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Performing Arts

The arts are an integral part of an abundant life, and we ensure that opportunities are available to every student for their artistic growth and development.

Dancers in colorful costumes perform

Why Study Performing Arts at Randolph?

Students from all majors and academic programs are welcome to enroll in performing arts coursework and participate in productions and performances. Whether experiencing the joy and power of movement in a dance class, singing in Chorale or playing an instrument in Chamber Orchestra, or being part of a theatre show onstage or backstage, every student gains valuable experience, understanding, and appreciation of the performing arts during their time at  Randolph.

Dance

The dance program offers courses in ballet, jazz, contemporary, and musical theatre dance technique which are open to all students. These classes expose students to the joy and power of movement, as well as the discipline of dance. Students develop both physical and spatial awareness and increased flexibility and coordination. Dance history courses give students the opportunity to connect dance to its societal context. Additional course offerings include Pilates, dance composition, and repertory.

Music

The music program fosters an understanding of music as both a form of artistic expression and a language. Course offerings in the department acknowledge this and provide the opportunity to pursue music’s three interrelated areas: its theory, history, and performance. Students may pursue performance study through individual lessons or in a group setting by joining the Chorale or the Chamber Orchestra. In theory classes, students will develop their understanding of the construction and use of the musical language. Music history courses examine the cultural and sociological role of the art form.

Theatre

The theatre program is directed toward developing an understanding and appreciation of the interrelationship of actor, script, performing space, and audience. The department’s curriculum centers on courses that explore performance (acting and directing), text (literature and playwriting), and performing space (design and technology), and that recognize—in various considerations of styles, periods, history, standards, and conventions—the essentiality of the audience in completing the theatre circle. Theatre majors are guided through the academic and production programs to hone their specialty area of emphasis while cultivating a generalist approach to theatre. The program is dedicated to exposing each student to the breadth of theatrical expression in their time on campus, emphasizing the best of period and contemporary work and the variety of production styles, while providing an individually crafted program of study and set of experiences that maximizes artistic growth. The department offers a major in theatre (both B.A. and B.F.A. options, with tracks of specialization) and minors in dance, music, theatre, technical theatre, and musical theatre, as well as a low-residency M.F.A. in theatre.

Degrees offered

Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre: Acting

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre: Design and Technology

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre: Directing

Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre: Acting

Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre: Directing

Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre: Design

Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre: Playwriting

Minor in Dance

Minor in Music

Minor in Music – Voice

Minor in Musical Theatre

Minor in Theatre

Minor in Technical Theatre

Related Programs

The Randolph Experience

Productions

Our interdisciplinary performances include a Performing Arts Showcase in the fall and a Cabaret in the spring, with dance, music, and theatre all represented onstage. 

The Fall Showcase, Candlelight Concert, Winter Showcase, and Spring Concert include ensemble performances of both dance and music students. Chorale and Chamber Orchestra are often featured together in these concerts.

The theatre program presents two to three productions per year, including at least one on the Thoresen mainstage and one in the Lab Theatre. Capstone projects for senior theatre majors provide those students with an opportunity to research and produce a work of their choosing.

Randolph theatre students are exposed to a wide breadth of theatrical expression, emphasizing the best of period and contemporary work and the variety of production styles.

Through coursework and production experiences, majors hone their specialty area of emphasis while cultivating generalist approach which recognizes the interrelationship of actor, script, performing space, and audience.

Areas of emphasis include acting, directing, design and technology.

Faculty mentors work with students to build an individually crafted program of study and set of experiences that maximizes artistic growth and opportunities after graduation.

Female vocalist sings

Small Classes

Randolph classes are full of engagement and interaction. Students get the full attention of their professors and develop camaraderie with their classmates.

The Honor Code

Randolph students live by our Honor Code and act with the highest integrity in both academic and social life.

Research

Randolph College students conduct advanced research projects in their majors with help from the. Center for Student Research. They present their findings at the annual Symposium of Artists and Scholars.

Study Abroad

Opportunities for study elsewhere, such as in the Washington Semester Programs at the American University in Washington, D.C., as well as study-abroad programs, are available.

Intercultural Competence

All Randolph students learn global citizenship with the capability to accurately understand and adapt to cultural differences and find commonality.

Internships

Randolph students put classroom learning into practice by participating in internships.

With help from the Career Development Center, political science majors have experienced government at work during internships in the congressional offices, federal and state offices, political campaigns, advocacy groups, social service agencies, and more. ing with social service agencies.

Recent internships include the Department of Veterans Affairs, Moms Demand Action, CASA, U.S. State Department, SAWAU.S. House of Representatives, and more.

Unique Opportunities

Visiting Artists

The Helen McGehee Visiting Artist Program is an endowed program that was founded in 1971 by McGehee, who began her own dance training at the College.

A leading soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company for nearly thirty years, Helen McGehee made it possible for generations of students to be inspired by these guest artists, many of whom have staged and choreographed works for student performance.

The Guest Artist Series in Music, founded in 2002, brings professional musicians from around the country and the world to campus to perform, teach, and engage with the community in educational outreach.

The program is sustained by several endowments, including the Elinor Rigby Endowed Visiting Musical Artists Fund and the Edwin H. and Elaine Dahl St. Vincent Music Fund.

