Elementary Camp Faculty
BRASS WORKSHOP
Roger Schmidt has been the Executive Director of Sitka Fine Arts Camp (Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc.) since 2000. During this time, the summer program has grown from a two week camp serving 40 adolescent students to a ten week program serving 1,000 students ages five to adult. In 2010, Roger negotiated the donation of the historic Sheldon Jackson School which had closed its doors in 2007. Subsequently, he has overseen the restoration of the campus by harnessing the support of thousands of volunteers and donors. Under Roger’s leadership, the Camp has grown to include a year long arts advocacy program that offers a performing arts series, a statewide teacher training institute, after school arts classes for all ages, and a vibrant young performers theater program. In addition, the Campus has become an important part of the economic future of Sitka as a home for many conferences and conventions. Roger grew up in Sitka and attended the Sitka Fine Arts Camp as a student from 1980-1984. The arts have been a central part of Roger’s life. He graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory with degrees in philosophy and trombone performance with additional music studies at the Aspen Music Festival, Pierre Monteux School and internationally in London and at the Bruckner Conservatory in Austria. As a musician he has worked in the San Francisco Bay area as well as toured throughout Alaska and other parts of the United States.
Roger is also an avid traveler and adventurer. His trips have included a 3-month solo kayak trip from Vancouver B.C. to Sitka, Alaska, a kayak crossing of the Bering Strait, a Patagonia Ice-Cap ski crossing, and a year-long sailing trip from Siberia to Uruguay. He is the 2004 recipient of the Governor’s Award for Arts Education and in 2007, under his direction, the Camp received the Coming Up Taller Award at the White House. In 2012, he was inducted into the Alaska Hall of Fame and received the Sitka Arts Advocate of the Year award. Roger is also a fellow of the National Arts Strategies’ Chief Executive Program and a graduate of the Aspen Executive Seminar.
Roger is also an avid traveler and adventurer. His trips have included a 3-month solo kayak trip from Vancouver B.C. to Sitka, Alaska, a kayak crossing of the Bering Strait, a Patagonia Ice-Cap ski crossing, and a year-long sailing trip from Siberia to Uruguay. He is the 2004 recipient of the Governor’s Award for Arts Education and in 2007, under his direction, the Camp received the Coming Up Taller Award at the White House. In 2012, he was inducted into the Alaska Hall of Fame and received the Sitka Arts Advocate of the Year award. Roger is also a fellow of the National Arts Strategies’ Chief Executive Program and a graduate of the Aspen Executive Seminar.
MUSIC I WORKSHOP:
A familiar South Florida presence from performances with Seraphic Fire and the Miami Bach Society, soprano Karen Neal enjoys a multi-faceted career performing with internationally acclaimed ensembles and as soloist in venues across the nation and Europe. She has performed as guest soloist with the New World Symphony at the 25th Anniversary Gala under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, the Tropical Baroque Festival, the Dallas Brass in the United States as well as recently at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia, and in Märknerkirchen, Germany. Karen Neal’s solo projects include “Wine, Women and Song” featuring art songs by women composers and “Sheherazade” at PAX, an evening of French Song in a club atmosphere. She has collaborated with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Brass, Art Basel 2011, the Concert des Solistes de l’Acadèmie International d’Etè de Nice, France, as well as consistent engagements with several ensembles throughout South Florida, the San Francisco Bay area, and Alaska. Karen Neal holds a Vocal Performance degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She was also awarded a Tanglewood fellowship and has studied French repertoire intensively in Nice, Paris, and the Abbè Royaumont in Asniéres-sur-Oise, France. She has served as adjunct faculty at University of Miami and Florida International University, is a studio musician and commercial actress, and has partnered with Miami Light Project to teach poetry and diction to inner-city youth. She is currently Director of Vocal Arts at Gulliver Academy in Coral Gables, FL.
MUSIC II WORKSHOP
Brian Neal played trumpet as a member of the internationally-celebrated Dallas Brass. Classically trained at the renowned Manhattan School of Music in New York City, during summers he was a fellow at Tanglewood, Waterloo, Fountainbleau conservatory in France and Norfolk Chamber music festival. He has performed as soloist and collaborator with Charles Dutoit, Yoel Levi, John Nelson, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Stanislav Skorbachevsky, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Leon Fleischer. Brian is the Director of instrumental studies and professor of trumpet at the Kendall campus of Miami Dade College. He lives in Miami with his wife, Karen.
