Performance Faculty

Tim Heath
Assistant Teaching Professor and Director of Bands
M105B Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.3050
heatht@wfu.edu
Dr. Timothy Heath is the Director of Bands and an Assistant Teaching Professor of Music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At Wake Forest, he oversees all aspects of the band program and teaches conducting and wind band history. Dr. Heath was previously the Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Samford University.

Natalie Smith
Assistant Teaching Professor and Assistant Director of Bands
M105B Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5365
smithn@wfu.edu
A native of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, Dr. Natalie Smith earned her Ph.D. in Music Education at Auburn University with certificates in College and University Teaching and Program Evaluation. She was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Department of Music at Auburn, teaching undergraduate music major and non-music major courses and performing administrative duties. Prior to her appointment at Auburn, Smith served as an elementary instrumental music teacher for Baltimore County Public Schools.

Christopher Gilliam
Assistant Professor and Director of Choral Activities
M212 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5371
gilliac@wfu.edu
A conductor praised for his “precision and clarity,” and performances hailed as “enlightened,” Christopher Gilliam is the Director of Choral Activities at Wake Forest University, director of the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus, and Director of Music at Highland Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem.

J. Aaron Hardwick
Assistant Professor and Symphony Orchestra Director
M105C Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5188
hardwicj@wfu.edu
James “Aaron” Hardwick has established a reputation as an outstanding conductor, educator, and music advocate—setting himself apart with his engaging, charismatic and musically precise approach on and off the podium. Highly versatile and musically insightful, his artistic collaborations span multiple genres including standard classical repertoire, musical theater, opera, video game music, popular music, and new works.

Elizabeth Clendinning
Associate Professor, Associate Chair and Director of Gamelan Giri Murti
M315 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
clendiea@wfu.edu
Dr. Elizabeth Clendinning is an Associate Professor of Music specializing in ethnomusicology and director of Wake Forest University’s Gamelan Giri Murti Balinese gamelan ensemble. Her research concerns concepts of space, time, cultural representation, and pedagogy within international Asian performance communities and in film and television music. At Wake Forest, she teaches courses in world, popular, and Asian musics, and is the director of the Wake Forest University performing arts study abroad program in Bali.
Ziyi Geng
Director, Chinese Ensemble and Assistant Teaching Professor of Chinese, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
027C Carswell Hall
336.758.4865
gengz@wfu.edu

Julio Jeri
Adjunct faculty, trumpet and Director of Jazz Ensemble
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
jerij@wfu.edu
Julio Jeri is a trumpet artist from Peru and an active freelance musician in the continental United States. He specializes in various genres and has performed with groups such as Orquesta Mayor and West End Mambo. He has recorded professionally with the Charlotte Jazz Orchestra, Ryan Saranich’s Pocket Language, Caique Vidal y Batuque, and the 2019 Disneyland All-American College Band. He has also served as conductor and director of Central Brass Band, Ambassadors – Peruvian Band, the Charlotte United Community Brass Band, and the Nuestro Tiempo Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble.

Bryon Grohman
Assistant Professor, voice
M311A Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5372
grohmabc@wfu.edu
Admired by Opera News as “a superb singing actor with a clear, ringing instrument and peerless diction,” tenor Bryon Grohman has received international recognition for his performances of opera, oratorio, and ensemble repertoire, most notably with Seraphic Fire, one of America’s leading professional vocal ensembles.

Elizabeth Pacheco Rose
Visiting Assistant Professor, voice and theatrical singing
M206 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5370
roseep@wfu.edu
Lyric soprano Elizabeth Pacheco Rose possesses an alluring stage presence with dramatic flexibility; whether singing Mimí, Pamina or Mélisande, she captures the essence of each role. She excels on the operatic stage, as well as in concert, recital and musical theatre. Her repertoire encompasses a wide range of works from baroque to contemporary music.

Kristin Schwecke
Adjunct faculty, voice
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
schweck@wfu.edu
Kristin Schwecke has been heralded by Opera Lively as “A name to keep in mind…Her voice filled the house and dominated the stage. Simply spectacular! What a promising dramatic soprano!” On the operatic stage, Kristin’s highlights include La Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, First Lady in The Magic Flute with Piedmont Opera, Magda in La Rondine with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, Abigail in Robert Ward’s The Crucible with Piedmont Opera, and 2nd Sprite in Rusalka with North Carolina Opera, and as the title role in the World Premiere of Michael Ching’s opera Anna Hunter with The Savannah Voice Festival. She holds a Masters degree in Voice from the University of Wisconsin Madison and a Performing Artist Certificate from the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Peter Kairoff
Professor, piano
M316 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5369
kairoff@wfu.edu
Born in Los Angeles, Peter Kairoff received Master’s and Doctoral degrees in music performance from the University of Southern California and studied in Italy for two years as a Fulbright Scholar and Rotary International Fellow. He joined the faculty of Wake Forest University in 1988 and is currently Professor and Chair.

