Faculty Biographies

Bixby Kennedy, clarinet

Admired for his “marvelous ringing tone” (Joseph Dalton, Albany Times Union) Bixby Kennedy is one of the most versatile clarinetists of his generation. He has performed concerti with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and New Haven Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Bixby has performed throughout the US and Europe in venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, Marlboro Music Festival, and is the clarinetist for the “explosive” New York City based chamber ensemble Frisson. He has appeared as a guest artist with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Saint. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and The Knights. As

Kathleen Mulcahy, clarinet

Kathleen Mulcahy was appointed as Director of Woodwinds and Assistant Professor of Clarinet at George Mason University in August 2018. She performs frequently with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the National Symphony. Dr. Mulcahy has held tenured positions with the Annapolis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Grant Park Orchestra, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. She is currently principal clarinetist with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician and recitalist, Dr. Mulcahy performs regularly on the Faculty Artist Series at George Mason University and has been a featured soloist with the Mason Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band. She has performed on chamber series in venues such as the Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art, the German Embassy, and the National Cathedral. In July 2017, she performed the world premiere of Howard Buss’ Divertissements for Clarinet an orchestral musician, Bixby has performed with the MET Opera and NY Philharmonic in addition to regular engagements with the Albany and New Haven Symphony Orchestras. On period instruments, Bixby has performed classical repertoire on original and replica instruments throughout the US with Grand Harmonie Orchestra. He is a former member of Ensemble Connect and works as a teaching artist throughout the US. As an arranger, his works have been performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Schumann, Frisson, Ensemble Connect, and Symphony in C. In the 22-23 season he assumed the directorship of the Musicians Club of New York. He loves traveling, trying new foods, laughing, hiking, and playing tennis. Bixby performs exclusively on Backun instruments and Percussion at the International Clarinet Association’s Clarinetfest in Orlando, FL, and presented a recital at the 2019 ICA Clarinetfest in Knoxville, TN. Dr. Mulcahy is also an RYT 200 certified yoga instructor, and has created several workshops focused on yoga for the performing artist. She has presented recitals and masterclasses at colleges all over the country, including Lamar University, High Point University, Penn State, and the Eastman School of Music. Previously, Dr. Mulcahy served as a clarinet instructor at the State University of New York at Fredonia. She holds the DMA and BM degrees from The Ohio State University and the MM degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers have included James Pyne, Peter Hadcock, and Kenneth Grant. Kathleen Mulcahy is a Buffet Group USA performing artist and a member of the Health and Wellness Committee for the International Clarinet Association.

Donna Shin, flute

Flutist Donna Shin has been praised for her beautifully-spun phrases, seductive sound, sterling technique, and charismatic exchanges with the audience. Devoted to the role of artist-teacher, she is the flute professor at the University of Washington School of Music after holding faculty posts at the University of South Carolina School of Music and Oklahoma State University. Shin has been featured in solo performances with the North Korean National Symphony Orchestra, People’s Liberation Army Band of China, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and many others. In 2010, Shin premiered D.J. Sparr’s Precious Metal: Concerto for Flute and Winds in Seattle and cities throughout Japan and China. She recently premiered Hilary Tann's Shoji, a work for flute and oboe, at the University of Texas at Austin. Shin has won prizes

Nermis Mieses, oboe

Nermis Mieses is the Associate Professor of Oboe at Michigan State University and faculty at Sewanee Music Festival, where she previously attended as a student. Formerly, she taught at Bowling Green State University, performed as Principal Oboe of Michigan Opera Theatre, and served as Chair of the IDRS Gillet-Fox International Competition for Oboe. She is the winner of various prizes and awards such as the University of Michigan Paul Boylan Alumni Award, Barbirolli International Oboe Competition,

