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Cicely “Vanessa” Cox, Soprano, a 2008 and 2009 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Music Education, respectively. Vanessa has enjoyed a career in music education that allowed her to combine her passion for music and the arts with instruction and engagement with young people as a fine arts teacher. During her tenure in education, she taught choir, drama, musical theater, and strings. She segued her passion for education into the regular education classroom as a World Cultures, History, and Reading & E.S.L. (English as a Second Language) teacher.

Forever a lover of music and vocal performance, when time permitted during her military transitions accompanying her husband of twenty-nine years in the U.S. Army and their five children, Vanessa has performed with various musical organizations. Soloist and choir member with the Aiken Choral Society, Aiken, S.C.; Aldonza/Dulcinea in Man of La Mancha with the Aiken Community Playhouse (rebranded Aiken Community Theatre in 2020) in Aiken, S.C.; Central Florida Community Arts Choir, Orlando, Fl., and Orlando Opera.

Her classroom experiences and encounters with students facing legal issues were profoundly impactful. Though some of her students were in legal troubles because of their own choices; others were embroiled in heart wrenching problems because of their parents or other relatives’ choices. These facts along with a childhood aspiration of being a lawyer led her to go back to school to pursue this goal.

She received her Juris Doctorate from the Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU), in May of 2024, passed the July 2024 Florida Bar Examination, and has accepted a position with The Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association as a Staff Attorney for the Guardian ad Litem Program. There she will be an advocate in the courtroom for minors and young people victimized by abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

Inspired by her grandmother’s mantra to “be a help and not a hindrance” Vanessa aspires always to fulfill that mantra. She can be heard still singing in her local church congregation and hopes to one day return to the stage performing with area vocal organizations very soon.

Heather Waters is an Associate Professor of Music Education and Chair of the Music Department at Adelphi University. Heather completed her PhD (music education) at Temple University as a University Fellow, her Master of Music degree (piano performance) at Ithaca College, and two Bachelor of Music degrees (music education, piano performance) at the University of AV����̳ Fairbanks. In addition to National Board Certification in Music, she completed Orff-Schulwerk Levels I-III (Colorado State University), Music Learning Theory Elementary General certification (University of South Carolina), Kodály Levels I-III (New York University), as well as Dalcroze training from the Lucy Moses School in New York.

At Adelphi University, she primarily teaches courses on music education methodology. While completing her doctorate at Temple University, she was Lead Teacher of the nationally-renowned Early Childhood Music Foundations program. Heather taught on the faculty of the Kodály Summer Institute at New York University for four years. She has also guest taught for Boston University and SUNY Buffalo State, and was a curriculum author and Master Teacher Trainer for the Music Essentials Curriculum and Music Essentials Teacher Training for Tianjin Juilliard. She was the Managing Director of the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association, and is beginning a term as the President-Elect of the Early Childhood Special Research Interest Group of the National Association for Music Education.

She presents nationally and internationally, including at the International Society for Music Education Conference, the European Music Education Researchers of Young Children Conference, the International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education, the Ireland International Conference on Education, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, the Hawaii International Conference on Education, the Musichildren International Conference, the Desert Skies Symposium on Music Education Research, the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association International Conference, the National Association for Music Education National Conference, the Organization of American Kodály Educators National Conference, and others. Her work has been published in journals including the International Journal of Music and Early Childhood, the International Journal of Innovations in Online Education, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Visions of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Perspectives (Journal of the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association), and in the Routledge book Music Education: Navigating the Future.

In addition to all these stuffy sounding academic things, she currently lives in Queens, New York City, where she can enjoy all the NYC music and food but still be able to garden and not have to hunt quite so much for parking. She is running the NYC marathon for the second time this fall, and loves coming back to visit her hometown of Juneau to go hiking, fishing and whale watch.

Heather can be contacted at hwaters@adelphi.edu

Ariana Horner Sutherland, a lyric soprano hailing from Nome, AV����̳, has embarked on an extraordinary musical odyssey. Her journey, deeply rooted in her educational and performance experiences, began at the University of AV����̳ Fairbanks.

Ariana's musical education began with a Bachelor of Music Education from UAF, where she discovered her profound passion for music and honed her vocal skills. This foundational period laid the groundwork for her educational journey. She continued her educational journey with a Master’s of Music (MM) in Vocal Performance from Sam Houston State University, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Ariana's musical journey continues to evolve, promising more significant contributions to the world of opera. Her unwavering dedication leaves us eagerly anticipating what this soprano from AV����̳ will conquer next.

Electric and acoustic violinist Rose Crelli started playing violin at the age of six. Conservatory and classically trained, she holds four music degrees and has performed internationally in seven different countries including Italy, Austria, Costa Rica, South Korea, Germany, France, Mexico, and Canada. Rose performed solo halftime shows for the NBA Golden State Warriors games at the Chase Center Stadium against the Sacramento Kings and the Chicago Bulls, as well as sold out shows with award winning artists Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, the Trans Siberian Orchestra and Oakland’s own Tony! Toni! Tone! Clients that Rose performs for include Rolls-Royce, Golden State Warriors, Salesforce, Oakland A’s, Workday, BetterUp, Meta, Deloitte, Palo Alto Networks, Genentech, Menlo Ventures and Scenic Luxury Cruises. Rose has been featured on CBS News, ABC7 News, KRON 4 News, San Francisco Examiner and KCBS Radio. Born in China, Rose was adopted at eight months old to her family in AV����̳. She is a proud AV����̳n, Asian American, and dual citizen of the US and Canada. Rose received a double degree in Violin Performance and Music Education at the University of AV����̳ Fairbanks, a Masters in Violin Performance from the University of Louisville on full scholarship through the Graduate Teaching Assistantship, a Professional Studies Certificate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Christopher Hull is a percussionist and ethnomusicologist whose work focuses on tensions between tradition and innovation in contemporary music. As a passionate performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral percussion, he seeks to ground his work in his classical training while simultaneously transcending the conventions of the conservatory. With classical percussion degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University and University of AV����̳ Fairbanks, a performing arts certificate from the Arts Institute of Indonesia Denpasar, and his current doctoral studies in ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, Christopher’s genre-defying work exhibits a world of experience.

As an orchestral percussionist, he frequently works with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the Hamilton and Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestras, and Sinfonia Ancaster. He has appeared as a chamber musician and soloist in festivals such as Open Ears, International Gamelan Festival Munich, Young Artists Niagara, and Sacred Rhythm Jakarta, the Royal Shakespeare Company (UK), and can be heard playing drums, vibraphone, and synthesizer on commercial recordings by Call Me Moon and Treephones. He is Associate Artistic Director of Toronto-based Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan (now celebrating its 40th anniversary season), commissioning and premiering new works for Sundanese degung, and director of the University of Toronto’s Balinese gamelan ensemble, Dharma Santi, as well as the newly formed Clover quartet.

Christopher’s doctoral research explores various aspects of musical manifestations of culture. At the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting in Ottawa in 2023, he presented a paper entitled Tacit Knowledge, Affect, and Desa Kala Patra in Balinese Gender Wayang, which investigates the affective properties of gendér wayang to show how the oral practice of gendér relies on embodied, emplaced, tacit knowledge. Such knowledge reflects the Balinese concept “desá, kala, patra” — often translated as “place, time, situation” — which references the manifold, plural form knowledge takes when it is viewed within context. By aligning theories of tacit knowledge, affect, and desá, kala, patra, the paper queries the extent to which they are congruent. In doing so, he lays the groundwork to ponder the impact of video sharing as gendér pedagogy and how it serves as a new transmission medium for tacit and affective aspects of practice. That same year, he was also Keynote Speaker at Indonsian-language International Conference on Local Wisdom at Universitas Hindu I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.

 

Dr. Emerson Eads, composer, conductor, and singer is Director of Choral Activities at Minot State University. He began piano lessons with his father when he was six years old. He holds music degrees from the University of AV����̳ Fairbanks and from the University of Notre Dame. While in Fairbanks, he studied composition with John Luther Adams, voice from Dr. Jaunelle Celaire, and conducting from Dr. Eduard Zilberkant. At the University of Notre Dame, he studied choral conducting with Dr. Carmen-Helena Téllez, where he worked with some of the greatest choral conductors of our time including Ann Howard Jones, Stephen Cleobury, and Joseph Flummerfelt.

Opera Fairbanks, at the request of their Metropolitan Opera Artistic Director, Gregory Buchalter, was the first organization to commission him with an ode to AV����̳’s 50th celebration of statehood, Homeland, for full orchestra, chorus, and soloists, featuring the great AV����̳n mezzo-soprano, Vivica Genaux.

