David Gresham, Conductor

David Gresham serves as Director of Choral Activities at Brevard College. During his tenure, he has greatly increased participation in the choirs and has overseen a significant influx of voice majors at the College. He is a frequent guest clinician with choirs of all age ranges, and he enjoys helping singers work toward a vibrant and healthy vocal tone while exploring the musical demands of choral literature. 

In Brevard, he also serves as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Transylvania Choral Society, Minister of Music at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, and summer faculty with the Brevard Music Center. 

Dr. Gresham has composed, edited, and arranged several pieces for choir. In addition to his conducting and composing, Dr. Gresham is an active singer and studio teacher. He has served as President and District Governor of the North Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and has had students perform for that organization at the state, regional, and national levels. As a singer, he has been most active as an oratorio soloist and recitalist, performing with churches, civic choruses, and professional organizations.  

Dr. Gresham holds the Bachelor of Music degree, two Master of Music degrees (one in conducting and one in vocal performance and pedagogy), and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

June Huang, Violin

June Huang  is the Director of Strings and Assistant Professor of Violin at George Mason University. Prof. Huang holds a Master of Arts in Violin Performance from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she was a member of the Young Artist String Quartet. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and attended the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an undergraduate. Prof. Huang studied at the Meadowmount School of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, Music Festival at Round Top, and Kneisel Hall. Her primary teachers include Jens Ellerman, Stephen Clapp, Ronald Copes, and Marilyn McDonald.

An active performer in the Washington, DC area, she has performed with the National Philharmonic, Harrisburg Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Wolf Trap Orchestra, Washington Ballet Orchestra, and Amadeus Orchestra. She is a frequent chamber music collaborator and has appeared at the Staunton Music Festival, Red Lodge Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, and Virginia Virtuosi. A specialist on the baroque violin, Prof. Huang has played and recorded with Opera Lafayette, Four Nations, Bach Sinfonia, and REBEL Baroque Orchestra. Leadership positions have included concertmaster of the Washington Bach Consort and the National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra.

Prof. Huang’s passion for furthering the field of violin pedagogy led to the development of new degree programs at GMU. She is a guest clinician and lecturer at many camps, schools, workshops and clinics. She is certified by the Suzuki Association of the Americas and has received research grants from the Levine School of Music and the Music Teachers National Association. She currently serves as a member of the American String Teachers Association editorial board. Prof. Huang is a faculty member of the Blue Ridge Suzuki Camp and was the Founder and Director of String Camp/Strings Plus at Levine Music in Washington DC, a summer program that celebrated 27 seasons.

Edith Gettes, Violin

Edith Gettes started violin lessons at age 5. She majored in Music Performance at UNC Chapel Hill, where her teacher was Richard Luby. While she studied with him, Luby founded Ensemble Courant, one of the nation’s first Period Instrument groups, and taught Edith techniques for playing Baroque, as well as modern violin. She went on to receive a Masters of Music degree from Indiana University, studied pedagogy in Japan with Shinichi Suzuki, and participated in the Solo Studies Program at London’s Guildhall School. 

She has taught and performed throughout the United States, including in the North Carolina and Asheville Symphonies, Spoleto Festival, Victoria Bach Festival, Colorado Music Festival, and Asheville Baroque Concerts. 

Part of a musical family, Edith especially loves playing with her sister, cellist Gretchen Gettes. They freelanced together for many years, providing their specially arranged duos for countless weddings, anniversaries, retirements, birthdays and other festivities. When not playing music, Edith can be found walking her dogs, writing, gardening or practicing psychiatry at Asheville’s Pisgah Institute. 

Hunter Harris, Viola

Hunter Harris is a violist/violinist who specializes in early and contemporary music. His music experience began at an early age with piano lessons. In 2000, he decided viola was the instrument for him. Attaining a BM from the University of South Carolina, he specialized in music education where he gained teaching experience through the University of South Carolina String Project, and student teaching.

