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Interlochen Arts Academy welcomes cohort of nationally-recognized faculty members in multiple divisions
The new faculty members will teach students within the Creative Writing, Film & New Media, and Music divisions.
New faculty members for the 2024-25 school year include gifted writers, filmmakers, and musicians. As they work with Arts Academy students, they will draw from a wealth of experience as professional artists and educators.
Creative Writing
Julia Cannon, Writer in Residence, received her MFA from Columbia University, where she was awarded an Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship in 2021. She has taught writing at Columbia University, The Bridge Center, Rye Country Day School, and The Odyssey School. Her work has been supported by Vermont Studio Center, the ARC at Columbia University, and the Quogue Summer Writers Series, among others. She is currently at work on a novel.
Winthrop Emmet Knowlton, Visiting Instructor of Creative Writing, is a writer, journalist, and educator from Montclair, New Jersey. His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in the Southern Humanities Review, MAYDAY Magazine, The Masters Review, and Writer's Digest, where he won the 22nd Annual Short Short Fiction Prize. He has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and received Amherst College's Peter Burnett Howe Prize for fiction. As a journalist, Knowlton won multiple Emmy Awards as a member of the production staff at HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and has published sportswriting in The New York Times and Insider, among other publications. Before Interlochen, he earned his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of Montana, where he was also a teaching fellow. He is currently working on a novel about family secrets and distance running.
Film & New Media
Elizabeth Kaiser, Instructor of Film & New Media and editor for the Greenacres documentary on regenerative agriculture, is an accomplished editor and motion graphics designer. She has directed several films including "Run This Town", which was the Grand Prize winner of the 2016 Soul Proprietors Film Competition, and the award-winning film “The Big Five Dive”, a short documentary championing women in scuba diving. She is a founding member of DOC Savannah, a member of the DMAC Advisory Board for Lansing Community College, and a member of the Advisory Council for the Thunder Bay International Film Festival.
Marcellus Brown and Dr. Beth Peterson, Wind Symphony Guest Conductors
Dr. Stephen Peterson and Tom Riccobono, Wind Symphony Guest Conductors
Music
Wind Symphony Guest Conductors
Marcellus Brown recently served as Visiting Professor of Music in Bands at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University following his storied career as Director of Bands at Boise State University. Brown has worked extensively as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States. He holds a Master of Music and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, and has done doctoral work at the University of Illinois. Brown served as President of the College Band Directors National Association Northwestern Division and on the selection panel for the National Band Association William D. Revelli Composition Contest.
Dr. Beth Peterson has served on the faculty at the University of Illinois and at Ithaca College in addition to Interlochen Arts Camp. She is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and school music consultant in the United States and Canada. As an accomplished author, Dr. Peterson has published two books on music education: The Music Teacher’s First Year: Tales of Challenge, Joy, and Triumph, and The Music Teacher’s Later Years: Reflection with Wisdom. Dr. Peterson holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, a Master of Music in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from Northwestern University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Shenandoah Conservatory.
Dr. Stephen Peterson was Director of Bands at the University of Illinois from 2015 to 2022. As Director, he conducted the Wind Symphony and led the graduate wind conducting program. Dr. Peterson previously served as an associate director of bands at Northwestern University, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting. He has also served on the wind ensemble faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp. Dr. Peterson maintains a busy schedule as a conductor and clinician and has appeared on four continents and in forty-five states. He has served as president of the College Band Directors National Association.
Tom Riccobono, Instructor of Low Brass, will conduct the pit orchestra for Into the Woods and Interlochen’s annual “Sounds of the Season” performance. Riccobono holds Bachelors of Music from Eastman School of Music and University of Rochester; a Master of Music from Penn State University; and a Certificate of Performance from Cleveland Institute of Music. Riccobono has appeared with the Savannah Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra in Salzau, Germany, and Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy. He has also performed extensively with commercial acts including the Temptations, Moody Blues, and Four Irish Tenors. He has taught master classes at universities and colleges throughout the nation. He is the conductor of the Benzie Area Symphony Orchestra and is principal trombone of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra.
Andrew Bishop, Instructor of Saxophone; Dr. Ty Chiko, Instructor of Voice and Director of Vocal Music; and Christopher Goodpasture, Instructor of Piano.
Daniel Gurevich, Instructor of Oboe; Richie Hawley, Instructor of Clarinet; and Hae Won Jang, Instructor of Organ.
Tim McAllister, Instructor of Saxophone and Jim Van Slyke, Musical Theatre Voice Chair.
New Music Faculty
Andrew Bishop, Instructor of Saxophone, is a versatile saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist, composer, improvisor, scholar, and educator. As a composer and arranger, he has received over 25 commissions from professional organizations, universities, and numerous residencies. His three recordings as a leader received widespread acclaim from The New York Times, Downbeat Magazine, the Chicago Reader, and Detroit Free Press, among others. In 2015, his recording De Profundis received a “Record of the Year (Honorable Mention)” by the New York Jazz Record. Additionally, he has recorded over 50 recordings as a side-musician. Bishop earned five degrees in music, including a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Composition from the University of Michigan. He was twice the recipient of the Arthur Anderson Professor of the Year Award, and received the Joyce G. Ferguson Faculty Development Grant for Excellence in Teaching, and the 2021 Harold Haugh Award for Excellence in studio teaching. He serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the University of Michigan Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation, and as director of the Interlochen Arts Camp Summer Jazz program.
