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At Kennedy, he directs the marching band and the symphonic band. Contact |
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Dr. Sheridan Ball is currently in his 21st year as the director of choral ensembles at Cypress College. Sheridan coordinates the Applied Music program, teaches music reading, beginning and intermediate voice at the college. A native of Nebraska, he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice with a minor in German at the University of Northern Colorado. After teaching high school in Joliet, Illinois, Sheridan returned to Colorado to complete a Master of Music degree in Choral Literature and Conducting under the tutelage of Dr. Howard Skinner. He received a fellowship to study and sing at the Aspen Music Festival in 1984 and studied conducting with Don Neuen at the Eastman School of Music in 1987. In addition to teaching in Colorado, Illinois, and Kansas public schools, Sheridan directed church choirs for ten years and performed with a variety of organizations including the Kansas City Philharmonic Chorus, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pacific Chorale, and the William Hall Chorale, where he was the Associate Director for three years. Sheridan has frequently been called upon to fulfill leadership roles in the music community and, in that capacity, has served on the Board of Directors for the Music Association of California Community Colleges, the American Choral Directors Association, and the California Choral Conductors Guild, where he also served as the Orange County Chapter President. Sheridan has also taught music courses in Salzburg, Austria and Florence, Italy in conjunction with the Cypress College Semester in Europe program. Professor Ball received his doctorate in Conducting from the University of Southern California in 1995 and, in the summer of that same year, studied with the renown scholar/conductor, Helmut Rilling, at the Oregon Bach Festival. In addition to his duties at Cypress College, Sheridan is also an Associate Conductor with ''Mid America Productions'' in New York City's famed Carnegie Hall. |
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George Beyer holds a Bachelors of Music and Masters of Music from California State University at Fullerton. He has been active in the field of music education for 33 years, having taught at Loara High School in Anaheim and at Cypress College. As past chairman of the music department for many of those 33 years, he has been actively involved in the development of the music programs here at Cypress College. As a woodwind player, clinician, adjudicator and director of the Cypress College Jazz Ensemble he is active around Southern California performing and working with various groups. He also lectures in music theory, the History of Rock and Roll and many other music classes. |
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La Vaun Beyer began her piano performance career at age three. She has been the winner of numerous competitions, awards and scholarships throughout the nation. At age seventeen, she won the Concerto Aria Competition at Cal State University Fullerton and performed as soloist with the orchestra. She was awarded a scholarship to study with Reginald Stewart at Music Academy of the West, where she was also orchestra soloist. She won First Place in a National Competition in Colorado, where as a result, she toured with the Colorado Philharmonic performing two concertos as a soloist, and harpsichord and piano with the orchestra. She also won an International Competition to perform as a soloist with the Rom Festival Orchestra in Italy. She has also performed Rhapsoy in Blue with the Cypress Pops, and the Prokofieff Piano Concerto with the Orange Coast Symphony. Ms. Beyer also has two recordings with Educo Records. La Vaun holds a Bachelor of Music from California State University, Fullerton and a Master of Music from USC, both with an emphasis in Piano Performance. She has been a professor of music at Cypress College since 1981, where she is also the Founder/Director of the Annual Cypress College Piano Competition. A highly appraised and sought after adjudicator, she has been on the panel of numerous piano competitions and auditions, both local and state-wide. She maintains a busy performance schedule, with over 75 engagements per year and was recently awarded a recording contract. Ms. Beyer is listed in Who’s Who of American Women. |
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Peter Buck is a graduate of
Berkley College of Music and has studied with Joe LaBabara, Alan
Dawson, Gary Burton, Bob Moses, and Joe Hunt. He has played in
bands that span the musical spectrum from jazz to rock and from
country to rhythm & blues. Peter’s major work includes touring
and recording with Michelle Shocked, Keb’ Mo’, Bonnie Raitt,
Joe Sample, Anthony Wilson, Thelma Houston, Donny McCaslin,
Warren Hill, Russ Johnson, John O’Gallagher, and Barbara
Morrison. He can be heard on Michelle Shocked’s recent release,
“Deep Natural.” Peter is currently endorsing Bosphorus Cymbals, Regal Tip Drumsticks, and Aquarian Drumheads. Television recordings include soundtracks for “Dawson’s Creek” and “Will and Grace.” Peter directs the Percussion Ensemble and teaches percussion and drum-set techniques for the Applied Program at Cypress College.
