College of Letters & Science
Dr. Walter Rich holds an undergraduate degree in music education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in music performance from Northwestern University, where he studied with Mr. Arnold Jacobs, legendary principal tuba player of the Chicago Symphony. He earned his PhD in curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Rich is …
David Ronis, Associate Professor and Director of University Opera, has maintained an active schedule in a multi-faceted career. Previously, he taught at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College/CUNY, Hofstra University, and Wagner College. Among his accolades, Mr. Ronis has received thirteen National Opera Association Production Competition awards – most recently, for both 2021-22 UW-Madison …
A native of Wisconsin, Thomas Ross has spent his young career exploring many styles of percussion. Starting in the Western Classical tradition, he became well versed as a marimbist, solo percussionist and an orchestral percussionist. For the past 10 years, Thomas has devoted much of his time and passion to studying, performing and teaching Brazilian percussion. He …
Soprano Julia Rottmayer, faculty associate of voice and opera, is active in the stage, concert, and teaching arenas. Along with her interpretation of standard repertoire, Dr. Rottmayer is an avid performer and champion of contemporary and early music. Recent performances include the title role in Les Mamelles de Tirésias and Everly Shrills in The Impresario with Opera Orlando. In 2014, Dr. Rottmayer …
Oriol Sans, assistant professor and director of orchestral activities, directs the UW–Madison Symphony Orchestra, conducts opera productions, and teaches graduate students in conducting. Before his appointment at the University of Wisconsin, he was associate director of orchestras at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His professional conducting activities include performances with a long list of …
Ilana R. Schroeder received a bachelor’s degree in viola performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, a master’s degree in music history from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a Ph.D. in historical musicology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a dissertation focusing on Parisian liturgical and paraliturgical music of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. …
Bassist Kathryn Schulmeister is an internationally active soloist and ensemble musician whose creative practice encompasses contemporary, classical, and experimental music. She is a member of ELISION Ensemble and Fonema Consort and has appeared as a guest artist with Ensemble MusikFabrik, Klangforum Wien, Wild Up!, Ensemble Vertixe Sonora, SWR Experimentalstudio Freiburg, Delirium Musicum, and Ensemble Dal …
Laura Schwendinger, composer of Artemisia, winner of the 2023 American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Opera award ($50,000), one of the largest such award to composers of opera, was the first composer to win the Berlin Prize in 1999 and a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow. A professor of music composition at UW-Madison, her works have …
Ruka Shironishi’s research focuses on the modal harmony that emerged from the plainchant revival in nineteenth-century France, a subject she has presented on at national and regional conferences, including the Society for Music Theory (SMT) and the Music Theory Society of New York State (MTSNYS). She also serves on the board of MTSNYS and on the …