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Jeffrey Gall
Professor of Music
Voice Program Coordinator
Music History
973-655-7213
gallj@mail.montclair.edu

Jeffrey Gall made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1988 - the first countertenor ever to sing at the Met. He sang Tolomeo in Handel's Giulio Cesare, and in 1994 returned to the Met for Britten's Death in Venice. He studied voice at the Yale School of Music with Blake Stern, and holds degrees in Slavic languages from Princeton and Yale Universities. He sang with such early music ensembles as the Waverly Consort and Pomerium Musices early in his career and then moved on to solo roles in Baroque and contemporary opera. He has sung principal roles at La Scala, Teatro San Carlo (Naples) and La Fenice in Italy; the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Salle Garnier in France; the Monnaie in Brussels; the Netherlands Opera; the Cologne and Frankfurt Operas in Germany; the Canadian Opera, as well as the Spoleto, Edinburgh, Innsbruck, Halle, Schwetzingen, and Bordeaux Festivals. In the United States he has sung at the San Francisco, Chicago Lyric, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Boston Operas, and has made many concert appearances at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as at the Kennedy Center in Washington. He has recorded for CBS, Harmonia Mundi, Erato, Nonesuch, Titanic, and Smithsonian Records, and appears in the title role on the London video of Peter Sellars' production of Handel's Giulio Cesare. Prof. Gall has conducted clinics and master classes in both standard repertory and early-music techniques at music schools across the United States. In addition, he is a founding member of the Italian vocal ensemble Il Terzo Suono.

Stephen Oosting
Assistant Professor of Music
Voice
Musical Theater
973-655-7927
oostings@mail.montclair.edu

Tenor Stephen Oosting has been hailed as an interpreter of Britten and Bach, Strauss and Mozart, Puccini and Wagner. He has had a long career in opera, where he has sung more than forty leading roles, and in concert work, where he has appeared frequently as an oratorio soloist and recitalist. In addition he has been a frequent champion of new music premiering works for numerous composers. His concert appearances include those with the Aspen Festival, the Madeira Bach Festival, the Vermont Mozart Festival, the Basically Bach Festival, and with the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony an the Rochester Philharmonic. He has recorded for RCA, Newport Classics, and the Albany labels (the first recording of the American composer Stephen Albert's orchestral song cycle Into Eclipse). Prof. Oosting holds a doctorate and a performer's certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master's from Michigan /state University. He is also the current NJ State Governor of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Lori McCann
Assistant Professor
Voice
973-655-6983
mccannl@mail.montclair.edu

Soprano Lori McCann holds a B.M. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, M.A degree from San Diego State University, and D.M.A. and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has performed extensively in the United States and abroad appearing in opera, oratorio, and recital. She has been regularly featured with the Berliner Kammeroper and the Neue Opernbühne (Berlin, Germany) and with the Virginia Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn, Whitewater Opera, Sorg opera, Shreveport Opera, and Pacific Chamber Opera in the U.S. Her roles have included the Governess (Turn of the Screw), Fulvia (Ezio, Händel), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Countess (Le nozze di Figaro), Fiordiligi (Cosí fan tutte), Mimi (La Bohème), The Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen), Giulia (La scala di seta, Rossini), Iphigénie (Iphigénie en Tauride, Gluck), Mary Warren (The Crucible, Ward), Jessie (Mahagonny-Songspiel, Weill), Second Lady (The Magic Flute), Amor (Orfeo ed Eurydice, Gluck), and others. Her oratorio repertoire includes: Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem; Mozart - Requiem, Vesprae solemnes de confessore, and Regina Coeli; Händel - Messiah and L'allegro ed il pensieroso; Bach - Magnificat, Mass in B Minor, St. Matthew Passion; Debussy - La Demoiselle élue and works by Dubois, Monteverdi, Rossini, Haydn, Vivaldi, Canteloube, Mahler and several world premier oratorio works. Before coming to the Cali School she taught throughout the world and maintained teaching studios in metropolitan areas including San Diego, Cincinnati, Berlin and Muenster, Germany, and New York City.

Sandra Darling
Visiting Specialist
Voice
973-655-7212
wilsing@verizon.net

Soprano Sandra Darling has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and with the New York City Opera, and off-Broadway. She has performed more than eighty roles with the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera Studio, the National American Opera, the Canadian Opera and with many regional opera companies. Her performances as orchestral soloist include the Pittsburg, Toledo and Detroit symphonies, the Brno (Czech Republic) Symphony, New York's Clarion Concerts, St. Andrew Society, Jens Nygaard's Mozart Chamber Orchestra, and with the orchestras of the St. Cecilia and Masterwork Choruses. Repertoire performed with these groups includes such diverse works as Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Mozart's Exsultate jubilate, Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Poulenc's Gloria, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Ms. Darling is equally at home singing lieder ranging from Lully to Massenet, Bartok, Brahms, Wolf, Mozart and Bernstein.  In addition to studio voice she has taught English repertoire and diction, voice masterclass and vocal methods. Ms. Darling has been recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and by the Cultural Heritage Competition for Superior Teaching.

Peter Gillis
Visiting Specialist
Voice
973-655-7212
peterrgillis@yahoo.com
Peter Gillis - Website

His artistry hailed by The Chicago Tribune as "Wonderfully clear and precise," tenor Peter Gillis has performed extensively in the United States, Canada and abroad. Similar critical praise from The New York Times for his Ottavio at a Juilliard Opera Center Don Giovanni led to his European debut in Spoleto, Italy. Aseasoned recitalist, he has recorded several broadcasts for CBC Radio and Television in his native Canada. He made his debut performance with the Nova Scotia Symphony in 2005. Of his CD recording Peter Gillis: Cape Breton Tenor released in 2002 for distribution throughout Maritime Canada, the Halifax Herald has written, "...Superbly modulated tone... vastly superior vocal armament." In the United States Mr. Gillis has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Opera Company of Boston, Opera Orchestra of New York, Kennedy Center's Washington Opera, Pennsylvania Opera Theatre, Milwaukee's Skylight Opera Theater, Lenox Music Theater Group, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Alice Tully Hall and the Bruno Walter Auditorium. In addition to teaching at MSU, he has been on the voice faculties of Indiana University, Westminster Choir College, New Jersey City University, and Wagner College. His apprenticeship was with the Santa Fe Opera and he holds a Doctorate from the Juilliard School. He is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Gregory Lamar
Visiting Specialist
Voice
973-655-7212
gl5@aol.com

Gregory Lamar has an international reputation as a teacher, performer, scholar and consultant. He has been recognized for his versatility as a singer, being equally at home in recital, opera and oratorio. Mr. Lamar has performed with various opera companies, orchestras and concert organizations. As a teacher, his students perform regularly in major opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco, Munich and Vienna. Also, many of his students have performed on Broadway stages and national tours. Mr. Lamar maintains vocal studios in New York City, Cologne and Berlin. He has also taught in Vienna. Mr. Lamar has conducted master classes for young artist programs of various opera houses, and workshops in voice and speech for actors. He has collaborated with noted voice specialists in working with injured voices. Mr. Lamar works regularly with artists' management agencies in the U.S., Germany and Austria, and has been an adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Georgia and a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He also did postgraduate work at the Indiana University School of Music.

Jennifer Rivera
Visiting Specialist
Voice
973-655-7212

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera was awarded the 2002 Stanley Tausend Award for Outstanding Debut Artist from the New York City Opera. Her increasingly active career has included performances as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Lazuli in Chabrier’s L’Etoile, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Rosina in Barbiere di Siviglia, Meg in Little Women, and Mhrynne in Lysistrata. She has performed with the Portland (OR) Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Columbus, Lyric Opera (Cleveland), Florentine Opera (Milwaukee), Lyric Opera (Kansas City) and Opera Hong Kong. She made her South American debut in the title role of La Cenerentola with Opera di Colombia in Bogota in the summer of 2004, sang Meg in Little Women in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan as part of the World Expo 2005, and was a finalist in the Placido Domingo World Opera Competition, performing in concert in Madrid under the Baton of Maestro Domingo. She made her professional recital debut at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. A radio broadcast recital, part of the Marilyn Horne Foundation’s “On Wings of Song” recital series was aired on New York’s WQXR. In 2000, Ms. Rivera joined Horne for a concert at Carnegie Hall. Ms Rivera earned her bachelors degree from Boston University and her masters from the Juilliard School.

Stephanie Samaras
Visiting Specialist
Voice
Musical Theater
973-655-7212

Stephanie Samaras is a pioneer in applying healthy classical technique to the training of voices in the pop field. Her lecture and video, Classical Training Applied to the Pop Voice, has been presented at the First International Congress of Voice Teachers in Strasbourg, France, and also at the National NATS convention in Los Angeles. Professionals from the world of Broadway - among them directors Tommy Tune and Jeff Calhoun, and the casting agencies of Hughes/Moss and Johnson/Liff - send singers to work with her. Her students have included Tony Award winner Scott Wise (who acknowledged Stephanie in his acceptance speech), Broadway performer Evan Pappas (star of My Favorite Year and Parade), Patrick Swayze and his wife, actress Lisa Niemi, soap star Ricky Paull-Goldin (Another World, Days of Our Lives and also star of the Broadway revival of Grease!), Jennifer Garner (Ally McBeal and Alias), Vanessa Ferlitto (CSI New York), and others whose faces are familiar from the TV screen. She has also worked with Carol Leifer (comedienne and Seinfeld writer), Mark Weiner (Weinerville Cable TV), Hiram Kasten (Seinfeld character) and the late comedian Dennis Wolfberg.