Larry Weng
Assistant Professor, piano (on leave Fall 2023)
M317 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5368
wengl@wfu.edu
Winner of the 2019 NYCA Worldwide Debut Audition and a laureate of the 2016 Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition, Larry Weng has been described in The New York Times as playing with “steely power and incisive rhythm.” Of his 2014 New York debut at Weill Hall, the New York Concert Review described him as “an extremely sensitive musician and mature interpreter,” and “mature beyond his years.”

Joanne Inkman
Associate Teaching Professor, piano
M207 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.7606
inkmanje@wfu.edu
Associate Teaching Professor of Piano, Joanne Inkman, received her early music training in piano, viola and music theory in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She frequently performed in festivals and recitals in Vancouver, receiving an Associate Performer’s Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. After studying at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she earned a Bachelor of Music and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received an Archie Fund award in 2013, to participate in the GP3 Conference at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and through another Archie Fund award in 2014, participated in the National Conference on Keyboard and Pedagogy in Chicago, Illinois. She has extensive and diverse performance experience.
Susan Bates
Adjunct faculty, organ and harpsichord
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
batessh@wfu.edu
Susan Bates served as Organist and Music Associate at Centenary United Methodist Church from March 2011 to December 2021, with previous appointments at West Market St. United Methodist Church in Greensboro and at Home Moravian Church. She has also served on the music faculties of Greensboro College and High Point University. Professor Bates’ was educated at Salem College and Yale University, where she earned the M.M.A. in organ performance. She also studied harpsichord at the Yale Collection of Early Instruments.

Mary Ann Bills
Adjunct faculty, piano
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
billsma@wfu.edu
Mary Ann Bills has been an adjunct professor of piano at Wake Forest University since 2001. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Washington State University and a Master of Music degree in Accompanying from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro. In addition to her teaching, Mary Ann Bills worked for more than twenty years as a staff accompanist at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she served as Cantata Singers accompanist as well as music director and pianist for both the undergraduate opera workshop and for the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute’s Educational Outreach Program. She also frequently performs chamber music with some of the area’s leading musicians.

Yong Im Lee Federle
Adjunct faculty, piano
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
federlyl@wfu.edu
Dr. Yong Im Lee Federle has performed numerous solo and chamber recitals throughout South America and the United States. She is a recipient of the Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award for three consecutive years (2016, 2017, 2018) and is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music.

Anna McRay
Adjunct faculty, piano
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
mcraya@wfu.edu
Anna McRay is a pianist, teacher, and collaborator with a vibrant accompanying schedule of both classical and musical theater repertoire. Along with her accompanying, Anna fosters a deeply rooted passion for the intersection of arts and well-being, both in regards to the health of performing artists and in terms of leveraging the arts in all its forms to create and sustain healthy populations and communities.

Matt Reid
Adjunct faculty, jazz piano
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
reidm@wfu.edu
Developing a deep love for the jazz idiom, Matt relocated to Greensboro, NC in 2013 to complete his undergraduate studies at Guilford College, graduating in 2016 with a B.A. in Jazz Piano Performance, and in 2017 was accepted into the prestigious Jazz Studies program at North Carolina Central University. Matt has performed as part of the esteemed NCCU Jazz Ensemble at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College and many other regional performance venues. In May of 2019, Matt graduated from NCCU with a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies Performance.
Matt currently serves on the faculty of Guilford College, North Carolina A&T State University, and the Music Academy of North Carolina, as well as Wake Forest University. Matt is also the assistant director of the Greensboro Big Band, a City of Greensboro ensemble and also serves on the faculty at the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop in High Point, NC. In addition to numerous local, regional and national venues, curates and performs weekly with his jazz trio at Double Oaks Bed & Breakfast in Greensboro, NC.

Anthony Tang
Adjunct faculty, carillon
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.3308
tangam@wfu.edu
Anthony M. Tang is a 2011 graduate of Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. During his four years at Wake Forest, Anthony served as Percussion Section Leader in 2008 and as Drum Major in 2009 and 2010 for the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black, and he has played the Wake Forest University carillon in Wait Chapel since his sophomore year.

