Daniel D'Addio
D.M.A.
department chair, band, music education, trumpet

email: daddiod@ccsu.edu

Daniel D'Addio holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Michigan, a Master of Music degree from The Ohio State University, and the Bachelor of Music degree from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. He has also studied at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz and Vienna, Austria and the Scola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland as a Fulbright Scholar. His principal teachers are Robert Nagel, Armando Ghitalla, and Dr. Richard Burkart. Additional trumpet studies include study with Raymond Mase, Edward Tarr, Carole Dawn Rinehart, and Frank Kadarabek. Dr. D'Addio has participated in orchestral conducting master classes directed by Harold Farberman, David Stahl, Kenneth Schermerhorn, and Michael Lankaster and wind-band conducting master classes directed by Craig Kirchhof, Jerry Junkin, Dennis Fischer, Jerry Luckhardt.

Dr. D'Addio currently serves as Associate Professor of Music and Music Department Chair at Central Connecticut State University where he is also Director of Instrumental Activities. He also assumes conducting responsibilities at The Hartt School Community Division where his duties include the posts as Music Director for the Connecticut Youth Symphony and the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble. Dr. D'Addio is a frequent guest conductor at music festivals. 

Additionally, he is active as a trumpet soloist and chamber musician. Dr. D'Addio has concertized throughout the United States and Europe performing on concert series in New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Vienna, Geneva, and Salzburg. As a chamber musician, he served as an Artist–in–Residence at the Bay View Music Festival. As a soloist, Dr. D'Addio has won several international and national competitions including the 1981 International Music Competition in Geneva, Switzerland, the 1980 International Trumpet Guild Student Solo Competition, and the 1984 Queens Philharmonic Concerto Competition.

As a music educator, Dr. D'Addio has served on the faculties of The University of Georgia, Otterbein College, The Neighborhood Music School, Western Connecticut State University, the University of Bridgeport, Branford (CT) High School, and has assisted in the trumpet studios of The University of Michigan and The Ohio State University. He has conducted master classes at major universities and colleges throughout the United States and has served as an adjudicator and clinician in a variety of musical and educational settings.

Brian Kershner
D.M.A.
bassoon, theory, sight-singing

email: kershnerbrk@ccsu.edu

Brian Kershner , bassoonist and composer, has received enthusiastic premieres of his works across the United States . The Sonata for Bassoon and Piano (1989) and Contours, Canons, and Caricatures (1992), for saxophone quartet are available on CD on the Vienna Modern Masters label. The latter won a special commendation from the judges in their 1994 VMM competition and is published by Roncorp. He is also the performer on the bassoon recording, playing with Rutgers colleague, Paul Hoffmann. Many of his double reed compositions as well his wind quintet are published by Bocal Music. Of his American Songs , for tenor, bassoon and chamber orchestra, based on the poetry of several American poets of this century, Classical New Jersey (June 11, 1997) says "...Kershner's text-painting was particularly moving and effective, capturing both the nuances and general feeling of each poem. The seamless streams of consciousness in these poems were well adapted into fluid gestures and orchestration." Conundrums , for unaccompanied clarinet, was premiered in November 1997, and was published by Roncorp in Fall 99. Strata (1998) , a suite for Wind Ensemble, was premiered and recorded by the Rutgers Wind Ensemble in the Spring of 1999, and is part of a new Mark CD released in November 2000. Duo Fantasia, for Tuba and Percussion (1999), is published by Tuba-Euphonium Press and scheduled to be recorded in 2004, and Portraits, for Bassoon and Orchestra , was commissioned by Riverside Symphonia and premiered in a series of concerts, the composer as soloist, in April of 2001. Songs of Love and Lust , for Tenor, Viola and Piano is based on the poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and will be premiered in New York City in the 04-05 season.

Most recently Dr. Kershner premiered two new works featuring bassoon at the convention of the International Double Reed Society. Alliterations for Bassoon and Marimba and Aftermath for Bassoon and Piano are available on CD through the Society. His latest composition, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was written for the Rumanian National Radio Orchestra and violinist Lenuta Ciulei, who will premiere the work in Rumania in June of 05. She performed Dr. Kershner's Pastorale and Scherzino for Violin and Orchestra in Rome in the summer of 2004.

