Faculty

Contemporary Music Faculty

Dr. Steven Paxton
Chair, Contemporary Music Department

PhD in Fine Arts, Texas Tech University
BM and MM, University of North Texas

Composer and conductor Dr. Steven Paxton came to the College of Santa Fe (now Santa Fe University of Art and Design) as chair of the Contemporary Music program in 2003. His teaching specialties include composition, music technology, theory, and choral music. Dr. Paxton is an experienced music educator at both the college and high school levels and, before coming to Santa Fe, was chair of the Music Theory/Composition division in the School of Music at Texas Tech University. His former students are active as composers, performers, sound designers, inter-arts collaborators, teachers, and musical entrepreneurs throughout the United States and around the world.

Dr. Paxton was a 1988 recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Composers Fellowship and has also received fellowships and commissions from The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, the American College Theater Festival, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Lubbock Youth Symphony Orchestra, and 20th Century Unlimited of Santa Fe. He has worked extensively in collaborative art forms, especially as a composer, sound designer, and musical director for the stage. From 1988 to 1994, he was composer-in-residence for the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, and his opera, Bellini's War, was premiered at Texas Tech University in 2001.

TOM ADLER
Director, Acoustic Americana Ensemble

Instructor of Banjo, Folk Guitar, Songwriting

Veteran folk musician, songwriter, teacher, actor, landscape gardener, folk radio host.  Bands: Bootleg Prophets, Fast Peso String Band.  Radio show: Acoustic Explorations, KSFR 101.1 FM, Santa Fe.
www.myspace.com/bootlegprophets

DEBORAH BARBE
Instructor of Cello

PAUL BROWN
Co-Director, Mideast/Balkan Ensemble
Instructor of Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass, and Music Technology

ROBERTO CAPOCCHI
Instructor of Classical Guitar

D.M.A. (abd), M.M. in Guitar Performance and Music Theory, University of Arizona; B.M. Lins de Vasconcelos Conservatory, Brazil.

Internationally recognized concert artist and teacher; performs with Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Santa Fe Desert Chorale.
www.capocchimusic.com

GERRY CARTHY
Director, Celtic Ensemble
Instructor of Celtic Instruments

B.A. in English, French, and German, University College, Galway

Born in County Mayo on the West Coast of Ireland.  Plays a variety of instruments including banjo, guitar, tenor guitar, tin whistle, saxophone, fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki, and vocals.  Performs at Celtic festivals around the United States, and is an Artist in Residence for the New Mexico Arts Commission.
www.gerrycarthy.com
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MARK CLARK
Director, Rock Ensemble
Instructor of Drumset

Studied at Berklee College of Music and the LA Jazz Workshop

Touring drummer with John Popper, Jono Manson, Cat Stevens, Ottmar Liebert, Dan Fogelberg, Kip Winger and other artists.
www.myspace.com/markclarksf

MONIKA COSSON
Instructor of Voice

Vocal performance study, Loyola University

Operatic, oratorio, symphonic, and choral performances with New Orleans Opera, Gulf Coast Opera, and Santa Fe Opera, Gregg Smith Singers, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale; regular singer with Canticum Novum Chamber Orchestra & Chorus, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, and the Santa Fe Community Orchestra.
www.myspace.com/monikacosson

JENNY DEBOUZEK
Director, Gamelan Ensemble
Instructor of Indonesian Percussion and Composition

M.A. in Folklore, University of California-Berkleley; Certificate, Ethnographic Film Program, NYU.
Student of Javanese gamelan master K.R.T. Wasitodipuro, and of kulintang, the traditional gong/drum music of the of the Southern Philippines; extensive field research in Indonesia and the Philippines.  Artistic Director, Gamelan Encantada of Albuquerque.  Radio show: Global Music, KUNM 89.9, Albuquerque
www.gamelanencantada.net

CHARLES FEILDING
Instructor of Acoustics and Music Technology

B.A. in Liberal Arts and Music, Fordham University

President, Sound and Light Productions; professional IT Manager and Multimedia Designer; former Manager of Sound Design Office for Yamaha Corporation and Sales Manager for Sequential Circuits.
www.santafevisions.com

POLLY TAPIA FERBER
Co-Director, Mideast/Balkan Ensemble
Instructor of Middle Eastern Percussion and World Music

B.A. in European Studies and Anthropology, University of New Mexico

Performer and recording artist specializing in hand percussion from the Middle East, Turkey, North Africa, the Balkans, and Spanish Andalucia, especially recognized for her melodic style of playing on darabukah (middle-eastern goblet drum), frame drum, riqq (middle-eastern tambourine), and cajon (Spanish wooden box-drum).  Bands: Transition, Orkestra Keyif, Merak, and Eros Taksimi.  Instructor at the East European Folklife Center's annual Balkan camps, and at the Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp in Mendocino, California.
www.handsprings.com

