Faculty

Dr. Peter Folliard

Dean, School of Music

605.274.5233

peter.folliard@augie.edu

Dr. Christopher Unger

Dr. Christopher Unger was named the 5th conductor of the Augustana Band and began his tenure at the university in September 2015. Previously, Unger was the interim director of bands at the University of British Columbia. Prior to his appointment at U.B.C., Unger served as the assistant conductor of both the Eastman Wind Orchestra and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. At Eastman, Unger was honored with the Frederick Fennell Fellowship for Advanced Conducting Study, the Evan Whallon Conducting Award and the prestigious Walter Hagen Conducting Prize. His role at Eastman provided him with the opportunity to act as a producer on the Eastman Wind Ensemble’s 2013 release on Avie Records titled Stravinsky-Octet/L’Histoire du Soldat. In addition to conducting the wind ensembles, Unger worked with the Brass Guild, the Trumpet Ensemble and the Graduate Chamber Orchestra. He also was chosen to conduct a featured performance of Imis, by Massimo Luaricella, the 2011/2012 OSSIA International Composition Competition winner, with the Ossia New Music Ensemble.

Prior to his graduate studies, Unger was the instrumental music teacher at G.P. Vanier Secondary School in Courtenay, British Columbia. Under his baton, the instrumental ensembles at Vanier participated in regional and national festivals and received national recognition for their performances at Musicfest Canada. Recently, Unger won the American Prize in Conducting in the Wind Ensemble Division (2013).

Unger’s principal conducting teachers were Dr. Mark Scatterday and Dr. Colleen Richardson. He has attended a number of influential conducting symposiums where he worked with master wind conductors such as Donald Hunsberger, Frank Battisti, Charles Peltz, Michael Haithcock, Allan McMurray, Craig Kirchhoff, Michael Votta, Gary Hill and Rodney Winther. He maintains professional affiliations with the College Band Directors National Association, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles and the Conductor’s Guild.

Unger received his D.M.A in conducting from the Eastman School of Music in 2013. Additionally, he holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario and the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Brian Hanegan

Dr. Brian Hanegan is the Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Professor of Music at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD. He directs the Northlanders Jazz Ensemble, AU Jazz Combo, and AU Rock Combo, teaches studio saxophone, jazz improvisation, saxophone quartet, and the history of jazz, blues, and rock. In addition, he supervises the annual Jazz on the Upper Great Plains Festival.

He began his professional career as the saxophonist in a summer revue show at Valleyfair Amusement Park in Minneapolis, MN (2006-08). From there, Hanegan toured internationally with Carnival Cruise Lines as a multiple-woodwind artist in a seven piece show orchestra. With Carnival, Hanegan performed nightly alongside musicians from all over the world and served as musical director of the Carnival Elation in 2012. Since then, Hanegan has performed with The Temptations, Jeff Coffin, Bob Mintzer, Scotty Barnhart, Byron Stripling, Mike Tomaro, John Raymond, Allen Vizzutti, Mike Tomaro, Adam Meckler, Arthur “LA” Buckner, Frankie Avalon, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has opened for Cheap Trick, Sister Hazel, The Wallflowers, Heart, The Beach Boys, John Pardi, and Mitchell Tenpenny.

Hanegan released his debut album “Constellation” in April of 2021. He is actively performing across the Midwest in a variety of ensembles including the Sioux Falls #1 local best band Goodroad, the Brian Hanegan Quintet, and several other jazz projects. Hanegan is an Aaron Drake Mouthpieces Performing Artist and holds degrees from Northern State University, University of South Dakota, and North Dakota State University.

“I just listened to the single from Constellation and believe “Peace” has a brilliant melody set to an exceptional feel with an interesting form. The ensemble sounds great and your saxophone playing is fantastic. Overall, the song is very professional in sound and the music is cohesive and very enjoyable.”

—Jeff Williams Kari-On Productions LLC.

Dr. Andrew Hayward

Director of Viking Marching Band

Assistant Director of Bands

andrew.hayward@augie.edu

Dr. Andrew Hayward is director of the Viking Marching Band and assistant director of bands at Augustana University. Prior to joining Augustana, Dr. Hayward was Director of Bands in West Palm Beach, Florida where he debuted a marching band, competitive indoor group, and a music curriculum.

Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Hayward received his D.M.A. in clarinet performance from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University under the guidance of Jessica Phillips of the Metropolitan Opera and Dr. Maureen Hurd. He keeps an active private studio, teaching students of all ages and abilities. Dr. Hayward’s conducting style was primarily guided by Dr. William Berz and Dr. John Pastin. He also has had the opportunity to attend conducting symposiums and work with a number of tremendous wind conductors including H. Robert Reynolds, Dr. Glenn D Price, Michael Haithcock, and Dr. Travis Cross.

Dr. Hayward has been active in the marching arts as a performer, educator, designer, and adjudicator for over twenty-two years and has won awards at local, state, and regional competitions. He has worked with marching groups in DCI, DCA, WGI, BOA, USBands, and most recently worked with STRYKE World Percussion and the Park Vista Performers. As a visual designer, Dr. Hayward has seventeen years of experience and has written for groups across the United States, Philippines, and China. His passion for design led him to form his own marching arts design company where he serves as C.E.O. and head designer.

Dr. Hayward is a proud member of the College Band Directors National Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and National Association for Music Education. When not running around rehearsal, Dr. Hayward enjoys distance running, going on hikes, and trying new cuisine wherever his adventures take him.

Dan Sailer

Percussion Instructor

Daniel.Sailer@augie.edu

Dan Sailer is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He is currently an instructor at Groove Inc. and ensemble director of Groove Pursuit. Sailer is the percussion arranger for Lincoln High School Patriot Marching Band and an adjunct professor of percussion at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa, and Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, where he also conducts the Women’s Choir and Percussion Ensemble. Sailer is the principal percussionist of the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra and has also played with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.

Sailer graduated from Concordia University St. Paul (CSP) in 2014 with a double major in K-12 vocal and instrumental education and a minor in Lutheran confessionalism. At CSP, Sailer was involved in the Christus Chorus directed by Dr. David Mennicke, Concert Band and Percussion Ensemble directed by Aaron Isakson and composition lessons with Abbie Betinis.

Sailer was a snareline member of the world champion Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps from 2007-2010 in Rockford, Illinois, and the Santa Clara Vanguard from 2011-2012. He has received snare drum accolades at DCI and PAS competitions. Sailer has been a percussion staff member for Irondale High School, River City Rhythm, Minnesota Brass, Boston Crusaders and Phantom Regiment. He is currently the battery coordinator at the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps in Casper, Wyoming.

Sailer spent the 2014-2015 academic year teaching in New Amsterdam, Guyana, South America at the Guyana Lutheran Music Academy. He was one of three pioneering teachers who helped start GLMA, a community music program that teaches students of all ages and backgrounds how to create music. The GLMA motto is “enriching lives through music education for all.”

Sailer graduated with his master's in percussion performance from the University of North Texas. His professors included Mark Ford, Paul Rennick, Christopher Deane, Ed Smith and Eugene Corporon. Performance credits include the 2019 TMEA Showcase Concert with the Canadian Brass, recording with the North Texas Wind Symphony and Ryan Anthony and master classes with Frederic Macarez, Andy Narell and Wei-Chen Lin.

Michael Andersen

Michael Andersen, a native of Miller, South Dakota, is a graduate of South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Music Education, and a master's in tuba performance from the University of South Dakota. He taught band for nine years in Clark, South Dakota; 5th and 6th grade band, high school jazz band and general music classes for 11 years in Canton, South Dakota; and currently teaches middle school band and jazz bands at Worthington Middle School in Worthington, Minnesota. Anderson has played tuba with the South Dakota Symphony since 1993. He is also principal tuba and bass guitarist with the Sioux City Symphony. He is adjunct instructor of tuba at Augustana and maintains a private tuba and bass guitar studio. As a freelance electric bassist, Anderson has played with many area jazz/rock bands, including the South Dakota Jazz Orchestra and the R&B band Life Before Color. He is a member of International Tuba and Euphonium Conference (ITEC), National Association for Music Education (MAfME), Minnesota Educators Association (MEA), Minnesota Band Directors Association (MBDA) and Phi Beta Mu.

