Franco Zacha
Franco Zacha is an Argentinian illustrator doing work for newspapers, magazines, books, and more. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. You might find him drinking mate at dawn while admiring swans by the waters of Prospect Park Lake.
For more information visit Franco's website here.
Franco will be teaching Landscape Painting and Pen & Ink at High School Camp.
For more information visit Franco's website here.
Franco will be teaching Landscape Painting and Pen & Ink at High School Camp.
Quilan “Cue” Arnold
Quilan “Cue” Arnold (MFA) is a movement artist based out of Union City, NJ, who uses his God-given gifts to create systems that advocate for the liberation of all people. As a performer Quilan has been a member of companies such as onCUE Chronicles (NJ), Camille A. Brown and Dancers (NY), Rennie Harris Puremovement (PA), Netta Yerushalmy Dance Company (NY), Abby Z and the New Utility (NY), and Enzo Celli Vivo Ballet (NY). Quilan’s most recent choreographic works, Grandbuelo’s Quarter and The Third Rail, were presented at DancePlace (DC) and New Jersey City University (NJ) respectively in 2023. He was a 2022 New Directions Choreography Lab Artist-in-Residence at Alvin Ailey, and featured in the ALL ARTS documentary, Alvin Ailey New Directions. Other recent choreographic residencies include Brigham-Young University (UT), Green Space Theater (NY) and University of Texas- Austin. Quilan is the founder and CEO of the dance liberation business, The "onCUE Company," which equips dance artists with necessary resources to redefine their Usonian/American dream. Within onCUE he is artistic director of the kinetic storytelling company, "onCUE Chronicles"; host of the Street/Club Dance podcast, "The Good Foot Podcast"; head of the dance education business, "onCUE Center of Learning"; director of the Street/Club Dance documentary, "Build’N Shop"; and creator of the "Searching for a True Move" kinetic vulnerability method. As an educator Quilan has served numerous dance institutions by foregrounding the value of Street/Club Dance philosophy towards dance technique, U.S. history, antiracism, humanitarianism, and more. A few of Quilan’s educational collaborations include Brigham-Young University (UT), Peridance (NY), Hoboken Charter School (NJ), Alvin Ailey (NY), University of Texas- Austin, Queensborough College (NY), and Hunter College (NY). Additionally, Quilan hosts an online Hip-Hop course, Get Groovy. View Quilan’s work at www.cue4christ.com and onCUE Company’s work at www.oncuechronicles.com.
Quilan will be teaching Hip Hop, Dance Team, and Contemporary Dance at Middle and High School Camp.
Quilan will be teaching Hip Hop, Dance Team, and Contemporary Dance at Middle and High School Camp.
Eliana Athayde
Eliana Athayde currently tours nationally and internationally with Innovative Leisure recording artist Nick Waterhouse. After studying at USC, Ellie became an in-demand bassist in Southern California– performing and recording with The Hi-Fi Honeydrops, Jacaranda, Jon Batiste, and Louise Goffin.
Eliana will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Rock Band and Songwriting at Middle School Camp.
Eliana will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Rock Band and Songwriting at Middle School Camp.
