Meet the faculty
Mori Achen / Paul Ackah / Dan Cawthon / Michael Cook /Catherine Marie Davalos / Reid Davis / Rebecca Engle / Mary Fettig / Pope Flynn / Dawn Foster-Dodson / Pamela Freund-Striplen / Patrice Hambelton / Denise Hunter / Dana Lawton / Adam Luftman / John Maltester / Frank Murray / Randee Paufve / David Ridge / Lino Rivera / Martin Rokeach / Anthony Striplen / Mark Tuning / Michael Williams / Renée Witon
Mori Achen
Classical guitar
Mori Achen earned his M.A. in Guitar Performance from California State University, East Bay, where he studied with James Bertram. He has performed contemporary music in several Composer's Inc. concerts and a wide range of repertoire in solo and chamber recitals throughout the Bay Area. In addition to Saint Mary's, he teaches at the Crowden School of Music and maintains a private studio. He is a member of WindString Duo and the Mori Achen Trio.
Paul Ackah
African dance,dance class accompanist/percussionist
Ghanaian performer/composer/educator Paul Ackah (a.k.a. Pope Flynn) is best known as lead vocalist for the legendary Sweet Talks band of Ghana, where he brought the art of highlife music to new heights. When not on stage, he shares his joyful spirit and vast knowledge of African folk music, dancing and percussion with his legions of American students. He joined the Performing Arts Department of Saint Mary's College in 2001, where he is percussionist/accompanist in dance classes and teaches African dance.
Dan Cawthon
Acting, theatre history, history of musical theatre
Fascinated by the intersection of spirituality and theatre, Professor Dan Cawthon holds a Ph.D. in theology from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the theological underpinnings in Eugene O’Neill’s late plays. He holds a graduate degree in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome and another in literature from the University of Tulsa.
From 1971- 1980, he taught in the Religious Studies Department at the University of Manitoba (Canada). He then joined the Religious Studies faculty of Saint Mary’s College, and was instrumental in establishing its Performing Arts Department, which he chaired for 12 years. He has directed more than two dozen student productions at the college that cover a wide range of styles and traditions including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Zoo Story, Inherit the Wind, Rashomon, The Fantasticks, Hippolytus, Man of La Mancha and Our Town. He is also a founding member of the Graduate Liberal Studies faculty at Saint Mary’s and served for many years on its advisory board.
Dan is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and has performed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the San Jose Repertory Theatre, the California (Berkeley) Shakespeare Festival, and other theatres in the Bay Area. His performance of DAMIEN, a one-man play recounting the life of Father Damien de Veuster, the Leper Priest of Molokai, which was first performed at the Berkeley Stage Company, toured extensively—culminating in a two-week run at the Edinburgh Festival in 1989. The production was remounted in 2007 and numerous performances took place throughout California.
Dan is the Artistic Director of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House (in Danville), Along with his many directing assignments there and at Saint Mary’s College, he has directed at the Willows Theatre (Concord) and the Walnut Creek Center Repertory Theatre.
Michael Cook
Design, technical theater, children's theater
Michael R. Cook has been designing and directing professionally in and around the Bay Area for the past thirty years. Among the professional companies and colleges he has designed for are Berkeley Shakespeare Festival (Resident Designer and Production Manager — 8 years), California Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Rep. (Resident Designer — 3 years), Shakespeare at Paul Masson (VITA — Resident Designer - 4 years) and Saint Mary’s College (Resident Designer — 18 years). In addition he has been a Guest Designer for the California Actors Theatre, Contra Costa Music Theatre, The Attic Theatre, Saratoga Chamber Theatre, Berkeley Jewish Theatre, San Jose Stage Company, Sunnyvale Repertory Theatre, Solano College and Tau House among others. He has also Stage Managed and Tour Managed in Europe, United States and Canada. Michael is also an actor, (a longstanding member of the Actors Equity Association) and a director, and has directed at many theatres around the Bay Area. His two most recent directing assignments were “City Of Angels” (the only Broadway show with a jazz score) and “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum." He now home bases out of Saint Mary’s College of California where he teaches and is the resident Scenic and Lighting Designer for the Performing Arts Department. He is also the Theatre Manager, in charge of all the technical aspects of running the theatre. Last year he received the “Freeman Award” from the Eugene O’Neill Foundation in Danville, California
Michael is most proud of having created and directed all the shows for the Children’s Theatre Program at Saint Mary’s College. Now in it’s 15th season, its offerings have included Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Charlotte's Web, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Ugly Duckling and The Princess and the Pea, and each year draws capacity audiences of elementary and pre-school students. In 2004 Michael wrote and performed around the country a one-man show based on the life of Saint John Baptist De La Salle, called “Saint John Baptist De La Salle — Journey Of A Man.” He was blessed to have Jeffra (his wife) and SMC theatre professor Dan Cawthon co-direct this production. Jeffra also wrote and produced all the original music for the play. Also a painter and sculptor, Michael recently had an exhibit called “portraits," presented by the Library at Saint Mary’s College.
