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Academics - Performing Arts Faculty

Dr. Elizabeth W. Zobel - Department Chair


Dr. Elizabeth W. Zobel
Performing Arts Department Chair
D.M.A., University of Colorado
at Boulder
M.M. Butler University
B.A. Mus. Northwestern University
Blackburn College Choir and Voices; Applied Voice; Opera History
134 Bothwell
(217) 854-3231 ext. 4264
E-mail: Elizabeth Zobel		 Elizabeth W. Zobel is chair of the performing arts department at Blackburn College where she conducts the Blackburn College Choir and the Blackburn Voices chamber ensemble. Additionally, she teaches conducting, music theory, and voice lessons.

A member of the American Choral Director’s Association, Dr. Zobel received the Julius Herford Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Research in 2003 for her dissertation on Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Dr. Zobel earned the D.M.A degree in choral music from the University of Colorado, the M.M. degree in conducting from Butler University, and the B.A. degree in music from Northwestern University. In 2005, she studied advanced conducting techniques with the world-renowned conductor Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival.

Dr. Zobel’s professional performing experience includes seasons with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and St. Martin’s Chamber Choir. Additionally, she has conducted ensembles of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and has taught music in grades K-12 in Oakland California. Dr. Zobel has also studied at the University of Munich and taught English in Bremen, Germany with a grant from the Pädagogischer Austauschdienst and the Fulbright Scholar Program.
Mr. David Sollish

Mr. David Sollish
 Professor of Theatre
BFA, West Virginia University
MS, Illinois State University
PhD (ABD) Bowling Green State University
David S. Sollish joins the Blackburn faculty as he finishes his Ph.D. in Theatre (with a focus in Musical Theatre Direction) from Bowling Green State University. He holds a Master of Science in Theatre History from Illinois State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from West Virginia University.

A professional actor and director, David has worked with theatres across the Eastern United States from Chicago to Florida, Houston to New York. He has worked with such companies as the Lexington Children’s Theatre (KY), Creative Arts Theatre (Tampa, FL), Summer Music Theatre (Macomb, IL), the West Virginia Shakespeare Festival (founding member), and has been featured as a guest artist at Kingwood College in Houston, Texas. For eleven seasons he has acted, directed, and served as Historian/Director of Marketing and Development for the West Virginia Public Theatre. Over twenty-five years in the professional theatre, he has worked with some of the best and brightest artists from Broadway, television, and film.

An up and coming scholar and educator, he has been published in The Sondheim Review and has an upcoming publication in Theatre Journal. Additionally, several chapters of his Master’s thesis “‘Everybody’s Got the Right’: Stephen Sondheim and the Redefinition of the American Dream” are being reviewed for publication. David also travels to college campuses as a guest lecturer on Stephen Sondheim and Musical Theatre including a lecture in Fall of 2009 at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

David’s professional affiliations include Association for Theatre in Higher Education, American Society for Theatre Research, Mid-America Theatre Conference, Illinois Theatre Association, Actors Equity Association, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Dr. See Tsai Chan

Dr. See Tsai Chan
Adjunct Music Professor
D.M.A., Eastman School of Music,
University of Rochester
M.M. Northwestern University
B.A. The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Applied Piano and Organ; Ensemble  Accompanist
133 Bothwell
(217) 854-3231 ext. 4329
E-mail: See Tsai Chan 		See Tsai Chan is a member of the music faculty at Blackburn College and lecturer at the University of Illinois, Springfield. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Organ Performance from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester and her Master of Music with the honor of Pi Kappa Lambda from Northwestern University with a double major in Organ Performance and Choral Conducting. In addition to her extensive recital work both in the United States and in Hong Kong, Dr. Chan has significant experience teaching music and conducting choirs. In her work with the Hong Kong Children’s Choir, Dr. Chan has conducted overseas tours to Shanghai, Beijing and Japan. Their performances were highly acclaimed and broadcast on Shanghai National Television and Radio Hong Kong.
   
Mr. Richard Haglund

Mr. Richard Haglund
Music Appreciation
M.F.A., Bard College
B.M. University of Minnesota
136 Bothwell
(217) 854-3231 ext. 4266
E-mail: Richard Haglund		 In addition to teaching Music Appreciation and Introduction to Music Theory Richard Haglund is known as an Orchestra conductor in Illinois and throughout the world. He is beginning his seventh year as Assistant Conductor for the Illinois Symphony and Music Director for the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony and Community Orchestra. In Chicago he is the Music Director for the Erato Chamber Orchestra.

Maestro Haglund has conducted professional ensembles around the globe. These include the Camerata Chamber Orchestra in Cluj, Romania, the St. Petersburg Hermitage Orchestra in Russian and the Varna Philharmonic and Grabovo Chamber Orchestra in Bulgaria. In the summer of 2009 he was invited for a second appearance with the Bantul Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania. Additionally, he guest conducted the Acapella Orchestra in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova in Chişinău.