Kyle Athayde
Kyle Athayde is a San Francisco Bay Area-based composer, arranger, performer, teacher, and bandleader. A native of Orinda, California, Kyle primarily plays vibraphone, piano, trumpet, and drums, as well as bongo, congas, timbales, string bass, bass clarinet, sousaphone, and vocal percussion. He is the leader, conductor, and principal writer for the San Francisco/New York-based big band, Kyle Athayde Dance Party, a group acclaimed for its versatility in the wide scope of styles it performs. He is also a keyboard, trumpet, and percussion player for the Bay Area collective Jazz Mafia, and is the pianist for The New York Trumpet Ensemble. Influenced by the music of J. S. Bach, Duke Ellington, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Eric Dolphy, Dmitri Shostakovich, Louis Armstrong, Igor Stravinsky, Charlie Parker, Olivier Messiaen, Art Tatum, and many others, Athayde composes and arranges music in a variety of genres, with an emphasis on jazz, classical, salsa, and electronic. While an undergraduate student at Juilliard, Kyle was heavily immersed in an interdisciplinary arts environment which included dance, drama, and music, which provided him the opportunity to further develop and refine his programmatic approach to composition. Athayde’s recent commissioned compositions and premieres include a double concerto for the New York Sinfonietta, a tone poem for Bobby Sanabria and The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra (the title track of their most recent album, ¡QUE VIVA HARLEM!), two pieces for choir and band for The University of Scranton’s performing ensembles, and music for the ending credits of the film Diller, Scofidio + Renfro: Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line. He also arranged the music for the halftime show for the University of California at Berkeley Marching Band in their final performance of the 2013 season. Kyle is currently working on commissions for the Canadian Brass, The New York Trumpet Ensemble, Manhattan School of Music Trumpet Ensemble, and the San Francisco Conservatory Brass Choir. Committed to interdisciplinary educational outreach in the arts, Kyle has offered classes, clinics, lessons and masterclasses at schools, workshops, and camps in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Alaska. A regular visiting faculty member of the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, he recently developed and taught a class on video game music history and composition there, and directed the jazz band and a vocal hip hop class. He is the Director of Curriculum at the Lafayette Summer Music Workshop, and regularly offers clinics and masterclasses to middle school and high school bands throughout Northern California. Kyle has a wide range of interests, and loves to teach and learn about a variety of subjects, which brings a wide stylistic variety to his music, as his diverse interests inspire his work. A passionate fan of American football, the ruthless power and strategy of the sport influence his exciting writing style. An avid gamer, the music of these video games has inspired some of his most unusual and engaging compositions.
For more information visit Kyle's website here.
Kyle will be teaching Brass Technique, Jazz Band, and Jazz Combos at Middle School Camp.
For more information visit Kyle's website here.
Kyle will be teaching Brass Technique, Jazz Band, and Jazz Combos at Middle School Camp.
Jamie Bates
Jamie Bates is currently an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at the University of Oklahoma. She received her MFA from the University of Kansas and her BFA from the University of Central Missouri. In their studio practice, Jamie uses self-reflection to explore themes including mental health, sexuality, and gender.
Jamie will be teaching Wheel Thrown Pottery, Handbuilding, and Figure Sculpture at Middle and High School Camp.
Jamie will be teaching Wheel Thrown Pottery, Handbuilding, and Figure Sculpture at Middle and High School Camp.
Zeke Blackwell
Zeke Blackwell has been involved in over 100 productions as a director, performer, 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 almost two decades 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 theater, 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 10th season year-round at SFAC as the Young Performers Theater Director.
Zeke will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Intro to Theater, Shakespeare, and Acting: In the Spotlight at Middle School Camp and Acting: Mainstage, Shakespeare, and Directing for the Stage at High School Camp.
Zeke will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Intro to Theater, Shakespeare, and Acting: In the Spotlight at Middle School Camp and Acting: Mainstage, Shakespeare, and Directing for the Stage at High School Camp.
Sarah Branton
Sarah Branton is in her 23rd year of teaching secondary music and has served the last 18 years at Cherry Creek High School in Denver, Colorado. At CCHS, she directs several of the school’s choirs, vocal directs the annual musical production, teaches AP Music Theory and has been assistant orchestra director. Under her direction, ensembles have performed at numerous state and regional ACDA and NAfME conventions, Carnegie Hall, and have toured around the world. Prior to Cherry Creek, Ms. Branton taught choir and orchestra in Longmont, CO and Blaine, MN. Ms. Branton is the Assistant Director of Kantorei, a Denver-based adult choir, and she is the alto Section Leader and sings with the choir. Furthermore, she is on faculty at the summer Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, Alaska, sings with various ad hoc ensembles throughout the community, is an orchestral and jazz string bassist, and served as principal bassist of the St. Olaf Orchestra and St. Olaf Jazz Band I. She is currently Chair-Elect on the Colorado All-State Choir board and was previously on the Colorado American Choral Directors Association board. Ms. Branton holds music degrees from St. Olaf College and Colorado State University and is studying continuing education through Berklee College of Music.
Sarah will be teaching Vocal Technique, Choir, and Musical Theater at High School Camp.
