For new faculty, engaged students, talented colleagues and Buff spirit make Boulder hard to beat
Clockwise from upper left: Matthew Chellis, Andrea Ramsey, Paul McKee and Matthew Dockendorf.
“I feel like I’m constantly inspired here,” says Andrea Ramsey, assistant professor of conducting and associate director of choral studies, who came to CU-Boulder from The Ohio State University. “You can’t look at the Flatirons without feeling how fortunate you are be in this beautiful place with so much to offer.”
“The culture here is fantastic, with so many great restaurants, beautiful weather and diverse people who have relocated here from across the country,” says , assistant director of bands. “This has been a happy few months for me.”
Certain aspects of life in Boulder take a bit of getting used to, of course.
“I’m learning how to dodge skateboards and bicycles as I drive and walk around campus and Boulder,” says , associate professor in the .
Of course, they didn’t come to Boulder just to hike, eat at great restaurants or hone their self-preservation reflexes. Above all, they wanted to be part of an outstanding university music program.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to be at such a well-respected institution as CU-Boulder,” says Matthew Chellis, assistant professor of voice.
ASCAP award winner Ramsey earned her PhD in music education from Michigan State University and has published more than 70 compositions. She is also composer-in-residence to the Allegro Choirs of Kansas City, with which she has performed in Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and elsewhere.
She is excited about guest conducting opportunities — “They lend such great visibility to the program” — and diving into student recruitment, among other goals.
Both she and Director of Choral Studies Greg Gentry “have a vision that if our choral program stays within the walls of Macky, we’re not doing our job,” Ramsey says. “It all starts with going out and connecting and engaging with (potential) students. Every person wants to be valued, recruited and affirmed, and that’s how we want to build our choral program.”
McKee joins the faculty after years of performing in Boulder. He earned his MM from the University of Texas at Austin and has played on Grammy Award®-nominated recordings with Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd. His critically acclaimed recording Gallery featured performances by Carl Fontana, Bobby Shew, Tim Ries and Ron Stout.
“I’ve known my CU jazz-studies colleagues for many years and have anxiously anticipated the opportunity to teach and play with them on a regular basis,” he says.
Chellis has performed with New York City Opera, Frankfurt Opera and Washington Opera among numerous other companies around the world. He has played leading roles in Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, The Barber of Seville, to name a few. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School. He was most recently a professor of voice at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
“I have been welcomed by the entire music-school faculty and the collegial environment has helped me become comfortable here in a very short time,” he says.
Dockendorf served as conductor of the Campus Band and wrote drill and arranged music for the Spartan Marching Band and Spartan Brass at Michigan State University before coming to CU and holds a BMA from the University of Minnesota.
“The students have been a joy to work with. … The enthusiasm of marching-band students, especially on game days … very much represents the heartbeat of this university and epitomize what it means to be a Buff,” he says. “In every academic and large-ensemble situation, the students have been thoughtful, inquisitive and fully engaged in their education — (it) is such a refreshing feeling to be their mentor.”
Thomas Heinrich, assistant principal cellist of The Santa Fe Opera orchestra and a member of the Colorado Symphony, also joins the faculty this fall with a one-year appointment as a lecturer in the strings department.
Have news? Submit here: