Faculty by Area

Office: Music Building, Room.25
Phone: 509-313-4308
Email:stohlmann@gonzaga.edu

Dr. Meg Stohlmann serves as Director of Choral Activities at Gonzaga University, where she conducts the Concert Choir, Musea Treble Choir, Glee Club, and Big Bing Theory a cappella ensemble. The concert choir, under her direction has performed at the 2025 NafME All Northwest region conference and at the 2026 Northwest American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) regional conference. An active member of the ACDA, she is the current Repertoire & Resource Chair for Tenor/Bass Choirs for the Washington State chapter. In 2023, she was selected as one of six conductors for ACDA’s International Conductors Exchange Program in Germany.
In addition, Meg has led the Spokane Symphony Chorale since 2022, preparing the ensemble for multiple performances each season, including major symphonic and choral works such as The Creation, Mozart’s and Verdi’s Requiems, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and a variety of pops and film concerts. She proudly supports the vocal wing of the Spokane Symphony through this work.
Before entering higher education, Dr. Stohlmann taught middle and high school choir and guitar in Lexington, Kentucky, and conducted the Danville Children’s Choir. Her children’s choir and advanced high school treble choir were featured performers at the Kentucky Music Educators Association State Conference in 2014 and 2015. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington and a master’s degree in vocal performance and choral conducting from the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, she served on active duty for five years before pursuing music education at Sonoma State University. Her lifelong love of choral music began as a charter member of the Santa Rosa Children’s Chorus.

Office: Music Building, Room 22
Phone: 509-313-3093
Email:tarver@gonzaga.edu

Jadrian Tarver, a native of Haines City, Florida, has maintained an active roster as a conductor, clinician, composer, and recitalist and has soloed and conducted in many performances. He has performed with Atlanta Opera, Peach State Opera, Capitol City Opera Company, and Michigan State University Opera and Opera Grand Rapids. Operatic roles include Germont in La Traviata, the title role of Gianni Schicchi, Dr. Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Bonze in Madama Butterfly, and Marcello in La Boheme. Musical Theater roles include Mr. Lindquist in Little Night Music and the Duke/Dr. Carrasco/Night of Mirrors in Man of La Mancha.

In addition to performing, he is an advocate for musicians of color. He established an independent publishing company, Indigo Press LLP, which focuses on publishing the works of underrepresented composers of color. In a similar vein, he curated the Sankofa Recital Series, a vocal artist collaborative that brings awareness to the music of African diasporic composers. While as a doctoral candidate a Michigan State University, he was appointed project manager of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) for the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts and the College of Music. In this joint position as a student leader and project manager, he developed relationships across campus, cultivated programming, and activities important to Michigan State University's community while advancing progress in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Mr. Tarver holds the Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Bethune-Cookman University, the Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Georgia State University, and a Doctoral Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance from Michigan State University.

Kelli Shill holds a BM in Voice Performance as well as a MM in Opera Performance from Arizona State University. While in school she performed a variety of operatic roles, including Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. She also directed the first staged production of Nkeiru Okoye’s 600 Square Feet and worked as a music theory tutor.

Kelli most recently worked as an active performer in the Phoenix area. In 2023 she worked for Arizona Opera both as an Ambassador and as an Education & Outreach Teaching Artist, where she performed children’s operas to local elementary schools as part of a touring group.

Office: St. Gregory Choral Hall, Rm. 103
Phone: 313-6889
Email:prestond@gonzaga.edu

Darnelle Scarbrough Preston graduated from San Francisco State University, Magna Cum Laude, with her B.M. in Music Education, and received her M.M. in Vocal Performance from Boston University. Ms. Preston has appeared with the Utah, Carmel, Washington D.C. Masterworks, Handel & Haydn Society, Muncie, Nashville, and Billings symphonies. Her solo appearances throughout the Northeast have included performances of Bach’s “b minor Mass” and “St. John Passion”, Handel’s “Messiah”, Haydn’s “Creation” and Poulenc’s “Gloria”. In opera, her performances have included the Countess in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, the Cake Box Lady in Argento’s “Postcard from Morocco”, Mimi in “La Boheme”, and Lady Billows in Britten’s “Albert Herring”. Her musical theatre roles have included Madame Thenardier (Les Miserable), Ruth (Pirates of Penzance), Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd), Jack’s Mother (Into the Woods), Mrs. Sowerberry (Oliver), and Mrs. Fairfax (Jane Eyre). She has performed throughout southern France and recorded with the Robert Shaw Choeur d’Atlanta. Locally, Ms. Preston has performed with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, Allegro: Baroque and Beyond, Zephyr, Spokane Opera, Connoisseur Concert’s Northwest Bach Festival and Mozart in Manito, Spokane Choral Artists, Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater, and Spokane Valley Summer Theatre. She is currently a member of the Vocal Faculty at Gonzaga University, and teaches Applied Voice, Lyric Diction, and Class Voice.

