Meet the Faculty
Many prospective students visit the Williams College campus and Music Department every year. We encourage you to plan your own visit. We will do our best to provide opportunities for you to meet with the department chair and other academic or performance faculty. During the academic year it may even be possible to schedule a mini lesson with one of the Artist Associates depending upon the day and time of your visit. This is not a requirement, nor is it a formal audition, but it can be helpful. There is no question that a well-planned weekday visit is the most effective way to find out if Williams is the right place for you both academically and musically. To get the full benefit from your visit we recommend that you schedule it during one of the regular semesters if at all possible. Doing so will afford you the opportunity to attend classes, possibly view rehearsals and/or performances as well as to meet students and faculty. While the availability of faculty for a face-to-face meeting in the summer months or during breaks cannot be guaranteed they may be available to respond to email inquiries. Visits during breaks or the summer months will generally be strictly informational.
We look forward to seeing you!
Getting Here
Classrooms & offices are located in the Bernhard Music Center, 54 Chapin Hall Dr.
Contacting Faculty
Email inquiries are preferable with a subject line “Prospective Student – your name”. Contact information for meetings with faculty:
Academic Faculty
- Choral/Vocal Activities: Brad Wells
- Composition, Theory, Music Technology: Ileana Perez Velazquez
- Ethnomusicology: Corinna Campbell
- Instrument/String Activities: Ronald Feldman
- Jazz Activities: Kris Allen
- Music Theory and Analysis: Edward Gollin
- Musicology (by specialty)
- Early music: M. Jennifer Bloxam
- 18th and 19th century music: Marjorie Hirsch
- 20th century music: W. Anthony Sheppard
To meet with the Department Chair, contact Marilyn Cole Dostie, Assistant to the Chair, by email or phone at 413-597-2163.
Ensemble Directors
- Berkshire Symphony: Ronald Feldman
- Brass Ensemble: David Wharton
- Chinese Music Ensemble: Wang Guowei
- Concert Choir and Chamber Choir: Brad Wells
- Jazz Ensemble: Kris Allen
- Kusika and the Zambezi Marimba Band: Tendai Muparutsa
- Percussion Ensemble: Matthew Gold
- Small Jazz Ensembles: Avery Sharpe, John Wheeler
- Student Symphony: Ronald Feldman, advisor
- Williams Gospel Choir: Avery Sharpe, advisor
- Wind Ensemble: Brian Messier
- Woodwind Chamber Music: Stephen Walt
Performance Faculty
- African Drumming: Tendai Muparutsa
- Bass, Classical: Robert Zimmerman
- Bass, Jazz: Avery Sharpe
- Bassoon: Stephen Walt
- Cello: Nathaniel Parke
- Chinese String Instruments: Susan Cheng, Wang Guowei
- Clarinet: Paul Green
- Drums, Jazz: Conor Meehan
- Flute: Jacqueline DeVoe
- Guitar: Robert Phelps
- Guitar, Jazz: Robert Phelps
- Harp: Elizabeth Morse
- Harpsichord: Edwin Lawrence
- Horn: Victor Sungarian
- Mbira: Tendai Muparutsa
- Oboe: Carl Jenkins
- Organ: Edwin Lawrence
- Percussion: Matthew Gold
- Piano: Doris Stevenson, Edwin Lawrence, Elizabeth Wright
- Piano, Jazz: John Nazarenko
- Saxophone: Michael Kolodny
- Sitar: Veena Chandra
- Tabla: Devesh Chandra
- Trombone: John Wheeler
- Trumpet: David Wharton
- Viola: Ah Ling Neu
- Violin: Joanna Kurkowicz, Muneko Otani, Joanna Genova
- Vocal/Songwriting: Bernice Lewis
- Voice: Keith Kibler, Erin Nafziger, Kerry Ryer-Parke
- Voice, Jazz: Samirah Evans
Further Information
If you are having difficulty making direct contact with an instructor during the academic year please contact Michelle Picard for assistance. If you are on campus already or your visit is imminent we will do our best to make some time for you, but you can also stop by Bernhard Music Center almost any weekday and speak to Michelle in the Music Office. She can give you some information and possibly show you around the building. However, the further ahead you can plan the more productive your visit will be.