Sarah will be teaching Vocal Technique, Choir, and Musical Theater at High School Camp.
Joe Burck
Joe Burck studies History Education for grades 5-12 with a minor in Theater Arts at Augustana College. Originally from Aurora, Illinois, Joe started learning about technical theater as a middle school camper at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and is eager to return to Odess Theater and the Sitka Performing Arts Center. In his time at Augustana, Joe has worked on productions such as Macbeth (Assistant Sound Designer), Threepenny Opera (Sound Board Operator), Cabaret (Sound Designer), most recently Nine (Sound Designer), and currently works as a Scene Shop Supervisor in charge of managing set production. In the summers of 2022 and 2023, Joe worked at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp as the Technical Theater Intern, the Assistant Technical Manager, and the Technical Director. Joe collaborated on the 2022 SFAC production of Mamma Mia as the Pit Sound Board Operator and on the 2023 SFAC production of Cinderella as the Technical Director.
Joe will be teaching Live Event Production at Middle and High School Camp.
Joe will be teaching Live Event Production at Middle and High School Camp.
Amy Butcher
Amy Butcher is an award-winning writer and the recent recipient of a 2024 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council for work on her new book, a work-in-progress that explores and examines concepts of autonomy, legitimacy, believability, and value as they relate to and shape the lives of female-presenting Americans. Her most recent book, Mothertrucker, interrogates the realities of female fear, abusive relationships, and America’s quiet epidemic of intimate partner violence set against the geography of remote, northern Alaska. The book earned praise from Publisher’s Weekly, Good Morning America, Booklist, The Chicago Review of Books, Oxford Reviews, Kirkus Reviews, and others, with Kirkus Reviews calling the book “...a sobering reflection on verbal and psychological abuse [that] honors the healing power of female friendship and questions the nature of divinity beyond its constricting patriarchal manifestations,” and Publisher’s Weekly writing, “[Mothertrucker] explores myriad issues with nuance and grace, including Indigenous rights, violence against women, religious hypocrisy, and environmental concerns.” Excerpts of Mothertrucker also won a 2020 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, with judges calling the book “well researched,” “very well-written,” and “a positive antidote to the trauma of violence against women.” Her first book, Visiting Hours (Blue Rider Press/Penguin-Random House, 2015), earned starred reviews and praise from The New York Times Sunday Review of Books, NPR, The Star Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and others, and additional work has appeared in Granta, Harper's, The New York Times’ “Modern Love,” The New York Times Sunday Review, The Washington Post, The Denver Post, The Iowa Review, Lit Hub, Guernica, Gulf Coast, Fourth Genre, and Brevity, among others. Her work has been featured on National Public Radio and the BBC, anthologized in Best Travel Writing, thrice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and awarded notable distinctions in the 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 editions of the Best American Essays series. She earned her MFA from the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program and is the recipient of grants and awards from the Vermont Studio Center, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, the Ohio Arts Council, Colgate University, Word Riot Inc., and the Stanley Foundation for International Research. She serves as the Director of Creative Writing and an Associate Professor of English at Ohio Wesleyan University.
For more information visit Amy's website here.
Amy will be teaching Creative Nonfiction, Short Fiction Writing, and The Art of Poetry at Middle and High School Camp.
For more information visit Amy's website here.
Amy will be teaching Creative Nonfiction, Short Fiction Writing, and The Art of Poetry at Middle and High School Camp.
Emma T Capps
A cartoonist and art teacher since the age of 14, Emma T Capps graduated from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design in 2023, with a BA in literary arts and an honors BFA in illustration. In 2024, she completed her studies at the University of Cambridge's graduate school of Education. Her comics have been featured in Dark Horse Comics, USA Today, Wired, and more. Besides comics, she's an apparel and costume designer, finding joy in the multidisciplinary nature of apparel design and the empathy-cultivating power of sequential art. Originally from California, she now resides in a medieval village in the English countryside, enthusiastically petting every dog she encounters.
Emma will be teaching Mini Comics, Longform Comics, and Sewing & Apparel Design at High School Camp.
