Applied Faculty Biographies

For more information contact The NOVA Alexandria Music Department: Jonathan Kolm 703-845-6026

VOICE:  MUS 136 1 credit and 236 2 credit

Cara Cammmarotto Bio

Email: ccammarotto@nvcc.edu

Cara Cammaroto is a lyric coloratura soprano who has performed extensively in the U.S., Italy, Austria and Slovenia. She is considered a specialist in the bel canto style and ornamentation. Ms. Cammaroto is a featured artist at numerous festivals in the above-mentioned countries. As a participant of the Bel Canto Institute, Ms. Cammaroto studied and performed many of the early roles featured in her most recent solo recording Running Through The Years. Within the DC area, Ms. Cammaroto has been an active soprano soloist for a number of concert series and churches, which include The Kennedy Center, DAR Constitution Hall, The Phillips Collection, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The British Embassy, Church of the Epiphany, Resurrection Lutheran and St. Luke’s UMC. She is the recipient of several notable awards including The Theodore Presser Foundation’s Presser Scholar Award, and The Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

Ms. Cammaroto holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in vocal performance from The Catholic University of America where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.

During her years at CUA, she was awarded a music scholarship for both graduate and undergraduate studies. Ms. Cammaroto also minored in piano and language studies with a concentration in Italian, German and French language and lyric diction. Vocal training includes: opera coaching with Dr. Michael Cordovana and Jane Bakken Klaviter; vocal instruction with Mary Ann Stabile and Raymond McGuire; Master Classes with Renata Scotto and Dalton Baldwin.

An active member and adjudicator for the Virginia National Association of Teachers of Singing, Ms. Cammaroto’s studio participates each year in the Virginia National Association of Teachers of Singing student auditions, which offer valuable performance experience and critique for students. The studio is proud of its many Virginia State and Mid-Atlantic Regional winners. Ms. Cammaroto maintains a vibrant private studio and has been on the applied voice faculty at the Alexandria Campus of NOVA since 2007. Professor Cammaroto is master teacher, who has been honing her craft since 1990. In 2019, she was the recipient of The Jean C. Netherton Award for Excellence and Outstanding Service to the Alexandria Campus community at The Northern Virginia Community College. Her students range from high school age to adult and perform at various levels and musical styles within the DC area. Past and present students are members and/or featured soloists for The Washington Oratorio Society, The Paul Hill Chorale, Maryland Lyric Opera, The Congressional Chorus, Choralis and Voce. The studio’s annual recital is a beloved event for the surrounding community featuring art song, opera, musical theatre and jazz standards as well as contemporary and acoustic music. Former and current students have consistently been awarded music scholarships at leading universities and conservatories. For more detailed information, please visit caracammaroto.com

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PIANO:  MUS 145 1 credit and 245 2 credit

Wade Beach – Jazz and Classical Piano

Email: wbeach@nvcc.edu

Wade Beach is widely respected for his harmonic sophistication and superb technique, which knows no stylistic limitations. He holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Maryland. He entered the world of jazz as a protégé of Sir Roland Hanna and toured the globe many times over with the United States Air Force Band jazz ensemble, The Airmen of Note. Mr. Beach keeps an active teaching and performing schedule, performing with groups around the DC area, including The Jazz Update Band.  Wade also teaches at George Mason University.

 

Rachel Chen – Classical Piano

Email: rchen@nvcc.edu

Rachel received her BM in Piano Performance and MM in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Michigan and a DM in Piano Performance with minors in Music Education and a Certificate in Preparing Educators of students with Autism from Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music.

Teaching Philosophy
“Through music, I engage students in activities that require them to be creative, disciplined, flexible, and work cooperatively with others. I help them explore a wide range of repertoire and have them find their voice in each piece, and learn to express it in their playing. It is important that my students grow both as an artist and a well-rounded person. Therefore, I show my students ways that music relates with other fields, and why it is an important expressive form.

As a teacher, I create an understanding, trusting and inclusive environment with the student. I am interested in a students’ interests outside of piano class or piano lesson because I find it extremely helpful knowing what excites them. Orderly, clear and simple is my approach to teaching. When teaching my students, I find ways to break down hard concepts into simpler forms and develop activities that will challenge them. I attempt to inspire growth in my students by giving them tools: curiosity, open-mindedness, and a thirst for knowledge.”