Office: St. Gregory Choral Hall, Rm. 103
Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email: jonesd4@gonzaga.edu

Darin Jones is a graduate of the University of Washington, where he earned his Master’s in Music.

Office: Music Building, Room 26
Phone: (509) 313-6792
Email:hamlin@gonzaga.edu
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Dr. Peter J. Hamlin is Professor of Music at Gonzaga University, Chair of the Music Department, Director of Bands, and oversees the Music Education degree program. At Gonzaga, Dr. Hamlin directs the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds as well as teaches coursework in music education and ethnomusicology. He is also the faculty advisor to the Gonzaga University Collegiate Chapter of the National Association for Music Education.

Dr. Hamlin is in frequent demand as a conductor, lecturer, and music performance adjudicator. He has given presentations at conferences both nationally and internationally and is published in numerous journals. His research areas explore the constructs of deliberate practice and the development of expertise in addition to music assessment, psychometrics, and quantitative research methodology.

Dr. Hamlin taught high school band in the state of Florida for nine years where he led a very successful program that included multiple concert bands, marching band, jazz ensemble, indoor color guard and percussion, and multiple chamber ensembles. Dr. Hamlin received his Ph.D. and Bachelors degrees in Music Education from the University of Miami in Florida and was awarded a Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Connecticut. While there he was the Graduate Assistant Director of the marching band, women’s varsity basketball pep band, and the concert band.

Dr. Hamlin holds memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, International Society for Music Education, Washington Music Educators Association, College Music Society, Society for Ethnomusicology, Society for Music Perception and Cognition, and the International Clarinet Association.

Office: Music Hall
Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email: armstrong@gonzaga.edu

Sheila Armstrong was raised in Northern Illinois and completed her undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. She went on to earn her Master of Music in Performance from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Before settling in Spokane, she performed with both the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Peoria Symphony in Illinois.

Office: Music Hall, Room 105
Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email:brummett@gonzaga.edu

Jennifer Brummett received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School and a Master of Music degree at Southern Methodist University. She has been Principal Horn of the Spokane Symphony from 2002-14 and a member of the Solstice Quintet 2004-2009. Prior to joining the Spokane Symphony, Jennifer played Assistant Horn in the Fort Worth Symphony 1996-2002 and subbed in the Dallas Symphony, including recordings of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite, Shostakovich's 7th Symphony and Mahler Symphonies 2, 3, and 6.

Jennifer has performed at the Tanglewood Institute, the Chautauqua Festival, the Waterloo Festival, the Spoleto USA Festival, the Music in the Mountains Festival (Durango,CO), and as Principal Horn of the Utah Festival Opera. She performed with the Solstice Quintet at the Orcas Center in June of 2007. Jennifer is on faculty at Gonzaga University and Whitworth University. As a soloist, she has performed the Schumann Konzertstück with the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Mozart Concerto No. 2 with the Spokane Symphony, the Saint-Saens Morceau de Concert with the Spokane Falls Concert Band, the Britten Serenade with the Texas Chamber Orchestra, and many others. Ms. Brummett also played Principal Horn on Frank Sinatra’s Diamond Jubilee International Tour.

Originally from Oak Harbor, Washington, Jordan W. George is a professional tubist, holding a Master of Arts in Music degree from Washington State University (2024), and a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from Central Washington University (2022). He holds principal positions with the Eastern Washington Wind Symphony, as well as the Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island. He also is a regular substitute for Spokane, Billings, Coeur d’Alene, Washington-Idaho, and Yakima symphonies. Additionally, he is the Operations Manager for Sierra Music Publications, a local music publication company located in Liberty Lake that specializes in Jazz arrangements. As of 2026, George is the Instructor of Low Brass at Gonzaga University, teaching lessons in tuba, euphonium, trombone, and bass trombone.

During his studies, George served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the WSU School of Music, where he regularly assisted with the daily operations of the Kemble Stout Music Listening Library, taught private lessons to undergraduate music majors and minors, assisted with the instruction of undergraduate music theory courses, provided one-on-one and group tutoring for students, managed School of Music instrument and locker inventory, worked as assistant stage manager for opera/musical theatre productions and graded exams, homework assignments, and written assignments for undergraduate-level courses. While at CWU, George was the president of the Tuba-Euphonium club for two years. He also was involved in many groups, including the CWU Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble, Trombone Choir, Wildcat Marching Band (section leader), Symphonic Band, Symphonic Winds, and Wind Ensemble (principal), as well as the WSU Graduate Brass Quintet, Tuba Choir, Trombone Choir, Symphonic Wind Ensemble (principal), Symphony Orchestra (principal), and was the bass trombonist of the WSU Big Band I.

