Department Chair:
Dr. Nathan Rinnert
nrinnert@mansfield.edu
112 Butler Center
Phone: 570-662-4739
Administrative Assistant:
108 Butler Center
Phone: 570-662-4710
Fax: 570-662-4114
BRASS KEYBOARD MUSIC EDUCATION MUSIC THEORY, TECHNOLOGY, HISTORY
PERCUSSION STRINGS WOODWINDS VOICE FACULTY EMERITI
BRASS
Dr. Rebecca Dodson-Webster
French Horn/Music History
Dr. Rebecca Dodson-Webster's website
Email Dr. Dodson-Webster: rdodsonw@mansfield.edu
- BM, Grove City College
- MFA, Carnegie Mellon University
- DMA, University of Wisconsin
Dr. Dodson-Webster was born in Apollo, Pennsylvania, and has previously taught at the University of Idaho and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Her academic interests include the study of contemporary repertoire for the horn, fitness for musicians, and the study of the music of indigenous cultures. A member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 60-471, she performs regularly in numerous orchestras and has released a solo CD on the Centaur label. She is also a member of the College Music Society and a member of the International Horn Society, serving on the IHS Regional Chapter Board of Advisors.
Dr. Eddie Severn
Trumpet, Jazz
Email Dr. Severn: esevern@commonwealthu.edu
- DMA, University of Salford, Manchester, England
With a performing career spanning more than 30 years, British born trumpeter Eddie Severn is notable in his ability to adapt to many musical styles.
From his extensive work as a lead trumpet player in the commercial music world to his innovative performances as a soloist playing his own compositions, Eddie is equally at home playing pop, latin, jazz and classical styles. Eddie has performed with many well-known musicians including Maria Schneider, Benny Golson, Phil Woods Big Band, Dave Leibman Big Band, The Temptations, Kenny Rogers, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, The Four Freshmen, and the English Symphony Orchestra. In addition to being the former lead trumpet player with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra for 6 years, he has also performed and recorded music for television, radio and theatre, as well as on numerous pop sessions and touring broadway shows.
Severn composes music for his own groups and freelances as a solo performer and clinician, spending time both in Europe and the United States. As an educator, Severn has extensive experience directing big bands and teaching both jazz studies and trumpet. He has been on the faculty at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music in England as well as a regular visiting artist at Penn State University.
Eddie holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Salford in Manchester, England.
Dr. Nathan Rinnert, Department Chair
Assistant Band Director / Tuba / Instrumental Music Education
Email Dr. Rinnert: nrinnert@mansfield.edu
- BME, University of Kansas
- MEd, Auburn University
- PhD, University of Miami
Based on the Mansfield campus, Dr. Nathan Rinnert serves as the Department Chairperson in the Department of Music, Theater, & Dance at Commonwealth University of PA. As Assistant Director of Bands he co-directs The Spirit & Pride of Pennsylvania Marching Band and directs the MU Symphonic Band, the Mountaineer Brass Band, MU Tuba-Euphonium Consort, and the Mountie Sound Machine (MU Basketball Band). In addition, he instructs the tuba studio, supervises instrumental music student teachers, and teaches courses in instrumental music methods and conducting.
Dr. Rinnert is an active performer, educator, clinician, and scholar. He performed with the 1989 All-American College Band at Disneyland, spent two years playing at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki, Japan, and enjoyed a five-year stint with Joel Kaye’s “Neophonic Jazz Orchestra,” in Denver, Colorado. He has played tuba and trombone with the Longmont (CO) Symphony, the Timberline (CO) Symphony, the Lawrence (KS) Symphony, the Montgomery (AL) Symphony, the Miami (FL) Symphony, the Williamsport (PA) Symphony, and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes (NY).
Dr. Rinnert’s PhD in music education and conducting from the University of Miami culminated with a dissertation entitled, “A History of the Bands at the Teachers’ School in Mansfield, Pennsylvania: 1871-1971.” He also holds a master’s degree in music education from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Kansas.