Chorale

A traditional collegiate concert choir, Chorale has performed in Carnegie Hall, Washington National Cathedral, National Presbyterian Church, University of West Indies Chapel, and is one of very few choirs to be invited to sing in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The ensemble has also commissioned and performed world premieres of a number of works, frequently with the composers in residence.

In October 2016, as part of the College’s 125th anniversary celebration, the ensemble presented an arrangement of Carol Barnett’s “From the Good Earth,” featuring text of the College’s most distinguished alumna, Pearl S. Buck (Class of 1914).

Chamber Orchestra

Chamber Orchestra provides a rare opportunity for students to gain valuable experience performing side by side with local professional musicians.

Larger works performed by the ensemble include Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite, and Beethoven symphonies No. 1, 6, and 8; with choir, Mozart Requiem, and Gonzalez Misa Azteca.

The Greek Play

Unique among colleges and universities in the United States, our tradition of the Greek Play goes back to 1909. Every other year, students perform an authentic Greek drama. The production adheres to the original conventions that governed theatre in the time of the great tragedians, believing that the best plays will emerge from the conditions for which they were written.

The College boasts the Mabel K. Whiteside Greek Theatre, a classic outdoor Greek theatre also affectionately known by students as The Dell. This unique facility allows the plays to be performed in daylight for an audience seated in a semi-circle around the performers. 

Learn more about the Greek Play.

Endstation Theatre Company

As Randolph’s professional theatre company in residence, Endstation Theatre Company uses the campus as the home base for its summer program.

Founded in 2007,  Endstation is known for producing new works, reinterpretations of classical plays, and other works chosen specifically for the Central Virginia community based on the historical, current, and cultural events of the area.

Productions are performed in the College’s Thoresen Theatre as well as other campus venues such as the Mabel K. Whiteside Greek Theatre (aka The Dell) and Michels Plaza as well off-campus sites like Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, the Academy Center for the Arts  and the Old City Cemetery.

Endstation also hosts the Embark! Youth Theatre Conservatory, a 2-week summer program held at Randolph which gives rising 3rd through graduating 12th graders the opportunity to hone their skills under the direction of theatre professionals from around the region and nation.

Randolph College students enjoy apprenticeship opportunities, workshops, and access to Endstation’s specialized designers, technicians, and artists.

More information: www.endstationtheatre.org

Sock and Buskin

Sock and Buskin, the student drama club, supports the theatre productions and promotes drama as an essential part of life at the College.

Outcomes

Historic Preservation Law

Janie Campbell ’12, history major
Preservation Consultant, law firm of Rogers Lewis Jackson Mann & Quinn, LLC, Columbia, South Carolina

Janie’s group works with developers seeking tax credits for rehabilitating historic properties.

“I work closely with project architects to ensure that historic, character defining elements of each building are preserved and restored, which can vary tremendously as what is significant to a 1929 airplane hangar is vastly different from what makes a 1963 mid-century modern motel unique!”

She writes National Register of Historic Places nominations and Historic Preservation Certification applications, which detail the property’s significance.  She also conducts site visits to ensure work is being completed as described and photographs the before, during, and after conditions of each project.

“Randolph certainly laid the foundation for my research and writing skills. The Summer Research Program, in particular, prepared me for the type of place-based research I do now. “

Top Ranked Professors

Randolph College’s faculty are consistently recognized as among the best in the nation. The Princeton Review ranked the College in the Top 25 for most accessible professors in the most recent edition of its flagship college guide, The Best 389 Colleges.

Randolph has been ranked in the top 25 for most accessible professors for more than a decade.

Performing Arts Faculty

Stephanie Holladay Earl

Associate Professor of Theatre; Program Head, Theatre

Read More... Stephanie Holladay Earl

Emily Yap Chua

Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William Erness Thoresen Professor of Music; Program Head, Dance

Read More... Emily Yap Chua

Randy Speer

Professor of Music; Program Head, Music

Read More... Randy Speer

Claire E. Hancock

Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance, and Director of Helen McGehee Visiting Artist Program in Dance

Read More... Claire E. Hancock

Heather Sinclair

Assistant Professor of Theatre, Technical Director

Read More... Heather Sinclair

Teresa Angell

Cello Instructor

Read More... Teresa Angell

J. Mark Campbell

Instructor of Trumpet

Read More... J. Mark Campbell

Kevin Chiarizzio

Trombone and Low Brass Instructor

Read More... Kevin Chiarizzio

Amy Cohen

Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Speech and Theatre, Director of the Center for Ancient Drama

Read More... Amy Cohen

Patrick Earl

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre

Read More... Patrick Earl

Ally Farzetta

Assistant Director of the Master of Arts Theatre Program

Read More... Ally Farzetta

Christopher Fosnaugh

Percussion and Drumset Instructor

Read More... Christopher Fosnaugh

Kyle Greaney

Clarinet and Saxophone Instructor

Read More... Kyle Greaney

Hermina Hendricks

Senior Lecturer in Music

Read More... Hermina Hendricks

Alycia Hugo

Flute Instructor

Read More... Alycia Hugo

Hope Maddox

Costume Shop Manager, Resident Designer

Read More... Hope Maddox

Sudesh Mantillake

William F Quillian, Jr. Visiting International Professor

Read More... Sudesh Mantillake

Kay Rooney

Violin and Viola Instructor

Read More... Kay Rooney

Curtis Smith

Piano and Organ Instructor; College Organist; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music