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Helena DeCoro has taught full time at Cypress College since 1986. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Music from California State University at Long Beach. She has also completed post-graduate study at USC in Voice, and Vocal and Piano Pedagogy where she was a student of William Vennard and Eva Gustavson. Professor DeCoro has sung with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and San Diego Opera and over the years has captivated hundreds of students with her love of music, especially opera. Professor DeCoro teaches Voice, Piano, and Music Appreciation and was the Founding Director of the Cypress College Honors Program. As a part of the Honors curriculum, she has developed a popular class on campus class called “Introduction to Opera.” This course is designed to explore the multi-media world of opera, and includes lectures/performances by guest artists and directors as well as field trips to opening night performances of Opera Pacific at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. . “Opera is a delight to the heart and mind, combining music, theater, art, dance and visual design. Opera appreciation is a lifelong musical experience, because no two performances are ever the same! The new opera student needs only guidance to understand the music, the drama, and the passion.” Professor DeCoro was selected by students and staff in 2005 as the Cypress College “Outstanding Teacher of the Year.” She has been most recently awarded the 2007 National Institute for Staff Development “Excellence in Teaching Award”. |
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Peter Deneff grew up in Long
Beach, California listening to Greek and classical music and
studying classical piano with Leaine Gibson. After starting his
professional life playing in a Greek wedding band at age
fifteen, he became obsessed with straight-ahead and Latin jazz.
He began jazz studies with renowned pianist Mike Garson, where
he crafted his art through studying some of the great jazz
improvisers such as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Chick Corea.
During this time he also studied many ethnic styles that
eventually led to the development of his classical and jazz
compositional style as well as the formation of his Middle
Eastern-Latin jazz group Excursion. He also pursued
undergraduate and graduate studies in classical composition and
film scoring at California State University Long Beach under the
direction of Dr. Martin Herman, Dr. Justus Matthews, and Perry
Lamarca. Peter has written seven best-selling books for Hal Leonard Publishing including Jazz Hanon, Stride Hanon, and Salsa Hanon. He has also composed and performed music for the Charles Sheen film, Five Aces. Deneff has performed at such varied venues as the Greek Theater, the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, the Playboy Jazz Festival, the Los Angeles Street Scene, the Orange County Street Fair, Universal Studios, the NAMM show, and the Baked Potato. His stylistic versatility has allowed him to play and/or sing with a diverse assortment of groups like Tierra, Ike Willis, the Leslie Paula/Universal Studios Salsa Band, and Ebi, a notable Persian singer. Deneff also continues to play modern and folk Greek music for numerous events as well as an occasional Middle Eastern gig. Besides performing, Peter has also taught in many institutions such as Musician’s Institute, Orange County High School of the Arts, and Cypress College, where he continues to teach classical and jazz piano. He spends most of his time in his studio producing projects for Yamaha Corporation (Disklavier, Clavinova, PSR-3000) and Hal Leonard Corporation (PVG Play-Alongs, MI Press-Hanon Series). |
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Joe Gallo is coordinator of the Commercial Music program at Cypress. He has a Bachelor of Music in music composition from California State University Los Angeles and an Master of Music in commercial music from CSULA. Joe has taught as Pasadena City College and Fremont Middle School in Pomona. From 1984-1990 he was a producer/songwriter for Almo Irving Publishing Company in Hollywod. He co-wrote “Save the Overtime” Gladys Knight hit and #1 Billboard in 1983. Joe received an ASCAP Award in 1988 for “Show Me The Way” – Regina Belle. In 1982 he received a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Duo with “Dead Giveaway” by Shalamar. Joe teaches The Business of Music, Marketing and Promotion for the Music Industry and Popular Songwriting. He is a member of ASCAP, A.F. of M. local 47, MACCC, NEA, CTA, SCSBOA. |
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Dr.
Kate Reid is a working jazz singer and pianist in the Los
Angeles area and in demand as a jazz artist in Tokyo, Japan.
Recent work includes recording for an independent film and
backing vocals for pop artist Liezl. Kate has been spending her
summers performing in a jazz club in Tokyo since 2000. In the
U.S., she has worked with many noted artists including Bobby
McFerrin, Jon Hendricks, Joe Williams, Maynard Ferguson,
Rosemary Clooney, Mercer Ellington, Della Reese, Don Shelton,
Darmon Meader and the New York Voices, the Manhattan Transfer,
Lionel Hampton, Mark Murphy, Kevin Mahogany, Paul Anka, Liza
Minelli,Tito Puente and the Duke Ellington Orchestra to name a
few.
