Music

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American soprano Melanie Vaccari Catana came to Waynesburg University from a professional operatic stage career of 10 plus years. Under her maiden name, Melanie Vaccari, she has appeared with the New York City Opera in Lincoln Center as Micaela in Carmen in three consecutive seasons and as Gilda in Rigoletto with Fresno Opera in California. Elsewhere, she has appeared with Central City Opera (Micaela in Carmen and Alma in Summer and Smoke), Sarasota Opera (title role in Lucia di Lammermoor), Pittsburgh Opera (Musetta in La Boheme and Sophie in Werther), and several roles with Pittsburgh Opera Center (the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, Melisande in Pelleas et Melisande, and Despina in Cosi fan tutte) under the direction of the renowned stage director Tito Capobianco.      

On the concert stage, Mrs. Catana has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall in New York City with the New England Symphonic Ensemble (Faure’s Requiem, Haydn’s Third Mass- Lord Nelson, and Mass in Time of War, and Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes), the Westchester Choral Arts (Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle), Williamsport Symphony Orchestra (Dvorak’s Te Deum), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (excerpts from Romeo et Juliette Gounod’s as Juliette), Northeast PA Philharmonic (Orff’s Carmina Burana), Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra (Mozart’s Alleluia), Washington County Arts Choir (Messiah, Rutter Magnificat), Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the Mozart Club in Winston-Salem (Handel’s Messiah), Carnegie-Mellon Philharmonic (Poulenc’s Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras). In Italy, she has sung Gilda in excerpts from Rigoletto with the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa under the direction of the famed soprano Renata Scotto.

Mrs. Catana is an alumna of the graduate and undergraduate voice performance programs of Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied under Mrs. Mimi Lerner and Dr. Robert Page. She holds degrees in Vocal Performance as well as a minor in Vocal Jazz and K-12 Teaching Certification. Mrs. Catana has also completed significant post graduate hours towards her Dalcroze Certification. She was a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, Opera Index Scholarship, and The Lee Schaenen Foundation grants. During her graduate years, she also attended Renata Scotto’s Opera Academy in Savona, Italy and studied operatic roles and the Italian language.

Currently, Mrs. Catana serves in her 16^th year as Assistant Professor of Voice and Director of the Lamplighters Choirs at Waynesburg University. She is a member of the Dalcroze Society of America, the American Choral Directors Association of Pennsylvania and is the interim worship leader at Mt. Lebanon Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

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Dr. Sora Lee is teaching and accompanying at Waynesburg University. Dr. Lee, originally from South Korea, currently lives in Morgantown, WV. She earned the Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the University of California Irvine and holds the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Collaborative Piano from WVU. She was the recipient of The Valerie Canady Charitable Foundation Scholarships, the Toni and Red Cowsert Music Scholarship and the Kathy Sprouse Music Scholarships. She also was the recipient of the WVU Foundation Distinguished Doctoral Award in 2016.

Dr. Lee is an active collaborative pianist working with many singers and instrumentalists. She was selected as an accompanist for the WVU Bavarian Summer Voice and Piano Collaborative Workshop, and performed in the Rubinsteinsaal at the Steinway-Haus in Munich. She has also been awarded a grant from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Dr. Lee can be heard on the new international recording Return to Old Ireland: Music of Mary McAuliffe from Delos. She also co-produced the documentary “Munz: A Pianist’s Story”, which was released in 2021 and premiered on West Virginia Public Broadcasting in July 2022. The documentary was produced based on her awarded dissertation “The life and legacy of  Mieczslaw Munz."

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Alexis Merchant is entering her eighth year teaching at Waynesburg University. Merchant is from Washington, Pennsylvania, an alumni of Trinity High School. She began playing the piano at age five, her great grandmother being her first piano teacher. Merchant found her true love for music when she was chosen to attend the Westminster Choir College of Rider University’s high school summer piano camp in Princeton, New Jersey, led by nationally recognized Professor of Piano Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield.