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WOODWINDS:  MUS 145 1 credit and 245 2 credit

Brian Jones – Clarinet

Email: brjones@nvcc.edu

Clarinetist Brian Jones moved to the National Capitol Region in 1992 after winning a position as a clarinetist with the United States Air Force Band. The following year he was invited by the Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor to perform Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet at the U.S. Supreme Court in a recital honoring the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth. He left the Air Force Band in 1999 after earning his Doctorate from Catholic University to began his career as a teacher at the college level where his students have won numerous competitions as well as earning scholarships to graduate programs at the nation’s leading music schools including Eastman, Indiana, Northwestern, and Michigan. He currently serves on the faculties at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria and the Levine School of Music, one of the largest community music schools in the country.

A published author and arranger, he has authored seven articles for The Instrumentalist, the most widely distributed music education publication in the United States, and his arrangement of Mozart’s Adagio, K. 411 for clarinet quintet is published by Whirlwind Music. In 2004 he presented his clinic The American Clarinet Tone: How Shedding European Traditions Fosters a Cohesive Section Sound at the Virginia MENC conference in Norfolk, Virginia. In 2007, as a founding member of The Georgetown Quintet, he was awarded a grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County to underwrite a series of performances in that area. He performed Burnett Tuthill’s Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra at the 2008 International Clarinet Association’s ClariFest in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Jones also holds a Master of Music from Baylor University and a Bachelor of Music Education from Florida State University. His teachers include Sidney Forrest, Richard Shanley, and Frank Kowalsky.

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WOODWINDS:  MUS 145 1 credit and 245 2 credit

David Doescher – Saxophone

Email: ddoescher@nvcc.edu

Dave Doescher joined the faculty at NVCC as an adjunct in 2020 and grew up locally in Northern Virginia. Dave studied saxophone and received a Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University in addition to a Masters degree from Eastman School of Music for Classical Saxophone. Dave was a member of the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble which was awarded the Downbeat Magazine Award for Best College Big Band in 2009. Prior performance experience consists of membership in the Dave Rivello Ensemble, Everyday People, the Red Bar House Band, Downbeat Jazz Band, the Gary Wofsey Sextet, Jones & Company and the Virginia Jazz Ambassadors. Dave has also appeared in performances at several festivals including: Rochester, North Sea, Montréux and Montréal. In the past he has performed with many notable artists including Jovino Santos Neto, Dick Oatts, Vincent DiMartino, Dana Landry, Erik Appelgate, Jim White, Andy Connell, Clay Jenkins, Tom Davis, John “Jabo” Starks, Rich Perry and Maria Schneider.

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STRINGS:  MUS 165 1 credit and 265 2 credit

Melissa Dvorak – Harp

Email: mdvorak@nvcc.edu

Melissa has been heard on NPR Morning Edition, and performances have been televised internationally, as well as locally.

Her rich and varied orchestral experience has given her the opportunity to perform with the Baltimore Symphony, Washington National Opera, Fairfax Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, Maryland Symphony, the National Philharmonic, the Connie Francis Touring Band, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, The Royal Ballet, the Marininsky Ballet, US Air Force Band and the American Pops Festival Orchestra and the National Orchestral Institute.

In 2016 she had the distinct honor to play for Pope Francis’ Historic visit to the United States.

She had the distinct honor to be selected as the featured solo harpist for the 55^th Presidential Inauguration and is well versed in official event protocol and has had the honor to play for every living president.  She enjoys performing at various landmarks and programs throughout Washington.  She has played on the State Department Recital Series, the Southwest Chamber Players, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and events at the US Capitol, US Supreme Court and the Carnegie Institute of Sciences, The Smithsonian, National Basilica, and The Library of Congress.

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STRINGS:  MUS 165 1 credit and 265 2 credit

Joanna Owen – Violin/Viola

Email: jowen@nvcc.edu

Joanna Owen joined the NOVA Music Faculty in the fall of 2019. She received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory and her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Eastman School of Music. Her additional studies include Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, Accademia Chigiana in Sienna, Italy, as well as the Austro-American Institute in Vienna, Austria. Her extensive orchestral experience began with positions with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Syracuse Symphony. Locally, Dr. Owen is the Associate Concertmaster of the Maryland Symphony, member of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra and has performed regularly with the National Philharmonic and the Annapolis Symphony. For four years she served as a contracted member of the National Symphony Orchestra, during which time she completed five international tours to five continents.