Andrea Carlson

Andrea Carlson graduated from Augustana with a Bachelor of Arts degree in nursing and works part-time as a registered nurse with Sanford Acute Care. Carlson is Augustana's horn instructor. She plays fourth horn with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra as well as being principal horn with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra.  She is also the coach of the Augustana Brass Quintet. Carlson enjoys teaching private horn lessons to middle school through college-age horn students at her home studio. She has studied horn with Herb Winslow of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Michael Thompson of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Sarah Cyrus and Nathan Pawelek. Outside of her dedication to music and nursing, she is a licensed Kindermusik instructor as well as the mellophone technician for the Lincoln High School marching band. Carlson and her husband, Kevin, have three young children: Mikayla, Zac and Kyan.

Christopher Hill

Clarinet Instructor
605.274.5418
themouthpieceguy@msn.com
Christopher Hill teaches applied clarinet and is the principal clarinetist of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO). He has performed throughout the United States and Europe with ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, New Sousa Band, Carousel National Tour, Evita World Tour, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Binghamton Symphony and the Rome Festival Orchestra. He performed the world premiere of Nathan Pawelek’s Concertino in 2001. He and SDSO pianist John Walker performed at the international clarinet festival, ClarinetFest 2005, in Tokyo, Japan.

Hill is also the conductor of the Sioux Falls Municipal Band. He has been an active clinician nationally. A noted mouthpiece craftsman, he is a designer of the Chadash-Hill mouthpiece, which is used in many of the world’s finest orchestras and music schools. He is a Rico Grand Concert artist. He holds bachelor and master of music degrees from Temple University, where he was a student of Anthony Gigliotti.

Angie Larson
Clarinet Instructor
605.274.5418
angiemlar@yahoo.com

Angela Larson teaches applied clarinet. She returned to the Sioux Falls area in 2004 and has maintained a successful private clarinet studio since then. She has taught clarinet at the University of Sioux Falls since 2005 and at Augustana since 2006. She is an active musician in community ensembles, including the Dakota Wind Ensemble and the Sioux Falls Municipal Band. She is also employed at South Dakota Achieve as a support professional. She holds a B.A. in instrumental music education from Augustana and a Master of Music in clarinet performance degree from Kent State University in Ohio.

Patricia Masek 
Flute Instructor
605.334.1020
masek@augie.edu

Patricia Masek is Assistant Professor of flute and has been at Augustana for 54 years. She has been a member of the South Dakota Symphony flute section for 55 years, 24 of which as the principal flute. She serves as the symphony performance librarian and has been active in this position for 60 years. Other performing experiences include 37 years as principal flute with the Sioux Falls Municipal Band, solo appearances with the South Dakota Symphony, Sioux Falls Municipal Band, Augustana Band and Chamber Orchestra. She retired from 30 years as an instrument repair technician and maintains a private studio of approximately 20 to 25 students. She received a Bachelor of Science in music education from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Kentucky.

Scott Olson

Trumpet Instructor

scott.olson@mtmc.edu

Scott Olson is currently an instructor of music at Mount Marty College, where he directs the concert band. Retired from 30 years with the South Dakota Symphony, 24 as principal trumpet, Olson is currently second trumpet with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra. Olson is a regular performer at the cathedrals of Saint Paul and Saint Joseph. He is in demand as an adjudicator for various jazz festivals and instrumental competitions. Olson taught adjunct trumpet at Augustana University from 2012 -2015. In addition to freelancing in a five-state area, Scott and his wife Kim operate the family farm near Mission Hill, South Dakota, where they raise Angus cross beef cattle, corn and soybeans.

