Boston Conservatory Welcomes New Artists to Its Faculty and Administration

The artists bring a wide range of expertise across dance, music, and theater, including commercial dance, ethnomusicology, musical theater, and more.

September 2, 2022

 

Dance Division

Tara Brown (heels dance) is a professional dancer, choreographer, teacher, and certified life coach who has worked extensively in both the contemporary and commercial dance industries. She has performed works by world-renowned choreographers including Mark Morris, Camille A. Brown, and Ohad Naharin, and continues to train with former Beyoncé dancers Shirlene Quigley, Aisha Francis, and Olivia Cipolla. 

Anthony Burrell (contemporary modern dance technique; commercial dance audition skills; pop diva dance repertory) has had an illustrious career in both the concert and commercial dance worlds. He has performed with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, was creative director of Mariah Carey's Las Vegas show, and choreographed for Beyoncé's Super Bowl Halftime Show performance and her Formation tour.

Raul Cruz (hip-hop; commercial dance) has had an extensive career in hip-hop, commercial jazzdance, ballroom (vogue), and urban dance. A native of Southern California, he has taught at numerous universities and colleges.

Music Division

Ruth Bennett (harp) has performed throughout the U.S., Mexico, Asia, and Europe, including tours with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and as a soloist with the National Orchestra of Peru, sharing the stage with Renée Fleming, Elton John, Sarah Brightman, Armando Manzanero, and Duncan Sheik, to name a few. Bennett joins the faculty following a 15-year tenure as principal harpist of the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra.

Victoria Cheah (composition) is a multidisciplinary composer who also teaches instrumentation, harmony, and contemporary techniques at Berklee College of Music. She has received commissions from ensembles including Line Upon Line, Yarn/Wire, Guerilla Opera, Ensemble Dal Niente, and others. 

Maya Cunningham (ethnomusicology; African and African American music) is a cultural activist and ethnomusicologist who specializes in African American expressive culture and history, jazz history, and intersections between African and African American musics. In 2017, she received a Fulbright Award to research traditional music and national identity in Botswana. 

David Gately (opera) recently served as head of the Opera Department at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. His professional career includes more than 350 productions for 60 opera companies, theater companies, and symphonies.

Kayla Gautereaux (musical theater vocal pedagogy) guides the Conservatory’s musical theater vocal pedagogy students through the dissertation research and writing process. She and her students regularly present novel research at national and international conferences to advance the field of voice pedagogy. A versatile mezzo-soprano, she is an avid overtone singer and also teaches contemporary voice at Berklee College of Music

Scott Allen Jarrett (oratorio) has served as resident conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus, director of music at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, and the music director of the Back Bay Chorale. He is a longtime collaborator with the Oregon Bach Festival as director of their Vocal Fellows Program and as associate chorus master.

Richard Kelley (trumpet) is a versatile musician who has excelled across a broad range of styles, from symphony orchestras and chamber music to jazz, studio work, and Broadway shows. He performs regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, Boston Philharmonic, and Boston Classical Orchestra.

Isaí Jess Muñoz (voice/opera) joined the Conservatory as chair of the voice, overseeing and supporting all areas of voice/opera curricula and artistic programming. Muñoz was named president-elect of the National Opera Association (NOA) in 2021 and has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Prize, and National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists, among others. As a tenor, Muñoz has collaborated with some of the world’s leading ensembles and his latest solo album, Visca L'Amor: Catalan Art Songs of the XX and XXI Centuries (Bridge Records/Naxos, 2021), is a BBC Music Magazine five-star honoree.

Scott Nicholas (piano) has appeared throughout the U.S. and internationally in solo and chamber performances and has collaborated as the rehearsal and performance pianist for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Borromeo String Quartet, the U.S. Airforce Clarinet Ensemble, the Minnesota Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera's outreach programs, among others. 

Zipporah Peddle (voice) spent six years as lead vocalist in Cirque du Soleil's top-selling production O. She has performed in numerous musicals, concerts, cabarets, and recitals, at venues throughout Canada and the U.S. She most recently appeared in the world premiere of La Sorgente, a collection of art songs for soloists and orchestra, at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles.

Stephen Spinelli (choral conducting) is cofounder and director of ONEcomposer, an arts advocacy initiative dedicated to the legacies of historically erased musicians. Through this work, Spinelli has become a prominent champion of the music of underserved composers. He previously served as assistant director of choral programs at Cornell University. 

Theater Division

Russell Garrett (musical theater) spent the early years of his career in New York performing in Broadway and touring productions of 42nd Street, My Fair Lady, and A Chorus Line. Regionally, Garrett has performed at Actors Theater of Louisville, Theatre Under the Stars, and the Papermill Playhouse and at theaters throughout New England.

Rebecca Schneebaum (voice and speech) has performed in New York City, Boston, and across New England with LAByrinth Theatre Company, American Repertory Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Boston Playwright’s Theatre, Actors' Shakespeare Project, Seacoast Repertory Theatre, Brown Box Theatre Project, and many others. 

Rosie Ward (voice and speech) joins Boston Conservatory from the University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance. Additional teaching positions include the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), Brigham Young University, and workshops and vocal coaching for American Players Theatre. 

Learn more about Boston Conservatory's leading dance, music, and theater programs.