In addition to the hundreds of freshmen and transfer students, there are 17 new faculty members on campus this year. Seven are on the tenure track and 10 are only here for a year or less. This week, the Lawrentian would like to highlight those joining us in the music and art departments.
In the Conservatory:
Assistant professor of music (piano) Dmitri Novgorodsky earned a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) and Master of Music (M.Mus.) from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and a Master of Musical Arts (M.M.A.) and a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) from Yale University. He was hired last year in a one-year position, and was re-hired this year on the tenure track.
Novgorodsky, a native of Russia, said that “Lawrence is an exciting place to be,” and that it is wonderful to find students who are not just good performers, but talented in many areas.
David Helvering, here on a one-year contract as instructor of music theory, received his Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.) from Arkansas State University, in his native state, and his M.Mus. from Sam Houston State University in Texas. He is currently working on his doctoral dissertation from the University of Iowa, focusing on film music and dialogue underscoring.
At Lawrence, he will be teaching classes in both first and second year music theory. Helvering taught Steven McCardell’s theory class for a day last spring, and he says he is excited to now join our “wonderful community.”
Susan Klotzbach has also received a one-year contract in the conservatory. She received her B.Mus. from the University of Iowa, and both her M.Mus. and D.M.A. from Eastman School of Music. She specializes in organ literature and performance. She has been teaching for 13 years. At Lawrence, Klotzbach will teach organ and harpsichord and assist with Collegium Musica. She is pleased to join our “fine conservatory program” and excited to work with “the outstanding Brombaugh pipe organ in the Chapel.”
A music history professor with a one-year position, Julie McQuinn earned her B.Mus. from Oberlin college and M.Mus. from the University of Illinois, and will receive her Ph.D. in December from Northwestern University.
She specializes in gender issues in Parisian Opera at the turn of the century. McQuinn spent three years teaching at Northwestern and one year at Elmhurst College before coming to Lawrence, where she will teach music and opera history. She is delighted to be at Lawrence, where students “seem eager to learn.”
Mark Urness received a B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa, M.Mus. from the University of Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music, and is working on his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. Urness taught for five years and was a freelance performer in New York prior to obtaining this one-year position at Lawrence teaching classical and jazz bass and jazz history. He says he is happy to find colleagues so supportive and is pleased to find the lack of separation between departments.
Lecturer in music Nathan Wysock received a B.Mus from Illinois State University and both an M.Mus. and D.M.A. from Eastman School of Music. He will teach beginning and applied guitar at Lawrence in a one-year position. Wysock has taught at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee and performs with the group L’Ensemble Portique. He met some students last year and found them to be a “good group to get along with,” which encouraged him to apply for this position.
In the Art Department:
Rob Neilson earned a B.F.A. at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit and an M.F.A from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he specialized in sculpture. He has been hired as an assistant professor of art on the tenure track.
Neilson worked in L.A. for five years doing commissioned art and just finished a large commission for the city of Los Angeles. At Lawrence, he will be teaching courses in sculpture and digital design.
Verna Holland earned a B.A. and M.F.A from Northern Illinois University. She served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years before teaching art. Holland specializes in metalwork and jewelry and will be teaching courses in both, as well as courses in ceramics. Coming from a large school, she says she is excited to work with smaller classes where individual attention is more feasible.