Jeff Paul
Oboe Instructor
jeffpaulmusic@gmail.com

Jeff Paul, principal oboist with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, grew up in southern California where he gained experience and expertise in various forms of performing arts. He was an aspiring concert pianist by the age of ten, and was awarded opportunities to perform piano concerti with the Conejo Youth Symphony and the Pepperdine University Orchestra. Paul attended the Eastman School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music with a performer’s certificate in 1999, and the University of Southern California, earning a Master of Music in 2003 in oboe performance. His primary teachers include Richard Killmer, David Weiss and Allan Vogel. He has performed as a soloist with the New West Symphony, Heidelberg Castle Festival Orchestra, Conejo Concerto Orchestra and the South Dakota Symphony, and has substituted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and San Diego Symphony.

One of Paul’s primary interests has been traditional folk music of various cultures. He enjoys working closely with The New Pine Ridge Singers, and improvisng alongside Lebanese oud player Simon Shaheen. In composition, Paul has received awards from the Young Composer’s Guild of the Music Teachers Association of California, resulting in several premiers of his chamber and orchestral music. He has also received commissions from various organizations, including the South Dakota Symphony and the Young Artists Ensemble theater group in California, and composes regularly for the Dakota Wind Quintet.

Paul has recorded for various projects, including a Warner Bros. film scoring session, a hip-hop orchestra, aspiring jazz/rock/fusion bands and a smattering of independent short films.

John Tomkins
Bassoon Instructor
605.274.5445
john_tomkins@yahoo.com

John Tomkins is a 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 Conductors Retreat at Medomak, 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, summa cum laude, from Ohio State University, and his Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His primary teachers were Christopher Weait, Ronald Phillips and John Clouser.

Dr. Russell Svenningsen

Director of Vocal Studies
Conductor, Augustana Choir, Chamber Choir

Associate Professor of Music
605.274.5038
russell.svenningsen@augie.edu

Dr. Russell Svenningsen is an associate professor of music at Augustana University and conducts the Augstana Choir and Chamber Choir. . He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in music education from Boston University, a Master of Music in choral conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music in music education from Concordia College Moorhead. He has studied conducting with Dale Warland, René Clausen, Jon Washburn and John Leman and voice with Daniel Weeks and Mark Schowalter. His mentors in music education include Roger Mantie, Sidsel Karlsen and Lee Higgins. Svenningsen is inspired by the work of conflict theorist Antonio Gramsci and the Norwegian Singers Association of America, both of which feature prominently in his dissertation, This Singing: The Norwegian Singers Through a Gramscian Lens.

Svenningsen is an active conductor, performer and clinician. He has worked as clinician and guest artist with professional, high school and community choirs across the United States and abroad. Recently, he has appeared with both the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the GRAMMY-nominated South Dakota Chorale. During the fall of 2019, he, along with colleagues Dr. Peter Folliard and Debra Reid, embarked on an ambitious recording project featuring Franz Schubert’s epochal song cycle Winterreise. For the fall of 2019, he and collaborative pianist Brett Cooper prepared a recital featuring the music of Verdi, Richard Strauss, Carlisle Floyd and Wagner.

Svenningsen is a proud member of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, National Collegiate Choral Organization and National Association of Teachers of Singing. He has served on the executive boards of Opera South Dakota and the South Dakota Arts Council Music Panel.

Russell and his wife, Sarah, are the very proud parents of two children, Anders (17) and Annika (15). He is an avid woodworker and deeply terrible golfer.

Dr. Lisa Grevlos

Dr. Lisa Grevlos is a professor of music at the Augustana School of Music. She teaches in the areas of applied voice, vocal pedagogy, singer’s diction, music history, aural skills, and vocal music education. Grevlos performs frequently as a soloist in the region for recitals, operas, oratorios and musical theatre. She has been a guest soloist with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra in “A Night at the Opera,” the Brahms Requiem and was the featured soprano vocalist with the Sioux Falls Municipal Band for 15 years. Recent engagements have included various roles in Sounds of South Dakota, Inc. concerts and opera productions and a soprano soloist in the Augustana Choir and Orchestra's performance of the Brahms Requiem at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science. She has been a regional finalist and scholarship recipient in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and was a semi-finalist in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Auditions.