As a bassoonist, Dr. Kershner is known throughout the United States as a performer and teacher. He has been Principal Bassoonist with Riverside Symphonia since the orchestra's inception. He has performed with Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, Opera Company of Philadelphia , Jupiter Symphony in New York , Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and New Jersey Symphony. Prior to joining the music department faculty at CCSU in 2004, he served for 16 years as Assistant Professor of Bassoon and Theory at Rutgers University . He has previously served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Baylor University . From 1987-92, Dr. Kershner was Bassoon Instructor at the famed Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen , Michigan .

Carl Knox
D.M.A.
saxophone, jazz studies

email: knoxc@ccsu.edu

Carl W. Knox was born in Los Angeles, California, and was reared on the West Coast until his early teens. After moving to the Midwest he received the Bachelor of Arts degree from William Penn College, a small Quaker school in Oskaloosa, Iowa, noted for its distinguished jazz studies program. In 1981, while at William Penn, he was awarded the Outstanding Soloist Award at the Elmhurst Jazz Festival.

Following graduation from Penn, Dr. Knox accepted a teaching assistantship at Northeast Missouri State University (currently Truman State University) teaching saxophone, clarinet and directing the jazz combos. As a member of the Northeast jazz program he won outstanding soloist and musicianship awards at the 1983 and 1984 Wichita Jazz Festival and the 1984 Kansas City Jazz Festival. In addition, he appeared as guest soloist with both the NMSU Wind Symphony and Orchestra. After attaining his Master of Arts degree from NMSU in 1984, Dr. Knox moved to St. Louis and began a teaching and performing career that lasted until he began his doctoral studies at Michigan State University in 1993. Among his teaching appointments in St. Louis were the St. Louis Conservatory and Schools for the Arts where he taught saxophone and clarinet, and St. Louis Community College, where he taught jazz improvisation, saxophone, clarinet, and directed the jazz ensemble. Dr. Knox's playing career included numerous performances with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on both clarinet and saxophone, and many jazz concerts and tours with famed jazz artists including: Doc Severinsen, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin, Bobby Shew, Louis Bellson, Clark Terry, Rob McConnell, Jon Faddis, Marshall Royal and Snooky Young. He also performed regularly with the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra and the River City Saxes. During this time he also served on the faculty at The Clark Terry Summer Jazz Institute and performed as a member of Clark Terry's BIG BAD Band.

In 1994-1996 he was a teaching assistant in the department of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University. While in Michigan, Dr. Knox played with many major touring shows in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Detroit and performed or toured with jazz artists and groups including: Mel Torme, Jimmy Heath, Milt Hinton, Marcus Belgrave, Benny Carter, Branford Marsalis and The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Dr. Knox currently serves as director of Jazz Studies and teaches Applied Saxophone at CCSU where he directs the highly touted Jazz Ensemble.

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Linda Laurent
Ph.D.
music history, piano, theory

email: laurentl@ccsu.edu

LINDA LAURENT is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School and received her Ph.D. from New York University. Among her teachers were Stanley Hummel, Emil Danenberg, and Sascha Gorodnitzky. As a member of The Connecticut Trio and the Rosa-Laurent Duo she has given many performances in New England and in New York (Town Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, Merkin Hall) as well as in Europe, including concerts in Paris, Bonn, Leiden, Brussels, Vienna, Rome, Tunis, Carthage, and Casablanca. Dr. Laurent has been heard on National Public Radio, Vatican Radio, and has recorded on the ERSTA label.

Dr. Laurent's doctoral research in French music resulted in two years of study in Paris, where she worked with Gaby Casadesus and with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau in the mid 1970s. More recently, her monograph on the French singer Jane Bathori was published by Pendragon Press in 1998. In 2000 she gave the pre-concert talk for Dawn Upshaw's Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center) recital, "Hommage à Bathori". The following year she presented a paper at the European annual conference sponsored by the Association Française des Professeurs de Chant, held in Paris, which had as its theme "La Mélodie française à travers ses interprètes dédicataires".