Kwan Yi
Adjunct Assistant Professor, piano
M317 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
yik@wfu.edu
Pianist Kwan Yi has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, Mann Performing Arts Center, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Metropolitan and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Auditorium du Louvre, Teatro Gayarre, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.

Jacqui Carrasco
Professor and Chair, violin and viola
M318 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
carrasj@wfu.edu
Violinist Jacqui Carrasco has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Mexico and Russia, and in styles as diverse as Argentine tango, jazz, and avant-garde new music.

Marco Sartor
Assistant Teaching Professor, guitar and jazz guitar
M211 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5102
sartorm@wfu.edu
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Marco Sartor is a top prize winner in numerous international competitions, and has performed solo and chamber music recitals in three continents to critical and public acclaim. He has appeared with orchestras such as the Allentown Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Ann Arbor Symphony, and SODRE in Uruguay.

Evan Richey
Adjunct faculty, cello, music production and recording
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
richeyef@wfu.edu
Evan Richey has used his well trained ear to make recordings for over 30 years. His interest in recording started while at The Juilliard School in New York City where he studied with Lynn Harrell, one of the world’s foremost cellists.

Court Wynter
Adjunct faculty, bass
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
wynterc@wfu.edu
Double/Electric bassist Court Wynter received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in classical double bass performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has enjoyed a musical career which has taken him all over the eastern portion of the United States and covers a multitude of genres ranging from bluegrass to jazz.

Helen Rifas
Adjunct faculty, harp
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
rifashd@wfu.edu
Helen Rifas began playing the harp at age 12, with the encouragement of her school orchestra director. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Reed College and a master’s degree in harp from the University of Oregon School of Music, where she was a recipient of the Ruth Lorraine Close Musical Fellowship.
Katherine Wiley
Adjunct faculty, violin and viola
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
wileyk@wfu.edu

Kathryn Levy
Professor of the Practice, flute
M313 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.6005
levyka@wfu.edu
Kathryn Levy serves as Professor of the Practice in Flute at WFU. In addition to her studio teaching, she has developed flute choir and wind chamber music programs.
Taiki Azuma
Adjunct faculty, saxophone
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
azumat@wfu.edu

Robert Campbell
Adjunct faculty, French horn
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
campbell@wfu.edu
Robert Campbell is the principal horn for the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the Charlotte Symphony and NCSA’s International Music Program Orchestra. He was soloist and Principal Horn player of the IMP orchestra for their 1985 European tour which took him to Italy and Germany.

Oskar Espina-Ruiz
Adjunct faculty, clarinet
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
espinao@wfu.edu
Oskar Espina-Ruiz has performed at major concert halls and festivals to high critical acclaim, including concerto performances at the Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia, and recitals in New York City, Washington DC, Moscow, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. His chamber music collaborations include the American, Argus, Ariel, Cassatt, Daedalus, Escher, Shanghai and Verona quartets.

Brian French
Adjunct faculty, trombone
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
frenchbe@wfu.edu
Brian French is the principal trombonist of the Winston-Salem Symphony and has performed as soloist numerous times. He is also the principal trombonist of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and previously held principal positions in the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago—the training program of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Brian has performed regionally with many orchestras, including those of Asheville, Charlotte, and Roanoke, the North Carolina Symphony, and the North Carolina Opera as guest trombonist, tenor tubist, and bass trumpeter.
Brent Harvey
Adjunct faculty, tuba and euphonium
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
harveyb@wfu.edu
Raised in Apple Valley, Minnesota, Dr. Brent Harvey serves as Assistant Professor of Low Brass at Winston-Salem State University in addition to his teaching at Wake Forest. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Julio Jeri
Adjunct faculty, trumpet and Director of Jazz Ensemble
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
jerij@wfu.edu
Julio Jeri is a trumpet artist from Peru and an active freelance musician in the continental United States. He specializes in various genres and has performed with groups such as Orquesta Mayor and West End Mambo. He has recorded professionally with the Charlotte Jazz Orchestra, Ryan Saranich’s Pocket Language, Caique Vidal y Batuque, and the 2019 Disneyland All-American College Band. He has also served as conductor and director of Central Brass Band, Ambassadors – Peruvian Band, the Charlotte United Community Brass Band, and the Nuestro Tiempo Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble.

