New Faculty in the Department of Music

Along with the many new students on campus, the Department of Music has several new faculty members. We are excited to see these new colleagues and teachers settle in to the school year and build relationships with their new students. Please help us welcome our new faculty members!

Kimberly Hannon Teal, musicology

Kimberly Hannon Teal joined the Department of Music at the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2016. Her research addresses contemporary jazz, and she is interested in how live performance contexts contribute to musical experiences and meaning. Her dissertation, “Living Traditions: Embodying Heritage in Contemporary Jazz Performance,” was supported by the Elsa T. Johnson Fellowship and the Glenn Watkins Fellowship, and her research has appeared in American Music and Jazz Perspectives.

Previously, she served as the Director of Graduate Advising and Services at the Eastman School of Music and taught music history at both Eastman and the Rochester Institute of Technology. She holds a PhD and MA in historical musicology from Eastman, where she was also a trumpet student of James Thompson and Clay Jenkins, and a BM in trumpet performance from the University of Oregon, where she studied with George Recker.

Jake Hertzog, guitar

Jake Hertzog is a critically acclaimed guitarist, composer and educator whose career to-date has spanned nine albums as bandleader across jazz, rock and classical new music styles. He has toured throughout the U.S., Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and India and performed and recorded with a diverse cadre of artists including Randy Brecker, Ivan Neville, Mike Clarke, Blondie Chaplin, Anton Fig, Corey Glover, Barry Altschul, Dave Leibman, Ingrid Jensen, and many others.

Hertzog's many projects have included the Jake Hertzog Trio with Harvie S and Victor Jones — a jazz/rock group that has released five albums to wide acclaim and radio success and headlined venues such as The Blue Note in New York and Salo Jazz Festival in Finland. Hertzog's rock group "The Young Presidents" has been featured on Vh1 and MTV as well as radio stations around the world. He also produced a documentary film about the making of their album "Coalition," in collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Rob Fraboni (Rolling Stones, The Band).

Most recently, Hertzog released "Well Lit Shadow" (2016), a classical suite for solo electric guitar celebrating themes and images in particle physics. Another of his classical projects, "Stringscapes" for two guitars, was partially premiered in New York in 2016 and is set for recording later this year co-featuring guitarist Yishai Fischer.

For three years, Hertzog was musical director and lead guitarist for Nickelodeon's The Naked Brothers Band stars, Nat and Alex Wolff. They headlined two major national tours and performed on national television shows including Good Morning America, The View, Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards and The Today Show.

As an educator, Hertzog has been an artist-in-residence and guest clinician in colleges and conservatories in the U.S., Europe and India. He created the instructional series "Hey Jazz Guy" for Guitar Player magazine and contributed over 30 articles to the publication.

Hertzog is a grand prize winner of the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition, holds a performance degree from Berklee College of Music and a master's degree from The Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Andrew Kohler, musicology

Andrew Kohler originally hails from Seattle, Washington. He completed his graduate studies in historical musicology (MA and PhD) at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 2015. He also holds a pedagogy certificate in music theory. He also is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University, from the latter of which he holds a BA in literature (interdisciplinary track with music). His dissertation is a study of Carl Orff as an artist working under totalitarian conditions, for which he conducted archival research in Munich, Germany in 2012–2013 with a Fulbright Research Grant. He is now thrilled to be living in Senator Fulbright’s hometown.

Andrew has loved teaching music history, music theory, and music appreciation courses at the University of Michigan, the University of Toledo, Eastern Michigan University, and Western Michigan University, and is honored now to be joining the University of Arkansas’s fantastic Department of Music. Presently, he is working on a monograph based on his dissertation. His most recent publication, on Orff’s repudiation of authoritarianism in Die Bernauerin (1947), appears in the 2015 volume Protest Music in the 20th Century. He also has made the first English translation of Orff’s final stage work, De temporum fine comoedia (Play on the End of Times, 1973), the libretto of which is written in Greek, Latin, and German (at times in the same sentence).