In graduate school at the California Institute of the Arts, through the Community Arts Partnership, Hunter gained valuable teaching experience to better serve the music community. His experience as a violist/violinist has allowed him to collaborate and perform with notable musicians such as: Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, Lorenz Gamma, Malcolm Goldstein, Susan Allen, Tisha Mabee, Allan Vogel, Mark Menzies, and Wolfgang von Schweinitz. An advocate for early music, he has immersed himself into the world of historical performance practice by studying baroque violin and viola with notable baroque violinist, Susan Feldman.

Not limited to early music, he also advocates for works by modern and contemporary composers, including Tigran Mansurian, Luciano Berio, György Kurtág, Eitan Steinberg, Betty Olivero, Toshio Hosokawa, and Mauricio Kagel. In 2013, he recorded at Capitol Records, in Hollywood, for the California Institute of the Arts Jazz CD, produced by David Roitstein. Also in 2013, he performed with Mexican avant-garde theater company Teatros de Ciertos Habitantes, at Radar L.A. 2013, an international festival of contemporary theater. His teachers have included Constance Gee, Mark Menzies, Susan Feldman, and Tish Oney. 

He currently performs with the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra and may also be found in various lofts and balconies on Sunday mornings singing countertenor. His other interests include Renaissance mensural notation, Cantare super librum (a form of Renaissance vocal improvisation), as well as providing his cats a life of recreation and leisure.

Gretchen Gettes, Cello

A perfect day for Gretchen Gettes would include playing music with friends, going on a long walk, and eating cheese and crackers. Ms Gettes earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University and a Masters of Music in cello performance as a student of Lynn Harrell at the University of Southern California.

She has been on the faculty of Baltimore School for the Arts, Peabody Preparatory, and Goucher College and held playing positions in the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Baltimore Opera orchestra, Orchestra of St. John’s, and Bach in Baltimore orchestra. 

Ms. Gettes recently moved to Philadelphia and can be heard performing on viola da gamba and baroque and modern cello around the country. A passionate believer in life-long learning, she is working towards her teaching certificate in yoga and feels indebted to all the teachers in her life.

Mia Mangano, Violone

Mia Mangano started cello at an early age of 6 years old and studied at the Higher Institute of Arts of Cuba (among others), where she majored in Cello and Double Bass performance with a specialty in Baroque Cello and Viola da Gamba. Her former teachers include Vladimir Drovach and Arelis Saldivar.

In Cuba, she worked as a teacher at various schools including the Vocational School of Arts and the National School of Music as well as a full-time cellist in the renowned orchestras, Villa Clara Symphony Orchestra, Solistas de la Habana, The National Ballet and Opera Orchestra, and the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. In Mexico, she was a teacher for the symphonic project, Esperanza Azteca, and head of the contrabass cello department at the Trinitatte Philharmonie Academy of Music. She also performed as a viola-da-gamba soloist with the ancient music group, Los Tiempos Pasados. 

In 2016 she moved to Georgia where she has been part of groups such as the Gwinnett Symphony, the Michael O'Neal Singers, and Georgia Philharmonic. She is a member of the American Viola da Gamba Society and is very active in the field of historical interpretation.

Alicia Chapman, Oboe

Alicia Chapman has been on the faculty of the Hayes School of Music since 1999. Dr. Chapman is principal oboist with the Asheville Symphony, the Symphony of the Mountains, the Johnson City Symphony, and is a member of the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, where she performs on historical oboes.  

Chapman performed as a member of New York Philomusica, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and New York Kammermusiker, and has recorded on the Dorian and Newport Classics labels. She has toured internationally as a chamber musician, performing in festivals in Prague, Dresden, and Salzburg. A tour of Southeast Asia with the New York Symphonic Ensemble included concerts in Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta and Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei).  While living in New York, Alicia Chapman was an extra and sub with the Metropolitan Opera, played for several national tours with the New York City Opera and was a semi-finalist in the 1995 Lucarelli International Competition for Oboe Soloists.

