Interlochen Arts Academy welcomes new faculty for 2025-26 academic year
The school’s new teaching artists and scholars include playwright Megan Rivkin, singer-songwriter Timothy Jones, and clarinetist Katia Waxman.
In the fall of 2025, seven new teachers, arts 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.
Creative Writing
Megan Rivkin, Writer in Residence, is a playwright, librettist, and educator. Her writing explores sexuality, illness and the body, technology, and the ethics of deception through dark comedy. Rivkin wrote the book for Caleb Needs A Kidney, an original musical she developed with composer/lyricist Caleb Martin-Rosenthal. She is also writing the book for Jacob Ben-Shmuel’s musical adaptation of The Odyssey.
Past projects include Bar Play (222 Speakeasy, Providence Fringe), Do You Party? (Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival), Timmy (Columbia), babybird (Providence Fringe), We're Here (Harrisburg Fringe, LakeHouseRanchDotPDF, Providence Fringe), Heard You Were Leaving (Columbia), Apartment of Lies (Wednesday Nights), and Outdoor Bird (Lipstick Theatre Company, Northwestern).
An avid collaborator, Rivkin also produces outdoor, immersive, and audio projects through Wednesday Nights Company, where she serves as lead producer.
Rivkin teaches dramatic writing at Interlochen Arts Camp and Interlochen Arts Academy. She holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University (2024) and is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop (Bookwriting).
Music
Timothy Jones, Instructor of Singer-Songwriter, has been working in the music business for over two decades. Since his 1999 major-label debut with Old Pike on Sony/550 Music, he's contributed to hundreds of records and collaborated with Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket, and others.
Jones leads Whiskey Wolves of the West with Leroy Powell, whose debut at Stagecoach Music Fest earned critical acclaim. Rolling Stone named their first release, Country Roots, one of the "Top Ten Country EPs of 2018" and celebrated the band as Best Backing Band for their "bawdy theatricality."
With Truth & Salvage Co., his songs appeared in films like Small Town Saturday Night and a Gap commercial. The band toured with the Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and others, playing major festivals from Bonnaroo to Stagecoach and venues like Red Rocks.
Jones has led songwriting workshops with various organizations and settled a 2002 copyright case involving "Drops of Jupiter," Billboard's most-played song of 2000-2010. He also works with his wife Katie, who is Executive Director of the non-profit Garden Theater in Frankfort, Michigan.
Katia Waxman, Instructor of Clarinet, is a New York-based clarinetist and arts educator with a diverse musical career spanning solo, chamber, and orchestral performance.
An accomplished chamber musician, Waxman has performed with Decoda and faculty at Music Academy of the West, earning awards from M-Prize, Discover, and Barnett competitions. She studies annually at Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.
As an orchestral player, Waxman has graced major international venues including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Symphony Center, Prague's Rudolfinum, and Budapest's Bela Bartok Hall. She's performed under conductors Marin Alsop, Riccardo Muti, and Xian Zhang, and recently served as acting second clarinet with Sarasota Opera.
Committed to supporting diversity in classical music, Waxman participated in Oberlin Conservatory's Music Leadership Career Community pilot class and held a teaching fellowship with Juilliard's Music Advancement Program for underrepresented students.
Waxman earned her Master of Music from Juilliard studying with Jon Manasse, and holds degrees in economics and clarinet performance from Oberlin College & Conservatory.
Bryan Christian, Wind Symphony Conductor, brings 32 years of experience directing Texas high school bands, most notably as Director of Bands at Vista Ridge High School from 2003-2023. His Vista Ridge Band Program earned the prestigious John Philip Sousa Foundation's Sudler Shield (2017) and Sudler Flag of Honor (2021).
Under his leadership, the Wind Ensemble performed at the Midwest Clinic in 2014 and consistently placed in TMEA's top rankings. The Vista Ridge Marching Band won the 2018 UIL 6A State Championship and became BOA Grand National finalists in 2021, leading to their invitation to perform in the 2023 Tournament of Roses Parade.
Christian holds a B.M.Ed. from Abilene Christian University and an M.A. from Stephen F. Austin State University, both under Dr. John Whitwell. He serves as guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, with memberships in TMEA, TBA, and the American Bandmasters Association. He's also a founding board member of SLAM (Servant Leadership Association for Musicians).
Married 37 years to Cheryl, he has two daughters who both performed in Vista Ridge bands.