George’s principal teachers are Dr. David McLemore and Dr. Chris Dickey, and has participated in masterclasses with renowned performers such as John DiCesare (Seattle Symphony), Chris Martin (New York Philharmonic), Simon Wildman (U.S. “President’s Own” Marine Band), and Marc Placencia (U.S. “Pershing’s Own” Army Band). He holds University President’s Honors from both CWU and WSU, as well as performing honors such as the MTNA Washington State Solo Contest Winner, MTNA Northwest Solo Contest Runner-up, Washington-Idaho Symphony Concerto Competition Runner-up, and two trips to the Western International Band Clinic Collegiate Honor Ensemble, serving as the principal tubist in 2022.

Cameron La Plante is an accomplished and versatile multi-instrumentalist with more than a decade of experience in the music industry. He performs regularly in a wide variety of local ensembles including The Bob Curnow Big Band, The Spokane Jazz Orchestra, Son Dulce, and Flying Spiders. Numerous arrangements of his have been performed by many local bands including Son Dulce, The Spokane Jazz Orchestra and The Spokane Symphony. In addition to being an avid performer, Cameron is also frequently involved in recording sessions where he has extensive experience recording, tracking, editing, and mixing in the studio setting.

Office: Music Hall, Room 110
Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email: slaughter@gonzaga.edu

Jennifer is currently Third Flute with the Spokane Symphony.  Prior to that, she briefly studied abroad in Vienna, Austria, where she took lessons in flute and Alexander Technique.  This—combined with her knowledge of performance psychology—continues to have a major influence on her ideas regarding whole body awareness.

Throughout Spokane she often performs live music at various venues, including retirement communities, farmers’ markets, community music schools, dance studios, and music galleries. In the past, she has performed in masterclasses for renowned flutists such as William Bennett, Mimi Stillman, Amy Porter, Angeleita Floyd, Jill Felber, Claudia Anderson, Marianne Gedigian, and Alison Brown-Sincoff. Back in 2014, she won the National Flute Association’s Masterclass Competition and, in 2015, the Boise State University Concerto Competition.

Jennifer received her Master of Music degree in Flute Performance from Boise State University under Dr. Nicole Molumby, Associate Professor of Flute.  She received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music in Denver, Colorado under Pamela Endsley, retired Professor of Flute and former Principal Flute of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.  Her previous instructors include Jeffrey Barker, Barbara Gisler-Haase, and Sandra Moore Wacha.

Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email: repsold@gonzaga.edu

Andrew Repsold earned a Bachelor of Arts from Whitworth University in 2013 and a Masters in Music from Eastern Washington University in 2016. His awards include Spokane’s Scholar of Fine Arts (2009), Whitworth’s Presser Scholar (2013), Elmhurst Jazz Festival “Outstanding Soloist” (2013) and two-time concerto co-winner (Whitworth, 2013. EWU, 2016). In addition to teaching at Gonzaga, he performs locally in musicals, is a substitute with the Spokane Symphony, teaches a private studio of over twenty students, and is a percussion clinician for local high schools.

Office: Music Building, Room 21
Phone: 509-313-6734
Email:hekmatpanah@gonzaga.edu
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A native of Chicago, cellist Kevin Hekmatpanah has presented hundreds of solo and chamber performances throughout the country. He has made over one hundred and twenty solo concerto appearances with various ensembles. Mr. Hekmatpanah has released a compact disc recording containing cello sonatas by Franck, Debussy, and Chopin. Deeply committed to teaching, Mr. Hekmatpanah is a Professor of Music at Gonzaga University, where he has taught since 1994. He recently received an Exemplary Faculty Award for his Academic Citizenship. He is currently a member of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. He has previously served on the faculty of Middle Tennessee State University and has taught cello at the Governor’s School for the Arts. He has served on competition juries, and he has presented master classes and clinics throughout the country. In addition to being the first cellist to earn a DMA from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, he also holds a MM from Indiana University and a BM from the University of Southern California. His teachers have included such nationally renowned pedagogues as Stephen Kates, Fritz Magg, and Gabor Rejto, and he has received coaching from such internationally celebrated artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, and Janos Starker.