Gabriel Beavers, bassoon

Gabriel Beavers is the Associate Professor of Bassoon at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Beavers is also a member of Miami’s Nu-Deco Ensemble and serves as 2nd bassoon with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra in Durango, CO. Prior to joining the faculty at Frost, he served on the faculty of Louisiana State University School of Music and as principal bassoon with the Baton Rouge Symphony. Formerly a fellow with the New World Symphony, he has also served as Principal Bassoon with the Virginia Symphony, Acting Principal Bassoon with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jacksonville Symphony and as Acting Second Bassoon with the Milwaukee Symphony for one season.Mr. Beavers has also previously held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor at the in competitions held by the National Flute Association, April Spring Friendship Arts Festival in North Korea, and Seattle Flute Society, to name a few. As a founding member of Paragon Winds woodwind quintet, she was awarded fellowships from the New England Conservatory and Yale University’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and won the Grand Prize at the Coleman National Chamber Ensemble Competition in Pasadena, California. Shin earned degrees with the highest honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, including the esteemed Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School. During her doctoral studies at Eastman, she became the first woodwind player in the school’s history to be nominated for the highly coveted Artist’s Certificate.

First International Oboe Competition of FEMUSC and others. She frequently performs with the internationally renowned Sphinx and Chineke! orchestras and is an active recitalist throughout the American Continent and Europe. Her debut as a soloist came to her at the age of fifteen, in her native country, with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico. She obtained her BM from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, and both, MM and DMA degrees from the University of Michigan.

University of Missouri-Columbia School of Music. In addition to his orchestral activities, he has an active schedule of solo and chamber performances. He has appeared as a soloist with the Frost Wind Ensemble, Greater Miami Symphonic Band, Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble, Virginia Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony and Louisiana Sinfonietta and has given recitals throughout the United States and at international festivals in Japan and Brazil. His solo albums, Gordon Jacob: Music for Bassoon and A Quirky Dream, are available on Mark Records and his recording of the Dinos Constantinides Bassoon Concerto was published by Centaur Records. He attended both Boston University and Southern Methodist University where he studied with Matthew Ruggiero and Wilfred Roberts.

Carl Rath, bassoon

Carl Rath teaches bassoon, chamber music, and popular music at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI. In the summers, he teaches and performs at the Sewanee (TN) Summer Music Festival and Red Lodge (MT) Music Festival. Rath’s performing career includes 22 years as Principal Bassoon in the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, 31 years in the Oklahoma Woodwind Quintet, and 17 summers as Principal Bassoon in the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. He has performed in China, Argentina, Taiwan, Canada, Austria, Hungary, England and the U.S. His performances have been featured on national and international radio programs and on five CDs. He has presented masterclasses in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Buenos Aires, and the U.S. and guest performer

Peter Bond, trumpet

Peter Bond has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1992. Raised in Rockford Illinois, his path to the “Met” was atypical; while his future orchestra colleagues were attending professional training programs like Interlochen and Tanglewood, Mr. Bond spent summers on the road with a drum and bugle corps and the rest of his time focused on big band jazz. This pattern continued through college at Western Illinois University, where he received a degree in Music Education. It was only in graduate school at Georgia State University that he turned his