Read More... Curtis Smith

Madison Warren

Adjunct Instructor of Voice

Read More... Madison Warren

Teresa Angell
Cello Instructor

Leigh Berkeley
Clarinet and Saxophone Instructor

J. Mark Campbell
Trumpet Instructor

Kevin Chiarizzio
Trombone and Low Brass Instructor

Jacob Dishman
Staff Accompanist

Christopher Fosnaugh
Percussion and Drumset Instructor

Kyle Greaney
Clarinet and Saxophone Instructor

Hermina Hendricks
Senior Lecturer in Music

Alycia Hugo
Flute Instructor

Hope Maddox
Costume Shop Supervisor

Nora Moore
Voice Instructor

Kathryn Munson
Adjunct Instructor of Dance

Bill Parrish
Oboe Instructor

Kay Rooney
Violin and Viola Instructor

Rafael Scarfullery
Guitar Instructor

Curtis Smith
Piano and Organ Instructor; College Organist

Current Season

Performing Arts Department Presents
A Randolph Cabaret

November 1-3, 2024

Join the Randolph College Performing Arts Department for a cabaret featuring student-produced work, musical theatre scenes, and dance pieces.

 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
February 20-23, 2025

Join Randolph College Theatre for a production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of Shakespeare’s most popular romantic comedies, this story begins on Midsummer’s eve, when four rebellious young lovers, a band of ambitious artisan players, and a feuding Fairy King and Queen all cross paths in a riotously enchanted forest. Audiences will enjoy magic and mischief in this hilarious and heart-felt Shakespearean favorite.

Student Produced Theatre
May 1-3, 2025

Join the Theatre Department for a presentation of student-produced work, directed by Senior Theatre majors.

Join the Randolph College Performing Arts Department for a cabaret featuring student-produced work, musical theatre scenes, and dance pieces.

Join Randolph College Theatre for a production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of Shakespeare’s most popular romantic comedies, this story begins on Midsummer’s eve, when four rebellious young lovers, a band of ambitious artisan players, and a feuding Fairy King and Queen all cross paths in a riotously enchanted forest. Audiences will enjoy magic and mischief in this hilarious and heart-felt Shakespearean favorite.

Join the Theatre Department for a presentation of student-produced work, directed by Senior Theatre majors.

Only at Randolph

Randolph students can take advantage of unique programs which give them a more enriching education than can be found anywhere else.

The Liberal Arts Advantage

Randolph graduates learn to think critically, solve problems and work well with others. They are prepared to succeed in all aspects of life.

Learn More
TAKE2

Two courses per half-mester means you get to focus in and dig deep into your coursework while still having time for the rest of the college experience. Two classes. Seven weeks. Repeat.

Learn More
Money for Your Research

The Randolph Innovative Student Experience (RISE) program provides every student a $2,000 grant to fund research, creative work, experiential learning or other scholarly pursuits.

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The Randolph Plan

Randolph students work with faculty mentors to explore a broad range of disciplines as they chart their academic path.

Learn More

Department News

Department of Performing Arts staging ‘Sense & Sensibility’ with a ‘youthful splash’

Performances are scheduled for Nov. 16-20.

Read More

Department of Performing Arts gearing up for ‘A Randolph Cabaret’

Student-produced work, musical theatre scenes, musical interludes, and dance pieces will all take center stage later this month.

Read More

Fall theatre production, ‘Doctor Faustus,’ embraces the ‘spooky vibes of the season’

Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 and 28; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29; and 2 p.m. Oct. 30.

Read More

Isabelle Fenton ’24 explores passion for the arts through Lyric Opera of Chicago internship

The 10-week Donald P. Baiocchi Lyric Opera of Chicago Internship program allows Randolph students to gain hands-on experience in arts management and nonprofit fundraising while working for the Lyric’s development office.

Read More

‘Shakespeare isn’t scary’: Students strive to make the Bard’s work more accessible

This story is part of an ongoing series featuring the work of students and faculty participating in Randolph’s 2022 Summer […]

Read More

Department of Performing Arts staging ‘Sense & Sensibility’ with a ‘youthful splash’

Performances are scheduled for Nov. 16-20.

Read More

Department of Performing Arts gearing up for ‘A Randolph Cabaret’

Student-produced work, musical theatre scenes, musical interludes, and dance pieces will all take center stage later this month.

Read More

Fall theatre production, ‘Doctor Faustus,’ embraces the ‘spooky vibes of the season’

Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 and 28; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29; and 2 p.m. Oct. 30.

Read More

Isabelle Fenton ’24 explores passion for the arts through Lyric Opera of Chicago internship

The 10-week Donald P. Baiocchi Lyric Opera of Chicago Internship program allows Randolph students to gain hands-on experience in arts management and nonprofit fundraising while working for the Lyric’s development office.

Read More

‘Shakespeare isn’t scary’: Students strive to make the Bard’s work more accessible

This story is part of an ongoing series featuring the work of students and faculty participating in Randolph’s 2022 Summer […]

Read More
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Department Chair

Stephanie Holladay Earl

Associate Professor of Theatre; Program Head, Theatre

Credentials:BA, Greensboro College
MFA, University of Houston
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Office:Leggett 309
Phone:4349478563
Email:searl@randolphcollege.edu

News Headlines

Stephanie Holladay Earl has worked professionally as an actor, director, and choreographer for the last 20 years. She earned her BA in theatre performance and dance from Greensboro College and her MFA in acting from The University of Houston PATP.