As a conductor Kevin Hekmatpanah begins his twenty-fourth year as Music Director of the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra. In this capacity he has performed a large portion of the standard repertoire for orchestra, as well as premieres of new music. He has also organized and presided over the Young Artists’ Concerto/Aria Competition, which gives the opportunity for young musicians to present a concerto with the ensemble.

Office: Music Mansion
Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email: bourgeois@gonzaga.edu

Jeanne Bourgeois is the Assistant Concertmaster with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. She has a doctorate in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music, a masters from Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Jeanne has held orchestral positions with the Syracuse Symphony, Sarasota Opera, Utah Festival Opera, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In her freetime, Jeanne enjoys exploring the Inland Northwest, cooking and traveling with her husband, Stephen Swanson and their daughter, Roslyn.

Phone: (509) 313-5911
Email:carper@gonzaga.edu

Nick Carper graduated from Columbus State and Butler Universities. Nick has performed throughout the U.S. in various capacities, as principal, chamber musician, and soloist. He is currently an instructor at Gonzaga University.

Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email:plewniak@gonzaga.edu

Kim Plewniak holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Kim instructs at Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, and Whitman College and maintains a private studio.

Office: Music Mansion, Room 25
Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email:moody@gonzaga.edu

Earecka Tregenza earned a Master of Music from Rice University, Shepherd School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She attended the Royal Conservatory of Music, Glenn Gould School. Earecka is an instructor at Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University and Whitworth University.

Office: Music Annex, Room 006A
Phone: (509) 313-4339
Email:hunterc@gonzaga.edu

Colleen Hunter, DMA, NCTM, teaches applied and class piano at Gonzaga University, Spokane. She maintains a private piano studio in her home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, teaching a wide range of ages and levels from children to adults.

Nationally and state certified with MTNA, Dr. Hunter is an active member of the Spokane Chapter and the North Idaho Chapter and their respective state associations. She is president of SMTA, District VII Vice-President for WSMTA and Immediate Past President of the North Idaho Music Teachers. She has served as chair of the College Faculty Forum and as Adjudicator Chair while on the WSMTA Board of Education. She has served as chair of the Independent Music Teachers Forum (IMTF), and as chair of Adjudications and Musicianship Exams at the local level and assisted in developing the annual Musicianship and Performance Festivals of the NIMTA chapter. Active as an adjudicator, Dr. Hunter also shares her passion for music as a workshop clinician, performer, collaborative artist, church musician, and choir director.

Her interest in providing arts to the community led Dr. Hunter to co-chair the entertainment committee the past several years for Art on the Green, an annual summer arts festival put on by Citizen’s Council for the Arts in Coeur d’Alene where more than thirty groups are scheduled over three days in August. She has co-hosted a winter Music Lecture Series supported by the CCA organization and coordinates home concerts in the Coeur d’Alene area. Additionally, encouraging younger artists by collaborating with them at solo and ensemble and other school events has become a rewarding endeavor. Her own students have been successful in many areas, including honors in the Carol Klotz Composition Competition, WSMTA's Young Composer Project, the Coeur d'Alene Symphony's melody contest, the Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program, the Spokane Piano Competition, and MusicFest Northwest.

Dr. Hunter holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music in piano performance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City where she studied with Richard Cass. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Seattle Pacific University where she studied with Marcile Mack. She studied with Margaret Saunders Ott, Spokane, for several years and worked with Dr. Bela Nagy of Boston University while in Sion, Switzerland.

Dr. Colleen Hunter and her husband, Sam Hunter, Ph.D., have two children, Scott, a college graduate, and Abby, a college student. Their home is filled with much music, conversation, laughter, and creative activity.

Joseph Schubert received his PhD in Musicology from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and his Master of Music in Choral Conducting from California State University in Los Angeles, California. He has served as a church organist since he was 18 year old and is currently organist at Saint Augustine Catholic Church.

Archie Chen, D.M., is an internationally acclaimed concert pianist, educator, adjudicator, Sony Classical recording artist, and international prizewinner whose career has taken him throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The Irish Times has praised his playing for its “daring velocity” and “fiery temperament,” while International Piano Magazine described one of his performances at the Dublin International Piano Festival as “a performance that has stayed longer in the memory than anything else.”

A passionate educator, Dr. Chen is committed to helping each pianist develop an individual artistic voice alongside a secure, natural, and expressive technique. His students have earned top prizes at regional, national, and international competitions and have been accepted to leading universities and conservatories throughout North America and Europe. His teaching combines technical development, musical imagination, performance confidence, and an individualized approach shaped around each student’s goals.