Imani Duhe, trumpet

Imani Duhe is a versatile young musician from Atlanta, Georgia who is known for her rich, soulful trumpet playing. Starting music at a young age she’s been surrounded by different styles of music her entire life. Imani has been performing regularly with orchestras, chamber ensembles, and in small solo settings as a trumpeter for over 12 years. Through her love for the trumpet and music she also discovered a talent for composing her own songs, which she performs with her personal ensembles. Imani has performed on podcasts, in multiple large music venues including the Hollywood Bowl, has had the opportunity to play for live televised, and clinician for the Bocal Majority Music Camp (Dallas) and Double Reed Days in Wisconsin, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. He is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Oklahoma. Supplement to his bassoon and reed-making instruction, he formed the Sooner Bassooners at OU and the ViBE at Lawrence for which he has arranged numerous works for 4-8 bassoons. These arrangements, some available through Imagine Music (NY), are a varied repertoire of classical, jazz, rock, and popular music. Rath studied bassoon with Fred Schroeder, Stephen Basson, Stanley Scheller, and Wil Roberts. A patron member of the International Double Reed Society, he has performed at 20 annual conferences and is one of the few who has hosted the Conference twice. attention to orchestral trumpet, studying with John Head, Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He has also studied on an “outpatient” basis with Vincent Cichowicz, Adolph Herseth, Arnold Jacobs, Robert Nagle, and James Pandolfi. After graduate school (MM 1981), Mr. Bond remained in Atlanta, enjoying a busy and varied career as a freelance musician. In 1987 his first orchestra audition resulted in being named Principal Trumpet of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in Albuquerque. He now lives in Albuqurque, New Mexico. events, popular music festivals, and continues to make her name known as a sought after musician. Imani has worked with artists such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Ani Difranco, The Yellowjackets, P. Diddy and more. Imani also teaches for the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles as a trumpet instructor and brass specialist as well as gives master classes around the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to an active performing life, Imani is an avid activist for women and civil rights. Ms. Duhe received her Bachelors from Manhattan School of Music and is completing her masters at the University of Southern California. Imani is a current Shires Rising Artist.

Jason Allison, horn

Jason Allison is a native of Western Pennsylvania and is currently a resident of Pittsburgh, where he is an active member of the local musical community. As a performer he can be heard in the French horn sections of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras as well as the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Orchestra. He has also been a substitute horn player with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Allison holds contracts with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra as well as Pittsburgh’s historic River City Brass, which is the only full time, professional brass

Caroline Kinsey, horn

Caroline Kinsey, a native of San Antonio, TX, is Principal Horn with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra after 11 years as Principal Horn of the Arkansas Symphony, Little Rock, AR. She received her Bachelor of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music and her Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ms. Kinsey has toured throughout Europe and Japan, and has played and been a member of several orchestras across the United States including the Honolulu Symphony, the Corpus Christi Symphony, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and the Canton (OH) Symphony Orchestra. Other orchestral appearances have been with the San Antonio Symphony,

Joshua Bynum, trombone

Hailed for his “inspiring energy, clear musical conviction, and warm lyrical tone” (International Trombone Association Journal), Josh Bynum keeps an active schedule balancing roles as educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral trombonist. In addition to serving as Professor of Trombone at the University of Georgia, a position he has held since 2010, Josh is an Artist & Clinician for the Edwards Instrument Company. He has been trombone faculty for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival since 2016. Bynum is also a member of the Iris Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Stern, and enjoys band in the United States. As a music educator, Mr. Allison is on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh, Chatham University and the Pre-College program at Carnegie Mellon University. He also works as an instructor with the River City Youth Brass Band as well as maintaining a private studio of horn students from the greater Pittsburgh area. Mr. Allison holds a BS in Music Education and a BA in Music Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MA in French Horn Performance from Duquesne University. performing with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Atlanta Opera and Ballet Orchestras. Josh has given clinics and featured performances at the American Trombone Workshop, International Trombone Festival, and Georgia Music Educators Association Conference. His solo CD Catalyst was the recipient of the UGA Creative Research Medal in Arts & Humanities. He holds degrees from Temple University, the University of Iowa, and Jacksonville State University. He is a member of the ITA Pedagogy Council and is the editor for the ITA Journal’s Pedagogy Corner column.

Nashville Symphony, Illinois Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Hawaii Opera Company, and the National Orchestral Institute. Before coming to Memphis in 2005, Caroline was co-founder and principal horn of the Pinnacle Players Music Festival in Little Rock, AR as well as Music Librarian and Outreach Services Coordinator for the Arkansas Symphony. She was also Horn Instructor at the University of Mississippi, Horn Lecturer at the University of Central Arkansas, Ouachita Baptist University and The University of Arkansas at Monticello. Currently, in addition to the MSO, Caroline is Manager of Lukas Horns, a custom French horn building business. Ms. Kinsey performs on a Lukas Horn L Model.