Catherine Marie Davalos
Modern dance, choreography, dance history, dance criticism and analysis
A Chicana choreographer, the work of Catherine Marie Davalos emerges from her Mexican voice and the constant rediscovery of identity. She utilizes a movement style that is rooted in breath and momentum. Her dances are often multilayered interweaving theatre with pure movement, humor with satire, and a political agenda with sexuality. Her passion is to cross many borders and delve into the coalescence and contradictions of being a Chicana and a Mexican American Princess.
The Davalos Dance Company has been presented at various venues in Northern and Southern California since its inception in 1994. Her latest dance, Finding Equal, premiered in December 2007 at the Vision Series dance festival held at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco, CA. Borders, Spaces and Brown-Eyed Girls premiered August 2007 as a solo at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, St. Paul, MN. In 2006, Blue Monkeys was created after visiting Guadalajara, Mexico. It premiered at Raw and Uncut, Footloose Dance Studio, San Francisco, CA, was also performed at Centrum Center for the Arts, Port Townsend, WA, and Works in the Works, Berkeley, CA. The company was chosen for the Women on the Way Festival in January 2006 for the full evening work “Dreams Suite.” January 2005 marked the 10th anniversary of the Davalos Dance Company and they celebrated with a concert at ODC Theater in San Francisco. The concert, Sacral Queens, Latinas, and Dreams was praised by Rita Felciano in DanceViewTimes.com. In January they also performed in the Women of the World Festival at Dance Mission and at the Dance IS Festival 2005, at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, in Berkeley. In 2004, they were part of the Printz Dance Project’s performance, Encore 2, in San Rafael, CA and the Saint Mary’s College Dance Company spring concert, Mandala, Moraga, CA. In 2002 they were produced by ODC Theater for Rock, Paper, Song, as part of the series, Migrations. This honor was awarded after performing One Size Fits All in Pilot 33 and Moon Dance in Pilot 35. July of 1998 marked the company’s Northern California debut when they performed two new dances for Summerfest/Dance ’98. Later that year, the company performed at Saint Mary’s College with the CLAM series. In 1997 Ms. Davalos received a second multi-cultural grant to perform at the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). The first grant was awarded in 1995 for Mixed Company. In 1996 she was presented by Highways (Santa Monica, California) for American But Hyphenated. Highways also presented her full-evening work Borders, Spaces, and Brown-Eyed Girls in 1995. The Davalos Dance Company has performed at Beyond Baroque (Venice, CA) with VIVA for Chicks and Salsa ‘95, the Long Beach Museum of Art (Long Beach, CA) for the Children’s Cultural Festival; Highways for Fierce Tongues, A Celebration of Latina Art & Artists, produced by Luis Alfaro and Monica Palacios; and they performed with Voices In Motion V, at LACE (Hollywood, CA). Ms. Davalos performed at the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) when her duet Doblez was chosen to represent the Southwest region at the National College Dance Festival in 1994. She was nominated for the Dance Magazine “Outstanding Choreographer” award for 1994 and the Los Angeles, Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography, 1997. The Davalos Dance Company has been praised in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Ms. Davalos earned a BA in Philosophy and Dance and an MFA in Dance from CSU, Long Beach, where she was honored as “Most Outstanding Graduate for the College of the Arts.”