Earl moved to Virginia to work as an actor and choreographer at The American Shakespeare Center in 2011. Roles include Hermione in The Winter’s Tale, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and the Duchess in The Duchess of Malfi. Earl has worked with Endstation Theatre Company for many years. Her roles with ETC include Rosalind in As You Like It 2018, Neddy McCullough in The Bluest Water, and Tara in Buried Deep. Other regional theatre acting work includes credits from The Barter Theatre, Main Street Theater Houston, and The Farm Theatre.

Her work as a director and choreographer has been seen by audiences at The American Shakespeare Center, The Barter Theatre, Greensboro College, Greensboro Children’s Theatre, Milligan College, and Main Street Theater Houston. American Shakespeare Center directing credits include the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 productions of A Christmas Carol, Sense and Sensibility by Emma Whipday, Emma by Emma Whipday, and Amy E. Whiting’s Anne Page Hates Fun (the first production in ASC’s Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries series).

Earl has choreographed dance pieces for more than 30 ASC productions. Her direction for the ASC’s production of A Christmas Carol received praise from DCMetro: “…with Stephanie Holladay Earl’s intricately-woven choreography and direction, this new production soars in ways I never thought possible.”

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Department Chair

Emily Yap Chua

Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William Erness Thoresen Professor of Music; Program Head, Dance

Credentials:B.A., Florida State University
M.M., College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
D.M.A., College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnat
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Office:Presser 210
Phone:(434) 947-8530
Email:echua@randolphcollege.edu

News Headlines

Pianist Emily Yap Chua made her international solo debut at The Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila, where she was described as “a remarkably passionate piano soloist… vividly enchanting,” [The Daily Tribune] and praised for “tonal beauty and clarity,” “a graceful, effortless manner,” and a performance described as “vibrant, … spirited and movingly expressive.” “ …The overall impression Chua gave was of an exceedingly talented young pianist readying herself for greater acclaim….” [The Philippine STAR]

An active soloist and chamber musician, her collaborations include performances with musicians of orchestras and institutions around the world, including recitals with members of the Cincinnati, San Francisco, Detroit, Nashville, Charlotte, and Virginia Symphony Orchestras, as well as faculty from the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati (CCM-UC), The Juilliard School, Indiana University, Florida State University, and University of Miami, among others.

Chua is an active clinician and adjudicator and in demand nationally as a collaborator, and her students have been prizewinners in competitions in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions. Her CD recording of the piano works of composer Kent Holliday, a project in collaboration with pianist Nicholas Ross, was released by Centaur Records in 2009. Her recording of new song cycles with soprano Katherine Jolly was released by Navona Records in 2019, in which her playing was reviewed by Gramophone magazine as “superb.” She made her debut appearance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in January 2020 with tenor David Tayloe. She is currently working on another disc of song cycle commissions with Katherine Jolly, slated for release in 2025.

Chua is the Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William Erness Thoresen Professor of Music at Randolph College, where she has taught since 2002. She served as chair of the Music Department for twelve years, and in 2021, oversaw the combining of the music, theatre, and dance programs into the Department of Performing Arts, which she chaired until 2024. She has been honored by Randolph College with the Katherine Graves Davidson Faculty Scholarship Award in 2010 (inaugural awardee), and the Katherine Graves Davidson Faculty Service Award in 2018.

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Randy Speer

Professor of Music; Program Head, Music

Credentials:BA, California State University, Fresno
MA, University of Iowa
DMA, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Office:Presser 344
Phone:(434) 947-8529
Email:rspeer@randolphcollege.edu

News Headlines

Randall Speer’s 2012 Carnegie Hall debut conducting Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, K.339 with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, a distinguished chorus, and world class soloists was hailed as “stunning, memorable, and sensitively led” (MidAmerica Productions, 2012). He has led choral and orchestral performances in the United States and Europe with a variety of ensembles including the Mississippi Valley Chamber Orchestra, the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra, the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria), and the Varna Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria). An alumnus of the internationally acclaimed Dale Warland Singers, he served in Minnesota as founder/director of the critically acclaimed vocal chamber ensemble Voce Magna, and the Voce Magna Symphonic Chorus. He also founded a women’s prison chorus there – a truly unique and powerful experience in the communal benefits of choral singing. He currently serves as  Professor of Music at Randolph College and Music Director at Court Street United Methodist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.

At Randolph, he directs choral and instrumental ensembles, teaches courses in vocal performance and conducting, and serves as Music Director to music theatre and Greek Play productions. In 2010, Speer was honored as a recipient of Randolph College’s Katherine Graves Davidson Award for bringing distinction to the college. He has earned degrees in music education and choral conducting from California State University, Fresno, the University of Iowa, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Speer has performed as tenor soloist in local and regional oratorio, opera and musical theater productions including the Fresno Lyric Opera (Fiddler on the Roof), Magnum Chorum (Bach Christmas Oratorio), the Mississippi Valley Chamber Orchestra (Carmina Burana), the Lynchburg Community Concert Series (Amahl and the Night Visitors and Missa Luba), and the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven Symphony No. 9).

Speer’s compositions have earned distinction in competition (Riverside Masters Chorale, 1989), and are published with Fred Bock Music. His compositions recorded by the National Lutheran Choir, were reviewed as “a significant contribution to the choral repertoire” (Choral Journal, December, 1990).