Dr. Laurent came to CCSU in 1992 from Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY, where she was chair of the department of music and dance: prior to that position she was an Artist-in-Residence at Trinity College in Hartford. Dr. Laurent was promoted to full professor in 1996 and served as chair of the music department from 1997-99 during a period of major restructuring and the hiring of four new faculty members. She has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in the areas of piano (music majors), music history, theory, chamber music and accompaniment. Administrative duties include planning and scheduling the course offerings of the department as well as organizing the department forum series. In the spring of 2000 Dr. Laurent received a CSU Faculty Research Grant for a sabbatical semester in Paris to study the Russian and French schools of piano technique. In the spring of 2001 she was awarded a Yale Fellowship to attend masterclasses given by distinguished piano faculty at that university.

Charles Menoche
D.M.A.
music technology, composition, orchestration, theory

email: menochec@ccsu.edu

Dr. Charles Paul Menoche joined the Music Department faculty in the fall of 2002 as an Assistant Professor. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Tennessee Technological University and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in music composition from the University of Texas at Austin. His principal composition teachers include Robert Jager, Dan Welcher, Russell Pinkston, and Donald Grantham. As a composer, Dr. Menoche has written a variety of works for voice, acoustic instruments, small and large ensembles, and electro-acoustic media. He has also collaborated with dancers, theater productions, and visual artists. One of his works for concert band, In the Machine, was recently published by Boosey and Hawkes. In addition to his compositional activity, he is very interested in the use of technology in all areas of music learning and teaching. He has presented at national conferences of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI) and Technology Institute for Music Educators. Active as a music computer lab manager for over thirteen years, he has developed and managed general and specialized music microcomputer labs at Texas Christian University (TCU), The University of Texas at Austin, Rutgers, and CCSU. He has been a member of the faculty at Rutgers University and TCU.

Ph.D.

music theory

email: northropj@ccsu.edu

Carlotta Parr
D.M.E.
music education, music technology, vocal, choral

email: parrc@ccsu.edu

N. Carlotta Parr is currently an Associate Professor of Music Education at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. In addition to teaching methods courses for undergraduate music majors and working with student teachers, she conducts the CCSU Chorale. She also teaches core courses for the Masters of Science in Music Education degree program.

Prior to her move to Connecticut, she served as the Fine Arts Consultant for the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), Center for Program Development (1990-98). During her tenure with the IDOE she was responsible for coordinating curriculum and program development in music, visual arts, theatre arts, and dance/creative movement. In addition to these responsibilities, she was responsible for the development of student assessment in the arts. She was actively involved in the Indiana Music Educators Association, and has served as a guest conductor for Circle the State with Song (elementary and middle school choirs) for the past eight years.

Dr. Parr was a public school music teacher (K-12) for 18 years for the Arlington County Public Schools, in Arlington, Virginia. During her tenure there she taught general music at all levels, choral music and guitar on the secondary level, and served as the Music Department Chairman at Washington-Lee High School for eight years. She was actively involved in the Virginia Music Educators Association on the local and state levels, and was a guest conductor for all-county elementary, middle school, and high school choirs in Arlington, Virginia.

A native of Virginia, Dr. Parr received her Bachelors of Music Education from James Madison University, her Masters of Music from the Catholic University of America, and her Doctor of Music Education at Indiana University. During her two-year residency at Indiana University she was an Assistant Instructor, teaching music methods to elementary education majors, and assisted Dr. Mary Goetze with the University Children's Choir.

Pamela J. Perry
D.M.A.
choral, music education

email: perry@ccsu.edu

Pamela J. Perry is a Professor of music at Central Connecticut State University, where she also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral music education and directs the CCSU University Singers. She is the Director of the CCSU Summer Music Institute.

From 1985 to 1990 she was the Director of Choral Activities at the Hartt School, University of Hartford, directing the Hartt Symphonic Choir and the Hartt Collegiate Singers.

Dr. Perry is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician, conducting district, regional and All State festivals throughout the East. In 1993 she was the guest conductor of the International Schools Honors Choir Festival in Dusseldorf, Germany. In 1993, she founded the CCSU University Singers, a vocal ensemble that has given concert tours in Germany and Puerto Rico, and performed extensively on campus, in schools, and at several choral and music education conferences.

