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
TBAElective Classes
TBAAaron 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.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.
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.
