2010 AFA Faculty - Piano, Composition, Theory Click on each name for a biography
Piano
Rodolfo Morales
Julie SacksComposition
Aaron Alon
Karim Al-Zand
Michael RemsonMusic Theory & Elective Classes
Isabelle Ganz
George Heathco
Christine Lidvall
Crista Miller
Bryan Parkhurst
Kathy Sarra
Catherine SchaeferAaron Alon’s music has been performed around the world by such acclaimed musicians as Leone Buyse, Ian Davidson, Andrea Ceccomori, Catherine Branch, Mark Whatley, and new music groups Sounds New, the Boston New Music Initiative, and the Vientos Trio. His works have been released on three CD labels and awarded numerous national and international composition honors, including those from the National Federation of Music Clubs; the National Association of Composers/USA; the Society of Composers, Inc.; ASCAP; Meet the Composer; the Lotte Lehmann Foundation; the Renée B. Fisher Composer Awards; and Mu Phi Epsilon.
Alon is a member of ASCAP and a past chapter president of Mu Phi Epsilon. He is also highly active as a teacher. In addition to chairing the composition department for the American Festival for the Arts, he is an adjunct instructor of music at Alvin Community College. He has also taught for Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Current projects include an opera with librettist Michael Remson, a musical with lyricist Joe Barnes, a new solo saxophone work commissioned by Dr. Jeffrey E. Vickers, and a cycle of songs for bass David Keck.
Alon holds a DMA from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, an MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a BA from the University of Chicago. His past teachers include Karim Al-Zand, Anthony Brandt, Shih-Hui Chen, Jean Milew, Marta Ptaszynska, and Orianna Webb.
For more information, please visit Aaron Alon’s website at www.aaronalon.com.
Karim Al-Zand
Composition
The music of Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand (b.1970) has been called “strong and startlingly lovely” (Boston Globe). His compositions are wide-ranging, from settings of classical Arabic poetry to scores for dance and pieces for young audiences. Many of his works explore connections between music and other arts, and draw inspiration from diverse sources such as 19th century graphic art, fables of the world, folksong and jazz. Al-Zand’s music has enjoyed success in the US, Canada and abroad and he is the recipient of several national awards, including the Sackler Composition Prize, the ArtSong Prize and the Louisville Orchestra Competition Prize. He holds degrees from Harvard and McGill Universities and is currently Associate Professor on the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music (Rice University) in Houston.Isabelle Ganz
Vocal Electives
The New York Times has called Isabelle Ganz "a virtuosic" performer. This accomplished American mezzo-soprano explores the world of today's composers, as well as the classics of the mezzo literature. She has appeared as vocal soloist with symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the world, including the Seattle Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Slovak Radio Orchestra. Works that she has premiered include "Ryoanji for Voice and Percussion" by John Cage and recorded for MODE records.
A specialist in theatrical works, her performance as the "Proprietess of the Cafe de Chinitas" in The Houston Ballet's production of "The Cruel Garden" was called "riveting" and "compelling" by the press. Her Sephardic music ensemble, ALHAMBRA, based in New York, has toured Europe, South America, Turkey and the U.S.
Ms. Ganz received a Fulbright grant to teach voice and twentieth century music at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem (1997) as well as a Solo Recitalist grant from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (1992-1993). Currently based in Houston where she is on the Faculty of the University of Houston, she also performs concerts and conducts master classes and workshops in contemporary vocal techniques throughout Europe, as well as in America. She has produced over 20 recordings, primarily of works by living composers and of Sephardic music from Turkey and the Balkans.Christine Lidvall
Alexander Technique
Christine Lidvall has practiced the Alexander Technique since 1987. She graduated from the teachers training course of the Alexander Alliance in Philadelphia, PA and was certified in 2000 through Alexander Technique International (ATI). In addition to offering Alexander Technique lessons on an individual basis, she has taught workshops for the C.G. Jung Center of Houston, Houston Ebony Opera, and the Jewish Community Center of Houston, among others. She founded and directed Chrysalis Dance Company from 1983 to 1996. Lidvall taught dance and the Alexander Technique at Rice University for over 20 years and has taught workshops and master classes in dance for organizations across the country. Her background in dance and other movement studies influences her teaching of the Alexander Technique. A graduate with a B.Sc. in communications from Northwestern University, she also has a M.A. in dance from the U of H/Clear Lake.Crista Miller
Music Theory
In demand as a solo artist, choral conductor, sacred musician, scholar, and teacher, Crista Miller has performed in Europe, Canada, and throughout the United States. In Houston, Dr. Miller serves on the Music faculty of the University of St. Thomas and Houston Baptist University. As Music Director and Cathedral Organist at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, she was responsible for the procurement of Martin Pasi’s Opus 19 for the new cathedral building. Dr. Miller earned the DMA in organ performance and the Sacred Music Diploma at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, studying with Hans Davidsson, where she received the graduate award for the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative, was the sole US competitor in the 2004 Odense International Organ Competition and Festival in Denmark, and was a semifinalist in the 2002 American Guild of Organists national Young Artists’ Competition in Organ Playing. She earned the Master of Music from the University of Houston under Robert Bates. In 2003, research on cultural influences in the organ works of Naji Hakim found Dr. Miller working with the composer in southern France.Rodolfo Morales performs regularly as soloist and chamber musician in addition to being in great demand as a teacher and coach. He has performed with the Houston Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the Woodlands Symphony, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra and the World Youth Symphony Orchestra in Michigan; his appearances as concert soloist include performances at the Juilliard Theater and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Wortham Center, Zilkha Hall, Jones Hall and Stude Concert Hall in Houston, the Hall of the Army in Sarajevo Bosnia, the San Fernando Cathedral and the Scottish Rite Cathedral in San Antonio TX and the Latin Center for the Arts in Dallas, among others.