Anna Lampidis
Adjunct faculty, oboe
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
lampida@wfu.edu
Dr. Anna Lampidis is principal oboe of the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle and Salisbury Symphony Orchestra and also holds positions of oboe and English horn with the Greensboro Symphony. Her playing has been described as “impeccable”, “lovely” and “outstanding” in concert reviews by Classical Voice North Carolina.

Mark Hekman
Adjunct faculty, bassoon
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
hekmanmp@wfu.edu

Nicholas Lewis
Adjunct faculty, trombone
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
lewisn@wfu.edu
Nicholas Lewis is an artist specializing in trombone pedagogy and performance. He maintains a thriving career as a freelance musician, performing regionally with groups including Winston Salem Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, Durham Symphony Orchestra, and Greensboro Opera among others.

John R. Beck
Adjunct faculty, percussion, Afro-Cuban drumming
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
beckj@wfu.edu
John R. Beck, Professor of Percussion at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, also teaches at Wake Forest University. He is the principal percussionist of the Winston-Salem Symphony and is a member of the Greensboro Symphony, Brass Band of Battle Creek, and the Philidor Percussion Group.

Tim Heath
Assistant Teaching Professor and Director of Bands
M105B Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.3050
heatht@wfu.edu
Dr. Timothy Heath is the Director of Bands and an Assistant Teaching Professor of Music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At Wake Forest, he oversees all aspects of the band program and teaches conducting and wind band history. Dr. Heath was previously the Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Samford University.
Music History and Theory, Ethnomusicology, and Composition Faculty

Stewart Carter
Professor, music history, and Collegium Musicum
M319 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5106
carter@wfu.edu
Stewart Carter teaches music history and co-directs the Collegium Musicum. He is Past-President of both the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music and the American Musical Instrument Society. Recent publications include The Trombone in the Renaissance (Pendragon) and, with Jeffery Kite-Powell, A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music (Indiana).

Elizabeth Clendinning
Associate Professor, Associate Chair and Director of Gamelan Giri Murti
M315 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
clendiea@wfu.edu
Dr. Elizabeth Clendinning is an Associate Professor of Music specializing in ethnomusicology and director of Wake Forest University’s Gamelan Giri Murti Balinese gamelan ensemble. Her research concerns concepts of space, time, cultural representation, and pedagogy within international Asian performance communities and in film and television music. At Wake Forest, she teaches courses in world, popular, and Asian musics, and is the director of the Wake Forest University performing arts study abroad program in Bali.

Megan Francisco
Assistant Professor, musicology
M210 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5107
francim@wfu.edu
Megan Francisco holds a PhD in musicology from the University of Washington where her research drew on film, race, and gender theories to analyze Battlestar Galactica‘s landmark science fiction score.

David Geary
Assistant Professor of Music, music theory (on leave Fall 2023)
M312 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.6275
gearyd@wfu.edu
David Geary is an Assistant Professor of Music at Wake Forest University and teaches courses in music theory and music history. He earned his PhD in Music Theory from Indiana University where his dissertation analyzes rhythm, meter, and the evolution of the drumset in American popular music.

Dan Locklair
Professor and Composer in Residence
M314 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5105
locklair@wfu.edu
The music of Dan Locklair is widely performed throughout the United States and around the world. His prolific output includes symphonic works, a ballet, an opera and numerous solo, chamber, vocal and choral compositions.

Zachary Zinser
Visiting Assistant Professor, music theory
M302-B Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
zinserz@wfu.edu
Zachary Zinser earned his PhD from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with his dissertation “Sound, Syntax, and Space in Studio-Produced Popular Music” in 2020. His work explores how sound quality features inform the perception and cognition of virtual performance spaces and how these aspects of experience interact with more traditional analytical methodologies and modes of representation. His research also considers the role of technologies in the production, dissemination, and consumption of popular music as mediated experiences.
Staff
Jean Trowbridge
Academic Coordinator
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
trowbrjc@wfu.edu
Liz Thomas
Academic Coordinator
M310 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.3724
thomasl@wfu.edu
Matt Buie-Nervik
Technical Manager, Brendle Recital Hall and Wait Chapel
M203 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5104
buienem@wfu.edu
Ryan McCollum
Instructional Technology Specialist
M203 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.3952
mccollrs@wfu.edu
Collaborative Pianists
Mary Ann Bills
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
Arianna Bohning
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
Jonathan Borton
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
Anna McRay
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026
Lauren Winkelman
M309 Scales Fine Arts Center
336.758.5026