Faculty & Staff - Merit School of Music

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Department Chairs

Dr. Elena Doubovitskaya

Department Chair: Piano; Faculty: Piano

Steven Gooden

Ensemble Director: Symphonic Band, Beginning Band and Advanced Band; Department Chair: Woodwind; Faculty: Clarinet

Paul Lowry

Department Chair: Trumpet; Faculty: Trumpet

Mónica Lugo

Interim Department Chair: Strings; Head of Alegre Strings; Faculty: Violin

Jade J. Maze

Department Chair: Voice; Faculty: Voice

Michael Nearpass

Department Chair: Theory & Composition; Faculty: Theory

Bob Sherman

Ensemble Director: Guitar; Department Chair: Guitar; Faculty: Guitar

Iris Wei

Department Chair: Strings; Faculty: Violin

Brass

Paul Lowry

Department Chair: Trumpet; Faculty: Trumpet

David Allie

Ensemble Director: Concert Band, Merit Music in Communities, Faculty: Trumpet

Monica Benson

Faculty: Trumpet

John Grodrian

Faculty: Trombone

Akshat Jain

Faculty: Tuba & Euphonium

Timothy Riordan

Director of Chamber Music; Ensemble Director: Merit Brass Ensemble & Merit Trombone Choir; Faculty: Trombone

Early Childhood/General Music

Sally Blandón

Early Childhood & General Music Program Manager

Annaeka Johnson

Librarian; Faculty: Early Childhood Music

Thomas Cullen

Faculty: General Music & World Percussion

Miro Hernandez

Faculty: Early Childhood

Kenny Smith

Faculty: General Music & World Percussion

Ensembles

Francy Acosta

Choir Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

David Allie

Ensemble Director: Concert Band, Merit Music in Communities, Faculty: Trumpet

Bonnie-Heather Campbell

Ensemble Director: Clarinet Ensemble; Faculty: Clarinet

Carling FitzSimmons

Director of Choirs: Merit Conservatory

Taichi Fukumura

Director of Orchestras: Merit Conservatory

Steven Gooden

Ensemble Director: Symphonic Band, Beginning Band and Advanced Band; Department Chair: Woodwind; Faculty: Clarinet

Janet Janz

Ensemble Director: Stradivarius Strings; Faculty: Cello

Brandon Podjasek

Ensemble Director: Percussion; Faculty: Percussion

Timothy Riordan

Director of Chamber Music; Ensemble Director: Merit Brass Ensemble & Merit Trombone Choir; Faculty: Trombone

Bob Sherman

Ensemble Director: Guitar; Department Chair: Guitar; Faculty: Guitar

Christian Smith

Ensemble Director: Encore Orchestra; Faculty: Violin & Viola

Charles “Chip” Staley

Ensemble Director: Wind Symphony

Ashley Summers-Baker

Ensemble Director: Merit Jazz Ensemble; Staff: Jazz Studies Program Manager; Faculty: Jazz

Arturs Weible

Orchestra Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Viola

Johanna Yeager

Ensemble Director: Cherub Orchestra; Faculty: Violin & Viola

Guitar

Bob Sherman

Ensemble Director: Guitar; Department Chair: Guitar; Faculty: Guitar

Timothy Stine

Faculty: Guitar

Jazz

David Allie

Ensemble Director: Concert Band, Merit Music in Communities, Faculty: Trumpet

Aaron McEvers

Faculty: Music Theory, Jazz, Saxophone and Combos

Steve Million

Faculty: Jazz Piano; Jazz Combo Director

Fred Simon

Faculty: Jazz Theory and Improvisation

Ashley Summers-Baker

Ensemble Director: Merit Jazz Ensemble; Staff: Jazz Studies Program Manager; Faculty: Jazz