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Claire E. Hancock

Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance, and Director of Helen McGehee Visiting Artist Program in Dance

Credentials:BA, University of Arizona
MFA, University of Arizona
MA, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Office:MAC 010
Phone:4349478539
Email:chancock@randolphcollege.edu
Website:https://www.clairehancock.com/

News Headlines

Claire Hancock is a choreographer, dancer, and actor whose work focuses on the intersection of abstract forms and narratives. Many of her original works tell old stories in new ways through conventional and unconventional venues, immersive audience experiences, and on film/new media.

She holds a Master of Arts degree in European Dance Theatre from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, England, and earned both a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from the University of Arizona. Claire danced professionally with ODC/San Francisco and River North Dance Company in Chicago. Additional featured solo performances include those with Broadway veterans Ben Vereen and Liz Callaway. Her professional career is underpinned by the somatic education she received through the Joseph and Clara Pilates’ “Body Contrology” system, via the lineage of Ron Fletcher. She has been a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher and Qualified Fletcher Pilates® teacher since 2010.

Hancock has been a guest teacher and choreographer for organizations including the Limón Institute, Broadway Theatre Project, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, University of Arizona School of Dance, Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, True Concord: Voices and Orchestra, The Rogue Theatre, The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre, and Broadway in Tucson. She has served as rehearsal assistant for Ben Stevenson’s Three Preludes and End of Time, as well as George Balanchine’s Serenade and The Four Temperaments, reporting to Leslie Peck and Elyse Borne, repetiteurs for the Balanchine Trust. Claire is a repetiteur for several of the late choreographer David Berkey’s works including his signature piece, Sentinel, which she has staged for Vassar College in New York, the New Mexico Dance Institute, and the University of Arizona School of Dance.

In 2009, Hancock co-founded and directed Artifact Dance Project in Tucson, AZ with colleague Ashley Bowman, a professional dance company dedicated to dance, live music, and film. The company cultivated over 50 collaborations, premiered over 100 new works, and had two successful tours of Asia. The project opened Artifact Dance Project Studios in Tucson’s warehouse district, which housed the company and provided a full curriculum of dance classes for the community as well as an annual international summer workshop for dance and music collaboration.

Recently Hancock has been developing and creating work with composer Vincent Calianno for a new company, Two Trains, which focuses on producing works for new media and the stage.

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Heather Sinclair

Assistant Professor of Theatre, Technical Director

Credentials:BA, Ball State University
MFA, Kent State University
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Office:Leggett 417
Phone:4349478327
Email:hsinclair@randolphcollege.edu
Website:https://www.heatherrsinclair.com/

News Headlines

Heather R. Sinclair joined the Randolph College theatre program in 2018. She has worked professionally in theatre since 2008. Sinclair earned her BS in theatre design and technology with focuses in properties and technical direction from Ball State University and an MFA in theatre studies: technical direction from Kent State University.

Sinclair has worked with The Illinois Shakespeare Festival (IL), Berkshire Theatre Festival (MA), Theater at Monmouth (ME), Gulfshore Playhouse (FL), Virginia Theatre Festival (VA), as well as companies in Texas, Richmond VA, and Indiana. She has worked with Endstation Theatre Company, a resident professional summerstock company hosted by Randolph College, as technical director.

Sinclair began her technical theatre path in middle school and has never looked back. Her professional career started with theatre properties and eventually she discovered her love of theatrical engineering, logistics, and management. She teaches a variety of technical theatre and theatre design courses at Randolph College. In the classroom, Sinclair strives to create a positive, collaborative, fun, and thoughtful environment for the students. She believes that education is a partnership between students and teachers.

Outside of the classroom, Sinclair is the technical director for the department of performing arts, program of theatre. She supervises the theatrical production labs, technical crews, and student designers. She also collaborates and works with the dance program during dance concerts. Sinclair is active in the music program and is a member of the Randolph College Chamber Orchestra, where she plays the cello.

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Teresa Angell

Cello Instructor

Credentials:B.A. Cello Performance, University of Lynchburg
B.A. Nursing, University of Lynchburg
Associated Departments:Performing Arts

Teresa Angell completed her bachelors degrees in Cello Performance and Nursing in 2011 at University of Lynchburg, where she graduated with highest honors in music. She has cultivated her love of chamber and orchestral music from an early age, playing in regional orchestras and the American Youth Philharmonic as a young adult.

Teresa worked as a psychiatric nurse at Virginia Baptist Hospital from 2011 to 2014, maintaining a small private cello studio, free-lancing, and remaining active in the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra and the James Chamber Players.

After receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in 2014, Teresa took a hiatus from her nursing career to focus on regaining her health and raising her two small boys. She fell more deeply in love with chamber and orchestral music during this time, while, though unable to play cello due to a series of operations, Teresa was able to attend concerts, purely to listen and enjoy.

She returned to performance herself with a vengeance in 2015 and hasn’t looked back.

Teresa now serves as principal cellist of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra and continues to play with the James Chamber Players. She is a member of the Calabrone Quartet of University of Lynchburg, and she never turns down an opportunity to play chamber music with friends.

Teresa maintains a private cello studio based out of her home in Forest, where she resides with her wonderful husband, Jeffrey, and their two rambunctious boys, Gabe and Tony.