Dr. Ty Chiko, Instructor of Voice and Director of Vocal Music, hails from the Bahamas and has been an international performance artist, visual artist, entrepreneur, and disability advocate for over two decades. As a vocalist, Chiko appeared as the soloist in The Magnificent Pretty Boy, a work commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera. He performed in Mahler’s Leider Eines Fahrenden Gesellen at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gammage Auditorium. He has also taken the stage at The New Mexico Film Festival, Leonard Bernstein’s Centennial at The Academy for the Love of Learning, and the Adventures in the Arts National Organization (Bahamas). Chiko was awarded first prizes in the Arizona State University Concerto Competition and Vocal Artistry Song Competition. He has made appearances on National Public Radio, along with other notable podcasts and radio shows. Chiko has spent much of his career leveraging the power of music and art as tools for advocacy and social change. For over 7 years, he has volunteered at the Amputee Coalition of America Summer Camp. He also hosts a podcast called This Abled Body, which empowers youth living with limb loss and limb difference to live their best lives. Ty holds a doctorate from Arizona State University, where he has served as Faculty Associate for the School of Music. He has also served on the faculties of the University of New Mexico and the New Mexico School for the Arts.
Christopher Goodpasture, Instructor of Piano, has performed in major cities across North America and around the world. He has taught at Johns Hopkins University, Yale, and The Juilliard School. He is a former member of the New York-based Ensemble Connect. His interest in commissioning contemporary music has led to residencies at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and resulted in original works and premieres by George E. Lewis, Douglas Knehans, Jules Matton, and jazz pianist Benoît Delbecq. He holds Master of Music degrees from both The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, and is currently completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Peabody Institute.
Daniel Gurevich, Instructor of Oboe, is an award-winning oboist and educator. Gurevich served as Principal Oboe of the Rogue Valley Symphony and has performed supporting and principal roles with the San Francisco Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, the Queens Symphony Orchestra, and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. He has performed at music festivals all across North America, including the Aspen Music Festival and the Montreal-based Orchestre de la Francophonie. He recently performed with the Emmanuel Music Bach Institute in Boston as the oboe and oboe d’amore fellow. In addition to maintaining a successful private oboe studio in Brooklyn, Gurevich has taught at the Juilliard Pre-College and Music Advancement Program (MAP), Mannes School of Music, and the Sewanee Music Festival. Gurevich is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy. He earned his bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School and his master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Richie Hawley, Instructor of Clarinet, is one of the most celebrated clarinetists of his generation, a sought-after recitalist and chamber musician who regularly appears on stages around the world. During his 17 years as principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), he made an indelible mark on the institution. Hailed by the Cincinnati Enquirer as “an example of the real virtuosity that lies within the [CSO’s] ranks” and praised for possessing the “seamless flowing tone so many clarinetists long for and few can achieve,” he has wowed audiences and critics with his technique and velvety tone. Hawley has also left his mark on recorded classical music, appearing on dozens of albums with the CSO. In 2011, Hawley left the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and moved to Houston, Texas, to become the Professor of Clarinet at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. During the summer months he is in residence as a faculty artist at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California—one of the premier summer festivals for exceptionally talented musicians. Hawley won the Coleman-Barstow prize at the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 1988 with “Trio con Brio”; the same year, he was one of five musicians to receive the Gold Medal as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts from Ronald Reagan in a ceremony at the White House. He is a two-time recipient of the Léni Fé Bland Foundation Career Grant and was awarded the 2009 Glover Award for outstanding teaching at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.
Hae Won Jang, Instructor of Organ, has previously served as an interim visiting instructor of Organ at Arts Academy and is now joining the school permanently. She comes from Michigan State University, where she serves as Instructor of Organ. She holds both doctorate and master's degrees in piano performance, as well as a Master of Music in Choral Conducting, all from Michigan State University. She recently completed her Master of Music in Sacred Music and Harpsichord Performance at the University of Michigan. Beyond her roles in academia, she has dedicated over a decade to her position as an Organist and Associate Music Director at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and St. John Student Center Parish in East Lansing.
Tim McAllister, Instructor of Saxophone, is a highly accomplished performer and instructor. He was hailed as an “exemplary soloist” (Gramophone Magazine), “a virtuoso, one of the foremost saxophonists of his generation” (The New York Times) and “a titan of contemporary music and the instrument, in general” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer). He is a member of the 2018 GRAMMY® Award-winning PRISM Quartet, and is credited with over 40 recordings and 200 premieres of new compositions by eminent and emerging composers worldwide. He has appeared with over forty of the world's top orchestras and ensembles in twenty countries. McAllister holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, and has served on the faculty of Northwestern University. He currently serves as a Professor of Music at the University of Michigan.
Jim Van Slyke, Musical Theatre Voice Chair, is a nationally recognized vocal coach and performing artist. He most recently served as Visiting Professor of Commercial Voice and Musical Theatre at Ball State University, and has served on the voice faculty at Ithaca College, Catholic University, Shenandoah University, and George Mason University. Van Slyke’s students have been seen in numerous Broadway shows and national tours. He is also an award-winning singer-songwriter who received Grammy attention for his debut album Open Road, and he was awarded the prestigious ASCAP Song of the Year award for the self-penned title track. Van Slyke holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Ithaca College and a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from Catholic University.
Students at Interlochen Arts Academy have the opportunity to learn directly from outstanding faculty members—all of whom are accomplished artists and dedicated teachers. Learn more about studying at Interlochen Arts Academy.