Percussion

Vance Okraszewski

Faculty: Jazz

Brandon Podjasek

Ensemble Director: Percussion; Faculty: Percussion

John Ringor

Faculty: Percussion

Piano

Dr. Elena Doubovitskaya

Department Chair: Piano; Faculty: Piano

Dr. Aaron Albin

Faculty: Piano & Voice

Ann Birman

Faculty: Piano

Maya Galperin

Faculty: Piano

Paula Grzebien-Ciezobka

Faculty: Piano

Mio Isoda-Hagle

Faculty: Piano

Anna Kovalevska

Faculty: Piano

Weiwen Ma

Faculty: Piano

Alessandra Odazaki-Rodriguez

Faculty: Piano

Tina Qi

Faculty: Piano

Toshiko Suzuki

Faculty: Piano

Ligia Takei

Faculty: Piano

Pedro Uceda

Faculty: Piano

Ethan Valentin

Faculty: Piano

Grace Wong

Faculty: Piano

Dr. Ann Yi

Faculty: Piano

Strings

Mónica Lugo

Interim Department Chair: Strings; Head of Alegre Strings; Faculty: Violin

Iris Wei

Department Chair: Strings; Faculty: Violin

Claire Bachman

Faculty: Cello

Brian Beach

Program Director: Strings & Orchestra; Faculty: Violin

Doug Bistrow

Faculty: Bass, Jazz Bass, Music History

Lizbeth Bistrow

Faculty: Violin and Theory

Chuck Bontrager

Faculty: Violin and Viola

Erica Carpenedo

Faculty: Violin

Melanie Clevert-Sarapa

Faculty: Violin

Rebekah Dotzel

Faculty: Cello

Christine Fliginger

Faculty: Violin

Matt Gold

Faculty: Theory, Bass

Carolina Gomez

Faculty: Cello

Rebecca Gu

Faculty: Violin & Viola

Kristin Hedlund

Faculty: Violin

Janet Janz

Ensemble Director: Stradivarius Strings; Faculty: Cello

Ayako Kikuchi

Faculty: Violin & Viola

Daniel Klingler

Faculty: Cello

Kelly Quesada

Faculty: Cello

Molly Rife

Faculty: Cello

Patrick Rustandi

Faculty: Violin and Viola

Anna Sanders

Faculty: Cello

Julie Schreiner

Faculty: Violin & Viola

Hope Shepherd

Faculty: Cello

Christian Smith

Ensemble Director: Encore Orchestra; Faculty: Violin & Viola

Benjamin Weber

Faculty: Violin/Viola, Early Childhood

Arturs Weible

Orchestra Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Viola

John Xia

Faculty: Violin

Johanna Yeager

Ensemble Director: Cherub Orchestra; Faculty: Violin & Viola

Theory & Composition

Michael Nearpass

Department Chair: Theory & Composition; Faculty: Theory

Matt Gold

Faculty: Theory, Bass

Aaron McEvers

Faculty: Music Theory, Jazz, Saxophone and Combos

Shirley Mosteller

Faculty: Voice and Theory

Voice/Choir

Jade J. Maze

Department Chair: Voice; Faculty: Voice

Francy Acosta

Choir Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

Dr. Aaron Albin

Faculty: Piano & Voice

Alyssa Allgood

Faculty: Voice & Choir

Carling FitzSimmons

Director of Choirs: Merit Conservatory

Kimberly Eileen Jones

Faculty: Voice

Shirley Mosteller

Faculty: Voice and Theory

Charles Taylor

Faculty: Voice & Choral

Woodwind

Steven Gooden

Ensemble Director: Symphonic Band, Beginning Band and Advanced Band; Department Chair: Woodwind; Faculty: Clarinet

Bonnie-Heather Campbell

Ensemble Director: Clarinet Ensemble; Faculty: Clarinet

Betsy Ko

Faculty: Flute

Susan Crandall

Faculty: Flute

Anna Najoom

Faculty: Clarinet

Christine Janzow Phillips

Faculty: Oboe

Thomas Snydacker

Faculty: Saxophone

Claire Werling

Faculty: Clarinet

Please select a department from the dropdown above to view faculty listings.

Staff

President's Office

Charles Grode

President & Executive Director

Auriel Jones

Chief of Staff

Programs

Kurtis Gildow

Dean & Vice President for Educational Affairs

Amy Riske

Associate Dean of Programs & The Marlene M. Bowen Piano Program Director

Brian Beach

Program Director: Strings & Orchestra; Faculty: Violin

Amy Bischoff

Director of Projects & Events

Timothy Riordan

Director of Chamber Music; Ensemble Director: Merit Brass Ensemble & Merit Trombone Choir; Faculty: Trombone

Ashley Summers-Baker

Ensemble Director: Merit Jazz Ensemble; Staff: Jazz Studies Program Manager; Faculty: Jazz

Sally Blandón

Early Childhood & General Music Program Manager

Nicole Hernandez

String Program Manager

Jeremiah Price

Band Program Manager

Student Services

Adrienne Thompson

Vice President for Enrollment & Student Services

Taylor Manrique

Director of Student Services

Annaeka Johnson

Librarian; Faculty: Early Childhood Music

Karen Lopez

Student Services Associate

Development & Marketing

Meredith Barber

Vice President for Development & Marketing

Laura Stillman

Director of Marketing & Communications

Cathy Wloch

Director of Donor Engagement

Mark Richard

Institutional Gifts Manager

Maggie Lin

Donor Database Coordinator

Finance & Administration

Amy Johnson

Vice President for Finance & Administration

Andrew Bedessem

Director of Finance

Emmy Colón

Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Antiracism (IDEA) and Human Resources

Andrew Levine

Associate Director of Human Resources and Finance

Facilities & Technology

Rogelio “Roger” Esparza

Facilities Manager

John K Johnson

Operations & Rentals Manager

Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI)

James Hall

CMPI Project Director

Miguel Aguirre

CMPI Student Navigator

Jade Garcia

CMPI Student Navigator

Jennifer Woodrum

CMPI Student Navigator