Along with her duties at Augustana, she is artistic chair and former president of Sounds of South Dakota, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect South Dakota professional vocal artists in opera, recital and musical theatre performance with regional audiences. In September 2012, she served as stage director for the Sounds of South Dakota, Inc. production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," starring internationally acclaimed bass-baritone, Samuel Ramey, accompanied by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Delta David Gier in the Mary Sommervold Hall of the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science. This production was awarded second prize in the National Opera Association’s 2012-13 Professional Opera Production Competition. Grevlos also serves as a frequent adjudicator and clinician throughout the Midwest. She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, American Choral Directors Association and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She has served as the high school and collegiate vocal competition chair for South Dakota Music Teachers' Association and currently serves as the soprano adjudicator for South Dakota American Choral Directors Association Honor Choir. She received a Doctor of Arts in voice performance and opera stage directing from the University of Northern Colorado. She holds master's degrees from Northwestern University, Evanston, in voice performance and choral conducting, and she completed her undergraduate degree in music education at Augustana University.

Dr. Paul Nesheim
Professor of Music
Conductor, Angelus
605.274.5402
paul.nesheim@augie.edu

Dr. Paul Nesheim conducts the all-treble choir, Angelus, and teaches courses in choral conducting, choral methods, voice and church music. He also serves as the director of the Adult Choir and Women’s Choir at First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. Prior to his appointment at Augustana, Nesheim taught on the faculties of Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia College in Moorhead, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, and Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.He has held positions conducting high school, church and community choirs in South Dakota, Minnesota, California, Iowa, Wisconsin, Arizona and North Dakota.

Nesheim holds a Bachelor of Arts in music education from St. Olaf College, a Master of Music in choral music from Arizona State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Arizona. He is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and served a term as president of South Dakota ACDA. He is a frequent adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor for contests, professional conferences and all-state festival, and honor choirs. He has conducted in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Slovakia, and at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and on two occasions at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Nesheim is a published composer and the author of Building Beautiful Voices, a book of vocalization methods and materials published by the Roger Dean Publishing Company.

Natalie Campbell
Voice Instructor
605.274.5455
natalie.campbell@augie.edu

Natalie Campbell holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of South Dakota, where she studied with Dr. Brandon Hendrickson. While at USD, she was the winner of the university’s annual concerto competition and performed the roles of Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Monica in Menotti’s The Medium. She also received a bachelor's degree in piano and vocal music education from Houghton College in New York, and has pursued graduate studies in piano and chamber music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. As an educator, Campbell has taught elementary and middle school vocal music, has served as associate director for the Tucson Girl’s Chorus and maintains a private piano and voice studio. As a vocalist, she recently performed as soloist for the Vivaldi Gloria and Fauré Requiem as part of the Sacred Arts Series at St. Joseph’s Cathedral. Upcoming engagements include the role of Adina in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love with Sounds of South Dakota, and soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with Mount Marty College in Yankton.

Judith Schreck

Voice Instructor

605.274.5405
judith.schreck@augie.edu

Judith E. Schreck is a vocal instructor. She has been a featured soloist with the South Dakota and Black Hills Symphonies as well as the Reading Symphony in Reading, Pennsylvania; the Tri-Cities Opera Company, the Harper College Alumni Singers and the Tri-Cities Orchestra in Binghamton, New York; and the Allentown Opera in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She performed at the Poor Richard Club in Philadelphia and for the Philadelphia Historical Society. She also did several live concerts on New York Cable television. A few of her roles include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Letitia and Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and the Thief, Nettie Fowler in Carousel, Laurie in Oklahoma, Tuptim and Lady Tiang in The King and I, and Yenta in Fiddler on the Roof. She has also performed as soloist in Carmina Burana and The Lord Nelson Mass. She graduated from Augustana University with a Bachelor of Arts in voice.

Monty Barnard

Voice Instructor

605.274.5405
mbarnard@augie.edu

Monty Barnard, Augustana University professor of music emeritus, teaches applied studio voice. During his tenure as a full-time music faculty member, Barnard taught studio voice, singer’s diction, vocal pedagogy, opera theatre and music theory. He has sung numerous solo recitals locally and nationally and made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Recital Hall. Additionally, he has performed as a vocal soloist with the American Conservatory Symphony, the South Dakota Symphony, the Huron Symphony and the Sioux Falls Municipal Band. He toured nationally with Goldovsky Opera Theatre and has appeared frequently as soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation and Requiem by Brahms, Mozart and Fauré. He has conducted master classes and sung recitals of Norwegian and American songs at Trondheim Laererhøgskole and Nordnorsk Muskkonservatorium in Trømso, Norway.