CIRCUS WORKSHOP
Mark Ferrando is an actor/circus artist/stuntman based in Los Angeles. Growing up east of San Francisco, theatre, musical theatre and gymnastics always held his interest. After graduating from the UC Davis, with a degree in Dramatic Arts and a minor in Managerial Economics, Mark moved out to New York City. It was in New York City, where Mark got swept away by the circus, at Circus Warehouse. He performed acrobatics for the Metropolitan Opera, instructed flying trapeze and partner acrobatics, and traveled around performing dance, acrobatics, and theatre for many shows. Just before leaving New York, Mark filmed aerial and ground circus work for The Greatest Showman. So, what brought him away from New York? Well, the desire to be a super villain, of course. Mark traveled with Feld Entertainment (Ringling Brothers) in their show Marvel Universe Live! Age of Heroes. Now Mark resides in Los Angeles where he continues to beat up, and get beaten up, by his friends.
Zeke Blackwell has been involved in over 80 productions as a director, actor, writer, designer, and technician, and has had the joy of making theater in Sitka, Fort Worth, New Haven, New York, and Costa Rica, where he directed the world premiere of the Spanish-language version of Once On This Island! With over a decade of improv comedy experience, he’s performed/taught improv around the country, and most recently at the Boston Comedy Arts Festival and the Wasatch Improv Festival in Salt Lake City. His original play, Still Life, was produced in the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. He graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Cognitive Science. He served two years on the board of directors for Far Corners Community Musical Theatre, a non-profit dedicated to providing arts opportunities for underserved youth in isolated regions of the world. Once, he beat-boxed for Lin-Manuel Miranda. This is his 6th season year-round at SFAC as the Young Performers Theater Director.
DANCE I WORKSHOP
Jamie Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Utah Valley University, where she instructs all levels of ballet technique, pointe, and ballet pedagogy as well as a classes from the core curriculum. For the past five years, she has served as the co-Artistic Director of Repertoire Ballet Ensemble, a student ensemble of dance majors, who perform classical and contemporary works in venues locally and nationally. Johnson’s teaching is informed by her professional performing experience. After graduating cum laude from the University of Utah with degrees in Ballet and English, she went on to perform nationally and internationally with companies such as—Sacramento Ballet, Ballet Pacifica, Ohio Dance Theatre, and Boulder Ballet, reaching the status of principal dancer. Later with MOMIX, she served as Dance Captain and performed upon world-renowned stages, such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Joyce Theater in New York, and Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. Johnson’s diverse repertoire includes works by Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, Seán Curran, Doris Humphrey, Louis Falco, Moses Pendleton, Marius Petipa, Michael Smuin, Helen Tamiris, and Doug Varone. Jamie is a prolific choreographer and dance scholar. Her choreography has been performed by St. Paul Ballet, Utah Metropolitan Ballet, Boulder Ballet II, and the University of Wyoming. As a dance scholar, Johnson explores dance and diversity. Her research has been presented at the National Dance Education Organization, the World Dance Alliance, and the American College Dance Association conferences. Her article, “Culturally Inclusive Dance: Working with Chinese English Language Learners in the Dance Technique Classroom” has been published in the Journal of Dance Education. Ms. Johnson holds a MFA in Dance from the University of Washington with additional certifications in Autism Movement Therapy and Yoga.
DANCE II WORKSHOP
Tommy Scrivens is a Florida native, where he trained at New Tampa Dance Theatre. Tommy graduated from The Ohio State University with a BFA in dance performance in 2005. While training, he has had the opportunity to work with many world-renowned choreographers and dancers. He has performed with Columbus Dance Theater contemporary ballet company, in the United Kingdom tour of Tap Fusion, as a guest artist with BalletMet, Columbus, Collide, and Parsons Dance. He is also currently dancing with dre.dance, Nicholas Andre Dance, marInspired, and Kristin Sudekis Dance. In addition to company work Tommy has been featured in several movies, musicals and TV shows. Recent highlights are The Big Gay Musical movie, City Center Encores' production of "Where's Charley ?" and "Fiorello" and the premier of Rosie O'Donnell's return to prime time TV on Rosie Show, featured on the OWN network. He has had the honor of working with Verdon/ Fosse Estate on archiving the legendary work of Bob Fosse and a principal member of American Dance Machine for the 21st Century. Most recently he performed in the pre-Broadway run of the new musical Roman Holiday in San Francisco and is slated to appear in an upcoming FX show about the life of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon starring Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell. As a teacher he has taught master class all over the world including Brazil, China, and Russia. Teaching students that are mentally and physically handicapped, autistic and blind. In the United states he has been privileged to teach at Peridance, Broadway Dance Center, The Ohio State University, Adelphi University, Manhattanville College, Marymount Manhattan and many dance studios across the nation. While keeping up a diverse performance career he is currently teaching classes in studios in New Jersey and Queens and judging competitions all over the nation.
