Adjunct Faculty

Mike Assad, percussion

Mike Assad has performed as a freelance drummer and percussionist for more than a decade. Since moving to Memphis in 2001, he has performed regularly with local artists such as, Neptune‘s Army featuring Ed Finney, the Charlie Wood Trio, and the Michael Jeffery Stevens Trio. He has also performed with various big bands and orchestras including the New Memphis Hepcats, the Memphis Jazz Orchestra, and the Corinth Symphony Orchestra. Mike has studied with Miles Osland, Steve Davis, Donnie Patterson, Ed Murray, Jack Cooper, and Tim Goodwin. He has performed in master classes for clinicians such as Michael Brecker, Benny Golson, James Moody, John Riley, Stanley Cowell, Stanley Turrentine, Jerry Coker, Sir Rolland Hanna, and Clark Terry. Mike was also chosen by audition for the Richard Davis Jazz Residency Workshop Series presented by the Lexington Arts Council. Mike received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Kentucky in 1999 and his Master’s Degree from the University of Memphis in 2003. Currently, Mike also teaches drum set at the University of Memphis and the Memphis Drum Shop.

John Bass, guitar

[B.M., University of Southern Mississippi; M.M., Ph.D. Candidate, University of Memphis ]
John Bass, instructor of guitar and director of the Rhodes Jazz Orchestra, is a Ph.D. candidate in historical musicology at the University of Memphis. He has given presentations at regional and international conferences on improvisation and his article “Would Caccini Approve?: A closer look at Edgerton 2971 and florid monody” will be published in Early Music in late 2007. Mr. Bass also holds degrees in jazz guitar performance from the University of Southern Mississippi (BM) and the University of Memphis (MM), and is active as both a jazz and early music performer.

Sara Chiego, bass

[B.M., University of Memphis; M.M., University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music]
Sara Chiego was born in Lahore, West Pakistan, where her parents were teaching missionaries with the United Methodist Church. She ended up in Little Rock, Arkansas via Bloomington, Indiana and Los Angeles, California where she played in the Arkansas Symphony as a teenager. She met her husband, John Chiego, in the orchestra′s bass section. She spent several summers of her high school years at the Interlochen National Music Camp playing with the World Youth Symphony.

In 1979 Sara and John moved to Memphis from Evanston, Illinois where they had been attending Northwestern University. John was appointed Professor of Double Bass at the University of Memphis (formerly Memphis State University) and Principal Bass of the Memphis Symphony. Sara joined the Memphis Symphony bass section at that time while completing her undergraduate degree at Memphis State and was Assistant Principal Bass for almost twenty years. In 1981 she attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she received the Master of Music Performance degree. While in Cincinnati she played with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the Dayton Symphony and the Taft Chamber Players. During the summers Sara has taught and performed as Principal Bass at the Allegheny Summer Music Festival in Pennsylvania and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. She was a member of the Tennessee Summer Symphony for four years. Sara is presently an adjunct instructor at Rhodes College and the University of Memphis and a member of the Memphis Symphony bass section.

Jenny Compton, flute

[A.S.C.M., N.S.W. Conservatorium of Music]
Jenny Compton was awarded the A.S.C.M. of the N.S.W. Conservatorium of Music with Merit. In 1980 she joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australia, as its youngest member. Jenny performed as soloist with the Sydney Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. She was a wind finalist in the 1987 National Young Performers Competition. In 1999 Jenny moved to Memphis where she performs regularly with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Jenny is the adjunct flute instructor at Rhodes College and also teaches privately. She and her husband Sam have two boys, Zephyr and Tasman.

Susan Enger, trumpet

Susan Enger is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, and Nothwestern University, where she was a student of Vincent Cichowicz. She is presently Second Trumpet with the Memphis Symphony, a post she′s held since 1994. She also takes part in the Carmel Bach Festival for five weeks every summer.