As a concert artist, Dr. Chen has appeared in distinguished venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Gewandhaus, Benaroya Hall, and Dublin’s National Concert Hall, and performed at the Vatican Auditorium for Pope John Paul II. He has performed as soloist and guest artist with ensembles including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Coeur d’Alene Symphony, Washington-Idaho Symphony, and Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared in the Seattle Symphony’s Octave 9 series and collaborated with distinguished musicians including cellist Zuill Bailey. His performances have been featured on radio and television broadcasts in the United States and Europe, and his recordings of Godowsky’s celebrated transcriptions of the Chopin Études were featured in the BBC film Loving Miss Hatto.

Originally from Spokane, Washington, Dr. Chen began piano studies with Mary Toy and performed his first piano concerto with the Spokane Youth Symphony at the age of eleven. He later earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Menahem Pressler and Edmund Battersby, received the Nina Neal Piano Scholarship, and was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. His additional studies included work with Leonard Hokanson and Alicia de Larrocha. At the Royal Irish Academy of Music, he continued his studies with renowned Irish pianist John O’Conor, completing the Recital Artist Diploma program and later earning a Doctor of Music in Piano Performance.

His doctoral research focused on historically informed performance and the ways historical evidence and performance traditions can inform contemporary interpretation. This inquiry subsequently developed into his research on piano pedagogical lineage and the transmission of performance traditions across generations. He created and continues to develop an interactive piano pedagogy lineage tree that traces teacher-student connections across generations and examines how traditions of technique, sound, phrasing, and interpretation have been preserved, adapted, and transformed over time.

During his years in Dublin, Dr. Chen served on the faculties of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and TU Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama and co-founded both the Dublin International Piano Festival and Summer Academy and the Piano Academy of Ireland. After returning to Spokane, he served as Co-Executive Director of Holy Names Music Center.

Dr. Chen was named Artist of the Year by the New York Classical Music Society and is a recipient of an Arts Council of Ireland Music Bursary. He is a Fellow of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and the New International Godowsky Society.

An experienced adjudicator and clinician, Dr. Chen is regularly invited to present masterclasses and lectures and to adjudicate regional, national, and international competitions. Whether performing, teaching, researching, or adjudicating, his work is centered on the relationship between tradition and individuality, understanding what has been passed down while helping the next generation of musicians discover their own artistic voices.

Emily Loeffler holds a PhD in Musicology from the University of Oregon. Her research centers on the intersections of Swiss Alpine music with the history of science. She has presented new research both regionally and internationally, including at the American Musicological Society national meeting, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, and the Gregorian Institute of Canada. She has worked as an accompanist, piano teacher, for the Journal of Musicological Research, and for a database of medieval chant, the Beneventan Hypertext Project. She holds an M.M. in Collaborative Piano, and M.M. in Music History at the University of Northern Colorado, and a B.A. in Piano Performance from Humboldt State University.

Office: Music Building, Room 22
Phone: (509) 313-6735
Email:fague@gonzaga.edu
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David Fague launched his professional music career in 1997 with the Spokane Jazz Orchestra while still a student at Gonzaga University. During that time, he was also an active performer in the local jazz scene, playing regularly with the Sharp Five Jazztet and various other ensembles.
He continued his musical journey at the University of North Texas, where he performed and recorded with a wide range of groups, including the UNT Jazz Singers, Jazz Repertory Band, Classical Saxophone Quartets, the renowned Two O’Clock Lab Band, and the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band. In addition to his academic ensembles, David played with several professional big bands and combos throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He also spent two summers performing in Disney’s prestigious All-American College Band, backing legendary musicians such as John Clayton, Shelley Berg, Bill Watrous, and Gary Foster.
After earning his master’s degree in jazz studies from UNT in 2004, David returned to Gonzaga University, where he took on the role of Director of Jazz Studies and led the Gonzaga Pep Band—a position he held for 20 years before stepping down in April 2024. He is a passionate educator in both classroom and ensemble settings, and remains an active performer in the Spokane music community, playing bass and saxophone in a variety of genres including jazz, funk, country, and blues.
Outside of music, David is a dedicated husband and father of three. When he’s not teaching or performing, you’ll likely find him adventuring with his family—whether on a hydrofoil, in a river, on a ski slope, at a lake, hiking a trail, or exploring the ocean.

Office: Music Hall, Room 103
Phone: 509-313-5943
Email:abeid@gonzaga.edu

Mellad graduated from Gonzaga University with a BA in Music Composition in 2002. Since then, he has worked as an adjunct guitar instructor at Gonzaga University and private guitar instructor at St. George's School and Colville High School. Mellad is a patient, yet highly skilled, instructor who is well versed in a variety of musical genres, including Classical, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Commercial, Country, Celtic and Broadway. As an international guitar performer, songwriter and record producer, Mellad is a dynamic instructor who brings a wealth of real-world expertise to the classroom.

