faculty bios - Ben Lippen School

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BEN LIPPEN
FINE ARTS
INITIATIVE
E x c e e d
y o u r o w n
E x p e c t a t io n s
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FACULTY
BIOS
CONTACT NUMBERS
SOPRANO
HOLLY COLE
Holly Cole brings to the stage a broad array of experience, including both mezzo and soprano roles,
and repertoire ranging from the Renaissance period to today. Having studied as a mezzo-soprano at
the acclaimed Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she received both a Bachelor’s and
Master’s Degree in music, she has performed several leading mezzo roles, including Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola. Her soprano roles have included Desdemona from Verdi’s Otello, as well as the title role in Tosca. She was most recently seen performing
the role of Micaëla in Asheville Lyric Opera’s production of Carmen. Ms. Cole has also performed with
the Netherlands Opera, Sarasota Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Theater of Philadelphia, and Indianapolis Opera. In concert she has appeared as a soloist with the Lafayette Bach Chorale, Indianapolis
Symphony and The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Ms. Cole currently sings in the choir of First
Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, where her husband Daniel is the Director of Music. VOICE
PRIVATE LESSONS
CONTACT
HOLLY COLE: 215-880-9482
PIANIST
DAVID EWARDS
Since his South Carolina debut with the SC Philharmonic playing Prokofiev’s explosive Piano Concerto No. 1, David Edwards has played to critical acclaim in cities along the east coast and into the mid-west, performing as soloist, collaborative artist, and chamber musician. Upcoming performances for Fall of 2012 include several solo piano recitals in Paris,
France and Northern Italy. These classical concerts are designed to be vehicles for the good news of Christ to those who
who do not know Him. Most recently, he and his brother Matthew have formed the piano-duo team Double-Take which
has taken them far and wide with a crowd-pleasing program of two-piano works served up with a touch of humor and old
sibling rivalry. He has held piano faculty teaching positions and collaborative performing posts in numerous colleges and
universities including USC Aiken, Newberry College, Presbyterian College, and Columbia College. He has a particular gi+
in building a solid technical and musical foundation into young pianists, and as a result has built a sought-a+er
conservatory-style piano studio in Columbia, SC. Many of his graduates have won full and partial performing scholarships
to schools such as Vanderbilt, Furman University, the University of South Carolina, Presbyterian College, and more. He
holds a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of South Carolina and has served a tour of duty with
the U.S. Air Force as the pianist for the premier Tactical Air Command Concert Band of Langley, VA. He lives in Columbia,
SC with his wife Janice and their four children, Taylor, Annie, Joey, and Holly.
PIANO
PRIVATE LESSONS CONTACT
DAVID EDWARDS: 348-4330
DANCER
CARI KIRKLAND
A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Cari Kirkland is the Artistic Director of Dance Theatre of Columbia. She has had extensive experience in training and choreographing dancers. Mrs. Kirkland has studied
dance in New York and attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts. She has studied with such
greats as Edward Villella (director of the Miami City Ballet), Mike Minery (world renowned tap artist), Carlos
Lopez (A Chorus Line)and Finis Jhung (San Francisco, Joffrey, and Harkness Ballet Companies).She performed
in the Spoleto Festival in Charleston and danced for an Eppic Productions television pilot featuring Steve Gatlin. Mrs. Kirkland has choreographed for numerous school and church productions in the Columbia area and
taught for many years with Excelsior! Academy (a fine arts program for homeschoolers). For the past 10 years
Mrs. Kirkland has served as the director of Bailey Fine Arts Center, a performing arts school in Columbia, SC.
In this position she has trained dancers and teachers in the rigors of ballet, tap, and other forms of dance, preparing them for various stage productions such as Alice in Wonderland, one of the ballets on the schedule for
the 2010/11 season.