Haglund's diverse experience includes Pops Conductor for the Greater Newburg Symphony Orchestra's Summer season, Assistant Conductor of the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Assistant Conductor for the Bard Community Chorus, and Founder and Conductor of the Sangamon Valley Community Orchestra in Springfield, Illinois.

Haglund Received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota. He studied with Gustav Meier in Kiev, Ukraine, where he conducted the National Symphony Orchestra and Radio Choir of the Ukraine, as well as in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the Peter the Great Music Academy. In 2003, he completed a Masters of Fine Arts in Orchestral Conducting at Bard College in New York under the tutelage of Harold Farberman. Haglund has also studied conducting with Leon Botstein, Paul Vermel, Larry Rachleff, and Murry Sidlin. In addition to conducting, he has studied composition individually with world-renowned composer Joan Tower.
 
 
Dr. Junghyun Kim
 

Dr. Junghyun Kim
Applied Piano
D.M.A. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.M. University of Southern California
B.M. Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea)		 Jung-Hyun Kim is adjunct music professor at Blackburn College and a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Illinois in Piano Pedagogy. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the University of Illinois and presently working to complete additional Master’s Degree in Piano Pedagogy.

She studied in Frieburg, Germany with Vitaly Margulis and continued her studies with him at University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA before she became a pupil of Ian Hobson. Currently, she is continuing her piano performance studies with Ian Hobson, in addition, to studying Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Reid Alexander.

In Korea, she won prizes in the Sammick Piano Competition and the Yukyoung Piano Competition. She has additional master class studies and concert performances in Germany, Russia, and Korea. She is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association.
 
Dr. Neal Smith

Dr. Neal Smith
Ph.D., The Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford
M.M., The Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford
B.M. DePauw University
Blackburn College Band
 
Dr. Neal Smith is an associate professor of music education at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. His duties there involve teaching a wide variety of music education courses and supervising teaching internships. He received both a PhD and a masters degree in Music Education at The Hartt School of Music. Smith has guest conducted numerous regional, county, and district music festivals as well as the Hartford Chamber Players, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra and Manchester (CT) Symphony. As an administrator he served as the Executive Director of the Hartt Summer Young Music Festival, the Roberts Center for Young Leadership in the Arts, and the Paranov Arts Partnerships. He is well known as a presenter on issues related to the use of technology in music education and in the application of assessment in music. Currently Dr. Smith serves as the special area chair in technology for IMEA, and is a certified instructor for the Technology Institute for Music Educators.

Dr. Matthew Warnock

Dr. Matthew Warnock
D.M.A. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.Mus. Western Michigan University
B.Mus. McGill University
Professor of Guitar
 
Guitarist Matthew Warnock has received jazz performance degrees from McGill University, Western Michigan University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as performance certificates in classical guitar and piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music. He has studied with some of the top names in jazz including Fred Hersch, Billy Hart, Gene Bertoncini, Jack Grassel, Roddy Ellias, Tom Knific, Chip McNeill and many others. As a student he has been a member of several Downbeat award winning jazz ensembles and has performed at international conferences and concert halls including Alice Tulley Hall in New York's Lincoln Center.

Matt is currently on faculty at Western Illinois University, Blackburn College, Culver-Stockton College and the Interlochen Arts Camp. As a full-time lecturer at WIU Matt teaches undergraduate and graduate level classical and jazz guitar students, directs the jazz and classical guitar ensembles and serves as director for the WIU Guitar Festival. Outside of his regular teaching duties he has given clinics and workshops across the US and Canada including Concordia University, the Merit School of Music, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Algoma University and University High School in Tucson, Az.

As a performer Matt has shared the stage with Randy Brecker, Jim McNeely, Slide Hampton, Stefon Harris and other jazz luminaries. He has performed in concert halls throughout the United States, Canada and Europe as both a sideman and leader, and has premiered or performed several new works for guitar written by classical composers Dr. Erik Lund and Dr. Eric Simonson. Matt continues to maintain a busy schedule of concert performances in both the classical and jazz genres throughout the US and Canada.

Matt is also an accomplished music journalist and has authored books for both Mel Bay and Hal Leonard publications. His instructional articles, product reviews and interviews have been featured in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine and the Jazz Guitar Gazette among other publications. As well, he has been a columnist for Modern Guitars Magazine since 2008 and is currently an associate editor, columnist and member of the board of advisors for Guitar International magazine.

Mrs. Mary Ann Harp

Mrs. Mary Ann Harp
Dance Instructor and Movement to Stage
 Hudson 304A
217-854-3231, Ext. 4388
E-mail: Mary Ann Harp
Performing Arts/ Physical Education

BA, Blackburn College
CDE, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters
CYT, Yogamatrix of Orlando, Florida

Movement for Performers, Fundamentals of PE Activity: Dance, Ballroom, Ballet, Aerobics, Jazz, Yoga

Blackburn College Dance Club
Summer Repertory Theatre at Blackburn College