While in Fairbanks, at the request of Dr. Zilberkant, he inaugurated the Fairbanks Symphony Chorus, a volunteer 80-member mixed choir. preparing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Verdi’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and numerous Design AV����̳’s Christmas Concerts. It was with the Fairbanks Symphony that his early compositions were given their premieres.

He was recently commissioned by the University of AV����̳ Fairbanks and Dr. Jaunelle Celaire to write an accompanied choral work, Give Me Room, on a text by Meta Herrick Carlson, dedicated to philanthropist and UAF alumnus, Steve Holmberg.

Dr. Eads has performed in England, France, Italy, Norway, Bulgaria, Austria, Canada, Chile, and Mexico. His music has also been performed internationally, with recent highlights including the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Ann Arbor, who commissioned him for an accompanied choral work, At The Dawn and his Dona Nobis Pacem which was premiered in Vancouver by the Vancouver Cantata Singers. His Mass for the Oppressed, written to rally support for the Fairbanks Four, has been performed in six states, and has recently been awarded as a Finalist & Honorable Mention for The American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award and is recorded featuring the great British tenor, Barry Banks. The Gleaners, song cycle on a text by Patrick Milian for soprano and mezzo-soprano with piano trio, was awarded Third Place for the American Prize in Composition– Vocal Chamber Music (professional division).

He lives in Minot, ND with his wife, cellist, and conductor, Abbie Eads, and his two cats, Lake & Palmer. He misses AV����̳ friends and family, especially his two nieces, Adelle & Reaghann. AV����̳ gave him his first opportunities as a musician and it will always feel like home

Born in White Plains, New York, pianist Mallory Bernstein has built a diverse and robust career through collaborative work, solo performances and nonprofit management. She studied with Dr. Charis Dimaras at Ithaca College and discovered her passion for collaborative piano.  She then journeyed to Fairbanks, AV����̳ to study with Dr. Eduard Zilberkant for her Master’s degree and with an assistantship to provide accompaniment for the studio of Dr. Jaunelle Celaire.  Mallory continued her studies with a full ride to the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver for a Performance Certificate and Artist Diploma.  She found many performing and teaching opportunities in Denver and in addition to solo performances in Germany, Italy and Portugal, she has performed with the Sonoma Philharmonic, Aurora Symphony, Opera Colorado, The Playground Ensemble and Opera on Tap.  She has been featured on concert series including Devil Moon, Englewood Arts and Five Points Chamber series.  She is a founding member and performs regularly with Art Song Colorado.  In recent years, Mallory has performed with Mexican tenor, Humberto Borboa in Colorado, Arizona and California in recitals featuring Schumann's iconic song cycle, Dichterliebe.

As Mallory began to find accompanying opportunities in outreach settings, she noticed the impact of brief musical experiences on the students.  This prompted her to explore the need for high-quality music education programming in Denver and she subsequently founded Education Through Music-Colorado.  While there is still much work to be done, she is very proud that Education Through Music-Colorado now provides music programming for 2,500 students in the Denver metro area that didn't previously have access. Mallory resides in Denver with her husband, three young daughters and two dogs.

Hailing from interior AV����̳, Jon Heintz received his Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of AV����̳ Fairbanks in 2014.  Jon studied double bass with Dr. Karl Knapp, Dr. Vince Cee, and Bob Olsen of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra. Running parallel with his formative studies was a constant presence in the local music scene. Jon performed with numerous folk, rock, and jazz groups in the city, and participated in music festivals across AV����̳.

Jon proudly serves as the orchestra director at Rainier Middle School and Auburn Mountainview High School (IG: @amhs_orchestra) in Auburn, Washington. Jon also keeps busy with a private double bass studio. His students have consistently performed at State Solo and Ensemble and WMEA All-State and NAfME All-Northwest. Former students of his studio are currently performing at the University of North Texas, Eastern Washington University, and the University of Washington.

From Jon: “The UAF Department of Music and the city of Fairbanks gave me the opportunity to experiment, fail, practice, collaborate, and ultimately grow in the best ways imaginable. The chance to perform with passionate musicians throughout the community and to learn from incredible educators shaped (as a wise music ed professor once said) my hobby into a passion, and my passion into a calling.”

Jon’s bass playing can be found recorded on:

Emily Anderson: Salt and Water**

Jazz Underground: Notes from the Underground

Kittiwake: Hibernal**

Granddad: Quitter**

Velvet Jupiter: Velvet Jupiter, EP2

Termination Dust: Growing Down**

**AV����̳n artists