Margaret Miller is special assistant professor of viola and coordinator of the Graduate Quartet Program at CSU. She teaches viola, chamber music literature and coaches both undergraduate and graduate ensembles. Ms. Miller is also on the faculty of the LEAP Institute for the Arts at CSU, a multi-disciplinary program that gives students tools to be successful musicians after they graduate.

Prior to joining the CSU faculty in 2004, Ms. Miller was violist of the da Vinci Quartet for eighteen years. Based in Colo., the Quartet was in residence at the University of Denver and Colorado College. Known for its innovative programming and outreach, the quartet toured throughout the U.S., and was a prizewinner in both the Naumberg and Shostakovich competitions. The da Vinci Quartet recorded the complete works of American composers Arthur Foote and Charles Martin Loeffler for the Naxos American Classics label.

A dedicated teacher and performer, Ms. Miller has given recitals and master classes throughout the West, recently visiting the University of Missouri, Kansas State University, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University. She has given clinics on viola playing and career opportunities at the Primrose Festival, the Michigan Music Conference, and the Colorado Music Educators conference. She has been recognized for her teaching by the Colorado Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony.

Dr. John McGuire has a vast array of performance and teaching experiences. He has performed with many orchestras around the country, most notably the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Opera, the Fort Worth Symphony, the New World Symphony in Miami, FL, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, and the Florida West Coast Symphony.

As a soloist he was awarded the title Yamaha Young Artist, has been a finalist in the American Horn Competition, won several regional solo competitions and has appeared as a guest artist at many workshops, festivals and schools across the United States. With several world-premiere performances to his credit, John is a passionate proponent for the creation of new solo horn literature as well as a sought-after contemporary music performer.

Prior to serving on the faculty of CSU, John served as adjunct instructor of Horn at the University of Alabama, Mississippi State University, Appalachian State University, Texas Women's University, the Music Institute of Chicago, and Florida A&M University. In addition, John maintained a private studio of over fifty students in the Dallas/Fort Worth area public school systems for many years where he was also a prominent clinician and adjudicator. Today, many of John's former students have moved into successful careers as music educators in reputable school systems and have attained positions as orchestral performers in premier ensembles such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

John received his D.M.A. and B.M. in Music Performance from the University of Alabama, his M.M. in Performance from Florida State University, and a Performer's Certificate from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago. His major professors were Charles Skip Snead, William Capps, and Dale Clevenger.

Michelle Batty Stanley is associate professor of music at Colorado State University where she is also the director of Arts Management graduate program. Praised for her “fine breath control...subtlety in playing, and a strong sense of the long, lyrical lines," Michelle is a performer of solo, chamber and orchestral music. She is a regular international artist and has enjoyed giving masterclasses from China to the U.S. She has performed in throughout the U.S. and in Russia, Japan, China, France, England, Scotland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, and Russia. She is on the faculty of the Interharmony Music Festival in Italy.

Michelle is a regular performer in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and is principal flute for the Pro Musica chamber orchestra and the Colorado Bach Ensemble and Festival. She was the second flutist/piccolo player with the Colorado Ballet Orchestra from 2008-2013. She has presented and performed for the National Flute Convention (2019 in Salt Lake City, 2018 in Orlando, 2017 in Minneapolis, 2016 in San Diego, 2012 in Las Vegas, 1999 in Atlanta), College Music Society Regional and National Conferences, Colorado Music Educators Association conference (2010, 2013, 2018, 2019), and Music Teachers National Association State and National conferences. She has performed at the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and spent five seasons as the second flutist with the Colorado Music Festival orchestra.

She has commissioned and premiered more than 20 works from composers throughout the United States. Her first CD of newly commissioned chamber music was released by Centaur Records in 2006 and her second recording of French flute music was released by Navona records in 2018. Michelle is the flutist in Quatra Duo, a flute and guitar duo that will be recording an album contemporary flute and guitar to be released by Navona records in September of 2020.

