Music Faculty

Image of Joe Alpar
Curator of the Carriage Barn Music Series

Joseph Alpar's research focuses on the anthropology of music in Turkey and the Middle East, and the relationships between music, spirituality, modernity, marginalization, social expression, and identity.

email josephalpar@bennington.edu
Image of Cristian Amigo

Cristian Amigo is a Latinx composer, sound artist/designer, guitarist, producer, and educator.

email cristianamigo@bennington.edu
Image of Nicholas Brooke

Nicholas Brooke creates music across disciplines, from collages of recordings with live theater, to home-built instrumentariums inspired by gamelan. He has received Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and New Music USA fellowships and premieres at the Lincoln Center Festival, Spoleto, and MASS MOCA.

email nbrooke@bennington.edu
Image of Virginia Kelsey

Virginia Warnken Kelsey, mezzo-soprano, is internationally celebrated for her heartfelt and dynamic interpretations of Baroque opera, oratorio, and contemporary chamber music. She maintains an active career in an adventurous assortment of musical and artistic settings.

email virginiakelsey@bennington.edu
Image of John Kirk

John Kirk teaches classes in the history of American and Celtic traditional music in addition to mandolin, fiddle, banjo, ukulele, mountain and hammered dulcimers, and traditional music ensemble.

email jkirk@bennington.edu
Image of Kerry Ryer-Parke

Kerry Ryer-Parke '90 performs in a range of musical styles, from oratorio, opera, and early music to folk, jazz, and rock, in addition to directing the Bennington Children鈥檚 Chorus and Bennington Voice Workshop.

email kryer-parke@bennington.edu
Image of Allen Shawn

Allen Shawn鈥檚 work as a composer and pianist comprises a large catalogue of orchestral and chamber music, chamber operas, songs, piano music, and music for ballet, theatre, and film; he is also celebrated for his writings on Arnold Schoenberg and Leonard Bernstein, as well as his compelling memoirs.

email ashawn@bennington.edu
Image of Michael Wimberly

A drummer and percussionist, Michael Wimberly is also a composer of note and has written for prestigious New York dance companies. 

 

email mwimberly@bennington.edu

Instrumentalist

Image of Benjamin April
Piano Instructor

Benjamin April is an accompanist, choir director, composer, and music educator.

email benjaminapril@bennington.edu
Image of Michael Bisio
Bass Instructor

Michael Bisio returned to New York in 2006 after spending 30 years on the West Coast and quickly became an integral part of the New York City creative music community. Since 2009, he has been bass instructor at 51成人猎奇 and a member of the Matthew Shipp Trio.

email mbisio@bennington.edu
Image of Hui Cox
Guitar instructor

Hui Cox is a 7-string guitar player, NEA grant recipient, and Grammy-nominated producer who has produced and performed with some of the biggest acts in the business.

email hcox@bennington.edu
Image of Joana Genova
Violin/Viola Instructor

Violinist Joana Genova is active as a chamber musician, teacher, orchestral player and a soloist. She is Co-Artistic Director of Taconic Music in Manchester, VT and the second violinist of The Indianapolis Quartet. 

email joanagenovarudiakov@bennington.edu
Image of Christopher Lewis
Piano Instructor

Christopher Lewis is a pianist who has taught and performed through the United States and Italy, and prizewinner of the American National Chopin Competition and the New York Leschetizky Society.

email cjlewis@bennington.edu
Image of Nathaniel Parke
Cello Instructor/Instrumental Coordinator

Nathaniel Parke is a regional freelance cellist and is also on the faculty of Williams College.

email nparke@bennington.edu
Image of Chris Rose
Music Fellow/Instructor

Chris Rose is a teaching artist exploring embodiment in music education. A passionate improviser, Rose plays trumpet, piano, and organ, bending and blending genres whenever possible.

email chrisrose@bennington.edu
Image of Ariel Rudiakov
Violin/Viola Instructor

Ariel Rudiakov, violist and conductor, is co-founder and Artistic Director of Taconic Music in Manchester (VT) and Music Director and conductor of Danbury Symphony Orchestra (CT) and Yonkers Philharmonic.

email arielrudiakov@bennington.edu
Image of Yoshiko Sato
Piano Accompanist/Instructor

Yoshiko Sato is a prize winning pianist.

email ysato@bennington.edu

Instructor/Technician

Image of Rachel Clemente
MFA Fellow

Rachel Clemente is a New England-based Scottish lever and pedal harpist, composer and educator who has trained in and performed across the U.S. and Scotland.  

email rachelclemente1@bennington.edu
Image of Omeed Goodarzi
MFA Fellow

Omeed Goodarzi '14 is a musician and composer whose practice spans the realms of philosophy, improvisation, home recording, songwriting, microtonality, and instrument building. His work focuses on microtonal music practices from the ancient world to the 20th century, acoustic ecology, and the philosophy of musical tuning. 

 

email omeedgoodarzi@bennington.edu
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Technical Instructor in Sound & Music

Curtis Wells turned a degree in engineering into an expertise for fixing electronics and optimizing audio gear鈥攕kills he puts to good use in his support of faculty and student work in music.

email curtwells@bennington.edu

Emerita/Emeritus Faculty

Image of Thomas Bogdan
Faculty Emeritus

Thomas Bogdan鈥檚 vocal performance, in genres ranging from old music to new, avant-garde multimedia performance and cabaret, has received wonderful reviews from critics around the world.

email tbogdan@bennington.edu
Image of Kitty Brazelton
Faculty Emerita

Digital-chamber-punk bands, nine-piece rockestras, 21st century medieval quartets: Kitty Brazelton鈥檚 ability to create new genres as a composer, performer, singer, and instrumentalist is rooted in a study of even the most traditional forms of music.

email kbrazelton@bennington.edu
Image of Bruce Williamson
Faculty Emeritus

Bruce Williamson is a jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist/recording artist who has collaborated and performed with such luminaries as Bobby McFerron, Fred Hersch, Julie Taymor, and Mark Rylance in a variety of genres, and whose work has been featured in Academy Award-winning film scores.

email bwilliamson@bennington.edu