Susan is the former Principal Trumpet of l′orchestre symphonique de Quebec, Associate Principal Trumpet of the Montreal Symphony, Principal Trumpet of Les Violons du Roy, and Co-Principal Trumpet of the Iris Chamber Orchestra. She has been on the faculties of the University of Western Ontario, Quebec Conservatory of Music, Domaine Forget, McGill University, and the University of Memphis.

Rena Feller, clarinet

Rena Feller has been E-flat/Second Clarinetist with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since 1986. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin College and a Master of Music degree at Juilliard, where she studied with David Weber. From 1991 to 1999 she was principal clarinet with the Berkshire Opera. As a solo recitalist and
chamber musician, Ms. Feller has premiered and recorded many contemporary compositions. She maintains an active private teaching studio in Memphis.

Bob Gilbert, French horn

[B.M., Indiana University]
Robert Gilbert has taught at Rhodes College since 1999, and also at the university of Delaware and the university of Mississippi. He has been principal horn with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera, The United States Army Band in Washington, D.C., the Japan Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Opera Memphis. Mr. Gilbert has toured with Henri Mancini and Any Williams Orchestras and performed with the Burt Bacharach, Johnny Mathis, Barry White, Ray Charles, Issac Hayes, and Hollywood Hills Orchestras. Mr. Gilbert has been active in recording studios in Memphis and Nashville, and may be heard on the original 1971 soundtrack recording of Isaac Hayes “Shaft.” Mr. Gilbert has performed in Mexico with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Jalisco and in Canada, Las Vegas, and at festivals in Lakeside, Ohio, Spoleto, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Canary Islands.

Jane Gerard-Schranze, viola

[B.M., Eastman School of Music; M.M., New England Conservatory]
Jane Gerard-Schranze, a native of new York, graduated from the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory. Her major teachers include Heidi Castleman, Walter Trampler and Heiichiro Ohyama. A founding member of the Memphis String Quartet, she is an adjunct professor of viola and violin at Rhodes College and maintains an active class of private students. Jane has had extensive teaching experience with students at various levels of advancement and is certified in the Suzuki Kindermusik and Orff teaching methods. Mrs. Gerard-Schranze is on the summer music faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts where she teaches viola and chamber music. She is a former faculty member at Converse College, Northwest Michigan College and in the A.R.M.E.S. program of the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina. She plays in the IRIS Chamber Orchestra and in chamber music concerts throughout the United States. Jane shares her musical life in Memphis with her husband, violinist Lenny Schranze, and their four children.

David Lay, guitar

[B.M., Lambuth Univeristy; Graduate Work, University of Memphis]
David Lay has been a teacher and performer in the Memphis area for over 10 years, and an instructor at Rhodes College since 2001. He is a versatile guitarist and is comfortable in a variety of musical settings. David has performed on Historic Beale Street at B.B. King’s Blues Club, in recital at Rhodes College, and with the Memphis Symphony as a part of the “Beale Street Divas” concert. He currently performs with Magi, a contemporary music group that performs throughout the southeast. David has studied classical guitar with Tom Price at Lambuth University, Dr. Lily Afshar at The University of Memphis, and in Master classes with Manuel Barrueco, Eliot Fisk, Bill Kanengiser and John Johns. David also has studied jazz guitar with Charlton Johnson and Tim Goodwin at The University of Memphis. He formed and has directed the Rhodes’ Contemporary Music Ensemble since 2005.

Gina Neupert, harp

[B.M., Indiana School of Music; M.M., University of Southern California]

Gina Neupert joins the Department of Music at Rhodes as Adjunct Professor of Harp. Ms. Neupert has performed worldwide as a soloist and accompanist. Prior to moving to Memphis, Ms. Neupert directed her own private studio of classical studies in the performing arts. Currently, she is the director of tHe Rita Crocker Conservatory and The High Strung Harp Choir in Memphis. Her students have won major national competitions and been accepted at top universities throughout the United States. Ms. Neupert is a member of The American National Harp Society. In addition to composing numerous harp solo and ensemble pieces, she is currently writing a book entitled “Music Conservatories in the Church”. Ms. Neupert studied under the direction of world renowned harpist, Ms. Susann McDonald.

