Dr. Mario Chiarello
Bass Instructor
605.274.5451
chiarellom@sf.k12.sd.us

F. Mario Chiarello is the string bass instructor at Augustana College. He is also the orchestra director at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls and is principal bassist for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. He is active in the Great Plains Bass Fest as a head clinician and the Sioux Falls Public Schools in-service workshop as a clinician. He holds memberships in the SDMEA and the International Society of Bassists. He received his bachelor of music degree at the Eastman School of Music in Performance, and his M.M.A. in performance and his D.M.A. in performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa.

  Geoff Gunderson
  Guitar Instructor
  605.274.5451
  geoff.gunderson@augie.edu

 Geoff Gunderson teaches applied guitar. He was a founding member and singer/vocalist/songwriter of the band Wakefield, which achieved regional success in the 1980s and opened for ZZ Top, Head East, Gloria Estefan (with the Miami Sound Machine) and others. While in high school, Gunderson began his study of classical guitar at the University of South Dakota through a unique learning program and has continued since. He became an approved teacher of the Suzuki Guitar method, a classical guitar method emphasizing the young student. He currently plays guitar and sings with the Sioux Falls-based band Jukebox Zeroes, which was voted a local best Sioux Falls band in 2007. Geoff is also an active member of the worship team at Central Baptist Church and can be found playing solo classical and pop guitar at various venues.

Kathryn Hufnagle
Cello Instructor/Augustana String Quartet/Student String Quartet
605.274.5498
kathryn.hufnagle@augie.edu

Kathryn Hufnagle is cello instructor, second principal cellist with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Augustana String Quartet. Ms. Hufnagle has performed with the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra, Aspen, the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, National Repertory Symphony and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. She most recently studied with Stephen Graber and Michael Reynolds. She received her master of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her undergraduate degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston.

Justyna Lutow
Violin Instructor/Augustana String Quartet
605.274.5498
Justyna.Lutow@augie.edu

Justyna Solida Lutow is a violin instructor. She is associate principal second violinist for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Augustana String Quartet. She performed as soloist with the Illinois Wesleyan Civic Orchestra and the Windy City String Ensemble, and twice with the York Symphony Orchestra. She served as second violinist for the Hunt Quartet and violinist in the Solidar Quintet, with whom she was a semi-finalist in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. She has performed throughout the United States, Australia, and Europe and has played in master classes given by Rachel Barton Pine, Keith Conant, Sharon Polifrone, Mark Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, the Pacifica Quartet and David Finkel of the Emerson Quartet. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Molendorf Scholarship and a P.A. position of the Graduate Quartet at UW-Madison. She received her master and bachelor of music degrees from University of Wisconsin-Madison as a student of David Perry.

Dr. Karren Melik-Stepanov
Cello Instructor/Chamber String Ensemble
605.274.5407
kjmlik@q.com

Karren Melik-Stepanov is a cello instructor and directs the Chamber String Ensemble. He has appeared as a recitalist, a soloist and a chamber musician in America, Southern Europe, North Africa, the Baltic Republics and the Caucasian republics. In addition to playing with the leading chamber groups and being a principal of several orchestras in Russia, he was professor of music at the National Conservatory of Music in Baku (former USSR). Many of his former students are now pursuing musical careers in the USA, Spain, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Finland, the Baltic Republics, Israel and Armenia.

Dr. Melik-Stepanov earned his bachelor and master of music degrees with honors and also an Artist’s Diploma in cello performance. He later earned his DMA degrees in cello performance and chamber music from Yerevan National Conservatory of Music, and he counts one of the greatest cellists in cello performance history, Mstislav Rostropovich, as his principal cello teacher.

Tyler Sieh
Viola Instructor/Augustana String Quartet
tyler.sieh@augie.edu  

A native of Minnesota, violist Tyler Sieh studied with Thomas Turner of the Minnesota Orchestra before attending the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Mark Jackobs and Lynne Ramsey. He is associate principal second violist for the South  Dakota Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Augustana String Quartet. Mr. Sieh also performs all across the United States as a member of the United States Air Force Strings.

Prior to his service with the Air Force Strings, Tyler was a substitute member of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, in addition to substitute violist with the Akron Symphony and the Erie Philharmonic. He also performed as principal viola of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, Tyler has performed with the National Gallery Orchestra, the Dominion Symphony Orchestra, the Ars Nova Chamber Ensemble, and is a founding member of the Oleana Chamber Players.

Mr. Sieh has appeared in recital at the Kennedy Center and is an alumnus of the ENCORE School for Strings, the Kent Blossom Music Festival and the Round Top International Festival-Institute, where he had the opportunity to perform in recital with members of the Minnesota and San Francisco Orchestras, as well as members of faculty of the Juilliard School and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.

Dr. Christopher Stanichar
Director of Orchestral Activities/Music History/Conducting
605.274.5233
christopher.stanichar@augie.edu

Christopher Stanichar is Associate Professor and Director of Orchestras at Augustana College (Sioux Falls, SD), where he conducts the Augustana Orchestra, working closely with the highly acclaimed Augustana Faculty String Quartet, a professional in-residence ensemble. He has been recognized with several awards by the Augustana College community, and is the current recipient of the Jane and Charles Zaloudek Faculty Research Fellowship.  His other musical positions include Music Director of South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra (SDSYO), Principal Conductor of the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra (NISO) in Sioux Center, Iowa, and Music Director of Worthington Area Orchestra (Minnesota).