Reid Davis
Acting, theatre history
Reid Davis completed his doctorate in Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. He joined the Saint Mary's College faculty in 2005 as an adjunct professor in theatre, and since then has directed Urine Town and Twelfth Night. His work as a professional director has included three years as Associate Director of the Apprentice Company at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, directing “Lynette at 3 AM for the Humana Festival of New American Plays, assisting internationally reknowned writer/director Athol Fugard on the American premiere of MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!, and directing at American Conservatory Theatre and California Shakespeare Festival. He is a core company member of Shotgun Players (Berkeley) and won several Bay Area Critics Circle awards for his work with the company. Recent credits include teaching appointments at UC Berkeley and Los Medanos College; directing THE LARAMIE PROJECT at Los Medanos College; performing in the world premiere of Mark Jackson’s THE DEATH OF MEYERHOLD for Shotgun Players in 2004 (Bay Area Critics Circle awards for production and ensemble); originating the role of Mau Tant in the world premiere of Jackson’s FOREST WAR for Shotgun Players (2006); and collaborating with Dr. Maya Roth (Georgetown University) on the Jane Chambers Award workshop of TROJAN BARBIE by Christine Evans at the 2007 conference of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in New Orleans.
Rebecca Engle
Theatre history, acting, theatre masterpieces
Rebecca Engle has worked as a professional actress and director at such Bay Area institutions as the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, the Eureka Theatre and the Bay Area Playwright's Festival. Before joining the Performing Arts faculty at Saint Mary's College, she taught in the theatre training programs of San Jose State, UC Berkeley and the Drama Studio of London at Berkeley, among others. As a director Engle is known for her physically-heightened ensemble-driven productions of contemporary American plays - Ellen McLaughlin's Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Anthony Clarvoe's The Brothers Karamazov, Octavio Solis' Marfa Lights and Susan Lori Parks' Venus among them. Her directorial work has been frequently honored by the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, and in 2005 she received their "Excellence in Education" award. Engle has extensive experience with the collaborative process, and her work with playwrights, poets, dancers and musicians has yielded a number of original, movement-based works of theatre.
Mary Fettig
Saxophone
Mary Fettig studied music at UCLA, SMSU and CSUH, receiving her teaching credential and MA from CSUH. She performs on saxophone, flute and clarinet in a wide variety of ensembles and musical styles, from Brazilian fusion to the SF Symphony. She has recorded extensively on records, compact discs, television, radio and motion pictures. She appears in jazz festivals as soloist, adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States.
At the age of twenty Ms. Fettig accepted an invitation to join the Stan Kenton Band, the first woman to play in the ensemble. From there, she made her way in the music business as a performer, teacher, and clinician. In addition to Stan Kenton, she has toured with Flora Purim and Airto, Marian McPartland, Tito Puente, Toninho Horta, Joe Henderson and numerous short tours with celebrity acts. She has performed at many jazz festivals, including Concord, San Francisco, Monterey, Playboy, Hollywood Bowl, Mt. Hood, Chicago, Detroit, Mobile, World's First Women's Jazz Festival in Kansas City, Buffalo, Montreaux, and North Sea.
Ms. Fettig maintains a busy teaching, recording and performing schedule. In addition to Saint Mary's, she teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Dawn Foster-Dodson
Cello, chamber music
Dawn Foster-Dodson has performed as a soloist on most of the major concert series in the Bay Area. She is frequently the Principal Cellist of the Best of Broadway theatrical productions at the Orpheum, Curran and Golden Gate Theatres. For twenty-three years she played with the San Jose Symphony, and she has also been a member of the California Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, and most other Bay Area orchestras. She has played with many of the world’s favorite vocalists, including Pavarotti, Marion Anderson, Ray Charles, Liza Minelli, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Ben Vereen, Rod Stewart, and Smoky Robinson. She maintains an active teaching studio, and joined the Performing Arts Department faculty in 1998, coaching chamber music ensembles and teaching string classes.