Merchant graduated cum laude from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, receiving her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance. At Capital, she studied under Steinway artist Dr. Tianshu Wang and Professor Seymour Fink. Merchant began teaching piano lessons in the Bexley area during her undergraduate studies. She holds her Master’s of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Ohio University. At Ohio University, Merchant studied under Dr. Christopher Fisher and was a graduate assistant, teaching multiple levels of group piano classes to undergraduate music majors. She also played for the Ohio University Wind Symphony and taught piano lessons through the Athens Community Music School.

Today, in addition to teaching at Waynesburg University, Merchant has a thriving piano studio in Washington, Pennsylvania, teaching students of all ages. When she is not teaching music, she enjoys spending time with her husband and children, being with her TOV church family, and visiting the coffee shop!

Jeremy Olisar teaches Jazz Ensemble, Kiltie Band and Woodwind Ensemble at Waynesburg University.

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Residing in Pittsburgh, Camilo Jauregui plays an important role in various musical projects, groups, and ensembles throughout the Pennsylvania area as a percussionist and soloist. He serves as the Kiltie Band Percussion Instructor at Carnegie Mellon University, Percussion Teacher at Waynesburg University, and Percussion Instructor at South Fayette High School, and Percussionist at the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra and West Hill Symphonic Band. 

Mr. Jauregui's diverse background as a percussionist, composer and conductor takes him worldwide, allowing him to share and acquire knowledge of world music, with a particular focus on the impact of music education in postwar zones.

With prior teaching experience at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul, Afghanistan, The Music Project in Sri Lanka, “Tocar y Luchar” and "Programa Para la Excelencia en Musica" in Bogota, Colombia, Mr. Jauregui has enriched his pedagogical experiences.

As the founder and general director of the Banda Sinfonica Metropolitana de Bogota, Mr. Jauregui has significantly influenced the musical landscape. Moreover, he is the co-founder and co-director of Camerata 33, establishing the first and only Latin-American Chamber Orchestra in the Pittsburgh area. 

His artistic residencies include notable collaborations with the National Ballet of Cuba and the Sinfonica Cundinamarca in Colombia.

Mr. Jauregui holds a master’s degree in music from Corpas University, and currently enrolled in a Master in Musicology at the La Rioja University in Spain, complemented by bachelor’s degrees in Percussion Performance and Conducting.

His creative output includes numerous compositions for percussion, string and wind ensembles, as well as solo pieces. Notably, his series of small pieces, "Music in a Social Distance for not conventional instruments” and "Retazos for Solo Instruments," have been frequently performed in various countries. He actively participates in both academic and popular musical groups in the local area.

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Professor Scott Elliott graduated cum laude from the Berklee College of Music with a Diploma in Professional Music (1979), holds a Master's Degree in Music Theory from Duquesne University (1987), and was engaged in postgraduate studies in Music Theory at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (1987-90). Classical Guitar studies with Dr. Nels Leonard, Jr., Lance Gunderson; Jazz Guitar studies with Bill Breshnahan, Jon Damian, Brett Willmott, Joe Negri, Gene Bertoncini.

Professor Elliott developed and implemented the program of guitar studies for West Virginia University in 1995, where he taught until 2018. He also served as Instructor of Guitar at Washington & Jefferson College, Frostburg State and West Liberty Universities, and presently continues at Waynesburg University. Performing credits include many years as “first call” guitarist for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, and WV Public Theatre; other performing credits include the Nat’l Philharmonic Orchestra; Wheeling Symphony Orchestra; Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera; Pittsburgh Opera Theatre; Carnegie Mellon University; Michael Feinstein; Patti LuPone; The Platters; Bernadette Peters; James Galway; Chaka Khan; many other internationally acclaimed artists and “Broadway Series” national tours; Many years as Staff Guitarist for the Upper St. Clair Country Club (Pittsburgh) and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Professor Elliott is an Artist Endorsee for Moonstone Guitars, John Pearse Strings, and Bogner Amplifiers.