Dr. Barnard is currently the director of music at Calvary Episcopal Cathedral and baritone cantorial soloist and director of music for High Holyday Services at Mt. Zion Synagogue.

Shu Li, DMA
Assistant Professor of Piano
605.274.5404
shu.li@augie.edu

Shu Li is currently serving as an assistant professor of piano at Augustana. Over the past few years, she served as artist faculty at the Omaha Conservatory of Music in Omaha, Nebraska, and on AU’s faculty to accelerate her professional teaching experience in piano. Li received her Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Kansas and her Master of Music in piano performance from Illinois State University — both with distinction.

Li has successfully organized many music events and festivals internationally. She founded and served as artist director of Perpalette Wuyishan International Piano Festival in Wuyishan, China, in 2018, and invited world-renowned pianists to give sold-out recitals, masterclasses and workshops to international piano students in the festival. The highly successful festival was broadcast and live-streamed throughout eastern China. Also, Li founded the International Music Exchange Association (IMEA) in 2010 and worked as president until 2015 to organize and participate in many large international music and culture exchange related activities, such as “Gulangyu 2011 Fall American Music Festival,” “KU International Music Exchange Fall 2012 China Tour,” “2015 Shanghai Spring International Music Festival” and other musical outreach programs.

Li is an active soloist and chamber music performer who has performed throughout the United States, China and Europe. The world premieres she performed include famous composer David Maslanka‘s David’s Book, A Carl Sandburg Reader, etc. Some of these remarkable pieces were recorded by Albany Inc. in 2007 and 2008 and released worldwide. Li’s world premiere performances with various symphony orchestras and operas have been highly regarded. From a list of Li’s concert series, the most recent ones include concert tours and music festivals in China between 2010 -2012; the soloist with Ashdod Symphonic Orchestra in Perugia, Italy, in 2013; solo recitals through the Midwest U.S. in 2014; Augustana Faculty Recital tour in South Dakota and Minnesota in 2015; and the David Maslanka Piano Concerto No. 2 soloist with the Augustana Wind Symphony in March 2020. In addition, Li has won awards in piano competitions such as 2007's Aria Concerto competition, the first prize winner of 2009’s Kansas Music Teachers Association Collegiate Artist Competition and many more.

Marilyn Schempp '79
Organ, Piano Instructor
605.274.5445
schempp@augie.edu

Marilyn Schempp holds a B.A. in vocal and instrumental music from Augustana and a Master of Music in organ performance (with additional study in piano and harpsichord) from the University of South Dakota. For more than 30 years, Schempp has taught piano privately. She also teaches organ and beginning class piano at Augustana and is the chapel organist.

Schempp is an active member of the American Guild of Organists where she has served as dean of the South Dakota chapter, director of the SD chapter’s Organ Academy and as a committee member and director of six Pipe Organ Encounter Camps for her chapter. From 2012-18, Schempp served as the regional councillor for the North Central Region of the American Guild of Organists — an eight-state region. She is also active in the Music Teacher’s National Association where she was the state competition chair for eight years. In the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, she was the secretary/treasurer of Region 3 for two years and served on two of the regional convention committees. Since 2017, she has taught organ and piano at the International Music Camp.

As a church musician, Schempp has played organ and directed adult, children and handbell choirs. She has performed solo organ recitals, oboe with the Sioux Falls Municipal Band and oboe, piano, harpsichord and organ with the South Dakota Symphony. She also accompanies high school and college students in competitions, juries and recitals and has accompanied the South Dakota Honor’s Choir and All-State Chorus.