Prior to his appointment at Mansfield University, Dr. Rinnert also taught public school instrumental music in Paonia, Colorado and Longmont, Colorado, and was the Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Denver. He has conducted honor bands and clinics in Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, and New York.
Dr. Rinnert is the faculty advisor for the Mansfield chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, and a member of National Association for Music Education, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, the Collegiate Band Directors National Association, the Pennsylvania Collegiate Bandmasters Association, the International Tuba-Euphonium Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Tau Beta Sigma.
Professor Drew Wolgemuth
Trombone
Email Mr. Wolgemuth: dwolgemuth@commonwealthu.edu
KEYBOARD
Dr. Eun-Joo Kwak
Keyboard Area Chair
Email Dr. Kwak: ekwak@mansfield.edu
- BM Seoul National University, Korea
- MM, Chicago Musical College, Roosevelt University, Chicago
- DMA, Northwestern University
Dr. Eun-Joo Kwak is an internationally admired concert artist and educator, whose professional engagements have taken her across Europe, Asia, and North America. A native of South Korea, her career was launched with top prizes in the Samick National Piano Competition (South Korea), Tokyo International Piano Duo Competition (Japan), International Beethoven Sonata Competition (Memphis, TN), and others. Her diverse concert life has included concerto appearances with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra (Seoul), Sun-Hwa Philharmonic Orchestra (Seoul), Racine Symphony Orchestra, Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, and numerous university orchestras. She has given recitals in significant venues, such the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts (Chicago), World Piano Conference (Novi Sad, Serbia), American Landmark Festival (New York), Taipei National Recital Hall (Taiwan), with several broadcast internationally (WFMT-Chicago, KBS-Seoul, Christian Radio-Taiwan, Wisconsin Public Radio-Madison). An avid chamber musician, she was a member of the international prize-winning Cheng and Kwak Piano Duo, the Clarus Piano Trio, and has performed with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. Her professional recordings are available from Northwestern University Press, Vienna Modern Masters label, and the Naxos Music Library.
Kwak continues to be in great demand as clinician, adjudicator and lecturer. Twice she was a judge for the International Smetana Piano Competition (Czech Republic), and has been an invited guest of the Isidor Bajic Conservatory (Serbia), Shin-Zhu Teachers University (Taiwan), Music Teachers National Association, PianoArts of Milwaukee National Competition, New York State School Music Association, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, Wisconsin Music Teachers Association, Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association, and many other organizations.
After completing the Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Seoul National University, Kwak emigrated to the United States, where she earned the Master of Music from Roosevelt University and Doctor of Music from Northwestern University. She studied with Jeong-Joo Oh, Kui-Hyun Kim, Pawel Checinski, David Kaiserman, Sylvia Wang, and took master classes with such artists as Robert Levin, Ursula Oppens, and Garrick Ohlsson. Professor Kwak previously taught at Truman State University, Northwestern University, Carthage College, Cardinal Stritch University, and is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania.
곽은주 교수
- 선화예술 중-고등학교를 거쳐 서울대학교 학사, 시카고 루즈벨트 대학교 석사, 노스웨스턴 대학교에서 박사학위 취득
- 한국삼익콩쿨 1위를 비롯 미국 베토벤 쏘나타 국제콩쿨과 도쿄 피아노듀오 국제콩쿨 입상
- 밀워키교향악단, 시카고 쳄버 오케스트라, KBS교향악단 등을 비롯 많은 교향악단들과 다수 협연
- 미국 각지역과 체코, 세르비아, 소련, 대만, 한국에서 연주, 강의, 마스터클래스, 국제콩쿨심사
- 일리노이, 미주리, 위스컨신주에서 교수 역임
- 현재 펜실베니아 맨스필드 대학교 음악대학 피아노과장
- 맨스필드 대학교 음악대학 ( https://music.mansfield.edu/) 에 관한 문의 사항을 곽은주 교수에게 이메일 ( ekwak@mansfield.edu) 주시면 한국어로 답해 드립니다.