While on the east coast, Kate recorded for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Costa Cruise Lines, the Orange Bowl half-time and parade performances and various commercial spots since 1994. She also performed with Jon Secada as a backing vocalist for the release of his album “Amor” and was selected as one of four back-up vocalists for the recorded and nationally televised Summit of the Americas broadcast produced by Quincy Jones in 1996. Dr. Kate Reid is on the music faculty as head of the jazz program and chair of the Music Department at Cypress College in Cypress, California. She teaches the jazz vocal ensembles, jazz improvisation, music theory and maintains an active private jazz voice studio at the College. She conducted college’s vocal jazz ensemble at Carnegie Hall in New York City in April 2004. Kate holds a B.M. in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University (1992), a M.M. (1996) and a D.M.A. (2002) in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami. She has been on the faculty of Miami-Dade Community College in Miami, Florida, the University of Manitoba Summer Jazz Camp (2001 & 2003) and was also an adjudicator/clinician at the Brandon Jazz Festival in Manitoba, Canada in March of 2002 and 2003. Kate has served on several occasions as adjudicator and clinician for the Fullerton College Jazz Festival at Fullerton, California, the ACDA vocal jazz festival at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California as well as numerous FORUM Music festivals throughout southern California. Recently, Kate was the featured guest artist and clinician for the Valley High School Vocal Jazz Festival in Des Moines, Iowa and the guest conductor for the Anaheim Union School Districts Honor Choir Festival in 2006. She also was a clinician and guest artist at the Alberta Choral Federation Vocal Festival in January of 2006. Dr. Reid will conduct the 2007 All-State High School Vocal Jazz Ensemble in April. |
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Dr. Betty Virgoe has an Associates of Arts degree in music from Fullerton College, a Bachelors of Music with a minor in music therapy from California State University at Long Beach, a Master of Music from the University of California at Riverside and a Dual-Master of Music degree in music performance from Claremont Graduate University. She also has a Secondary Teaching Credential in Choral Music from CSULB and the California Community Colleges Instructor Credential. Betty has been a member of the American Federation of Musician for over 25 years. Dr. Virgoe teaches Music Appreciation, Music History, History of American Popular Music, and History of Rock at Cypress. |
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George Wheeler has a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in music composition from California State University at Long Beach. George coordinates our electronic music and recording arts program and teaches Studio Recording II. At California State University Long Beach, he is an instructor of Basic Music Theory, Harmony I and Musicianship I. At Orange County High School of the Arts, he teaches AP Music Theory and Computer Notation with Finale and Illustrator. George Gomez-Wheeler's compositions combine diverse instruments and genres, as well as musical interactivity between performer and computer, concepts of spatialization, and video processing. The desire to embrace his own multicultural heritage as a Mexican Anglo American has led his interest in postmodern thought and how it relates to music - concerns of blending high and low culture, and diversity. His Master's thesis explores the duality of Aztec religion and Spanish Catholicism inherent in Dias de los Muertos. Additionally, he has composed original music and sound design for Body Talk Dance Company, and several Theater Productions including, "Equis", and "Roosters" for the Rio Hondo College Theater Department. He is the Saxophonist and Technical Director of the Liquid Skin Ensemble, a seven-member group comprised of classical, jazz and rock musicians, which has performed at major venues in Los Angeles such as the Japan America Theater, the Getty Museum, as well as at the LG Arts Complex in Seoul, Korea. As a professional sound engineer, he has worked with many local groups like Poncho Sanchez, No Doubt, Sublime and Korn, was the Theater Technician for Rio Hondo College for nine years, which allowed him to instruct students in Lighting and Sound Design, Live Concert Sound and Studio Recording. |
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Andrew Zacharias received his Bachelors of Music from Cal State Long Beach. While there, Andrew studied music performance, composition, and electronics. Andrew's focus was in the area of interaction between acoustic instruments and electronic instruments, and how they can serve to extend the others limitations. Andrew has also worked as a professional bass player, guitar player, and pianist, performing a wide variety of genres including jazz, blues, gospel, classical, rock, and avant-garde. As a part time faculty member of Cypress College Andy also teaches applied music lessons on acoustic bass. |
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