Elizabeth Arnold

Elizabeth Arnold is an Assistant Professor of the University of Kentucky where she teaches private voice and coordinates the undergraduate vocal majors. She received her DMA in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Sacred Music in Choral Conducting from Emory University. Her performing focuses, primarily, on oratorio and Baroque Music. She has studied German oratorio at the Benjamin Britten-Peter Pears School in Aldeburgh, England with Kurt Equiluz, Ruth Drucker, and Alastair Ross. She has also participated in Stephen Stubb's summer Baroque opera program, Accademia d'Amore, in Seattle, Washington. She has coached with other Baroque specialists such as Julianne Baird, Evelynn Tubb, and the American Bach Soloists and been involved in many performances and recording projects with the Atlanta based group, New Trinity Baroque Ensemble. Currently, she collaborates with UK faculty member Dieter Hennings Yeoman who performs on lute, theorbo, and guitar.

Before assuming her duties at UK, she taught at Transylvania University where she directed the Transylvania Singers (Women's Choir). In her role of vocal technician for the UK Women's Choir, she is working with Dr. Lori Hetzel, director, to provide a model for overall vocal health from private studio to choral rehearsal.

Paul Barte

Dr. Paul T. Barte has been a member of the music faculty at the Ohio University School of Music since 1997. In 2003, he was tenured and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. At OU he teaches organ and harpsichord, as well as keyboard literature and music history classes. He was the 2005 recipient of the School of Music's Distinguished Teaching Award. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he also serves as University Organist.

From 1990-97, Barte was on the music faculty of Idaho State University in Pocatello. He is a Minnesota native and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota, where he was an organ student of Heinrich Fleischer and Dean Billmeyer. Studying with George Ritchie, he completed a master's degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1987. He began doctoral studies in organ performance at the Eastman School of Music as a student of Russell Saunders in 1987. He graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Eastman in 1995, having completed a dissertation on the keyboard manuscripts of Johann Christoph Bach (1673-1727) of Gehren, a second cousin of J. S. Bach. The dissertation was written under the supervision of Buxtehude scholar Kerala Snyder.

He has performed extensively in the United States and at the Taborkirche in Leipzig, Germany. Recent performances include recitals on the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle organ. Barte has presented recitals and workshops at Regional and National conventions of The American Guild of Organists (AGO) and the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA). These have included two sessions on Bach, one given at the 2001 MTNA convention in Washington, D.C. and the second at the 2003 convention in Salt Lake City.

Barte currently serves as the AGO's Regional Councillor for Region V. In this capacity he oversees the Guild's activities in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Michigan. In 2000, 2003 and 2007, he served as director for AGO-sponsored Pipe Organ Encounters (POE) held at Ohio University. POEs provide junior high and high school students an opportunity for intensive exposure to the organ in a summer-camp environment. In 2000 he coordinated Ohio University's "Bachfest 2000" which featured presentations by eminent Bach scholars Christoph Wolff and George Stauffer. Dr. Barte has diverse experience as a church musician, having served Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, UCC, Latter-day Saint, and Unitarian congregations in Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Idaho and Ohio.

Lori Hetzel

Dr. Lori Hetzel is the Associate Director of Choral Activities and professor of Choral Music Education at the University of Kentucky where she conducts the Women's Choir and the a cappella group "Paws and Listen." She also teaches graduate and undergraduate secondary methods courses and undergraduate conducting. In conjunction with the undergraduate choral methods courses, she has pioneered a unique partnership program with a local high school. As a result of this program the choral music education students at the University of Kentucky are receiving "hands on" experience and immediate feedback early in their curriculum. Among her many accomplishments, she was the recipient of the University of Kentucky award "Great Teacher of the Year" in 2000 and has published articles in College Music Symposium and Southeastern Music Education Journal.

The UK Women's Choir has been invited to perform at both MENC and ACDA Southern Division Conventions and in 2003 were featured at the ACDA National Convention in New York City. Additionally the choir has toured internationally including performances at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris and St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna. In 2008 the choir was featured at both the ACDA Southern Division Convention, Louisville and the MENC National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In June 2009 the choir took their second international tour with performances at St. Peters Basilica, Rome and St. Marks Cathedral, Venice.

A native of Wisconsin, Dr. Hetzel received her B.A. degree in Music Education, Summa cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. She received her M.M. degree from the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory, where she studied conducting with Eph Ehly. Her D.M.A. degree is in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University with Charles K. Smith. An active clinician and guest conductor, Dr. Hetzel has most recently conducted All-State and Honor choirs in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee and South Carolina.