Dr. Perry has published articles on choral music education in the Choral Journal and International Journal of Women Composers. She has been The-recipient of several teaching awards, most notably the Connecticut ACDA "Conductor of the Year" award in 1994, and membership to the "Excellence in Teaching" Honor Roll at CCSU in 1996 and 1998.

Dr. Perry attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois for her undergraduate degree in music education. She hold a Master of Science in Music Education from the University of Illinois and a Doctor of Music Arts degree from the Hartt School, Hartford, Connecticut.

Julie Ribchinsky
M.M.
cello, theory

email: ribchinskyj@ccsu.edu

Professor Julie Ribchinsky is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Ronald Leonard, Alan Harris and Paul Katz. An avid performer of solo and chamber works Julie founded the Orion String quartet, which received awards and fellowships to the Aspen, Taos and Bitten–Pears festivals as well as a debut under the auspices of Artist International. As member of the Connecticut Trio in residence at Central CT State University she has performed regular concerts on campus as well as at the New Britain Museum of American Art in addition to several concerts in NY at Weill Hall and abroad in Hamburg, Germany. Julie performed a concerto with the New Britain Symphony in 2000 and will again appear with the symphony in spring 2004 in a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. As a recitalist she has collaborated with pianist Linda Laurent, harpsichordist Linda Skernick and pianist William Braun.

Professor Ribchinsky received a CSU research grant and sabbatical leave in the fall of 2000 to investigate chamber music repertoire and pedagogy. She also was awarded the visiting faculty at Yale fellowship to study with Lawrence Leighton Smith. She has been elected president of the statewide chamber of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and will assume that position in 2004. As president-elect of that body she organized the first statewide chamber music workshop for high school students held at CCSU in the fall of 2003. She regularly presents workshops for the annual Connecticut Music Educators Association and will be presenting a chamber music workshop at that conference in the spring of 2004.

As a member of the faculty at CCSU, professor Ribchinsky teaches applied cello and cello and bass pedagogy and ear training courses. She coaches chamber music and co-directs the university Sinfonietta with Dr. Daniel D'Addio.

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Tom Seddon
D.M.A. Music Ed./Wind Conducting
band, conducting, music education, trumpet

email: seddonjo@ccsu.edu

Tom Seddon has completed a D.M.A. in Music Education with an emphasis in conducting at The Hartt School, University of Hartford . In addition he holds a Master of Music Education from The Hartt School and a B. S. in Music Education from Lebanon Valley College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Seddon has also done graduate work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Seddon has done conducting study with H. Robert Reynolds, James F. Keene, Jerry Junkin, Michael Heithcock, Glen Adsit, and Harold Farberman. He has also done trumpet study with Ray Sasaki, Michael Ewald, Chris Gekker, Jerome Callet, Tim Erdman, Jay Lichtmann, Roger Murtha, and participated in master classes with Armando Ghitalla, Paul Merkelo and Charles Schlueter among others. Mr. Seddon is an active performer in the greater Hartford area.

In the area of education Dr. Seddon has served on faculties of Middle and High Schools in Pennsylvania , New York and at Litchfield High School in Litchfield Connecticut . His public school teaching includes work at all levels from elementary to high school. Dr. Seddon has appeared as a clinician and presenter for conferences and done work as an adjudicator. He is also teaches trumpet and is the Assistant Director of the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble at The Hartt School Community Division.

Dr. Seddon's research emphasis is twofold the first being in the area of conducting technique which was a focus of his dissertation entitled: “The Development of a Criterion Reference Rating Instrument for the Evaluation, Teaching and Training of Undergraduate Conductors”. The second is related and deals with the efficiency of rehearsal in the instrumental classroom and the development of aural teaching approaches for instrumental student in a large rehearsal setting.

At present Dr. Seddon is an Assistant Professor of Music at Central Connecticut State University . Dr. Seddon's duties include directing the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic and Marching Bands, teaching methods classes for music education majors, supervising student teachers and teaching graduate and undergraduate instrumental conducting.