For the past several years, Mellad has been fortunate to write and arrange songs for several independent vocal artists. Most recently, Mellad has been writing and performing with Country artist Nicole Lewis and is currently working on her upcoming Nashville-based full-length album. When not on tour or teaching, Mellad enjoys playing guitar for local Jazz ensembles and the live theatre circuit. Mellad has worked as a guitarist at Spokane Civic Theatre for the past 4 seasons and Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre for the past 5 seasons.

Office: Music Annex, Room 107
Phone: 509-313-6733
Email:petersonc4@gonzaga.edu

Cole Peterson teaches jazz and electric bass at Gonzaga. A graduate of Whitworth University ('15), Cole has a broad scope of musical experiences and interests. He studied jazz bass and voice while at Whitworth; and got his degree in music composition. He plays with numerous bands in the Spokane area, including national act The Justin James Band (bass, keyboards, guitar), Funky Unkle (keyboards), Kaitlyn Wiens (bass, keyboards, occasional guitar), and Brook Gannon Trio+/Sugar Bear (keyboards). In addition, he also records and releases his own music in his free time. He is also an in-demand session musician for various artists around the country. Cole currently teaches choir and guitar at Gonzaga Preparatory School and is also the Director of Worship at Audubon Park United Methodist Church in Spokane.

Office: Music Annex, Room 004
Phone: 509-313-6733
Email:faguek@gonzaga.edu

Kyla Fague graduated from Whitworth in 2001 with a degree in music education and received her master’s degree in conducting from the American Band College at Southern Oregon University. While at Whitworth, she was awarded the Anna J. Carrel Outstanding Senior in Music Award and was a member of the Wind Symphony and Jazz Ensemble I, playing saxophone as well as studying piano. Fague taught high-school band and math for four years in her hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska. At the 2005 Alaska Jazz Festival, she received the Most Distinguished Director Award. After returning to Spokane, Fague taught band at Medical Lake High School and Middle School and served as a sabbatical replacement conductor for the Wind Symphonies at Whitworth and Gonzaga. She has been directing the Whitworth Concert Band since 2006 and also directs Jazz Band II at Gonzaga University, Jazz Band II at Ferris High School, and the Chancel Choir at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church. Fague loves spending time in the beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest with her husband and three kids.

Office: Music Mansion
Phone: (509) 313-6733
Email:sagerk@gonzaga.edu

An active member of Spokane’s music scene, Kenny Sager performs all over the area. He has a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from Eastern Washington University and did 1 year at University of Montana as a graduate assistant teaching drum set and jazz ensembles. Kenny also teaches at EWU and Mead High School coaching their drum line in the fall as well as teaching at Music Plus year round.

Office: Music Hall, Room 103
Phone: 509-313-5943
Email:abeid@gonzaga.edu

Mellad graduated from Gonzaga University with a BA in Music Composition in 2002. Since then, he has worked as an adjunct guitar instructor at Gonzaga University and private guitar instructor at St. George's School and Colville High School. Mellad is a patient, yet highly skilled, instructor who is well versed in a variety of musical genres, including Classical, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Commercial, Country, Celtic and Broadway. As an international guitar performer, songwriter and record producer, Mellad is a dynamic instructor who brings a wealth of real-world expertise to the classroom.

For the past several years, Mellad has been fortunate to write and arrange songs for several independent vocal artists. Most recently, Mellad has been writing and performing with Country artist Nicole Lewis and is currently working on her upcoming Nashville-based full-length album. When not on tour or teaching, Mellad enjoys playing guitar for local Jazz ensembles and the live theatre circuit. Mellad has worked as a guitarist at Spokane Civic Theatre for the past 4 seasons and Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre for the past 5 seasons.

Office: Music Hall, Room 104
Phone: (509) 313-5919
Email:grove@gonzaga.edu

Dr. Paul Grove joined the inland northwest music community in 1995 while completing a doctorate degree in Russian music theory and guitar performance at the University of Arizona. He was invited by his colleague Leon Atkinson to live and work in Spokane, the place where Paul’s teacher Aaron Shearer began his career. Though he was only going to stay for one year, he has remained and has contributed in the following ways:

He completed a Ph.D. dissertation on the contrapuntal theories of Sergei Ivanovich Taneev while receiving a Jacob Javits research grant. In addition, he received awards and distinctions in several national and international guitar competitions including the Guitar Foundation of America Competition, the Stotsenberg International Competition, The Great Lakes Guitar Competition, and the Norman Sholin Memorial Competition.

As a teacher he has mentored students who have received distinctions in several competitions including Guitar Northwest, the Wolff and Shaeffer Competitions at the University of Arizona, and Musicfest Northwest. Most recently, he was invited to teach 18^th-century counterpoint at Gonzaga University, and he teaches at Whitworth University.

As a performer, he has been a featured soloist with the Spokane Symphony, the Couer d’Alene Symphony, the Gonzaga Symphony, the Northwest Bach Festival, the Northwest Sacred Music Chorale, and other regional ensembles. He has toured throughout the United States, and has performed internationally in Russia, Brazil, India, and Canada.

Paul’s primary guitar instructor was Aaron Shearer; and he studied composition with Jean Eichelberger-Ivey at the Peabody Conservatory where he joined Manuel Barueco as one of the first two guitarists to win the Peabody Conservatory Competition.

His current interest is to promote a dialogue that questions concepts pertaining to the nature, and societal role of Western “classical music.”

Office: Music Hall, Room 104
Phone: (509) 313-5919
Email:millham@gonzaga.edu

A veteran multi-genre performer, and an in-demand teacher and clinician, Michael maintains studios at Gonzaga and Eastern Washington Universities, as well as nurturing a private studio. He is a regular host/director of the Northwest Guitar Festival, and has been a featured performer for numerous regional festivals including the Northwest Guitar Festival, the Northwest Bach Festival, the Festival at Sandpoint (in concerto work with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra), and Northwest Folklife's guitar showcase in McCaw hall, among others.

Michael has been profiled in the magazine Acoustic Guitar and is a past regular contributor to the same. He has also written for Guitar Teacher and Play Guitar! magazines. Michael has worked as either an alpha/beta testing endorser or performing artist for Elixir strings, Lowden Guitars, Schoenberg Guitars, Hill Guitars, L.R. Baggs electronics and AER amps among other companies. His duo (with his wife, vocalist Keleren Millham) regularly performs at venues ranging from wine bars and house concerts to radio shows, theaters, universities and festivals: over 2,000 performances to date. They have released 3 CDs featuring their own compositions, completed a documentary film soundtrack, and scored the promotional reel soundtrack for author (and GU professor) Shann Ray's American Copper (2016 recording). Michael was recently featured in performance and on record with the Montana choir Dolce Canto (2011 recording) and with Spokane Symphony Cello and Bassoon 1st chairs John and Lynn Marshall (2015 recording). He is a graduate of the Lionel Hampton School of Music-University of Idaho.

Michael's students have won numerous gold and silver medals at Musicfest Northwest, including multiple winners in the young artist concerto division. His students have gone on assistantship to top schools for bachelors and masters degrees, and his former students have themselves been hired to teach at the college level, including Gonzaga and SFCC.

Both an acoustic guitar amplifier (L.R. Baggs A-Ref) and an acoustic guitar pickup (L.R. Baggs M1) designed with/around Michael's input have won MIPA awards (Musikmesse International Press Award; the "Grammy" of the Musical Instrument/ProAudio industry). The M1 pickup, in particular, has been adopted by many players at the pinnacle of the pop/acoustic music industry, including Tom Petty, David Gilmore (Pink Floyd) Cold Play, Jakob Dylan, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Oasis, among others.

In 1999, Michael was one of eight recipients selected nationally for Jim Beam Brand Worldwide's Benefiting Emerging Artists in Music grant.

Office: Music Building, Room 26
Phone: (509) 313-6792
Email:hamlin@gonzaga.edu
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Dr. Peter J. Hamlin is Professor of Music at Gonzaga University, Chair of the Music Department, Director of Bands, and oversees the Music Education degree program. At Gonzaga, Dr. Hamlin directs the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds as well as teaches coursework in music education and ethnomusicology. He is also the faculty advisor to the Gonzaga University Collegiate Chapter of the National Association for Music Education.

Dr. Hamlin is in frequent demand as a conductor, lecturer, and music performance adjudicator. He has given presentations at conferences both nationally and internationally and is published in numerous journals. His research areas explore the constructs of deliberate practice and the development of expertise in addition to music assessment, psychometrics, and quantitative research methodology.

Dr. Hamlin taught high school band in the state of Florida for nine years where he led a very successful program that included multiple concert bands, marching band, jazz ensemble, indoor color guard and percussion, and multiple chamber ensembles. Dr. Hamlin received his Ph.D. and Bachelors degrees in Music Education from the University of Miami in Florida and was awarded a Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Connecticut. While there he was the Graduate Assistant Director of the marching band, women’s varsity basketball pep band, and the concert band.