Jennifer Rhodes, bassoon
[B.M., Performance Certificate, Eastman School of Music; M.M., D.M.A., The Julliard School]
Jennifer Rhodes is in her second season as principal bassoonist of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. She holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from Eastman School of Music. Her major teachers are Frank Morelli and John Hunt. Before moving to Memphis, Dr. Rhodes enjoyed a busy freelance career in New York City where she performed with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and Opera Orchestras, and the American Ballet Theater Orchestra. An active chamber musician, she has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the North Country Chamber Players. She recently recorded Jonathan Dawe’s woodwind quintet “Fractal Farm” on the Furious Artisans label and can also be heard playing principal bassoon on Itzhak Perlman’s 1998 EMI recording “Concertos From My Childhood,” accompanied by the Juilliard Orchestra.

John Ross, guitar

[B.M., Northern Illinois University; M.M., Illinois State University]
John Ross has been on the faculty of Rhodes College Music Department as a classical guitarist since 1994. He is also the active Guitar Coordinator, overseeing the guitar program. For the past two years, Mr. Ross has been an active member of the teaching staff at the Collierville First Baptist Music Academy.

Mr. Ross received his B.M. in 1983 from Northern Illinois University and his M.M. from Illinois State University in 1993. As a classical guitarist and lutenist, Mr. Ross performs regularly in concert and public performances.

The Commercial Appeal referred to John Ross as, “... an excellent classical guitarist.”

Debbie Smith, piano and organ

[B.M., Mississippi College; M.M. University of Memphis; Ph.D. Candidate, University of Memphis]
Debbie Smith, adjunct professor of piano at Rhodes, has been active as a teacher, recitalist, accompanist, singer, and choral director in the Midsouth since 1980. In addition to teaching at Rhodes, Ms. Smith is an instructor at Southwest Tennessee Community College as well as assistant director of music and organist at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Ms. Smith received her B.M. in Organ Performance from Mississippi College and her M.M. in Organ Performance from the University of Memphis. She is currently pursuing a Phd in Historical Musicology from the University of Memphis.

Michael Jefry Stevens, piano

[B.A., Florida International University; M.A., Queens College]
Over the past 30 years, pianist/composer Michael Jefry Stevens has been associated with some of the most important figures in modern jazz. Beginning with his first CD release in 1991 as a member of Mark Whitecage′s Liquid Time Group, Mr. Stevens has been in the forefront of the NYC improvised music scene. Between 1988 and 1990 he co-led the now legendary "Mosaic Sextet" with Dave Douglas. This group included Mark Feldman on violin, Michael Rabinowitz on bassoon, and the rhythm section of Harvey Sorgen on drums and Joe Fonda on bass. Their "Today This Moment" CD, released on Konnex Records and re-released on GM Recordings, is considered one of the classic modern jazz recordings of the last 25 years. This rhythm section went on to become the nucleus for Mr. Stevens’ working quartet the Fonda/Stevens Group. Since the quartet′s inception in 1993, the Fonda/Stevens Group has released nine CD’s, often toured Europe and is one of the premier working modern jazz groups on the international scene. Mr. Stevens also began a very fruitful and fulfilling relationship with Leo Records with his duo "Haiku" CD release in 1994, featuring Mark Feldman on violin. These piano/violin improvisations proved to be a pivotal link between Mr. Stevens’ work in both the composed and improvised music worlds. Mr. Stevens has currently released nine CD’s on Leo Records, including "Elements" with bassist Dominic Duval, and "Twelve Improvisations" with the Fonda/Stevens Group. To date he has released 46 CD’s.

Michael Jefry Stevens has composed over 300 works for various ensembles, including big band, string quartet, music for voice, music for solo instruments and various small group compositions. Mr. Stevens was the Margaret Lee Crofts Fellow at "The MacDowell Colony" in the summer of 2000, received second prize in the prestigious Monaco International Jazz Composition in 1998, and was most recently a composer fellow at the Centrum Arts Colony in Port Townsend, WA, in June 2005. He has been composer-in-residence at Virginia Intermont College (1999), where he scored music in collaboration with the dance department and was composer -in-residence at the Oxford Music Academy Summer workshop in 2002. He joined the Rhodes faculty in September 2006.