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J. Mark Campbell

Instructor of Trumpet

Credentials:B.M. Virginia Commonwealth University, Music Education
M.M. James Madison University
Associated Departments:Performing Arts

J. Mark Campbell holds a B.M. in Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.M. from James Madison University. He has studied trumpet with Rolla Durham, Edward Mirr, and James Kluesner. Campbell has played trumpet as a freelance musician throughout the mid-Atlantic.

Campbell taught from 1998-2002 in the Franklin County Public School System of North Carolina. While in North Carolina he adjudicated bands throughout N.C. and S.C. as a member of the Carolina All-American Judges Circuit from 1999 – 2002. He also served as a judge for the 2000 and 2001 International Whistler’s Convention & Competition. From 2000-2002 he served on the executive board of the Franklin County Arts Council. In 2002 he was elected chair of the executive board.

Campbell taught trumpet, brass ensemble, and jazz band at the University of Lynchburg (formerly Lynchburg College) from 2008-2013. Campbell is currently the director of bands at Amherst County High School. This is a position that he has held since 2003.

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Kevin Chiarizzio

Trombone and Low Brass Instructor

Credentials:B.M., University of Memphis
M.M., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
D.M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Email:kchiarizzio@randolphcollege.edu

Kevin Chiarizzio holds degrees from the University of Memphis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Chiarizzio is active as a musician and teacher in the Central Virginia area. He is currently the principal trombonist with the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra and performs regularly as a substitute trombonist with the Roanoke Symphony.

Previous orchestral positions include the principal trombonist with the Waco, Bryan, Danville (IL), and Arkansas symphonies. Chiarizzio has twice performed as a soloist at the Eastern Trombone Workshop (2008, 2005) and performed with both the Mid-South Probone Ensemble (2011) and the William Cramer Trombone Choir (2008) at the International Trombone Festivals. He also performed as a featured soloist with the Liberty University Wind Ensemble’s performance of John Mackey’s Harvest trombone concerto (2012).

Chiarizzio serves as an audio and literature reviewer for the International Trombone Association Journal. He teaches low brass at Randolph College and Liberty University.

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Amy Cohen

Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Speech and Theatre, Director of the Center for Ancient Drama

Credentials:BA, Yale University
PhD, Stanford University
Associated Departments:Performing Arts, Classics
Email:acohen@randolphcollege.edu
Website:https://www.randolphcollege.edu/greekplay/

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I received a BA in Classics (Greek) at Yale University, and then a PhD in Classics, with a minor in Comparative Literature, at Stanford University. My doctoral work focused on the interpretive implications of doubling and the three-actor convention in Greek tragedy.

At Randolph my students and I put that work on its feet by continuing the R-MWC Greek Play tradition, begun in 1909 by Greek Professor Mabel K. Whiteside. Directing the plays provides insight into the realities facing the ancient playwrights, and my research continues to argue that you cannot understand the plays without understanding how they were played. I have now directed twelve productions using original practices, eleven in the Whiteside Greek Theatre on campus and one in Greece as part of the 2009 summer travel seminar, “Practical Wisdom: Philosophy and Drama in Greece.”

Although Greek drama is my specialty, I love teaching any course that leads students into an understanding of ancient literature and culture, in translation or in the original language. I haven’t met an obscure grammatical term I don’t love, and I do my best to inspire your passion for them as well in my ancient Greek courses. I also try to help students remember that the point of learning that declension or conjugation is to be able to read the words of the ancients, and to draw us that much closer to understanding them and their importance to us.

When I have time, I see movies, read novels, and knit. I live happily on Garland Hill with my husband Chris, my sons Spencer and Leo, and my daughter Helen.

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Patrick Earl

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre

Credentials:B.S., Aquinas College
M.F.A., University of Houston
Actor Combatant, Society of American Fight Directors
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Email:pearl@randolphcollege.edu

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Ally Farzetta

Assistant Director of the Master of Arts Theatre Program

Credentials:BA, Theatre Arts, SUNY New Paltz
MFA, Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, Florida State University
Associated Departments:Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre, Performing Arts
Email:afarzetta@randolphcollege.edu

Ally Farzetta is a professional actor, theater-maker, and educator. In addition to serving as Assistant Director of MFA Theatre Ally directs productions and teaches classes for the Randolph College Performing Arts Department.

Ally earned her BA in Theatre Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz and her MFA in Acting from FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training.

Over the last decade Ally has performed in classical, contemporary and new works at numerous regional theatres around the country, including Asolo Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare and Company, Virginia Stage Company, Virginia Repertory Theatre, American Stage, Shadowland Stages, and more.

Ally spent two years touring the country with the American Shakespeare Center, where she played many roles in over ten productions, including Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Hermione in The Winter’s Tale.

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Christopher Fosnaugh

Percussion and Drumset Instructor

Credentials:B.M., College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
M. M., Eastman School of Music
post-graduate studies, Cleveland Institute of Music
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Email:cfosnaugh@randolphcollege.edu

Percussionist Chris Fosnaugh is currently a regular performer with symphony orchestras across the nation. A former member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in Arizona, he has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, the Richmond Symphony and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra among others. Fosnaugh is also a past fellow of the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, and a former substitute with the New World Symphony.

