Interlochen Arts Academy welcomes new faculty for 2023-24 academic year

The school’s new teaching artists and scholars include fiction writer Winthrop Emmet Knowlton, organist Hae Won Jang, and filmmaker Nathan Buck.

September 18, 2023

In the fall of 2023, 20 new teachers, instructors, and artists-in-residence joined the ranks of Interlochen Arts Academy faculty. These outstanding artists and educators bring a wealth of accolades, experience, and insight to their roles in academic and artistic divisions.

Arts Instructors

Karen Benda, Instructor of Alexander Technique, is an avid chamber musician, recitalist, and artist-teacher who plays with a "well-defined sound and nuance of phrasing" (Cincinnati Enquirer). Benda has presented numerous chamber music concerts at Interlochen Arts Camp while also being featured on National Public Radio's (NPR) Performance Today. Benda has held teaching residencies at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose, CR and in Bogota, Colombia, as an artist-faculty member of the Batuta Colombian Youth Philharmonic. She performs and presents master classes throughout the country with her chamber group, The Amical Trio. She owns Alexander Technique of Kansas and works throughout the region as a movement coach and freelance clarinetist. She has also held teaching positions at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Preparatory Department, University of Michigan, Ohio University, and most recently at Washburn University.

Nathan Buck is Interlochen’s newest Instructor of Film & New Media. After early careers as a professional actor, musician, and mime artist, Buck started learning the business of film as a producer's assistant on feature films and worked his way up to the role of line producer before moving into writing and directing. After he arrived in NYC in 2005, his feature length documentary Real Gone! Dance competed successfully at the American Dance Film Festival. Nathan has worked extensively as video editor and shooter for 20 years. In 2015 he was invited to be filmmaker-in-residence at Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he also directed the short film "Solitude" by Mia McCullough. In 2018 he and his family moved to Berlin. Under Spanish Skies is Nathan's first full length narrative film. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Chris Glassman, Interim Director of Jazz, is a bass trombonist from Littleton, Colorado. He has performed with legendary acts such as Michael Bublé, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diane Schuur, Kurt Elling, Danilo Perez, and many others on coveted stages such as Madison Square Garden and Dizzy Club Coca Cola. An avid improviser on bass trombone, Glassman joins the newest generation of jazz bass trombonists with three small-group jazz bandleader recordings. In addition, he has been commissioned to write arrangements for the Airmen of Note, Michael Bublé, and many jazz artists (Rodney Whitaker, David Sanborn, and many others). Passionate about mentorship, Glassman has been on the faculty at Brevard Music Center and has taught jazz and led ensembles at multiple universities including Michigan State University and Saginaw Valley State University. He aims to help create resources through social media for aspiring trombonists. Among other things, he leads a podcast, has worked in arts entrepreneurship, and has a deep love for metal music, board games, his wife Christine, and their two cats, Muffin and Dobby.

Dr. Lauren Hunt is the Linda VanSickle Smith French Horn Chair and Director of Brass Studies. Her professional career was kick-started by winning first prize in the International Horn Competition of America in 2013. More recently, Hunt was selected as a fellow by the Utah Division of Arts and Museums. She performs regularly in the horn section of ensembles including Ballet West, Utah Symphony, Utah Festival Opera, and Artosphere Festival Orchestra. Hunt has taught and performed extensively around the globe, giving master classes and recitals in Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and throughout the United States. Hunt has adjudicated for competitions including the International Women's Brass Conference Solo Competition and the International Horn Competition of America. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance from the New England Conservatory, a Master of Music in Horn Performance from Yale University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Horn Performance from the University of Georgia, where she was a Presidential Fellow.

Anthony Trionfo is Interlochen’s newest Instructor of Flute, currently offering sabbatical coverage. Trionfo was First Prize Winner of the 2016 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. He currently serves as second flutist of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio, and frequently plays with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Princeton Symphony. He collaborates with the Jupiter Chamber Players and Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra in addition to working with the Columbus, Knoxville, and Seattle symphonies. Trionfo is a founder of the Umoja Flute Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to providing flutists of African descent with the tools needed to succeed and thrive at all levels of music making. Trionfo also serves on the Aspen Music Festival and School’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Committee. Trionfo has been on faculty for programs at The Juilliard School and Interlochen Center for the Arts. In addition, he has presented masterclasses and clinics for organizations like the DC Youth Orchestra Program, Harmony Program, and Jumpstart Young Musicians Program.

Lisa Sanderson, Instructor of Musical Theatre Voice, comes to Interlochen from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, where she was a voice instructor and a pianist in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre program. Sanderson was also recipient of a 2021 Spirit of Community Service campus-wide staff award and a founding member and chair of the department’s anti-racist Advocacy, Allyship, and Access Committee. She has been teaching voice privately and in collegiate settings for almost 20 years. A graduate of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Sanderson has built a performing resume that includes professional opera, opera chorus, acting, and music direction, with Portland Opera, Seattle Opera, Next Act Theatre, Chicago Opera Playhouse, and Unity Church, among other credits. Sanderson has studied the Estill Vocal Method with Dr. Kimberly Steinhauer at Point Loma in San Diego and contemporary operatic performance with Ann Baltz (Operaworks), and her own voice students have won significant scholarships in collegiate theatrical and vocal studies. Other students are performing on Broadway, on cruises, and in various professional settings throughout the U.S. 

Carter Smith, Director of Choral Music, is a conductor and performer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is in the final stages of completing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan State University. Carter has enjoyed a variety of professional opportunities including graduate assistant instructor at Michigan State, Choir Director at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing, Director of Choral Activities for the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, Chorus Master for Opéra Louisiane, and Director of Music for University United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge. He holds a Bachelor of Music (Vocal Performance) from Louisiana State University, where he studied with Dr. Lori Bade and Prof. Dennis Jesse and a Master of Music (Conducting) from LSU, where he studied with Dr. Kenneth Fulton and Maestro Carlos Riazuelo. 

Jacob Sussman, Instructor of Visual Art, graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics. They are a nationally exhibited artist, an inaugural Somerson Sustainability Innovation Fund grantee, and a 2022 Hyundai X RISD Research Fellow. They are a queer, Jewish sculptor utilizing traditional building methods, hybridized with novel technologies like 3D-scanning and 3D-printing, to create conflicting and entropic spaces. They worked as the Hyundai Biomaterials Assistant at the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab and were awarded the Graduate Student Employee of the Year and Innovation award for this role at Rhode Island School of Design. In this position, they taught and guided students, faculty, and Hyundai/KIA designers directly in sustainable thinking, developing bio-based materials, and utilizing digital fabrication technology. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida Atlantic University and a Master of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design.

Academic Instructors

David Heldreth, Instructor of Math/Science, studied engineering and physics at Purdue and Oakland University while working as an engineer for General Motors. As his passion for the outdoors became a more prominent part of his life, he spent his twenties working and guiding in wilderness areas around the world. Whether it was at the summit of Mt. Rainier or climbing ocean cliffs in Thailand, he came to realize the greatest reward was sharing his passions with students. After marrying his adventure partner, he spent several years in rural Wyoming working for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), where he furthered his studies of leadership, wilderness skills, and teaching methodology while taking students into challenging and enriching wilderness experiences. Heldreth brought those skills to the boarding school world as a way to get more time with his students. After earning his Masters in Education and working throughout the west, Heldreth spent the last 3 years as the head of a high school in Kansas. He and his family (partner Becca and twin daughters Madelyn and Zoey) are excited to join the Interlochen team and enjoy all that northern Michigan has to explore.

Rebecca Heldreth, Instructor of Math, started her path to being an educator early. In high school she began teaching gymnastics, swim, and cello lessons to younger students. In college she studied mathematics and Spanish in preparation for teaching in the secondary world. She took a brief detour between her undergraduate math studies at California State University and graduate education studies to work and play in the outdoors. Through working wilderness therapy, Heldreth was able to expand her teaching repertoire to include communication, hiking, and fire building. At the same time she was given the opportunity to travel and go on outdoor expeditions. During this time she met her husband and adventure partner, Dave. After they settled into a more traditional lifestyle, Heldreth taught at a school on the local Native American reservation and took classes to earn her Master’s of Education. Since then, she has had a variety of experiences teaching in public and private schools for students from sixth to twelfth grade. When she is out of the classroom you can find her out on adventures with her partner, their twin eight-year-old daughters, and goofy little corgi.

Matthew Jason, Instructor of History/Social Studies, comes to Interlochen in his twenty-fifth year of teaching. He has a B.S. in Anthropology, with a History minor and African Studies specialization from Michigan State University. Spending the summer of 1997 visiting schools and classrooms in Zimbabwe and the newly democratic Republic of South Africa inspired him to pursue a career, and life, in education. During his career, Jason has continued to enjoy international experiences, whether that was teaching refugee students in Lansing, Michigan, or working in schools in Japan, the Republic of Georgia, and most recently, Ukraine. Jason is a passionate lifelong learner, and this fact permeates his professional and personal lives. His pursuits as a small business owner led him to teach business management to aspiring entrepreneurs, and interest in construction inspired him to obtain his builder’s license and construct his own home in Benzie County. Jason is excited and grateful to be at Interlochen, where creativity and growth are nourished.

Michelle Johncock, Instructor of Mathematics, most recently taught at the first recovery high school in the Carolinas. She has a passion for helping others understand and grow to love mathematics. She taught not only at the high school level while in Charlotte, but also at Central Piedmont Community College, where she prepared second-career adults reentering the educational arena. Prior to moving to North Carolina, Johncock taught for 19 years at several elite private schools in Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, Maryland. From 2013 to 2016, Johncock served on the National Law Enforcement Memorial Museum’s Teacher Advisory Board. She was a 2007-2008 Fulbright Teacher’s Exchange Award recipient and taught eighth and ninth grade maths for one year in Sterkspruit, South Africa while completing her Master of Arts in Mathematics Education from George Washington University as a fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science FAME contingent. 

Marty Schnepp, Instructor of Mathematics, attended Michigan State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Education in 1988. He taught 7-12 grade math and physics in San Diego, CA before returning to mid-Michigan to attend graduate school at MSU. He started working at Holt High School, a professional development school linked to MSU. After completing a master’s degree in Teaching and Curriculum in 1994, he continued to work at Holt as a full-time math teacher, and later became the math department chair. He has worked on a number NSF-funded research projects, authored and co-authored papers and book chapters relating Calculus and Algebra instruction, and attended the Park City Math Institute three times. He is interested in research related to the psychology of mathematics learning and translating that knowledge to curriculum materials and instructional routines. He is married to Leanne Schnepp, a ceramic artist, sculptor, and arts educator. When not in the classroom, Marty can be found cycling, paddling, and hiking. 

Visiting Arts Instructors

Hae Won Jang, Visiting Instructor of Organ, serves as organist and associate music director at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and St. John’s Student Center in East Lansing, where she regularly appears in recital. She has also appeared on the First Friday Concert Series at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, and on AGO Lansing Chapter Recitals in the Greater Lansing area. She received a Doctor in Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from MSU and is currently a student in the Masters in Sacred Music degree program at the University of Michigan. She teaches organ and piano privately, and frequently accompanies soloists and ensembles in the area. 

Nicole Keller, Visiting Instructor of Organ, is in high demand as a concert artist, adjudicator, and clinician. She has concertized in the United States and abroad in venues such as St. Patrick Cathedral, New York; Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Paris; Dom St. Stephan, Passau; St. Patrick Cathedral, Armagh, Northern Ireland; and The Kazakh National University for the Arts, Astana, Kazakhstan. As a teacher, Ms. Keller strives to foster and model a commitment to excellence in performance, scholarship and self-growth as students deepen their love of music and their instrument. Her students have been accepted into and attended prestigious graduate schools throughout the country and enjoy successful musical careers in a variety of settings. Her work as a church musician includes work with volunteer and professional choirs and instrumental ensembles devoted to the highest level of music for worship. She has created organ and choral scholar programs at small and mid-size parishes, developed successful children’s choir programs, and led choirs on tour. Ms. Keller received a Performer’s Certificate and a Master of Music Degree in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York under the tutelage of David Higgs. She received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio.