ANGELA GABRIEL
Director, Percussion Ensemble
Instructor of Percussion and Piano

M.M., B.M. in Percussion Performance, Texas Tech University
Symphonic, chamber music, rock, world music percussionist; pianist for Cathedral Basilica of Santa Fe; classical marimba specialist.  Band:  Hidden Whale (original rock),
www.hiddenwhale.com

SHARON GILCHRIST
Instructor of Mandolin

B.M. in Mandolin Performance, Belmont University

Renowned performer and recording artist, singer/songwriter; tours internationally with groups such as Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet, Uncle Earl, The Santa Fe All-Stars, the Bill Hearne Trio and Mary & Mars, to name a few.
www.myspace.com/sharongilchrist

SCOTT JARRETT
Instructor of Recording Arts and Music Business

Master Trainer Certification, ProTools and Logic 9

Over 35 years experience as recording engineer, producer, curriculum developer, teacher, studio owner/operator in New York City, Nashville, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Mexico; singer/songwriter and recording artist, multi-instrumentalist.
www.scottjarrett.com

MELANIE MONSOUR
Instructor of Piano and Composition

B.M. in Piano, Theory, and Composition, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Pianist for the Gurdjieff Sacred Movements in the US, Europe, Australia, Chile and Canada since 1992, specializing in the piano works of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann; SRO solo concerts at the Scriabin Museum in Moscow; performs extinsively in New Mexico with the National Dance Institute, Nacha Mendez, and in performances of her original works.
www.melaniemonsour.com

GARY LEE NELSON
Instructor of Electroacoustic Composition

Ph.D., M.A. in Composition, Washington University-St. Louis; graduate study in
electronic and computer music, Institute of Sonology, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Pioneering electroacoustic and computer music composer and educator; longtime Professor of Electronic and Computer Music and Director of the Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) Program, Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College; collaborator/co-creator of experimental video art projects.
www.timara.oberlin.edu/~gnelson/gnelson.htm

OLIVER PREZANT
Instructor of Western Music Survey

B.Mus., Viola Performance, Mannes College of Music

Music Director, Santa Fe Community Orchestra; lecturer and educator for the Santa Fe Opera, Teaching Artist in the Santa Fe ArtWorks program; studied conducting with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School, and with Gurer Aykal and David Gilbert.
www.sfco.org

 

MIRABAI ROTHROCK-DANIELS
Instructor of Voice

CHAR ROTHSCHILD
Instructor of Trumpet

B.F.A. Contemporary Music, College of Santa Fe

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer; traveled in Egypt, Ireland, and Japan in 1996-1997, playing for the Old Moscow Circus. On stage, Char sings and plays accordion, guitar or dobro, together with trumpet or Bulgarian gaida, and also highland bagpipes.  Tours with his brother Robby as the world folk music duo Round Mountain.
roundmountainmusic.com

 

FRED SIMPSON
Director, African Drum Ensemble
Instructor of African Drumming

Certificate, Tam-Tam Mandingue, Master Drummer Mamady Keita

Over 35 years performing, teaching, studying, and building African Drums in USA, Europe and Africa.

ELENA SOPOCI
Instructor of Violin and Viola

M.M. in Violin Performance, University of Wisconsin; B.M. in Violin Performance, Bowling Green State University

Orchestral violinist and teacher with special interest in contemporary chamber music; performs with the Santa Fe Symphony and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Santa Cruz CA).

TONY TOMEI
Instructor of Accordion

Teacher and performer, master craftsman, tuner, restorer, and collector of accordions; retired mechanical engineer for Los Alamos National Laboratories.
www.abqjournal.com/north/venuenorth/515075venuenorth11-24-06.htm

DEBORAH UNGAR
Instructor of Piano

M.A. in Music,  Washington State University

In demand as a piano teacher, accompanist, arts administrator, and public school teacher throughout the region; plays accordion and clarinet with the Balkan music trio Rumelia.
www.facebook.com/Rumelia.music

PETE WILLIAMS
Director, Funk Ensemble
Instructor of Electric Bass, Electric Guitar, and Drumset

B.F.A. in Contemporary Music, College of Santa Fe
One of Santa Fe’s most in-demand musicians on bass, guitar, drums, keyboard, and vocals; active in youth music education.  Band: Rev Karol King Kong.  Radio show: Music in the Madness, KSFR 101.1 FM, Santa Fe.
www.reverbnation.com/revkarolkingkong

LEWIS WINN
Director, Jazz Ensemble
Instructor of Electric Guitar

Jazz guitarist of the highest caliber, active both as performer and teacher; associated with the New Mexico Jazz Workshop.  Band:  The Alpha Cats.
www.myspace.com/alfacats

SHAWN WOODYARD
Instructor of Woodwinds and Jazz/Popular Music Survey

B.A. in Russian Language and Literature, Lawrence University
M.A. in English (Creative Writing), New Mexico Highlands University

Composer, multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, flute, clarinet, hand percussion), and singer who performs in many musical genres, including jazz, world music, classical music, opera, and a wide variety of popular musics. Also a Professor of English, an editor, and a writer who has published four books and more than a hundred articles, encyclopedia entries, reviews, and other publications, many of which deal with musical subjects.