Emma will be teaching Mini Comics, Longform Comics, and Sewing & Apparel Design at High School Camp.
Marissa Childers
Marissa Childers is a ceramic artist living in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was born in Florence, Alabama where she earned her BFA from the University of North Alabama. Upon graduating, she worked as a ceramic intern at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and soon after received her MFA from the University of Oklahoma. Marissa’s work explores moments of connection and intimacy while celebrating femininity and craft found within domestic spaces. She is often inspired by things that society deems as a ‘craft’ or ‘feminine’ such as quilting, sewing, and decoration. Marissa has exhibited her work at numerous galleries and has received various grants and awards to support her research, including support from the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition and the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts. She was chosen as one of Ceramics Monthly’s Emerging Artists of 2022 and was an Emerging Artist for NCECA in 2023.
For more information visit Marissa's website here.
Marissa will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Wheel Thrown Pottery and Handbuilding at Middle and High School Camp.
For more information visit Marissa's website here.
Marissa will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Wheel Thrown Pottery and Handbuilding at Middle and High School Camp.
Marco d'Ambrosio
Marco d'Ambrosio loves shaping music and sound, especially the kind that enhances the visual arts. Making music that is evocative, enlightening, and entertaining is a natural result of Marco's creative expression. Marco's musical baptism began shortly after moving from Italy to Boston, when at the age of nine he began playing trumpet. "It really all began in Italy," he reminisces, "when my father would take me to festivals in Florence. He would put me on his shoulders so I could watch the bands march by. I remember falling in love with the trumpet, mostly because it was so shiny! It wasn't until we emigrated to the United States that I had a chance to start playing in elementary school." With an insatiable appetite for all genres ("My first two albums purchased simultaneously were Maurice Andre Plays Baroque Trumpet Concertos and Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic") his musical awareness was soon captivated by film music, particularly the classic collaborations of Fellini and Nino Rota and the scores of Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrman and Jerry Goldsmith. This quickly led him to composition, with a special interest in fusing acoustic and electronic textures, which he pursued as a double major of music and engineering at the Hartt School of Music and University of Hartford. Marco has never been unduly influenced by cultural and stylistic constrictions. He is equally adept at playing and creating pieces that reflect classical, jazz, modern, and ethnic influences, and he thrives on blurring the lines between them. In many of his scores, you can hear various instruments like didgeridoo, dumbek and bodhran drums, melodica, Indian flutes, waterphones, and theremin along with handcrafted beats and stylized synthetic textures. Many of his compositions also reflect a romantic orchestral lyricism that can no doubt be traced to his summers performing and studying at the University of Siena and touring with the Puccini and International Festival Opera Orchestras. An East Coast transplant and Lucasfilm alum, Marco has made a niche for himself in a studio in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a composer, sound designer and multi-instrumentalist, he has scored numerous award winning films, documentaries and theater projects including the anime hits Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures, and Fist of the Blue Sky as well as Haiku Tunnel (Sundance 2001), the Emmy-winning BLINK, Double Dare, and Red Diaper Baby for the Sundance Channel. Other scores of Marco's have been on projects produced by 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Lucasfilm Ltd., Dreamworks, Pixar, Columbia and HBO. In 2005, he was awarded a film scoring fellowship from the Sundance Institute, and in 2009 he was selected to participate in the BMI Conducting Workshop in Hollywood. You can also hear some of his noted scores in The Rape of Europa, winner of the Insight Award for Excellence (co-scored with Ben Decter) and 2009 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, and Atomic Mom winner of the Gold Medal at the Park City Film Festival. Marco has also been responsible for designing much of the dynamic sound and music heard in the iconic THX logo trailer. Most recently, Marco has composed for H.P. Mendoza, Brian Benson, and long-time collaborators Josh and Jacob Kornbluth. Marco has also enjoyed a stint co-arranging and performing with Bob Weir (The Grateful Dead) and co-writing/producing songs with Michael Caranello (Santana) and Neal Schon (Journey). He has also served as a studio conductor for Disney, on the TV series Off the Map and Intelligence, working on great LA stages, like Capitol and Warner Bros., and is currently a regular conductor at Skywalker, working on larger scores for video games along with baton duty for other composers on their films. When he's not locked up in his mad sonic laboratory, Marco recharges his creative flow working the land at Valle Verde, the Sonoma County ranch he shares with his wife Terri and son Armando, and their dog Diva.
