Faculty & Staff

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.

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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.

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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.

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James “Aaron” Hardwick has established a reputation as an outstanding conductor, collaborator, and educator — 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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 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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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