Dean Orbison will serve as the director of the new high school choral ensemble, the Catawba College Youth Chorale this fall semester. By audition only, the ensemble is still accepting new students.
Orbison currently is director of choral activities at East Rowan High School, where he directs more than 245 singers in five choirs. He is also director of The Concert Choir of Rowan County and minister of music at West Corinth Baptist Church in Mooresville. He holds a bachelor of music degree from Wingate University with post-baccalaureate studies in music theory from Carlton College in Northfield, Minn., and educational administration from UNC-Charlotte. Orbison’s choirs have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, The National Cathedral in Washington D.C., The Contemporary Arts Center in Virginia, The Lakeland Performing Arts Center in Lakeland, Fla., as well as seven other states throughout the southeast. Orbison’s choirs have been selected as “grand champion” choir for five consecutive years in choral festivals along the east coast.
Emily Schuttenberg, a current member of the piano faculty at Catawba College Community Music and an adjunct piano instructor and accompanist for the music department at Catawba, will offer drama and musical theatre opportunities to young students this year. Emily earned her undergraduate degree from Huntingdon College where she was a double major in musical theatre and piano performance and received her Masters of Music degree from Western Carolina University.
Peter Zlotnick joins the Community Music faculty as instructor of percussion.
He is the principal timpanist of the Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Salisbury Symphony orchestras. Zlotnick has been a featured soloist with the Greensboro Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Salisbury Symphony, and Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble. He serves as education manager for the Greensboro Symphony and percussion instructor at Catawba College. Zlotnick holds degrees in percussion performance and music education from Northwestern University, where he studied with Michael Burritt, and the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with John H. Beck.
Steve Stringer brings his extensive piano teaching and performing experience to the Catawba Community Music Program as an undergraduate instructor of keyboards, specializing in contemporary popular styles.
A current sacred music major and keyboard scholar at Catawba College, Stringer is a student of Dr. Robert Hallquist. He also studied classical and jazz piano performance under Dr. Terry Kleinfelter. Additionally, Stringer is a well-accomplished organist and choir director, having served as the music director in various churches in the greater Philadelphia region and most recently as the organ scholar at First Presbyterian Church in Salisbury.
Justin Kamm, a junior in the music business concentration at Catawba College, joins the Community Music program as an undergraduate instructor in guitar including both acoustic and electric styles. Kamm has experience providing private guitar instruction to students of all ages in his New Jersey home community. His early studies were with Matt Roman, who was a guitar student of Pat Metheny and Pat Martino. He then continued his studies with Berklee graduate Josh Rubin until he enrolled as a music student at Catawba College, where he currently studies guitar with Wiley Porter.
John Lincourt, a music performance major at Catawba College with an emphasis in trombone studies, will serve as an undergraduate instructor in trombone, baritone and tuba. Lincourt graduated from Western Guilford High School in Greensboro and has experience and training with most brass instruments including trombone, baritone and tuba. Lincourt has served as a private brass instructor and a low winds technician at A.L. Brown High School. A member of the Salisbury Swing Band, he is the primary trombonist in the Catawba College Wind Ensembles.
Tyler Howe, a junior music education major and West Scholar at Catawba College, will serve as undergraduate instructor of trumpet. An officer in CMENC, Howe is active as a trumpet player in many Catawba ensembles including the Wind Ensemble, Community Band, and the Catawba Pride Pep Band and Drumline where he serves as bass drummer, trumpet player, and student assistant.
Brent Messenger, a West Scholar at Catawba College, will serve as an undergraduate instructor of percussion. A graduate of A.L. Brown High School, Messenger has vast instrumental experiences, including participation in the Concord Independent Drumline and serving as an instructor of percussion for the A.L. Brown marching band. A music education major at Catawba, Messenger currently performs in numerous Catawba instrumental ensembles. He also serves as a musician at First Presbyterian Church in Kannapolis as a brass player, percussionist and worship leader.