In addition to her active performing career, Dr. Stanley is the author of an online music appreciation textbook published by Great River Technologies called Music Appreciation: Successful Listening in All Music. This text is used at CSU for more than 3,000 students each year.

A strong advocate for the arts, Dr. Stanley was one of the founding creators of the LEAP Institute at Colorado State University. LEAP (Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Advocacy and the Public) is an interdisciplinary program that offers an undergraduate minor and a master’s degree in arts management. Director since August of 2018, Michelle is committed to helping LEAP thrive for its students.

Michelle received a M.M. and D.M.A. in flute performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and received a B.A. in Music from the University of New Hampshire. She also attended Trinity College of Music in London where she studied with Anne Cherry.

Ron Francois has performed in venues across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Mexico as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. His performances have consistently won the acclaim of notable musicians. "...A fantastic violinist...a big talent," said Abram Shtern — concertmaster of the Kiev State Opera and professor at the Kiev Conservatory. Francois' playing is "...extremely musical. Francois plays with great sensitivity and warmth," said concert violinist Daniel Heifetz "....A wonderful musician...sensitive ensemble player and a brilliant violinist," said Michael Tree from the Guarneri String Quartet.

Founder of the Duo Francois with pianist Silvana Santinelli, the duo was recently awarded the Silver Medal in the ‘Duo’ and ‘Emerging Artists’ categories at the Global Music Awards. This prize was awarded for the 2017 release of the Duo Francois’ first CD entitled “Mexico City Blues” on the Itinerant Classics label.

Most recently, Mexico City Blues was nominated as a semi-finalist at the American Prize Music Awards in the category of Chamber Music- Professional Division. The finals take place in Spring 2019.

From 2008-2012, Ron Francois served as the violinist for the Mendelssohn Trio and performed numerous concerts in Europe and the United States with this group and in 2010, the Denver Post named the Mendelssohn Trio one of Colorado’s top chamber music groups. As a member of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, IMusici de Montreal, Francois toured extensively in Canada and the U.S.A. Francois appears on two CD’s with this group on the Chandos Label.

Ron François has also collaborated with some of the world’s finest musicians including Boris Garlitsky, former concertmaster of the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Martin Chalifour, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra; Arkady Fomin of the Dallas Symphony; and the Borromeo String Quartet to name a few.

Ron Francois’ most influential mentors were concert violinist Daniel Heifetz; Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley from the Guarneri String Quartet; Elizabeth Adkins, former concertmaster of the National Symphony; David Salness of the Audubon Quartet; Zvi Zeitlin; and Charles Castleman from the Eastman School of Music.

As a teacher and pedagogue, Ron Francois has been in demand since 2004. He has presented numerous masterclasses in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and China. In 2013, he won the "Outstanding Service Award for Teaching" from the American String Teacher Association, Colorado chapter.

Since 2002, Ron Francois has served as the head of the string area and associate professor of music at Colorado State University.

Dr. Drew Leslie, a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, joined the faculty of Colorado State University School of Music, Theatre, and Dance in Fall 2019 as assistant professor of trombone. Prior to CSU, Dr. Leslie was associate professor of trombone at the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University.

Active as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician, Dr. Leslie has performance experience in a wide variety of settings. He has played with the symphony orchestras of Hawai'i, Charlotte (North Carolina), Kansas City (Missouri), Eugene (Oregon), Winston-Salem (North Carolina), Greensboro (North Carolina), Austin (Texas), Toledo (Ohio), Kalamazoo (Michigan), and Lansing (Michigan), as well as the Santo Domingo Festival Orchestra of the Dominican Republic and the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra and Chamber Symphony. He has also performed at the Jungfrau Music Festival (Switzerland), the Mid-Europe Festival (Austria), the Wiltz Open-Air Festival (Luxembourg), the Festival Veranos de la Villa (Spain), and has been featured in performances at the International Trombone Festival, the American Trombone Workshop, the Big XII Trombone Conference, and the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference. He played a Midwest tour with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and has accompanied a variety of other artists including Ray Charles, Bernadette Peters, Michael Brecker, Slide Hampton, John Clayton, Michael Feinstein, Steve Turre, and Grady Tate. Dr. Leslie has given numerous solo recitals at universities and festivals throughout the country and has been a featured soloist with the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra, Appalachian Wind Ensemble, the MU University Band, the University of Texas Wind Symphony, the Longhorn Summer Band, and the Ann Arbor Concert Band. He is currently a member of the Blue Ridge Trombone Quartet, and maintains an active performance schedule across the country.