For more information visit Marco's website here.
Marco will be teaching Electronic Music, Music & Sound for Everyone, and Film & Media Composition at High School Camp.
For more information visit Marco's website here.
Marco will be teaching Electronic Music, Music & Sound for Everyone, and Film & Media Composition at High School Camp.
Sydney Schwindt
Sydney Schwindt is an actor originally from Boulder, Colorado. She has her BFA in Acting from The Hartt School and has trained at the Accademia dell'Arte in Arezzo, Italy and The SF Clown Conservatory. She has performed all over the country and internationally with such companies as Hartford Stage, Mirage Entertainment, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Davis Shakespeare Ensemble, and many more. Specializing in stage combat and physical comedy, she loves to learn to new things! Aside from acting you may find her working as fight director, teaching artist, or even on stilts making balloon animals! Take a look around to learn more about Sydney!
For more information visit Sydney's website here.
Sydney will be teaching Stage Combat: Unarmed, Stage Combat: Swords, and Musical Theater at High School Camp.
For more information visit Sydney's website here.
Sydney will be teaching Stage Combat: Unarmed, Stage Combat: Swords, and Musical Theater at High School Camp.
Gaz Ehrreich
Gaz Ehrreich is a multidisciplinary artist and illustrator from California, currently residing in New England. Gaz graduated from Rhode Island School of Design where he carved out a path to study miniature modeling within the Illustration Department, alongside traditional drawing and painting. Professionally, Gaz is an accomplished architectural renderer, illustrator, muralist, and craftsman with a love for teaching and a lot of knowledge to give. He specializes in handmade art, fine craftsmanship, drafting, perspective, and lighting. He is also passionate about the connections between art and music, creative writing, humanity, AI, and apocalyptic fiction. He is currently working on a graphic novel and a series of scientific posters with the goal of better understanding the natural world. This summer he will be teaching courses in drawing perspective, stop motion animation, and miniature modeling.
For more information visit Gaz's website here.
Gaz will be teaching Drawing Perspective, Stop Motion Animation, and Making Miniatures at High School Camp.
For more information visit Gaz's website here.
Gaz will be teaching Drawing Perspective, Stop Motion Animation, and Making Miniatures at High School Camp.
Ariel Estrada
Ariel Estrada (he/him/his/siya) is a Webby Award-winning producer, actor, writer, and advocate for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) performing artists and all performing artists of marginalized identity. As an actor, he has performed on television, film, commercials, digital media, and Off- and Off-Off-Broadway, regionally including at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, and on tv/film on Girls5Eva, Tell Me A Story, Bull, Blue Bloods, and The Americans. As a producer, Ariel is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director for Leviathan Lab, a nonprofit creative studio for AANHPI performing artists. As a member of the AANHPI producers collective CollaborAzian, he was part of the leadership team of the 2022 Webby Award-winning online concert of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder which raised over $25K in support of the nonprofit community advocacy organization Stop AAPI Hate. As an arts administrator and educator, he is the Associate Director of the Theatre Program at Fordham University; the Grants Manager for National Asian Artists Project; and serves on the boards Latine Musical Theatre Lab, Musical Theatre Factory, and Episcopal Actors Guild, as well as the advisory board for Houghton Hall Arts Community. His leadership has been recognized by artEquity, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Theatre Communications Group. He has also been designated as an Educator Advocate by Theatrical Intimacy Education. www.arielestrada.com | leviathanlab.com
Ariel will be teaching Acting, Acting for Film & Television, and The Art of Auditioning at High School Camp.
Ariel will be teaching Acting, Acting for Film & Television, and The Art of Auditioning at High School Camp.
Franz Felkl
Franz Felkl was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska. He started his violin studies with Guo Hua Xia at age four and continued his studies in high school with Mrs. Linda Rosenthal. Upon his acceptance into the University Alaska of Fairbanks he continued his studies with Dr. Kathleen Butler-Hopkins. Mr. Felkl received a Bachelors in Violin Performance and a Bachelors of Music Education K-12 from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Mr. Felkl collaborated extensively with faculty members of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in both chamber music and recitals. He played with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, retained a position as Principal Second Violinist and guest Concertmaster of the Juneau Symphony Orchestra during his undergraduate studies, Principal Second Violin for the Opera Fairbanks Orchestra, and many other ensembles in Alaska. In 2012, he won the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition and had the opportunity to play the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the orchestra. As an educator he has worked as a coach in a chamber music setting for young artists, taught at music camps for young musicians, and worked with the Fairbanks Youth Symphony Orchestras. In the fall of 2013, Mr. Felkl worked as a student teaching intern with the Fairbanks Northstar School District as part of his music education studies. He worked with cooperating teachers in the elementary and middle school programs. The following spring, he continued to teach within the district as a substitute teacher, primarily focusing on the music classrooms. In the spring of 2016, Mr. Felkl received his Masters of Music in Violin Performance from Lynn University Conservatory of Music where he studied with Mr. Elmar Oliveira. During his time at Lynn, he acted as Concertmaster of the Lynn Philharmonia and participated in many different chamber music groups. Recently, he has held positions in Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet, and the Palm Beach Symphony, as well as played in numerous other groups in the South Florida area. From 2016-2019, Mr. Felkl was the Second Violinist in the Amernet String Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University. During his tenure with the quartet, he traveled throughout the United States, Mexico, and Middle East. While in the quartet, he collaborated with musicians such as Joseph Kalichstein, Cynthia Phelps, Roberto Diaz, and Guillermo Figueroa. At FIU, he taught courses as an adjunct faculty and most recently as visiting professor. In addition to his concertizing, Mr. Felkl maintained a full studio at the Palm Beach Suzuki School of Music. Mr. Felkl now lives in Juneau, where he is the Concertmaster of the Juneau Symphony, has a studio of private students, is the director of the Juneau Symphony Prelude Orchestra, and is a lead teacher and site coordinator for Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM). JAMM is an El Sistema inspired after-school program that uses the power and social experience of music for youth to reach their fullest potential and create active and engaged community members. In his spare time, he enjoys being outdoors, fishing, and is an avid runner.
Franz will be teaching String Technique, Orchestra, and Small Ensembles at Middle School Camp.
Franz will be teaching String Technique, Orchestra, and Small Ensembles at Middle School Camp.
Shai Golan
Shai Golan is a saxophonist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and educator. 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, Canada, 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.
Shai will be teaching Saxophone Technique, Jazz Band, and Jazz Combos at High School Camp.
Shai will be teaching Saxophone Technique, Jazz Band, and Jazz Combos at High School Camp.
Teaghan Gokey
Ever since perusing a copy of D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, Teaghan Gokey has been profoundly inspired by the countless ancient tales of sword and sorcery throughout humanity’s shared history, and has since strived to craft weird and wild myths from his own collection of worldly interests. An avid researcher and insatiable bookworm, Teaghan has been eternally mesmerized by the wonders of nature, and usually finds himself drawing from the fields of paleontology, geology, and marine biology as a limitless well of inspiration billions of years in the making. Through modern methods of digital painting, Teaghan seeks to revive the mysterious and grand visions of the Old World with a distinct twist of eerie surrealism. Since graduating with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2022, Teaghan’s work has been featured in the Soul Arts collection by Michael Samuels aka VaatiVidya, and he has recently picked up freelance work designing all manner of creatures and critters for tabletop RPG games.
For more information visit Teaghan's website here.
Teaghan will be teaching Creature Art, Digital Painting: Character Design, and Intro to Procreate: Illustrating Magical Worlds at Middle School Camp.
For more information visit Teaghan's website here.
Teaghan will be teaching Creature Art, Digital Painting: Character Design, and Intro to Procreate: Illustrating Magical Worlds at Middle School Camp.