Mr. Morales is the Piano Department Director for the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (his alma matter) since 2004. An advocate of modern music, he was the Artistic Director for the Foundation for Modern Music for the 2004-05 concert season, a non-profit performing institution specializing in contemporary classical music for which he remains an active and frequent performer. During the summer Mr. Morales is Piano Director for the HSPVA Summer Academy as well as Piano Director for the American Festival for the Arts, where he has been teaching since 2002.
He has been heard as soloist on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” performing the music of Spanish composer Enrique Granados as well as being a frequent guest on Houston’s KUHF’s “Front Row”. Some of the awards he has been given include the first ever Distinguished Alumni Award from the American Festival for the Arts, a Robert McNair Foundation grant for performance studies, the Isabel Scionti Award at the Isabel Scionti International Piano Competition, and two-time winner of the National Concerto Competition.
Rodolfo Morales attended The Juilliard School of Music where he studied with the world-famous Israeli teacher Yoheved Kaplinsky and from which he received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. He was also a student of composer-pianist Robert Avalon and Juilliard-based Russian pianist Viktoria Mushkatkol during high school.
Mr. Morales is native of Piedras Negras, Mexico. In addition to his teaching duties mentioned above he maintains a small private teaching studio in the Montrose area of Houston, where he lives with his beloved wife Donell and his godson Jacob.
Bryan Parkhurst
Music Theory
Bryan recently graduated from Rice (B.M. summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) where hestudied harp with Paula Page and harmony, counterpoint, and analysis with Karim Al-Zand. Right now he isworking on a Ph.D. in music theory at the University of Michigan. Some of Bryan's musical and music-theoretical interests include: the aesthetics of music, philosophies of art and beauty, the history of music theory, the history and practice of figured bass and continuo accompaniment, Bach's life and music, and eighteenth-century countrapuntal practices, and solfege.Michael Remson is a composer, author, educator and is proud to have been part of the AFA since its inaugural season. Dr. Remson has been Exectuive Director since the 2005 season. Prior to his appointment to AFA, Dr. Remson served as Assistant Director of the Carnegie Mellon University Pre-College Program and as CFO/Senior Consultant with Downey Associates International.
In addition to his service to AFA, Dr. Remson maintains an active schedule as a composer and librettist. He has received numerous grants, commissions and fellowships and his works have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe. Dr. Remson served as an Affiliate Artist at the Moores School of Music and is on faculty of the Houston Ballet Academy. He received his training at New York University, the University of Houston and Carnegie Mellon University and his primary mentors include Carlisle Floyd and Edward Albee. He is active in Houston's arts community through his board service with Dragon's Gate, Houston Youth Symphony, Houston Boychoir and The Lone Star Lyric Theatre Festival.
Pianist Julie Loeb Sacks is a staff accompanist and coach at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. She is on the faculty of the American Festival for the Arts in the piano and chamber music departments, and from 2001-2007 served as staff pianist for the Meadowmount School for Strings in New York. A passionate chamber musician and art song recitalist, Julie enjoys performing with Col Canto, an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performance of the Art Song repertoire. She often serves as accompanist for the Houston Symphony Chorus, Choral Artists, and is an official staff pianist of the Entergy Young Texas Artists Competition.
Julie has performed around the country, including her 2000 New York City debut, an art song recital with soprano Adele Crawford, formerly of the Metropolitan Opera. Other local performances include the Channing Concert Series, the Houston Grand Opera Education Department, Corpus Christi Young Artist Competition, Opera in the Heights, Katy Performing Arts Society, Encore School for Strings, Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Masquerade Theatre, Cleveland Art Song Festival and TUTS. She has been heard on radio broadcasts in Cleveland, New York, and Houston. Awards include the Koldofsky Prize in Collaborative Piano and the Edna Ocker Accompanist Award. Julie is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Texas, and studied at the Music Academy of the West and Eastern Music Festival. Her teachers and mentors include Anne Epperson, William Race, Gustavo Romero, Danielle Martin, and Jean Deutsch. She lives in Manvel, Texas, with husband Steve, and sons Ryan and Jacob.Kathy Sarra
Alexander Technique
Kathy Sarra has both a BA in English (1991, summa cum laude) and an MFA in Theatre/Acting (1994) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She completed a three-year teacher-training course for Alexander Technique teachers in 2000 and also studied with such well-known Alexander Technique teachers as Marjorie Barstow, Elizabeth Walker, Frank Ottiwell, Michael Frederick, Glenna Batson, Meade Andrews, and Marsha Paludan. Kathy has been recognized as a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique by Alexander Technique International since 2000.
She also has trained in various movement traditions, including Contact Improvisation, Developmental Technique, and T’ai Chi. Kathy has acting credits in theatre, commercials, industrials, and independent films. From 1994 to 2000 she was an adjunct member of the Theatre faculty at UNCG, teaching courses in Acting, Voice and Diction, the Narrative Self, Drama Appreciation, and Oral Interpretation, while maintaining a private practice as an Acting, and Voice/Dialogue coach. Since moving to Florida in 2001, she has served as adjunct faculty at UF in the School of Theatre and Dance, teaching a year-long course in the Alexander Technique for first year MFA candidates, as well as a semester-long course for undergraduates. Kathy has taught workshops in the Alexander Technique in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Texas, including the Eastern Music Festival, an international summer music camp which convenes yearly in Greensboro, North Carolina. She maintains a private practice in the Alexander Technique as well.Catherine Schaefer
Class Piano
A native of Spokane, WA, Catherine Schaefer holds a B.M. and a B.A. from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She recently moved to Houston to pursue her M.M. under Abbey Simon at University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, where she also teaches music theory and aural skills, and works as an accompanist.