At Appalachian, Dr. Chapman is the director of the Collegium Musicum and Coordinator of Woodwind chamber music.  She is a founding member of Harmonia Baroque, the Hayes School of Music's resident professional early music ensemble, performing on historical instruments. 

A native Vermonter, Alicia Chapman began musical studies with Neil Boyer at the University of Vermont. Chapman earned both Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Mannes College of Music and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the City University of New York. Her major teachers were Elaine Douvas, Ronald Roseman, and Mark Hill.  She has studied Baroque oboe with Virginia Brewer, Gail Hennessy, Washington McClain, and Marc Schachman.

Mike Perdue, Timpani

Mike Perdue is a percussionist and composer originally from rural Alabama. As a percussionist, he has performed with major symphony orchestras, chamber music ensembles, drum corps, world music groups, and Destiny's Child. 

Most of his career was in New York City, where he "clearly had fun" (New York Times). He was an artist faculty member at Manhattan School of Music, where he led the percussion ensemble and taught chamber music. As a composer, he has written works commissioned by the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, marimbist She-e Wu, the Acht Brücken festival in Cologne, and numerous student ensembles. 

Mike's affiliation with the Brevard Music Center dates back more than 22 years, where he was a student in the college division, then later a staff member. He completed his master's degree at Manhattan School of Music and earned his bachelor's degree from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music.

Barbara Weiss, Harpsichord

A versatile and engaging musician, Barbara Weiss’ diverse musical experiences range from recording and performing ancient classical Cambodian music to directing a baroque opera company to chairing a university’s early music program. She started out as a clarinet and piano player and learned recorder in high school. She studied recorder and shawm at Indiana University, where she had opportunities to perform Brandenburg concertos and the Telemann suite – what fun! 

In addition to being the director of Recorder Society chapters in Michigan and Minneapolis, she has been on the faculty of both the Oberlin Conservatory and the Peabody Institute.  She has taught at summer workshops such as the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, the Madison Early Music Festival, Mountain Collegium, and Indiana University’s Recorder Academy. She currently lives in Asheville, NC, where she performs with Muses Delight, Pan Harmonia, and the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra. Her collaborations include Belladonna, the Newberry Consort, Quicksilver, Chatham Baroque, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the King’s Noyse, Apollo’s Fire, the Chicago Opera Theater, Ensemble Vermillion and Piffaro. Shes has recorded with the Dorian, Flying Fish and Harmonia Mundi labels.

Kate Murray, Organ

Katherine Murray is the organist at St. Philip's Episcopal Church. Her continued interest in early music was forged after attending a performance of Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices as a young child. Ms. Murray made her early music debut as the harpsichordist of I Solisti di Brevard, the Brevard Music Center's long-running summer Baroque ensemble for young musicians. 

She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Dartmouth College. She later continued early music studies, including keyboard and voice, at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

Gennard Lombardozzi, Tenor

Dr. Gennard Lombardozzi is an associate professor of voice, and the director of the Vocal Music Performance Degree in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University. Establishing himself as a successful performer in opera, oratorio, and musical theater repertoire, Dr. Lombardozzi has been heard on stages throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.  Some of his roles include Tonio in La fille du régiment, Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Camille in The Merry Widow, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Rodolfo in La Boheme, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Tito in La Clemenza di Tito,  Ernesto in Don Pasquale, and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Gennard has performed with Gotham Chamber Opera, Virginia Opera, New York Festival of Song, The Glimmerglass Festival, Alba Music Festival, Knoxville Opera, Opera in the Heights, Central City Opera, New York Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of the North, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, The Hollywood Film Orchestra, and others.

In parallel to his notable performance career, Gennard has also established himself as an accomplished educator. His understanding of vocal pedagogy and its application is supported by college level teaching in outstanding music programs including Yale University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Fairfield University, Maryville College, and Pellissippi State Technical College. 