Christopher is a popular guest conductor, having conducted some of the finest professional orchestras in Europe, Russia, Mexico, and the United States.  Some of the orchestras he has conducted include:  Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra (Russia), Sochi Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónico Juvenil del Estado de Veracruz, Everett Symphony Orchestra, among many others. In 2003 he led the Sochi Philharmonic in a concert that was broadcast on national television, and featured him in an interview. The Pravda Cevera praised his work with Arkhangelsk Chamber Orchestra, writing “It was as though he were telling a story with his hands.”  A frequent guest conductor in Mexico, the Diario Xalapa called him as “one of the best musical conductors in Latin America” (“Stanichar (es) uno de los mejores conductores musicales de América Latina.”)

An important part of Christopher’s mission in life is to foster a love of orchestral music among people of all ages.  He is frequently invited to conduct orchestras for all-states and honors programs throughout the country, and he serves as Music Director of the Youth Orchestras for South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSYO).

Christopher earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts in conducting at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he was a student of Gerhard Samuel.   He has been selectively chosen as a participant in conducting master classes with some of the finest teaching pedagogues, including Ilya Musin, Daniel Lewis, Ken Keisler, Gerard Schwartz, John Farrer, and Donald Thulean. 

One of the most significant events in Christopher’s conducting career occurred in 1996 when he was awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study conducting with Bystrík Reÿucha in Slovakia, appearing as a guest conductor with many of the greatest orchestras in that country.  In 1997 Christopher was appointed Conducting Assistant for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, enabling him to work closely with Maestros Jesús López-Cobos and Erich Kunzel.  He has served as the Music Director for many fine regional orchestras, including Seven Hills Sinfonietta (Cincinnati), Orchestra Omaha, and Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra (Omaha). 

Christopher is an active composer and his works have been commissioned and performed by St Petersburg State Symphony, Sochi Symphony Orchestra, Chrysostomos Choir, Binghamton Philharmonic, Orchestra Omaha, the Wister Quartet, and many others.  In 2006, Christopher’s original work, Trisagion, was used in the Ric Burns’ PBS documentary, Andy Warhol.  TrevCo Music is the proud publisher of many of his works.  In 2010, his work Bremen Town Musicians was performed four times by the Baylor Symphony Orchestra (including popular performances in Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas). Most recently he was awarded a Granskou Grant to write a full-length cantata, St. Mark Passion, for the 150th anniversary of Augustana College.  The work premiered in March 2011, performed by Augustana Chamber Choir for several hundred people, and the performance was released on DVD and is scheduled for an encore performance in April 2012.

Christopher values his time with his family above all else.  He enjoys making music with his wife, Kristi, a talented oboist.  They are blessed four wonderful children, all of whom are active in music.

John Tomkins
Bassoon Instructor
605.274.5445
john_tomkins@yahoo.com

John Tomkins is bassoon instructor. He serves as principal bassoon of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and Dakota Wind Quintet. He has attended many summer music festivals, including the Conductor’s Retreat at Medowmak, Kent/Blossom Summer Music, the Festival-Institute at Round Top, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Ensembles he has performed with include the Sioux Falls Municipal Band, the Cleveland Pops, and the Cleveland Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with the Sioux Falls Municipal Band, South Dakota Chamber Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. He was the soloist for the world premiere of Jeffrey Paul’s Bassoon Concerto with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. He holds a bachelor of music degree summa cum laude from the Ohio State University, and his master of music degree is from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His primary teachers were Christopher Weait, Ronald Phillips and John Clouser.

Anna Vorhes
Harp Instructor/Non-Western Music Instructor
605.274.5412
anna.vorhes@augie.edu

Anna Vorhes teaches harp, non-western music and music appreciation. She has performed with civic symphonies of Aberdeen, Huron, Watertown, Rapid City, Brookings, Fargo and the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra. She is the principal harpist with the Sioux City Symphony and is a member of the South Dakota Symphony, serving as interim principal and currently as second harpist. She has performed with numerous community, college and secondary school choirs throughout the region.

Ms. Vorhes spent more than a decade as a South Dakota Arts Council touring artist. She is a member of the American Harp Society, is a permanently nationally-certified teacher of music with the Music Teachers National Association, and has served various positions in the local, state and national organization. She organizes a harp ensemble concert every other year, with 25 to 40 harpists participating. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., with majors in music and psychology and a master of music degree in harp performance from the University of Arizona.

Christian Zamora
Violin Instructor/Augustana String Quartet
605.274.5498
christian.zamora@augie.edu

Christian Zamora is violin instructor, associate principal first violinist with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Augustana String Quartet. He has music degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and ENCORE School for Strings. He has participated in the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford University and numerous master classes and coaching with people such as Thomas Rosenberg, Margo Garret, Tim Lovelace and Lydia Artemew. His orchestral experience includes the Mississippi Valley Orchestra in Minneapolis, Minn., where he acted as concertmaster. Prior to the Mississippi Valley Orchestra, he served as concertmaster and principal second for the Puccini Festival Orchestra in Kansas City, Mo.