MUSIC EDUCATION
Professor Michael Hood
Email Mr. Hood: mhood@mansfield.edu
Professor Heather Cottrill
Email Mr. Hood: hcottrill@mansfield.edu
Dr. Nathan Rinnert
MUSIC THEORY/TECHNOLOGY/HISTORY
Dr. Andrew Walters
Theory, Composition, Electronic Music
Dr. Walters's Webpage
Email Dr. Walters: awalters@mansfield.edu
- BM, Millikin University
- MM, Northern Illinois University
- DMA, University of Illinois
Andrew Walters studied composition with Robert Chamberlain at Millikin, where he received his Bachelor of Music Education degree. He has also studied with Jan Bach, James Phelps and Robert Fleisher at Northern Illinois University. He received his DMA in composition at the University of Illinois where he worked in the EMS studios under the guidance of Scott Wyatt and James Beauchamp. His dissertation was on the use of texture in the music of Louis Andriessen. While working at the University of Illinois, his primary teachers were William Brooks, Zack Browning, Erik Lund, and Paul Zonn. Walters' music has been performed at various conferences throughout the US and Canada, including SEAMUS, SCI, ICMC, Spark, Imagine II, Electronic Music Midwest, and the Electroacoustic Juke Joint. His piece "IN-EX" won Honorable Mention at the 1998 Russolo Pratella International Electroacoustic Composition Competition and is featured on the "Music from SEAMUS, Volume Nine" compact disk. "Pushing Buttons", a piece for alto saxophone and 2-channel electroacoustic music is featured on the "Music from SEAMUS Volume Sixteen" CD and was performed at the International Computer Music Conference in New Orleans, in 2006. Dr. Walters has taught at Millikin University, Brookhaven College, and the University of Texas at Arlington.
Dr. David Curtin
Music Theory, Piano
Email Dr. Curtin: dcurtin@commonwealthu.edu
Dr. Rebecca Dodson-Webster
PERCUSSION
Dr. Adam Brennan
Director of Bands/Conducting/Percussion
Email Dr. Brennan: abrennan@mansfield.edu
- BA in Music Education
- MM, Western Illinois University
- DMA, University of Oklahoma
Dr. Brennan is an active composer, arranger, performer and clinician in band and percussion. He is the Director of The Spirit and The Pride of Pennsylvania - The Mansfield University Marching Band, a group for which he writes all music. Dr. Brennan conducts the outstanding Concert Wind Ensemble, and works with the Concert Percussion Ensemble, Mexican Marimba Band, and newly formed MU Steel Pan ensemble. He teaches courses in percussion pedagogy, drill design, and instrumental conducting.
Mr. Conrad Alexander
Percussion
Email Mr. Alexander: cpalexan@mansfield.edu
- BM, Southern Methodist University
- MM, Eastman School of Music
Conrad Alexander studied with John Beck, Don Liuzzi, Kalman Cherry, Doug Howard, John Bannon, Charles Owen. Teaches in summers at the Brevard Music Center (NC) and has taught at Interlochen Center for the Arts, James Madison University, University of Virginia, the Odessa/Midland (TX) school system and the Blue Lake (MI) Fine Arts Camp. He has performed with the New York City Opera Touring Orchestra, the Albany and Harrisburg (PA) Symphonies, as well as the Dallas, Richmond (VA), Greensboro (NC), Knoxville (TN), Oklahoma, and Anchorage Symphonies. He is the owner of DAY Percussion Repair, www.daypercussionrepair.com, specializing in all facets of keyboard modification and percussion instrument repair.
STRINGS
Dr. David Tedford
Orchestra Director
Email Dr. Tedford: dtedford@bloomu.edu
- BM, Grove City College
- MM, Ohio University
- DMA, University of Iowa
Winner of the 2019 International Conductors Workshop & Competition, Tedford currently holds the positions of Conductor of the Mansfield University Symphony Orchestra and the Bloomsburg University Community Orchestra. where is an Assistant Professor of Music at Commonwealth University of PA. Dr. Tedford also teaches applied strings and music education coursework at the Bloomsburg campus. As well, he has recently been appointed as the Music Director of the WIlliamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra in Williamsport, PA.