FILMMAKING WORKSHOP
Helena Sardinha is a creative TV and film producer/director with extended experience in film, television, theater and performance. With a degree in Filmmaking at the New York Film Academy, in Los Angeles, Helena has worked in narrative films, music videos, commercials and documentaries. The variety of mediums Helena has participated brought her the understanding of art in all its forms, which she relies on to successfully bring creative projects to life. Sardinha started her film career at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) where she worked as a research artist of PACT - Research Group of Performing Arts and Technology. Helena was also the President of the Academic Week of Film at UFSC. Furthermore, Sardinha has Middle-Level Technical Course degree on Contemporary Dance from the School of Theater Bolshoi in Brazil, where she worked with Gustavo Côrtes and Luiz Fernando Bongiovanni. In the seven years she studied in Bolshoi School she had contact with classical dance, contemporary dance, circus techniques, popular dances, musical theories and practices and theatrical performances. After moving to Los Angeles, Helena focused in her career solely as a film director and producer, when she directed “Quartet”, an awarded short film that was part of the "Official Selection of Short Film Corner Cannes” and won best directing at "LA Short Awards” and best screenplay at the "LA Cinefest”. Currently, she’s the co-founder of Driven Equation, an entertainment company located between Brazil and São Paulo. Besides working with production, Helena also teaches film nationally and internationally.
PIANO WORKSHOP
Christopher Staknys is a New York-based pianist and composer and recent graduate of the Juilliard School. He is currently working as an opera rehearsal pianist at Juilliard (having played for productions of Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte) and is a candidate for the Metropolitan Opera’s training program. In his free time he enjoys playing tennis, chess, and hanging out with his cats.
PUPPET WORKSHOP
Mary Stevens is a retired kindergarten teacher who has used puppets in her classroom and for performances. She LOVES puppets!...and for many years has been collecting them. Sharing her puppets with others (especially children) is her first love.
VISUAL ARTS I
Liz Zacher is Assistant Professor of Art at University of Alaska Southeast. She has her B.F.A. from the Hartford Art School and her M.F.A. from Ohio University. She has taught at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp for many years.
VISUAL ARTS II
Julie Zhu is an artist, composer, and carillonneur. Her work is visual and aural, operating on an expansive definition of score, striving for the unexpected obvious and expressive absurd. Zhu’s work—from artist books to sculptures and installations, sound walks to chamber music—has been exhibited and performed internationally, such as, the DakenDagen Festival, Netherlands; Sintromboutstoren, Belgium; Arteles Creative Center, Finland; Banff Centre for the Arts; Yukon Arts Centre; Odess Theatre, Alaska; Miami Design District; Bushwick Open Studios; The Juilliard School; National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. She is the recipient of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for her interdisciplinary work and tours the world as a professional carillonneur. Zhu studied at Yale University (mathematics), the Royal Carillon School, Hunter College (MFA art), and is currently pursuing a DMA in composition at Stanford University.
WOODWIND WORKSHOP
Shai Golan is an Israeli saxophonist currently residing in Los Angeles. Shai has performed with numerous distinguished artists including David Binney, Billy Childs, Walter Smith III, Chris Potter, Nate Wood, Louis Cole, John Daversa, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge, Estelle, and Black Thought. As a touring musician, Shai has performed internationally at music festivals around the world, including Brazil, Ecuador, China, Thailand, Russia, and numerous countries in Europe. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Jazz Arts from the Manhattan School of Music in 2017 and with a Bachelor’s Degree from California State University Northridge in 2015. Shai is currently an adjunct professor at CSU Northridge’s jazz department.