Equally as passionate about music education, Leslie has maintained active private studios in Michigan, Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina and has served on the faculty of the Cannon Music Camp and the Longhorn Summer Music Camp. In addition, he worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Texas at Austin and was the visiting assistant professor of trombone at the University of Missouri for two years.

Dr. Leslie received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Trombone Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, his M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and his B.M. from the University of Michigan. Additionally, he spent four summers studying and performing at the Aspen Music Festival and School, including two as a fellowship student. His primary instructors include Nathaniel Brickens, Per Brevig, Michael Powell, David Jackson, H. Dennis Smith, and Jonathan Holtfreter. He is a member of the International Trombone Association, the College Music Society, and the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity.

Drew Leslie is a Conn-Selmer Artist-Clinician and performs on Vincent Bach trombones and mouthpieces.

Check out Dr. Leslie's YouTube channel for performance videos: youtube.com

Barbara Thiem is an internationally acclaimed cellist who combines teaching cello and coaching chamber music with her active schedule of solo, concerto, and chamber music performances in Europe and the United States. She is a founding member of the Mendelssohn Trio that regularly performs in the United States, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with an appearance at the International Mendelssohn Festival in Berlin. Her prolific performance schedule includes 20-30 concerts each year across Europe, the U.S., Canada, and South America, including many guest artist appearances at the International Draeseke Conference in Coburg, Germany.

In addition to concertizing, Thiem has recorded for many radio stations and has produced several CDs, among them a set of Bach Suites for solo cello, Complete Works for Cello and Piano by Felix Draeseke with pianist Wolfgang Mueller-Steinbach, Works for Cello and Organ with organist Robert Cavarra, and cello/bass duets with Gary Karr. She has published translations of Gerhard Mantel's Cello Technique, and Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s From New York to San Francisco, both from Indiana University Press, as well as a number of articles on good postural and practicing habits, which appeared in the American String Teacher Association Journal and the American Suzuki Journal.

As an active clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator, Thiem has been a guest at the Encontro Orquestra de Cordas da UnB in Brazil, the Pan American Cello Festival in Texas, at prominent national association conferences, including the Music Teachers National Association, the American Musicological Society, and the American String Teachers Association, and at state music teacher’s conferences and contests.

Thiem teaches and performs within the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Colorado State University where she teaches cello and chamber music, leads a three-semester course in cello pedagogy, and teaches in the Pre-College Chamber Music Program. The Mendelssohn Trio is in residence at the University, and Thiem has also participated in research within CSU’s renowned music therapy area. Previous teaching appointments include the University of Wyoming, Indiana University, Lamont School of Music, University of Colorado, University of Texas, and Iowa State University. She has often administered the International Summer Academy of Schloss Ort, Austria.

Thiem holds an M.M. in cello performance from Indiana University where she was assistant to Janos Starker and was awarded the coveted Performer’s Certificate, as well as degrees from Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany where she studied with avant-garde cellist Siegfried Palm.

She is a ‘Best Teacher’ award-winner at Colorado State University, and a ‘Teacher of the Year,’ nominee for the College of Liberal Arts.

Stanley Curtis has developed a multi-faceted career as a trumpeter, composer, and early music specialist. After studying at the University of Alabama, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and in the Netherlands on a Fulbright Scholarship, he received his Doctor of Music from Indiana University in 2005. Having retired from a 20-year career in the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C., he was appointed to a one-year position in 2018 and then accepted a tenure-track offer in 2019 as assistant professor of trumpet at Colorado State University. Since 2012, he has composed a number of award-winning solo and chamber works featuring the trumpet.