Jane Johnson

Jane Johnson received a B.M.M.E. degree from the University of Kentucky where she studied organ with Prof. Arnold Blackburn. She holds a Master of Arts degree with an emphasis in Church Music from Lexington Theological Seminary and a Master of Music degree with an emphasis in Sacred Music from Kentucky, where she continues to study organ and harpsichord with Dr. Schuyler Robinson. Jane serves as organist at Crestwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lexington, and is also Director of Student Affairs for the College of Fine Arts at UK. She has earned the AGO Service Playing and Colleague certificates.

Nicole Keller

Nicole Keller is in demand as a solo and chamber music recitalist and clinician in the United States. She enjoys exploring all aspects of organ repertoire, especially pairing new music for the instrument with the staples of the repertoire. She performs regularly as a solo and collaborative artist on the organ, piano and harpsichord, exploring organ duo repertoire with Timothy Olsen, Kenan Professor of Organ at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC.

Ms. Keller serves as Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Church Episcopal in Hudson, Ohio where she oversees a vibrant music ministry dedicated to highest standards of excellence in music for worship. Under her leadership, the church has implemented a successful monthly concert series followed by traditional Anglican Evensong led by the Canterbury Singers of Christ Church. The Trinity Scholar program provides an internship program for aspiring organists, vocalists and conductors. The St. Cecilia Choir (grades 2-6) is enrolled in the Royal School of Church Music curriculum and provides leadership in worship services every week. The choirs will be in residence at Bristol Cathedral in England in the summer of 2011.

Ms. Keller is co-director Festival of Liturgical Arts of the Western Reserve (FLAWR), a five-day conference devoted to exploring the symbiotic relationship between music and preaching. FLAWR will debut in June of 2011, co-hosted by Christ Church Episcopal and Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, OH. Together with co-director Rev. Brian Suntken, Ms. Keller has assembled a distinguished roster of clinicians and guest performers for the first conference, including Dr. Gerre Hancock, Todd Wilson, Professor Thomas G. Long of Emory University, and Rev. Mitties MacDonald DeChamplain of The General Seminary in New York.

In August of 2010 Ms. Keller was an instructor in the Internationale Orgelakademie at St. Stephan's Cathedral in Passau, Germany. The course focused on American and English organ music and included students from several countries in Europe. In conjunction with the course, Ms. Keller played a recital at St. Stephan's Cathedral and at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Waldkirchen with Horst Buchholz, Canon for Music and worship at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland.

Ms. Keller has been the continuist for the Baldwin-Wallace College Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra since 2000. Works include several performances of the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, the Mass in b minor, the Christmas Oratorio, and a host of cantatas, concerti and choral and orchestral chamber music of Bach and his colleagues and predecessors. She has also played numerous chamber music recitals with flute, cello, brass and voice on organ and harpsichord with members of the Baldwin-Wallace College faculty and members of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Ms. Keller received the Performer's Certificate and the Master of Music Degree in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York under the tutelage of David Higgs. While at Eastman, she studied continuo with Arthur Haas and improvisation with Dr. Gerre Hancock. She received the Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio, studying piano with George Cherry and Jean Stell and organ with Margaret Scharf. She was previously on the faculties of Cleveland State University and the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music.

Holly Salisbury

Holly Salisbury was the director of the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts from 1979-2005. She was responsible for general management of the facility, including programming three series, supervising staff and interns, and managing physical plant, fiscal affairs, and fundraising. Under her leadership, the UK Singletary Center for the Arts received the 2004 Governor's Award for Community Arts. Through the Kennedy Center for the Arts and the Woodford County Schools, she developed a partnership whereby every child in the system attended a performance based on the core curriculum; she also developed an 18-month community jazz residency through a grant from the Lila Wallace Foundation.

Holly is a seasoned consultant and grant writer who has worked with theatre, music, and visual arts organizations as well as local arts councils. She is the author of ArtsWorks, a children's art activity book. She has been a reviewer on many Kentucky Arts Council grant panels as well as a National Endowment for the Arts grants panel. She has served on several arts and community organization boards throughout central Kentucky and is currently on the boards of directors of the Governor's School for the Arts, Central Music Academy, and the Family Resource Center Advisory Board for Meadowthorpe and Sandersville elementary schools. She also teaches 21 private art students.

Charlie Steele

Charlie W. Steele is minister of music/organist at Brevard-Davidson River Presbyterian Church in Brevard, NC. He holds both a BA (With Honors) and MA degrees in music from Radford University, Radford, VA. The Doctor of Musical Arts degree was earned from the University of Kentucky where his organ study was with Dr. Schuyler Robinson. Steele's DMA dissertation topic was Selected Late Twentieth-Century Organ Settings of Five Shape Note Hymn Tunes Based on William Walker's "Southern Harmony" (1854).

In addition to his full-time church position, Steele has served as an adjunct music faculty member at Brevard College teaching private organ. He has performed recitals in the Southeast and having performed on organ with the Brevard Chamber Orchestra, the Brevard Community Band, and the Brevard Philharmonic Orchestra.