DANCE
SMALL DANCE
TROUPE
CONTACT
CARI KIRKLAND:
960-8203
BASS
DANIEL COLE
In 1998, basso cantante Daniel Cole interrupted his doctoral degree in conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of music to pursue a Professional Studies in Opera degree at Temple University. That same acadmeic year he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in the New Jersey district and placed first
in the New York regional finals. Since then Mr. Cole has appeared in theatres in Lisbon, Cologne, Taiwan, Amsterdam, and New York. He has performed with numerous regional opera companies in the United States, including Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Boston, Utah Festival Opera, and
Opera Carolina, and Sarasota Opera, to name but a few. Daniel also established a respectable concert career,
including performances of Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion with the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Haydn’s
Paukenmesse the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Bernard Rands’ Canti dell’Eclissi with Boston
Modern Orchestra Project, Beethoven’s Mass in C under the baton of Jane Glover at SUNY Purchase, Mozart’s
Mass in C minor with the Canton (Ohio) Symphony, and the Mozart Requiem in his debut at Carnegie Hall.
Recent performances include Basilio at Winter Opera St. Louis and a guest artist performance in the title role
of Le nozze di Figaro at the University of South Carolina School of Music. Upcoming performances include the
title role in Don Giovanni at Opera Seabrook. Mr. Cole can be heard on a new recording on the BMOP label of
Dominic Argento’s Jonah and the Whale, singing the role of the Voice of God. Mr. Cole completed his DM in
Choral Conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2009. While a student at Indiana, he directed, sang with and recorded (Dorian Records) with the award winning Concord Ensemble, a six-voice male
vocal ensemble. He recently reunited with the ensemble for a performances of Dowland lute songs with Sting
at the Disney Music Hall in Los Angeles. Dr. Cole assisted the famed early music conductor Paul Hillier, performing and recording with Theatre of Voices and the Pro Arte Singers on the Harmonia Mundi label. He has
also worked under and served as assistant conductor to Fiora Contino, Robert Porco, and Jan Harrington. Mr.
Cole is the Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, and is an adjunct choral faculty
member at the University of South Carolina School of Music, where he resides with his wife Holly, and sons,
Nathanael, Benjamin, and Timothy.
CHORAL / VOICE
ELITE CHAMBER SINGERS
PRIVATE LESSONS
CONTACT
DAN COLE: 609-915-7279
CLARINETIST
JOSEPH ELLER
Clarinetist, Joseph Eller, was appointed as a member of the University of South Carolina School of Music faculty in 2005.
A native of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Mr. Eller received a Bachelor of Music degree in performance from Eastern Michigan
University. He received his masters in performance from Louisiana State University and did some doctoral studies at the
Peabody Institute. The teachers with whom he has studied include Steven Cohen, D. Ray McClellan, Laura Ardan, Steven
Barta, Dan Silver, Ted Oien and Armand Abramson.
Mr. Eller has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout North America, Europe and Asia. These include performances at International Clarinet Association conventions, the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium and the
China International Clarinet Festival. He has played extra with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra and numerous other orchestras throughout the southeastern United States. He
served as principal clarinetist of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra in Georgia from 1997-2005 and was the clarinet professor
at Kennesaw State University from 1998-2005. Additionally, he was principal clarinetist of the 214th Army Band in Atlanta, GA from 1996-2000, where he was a featured soloist on many of their national tours. He has recorded chamber
music and with larger ensembles on the Centaur, Vestige, Beauport Classical and Allgood labels. His first solo CD is due to
be released on the Centaur label in 2011 featuring his own arrangements of music by J.S. Bach to be performed with organ, harpsichord and continuo. Mr. Eller was co-Host and co-Artistic Director of the 2006 International Clarinet Association convention, ClarinetFest®
2006, in Atlanta, GA. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association
and serves as the South Carolina State Chair of the International Clarinet Association. He plays on Buffet R13 clarinets,
Vandoren M15 mouthpieces, Vandoren V-12 reeds and he is an artist for Buffet Crampon USA. Joe’s hobbies include playing ice hockey, racquetball, snow skiing, reading, and following hockey and college football. He,
his wife Christie, and their one year old son, Nick live in Columbia and are active members of First Presbyterian Church,
Columbia.
CLARINET
PRIVATE LESSONS CONTACT
JOSEPH ELLER: 777-4728