Dr. Hamlin holds memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, International Society for Music Education, Washington Music Educators Association, College Music Society, Society for Ethnomusicology, Society for Music Perception and Cognition, and the International Clarinet Association.

Anne Mileski is an early childhood and elementary music educator and clinician based in Eastern Washington. She is certified in Orff-Schulwerk, Kodály, Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy, Music Learning Theory Elementary General Level I, and has completed advanced coursework in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. She is a regular clinician at local workshops, state music conferences, and has presented at both the American Orff-Schulwerk Association and Organization of American Kodály Educators national conferences. She has served on faculty for Kodály teacher education programs at both the American Kodály Institute at Loyola Maryland and the Plano ISD/SMU Kodaly Certification Program in Dallas, Texas.

Anne holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from Southern Methodist University. She has performed on trumpet with prestigious groups such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Wind Symphony.

In addition to her applied music studies, Anne holds a Master of Music in Music Education from Southern Methodist University. Prior to relocating to the pacific northwest, she completed coursework toward a doctorate in music education at Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. While attending IU, she served as an associate instructor for the music education department, both as a supervisor for student teachers and as a teaching assistant for choral and elementary music methods courses. Also while at IU, she conducted second and third grade singers in the IU Children’s Choir.

Anne has served as a conductor for the Spokane Area Youth Choirs, where she helped to establish ABC early childhood program for young singers through SAYC. She presents regularly at local, state, and national workshops and conferences, on various topics including purposeful movement and curricular sequencing in the elementary classroom. She is the founder of Anacrusic, working with early childhood and elementary music educators to refine their practice through specialized trainings and custom curriculum.

Office: Music Building, Room 22
Phone: 509-313-3093
Email:kropf@gonzaga.edu

Michael Kropf is a composer whose music engages with evocative places, personalities, and histories. He has collaborated with Marin Alsop and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Apple Hill String Quartet, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. His music has been described as "a brilliant, rapid fire stretch of perpetual motion," by the SF Chronicle's Joshua Kosman. Recent projects include Moses in Nederland, a violin concerto for Sabrina Tabby and Contemporaneous based on yiddish melodies written by his great-grandfather, Moses Schenkein. In 2022, he collaborated with librettist Patrick Smith to create an orchestrated song-cycle for soprano Erin O’Meally and The San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Current projects include a collaboration with New Music Detroit, as well as a solo violin work for The Atlanta Symphony’s Justin Bruns.

Michael is also an active music teacher, pianist, violinist, and conductor. He has taught classes at the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College. He has also served as academic dean and faculty member at the Walden School Young Musicians Young Musician's Program in New Hampshire. He is currently on faculty at Gonzaga University as Assistant Professor of Theory and Composition.

He earned his doctoral degree in composition at The University of Michigan in 2022, where he studied with Kristin Kuster and Evan Chambers. He received his Master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory in 2016, where he studied with David Conte. He has also received private study in composition from John Adams.

His work has received recognition from institutions including ASCAP, The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and The Music Teachers National Association.

Office: Music Building, Room 12
Phone: 509-313-6736
Email:spittal@gonzaga.edu

Conductor and award-winning composer Robert Spittal is the director of the Creative Music Lab Ensemble and teaches courses in conducting. Dr. Spittal was Director of Bands from 1992-2019, when he led the Gonzaga Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds, and he directed the Jazz Ensemble from 1992-1998. He maintains an active schedule of composing commissioned works and conducting ensembles regionally and nationally.Dr. Spittal’s compositions are performed and recorded worldwide by ensembles such as The Bay Brass, Borealis Wind Quintet, Atlanta Chamber Winds, and North Texas Wind Symphony, and they are published by Boosey & Hawkes Co., Maestro and Fox Music. See full bio at www.robertspittal.com

Dr. Spittal’s research on the wind music of Stravinsky and American Pulitzer-winner John Harbision has been published and presented at conducting symposia. Spittal and Harbison collaborated on a well-received session at the national College Band Directors Association conference at the University of Colorado in 1997. Dr. Spittal contributed several research articles for publication in the “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” series (GIA Publishing) which has reached musicians and music educators throughout the US and Canada.

Dr. Spittal received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and has also studied at Baylor University, The Ohio State University, The University of Michigan, Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music and University of Colorado. His conducting teachers include Craig Kirchhoff, Michael Haithcock, and Eugene Corporon.