As a member of the Cadets of Bergen County Drum & Bugle Corps from 1997-1999, he served as percussion section leader in 1998, during which they won their seventh Drum Corps InternationaI World Championship. He earned the Bachelor of Music degree at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, where he was a Baur Scholarship awardee. He continued on to the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Master of Music degree with Performer’s Certificate and was a teaching assistant in the percussion studio of John Beck. Fosnaugh also pursued additional post-graduate work at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a student of Richard Weiner and Paul Yancich. He can be heard on CD recordings of the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Kansas City Symphony, and on recordings of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on iTunes.

Fosnaugh is a former faculty member of the North Carolina Governor’s School in Winston-Salem, NC. He teaches drum set lessons at Randolph College, maintains a private studio in Lynchburg, and instructs the E.C. Glass High School percussion section. Chris Fosnaugh endorses Vic Firth sticks and mallets and is a Vic Firth Education Team member.

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Kyle Greaney

Clarinet and Saxophone Instructor

Credentials:B.A. Music Education, University of Lynchburg
M.M. Saxophone Performance, University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Professional Artist Certificate, University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Website:https://www.kylegreaney.com/

Since his solo debut at BlackRock Center for the Arts, Kyle has traveled throughout the states and across the ocean to Beijing, where he assisted and performed in the International Schools of China Choral Festival.

During his time at University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), Kyle was a member of the uncsaX Saxophone Ensemble. As well as premiering a number of new works, the group performed with U.S. Ice Skating Champion, Jeremy Abbott, live on NBC in the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. Also while at UNCSA, Kyle was a part of the award winning Atchara Saxophone Quartet: Winning 1st Place in the North Carolina MTNA Chamber Music Competition, and 2nd Place in the Region 6 MTNA Chamber Music Competition in Tampa, Florida. Kyle was also a member of the Tzyra Saxophone Quartet, premiering many new works and performing throughout North Carolina for events and festivals.

Kyle has performed in masterclasses for Susan Fancher, Adam McCord, violist Lila Brown, Army Field Band Saxophone Quartet, and Matt Albert of Eighth Blackbird.

Kyle is the Principal Saxophone for Lynchburg Symphony, Baritone Saxophone chair for The Vosbein Magee Big Band, and Baritone Saxophone chair for the Lynchburg Community Big Band. Recently, Kyle performed Catch Me If You Can by John Williams with the University of Lynchburg Wind Symphony and his own arrangement of David Biedenbender’s This Night with the University of Lynchburg Choir..

Currently, Kyle serves as the Instructor of Saxophone at and Clarinet at Randolph College and was recently appointed Interim Director of Ensembles. Kyle holds degrees from University of Lynchburg and UNCSA. His primary instructors are Harry Farmer, Armenio Suzano, and Grammy award winning artists, Taimur Sullivan and Robert Young.

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Hermina Hendricks

Senior Lecturer in Music

Credentials:B.S., Defiance College
M.M.Ed., James Madison University
C.A.G.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Email:hhendricks@randolphcollege.edu

A native of Lynchburg, Virginia, Hendricks is a music educator and multicultural student advocate. She teaches music history courses, such as Jazz Appreciation and Popular Music in America.

She is presently the Organist and Choral Director of the Senior Choir at Diamond Hill Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA and is also the artistic and music director for the “Soulsters from the Hill” (DHBC), vocal ensemble specializing in the presentation and preservation of black spirituals derived out of the century in America, and in the century spiritual music genre.

She teaches Music Appreciation courses part-time at Central Virginia Community College.

During the early 1990s, Governor Gerald Baliles appointed her to the Virginia Commission for the Arts, serving for five years and later was appointed to serve on the National Endowment for the Arts – Arts Education Review Board in Washington, D.C. Those appointments enabled Hermina to become exposed to the vast arts agencies and institutions not only in Virginia but throughout America that were totally committed to having diverse arts programs in their respective locales for citizens to experience and enjoy the value of the arts- musical, visual, theatrical, etc. Her service in these distinct organizations allowed her to see the larger picture of why art is so important and vital to each individual throughout America.

She serves or has served as a member of the Lynch’s Landing Board of Directors, The Get! Downtown Steering Committee (an annual downtown festival to welcome local college students to Lynchburg), Area II Advisory Panel for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Sphex Club, The Lynchburg Chapter of The Links, Inc., The Lynchburg Chums, Inc., The Roanoke Chapter of The Girlfriends, Inc., Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, Friends committee of Sankofa Arts, and Pink Auction Steering Committee.

Her ongoing research project, “A Journey Taken”, explores the life and educational contributions of Clarence W. Seay, principal and educator of Dunbar High School in Lynchburg, VA 1938-1968.  Her other project, “My Soul Has Grown Deep”, explores the growth and development of African American spirituals.

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Alycia Hugo

Flute Instructor

Credentials:B.M., New England Conservatory of Music
M.M., New England Conservatory of Music
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Email:ahugo@randolphcollege.edu

Since completing her Master of Music in Flute Performance at the New England Conservatory in Boston, flutist Alycia Hugo has pursued a varied and interesting professional career as an orchestra member and recitalist. Her teachers have included John Wummer (New York Philharmonic Orchestra), James Pappoutsakis and Lois Schaefer (both with the Boston Symphony Orchestra), and Marjorie Lockwood (Phoenix Symphony Orchestra).

She is a four-time winner of the National Flute Association Convention Performers Professional Flutist Competition, achieving national recognition for her skills as a performer of twentieth century music, and is a two-time winner of the National Flute Association Professional Flute Choir Performer Competition performing at conventions throughout the United States. Hugo has also been a semifinalist and finalist in the Myrna Brown Artist Competition in Dallas, Texas.

For two summers,  Hugo performed as a member of the Rome Festival Orchestra in Rome, Italy, and as a member of the Hugo/Garat Trio performed in recital at the Debussy birth place at St. Germaine-en-laye, France. She has performed as soloist with several orchestras in the New England area as well as with the Roanoke and Lynchburg Symphony Orchestras and currently serves as principal flutist with the Roanoke and Lynchburg Symphony Orchestras and the Opera Roanoke Orchestra. She is a member of the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra and teaches flute performance at Liberty University, Lynchburg College, and Randolph College.

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Hope Maddox

Costume Shop Manager, Resident Designer

Credentials:BA Longwood University, Theatre
MA University of Lynchburg, Nonprofit Leadership Studies
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Office:Leggett - Costume Shop
Email:hmaddox@randolphcollege.edu
Website:https://www.hopemcostume.com/

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Hope Maddox is the Costume Shop Manager and Resident Costume Designer at Randolph College. She has costume designed many of the college’s shows since 2018 and is the current Faculty Advisor for “Sock and Buskin.” Hope enjoys teaching her students skills in costume technology and strives to foster a creative environment for others to learn in.

Hope has worked professionally as the Costume Shop Manager at the American Shakespeare Center from 2018 to 2020. At the ASC she has designed Romeo and Juliet (2022)A Christmas Carol (2022), The Defamation of Cicely Lee (2020), “The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” in the 2019 A Christmas Carol.

At Endstation Theatre Company she has served as an intern in 2014, an overhire stitcher, as the Assistant Costume Designer for The Whole Bunch, and the Costume Designer of Treasure Island (2023).

Locally, she designed shows with Sweet Briar College, as well as designing the Old City Cemetery Candlelight Tours in Lynchburg from 2020-2023. She has run wardrobe with the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Va for several of their incoming tour stops including Anastasia the Broadway Musical and CATS. She has also worked previously as a tour guide at the Lynchburg Museum System and constructed costume pieces for their use.

Hope holds a BA in Theatre with a minor in History from Longwood University. She received her MA in Nonprofit Leadership Studies from the University of Lynchburg. She holds a certificate from the University of Glasgow and Historic Royal Palaces in A History of Royal Fashion, as well as one from the University of Roehampton in Tudor History. She also holds two certificates from the University of Lynchburg in Nonprofit Marketing and Fundraising and Nonprofit Management.

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Sudesh Mantillake

William F Quillian, Jr. Visiting International Professor

Credentials:BA, University of Peradeniya
MSc University of Lugano
PhD, University of Maryland
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Email:smantillake@randolphcollege.edu

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Kay Rooney

Violin and Viola Instructor

Credentials:B.M. University of North Carolina School of the Arts
M.M.P. Boston University, College of Fine Arts
Associated Departments:Performing Arts

Kay Rooney joined Randolph College as adjunct instructor of violin and viola in the fall of 2021. Rooney is an active violinist in Virginia and the New England area, performing concerts with Roanoke Symphony, Randolph College Chamber Orchestra, BMOP in conjunction with Odyssey Opera, Boston Festival Orchestra, and Vermont Symphony, and Portland Symphony, among others. She has recorded with BMOP, Marsh Chapel Collegium, and Orchestra of Indian Hill. She enjoys playing music from the Baroque period to modern day compositions.

Ms. Rooney has performed alongside and provided string coaching for the all-campus orchestras of Randolph College, Boston University, Dartmouth College, Gordon College, and Harvard University. In addition to teaching violin and viola at Randolph College and Sweet Briar College, she holds a private studio where she teaches students of all ages. She believes that in creating a welcoming and supportive environment for music students, they can achieve their highest potential, fostering a life long appreciation and love for music.

Rooney earned her Bachelor’s of Music Degree from University of North Carolina School of the Arts and her Master of Music and Performance Diploma from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts.

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Curtis Smith

Piano and Organ Instructor; College Organist; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music

Credentials:B.M., College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
M.M., Indiana University
D.M.A., College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
Associated Departments:Performing Arts
Email:csmith@randolphcollege.edu

Curtis Ryan Smith began his piano studies in his hometown of Macon, Georgia, where he received his first lessons from concert pianist Louise Barfield. His teachers have included Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff, Edmund Battersby, and James Tocco. He has also received additional training from Harvey Wedeen, Norman Krieger, and Michael Coonrod.

In addition to performing, Smith is an enthusiastic teacher. He currently serves an adjunct professor of music at both Randolph College and Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and also teaches privately out of his home. He has served as an associate instructor of secondary piano during his time Indiana University and as a graduate assistant in secondary piano while at CCM, where he taught both group piano classes and private piano lessons.

In 2013, Smith was invited to perform the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Matinée Musicale in Cincinnati. He was also invited to perform a solo recital as the season finale of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Morning Music Club of Macon, Georgia. In addition to the standard repertoire, he is also an enthusiastic champion of lesser known works, featuring composers such as William Grant Still, Benjamin Britten, and most notably, the piano works of his namesake composer, the late pianist-composer Curtis Curtis-Smith. Smith is also an active chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and concerto soloist. He is married to concert pianist Woori Kim, with whom he performs in the piano duo Les Quatre Mains.

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Madison Warren

Adjunct Instructor of Voice

Credentials:
Associated Departments:Performing Arts

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