John Casey
Bass Instructor
605.274.5451
john@lyricwood.org

John Casey is a bass instructor at Augustana who started playing bass in high school in his hometown of Owatonna, Minnesota. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Minnesota Orchestra bassist James Clute, and received his master's degree in double bass performance from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied with Warren Benfield of the Chicago Symphony. After leaving school, he spent five seasons as assistant principal bass of the Phoenix Symphony, with three of the summers as an orchestral fellow at the Aspen Music School. He is now a member of the South Dakota Symphony, associate principal bass of the Sioux City Symphony and principal bass of the Northwest Iowa Symphony.

Robert Erhard

Cello Instructor

robert.erhard@augie.edu 

Cellist Robert Erhard was appointed principal cello of the South Dakota Symphony and cellist of the Dakota String Quartet in 2020 after serving as acting principal for the 2019-20 season. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, he enjoys a diverse career in chamber music, orchestral and solo performing. In the Boulder area, he has recently appeared as soloist and principal cello for the Boulder Bach Festival’s 2015-19 seasons, performed as a member of Central City Opera’s 2019 season and in the section of orchestras such as Boulder Philharmonic, ProMusica Colorado and Fort Collins Symphony. He is formerly a cellist of the Ceres Quartet and performed with the Altius Quartet for the 2018-19 season, performing more than 50 concerts across the U.S. Robert is fortunate to count among his most influential chamber music coaches members of the Takacs, Cleveland, Mendelssohn, Ying, Borodin, Brentano and Juilliard Quartets. He recently participated in the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar and the Aspen Music Festival Center for Advanced Quartet studies with the Ceres Quartet and has participated in festivals such as Kneisel Hall, Bowdoin International Music Festival and Orvieto Musica. Robert holds a Bachelor of Music from Colorado University Boulder where he studied with Judith Glyde and Thomas Heinrich and a Master of Music from Eastman where he served as teaching assistant under Alan Harris. During his time at CU, he received outstanding freshman, junior and graduating senior awards and won the concerto competition, performing the Schumann Cello Concerto with the CU Orchestra. Passionate about expanding his musical horizons, he has performed extensively as part of the Indian-Western fusion trio, Sands Around Infinity, performing across America, in Germany and in India, releasing an album in 2015.

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

Geoff Gunderson is a guitar instructor at Augustana who began playing guitar when he was 10 years old and began playing professionally at age 14. During and after high school, he toured with Wakefield, a popular 1980s rock band which was inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association Hall of Fame in 2017. Gunderson began the study of classical guitar in high school and eventually studied guitar at Augustana and the University of South Dakota (USD), from which he graduated in 1989. Gunderson has attended master classes and clinics by notable guitarists including the L.A. Guitar Quartet, Eliot Fisk, Pepe Romero and others.

In 1995, Gunderson underwent Suzuki training at the South Carolina Suzuki Institute in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to specialize in teaching young children. In 2009, Gunderson traveled to Austin, Texas, for training and licensing in the Childbloom Guitar Program with Kevin Taylor, founder of the program. Gunderson is now the director of the Childbloom Guitar Program of Sioux Falls, designed for children age five and older which has earned him national awards. Gunderson has performed with the South Dakota Symphony, the Sioux City Symphony, the Sioux City “Rockestra,” is the guitarist for the authentic, big band “Kickin’ Brass” and can frequently be found playing solo guitar at local venues. He teaches classical and contemporary guitar at Augustana University and Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. A lifelong resident of Sioux Falls, Gunderson lives with his wife, Erin, and has two grown daughters.

Dr. Yi-Chun Lin

Violin Instructor

605.274.5451
yi-chun.lin@augie.edu

A native of Taipei, Taiwan, violinist, violist and pianist Yi-Chun Lin has served as concertmaster of orchestras in New York, Taiwan and music festivals worldwide. She has performed as a soloist with the Texas Music Festival Orchestra, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan and the Akademische Orchester at the Gewanhaus concert hall in Leipzig. As the associate principal second violin at the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, she is also a passionate music educator and chamber musician.