Emil Khudyev, Visiting Instructor of Clarinet, performed with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra prior to joining the Seattle Symphony. He has also served as the acting Associate Principal, Second and E-flat Clarinet of the Kansas City Symphony. Born in Turkmenistan, Khudyev began his musical training under the auspices of the Moscow Conservatory, and at age 7, was admitted to the Special Music School of Turkmenistan. Khudyev received his bachelor’s degree in Clarinet Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music with Franklin Cohen, and his master’s degree at the Yale School of Music with clarinetist David Shifrin. Khudyev also studied at the Colburn Conservatory for his Artist Diploma under Yehuda Gilad. He has attended Tanglewood Music Festival, the Colorado College Music Festival, and the Sarasota Music Festival.

Winthrop Emmett Knowlton, Visiting Instructor of Creative Writing, is a writer from Montclair, New Jersey. He graduated with honors from Amherst College and received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Montana. His fiction appears or is forthcoming in Southern Humanities Review, MAYDAY Magazine, and The Masters Review, and won the 2022 Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Prize. He has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and received the Peter Burnett Howe Prize for fiction. As a journalist, he won multiple Emmy Awards as an associate producer at HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and has also published journalism in The New York Times and Business Insider, among other publications. 

Michael Malis, Visiting Instructor of Jazz Piano, is a composer, pianist, and music educator based in Detroit, Michigan. A multi-faceted musical artist, he works across genres in improvisational, concert music, and interdisciplinary settings. His March 2020 release, Three Pieces for Piano, was praised by the Southeast Michigan Jazz Association as “thrilling music, with shifting harmonic and rhythmic qualities that require prodigious precise technique and the kind of generic versatility that few pianists achieve.” As a composer, Malis has been commissioned by Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Detroit Composers’ Project, Virago, Hole in the Floor, and others. As a pianist, he has shared the stage with such luminaries as Marcus Belgrave, Gerald Cleaver, Jaribu Shahid, John Lindberg, William Hooker, A. Spencer Barefield, Tyshawn Sorey, Brandee Younger, J.D. Allen, and Marion Hayden.

Anne Ringwalt, Visiting Instructor of Creative Writing, is a writer and musician. The author of The Wheel (Spuyten Duyvil), she has published her work in Jacket2, Washington Square Review, and Bennington Review. She was the recipient of the 2019 Sparks Prize as a graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s MFA in Poetry program, and she teaches creative writing at Belmont University, the Porch, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. She is also a contributing blogger for Action Books. She has performed her music as Anne Malin at the Watermill Center, the New Yorker Festival, and with Third Man Records. Waiting Song is her most recent record.

Greenacres Documentary Project Faculty

Claire Collins, Project Manager for the Greenacres Documentary Project at Interlochen, is a freelance video journalist and documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. They were born in Hong Kong and raised in Amman, Jordan, where they first picked up a camera with the hope of making sense of the disparate cultures that created their communities. After studying photo and video journalism at the University of North Carolina, they spent five years on staff at the Los Angeles Times. Their long term reporting focused on issues of incarceration and mental health. Their work has been recognized by the Online News Association, the National Press Photographers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. They have been honored with awards from the Los Angeles Area Emmys, the Horizon Interactive Awards, SxSW, and the Webby Awards.

Lydia Hicks, Cinematographer for the Greenacres Documentary Project at Interlochen, brings a unique perspective to both wildlife filmmaking and experimental art practices due to her background in zoology. She holds an MFA in Film and Video from CalArts, and is best known for her cinematography work on Fe26 (directed by Kevin Jerome Everson) which premiered at Sundance. As a professional editor, she started in television—first with KVCR doing short news clips, then in South Africa where she worked on 50|50, a nationally syndicated nature show. She has worked on freelance corporate and educational videos, as well as a contract in Qatar where she worked on nature programming, commercials, and several reality TV series. Her work focuses on identity politics, environment, and nature.

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