Pamela Freund-Striplen
Violin, viola
Violist Pamela Freund-Striplen is a member of the St. Mary’s College faculty and Artistic Director of the Gold Coast Chamber Players. Her chamber music credits include San Francisco Symphony’s Chamber Music Sundaes, Midsummer Mozart, Composers, Inc., UCSF’s Chancellor’s Concert Series and the California Mozart Society. In April 1999, she was a guest artist in chamber music concerts in Germany, and was invited in November 2001 to join the Amati Quartet in Holland for a quintet concert. Her recent solo appearances include performances in Holland with members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. She studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and with the Curtis Quartet in Philadelphia, where she received the Young Musician’s Award in chamber music two consecutive years. Pamela has performed with the San Diego Symphony and as Principal Violist with the San Diego Opera before relocating to the Bay Area. She became Principal Violist of San Francisco Opera’s touring company, Western Opera Theater, touring nationally for three years, and performs frequently with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera Orchestras. In 1994 she was invited to tour Europe with the New European Strings, under the direction of Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and has performed with them at the Seattle International Music Festival. Pamela is an active recording artist, performing regularly for film projects at George Lucas’ recording studio, Skywalker Sound. She has a private teaching studio in Lafayette and is a frequent guest coach throughout the state, most recently for the American String Teachers Institute for Chamber Music in Los Angeles and the University of the Pacific in Stockton.
Patrice Hambelton
Flute
Patrice Hambelton studied flute at Whittier College and the Music Academy of the West, and was the winner of the Prestigious Los Angeles Phi Beta Auditions for Young Artists. She has performed in master classes with Julius Baker, Geoffrey Gilbert, Alain Marion, and James Galway. She served as Principal flutist for the Arch Ensemble in both concerts and recordings, touring with the ensemble throughout the United Statesand Europe. Currently, she performs with the Berkeley Symphony in their Music Education Program and freelances throughout the Bay Area.
Dana Lawton
Director, SMC Dance Company
Dana Lawton is Director of the Saint Mary's College Dance Company, is also a faculty member at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley, and a certified yoga instructor. In the studio she teaches choreography, modern dance and yoga, and in the classroom "Perceiving the Arts" and "World Music and Dance." She danced professionally with the renowned San Francisco company Janice Garrett & Dancers from 1997-2004. She has choreographed her own work and was presented at ODC and the Cowell Theater in San Francisco, Eighth Street Studios and the Temescal Arts Center in Berkeley, and several stages in the northwest. She served as Artist-in-Residence at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center 2006, was awarded Outstanding Performer in the 2000 Vision Series, and was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award for her performance in Janice Garrett’s WayfarersMs. Lawton holds an MFA in Choreography from Mills College and a BFA in Dance from California Institute of the Arts.
Adam Luftman
Trumpet
Originally from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Adam Luftman joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 2007. Before moving to San Francisco, Mr. Luftman spent two seasons with the Baltimore Symphony, and before that was Co-Principal Trumpet of the New World Symphony and a member of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Prior to joining the New World Symphony, Mr. Luftman spent a season with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He has also toured and performed on numerous occasions with The Cleveland Orchestra. In recent years, Adam has been a regular guest with the Philadelphia Orchestra and performed with the Seattle Symphony, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra.
During the summer, Mr. Luftman has performed at the Tanglewood Music Center, National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Spoleto Festival, Music Academy of the West, Breckenridge Music Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.
As a soloist, Mr. Luftman has been featured with the New World Symphony, Canton Symphony, and twice with the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra. In addition to his orchestral work, Mr. Luftman has also performed with the New World Brass Quintet, Breckenridge Brass, and is an avid jazz musician.
Adam has recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, and for ESPN Sunday Night Football. He can be heard on Naxos, Ondine, and Sony records.
An honors graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Interlochen Arts Academy, Mr. Luftman’s teachers have included Michael Sachs, Raymond Mase, Mark Gould and Adolph Herseth.
In his free time, Adam enjoys all sports, hiking in the mountains, and being pleasantly terrible at guitar. He looks forward to exploring the Bay Area with his amazing wife, Reva.
John Maltester
Director, SMC Jazz Band
John Maltester earned his Bachelors and Masters of Arts degrees from Cal-State University at Hayward. In addition to directing the Jazz Band at Saint Mary’s (a position he's held since 2006), he has been Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Los Medanos College for thirty-five years and is also Music Director Emeritus of the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director for the Diablo Wind Symphony.
Mr. Maltester brings a diverse background of abilities to the conductor’s podium. He directs bands, orchestras, jazz bands, and chamber ensembles. Recognitions include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Parent Teacher Association, Outstanding Educator of the Year Award (1989-90) at Los Medanos College, the KABL Citizen of the Day award (1984), the President’s award for Lifetime Contribution to Education at Los Medanos College (1999), and the Contra Costa County Regional Arts Council award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts (1999). He has been listed in the “Who’s Who in Education” in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2004. He is involved in several community-oriented activities including the Contra Costa Arts Council as well as several advisory board positions. He is one of only two conductors to conduct both the California State Honor Band and Honor Jazz Band.
His ensembles have performed at countless local, regional, state, and national music conferences, as well as many international venues. The LMC Jazz Ensemble received a Superior rating at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Jazz Festival for twenty-six straight years. The LMC Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble have toured Hawaii, Europe, Australia, Jamaica, China, and the Pacific Northwest as well as throughout the Western United States. In the brief time he has directed the Saint Mary’s Jazz Band, the ensemble has enjoyed dramatic growth both in numbers and musical quality.
Mr. Maltester is also active as a trombonist, rehearsal techniques clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor and lecturer throughout Australia, the Western United States, Hawaii, and Alaska. In addition he is the American Youth Soccer Organization Regional Referee Administrator for Area 2C (Contra Costa, Solano, and San Joaquin counties), a National referee and assessor, a USSF referee, and is also active as an ASA umpire. He resides in Martinez, California with his wife and two daughters.
Randee Paufve
Modern dance, choreography, dance history
Randee Paufve received her early dance training from Robert Christopher and Helene Yelverton in Binghamton, NY, and graduated from Elmira College, Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cross-Cultural Performing Arts. She spent her junior year in India, studying classical and folk dance, Tamil, and Karnatic music. Randee holds a Master of Arts degree in Dance Choreography and Performance from the State University of New York, Brockport, and is currently completing her Master of Fine Arts degree in Dramatic Arts from the University of California, Davis.
Ms. Paufve is Artistic Director of Paufe/Dance, a company she founded in 2000, and has worked on the West Coast as a dancer, choreographer and educator since 1987. She performed professionally with several Bay Area companies including Nancy Karp+Dancers, and Spoon; as a guest artist with choreographers Ellen Bromberg and Della Davidson, and with the Gregg Bielemeier Dance Project in Portland.
She has received numerous choreographic and teaching commissions from West Coast organizations including Dancer’s Group San Francisco, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, and Conduit (Portland). She has taught on the faculties of California State East Bay, the University of California at Davis, Reed College and University of San Francisco, and has served as head of the dance programs at Lewis & Clark College and Saint Mary’s College of California. She has also trained professional dancers for the last fifteen years through her popular dance classes at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley.
Ms. Paufve's choreography has been presented by West Coast organizations and institutions, including The Mondavi Performing Arts Center in Davis, Summerfest/Dance, the West Wave Dance Festival, Dancer’s Group Studio Theater, Theater Artaud and ODC Theaters of San Francisco, the Julia Morgan Theater in Berkeley, Max10 in Los Angeles; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Lewis & Clark College, Conduit and Echo Theater in Portland, and On The Boards/Seattle. Her work has been seen nationally through multiple performances at the Joyce SoHo Theater in Manhattan, the Dance Complex in Boston, Elmira College, Elmira, NY, and by the Phantom Theater in Warren, VT.
Ms. Paufve's commissioned works for college and university dance companies have been selected numerous times for performances at American College Dance Festivals. From the Doll’s House, a 2003 work commissioned by Saint Mary’s College Dance Company, was chosen for the ACDF gala performances.
Among other prizes, Ms. Paufve has received Isadora Duncan Dance Award nominations, as well as numerous scholarships for research and study, including a 2006 UC Davis Humanities Graduate Research Award. Publications include articles for In Dance (San Francisco Dancer’s Group), and [One] Factorial Performance Journal. She has been awarded multiple choreography residencies at the Djerassi Resident Artist Program in California; the Red Cinder Creativity Center, Hawaii; the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, and at the Shawl-Anderson Dance Center.
Influential teachers include Jim Payton, Susannah Newman, Beverly Brown, Garth Fagan, Santo Giglio, Irene Dowd, Nina Martin, Margaret Jenkins, Joe Goode, Sara Shelton Mann, Shelley Senter, Gwen Welliver, Susan Rethorst, Tere O’Connor,
Yvonne Meier, Chris Aiken, Andrew Harwood, Beth Harris, and Frank Shawl.