Larry Sharp

Larry Sharp received the degrees of Bachelor of Science, Doctor of Dental Medicine, and Master of Science in Dentistry from the University of Kentucky, along with specialty certification in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics. Currently, he is an assistant professor (part-time) at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry with the Pediatric Dental Residency Program and maintains a private practice of orthodontics in Winchester and Harrodsburg. Additionally, he serves as organist and director of music at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Winchester. He is a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists.

Brian Suntkin

The Reverend Brian Scott Suntken is the rector of Christ Church, Hudson, Ohio where he has served since October of 2005. Brian earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Vocal Performance at The Manhattan School of Music in New York City in 1983. During his study at Manhattan Brian worked for the American Guild of Organists National Headquarters in New York. He had completed the first year of a Masters degree at Manhattan when the French Government awarded him with a scholarship to study in Paris at the L'Ecole Normale de Musique. Brian earned his Masters of Divinity degree from The General Theological Seminary in 1989.

Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1961, the son of a Dutch Reformed minister, Brian grew up in New York City and attended a private Quaker School, The Friends Seminary. During his High School years, Brian's family moved to Upper Montclair, New Jersey. Since his ordination to the priesthood in 1989, Brian has a long and distinguished service to the Episcopal Church. Brian served as Vicar at Saint Patrick's Mission in Mooresville, North Carolina. In the nine years, under his leadership, the congregation grew from 74 to 500 members. In March of 2001, the community of Saint Patrick's opened the doors to their permanent spiritual home - a two million dollar facility located on fifteen acres of land that serves as a base for the community's ministry both locally and nationally. For his work in congregational development, Brian and the Mission were recognized by The Zacchaeus Project, a 50th anniversary project of the Episcopal Church Foundation, and featured at Trinity Institute's National Conference "Roots & Wings" in New York City in 1999.

For the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, Brian served on The Commission on Ministry, The Special Commission on Mission Strategy, The Committee to Select the XI Bishop of North Carolina, an alternate delegate to the General Convention 2000; Diocesan Liturgical and Stewardship Committees; on the faculty of the Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Congregations; on the Board of the Thompson's Children Home in Charlotte, and as Dean of the Charlotte Convocation.

A community activist, Brian managed the first successful campaign entitled "Men for Change" for the Shelter for Battered Women in Charlotte, North Carolina. Brian was a featured presenter at the Second Annual Corporate Conference on Domestic Violence sponsored by Philip Morris USA.

Before serving in Mooresville, Brian served as Associate Rector at the Church of the Ascension in Hickory, North Carolina, 1989-1991, and as Associate Rector at Christ Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1991-1996.

Brian is co-director Festival of Liturgical Arts of the Western Reserve (FLAWR), a five-day conference devoted to exploring the symbiotic relationship between music and preaching. FLAWR will debut in June of 2011, co-hosted by Christ Church Episcopal and Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, OH. Together with co-director Nicole Keller, Brian has assembled a distinguished roster of clinicians and guest performers for the first conference, including Dr. Gerre Hancock, Todd Wilson, Professor Thomas G. Long of Emory University, and Rev. Mitties MacDonald DeChamplain of The General Seminary in New York.

Brian enjoys classical and jazz music, the opera, theater, gardening, cooking, travel, golf, hockey, baseball and anything to do with Ancient Near Eastern history.

Robert Whitaker

Since July 1988, Robert Whitaker has served as music director for Catholic churches in Kentucky and Indiana. In August 2006 he was named director of music for the Cathedral of Christ the King in Lexington, Kentucky where he oversees an active liturgical music program including the cathedral choir, folk choir, boys and girls choirs, funeral choir, schola cantorum, an instrumental ensemble, cantors, a concert series, and a full-time organist/assistant director of music.

Robert holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Thomas More College in northern Kentucky and the degree of Master of Arts in music with a concentration in church music and liturgy and an emphasis in choral conducting from Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana. He has also earned the Choirmaster and Colleague certificates from the American Guild of Organists. In addition to the AGO, Robert is a member of the American Choral Directors Association and the Royal School of Church Music in America, serves as chair for the Music Commission of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington, and sings tenor in the Lexington-based early music chamber choir ECCO. Robert has studied conducting with Dr. Graeme Cowen, Dr. John McIntyre and Dr. Scott Buchanan as well as chironomy and interpretation of Gregorian chant under renowned chant expert Rev. Lawrence Heiman. He has participated in master classes and/or sung under conductors Paul Salamunovich, James Jordan, Sir David Willcocks, David Hill, Bruce Neswick, Simon Carrington, Anthony DiCello, Richard Webster, Earl Rivers, John Leman, Erich Kunzel, and Robert Porco.