Currently, Stanley performs as principal trumpet of the Fort Collins Symphony, and is a member of the CSU Faculty Brass Quintet. In the U.S. Navy Band, he performed hundreds of concerts in the Washington, D.C., area, went on dozens of national and international tours with the Concert/Ceremonial Band, was a member and leader of the U.S. Navy Band Brass Quartet and, as a ceremonial bugler, performed Taps thousands of times at Arlington National Cemetery. He also served as assistant principal trumpet in the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia (in Spain) from 1994- 1997 and as principal trumpet with the Evansville Philharmonic from 1991- 1994. He won third prize at the 1995 Altenburg Baroque Trumpet Competition, in Germany. He was also a concerto competition winner at Indiana University, Brevard Music Camp, and the University of Alabama.

As a teacher, Dr. Curtis has taught at the University of Evansville, the Music School of the Orquesta Sinfónica, Catholic University of America, and at George Mason University. He organized and chaired the Historic Trumpet Division of the National Trumpet Competition from 2004-2009. He has led clinics at the University of Montevallo, the National Trumpet Competition, Cleveland State University, the Maryland Early Brass Festival, Indiana University, the University of Alabama, and Murray State University. He has written articles for the International Trumpet Guild Journaland the Historic Brass Society Newsletter.

Critics have praised Stanley across the country:

Elaine Schmidt wrote in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “…[In Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2], the soloists and orchestra created moments of energetic music, full of expressive momentum. Many of those moments came from Curtis’ attention to long phrases. He gave clear direction to every note, from soaring solo lines to small ideas he connected into long, arched phrases…” [Oct. 22, 2001]

Cecilia Porter wrote in the Washington Post, “Stanley Curtis played a mean “Bach” trumpet Saturday, with even the fastest slew of notes obtained solely by resorting to lungs, chest muscles, lips and tongue. He was among the crackerjack soloists of the Bach Sinfonia…” [Nov. 22, 2004]

Joan Reinthaler wrote in the Washington Post about a cooperative concert between the Countertop Ensemble and the WCSE: “The "cornett" in the instrumental ensemble bears almost no relation to the modern cornet. Dating from the 15th century, it is slightly bent, usually made of wood with finger holes like a recorder's and a mouthpiece a little like a trumpet's. Played well (as it was, here, by Stanley Curtis) it sounds like an exceptionally clear human voice.” [Oct. 6, 2008]

Curtis blogs on the Trumpet Journey website. www.trumpetjourney.com

Dr. Cayla Bellamy is assistant professor of bassoon at Colorado State University. Prior to this appointment, she served as assistant professor of bassoon at the University of Northern Iowa, where she taught courses in applied bassoon, chamber music, woodwind literature, and music education while holding the contrabassoon chair with wcfsymphony. In the 2019-2020 season, Dr. Bellamy has been featured performing several new American bassoon concerti, including works by Joan Tower, Libby Larsen, and James Stephenson, and she is a upcoming premiering soloist for John Steinmetz’ newest commission, The Illusion of Separateness. As an active chamber musician, Dr. Bellamy has performed at both national and international conferences for the International Double Reed Society, Flute New Music Consortium, International Clarinet Association, North American Saxophone Alliance, National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors, and College Music Society. In September 2018, she released her debut album entitled Double or Nothing under the Mark Records label, a collection of previously unrecorded bassoon solos and duos.

A multifaceted performer and educator, Dr. Bellamy has also served on the conducting faculties for the New York Summer School of the Arts, Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the theatre department at the University of Northern Iowa. Offstage, Dr. Bellamy is an amateur triathlete, and her research focuses on coaching methodologies and the intersections of artistic and athletic training, currently investigating the factors affecting burnout in high performing individuals. Dr. Bellamy completed the Doctor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and she also holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Bassoon Performance from the University of Georgia, where she was distinguished as a National Presser Scholar and invited to perform with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra.