Laurie Blunsom received her Ph.D. in musicology at Brandeis University and also holds an M...

Laurie Blunsom received her Ph.D. in musicology at Brandeis University and also holds an MFA in musicology and women's studies from Brandeis and a master's degree from the New England Conservatory. Her principal interest is in the participation of women in music in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. She has presented several papers on women composers in 19th-century America at conferences such as the Society for American and Music, Feminist Theory and Music and the Women's History Network.

Jenny Dufault has taught private voice lessons for over thirty years; twenty-four of them ...

Jenny Dufault has taught private voice lessons for over thirty years; twenty-four of them at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Jenny received her PhD from the University of Minnesota and is a full Professor of Music at MSUM, and is a longtime member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Her area of research and expertise is in the area of vocal pedagogy. Jenny has taught all levels of students: beginning voice students to young professional performers. She has trained music education majors, music theater majors, music industry majors, vocal performance majors, and commercial music majors. She has a legacy of students who are teachers and performers. Jenny has also performed in dozens of productions over the years, ranging from charity fundraisers and theatre productions to leading roles in professional operas. She has been married to Christopher for over twenty years. Jenny believes her greatest successes have been her marriage and that together she and Chris are raising two amazing kids.

Doug Neill is currently the adjunct bass and tuba instructor at MSUM. He has spent the pa...

Doug Neill is currently the adjunct bass and tuba instructor at MSUM. He has spent the past 32 years as a teacher in Minnesota public schools teaching band, choir, elementary music and orchestra. He is presently an orchestra teacher in the Moorhead public schools. Mr. Neill holds a degree in Music Education from North Dakota State University, and it was during his years there that he spent a summer in the Disney World All-American College Band. As the bass player in that group, he performed with various well-known artists such as Bobby Shew, Steve Houghton and Rob McConnell. During that same summer, he studied with Sam Pilafian on tuba as part of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. In 2012 Mr. Neill earned his Masters Degree in Music Education from Minnesota State university Moorhead. Locally, he has performed as a bass player in the Fargo-Moorhead Jazz Arts Group, the Dick King Band, Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome and many other groups. Mr. Neill has also been the Principal Tubist with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony since 1981.

Cellist Elise Buffat Nelson currently teaches at NDSU and MSUM and has an extensive precol...

Cellist Elise Buffat Nelson currently teaches at NDSU and MSUM and has an extensive precollege cello studio. She is assistant principal cello in the Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra and member of the Fargo Moorhead Opera orchestra. Before moving to Moorhead, Elise was assistant principal cello of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician she is currently the cellist in the Lyra Piano Trio and the Dakota Rose String Quartet. She was a member of the FMSO’s 8th Street Quartet as well as the Arkansas Symphony’s full-time quartet, The Quapaw Quartet. She had the privilege of being a member of the Strelow String Quartet at the University of Wisconsin -Madison where she worked under the tutelage of the Pro Arte Quartet and received her master’s degree studying cello with Parry Karp. She received her bachelor’s degree in cello from the University of Wisconsin-Superior studying with Eugenia Slezak.

Dr. Tom Strait is has been a faculty member at MSUM since 2001. He teaches trumpet, trombo...

Dr. Tom Strait is has been a faculty member at MSUM since 2001. He teaches trumpet, trombone and euphonium, and serves as director of the MSUM Jazz Ensemble. He also teaches courses in aural skills, jazz improvisation, and music appreciation. He holds a Doctor of Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of Northern Colorado, as well as degrees from the University of Texas and Henderson State University. Before coming to MSUM, he taught for several years at both the university and public school levels and served in the U.S. Air Force, performing with the USAF Academy Falconaires. He is currently Principal Trumpet with the Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra and is an active free lance performer in the region. Tom Strait is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Dr. Kenyon Williams has worked throughout the United States as a professional performer, e...

Dr. Kenyon Williams has worked throughout the United States as a professional performer, educator, arranger, and clinician. A graduate of Abilene Christian University, the Hartt School of Music, and the University of Kentucky, he has performed as a guest soloist and section member for numerous orchestras, including the Abilene Philharmonic (TX), the Louisville Symphony (KY), the Lexington Philharmonic (KY), and currently serves as Principal Percussionist for the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra. As an educator, he has taught at the secondary school level as well as at universities in Texas and Kentucky. Dr. Williams is currently the Director of Percussion Studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead where he maintains an active teaching and performing schedule and directs the acclaimed “Fuego Tropical” World Percussion Ensemble as well as hands-on world music ensembles in Trinidadian steel pan, Javanese gamelan, African drumming, Afro-Cuban salsa, and Brazilian samba. His interests have taken him abroad for extended studies in Ghana, Cuba, Brazil, Indonesia, and Trinidad, where he has performed with the legendary Invaders and Birdsong Steel Orchestras in Panorama. In the United States, he has taken his love for the music of the Caribbean to new levels by establishing, arranging, and performing for steel bands and Afro-Cuban ensembles in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, North Dakota and Texas. Dr. Williams is a Yamaha Performing Artist and endorses Yamaha and Latin Percussion instruments, Innovative sticks and mallets, and Coyle Steel Drums, through which he has published numerous original arrangements and transcriptions. Dr. Williams is a member of the Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society, the largest professional body of percussionists in the world, and has served as a past chairman for the World Music Committee as well as Treasurer for the Minnesota Chapter of PAS. He also performs regularly with the “Varying Degrees” Percussion Trio and recently released a solo album of newly commissioned solo works for percussion entitled “Homage,” which is available on both iTunes and CDBaby.com.