He enjoys exploring the newest trends in music, believing that the key to future generations of concert-goers is to perform music of contemporary society. His research interests include programming of contemporary music in the collegiate setting and is a proponent of promoting compositions by living composers. Dedicated to serving arts communities beyond the podium, Tedford is co-founder and contributor to The Adore Project (https://theadoreproject.org/), which is a resource for promoting composers of underrepresented demographics. He is also involved with the Orchestra division of And We Were Heard (https://www.andwewereheard.org/), another organization helping to promote orchestra music written by underrepresented demographics. Additionally, Tedford serves on the board of directors of the Harmony Arts Foundation in Bloomsburg, PA, a non-profit organization that is oriented towards the advancement of music education through lessons for all ages.
An avid educator, he has been a guest conductor for numerous high school orchestra festivals and workshops throughout the east coast and Midwest. He has also initiated multiple performing outlet and outreach initiatives in the region.
Tedford holds degrees from Grove City College, Ohio University, and the University of Iowa. He has worked with conductors such as Steven Huang, William LaRue Jones, Kenneth Kiesler, Stuart Malina, Dwight Oltman, Robert Page, and Markand Thakar.
Professor Garet Holdren
Cello & Bass
Email Mr. Holdren: garetholdren@gmail.com
- BM, Mansfield University
- MM, Penn State University
Following his BM degree Garet became the orchestra director at Sulphur Springs Independent School District, a large district outside of Dallas, Texas. Currently residing in Williamsport, Garet is serving as the principal cellist of the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra and also frequently performs with the Susquehanna Valley Chorale, the Williamsport Choir and Orchestra, and the Buffalo Valley Singers. Recently, he performed Johan De Meij’s “Cassanova Cello Concerto” with the Milton Area Community Band. He maintains a large private cello studio based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and teaches cello and low strings pedagogy methods courses at Lycoming College. Garet is also a Technical Sergeant in the Air National Guard.
Professor John Vaida
Violin/Viola
Email Prof. Vaida: jvaida@mansfield.edu
- BM, Duquesne University
- MM, Eastman School of Music
A versatile musician, violinist and violist John Vaida performs regularly as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He is currently on the faculty at Mansfield University and Wilkes University, and Artist-in-Residence at the Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School. He is also the Executive Director and Co-founder of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Chamber Music Society (NEPACMS) which fosters the growth and awareness of chamber music in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region through a carefully curated concert series, workshops, educational and outreach programs. He has given performances across the United States and Europe, collaborating with national and internationally renowned artists. Mr. Vaida frequently performs and teaches at festivals including the Killington Music Festival and as a member of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico.
As an educator and a staunch advocate for music and the arts, Mr. Vaida regularly collaborates with local schools and community organizations. His students have had the distinction of being placed in top spots at regional and state competitions and have been accepted to major conservatories and festivals. As a clinician he presents workshops and clinics at the local, regional, and national levels, including at the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conference and the New York State School Music Association conference.
Mr. Vaida’s principal teachers have included Charles Stegeman, Daniel Phillips, and Zvi Zeitlin. He holds a B.M. from Duquesne University and a M.M. degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and has studied chamber music with Randolph Kelly, Jean Barr, Richard Killmer, and members of the Ying Quartet.
Mr. Vaida plays on a violin made by Carl G. Becker in 1974, in Chicago, Illinois.
Professor Michael Hardy
Guitar
Email Mr. Hardy: mhardy@mansfield.edu
- BM: Columbus State University
- MM: University of Texas at Austin
- Diploma: Peabody Conservatory
- DM: Eastman School of Music
Mr. Hardy is an active performer and teacher. In addition to his teaching duties at Mansfield University, he has his own private guitar studio. He teaches classical guitar, popular music, music theory, and guitar history. He has experience teaching at the university level including Campbell University and Chowan University.
