Faculty | B.A. in Music
Jeff Askew
- Associate Professor, Guitar and Commercial Music
- Director, Commercial Music and Worship Arts
- D.M.A. in Studio/Jazz Guitar Performance, University of Southern California
- M.M. in Studio/Jazz Guitar Performance, University of Southern California
- B.M. in Guitar Performance, Biola University
- B.M in Music Education, Biola University
Dr. Jeff Askew serves as the Director of the Commercial Music and Worship Arts programs. He holds a B.M. in Guitar Performance and Music Education from Biola, and both an M.M. and D.M.A. in Studio/Jazz Guitar from the University of Southern California.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Askew is an accomplished studio guitarist with extensive credits in film, television, and live...
Carol Aspling
- Adjunct Professor
- Director, Women's Chorus
- B.M., Music Education, Biola University
- M.M., Conducting, California State University, Fullerton
In addition to her faculty position at Biola, Carol Aspling has been a director with the Southern California Children’s Chorus since its inception in 1996. She began by first teaching the Apprentice, then Intermediate and now currently the Advanced Chorus. The Advanced Chorus has performed with the Long Beach Chorale, Long Beach Symphony and also participated in major works including...
George Boespflug
Susan Craig
- Adjunct Professor, Music Education
- M.A., Educational Administration, University of La Verne
- B.A., Elementary Education with concentration in Music, California State University, Long Beach
- Preliminary Administrative Credential, University of La Verne
- Life Credential from California State University, Long Beach
Susan Craig has been a music educator for over 50 years teaching students as young as age 2. She has written curriculum, published recorder books and given many workshops at the local and state levels. She was a part time music professor at Cal State University of Fullerton for 16 years before coming to Biola.
Her favorite role has been as a student teacher supervisor. "Guiding and mentoring...
Bob Feller
- Professor, Conducting, Winds and Percussion
- Area Coordinator, Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion
- Director, Symphonic Winds and Brass Ensemble
- M.M., Performance and Literature in Trumpet, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music. Graduate Assistant.
- B.M., Trumpet Performance, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Robert G. Feller has performed with the California Philharmonic, California Wind Orchestra, the Long Beach Municipal Band, the Rochester Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, Pasadena Chamber Orchestra, the Ontario Brass, the Nazareth Brass Quintet and played lead trumpet in dozens of Civic Light Opera productions. Since 1972 he has been a trumpet performer in many of Disneyland’s atmosphere...
Cliff Hulling
- Professor, Percussion and Composition and Jazz Director
- Director, Winds and Percussion
- Director, Jazz Ensemble
- M.A., California State University, Fullerton
- B.A., California State University, Fullerton
- Doctoral Equivalency in Percussion Performance, Biola University
Cliff Hulling received his bachelor's degree in percussion performance and his master’s degree in theory and composition from California State University, Fullerton. He has worked as a principal percussionist for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Chorale, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and many other performing groups. He freelances extensively and has...
Li-Shan Hung
- Professor, Piano
- Director, Piano
- D.M.A. in Piano Performance, Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University
- M.M. in Piano Performance, Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University
- B.A. in Piano Performance, National Taiwan Normal University
The New York Concert Review praised Li-shan Hung’s performance as “truly extraordinary… inexhaustible variety of touch… breathtaking.” A winner of Artists International, she made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 2003 to great acclaim, leading to a return engagement in 2005. Her performance of César Franck’s Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue was described by Timothy...
Manami Kawamura
- Adjunct Professor, Piano
- M.M., Piano Performance, Indiana University
- B.M., Piano Performance, Ueno Gakuen University
"As a teacher and as a mentor, Professor Kawamura has been to me an exemplary model of dedication, selflessness, and wisdom. I have grown spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and musically under her guidance, and I cannot begin to thank her enough for everything that she has done for me, to challenge and inspire me as a musician and as a Christian." (Briana Ung, alumna 2014)
Manami...
Matthew Kellaway
- Adjunct Professor
- Director, Men's Chorus
- M.M. Choral Conducting, CSU, Fullerton
- B.M. Vocal Performance, Biola University
Matthew Kellaway is an established professional baritone in the Southern California area currently singing with the Pacific Chorale. Mr. Kellaway has performed as a featured soloist in Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Italy in conjunction with international choral and solo vocal competitions, and he continues to be a featured soloist with the Pacific Chorale and Pacific Symphony...
Ron Kobayashi
- Adjunct Professor, Improvisation
- B.A., Political Science, with a Music Minor, California State University, Fullerton
Pianist and composer Ron Kobayashi has performed with a variety of musical artists including Mel Torme, Kenny Burrell, Peter Frampton, Tom Scott, Margaret Whiting, Peter White, Najee, Eric Marienthal and comedian Bob Saget. For five years Ron served as musical director for the Hollywood Diversity Awards where such stars as Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson and George Lopez were honored. Ron has made...
Doug Jackson
- Applied Lesson Instructor, Electric Guitar
Doug Jackson has performed with Kenny Loggins, Ambrosia, Michael McDonald, Bryan Duncan, Bill Champlin, Edgar Winter, Marie Osmond, Dave Mason, Al Stewart, Gary Wright, Dweezil Zappa, Stephen Bishop, Nancy Sinatra and Iron Butterfly to name a few.
He has also worked with studio and jazz greats Abraham Laboriel, Jeff Porcaro, Neal Stubenhaus, Harry Manfredini, Dean Parks, Max Bennett, Barbara...
Elizabeth Freeman
- Adjunct Faculty, Strings
- Postgraduate Degree in Violin Performance, Guildhall School of Music, London
- M.M. in Violin Performance, Yale University
- B.M. in Violin Performance, Indiana University
The Boston Globe has praised Elizabeth Larson’s playing as having “great charm and refinement…and breathtaking virtuosity.” Larson began violin at the age of three, and since first soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony at age seven and the Boston Pops at age 11, she has gone on to perform internationally as a renowned soloist and chamber musician. Her tours have brought her to four continents...
Gina Lord
- Adjunct Professor, Piano
- M.M. Piano Pedagogy, University of Oregon
- M.M. Piano Performance, University of Oregon
- B.M. Music Education, Biola University
- B.M. Piano Performance, Biola University
Gina Lord began her studies at the age of six in Salem, Oregon. She won many local competitions and debuted with the Portland Youth Philharmonic at the age of sixteen. While at Biola as a student of Jenny Wong, Lord was privileged to perform in masterclasses for Menahem Pressler and Bela Siki and was awarded the Outstanding Musician of the Year, Outstanding Pianist of the Year as well as other...
David Owens
- Studio Artist, Drum Set
David Owens has played for Fernando Ortega, Tommy Walker, Sara Groves, Bebo Norman, Crystal Lewis, Cheri Keaggy, Paul Baloche, The Righteous Brothers, Thomas Dolby and Peter White to name a few. He played drum set for the Los Angeles production of The Lion King at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood for over two years. He has played on countless jingles and many soundtracks.
Currently he plays...
Marlin Owen
- Associate Professor, Music History and Cello
- Area Coordinator, Strings
- Director, Biola Symphony Orchestra
- M.A. University of California, San Diego
- B.S. Minnesota State University, Mankato
Marlin Owen's dynamic teaching style and eclectic musical career contribute to his students' rich learning experience in class, at lesson, and under his baton. Alumna Hannah McGarvey ('13) says, "Mr. Owen is one of the most creative and unique professors I have ever had. His joy for life and learning is contagious. His passion for learning new things is a rare quality not found in many people....
Rique Pantoja
- Adjunct Professor, Contemporary Piano
Terri Richter-Franklin
- Adjunct Professor (Voice)
Jeanne Robison
- D.M.A. in the Musical Arts, with Cognate in Opera Direction and Production, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
- M.M. Voice Performance, Kent State University
- B.M. Music Education, Kent State University
Jeanne Robison has served as Voice Area Coordinator at the Conservatory since 1995 and served as director of opera from 1995–2014. Under her leadership, enrollment in the voice area almost tripled between 1998 and 2007 and students under her tutelage have gone on to esteemed graduate schools including Eastman, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, Peabody, USC, Boston University, Michigan State,...
Shawna Stewart
- Associate Professor and Director of Choral Studies
- Director, Biola University Chorale and Vocal Jazz
- D.M.A., University of Southern California
- M.M., Eastman School of Music
- B.S., John Brown University
Dr. Shawna Stewart teaches courses in Music Education and conducts the Biola University Chorale and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Under her direction, the Biola University Chorale has performed at three Western Region Conferences for the American Choral Directors Association (2016, 2020, 2024) and the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s 7th Biennial National Conference.. Dr. Stewart frequently...
Leonora Wagner
- Adjunct Professor, Music History
- Ph.D. Musicology, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
- M.A. Music History and Literature, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
- B.M. Violin Performance, Biola University (La Mirada, CA)
- B.S. Mathematics, Biola University (La Mirada, CA)
Leonora Wagner completed a doctorate in historical musicology (2012) at the University of Southern California with a dissertation focusing on the writings and music of Michael Praetorius in relation to congregational singing in Lutheran Germany during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. While in graduate school she was awarded both the USC Provost Fellowship and the...
Courses
Music History I
Music History II
Chris Wills
- Adjunct Professor, Composition
- M.M., Music Composition, California State University, Long Beach
- B.M. Music Composition, California State University, Northridge
- Kodály Method certification from OAKE, ASCI and C-BEST certification
Christopher J. Wills has performed and recorded for film and television productions including Columbia Pictures’ Spider-Man 2, toured in concert with singer and actress Lorna Luft (daughter of Judy Garland) and Jim Curry with the Pacific Symphony, Houston Symphony, Cincinnati Pops and other orchestras at major venues such as Colorado’s Red Rocks and Irvine’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Wills...
Jung-A Lee
- Applied Lesson Instructor, Organ
Jung-A Lee has performed in Europe, North America, and Asia as an organist, pianist and conductor. She currently serves as the organist at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach. Lee is also the Artist-in-Residence for Pacific Chorale, directed by Maestros John Alexander and Robert Istad. In 2009 she founded Music Mission International in order to promote organ music. In...
Robert Denham
- Associate Professor, Music Theory and Composition
- Interim Chair, Conservatory of Music
- Director, Composition
- D.M.A. in Composition, University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
- M.A. in Composition, University of California, Los Angeles
- B.M. in Trumpet Performance, Biola University
Robert Denham writes music that borrows from an eclectic array of sources including jazz, medieval chant, and everything in between. He has won numerous awards and was recently recognized as the third place winner of the 2024 American Prize (Concerto for Bass Trombone and Wind Ensemble; Band/Wind Ensemble Division); he won first place in the same competition in 2018 (Gregory Blues; Band/Wind...
David Michael Loucks
- Applied Lesson Instructor, Contemporary Voice
David Michael Loucks is a studio singer, arranger, and vocal contractor in Los Angeles, Calif. With over 20 years in the industry, David has recorded and performed with such artists as Katy Perry, Pentatonix, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, 30 Seconds To Mars, and Harry Styles, as well as for TV and films such as "Glee," "American Idol," "Dancing With The Stars," "Sing," "Star Trek Beyond" and...
Karl Meyers
- Assistant Professor, Music and Symphonic Winds Director
- DMA, University of Cincinnati
- M.M., Arizona State University
- BME, The University of Northwestern
- B.A., The University of Northwestern
Dr. Karl Meyers currently serves as the director of instrumental studies and music education at Biola University, conducting the symphonic winds, teaching music education classes and overseeing the aforementioned programs. Prior to teaching at Biola, Meyers served as the interim assistant director of bands at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Meyers completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in...