Peter Stewart
Visiting Specialist
Voice
(973) 655-7212
stewartdavila@nyc.rr.com

Baritone Peter Stewart has created many new works in collaboration with composers. He has toured extensively in Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America with Philip Glass and Robert Wilson in Einstein on the Beach, Monsters of Grace, The White Raven, and La Belle et la Bete, and has joined the Philip Glass Ensemble at the keyboards in Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Anima Mundi. Mr. Stewart has also created roles and recorded many new operas for Gavin Bryars/Robert Wilson, Julius Hemphill, Anthony Braxton, Meredith Monk, Fred Ho, Harry Partch and Hans Werner Henze, among others.

Anastasia Swope
Visiting Specialist
Voice
(973) 655-7212

Soprano Anastasia Ellanna Swope's appearances have included recitals of art songs in New Jersey and Indiana, participation in a Women Composer's Symposium, and an performance on the High Mountain Orchestra's Hobart Manor Series. She collaborates regularly with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in concert, performing a variety of repertoire from Britten to Vivaldi, from Fauré to Rutter. She has sung under the batons of Zdeneck Macal, Robert Spano, and Joseph Flummerfelt, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated with pianist Ana Cervantes in the presentation of Braiding the Tresses: Weaving Poetry and Passion into Song, called "a superb recital, memorably flawless, and what an evening of art song should strive to be. . ." (Classical New Jersey). She initially pursued a major in classics at the University of the South, but her B.A. ultimately became a double degree in Latin and music. She holds a Master's Degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College, where she studied with Lindsey Christiansen and Glenn Parker.

James Wilson 
Visiting Specialist
Voice
973-655-7212
wilsing@verizon.net

Tenor James Wilson holds a masters degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. He has taught at MSU since 1987. During his distinguished career, he performed with many opera companies including the New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Goldowsky Opera. He has performed leading roles in operas, musicals and operettas including Barber of Seville Don Giovanni, Elixer of Love, Cosi fan tutte, The Magic Flute, I Pagliacci, Taming of the Shrew, Albert Herring, Curlew River, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Don Pasquale, Die Fledermaus, Falstaff, Madame Butterfly, The Merry Widow, Babes in Toyland, Naughty Marietta, Brigadoon, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, The Gondoliers, Iolanthe and Patience. He has performed as soloist with many orchestras including the Detroit, Dallas, Baltimore, Denver, Edmonton and Vancouver symphonies. Has toured with the Robert Shaw Chorale, performed the major song cycles of Schubert, Britten Vaughan Williams and Dvorák, and the oratorios of Handel, Haydn, and Bach.

Caroline Parody
Adjunct Faculty
Secondary Voice
973-655-7212
parodyc@mail.montclair.edu

Caroline Parody received her master's degree in piano from Montclair State University, and her bachelors degree from William Paterson University. Roles include Elsa in Lohengrin with Operesque Classical Concerts, and Greta Fiorentino in Kurt Weill's opera Street Scene. She has been a featured performer at Al Di La's Opera Nights (Montclair, NJ) and and has performed in Too Many Sopranos with the La Bella Voce opera ensemble. She participated in a scenes program at Dicapo Opera Theatre in NYC, as Agathe in Der Freischütz. In MSU's Opera Workshop, she played Elisetta in Il segreto matrimonio, and Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In addition to her work at MSU, Ms. Parody serves as vocal coach and accompanist for the Newark Boys Chorus School. She is also an accompanist for several groups, including Zion Lutheran Church in Saddle River (organ), MSU, the Concord Singers, and the Oratorio Society of New Jersey. She studies voice with Thaddeus Motyka, and coaches with Louis Menendez.

Valerie Van Hoven 
Adjunct Professor
Secondary Voice and Piano
973-655-7212
valerie@vanhovenmusicstudio.com

Valerie van Hoven has studied music at the Hartt Conservatory, and SUNY Purchase. Valerie earned a BA in music education from Montclair State University and a graduate certification from the American Center for the Alexander Technique. For nine years a music teacher in the Randolph, NJ public schools, she now operates her own studio in Denville, NJ where she teaches piano, voice, and the Alexander Technique. Valerie has given workshops in voice and the Alexander Technique at Wagner College on Staten Island, Montclair State University and has assisted workshops at the Juilliard School in NYC. She has appeared as Lorraine in Steppin' Out, Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella, and Eliza in My Fair Lady in regional theater. She has been involved in more that 40 shows as musical director and played piano in the orchestra for many others.