Kate Stimson, piano

[B.A., Hollins College; M.M., University of Memphis]
Kate Stimson received a Bachelor of Arts in Music History from Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia. She received a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Memphis. Mrs. Stimson is an Adjunct Professor of Piano at Rhodes College. She also is a piano instructor at the Community Music School at the University of Memphis. She is the 2006-2008 President of the Greater Memphis Music Teachers Association. Mrs. Stimson served for 9 years as the Elementary Auditions Chair for the Tennessee Music Teachers Association. Additionally, she is a member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers and the American Matthay Society.

Mark Vail, trombone and tuba

[B.M., North Texas State University]

Yukiko Nakane Whitehead, piano

[DMA, The University of Memphis]
Yukiko Whitehead, a native of Tokyo, Japan is a Registered Suzuki Piano Teacher and a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music. In Japan, she performed weekly on television and was a Teacher-Trainer and Performer for the YAMAHA Music Foundation. The aspiration to improve her English fluency brought her to the University of Tennessee. It was there that the desire to share her passion for music, and the piano, rekindled her interest in piano pedagogy. As a full time instructor of piano in the Suzuki Piano program at The University of Memphis, a number of her students won prizes and awards from both regional and national competitions, she pursued a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance including minor areas in Chamber Music and Piano Pedagogy where her dissertation was awarded the Graduate Document Award. In addition to her current teaching schedule, Dr. Whitehead continues as an active collaborative pianist.

Carl Wolfe, saxophone

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Wolfe began his musical career performing with local “Philly” groups and worked as a studio musician. In the spring of 1964 he enlisted in the United States Navy and began a Navy musician. During his tenure he became a featured soloist with the Navy’s premier jazz ensemble, the “Commodores” in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Wolfe’s post Navy solo career includes performances with Ray charles, Doc Sevrenson, James Williams, Marvin Stamm, Arturo Sandoval and many other jazz artists as well as solo performances with several symphony orchestras including the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Wolfe works as a studio musician, arranger/composer and is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Memphis Jazz Orchestra. They have recorded two CD’s Life on Beale Street (featuring several of his arrangements) and Big Band Dance Party.

Mr. Wolfe’s own 1997 Jazz CD release Reed Between The Lines received critical acclaim in several media publications including Jazz Times magazine and was nominated for a Grammy.

Also a music historian, he has researched, arranged and authentically re-orchestrated Music Aboard The Titanic, which is featured at the Wonders, Inc. Traveling Titanic Exhibit and W. C. Handy’s Beale Street (Way Down South Where The Blues Began) which recreated Handy’s Beale Street band using the exact instrumentation and style of the period.

Andy You, violin

[Diploma, National Academy of Arts, Taiwan; M.M., Mannes College of Music]
A native of Taiwan, Wen-Yih Yu came to United States to study with violinist Nina Beilina. He has served as assistant concertmaster with Taipei City Symphony and is now a member of Memphis Symphony Orchestra. In the past, Mr. Yu has performed with Bachanalia Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Philharmonic, Korean Chamber Orchestra in New York, Cape May Music Festival and Colorado Music Festival. In addition, he has been invited to perform in the concerts of Memphis Chamber Music Society and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas.

Iren Zombor, cello

[M.M., University of Massachusetts at Amherst]
Iren Zombor is a native of Miskolc, Hungary. After attending music college in her hometown, she lived in Bratislave, Slovakia, for two years, where she studied with the famous Slovak cellist, Joseph Podhoransky. She received her Masters of Music degree in cello performance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has been the member of the Memphis symphony Orchestra since the fall of 1996, where she currently holds the Assistant Principal Cello position.

Ms. Zombor has performed around the world with various orchestras as far as Eastern and Western Europe and Japan. In addition to her busy performance schedule, her passion has long been private teaching. She has taught students of all ages at all levels. She has been on the Rhodes faculty since 2004.