WOODWINDS
Dr. Susan Laib
Double Reeds
Email Dr. Laib: slaib@mansfield.edu
- BM, Eastman School of Music
- MM, University of Colorado
- DM, Florida State University
Dr. Laib teaches oboe and bassoon, and coaches woodwind chamber ensembles. An active performer, Dr. Laib holds the position of principal oboe in both the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes and the Williamsport Symphony. In frequent demand as a free-lance oboist and double reed clinician, she has performed for numerous organizations throughout Pennsylvania and New York and presented master classes in New Jersey as well as the Twin Tiers. Previously a member of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and on the faculty of Tennessee Technological University, as a member of the Cumberland Quintet, Dr. Laib toured Belgium and Holland in the spring of 1988 and performed in the group's successful 1986 debut in the Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City. She was also a featured performer at the convention of the International Double Reed Society at Ithaca College in 2007, and the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C., in August, 1988. Her teachers include Robert Sprenkle, Thomas Stacy, David Abosch, Ronald Roseman, Richard Killmer, and she has attended master classes with Barrick Stees, Christopher Weait, John Mack, Joseph Robinson, and the 2005 Glickman-Popkin Bassoon Camp.
Dr. Christine Fish Moulton
Flute, Keyboard Skills
Dr. Christine Moulton's Website
Email Dr. Moulton: cmoulton@mansfield.edu
- DMA Performance, Rutgers University
- MM Performance, Manhattan School of Music
- BM Performance, Boston Conservatory
- AS Music, Onondaga Community College
- Licensed Body Mapping Educator, 2021
Christine Fish Moulton is associate professor of flute at Mansfield University of PA. She is a licensed Body Mapping Educator and available for Body Mapping presentations, workshops and individual lessons.
Moulton is member of the Manhattan Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra (Elkins Park, PA) and the annual Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival. Solo and chamber music concerts include WXXI, WVIA, WCNY public radio stations, NYC’s Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall’s Weill and Zankel Halls and National Flute Conventions in Orlando, San Diego & Las Vegas. Performances and presentations on a variety of topics have been for Rochester Flute Association, regional flute fairs throughout PA, New Jersey Flute Fair and New York Flute Club’s Flute Fair in Manhattan. She is a former member of the Allentown Symphony and serves as Secretary of the Marcel Moyse Society.
Professor Richard MacDowell
Clarinet
Email Mr. MacDowell: rmacdowe@mansfield.edu
Dr. Seth Carper
Saxophone
Email Dr. Carper: scarper@mansfield.edu
- BM, Appalachian State University
- MM, CCNY
- DMA, University of Texas at Austin
Originally from a farm in rural North Carolina, saxophonist and music educator, Dr. Seth Carper, currently calls Cazenovia, NY home, teaching at Mansfield University, Syracuse University, and Cornell Univeristy.
Classically trained and stage tested as a jazz & commercial musician, Dr. Carper covers all aspects of saxophone performance and education. Before his present tenure, Seth was a full-time lecturer in the Music Education and Jazz Studies programs at Texas State University, where he directed the Jazz Repertory Band. Leading his quartet and co-leading the NOW Jazz Orchestra (New Original Works), Seth was an integral part of the central Texas music scene. He earned a DMA in Music Performance at the University of Texas in Austin in 2016.
Prior to Austin, Seth spent five years in New York City, performing with some of the finest musicians in the world, and teaching at The City College of New York and Third Street Music Settlement. He received his M.M. in Music Performance at CCNY under the tutelage of Grammy Award winning bassist, John Patitucci, and saxophonists Jon Gordon and John Ellis.
Before his time in NY, Seth earned a B.M. in Music Education and classical saxophone from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, studying under Dr. Bill Gora and Mr. Todd Wright.
A passionate music educator from the beginning of his career, Seth was director of bands at Holmes Middle School in Eden, NC, eventually moving on to teach at Davidson College, Pfeifer University, Temple College, and the University of Texas.
As a performer he has shared the stage with many jazz greats, pop entertainers & classical ensembles including Christopher Cross, The Manhattan Transfer, The Temptations and The Four Tops, The O’Jays, Lou Christie, The Drifters, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The NC Symphony, The Piedmont Wind Symphony of NC, and The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, his lead alto playing helped earn a Grammy nomination for Ruthie Foster's Big Band, Live at the Paramount. He continues to perform with his own groups in CNY and beyond.
VOICE
Dr. Alissa Rose
Voice
Dr. Alissa Rose's webpage
Email Dr. Rose: arose@mansfield.edu
- BM, Oberlin Conservatory of Music
- BA, Oberlin College
- MM, Rice University
- Diploma, Hochschule für Musik Detmold
- DMA, University of Michigan
Dr. Rose has performed numerous operatic roles, recitals, and concerts throughout the United States and in Europe. She spent several years in Germany, where she sang at the State Theaters in Osnabrück, Münster, and Bielefeld, as well as singing with the West German Radio Chorus. Dr. Rose made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2006 as a soloist with the American Composers Orchestra in the world premiere of Kristin Kuster's Myrrha, and has appeared as a soloist with many other orchestras, including the Billings Symphony, the Battle Creek Symphony, and the Bielefelder Philharmoniker. Operatic roles she has performed include Adina ( L'elisir d'amore), Gretel ( Hansel and Gretel), Adele ( Die Fledermaus), Susanna ( Le Nozze di Figaro), Frasquita ( Carmen), Célie (Pasatieri's Signor Deluso), Berenice (Rossini’s L'occasione fa il ladro), and Mabel ( The Pirates of Penzance). Her recording of Célie in Signor Deluso is available on Albany Records. Dr. Rose’s primary teachers have been Lorraine Manz, Joyce Farwell, and Freda Herseth. She is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and was selected to be a member of the 2012 NATS Intern Program. Dr. Rose joined the faculty of Mansfield University in the fall of 2008, after teaching at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan. She teaches voice, diction, vocal pedagogy, and voice class.
Dr. Peggy Dettwiler
Choral Director
Dr. Peggy Dettwiler's webpage
Email Dr. Dettwiler: pdettwil@mansfield.edu
- BS, University of Wisconsin-Platteville
- BM, MM, University of Wisconsin- Madison
- MM, University of Texas- San Antonio
- DMA, Eastman School of Music
Peggy Dettwiler is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Mansfield University, where she conducts the Concert Choir, Festival Chorus, and Chamber Singers, and teaches choral conducting and methods. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She also has a Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Master of Music Degree in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The Mansfield University Concert Choir has been invited for twenty-three consecutive years to perform at state, regional, national, or international choral conventions and has won eleven gold medals and numerous prizes in international competitions. In 2010, Dr. Dettwiler received the Elaine Brown Award for Choral Excellence from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and she placed second in 2011 and 2013 for the American Prize for Choral Conductors at the College/University level. Dettwiler has served as a guest conductor and lecturer throughout the country and has given presentations at numerous NAfME and ACDA Conventions. She has produced two DVDs, one entitled, “Developing a Vocal Color Palette for Various Choral Styles” and the second, “Sing in Style.” Dettwiler made her conducting debut in Carnegie Hall in January of 2014 and presented an interest session at the World Choral Symposium in Seoul, Korea, in August of 2014. Dettwiler received the Presidential Coin for Excellence from General Francis Hendricks, President of Mansfield University and was designated “2015 Honored Artist of the American Prize.” In 2016, she served on the jury for the World Choir Games in Sochi, Russia, and was one of ten conductors from seven countries, who participated in the course, CONDUCTING 21C: Musical Leadership for a New Century, held in Stockholm, Sweden. In January of 2017, Dettwiler served as Artistic Director for the concert, “Of War, Peace, and the Power of Music,” held in Carnegie Hall and sponsored by Performing Arts Educators. In 2018, she prepared 80 singers from Mansfield University to sing the choruses for Carnegie Hall’s Gala Benefit Celebration of Bernstein’s Candide, garnering a “superb” mention in the New York Times. She is currently President of the Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors Association.
Professor Jordan Schreiner
Voice
Email Prof. Schreiner: jschreiner@mansfield.edu
- BM, Mansfield University of PA
- MM, Binghamton University
With his “sincere” acting and a voice “filled with passion”, tenor Jordan Marshall Schreiner is quickly making a name for himself in the romantic repertoire.
Mr. Schreiner is most notably known for his portrayals of the romantic tenor roles, making recent debuts as the tumultuous Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, under the baton of Maestro Andrew Altenbach, and as the impassioned Rodolfo in La bohème, in a production with director JJ Hudson. Most recently, Mr. Schreiner portrayed the title role in a new and unconventional production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann directed by Jon Giampietro and conducted by Maestro Mark Shapiro. Mr. Schreiner has also made his mark in the Verdian repertoire, covering Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata under Maestro Thomas Bagwell.
During his residency with Tri-Cities Opera, Mr. Schreiner played a number of characters ranging from the Tenor in Alison Mortiz’s production of Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox to the Gingerbread Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, under the baton of Maestro Vlad Iftinca, to the poet and lover, Gonzalve in Ravel’s L’heure espagnole, and finally as Gastone in Verdi’s La Traviata. Mr. Schreiner has also been seen in portrayals of Vaudémont in Tchakovsky’s Iolanta, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Martin in Copland’s T he Tender Land, and Frederic in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Schreiner has performed a number of concert works around the United States. Recent performances include multiple performances of Handel’s Messiah, as well as performances of Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Catskill Choral Society and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra of the Finger Lakes. Mr. Schreiner is poised to make his Alice Tully Hall debut as the tenor soloist in Haydn’s Schöpfungsmesse with Maestro Patrick Gardner in the coming season after an unfortunate cancellation due to COVID-19.
Mr. Schreiner has received a number of awards from academic institutions, most recently receiving a fellowship from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University as well as a fellowship from Binghamton University. Other awards include first place in the 2018 Opera Ithaca Competition and the top honor from Westminster College’s CoOPERAtive program.
An avid teacher, Mr. Schreiner is the founder of Schreiner Voice Studio, a studio based in upstate NY that is quickly pushing the traditional boundaries of vocal pedagogy. The Schreiner Voice Studio explores the ideals of the “wholistic musician” by teaching not only vocal technique, but by emphasizing the physical and mental well-being just as equally. Mr. Schreiner’s students have been linked to companies such as Seagle Music Colony, Teatro Nuovo, Nashville Opera, and Ohio Light Opera. Mr. Schreiner also recently completed a year as an adjunct voice professor at Mansfield University.
Mr. Schreiner graduated from Binghamton University in Binghamton, NY with a degree in Opera Performance. While in Binghamton, Mr. Schreiner participated in a number of operas, concerts and events with the regional opera house, Tri-Cities Opera. In 2014, Mr. Schreiner graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in Mansfield, PA with degrees in both Music Performance and Music Business: Management.
Dr. Todd E. Ranney
Voice
Email Dr. Ranney: tranney@mansfield.edu
- BM, Drake University
- MM in Voice and Piano, The Cleveland Institute
- DMA, The Ohio State University
Todd E. Ranney, Baritone, has performed over 100 productions throughout the Midwest with the Michigan Opera Theater, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Iowa, Ohio Light Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Cleveland Opera, and Dayton Opera. Some of his roles include Figaro, Don Giovanni, Guglielmo, Papageno, Marcello, and Sharpless. He has been a featured soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra at both the Blossom Music Center and Severance Hall and has sung with the Symphony Orchestras of Dayton, Akron, Lakeside, Wooster, and the Cleveland Pops. He performed 12 seasons with Cleveland Opera and was featured in numerous productions including Carmen, Die Meistersinger, Romeo and Juliet, and H.M.S. Pinafore. Dr. Ranney is the founding Artistic Director of Akron Lyric Opera Theatre where he has directed Madama Butterfly, Cosi fan Tutti and La Bohème among others. Dr. Ranney has additionally directed and produced operas for The Wooster Symphony in Wooster Ohio and The Summit Choral Society of Akron Ohio.
