Lauren Fowler-Calisto
Director of Choral Activities
Dr. Lauren Fowler-Calisto is Assistant Professor and newly appointed Director of Choral Activities at William Paterson University. She conducts the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, and teaches conducting and courses in music education.
Prior to her position at William Paterson she served as the Associate Director of Choral Activities in the School of Music at the University of Southern Mississippi Before that, she served for fifteen years as the Director of Choral Studies at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA where she conducted the CNU Chamber Choir, Women’s Chorus, and Men’s Chorus, and taught graduate and undergraduate conducting, as well as applied voice and vocal improvisation. Previous positions include Associate Director of Choirs and Specialist in Choral Music Education and Vocal Jazz at Iowa State University, as well as the University of South Dakota and St. Norbert College.
Dr. Fowler-Calisto received her Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Choral Conducting with a cognate in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. She also holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, and a Master of Music in Performance degree in conducting from the University of Arizona.
Christopher Dylan Herbert
Vocal Area Coordinator
Dr. Christopher Dylan Herbert (baritone) is an Assistant Professor at William Paterson University. He served as an adjunct faculty member here for two years before taking leadership of the Voice Program. He teaches one-on-one voice lessons, advises students, manages and coordinates the Vocal Program, and directs Opera Workshop.
As a professional vocalist, Dr. Herbert performs frequently throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and is a two-time GRAMMY® nominee. He has soloed with The San Francisco Symphony and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performed Ginastera centennial celebrations with International Contemporary Ensemble and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and consistently presents Winterize – an outdoor adaptation of Winterreise with transistor radios.
He holds a B.A. in Music from Yale University, an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University, and D.M.A. in Voice from The Juilliard School. His current research focus is on the music of the eighteenth-century Ephrata Cloister of Pennsylvania. He was the baritone in the critically acclaimed ensemble New York Polyphony from 2010 to 2020.
www.christopherdylanherbert.com
Lois Buesser, Voice Coach / Accompanist
Lois Buesser studied Piano Performance and Voice at Oklahoma City University, graduating Summa Cum Laude and named Outstanding Senior Woman. She has been Accompanist and Music Director for regional, community and school theatres in New Jersey, North Carolina and Oklahoma. She presents concerts which meld various genres and guest performers into a Musical Extravaganza! The productions have included piano, vocal, cello, organ, and rock band music, tap and ballet dancers, and her clever Musical Memory Medleys. Ms. Buesser toured Europe and Asia with the USO/DOD, and has performed with Susan Powell, Bob Hope, Lara Teeter, Teri Bibb and Stacey Logan. In Branson, MO, Lois played Ragtime piano, and conducted the Silver Dollar City amphitheater’s premier show. She’s sung with Pro Arte Chorale, Piedmont Chamber Singers, and i Cantori di New York. She taught Kindermusik, accompanied at UNCG, and is a church and temple organist. With Light Opera of New Jersey, she accompanies, conducts and arranges music for cabarets, operas, operettas, and musical theatre.
Darian Clonts, Voice
Tenor Darian Clonts, a native of Atlanta, Ga., joined the Voice faculty at William Paterson University in the Fall of 2021. He has been seen performing with companies across the US such as Cincinnati Opera, The Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, The Princeton Festival, and The Atlanta Opera. Some of his operatic roles include The Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Mingo (Porgy and Bess), Hérrison (L’Étoile), Goro (Madama Butterfly), and El Remendado (Carmen). He holds a B.A. in Music from Morehouse College, and both an M.M. and D.M. in Voice from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He holds a certificate in Vocology, which is the science and practice of voice habilitation, and if necessary, rehabilitation. The main focus of his musical research includes opera and African-American music, and he has lectured on his research at schools and institutions across the United States.
Matthieu Cognet, Voice Coach / Pianist
French pianist Matthieu Cognet is an active soloist and sought-after chamber player who has appeared in major venues and festivals in Europe and the United States, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, the Cultural Institute of Chicago, the Hemptinne Festival and the Festival Musicorum (Belgium), and the Prades and Pianissimes Festivals (France). He recently collaborated in concert with internationally acclaimed Flutist Carol Wincenc and Grammy Award winner Bandoneonist Hector Del Curto. He is a laureate of the Concours Musical de France, the Bloomington Travel Grant, Stony Brook Concerto Competition as well as the Forte and Entraide Française Competitions in New York City. He received degrees from the Paris and Brussels Conservatories, as well as the University of La Sorbonne (summa cum laude). He completed his Performer Diploma at Indiana University, while working extensively as the studio pianist of Janos Starker. In 2017, he graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University. In addition to his work at William Paterson, he is currently a Staff Collaborative Pianist at the Juilliard School and the French Diction Coach at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Hannah Comia, Voice Coach / Pianist
A first-generation Filipino American, Hannah performs regularly as a collaborative and solo pianist. This past year she appeared at the CLA Berkshires summer Mozart festival, the Arabia-Kaikuu Festivaali, in recitals at Helsingiin Musiikitalo, Paavalinkirkko, and will return to the Civic Morning Musicals concert series in CNY. As an academic, Hannah recently completed a fellowship with the American-Scandinavian Foundation, studying the relationships between art song and political independence in Finland and the Philippines. Prior to this, she focused on the life and compositions of African American composer Betty Jackson King, receiving the Graduate Dean's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Work. Hannah serves on faculty at William Paterson University, the Thurnauer School of Music, and as a pianist at St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes. She has studied at William Paterson University, Syracuse University, Metropolia UAS, and the Sibelius Academy.
Sarah Abigail Griffiths, Voice
Soprano Sarah Abigail Griffiths has been hailed for her “glowing tone, effortless facility and vivid expressivity” (Dallas Morning News), and has appeared as soloist and chorister with professional ensembles throughout the United States. She is a founding member of the baroque chamber ensemble, Armonia Celeste, heard on the Centaur label, and is featured singing Alice Parker’s song cycle Dickinson: On Recollecting in a 2017 recording for Gothic. She has performed U.S. premieres by Bob Chilcott and Thea Musgrave and world premieres by Katherine Hoover, Edward Smaldone, and Martha Sullivan. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Westminster Choir College, and Earlham College.
Jee Hyun Lim, Voice
Jee Hyun Lim (Lyric Soprano) is internationally acclaimed singing actress, concert singer, and vocal educator. She has sung over 25 operatic heroines with many opera companies in US and Canada such as Chicago Lyric, Seattle, New York City (Season Opening), Cincinnati, Spoleto Festival, Detroit, New Orleans, Atlanta, Minnesota, Vancouver, Montreal, just to name a few. She sang 40 performances at Royal Albert Hall in London and numerous times in Dublin, Belfast, Zagreb (Croatia), Bergen (Norway), Santiago, Tokyo, and her native town Seoul, Korea. Miss Lim sang Messiah 11 times at Avery Fisher Hall and more oratorios and recitals in Detroit, Minnesota, Atlanta, New York, and Chicago. Miss Lim was educated at Seoul National University, The Juilliard School (MM), and Juilliard Opera Centre and was the winner of the Sullivan Award and the Artist of the Year by Syracuse Opera. Currently she teaches voice at Lehigh University, Monmouth University, and William Paterson University.
June Marano-Murray, Voice Coach / Pianist
June Marano-Murray received her Bachelor and Master Degrees in piano and accompanying from Manhattan School of Music where she was a recipient of the prestigious Harold Bauer Award. Credits include: Wolf Trap Opera, Lake George Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Central City Opera, Pepsico Summerfare, NY Opera Repertory Theater, and the Berkshire Choral Institute. She has been music director for opera productions at Asolo Opera in Sarasota, Florida, the Bel Canto Opera in New York, and performed and taught at the First International Summer Music Festival in Taiwan. A former Gramma Fisher scholarship recipient (which enabled her to study and perform at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria), she is a former lecturer at SUNY- Purchase, Music Director for Purchase Opera Theater, and for Mannes College of Music. As a member of the opera coaching staff at Manhattan School of Music, she also accompanied the Birgit Nilsson Master Class series for five years. She is a member of the American Guild of Organists, and serves as choir director/organist for the Second Reformed Church in Hackensack, New Jersey. She also is a free lance coach and piano teacher. She is also on faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.
Tami Petty, Voice
Dr. Tami L. Petty (soprano) is the 2014 Award Recipient of the Joy in Singing Prize. She made her 2010 Lincoln Center debut singing Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle at Alice Tully Hall. The New York Times praised Petty’s “powerful soprano,” and Classical Music Network declared, “Such a beauty and purity of tone is so rare that I could only listen in ethereal pleasure." Recitalist of the first rank, she has performed locally with Brooklyn Art Song Society, 5BMF, Caritas for St. Ignatius Loyola, Joy in Singing, and NYSTA. Winner of multiple career grants with special recognition from Marilyn Horne Foundation and Sorel Organization, and graduate of Eastman School of Music in Vocal Performance, Dr. Petty also teaches voice privately and at AMDA, and she serves as Director of Music in the East Village at Middle Collegiate Church where she oversees ecclectic music programming. Please visit www.TamiPetty.com for more information.
Sarah Elizabeth Wolfson, Voice
Sarah Elizabeth Wolfson (soprano) has demonstrated a remarkable ability to communicate with an audience, whether in recital, oratorio, or on the operatic stage. The New York Times called her “a keenly intelligent artist…[she sings] with luminous sound and impressively focused high notes.” A graduate of The Juilliard School, she has been seen in recital and concert at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Miller Theater, Café Sabarsky at The Neue Galerie, Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, and with the New York Festival of Song. She has sung with The Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Montpellier, The Santa Fe Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera North, Spoleto Festival USA, Aspen Music Festival, The Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, The American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Vocal Arts Society of Washington, DC. In addition to performing, Ms. Wolfson is a voice instructor who has taught vocal performance at Columbia University, performed masterclasses at various institutions across the US, and is currently on faculty at William Paterson University and Hofstra University. www.sarahwolfson.com