Doctor Owen has coached chamber groups at Mason Summer Chamber Music Intensive as well as the Summer Music Institute at the Kennedy Center where she prepared college level musicians for Millennium Stage concerts. As a chamber musician she performed with members of the Rochester Philharmonic and the US Army Field Band, to name a few. Recently Dr. Owen collaborated in a quartet performance with the Chamber Dance Project at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.

Doctor Owen’s dedication to teaching began in her native Poland, where she co-founded Concertino, an organization that provides chamber music concerts for school children in the Warsaw metropolitan area. While with the National Symphony, she taught at the Summer Music Institute and coached string ensemble classes at the Levine school as a part of the NSO In Your Neighborhood series. She has coached All County Orchestras and prepared young musicians for leadership positions in area youth ensembles. She has also held teaching appointments with the University of Rochester and the Washington International School.

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STRINGS:  MUS 165 1 credit and 265 2 credit

Daniel Brown – Bass Guitar and Upright Bass MUS 165/265

Email: dbrown@nvcc.edu

Daniel Brown is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee and comes from a family of professional musicians. He received a Master of Music degree from George Mason University in Jazz Studies and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Tennessee in Studio and Jazz
Music with a concentration in Double Bass Performance. He has studied bass with Rusty Holloway, Michael Moore, Eddie Gomez, John Clayton, Joel DiBartolo, and Glenn Dewey and improvisation with Jerry Coker, Donald Brown, Greg Tardy, and Wade Beach.

An adept performer in many styles, he has played everything from classical, jazz, and rock to klezmer and folk music from South America. He has performed or recorded with Harold Mabern, Jerry Coker, Sean Jones, Greg Tardy, Rick Whitehead, The Black Lillies, Seth
Kibel, Joe McCarthy, Bill Mobley, Victor Provost, and Jeremy Wilson.

He currently teaches and performs often in the DMV area with a number of playing “residencies.” In 2019, he joined the faculty of Northern Virginia Community College as an instructor of double bass and electric bass in all styles.

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STRINGS:  MUS 165 1 credit and 265 2 credit

Cristian Perez – Guitar

Email: cdperez@nvcc.edu

Cristian Perez is an Argentine-American guitarist/composer/arranger currently based in Northern Virginia. He graduated from GMU with a BM in Classical guitar (’10) and a MM in Jazz Studies (’12). Cristian has performed internationally (Bulgaria, Canada, South Korea, Bolivia, China, Dominican Republic) and continues to be very active in the local music scene. His debut album “Anima Mundi” has received numerous reviews throughout the world and reached #13 in the CMJ World Music charts in the USA. Cristian is a former Artist in Residence at Strathmore (’15). He won 2 Wammie Awards (2022) with the band Project Locrea. He has been featured on Vintage Guitar Magazine. Cristian is currently a Kremona Guitars Artist as well as an MCO Guitars Artist.

Cristian has studied with Berta Rojas, Larry Snitzler, Rick Whitehead, Ken Hall, Mike Stern, and dozens of musicians from whom he has taken lessons from (Roland Dyens, Pepe Romero, Gilad Hekselman, Nelson Veras, Steve Herberman, and many others).

Cristian loves classical music, jazz, folk music from around the world, and pop/soul music. He is constantly trying to add to his musical palette both as a sideman and bandleader.

Cristian is currently very active performing as a freelancer and collaborating with multiple musicians of different backgrounds. He co-leads world music fusion group Project Locrea, and leads a South American Jazz quintet (CP5), a Jazz Fusion quartet (CP4), and a chamber ensemble (CPCE). Cristian arranges and composes music for different instrumentations.

Cristian is an adjuct professor at NOVA Community College (Alexandria, VA), and is available to offer workshops/masterclasses/clinics.

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BRASS:  MUS 175 1 credit and 275 2 credit

Michael Creadon – Trumpet MUS 175/275

Email: mcreadon@nvcc.edu

Michael Creadon has been an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College since 2008.  He has taught classes in audio recording and class piano, and lessons as the high brass instructor.  Mr. Creadon is also a bugler in the United States Army’s Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.  In addition to being a performer, his additional duties there include bugle section leader, transportation coordinator, and videographer/video editor for the Public Affairs Office.  Mr. Creadon’s education includes a Bachelor of Science in Audio Recording and Master of Arts in Brass Pedagogy, both from The Ohio State University.  Mr. Creadon is also a certified Pro Tools User and Operator in Music Production and Video Post Production.

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PERCUSSION:  MUS 185 1 credit and 285 2 credit

Michael Barranco – Percussion/Drums

Email: mbarranco@nvcc.edu