Along with her quartets in the past, she has performed on WQXR radio station in New York, won the bronze medal at Fischoff competition and received chamber music residency from various programs, such as the Banff Music Festival. Lin received a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes College in New York. In 2015, she received her doctorate from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Among the musicians who are important to her life, violinist Lucie Robert and Aaron Berofsky were mentors to her musical and inspirational journey. With a curious mind, Lin constantly looks for new dimensions in music through different types of musical and art projects.

Magdalena Modzelewska
Violin Instructor
605.274.5451
mmodzelewska@augie.edu

Magdalena Modzelewska was born in Krakow, Poland, and started playing the violin at the age of six. After attending music schools designed for gifted, career-oriented musicians, she went to the Music Academy in Wroclaw, Poland, where she got her master’s in violin performance in the class of Russian virtuoso Victor Kuzniecov. She also studied with Wanda Wilkomirska and Roman Lasocki. Modzelewska has extensive chamber music performance experience. She performed frequently at the 1998 European Mozart Academy, a seven-week intensive chamber music program.  In 1995-98, she was a soloist with the Pressburger Kammersolisten, a touring chamber ensemble that gives performances in France, Germany and Switzerland throughout the year. She has also performed with Polish chamber orchestras, Wratislavia in Warsaw and Ricordanza in Wroclaw, both of which are Poland’s premier chamber orchestras.

In 1994, Modzelewska participated in a special Polish-German Orchestral Project in Weimar, Germany. She has attended various summer music festivals in Europe, including the International Music Festival in Lancut, Poland, and the Sevenoaks Summer Festival in England. Modzelewska has been a member of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Dakota String Quartet since 1998. She teaches violin at Augustana, maintains a private teaching studio and is a certified Suzuki instructor. In 2002, she created a musical project "Flower and Flame" with the purpose of joining her artistic experiences from all over the world. She also enjoys playing Irish fiddle in “Maggie in the Meantime,” a group that she co-founded.

Andrew Reinartz

Jazz Bass Instructor
andrew.reinartz@augie.edu

Andrew Reinartz is a musician and educator based in Sioux Falls. A graduate of Augustana, he plays primarily upright and electric bass, with a focus on jazz and improvised music. Reinartz plays regularly with the JAS Quintet, Dakota Jazz Collective, Merry Martial, the Hegg Brothers Band and Holiday Jam with the Hegg Brothers. He has also recorded and performs regularly with a number of songwriters in the state, and does project work as a recording engineer. As an avid educator, he teaches privately, works as a guest clinician and plays for students and adults across South Dakota with the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society Jazz Diversity Project and the JAS Quintet's Jazz Curators performance and education series. Reinartz has also been a member of the SD Symphony Orchestra bass section since 2001, and a past member of their Board of Directors.

A long-time non-profit administrator and advocate for the arts community in South Dakota, Reinartz currently works as the community development director for Arts South Dakota, a grassroots arts advocacy, service and education organization.

Maria Peters
Viola Instructor
605.274.5451
maria@violinteachersiouxfalls.com

Maria Peters is a viola instructor who was born and raised in Poland, where she studied music and got her master's degree in performing and instrumental pedagogy from the Academy of Music in Wroclaw. After graduating, she spent over two years in Paris, France, studying language and art. After returning to Poland, Peters started to work as a violin teacher in the State Music School in Olesnica. During this time, she was also studying management in music and culture institutions. Also during this time, one of Peters’s students won the National Violin Award in the Janina Garcia Polish National Violin Competition. She was also an active member of European String Teachers Association and chairwoman for Solidarnosc (Solidarity).

Peters moved to Sioux Falls in 2001 and started to work primarily as a private violin and viola teacher, but also as an individual instrument instructor for the University of Sioux Falls (2002 - present) and Augustana University (2002 - 2007, 2012 - present). Peters teaches more than 50 violin and viola students, many of whom are involved in the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Dakota Academy for the Performing Arts.

She is married to Douglas Peters, and has one son, Maximilian.

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.

Vorhes spent more than a decade as a South Dakota Arts Council touring artist. She is a member of the American Harp Society, a permanently nationally-certified teacher of music with the Music Teachers National Association and has served in 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 from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, with majors in music and psychology and a Master of Music in harp performance from the University of Arizona.