Faculty | B.M. in Music Performance
Bassoon
John Campbell
- Studio Artist, Bassoon
Cello
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....
Flute
Gary Woodward
- Applied Lesson Instructor, Flute
French Horn
Jenny Kim
- Applied Lesson Instructor, French Horn
Harp
Mindy Ball
- Applied Lesson Instructor, Harp
Since 1979, Mindy Ball has served as principal harp with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Chorale. She is also principal harp for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Opera Pacific. She was principal harp for Pittsburgh Opera from 2003–2007 under John Mauceri. She performs regularly for major national and international touring ballet companies and has recorded for major motion...
Mandolin
Evan Marshall
- Studio Artist, Mandolin
In addition to solo performances throughout the country, Evan Marshall has been a featured guest artist with a number of distinguished orchestras, including the Houston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Long Beach Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and Pensacola Symphony. Two of his solo mandolin recordings have...
Oboe
Lelie Resnick
- Studio Artist, Oboe
Lelie Resnick holds the position of Principal Oboe of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. She is also English Hornist of the Pacific Symphony and Long Beach Symphony.
Lelie has served the position of English Horn in the Colorado Symphony, Honolulu Symphony and the San Diego Symphonies. In 2004 she held a one-year position as second oboe with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She has been performing with...
Organ
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...
Percussion
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...
Brent Kuszyk
- Studio Artist, Percussion
Brent Kuszyk is conductor of Biola Percussion Ensemble. Currently a free-lance percussionist in the Los Angeles area, he has performed, toured and recorded extensively with the Los Angeles Philharmonic including the simulcast/PBS broadcast gala performance with Gustovas Dudamel. Mr. Kuszyk also performs regularly with the Pacific Symphony and the San Diego Symphony. He was a member of the Grand...
Matt Ordaz
- Adjunct Professor
- Director,Percussion Ensemble
- B.M. Performance (Percussion), Biola University
Matt is the Percussion Ensemble Director at Biola University, teaches privately through his home studio, and keeps a busy schedule working as a freelance musician, performing at many venues throughout Southern California, including The Disneyland Resort and The Ahmanson Theatre.
Matt Ordaz began studying music at an early age and went on to earn many awards in piano performance and...
Piano
George Boespflug
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 has praised her performance as "truly extraordinary...inexhaustible variety of touch...breathtaking." As a winner of the Artists International Li-shan Hung made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 2003 to great acclaim, which led to a return in 2005. Her performance of Cesar Franck’s Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue was cited as “perhaps...
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...
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...
Menahem Pressler
- Artist in Residence
Menahem Pressler, founding member and pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio, has established himself among the world’s most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans almost six decades. Now, at 90 years old, he continues to captivate audiences throughout the world as performer and pedagogue, performing solo and chamber music recitals to great critical acclaim while maintaining a...
Jiayi Shi
- Studio Artist, Piano and Accompanying
Pianist Jiayi Shi maintains an active schedule as a chamber musician and collaborative pianist. She works extensively with the internationally renowned violinist Midori, and made her New York recital debut with Midori in March 2004. In April 2008, she also made recital appearance in London Symphony Orchestra's St Luke's Hall. In addition to numerous chamber performances, Ms. Shi often plays...
Saxophone
Bruce Babad
- Adjunct Professor
- B.A. Music, Central Washington University
- M.M. Jazz Studies, Cal State University Long Beach
Bruce Babad can be heard with the 2006 Grammy nominated Bill Holman Band, Luther Hughes' Cannonball/Coltrane Project and the Bruce Babad Quartet, and has performed on over seventy-five commercial recordings, numerous jingles, television and movie soundtracks.
Babad began playing the alto saxophone at age ten. At the age of fourteen, Bruce took first place in Michigan's State solo &...
String Bass
David Black
- Studio Artist, Double Bass
David Black currently performs with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Opera Pacific in Orange County. He also has performed with the San Diego, Pasadena, Redlands, Inland Empire and Riverside symphonies, many ballet companies, as well as toured with the Roger Wagner Chorale. Mr. Black has done recordings at all major studios, and can be heard on three of the Roger Wagner Chorale...
Trombone
David Stetson
- Studio Artist, Trombone
David Stetson maintains an active free-lance career in many recording studios and ensembles, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He performs regularly with the Pacific Symphony, Opera Pacific, the Pageant of the Masters, and the Long Beach Municipal Band. He also performed with the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra for 10 years. Stetson received his bachelor of music degree in trombone...
Trumpet
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...
David Washburn
- Applied Lesson Instructor, Trumpet
David Washburn is a Yamaha Performing Artist and is the principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. A much sought-after musician in Los Angeles, he also holds the position of associate principal trumpet of the LA Opera Orchestra. He has served as principal trumpet and soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Active in the recording studios, David has numerous motion...
Viola
Jason Bonham
- Studio Artist, Viola
Jason Bonham is the Principal Violist with Las Vegas Philharmonic. He has been a performer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic and guest principal violist with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Berkeley Symphony and Santa Barbara Symphony. As a...
Violin
Melody Chang
- Studio Artist, Violin
- M.M. Performance (Violin), University of Southern California
- B.M. Performance (Violin), Cleveland Institute of Music
A native of Southern California, violinist Melody Chang has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Austria, France, the Czech Republic and Hong Kong, where she was awarded First Prize at the 2013 Third Hong Kong International Violin Competition. She has collaborated with U.K. Band "Bastille," has appeared on the U.S. network TV Show "The Moment", CBS’s show “The Bold...
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...
Voice (Classical)
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...
Joel Balzun
- Adjunct Faculty, Voice
- Doctor of Musical Arts, University of Southern California (in-progress)
- Master of Music, Eastman School of Music
- B.A. Music Composition, Biola University
Praised as a "mature artist with a voluminous sound," baritone and composer Joel Balzun holds a master’s in vocal performance and literature from Eastman
School of Music. At Eastman, he was nominated for the Teaching Assistant Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Balzun previously taught at Fullerton College and is frequently invited to present masterclasses both in schools and at conferences. His...
Christina Dahlin
- Studio Artist, Voice
- M.F.A. University of California Irvine
- B.M. University of Southern California
Christina Dahlin, M.F.A., has received critical acclaim for her performances of opera and operetta throughout Germany, where she was the leading lyric soprano at the German National Theater in Braunscheig. While living abroad, she appeared as a guest soloist in Dusseldorf, Hanover, Frankfurt, Kassel, Essen and Kiel. She has performed over thirty leading roles spanning a wide variety of...
Robyn Frey-Monell
- Studio Artist, Voice
- D.M.A. College Vocal Teaching, Columbia University's Teachers College
- M.F.A. Vocal Performance, University of California Irvine
- B.M. Education (Voice), Westminster Choir College
Heralded as “bright voiced” (Los Angeles Times) and possessing a voice that exudes “warmth and affection” (The Herald, Carmel, Calif.), soprano Robyn Frey-Monell's versatile vocal style has enabled her to actively perform repertoire spanning the operatic, oratorio, recital and musical theater genres. She has been a featured soloist with the Carmel Bach Festival, Concordia University Irvine, the...
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...
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 Activities
- Director, Choral Activities
- 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 is the Director of Choral Studies at Biola University in La Mirada, CA where she conducts the Biola University Chorale and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Under her direction, the Biola University Chorale performed at the 2016 Western Region Conference of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s (NCCO) 7th Biennial National...
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...
Daniel Brier
- Assistant Professor, Music and Orchestra Director
- M.M., University of Michigan
- M.M., University of Michigan
Conductor Daniel Brier enjoys a multi-faceted career which comfortably spans symphony, opera, ballet, and live movies. Since 2019, he has served as the music director and principal conductor of Opera Wilmington. In 2023, Brier was appointed director of orchestral studies and strings at Biola University’s Conservatory of Music and music director of youth music Monterey County. As a guest...