David Ridge
Trombone
David Ridge joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Principal Bass Trombone in 1992. His duties with the Company include playing trombone, bass trombone, and contrabass trombone. Mr. Ridge performs frequently with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, and every other major arts organization in the Bay Area. Before moving to San Francisco, he held the position of Principal Bass Trombone with the Charleston Symphony in South Carolina. He performed with the Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and Savannah Symphonies, and the Virginia Opera Company, and toured nationally with Les Misérables.
A native of Virginia, Mr. Ridge attended the New England Conservatory of Music and received his Bachelors and Masters degrees. He was given a full scholarship to Mannes College of Music in New York and received the Professional Studies Diploma.
Mr. Ridge has won acceptance to many of the major music festivals in this country and abroad including Tanglewood, Colorado Philharmonic/National Repertory Orchestra, Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy, the American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria, Chautauqua Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, and the Evian Music Festival in France.
In addition to recording with San Francisco Opera, David has recorded many film scores and other commercial projects at Skywalker Ranch. Among the movie soundtracks on which Mr. Ridge can be heard are XXX2, Hellboy, Finding Nemo, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Jurassic Park III, Spy Kids, The Game, and Pooh’s Grand Adventure. Mr. Ridge can be heard on the Sony Classical, Teldec, Deutsche Grammophon, Erato Classique, Arabesque, London, London Video, Argo, Decca, Varese-Sarabande, Chapter III, and Milan labels.
Mr. Ridge is on the faculty at California State University East Bay and is a former faculty member of Charleston Southern University. He is a frequent soloist and clinician in the Bay Area.
Lino Rivera
Piano, chamber music, music history
Born in the Philippines, Dr. Lino Rivera won his first national competition at age eight. He has performed as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist, and accompanist on three continents. He has been featured on several radio and television broadcasts, notably live performances with the Manila Symphony Orchestra and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. Rivera makes it his mission to advocate and premiere contemporary works; to explore and meet the artistic, creative, and technical challenges of piano transcriptions (the subject of his doctoral dissertation); and to discover and perform obscure solo piano repertoire throughout the ages.
Rivera is a celebrated performer for Composers, Inc. an organization based in San Francisco dedicated to promoting works by contemporary American composers. Recently he performed many of the Beethoven sonatas in conjunction with renowned music historian Robert Greenberg on a concert lecture series presented at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, California. He is a frequent soloist at Music Teachers’ Association of California conferences, and regularly serves as an adjudicator of piano competitions. Recent solo recitals have taken place in Miami, Corpus Christi, Savannah, Chicago, Los Angeles and Anchorage. Delete
Martin Rokeach
Theory, European music history, jazz and blues history, chamber music, world music
The music of composer Martin Rokeach has been performed by the Berkeley Symphony, Romania’s Constanta Symphony, the United States Army Orchestra, Pacific/Mozart Ensemble, Cygnus Ensemble (NY) Dunsmuir Piano Quartet (San Francisco), League of Composers (NY), the Chicago Ensemble, Musica Nova (Macedonia), Wyck Trio (U.K.), Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, the St. Petersburg (Russia) Chamber Players, the Sheridan Players (Chicago), the Webster Trio (Houston), Guitarinet (Poland) and many other outstanding ensembles and soloists throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia. His works have earned honors in 12 composition competitions, most recently those sponsored by Audio Inversions of Austin, International Clarinet Association, and the Chicago Ensemble, and he has been commissioned to write music for New York’s Cygnus Ensemble, Switzerland’s Dobrzelewski/Marrs Duo, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Music Teachers Association of California, California Association of Professional Music Teachers, New York’s Eight Strings and a Whistle, San Francisco Symphony Principal Hornist Robert Ward and numerous soloists. His music has been published by Fallen Leaf, RonCorp, Go Fish and ALRY, and recorded on the Albany, Furious Artisan, Arizona, Emeritus, North/South, Capstone, and Amie labels. He has been a featured composer and speaker at the Hartt Conservatory of Music, New York University and Wichita State University, and concerts devoted exclusively to his music have been held at Washington State University and Western Carolina University.
Recent performances of Mr. Rokeach’s music have taken place at the Manhattan School of Music, Sacramento’s Festival of New American Music, the USC Contemporary Music Ensemble, NYU, Sarah Lawrence College, West Virginia’s Marshall University, The Boston Conservatory, Third Street Music School (NY), and the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (San Francisco).
Mr. Rokeach earned his Ph.D. in music composition and theory from Michigan State University, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from San Francisco State University. He is one of the founders and artistic directors of San Francisco’s contemporary music concert series, Composers, Inc. In 1999 he was named "Saint Mary's College Professor of the Year."
Anthony Striplen
Clarinet
Anthony Striplen, Clarinetist and Bass Clarinetist, is a native of Bakersfield, CA and has been a member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 2000. He has been associated with San Francisco Opera for many years, initially as Principal Clarinet with the company's touring arm, Western Opera Theater.
In addition to performing his duties with the Orchestra, Mr. Striplen has been active at various studios (including Skywalker Studios) recording soundtracks for numerous motion pictures, television programs, and video games, among them Jurassic Park III, a video/CD with rock band Metallica, and commercials for Dove Soap featuring cartoon characters Wilma Flintstone and Jane Jetson. As chamber musician, Tony appears with the Gold Coast Chamber Players, of which he is a co-founder.
Outside the Bay Area, Mr. Striplen has performed at Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at the Jerash Festival in Amman, Jordan.
Tony attended San Francisco State University, studying clarinet with Donald Carroll of the San Francisco Symphony. Other mentors include Boston Symphony clarinetists Rosario Mazzeo and Harold Wright, as well as his first teacher, Mary Moore. Tony has been a participant at the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood, a clinician at Bay Area music camps, and a guest speaker at the 1997 California Music Educators Conference for Northern California. Tony is on the faculty of St. Mary's College.
Mark Tuning
Choral director; voice
Mark Tuning teaches voice and is Director of the NightinGaels Choir. He holds degrees in Music Education and Choral Conducting from George Fox College and the University of Orego (M.Mus.), and has served as Director of Music Ministries for churches in Oregon, Illinois, New Mexico and California since 1985. In addition, he has directed Jazz and Gospel Choirs at Mt. Hood Community College, Washington State University, and the University of Oregon. He has served as Music Director for the Chamber Music Society of Harney County, Oregon, and is currently Music Director for Mt. Diablo Unitarian-Universalist Church in Walnut Creek, California. He has sung as section leader, soloist, and served as Assistant Director with the Oregon Repertory Singers, the Portland Symphonic Choir, Choral Cross-Ties Professional Chorus of Oregon, Nova Singers (Galesburg Illinois), Creative Voices (San Francisco), San Francisco Concert Chorale and the Seattle Chamber Singers. He has made numerous appearances as a tenor and countertenor soloist. Mark was raised in the rural community of Burns, Oregon and currently lives in Oakland with his wife, Darla, and their three daughters: Abigail, Sarah Beth and Madeline.
Mike Williams
Jazz guitar
Mike Williams earned his Master of Arts from Caifornia State University, Hayward and has performed professionally as a guitarist for thirty years in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1995, he authored the advanced guitar instruction book, Guitar Lessons with the Greats, for Warner Brothers Music. His private students continue to receive major local, state and national awards, and many have become prominent performers in the music industry.
Renée Witon
Class Piano
Renée Witon is a pianist, accompanist and composer. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree from Alverno College (Milwaukee) and the Master of Music Degree from Catholic University of America (Washington, DC). In addition to working as a lecturer at St Mary’s College, Renée is director of music theory for the San Francisco Girls Chorus, is Assistant Director of Music at First Unitarian Church in Oakland, and maintains a private piano studio in Oakland. She has also taught at the Community Music Center in San Francisco and George Washington University in Washington, DC. While in Washington, she also worked as a music specialist at the Library of Congress. In addition to solo and chamber concert performances, Renée frequently appears as a guest host on KUSF radio’s contemporary music showcase, “Classics Without Walls.” In 2000, she released a solo piano CD, Coming Home, featuring music of Brahms, Beethoven, Suk, Ravel, and her own compositions.
