Please click on names for full informtaion.
Conductors/Directors
Chamber Choir — Christopher Kiver, Penn State School of Music
Jazz Combo- Marko Marcinko, Penn State School of Muisc
Wind Ensemble — Dennis Glocke, Penn State School of Music
Applied Faculty
Bassoon — Daryl Durran, Penn State School of Music
Clarinet — Anthony Costa, Penn State School of Music
Flute — Naomi Seidman, Penn State School of Music
Horn — Lisa O. Bontrager, Penn State School of Music
Jazz Guitar/Jazz Bass/Electric Bass - MacKinlay Himes
MacKinlay has been both a performing jazz guitarist and guitar teacher for over 15 years in the central Pennsylvania area. He has most notably played in the Rick Hirsch 4 and the Dan Yoder Quartet as well as his own trio. Mac is a Ph.D. candidate in Music Education at the Penn State School of Music. He received a masters in music composition from Penn State and B.A. in music from Peabody Institute. Mac has also been a faculty member at the School of Music for 10 years directing jazz ensembles, teaching an online jazz history course, guitar methods and jazz guitar lessons.
Jazz Piano Performance, Drum Set and Rhythm Section-Marko Marcinko, Penn State University
Oboe — Timothy Hurtz, Penn State School of Music
Percussion — Michael Schutz, McMaster University of the Arts, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Saxophone — David Stambler, Penn State School of Music
Trombone -Mark Lusk, Penn State School of Music
Trumpet -Michael Mergen
Michael Mergen performs and teaches in the Washington, DC area. He has appeared with groups such as the National Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the Choral Arts Society of Washington. He has worked with conductors, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Osmo Vanska, and John Williams. For the past four summers, he appeared with the Blossom Music Festival Band as Solo Cornet under the direction of Loras Schissel. In 1999 he joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band as a trumpet and cornet player. As a founding member of the Valor Brass, he has performed recitals and given master classes around the country. In 2015 The Valor Brass released the album Inaugural including Jim Stephenson’s new work Chase Sequence , a Valor Brass commission, and some traditional works for Wind Ensemble newly arranged for the quintet by Tom Holtz. With his brother Paul, Michael commissioned composer Jim Stephenson to write Hanging by a Thread, a concerto for Trumpet, Tuba, and Wind Ensemble. Michael has taught trumpet at Elizabethtown College and maintains an active studio in the Alexandria, VA area. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the Eastman School of Music and The Catholic University of America. Michael Mergen’s appearance is in an unofficial capacity and neither "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, the U.S. Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense or the U.S Government has endorsed this activity.
Tuba/Euphonium -Paul Mergen
Paul received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1997 with a degree
in music history. In 2003 he received a masters degree in tuba performance from Rutgers
University. He studied with Fritz Kaenzig and Scott Mendoker respectively. He was a member
of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band from 2004 to 2015.
Paul has also performed with orchestras to include the Seattle Symphony, Washington National
Opera, Baltimore Symphony and Indianapolis Symphony.
As a soloist he has performed on two summer concert series with the Marine Band. This April
he looks forward to premiering, along with his brother Michael, a duet for trumpet, tuba, and
wind ensemble with the DePauw University wind ensemble. In 2016 he was the featured guest
artist at the University of Montana Concert Band Festival where he performed with the university
concert band and conducted masterclasses for festival attendees.
This January Paul started teaching tuba at Indiana State University where he is also a member
of the faculty brass quintet. He maintains an active freelance career around Indiana where he
lives with his wife and twin daughters.
Voice, Opera Chorus, Voice Masterclass — Katie Travis
Originally from Michigan, Katie is a versatile soprano equally at home singing operetta through contemporary musical theater. She recently finished her run of over 700 shows playing Christine Daae in the North American tour of Phantom of the Opera. She has performed principal roles at The Muny, The Fireside Theater, and Liederkranz Opera Theater. Katie is a winner of the Lys Symonette Award in the Lotte Lenya Competition.
In addition, Katie is passionate about global music education. She has spent time teaching music in Ghana at The Beacon House School, an orphanage for children in Accra. She also did work with The Real Global Poets, a poetry exchange between youth in Birmingham, Alabama and Refugees in Daadab, Kenya.
Voice, Voice Masterclass-Jennifer Trost, Penn State School of Music