FACULTY EMERITI
- Hamlin Cogswell (deceased), 1887-1905, director
- Will George Butler (deceased), 1914-39, violin, harmony, chair
- Grace Steadman (deceased), 1921-39, chair, music ed, chorus
- Marjorie Brooks (deceased), 1926-59, piano, chair, theory
- Clarissa Randall (deceased), 1937-60, vocal, music ed
- George Howard (deceased), 1937-40, instrumental music
- Bert Francis (deceased), 1940-74, wind ensemble, trumpet, chair
- Christine Lewis (deceased), 1946-70, voice
- Florence Borkey (deceased), 1946-74, keyboard, eurhythmics
- John Doyle (deceased), 1947-79, piano, music appreciation
- John Baynes (deceased), 1947-79, brass, music ed, chair
- Benjamin Husted (deceased), 1950-71, chair, theory, clarinet, chorus
- John Little (deceased), 1950-86, piano, composition
- Helen Henry (deceased), 1955-75, horn, music ed
- Charles P. Hummer (deceased), 1955-56, choral director
- Eugene Jones (deceased), 1956-83, vocal choral, piano, history
- Jack Wilcox (deceased), 1956-88, voice, Mansfieldians, musicals
- Charles Fowler (deceased), 1957-62, music education
- Sylvester Schmitz (deceased), 1959-74, chair
- William Goode (deceased), 1962-88, piano, Intro to Music
- Angeline Schmid (deceased), 1962-90, piano
- Wayne Rusk (deceased), 1963-96, piano, theory, organ
- Charles Wunderlich (deceased), 1964-98, music history
- Marjorie Kemper, kemper_m@msn.com, 1965-88, music ed, piano class, harp
- Richard Kemper (deceased), 1965-88, double reeds, music ed
- Joyce Wunderlich (deceased), 1965-97, music ed, chair
- Irwin Borodkin, 1966-85, (deceased) cello/bass, orchestra
- David Dick (deceased), 1966-87, voice, choral, conducting
Donald Stanley (deceased), 1966-91, wind ensemble, low brass, chair - Edwin Zdzinski (deceased), 1966-91, violin, orchestra, chair
- Katherine Dyck (deceased), 1967-87, voice, chorus, diction
- Richard Talbot (deceased), 1967-91, bands, percussion, merchandising
- Kent Hill (deceased), 1967-95, piano, organ, theory, eurhythmics, chair
- John Monaghan, johnann@quik.com, 1969-97, flute, music ed, theory
- Ed Brown (deceased), 1971-98, piano, theory
- Konrad Owens, kowens39@comcast.net, 1966-04, clarinet, business, keyboard, tech
- David Borsheim, fairgardens2002@aol.com, 1973-04, french horn, theory, comp.
- Elizabeth Grovenstein, eagmt1@gmail.com, 1978-2007, music therapy
- Jean-Anne Teal, jeananne_teal@yahoo.com, 1991-2009, voice
- H. Michael Galloway, mikenkay@ptd.net, 1980-2013, trumpet, jazz
- Kenneth Sarch, 1995-2013, violin/viola, orchestra
- Stephen McEuen (deceased), 1977-2013, trombone/euphonium, Intro
- Nancy Boston, nboston@mansfield.edu, 1989-2015, piano
- Youngsuk Kim, imtenor@hotmail.com, 1988-2021, voice, opera
- Joseph Murphy, 1987-2023, saxophone
- Sheryl Monkelien, 2001-2023, music education, vocal jazz, musical theatre