Rhiannon Guevin
Rhiannon Guevin is the Operations Director for the nationally recognized Sitka Fine Arts Camp (SFAC). In addition to her administrative duties with the camp, which include financial management, program logistics, and grant writing and management, Rhiannon teaches voice at SFAC's High School Camp and provides vocal coaching for SFAC's Musical Theater Camp. Rhiannon helped to start SFAC's Young Performers Theater program in 2013 and served as the program's Music Director until 2021. She still serves as vocal coach for the program. She also teaches private voice lessons to a small studio. Rhiannon has served as an adjudicator for the classical voice and musical theater sections at Alaska's State Solo and Ensemble Music Festival. Rhiannon graduated summa cum laude from University of Puget Sound’s School of Music, where she received a BM in Vocal Performance with Honors in Music. Operatic roles include: Miss Titmouse in Too Many Sopranos!, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the China Yunnan Opera Festival, and Zerlina in Juneau Lyric Opera’s production of Don Giovanni. Musical theater roles include: Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Cathy Hyatt in The Last Five Years, Woman 1 in Songs for a New World, Judy Bernly in 9 to 5, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, and Amélie Poulain in Amélie. Rhiannon has studied voice with Dr. Dawn Padula and Joseph Evans.
For more information visit Rhiannon's website here.
Rhiannon will be teaching Broadway Song Workshop at High School Camp.
For more information visit Rhiannon's website here.
Rhiannon will be teaching Broadway Song Workshop at High School Camp.
Allyss Haecker
Dr. Allyss Haecker is currently in her third year as the Director of Choirs at Seneca High School (SC) where she directs five choirs and teaches courses in Advanced Placement Music Theory and Music of the World’s Peoples. In addition to her classroom teaching, she is in her second season as the Artistic Director of the Foothills Chorale of Clemson, SC. Most recently, she served as the Artistic Director of the Riverside Singers at Augsburg University, the See Change Treble Choir in St. Paul, MN, and the Colonial Chorale at Colonial Church in Edina, MN. Dr. Haecker was also a member of the music faculty at the Shattuck-St. Mary’s School as a voice teacher within their Vocal Performance Program. She was also the Artistic Director of the Northfield Youth Choir program and conductor of the Concert Choir. Formerly, she was on the voice faculty at St. Olaf College (MN) and was the conductor of one of the college’s choirs, Cantorei. Dr. Haecker served as an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Emory & Henry College (VA) where she taught voice, conducting, choral methods, vocal pedagogy, diction, and directed the Concert and Chamber Choirs. In addition, Dr. Haecker was an Assistant Professor of Music at Newberry College (SC) and the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. For sixteen years, she served on the vocal and conducting faculty of the Performing Arts Institute, a summer festival for students of music, dance, and theater. Previously, she taught choral music in the Fenton Area Public Schools (MI) and was the Artistic Director of the Saginaw Youth Chorale (MI). Dr. Haecker received her doctorate of musical arts in choral conducting and literature from the University of Iowa, her master of music degree in choral conducting from the University of Illinois, and her bachelor of music education degree from Converse College (SC). Dr. Haecker is a frequent clinician and guest conductor for district, state, and regional choral festivals, having conducted throughout Virginia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Alaska. She enjoyed her conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in April 2023 with the Seneca High School Chorale. Dr. Haecker’s commercial recording with Emory & Henry College Concert and Chamber Choirs entitled Making Love Known can be found on Spotify, iTunes, CDbaby, and Apple Music. Dr. Haecker’s ongoing research includes contemporary South African choral music and its impact on social and political change. She was a recipient of the T. Anne Cleary International Research Fellowship which allowed her to study and perform throughout South Africa. Her time in the Middle East has also led to research and performances of unpublished Arab choral music. She has twice presented at the Virginia Music Educators Association Annual Conference on topics of vocal pedagogy and courageous music-making. To watch her recent Ted Talk and hear recent performances by Dr. Allyss Haecker, please visit www.allysshaecker.com. Dr. Haecker currently lives in Pickens, SC with her husband, Arthur, and their hilarious son, Kai.
Allyss will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Vocal Technique, Choir, and Musical Theater at Middle School Camp.
Allyss will be teaching at Elementary Camp and Vocal Technique, Choir, and Musical Theater at Middle School Camp.