Experienced in all genres of vocal performance, Gennard's students have made their way as vocal professionals in opera, oratorio, musical theater, song writing, and music production. Gennard's students have also found success in Off-Broadway shows, television sitcoms, and commercials, and have gone on to graduate school in voice, conducting, and composition, at the Julliard School, Eastman School of Music, University of Tennessee Knoxville, University of Colorado Boulder, and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. 

Gennard completed his DMA at Stony Brook University, MM at the University of Tennessee, and BM at Concordia College Moorhead.

Bart Gilleland, Baritone

Bart Gilleland is blessed to call Brevard, NC home for himself and his family. As a stage performer, Gilleland has been captivating audiences throughout the United States and abroad for decades with his considerable stage presence and "commanding, ringing sound..." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

A versatile dramatic actor and singer, his more recent opera credits include Stanley Kowalski in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Death in Savitri, as well as title roles in Rigoletto and Don Giovanni. Other notable appearances include Horace Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Marcello in La Boheme, the four villains of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Guglielmo in Cosí fan Tutte, and Olin Blitch in Susannah. Gilleland's world premiere credits include Somebody's Children (Opera Columbus), and recording credits with the Melton Center for Jewish Studies. Gilleland’s vocal prowess has been equally utilized in the world of Oratorio, where he has earned critical praise for his "thoughtfully considered, well-executed..." (Columbus Dispatch) vocal performance in the most demanding works for baritone, including Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and the Mozart Requiem. 

As a church musician, Mr. Gilleland has performed liturgical music from plainchant to major masterworks and is blessed to be on staff at Brevard First United Methodist Church as a section leader, clinician, conductor, and resident ham. Mr. Gilleland is also humbled to be the cantorial soloist for Brevard’s Jewish Community during High Holy Days. Mr. Gilleland is a proud seventh-generation Texan and will forever be a Texan at heart. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Baylor University, and his masters and doctoral work at The Ohio State University. Nowadays, Mr. Gilleland is an active pedagogue and private voice teacher in Brevard, as well as a swim coach, father, husband, and dog dad.

Brittnee Siemon, Mezzo-soprano

Brittnee Siemon is a versatile and engaging collaborative artist. An active concert soloist, she is praised for her “powerfully expressive“ singing. Reviews hail her voice as “sublime and other-worldly.” 

Accomplishments include premieres of early and modern works, a debut at Jordan Hall in Boston, and numerous international appearances. Recent regional highlights include Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Transylvania Choral Society, an all-Handel program with Asheville Baroque Concerts, and collaborations with Amethyst Baroque of Atlanta. She is also the composer and voice of the Bobbo’s Bloody Mary Mix jingle that can be heard on Brevard’s own 102.1FM, The White Squirrel Radio.

Dr. Siemon holds degrees in Voice Performance and Music Therapy, and carries Academic and Performance Distinction from Ohio University, the University of South Carolina, and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

As the Director of Music Ministry at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Brevard, NC, and the founder of the Sounds At St Philip’s concert series she is committed to diverse community-driven initiatives celebrating Evensong, chamber music, and the growth of young people in ministry and music.

Dr. Siemon has been a faculty member at Brevard College since 2016, and currently serves as the District Governor and Membership Director to the North Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

She lives in Brevard with her husband, Rence Gunnells, son Liam, black cat Sammy, and backyard hen, Lucia.

Kathryn Gresham, Soprano

Kathryn Gresham is Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Fine Arts Division at Brevard College. The solos in part I of Messiah are a particular joy in her musical life, and she also loves performing new music. She has collaborated with composers all over the country to bring new pieces to life. Dr. Gresham holds degrees from the University of Colorado, Boston University, and Stanford University, and she is a recipient of the United Methodist Exemplary Teaching Award at Brevard College.