Andrew is also a pianist, choral singer, and composer with an interest in conducting. With the Yale Glee Club, he has sung under the direction of Sir David Willcocks, Sir Neville Marriner, and Krzysztof Penderecki. Subsequently, he has performed with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, including a concert performance of Puccini’s Tosca with the latter that involved being part of the off-stage back-up band chorus for Patricia Racette in Act 2. Andrew’s compositions have been performed at the University of Michigan, including a performance of his Chamber Symphony in E minor (including an extensive basset horn solo) that he conducted. He also is part of the University of Michigan’s Gershwin Initiative, in which capacity he is very proud to have served as an editorial assistant for the new critical editions of George Gershwin’s Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris (with the original trio of soprano saxophones), and Porgy and Bess.

Wing Lau, music theory

Wing Lau joined the Department of Music at the University of Arkansas in the Fall of 2016. Her research focuses on rhythm and meter, and the relationship between performance and analysis. Her dissertation, “Expressive Motivation of Meter Changes in Brahms’s Lieder,” provides a taxonomy of notated meter changes with regard to their durations and their relationships with harmony, form, and poetic declamation. She has published with Music Theory Online, and has presented at the international Doctors in Performance Festival Conference, the national meeting of the Society for Music Theory, and numerous regional conferences.

As an active pianist, Wing has appeared in masterclasses with Emanuel Ax and Midori Gotō, and in concerts with Oregon Bach Collegium. She has studied with Dean Kramer, Claire Wachter, David Riley, Evelyn Brancart, and André De Groote.

Wing has a PhD in Music Theory from the University of Oregon and a MM in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to her position at the University of Arkansas she was an instructor at the University of Oregon and Lane Community College. She also directed local children choir in Oregon.

Dominic Na, cello

Cellist, conductor, and teacher, Dominic Na has won numerous awards and recognitions for his musical talents. He is the co-founder and artistic director of String and Bow Music Co. and was the assistant director for “Viva Celli” cello ensemble. He has been active in musical outreach in the DFW area through concerts and interactive workshops.

With more than ten years of professional teaching experience in cello, Dominic is excited to join the UA Department of Music. He works with his students to learn not only the mechanics of playing the cello but also focuses on the importance of collaboration, broadening experiences, and the joy of learning.

As an internationally recognized performer, Dominic has performed in Austria, Romania, Russia, Germany, South Korea, and the United States. He is currently working on his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas. His principal teachers on the cello have been Eugene Osadchy, Andreas Diaz, Christopher Adkins, Lynn Harrell, Ulf Tischbirek, Adalbert Skocic, and Elena Dernova.

Joon Park, music theory

Joon Park joined the University of Arkansas Department of Music in 2016. His research interest includes the history of music theory, jazz analysis, and Baroque improvisation. His article on the pedagogical benefits of bringing a “jazz mindset” to the core music theory classroom will appear in Engaging Students. His article exploring the methodological differences between jazz and classical analysis will appear in Journal of Jazz Studies. Park has presented at national meetings of the Society for Music Theory and numerous regional conferences.

Park received a PhD in Music Theory from the University of Oregon with a dissertation, "Music, Motion, Space: A Genealogy." He received an MA in Music Theory Pedagogy and the BM in Music Theory from Eastman School of Music. In addition to research, he plays harpsichord and jazz piano. While in Oregon, he performed harpsichord regularly with Oregon Bach Collegium, an ensemble dedicated to historical performance practice. Outside of academia, he enjoys cooking and camping.

Eric Troiano, saxophone

Eric Troiano joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2016. He maintains an active teaching and performing career as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been a guest artist at numerous places including Ithaca College, Central Michigan University, Oakland University, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and many other high schools around Michigan and New York. As a member of the Viridian Saxophone Quartet, he performs regularly across the country. The Viridian Quartet has won top prizes in North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition, the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and the MTNA Chamber Music Competition.

An advocate for new music, Eric Troiano has premiered and commissioned many new pieces for the saxophone and saxophone quartet, including pieces by composers Andrew Francis, Peter Golub, Justin Rito, Curtis Smith, among others. As an accomplished baritone saxophonist, Troiano has pioneered many solo and chamber works for the instrument. He is in the process of creating a pedagogical method for the baritone saxophone that utilizes the work of J.S. Bach to teach techniques of playing the instrument.

A native of Connecticut, Troiano received a bachelor of music in music education and saxophone performance from Ithaca College, a master of music in saxophone performance from Michigan State University, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in saxophone performance from Michigan State University. His primary teachers include Joseph Lulloff and Steven Mauk.