations with contemporary storytelling, positioning orchestras as essential engines in modern content creation. She serves as tour conductor for Styx and has collaborated with artists including Melissa Etheridge, Ben Folds, Graham Nash, and leading composers from Michael Daugherty to Joan Tower. A champion of new music, she has commissioned over 500 works and has conducted major orchestras including in Colorado, Jacksonville and Nashville. Her mission is unwavering: to cultivate independent thinkers, empathetic collaborators, and courageous creators.

kaboomstudioorchestra.org

Liesl Hook, Violin Instructor

Highland Heights, Ohio

Liesl Hook has shared the stage with artists including Tony Bennett, Bernadette Peters, Styx, Pink Floyd, Meatloaf, Johnny Mathis, The Three Tenors, Il Divo, and Andrea Bocelli. She has recorded and performed for "Pokemon: Symphonic Metamorphosis" and "The Legend of Zelda" and is active as a musician for touring productions. Hook is a violinist with The Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Bluewater Chamber Orchestra, Lakeside Symphony, and the Erie Philharmonic. She has been a member of the Suzuki Violin faculty at The Cleveland Center for Suzuki Studies since 2022 and music faculty at Hawken School since 2003. She previously taught at The Cleveland Institute of Music from 1994-2022 in the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies. Her Suzuki teaching has taken her to many festivals and Institutes throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Japan where she has been a guest lecturer and master class teacher.

Sherry Sinift, Violin Instructor

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Sherry Sinift has served as Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee String Academy since August 2023. Sinift has extensive experience as an orchestral player, chamber musician, and soloist in addition to being a devoted violin and viola teacher and strong advocate for quality string education. Sinift is currently on the faculty of the Indiana University Retreat for Violin and Viola Teachers. Previous teaching positions include serving on the faculty of the Indiana University Summer String Academy (1993-2019); as the Founder and Director of the String Academy of Wyoming (1994-2023); and as a faculty member of the University of Wyoming. Sinift has taught violin/viola pedagogy at the university level; studio violin at the college level; pre-college violin and viola students at the String Academy of Wyoming as well as serving as a supervising teacher for the University of Wyoming String Project.

Julie Myers King, Cello Instructor

Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Julie Myers King is a member of the Akron Symphony, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and Cleveland Pops, and often performs at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. She holds degrees in cello performance from Indiana University and Louisiana State University, where her teachers included Janos Starker, Gary Hoffman, and Dennis Parker. She is an active freelancer, including as cellist for the Athena String Quartet, and spent many seasons participating in The Spoleto Festival and as Assistant Principal Cellist of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. She taught at The Cleveland Music School Settlement from 1993 until 2025 and maintains a vibrant private studio. King has also played with artists such as Harry Connick Jr., The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Paul Shaffer, the Three Tenors, and Roberta Flack. She can be heard on the Interscope, Albany, and Navona Record labels. King resides in Cleveland Heights with her husband, Richard, their kids Charlie and Amelia, and poodle, Ernie.

Nicole Castleberry, Double Bass Instructor

Mayfield Village, Ohio

Nicole Castleberry began her musical life playing electric bass in rock bands, and a wide-ranging love of music eventually led her to classical orchestral performance. That same curiosity shapes her work today as both a performer and educator. Castleberry earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Orin O’Brien. She continued graduate studies at The Juilliard School before completing her Master of Music degree at McGill University in Montreal. An active performer, Castleberry regularly appears as principal bass with the Cleveland Pops and performs internationally at the Assisi Performing Arts Festival in Italy. Her orchestral experience includes work with the Cleveland Opera, RED{an orchestra}, Pittsburgh Opera, Sarasota Opera, and the orchestras of Toledo, Wheeling, Canton, Erie, Montreal, Memphis, Phoenix, Albany, Fresno, and Las Vegas. She has also performed at summer festivals including Peninsula Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West, Round Top Festival, Chautauqua Institution, and Brevard Music Center. She currently teaches instrumental music at Shaker Middle School and remains committed to sharing a lifelong love of music.

Ian Wenz, Flute Instructor

Cleveland, Ohio

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, lan Wenz enjoys an active career both in performance and music education. Wenz holds both undergraduate and graduate music degrees in flute performance and attended Bowling Green State University and the University of Akron, respectively. A dedicated teacher, Wenz is currently Professor of Flute at Ashland University, and teaches at the Trillium Schools of Music and for Lakewood City Schools as a private flute instructor. He has performed as a soloist and is currently as principal flute with the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra. He is also a member of the Kaboom Studio Orchestra, the Cleveland Winds, the Cleveland Pride Band, the VoxMix chamber ensemble as well as a regular substitute flute/piccolo in the Ashland Symphony. Outside of music, Wenz enjoys co-leading a Cleveland based running group, backpacking in the mountains, travel, and serves as a behavioral health specialist for a community mental health agency.

Wesley Ferreira, Clarinet Instructor

Fort Collins, Colorado

Wesley Ferreira is a Portuguese-Canadian clarinetist, educator, and artist known for his expressive playing, beautiful tone, and engaging musical storytelling. Praised by critics for his “technical prowess” and “remarkable sensitivity,” he performs internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral artist, appearing throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He is also one half of the acclaimed clarinet–guitar duo Jâca, which blends classical and world music into a vibrant, original concert experience. Dr. Ferreira is a tenured professor of music at Colorado State University, where he leads a thriving clarinet studio and is recognized for his holistic, student-centered teaching approach. He is co-founder and artistic director of the Lift Clarinet Academy, a premier summer program focused on artistic growth, confidence, and purpose. Passionate about mentorship, Wesley is dedicated to helping young clarinetists develop both technical excellence and an authentic musical voice.

wesleyferreira.com

Emelie Pfaff, Horn Instructor

Seal Beach, California

Originally from Sweden, Emelie Pfaff holds a Master of Music in French Horn Performance from Colorado State University, as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Performance and Music Theory from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. An avid brass band musician, Pfaff has performed and taught across the United States, Europe, and Japan. She has collaborated with ensembles including Fountain City Brass Band, Athena Brass Band, Colorado Brass, and numerous regional orchestras. Her performances include appearances at state Music Educators Association Conferences, the International Women’s Brass Conference, International Horn Conference, CBDNA, and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. With Fountain City Brass Band, she has earned three U.S. Open Championships and a North American Brass Band Championship, along with placements at the All England Masters and Euro Brass Competition. Pfaff is a passionate advocate for women in brass and music manufacturing. Outside music, she enjoys yoga and travel.

emeliepfaff.com

Raquel Samayoa, Trumpet Instructor

Denton, Texas

Raquel Samayoa is a versatile and accomplished trumpet soloist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, and educator. Dr. Samayoa is Principal Trumpet of the Richardson Symphony Orchestra (TX) and performs regularly with the Dallas Chamber Symphony. Samayoa is also a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Denis Wick Artist and Clinician. Dr. Samayoa is a founding member of the award-winning Lantana Trio and was a core member of Seraph Brass from 2016 to 2025. Samayoa currently serves as Associate Professor of Trumpet, Co-Director of the UNT Brass Band, and Associate Chair of Instrumental Studies at the University of North Texas College of Music. 

solotromba.com

Katie Glading, Low Brass Instructor

More information coming soon!

Anita Yichieh Chiu, Piano

Columbus, Ohio

Pianist and violinist Yi Chieh Anita Chiu is active as a collaborative pianist and orchestral musician. She currently serves as staff pianist at Ohio Wesleyan University and appears frequently in local concerts and chamber music series. She has also been invited to collaborate on faculty recitals and new music festivals throughout the local area. As a violinist, Chiu performs with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the Lima Symphony Orchestra, where she serves as assistant concertmaster, and has also appeared with the Columbus Symphony, Akron Symphony Orchestra, and other ensembles, including opera and musical theater productions. She is the recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Studio and Creative Arts Award and first prize winner of the graduate division of the 2015 Douglas Wayland Chamber Music Competition. Chiu holds master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Ohio State University.

anitachiu.com

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