Staff: Arts
Featured
Chief of Staff
Emily is a seasoned professional with multiple years of teaching experience at the Denver Center Theatre Academy. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Oklahoma.
Chair - Dance
Randy Duncan, a native Chicagoan, has the unique privilege to be a three-time recipient of Chicago’s prestigious Ruth Page Award for Outstanding Choreographer of the year. He teaches worldwide and for the past twenty-two years has been on the Academy faculty.
Chair - Media Arts
Sarah Hiatt is an artist and educator born and raised in the Ozarks. She uses photography to explore the ideas of grief, innocence, and growing up. Her work has been shown in various locations throughout the United States and internationally. Hiatt currently resides in Chicago, IL.
Chair - Music
Rachel Brown is a Chicago-based chamber musician, soloist, orchestral performer, educator, and arts administrator. After three years as a regular member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, she is now the Associate Principal Second Violin of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and also performs with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, American Music Festivals Orchestra, and Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
Rachel also serves as the Classical Violin and Viola Instructor and Musicianship Instructor.
Chair - Musical Theatre
Andrew Robinson earned his Bachelor of Arts in English and Religion from Rhodes College, his Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University, and his Master of Arts in Educational Theatre from New York University. he has been a creative associate with the Wagon Wheel Theatre for ten years where he has performed in and directed dozens of shows.
Chair - Theatre
Ben Dicke holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Education from Sterling College. He has worked as a professional actor for twenty years in regional markets throughout the country.
Chair - Visual Arts
Margy Stover has taught at The Academy since 2003 and has been Visual Arts Department Chair since 2008. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute and Master of Fine Arts from SUNY Buffalo.
Brenda Moore is a Chicago based visual artist represented by Linda Warren Projects. She has taught at The Academy since 2003.
New Music Ensemble Director, Pop/Rock Ensemble Director, Classical Guitar Instructor
Jesse Langen is a guitarist who specializes in new music. He works with living composers regularly and premieres dozens of pieces every season. Equally comfortable on classical and electric guitar, he seeks to push both the technical boundaries and the conceptual functions of the instrument. He has taught at The Academy since 2002.
Assistant Chair of the Dance Department
Patrick Simoniello began his professional career as a dancer with The Joffrey II Dancers in New York City in 1993. He was soon promoted to the main company of The Joffrey in 1994.
David Sprecher is an artist and educator living in Chicago. He graduated with a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006 and an MFA from the Art Theory and Practice program at Northwestern University in 2016. He's published writing in The Brooklyn Rail and has exhibited work in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Berlin, and Sapporo.
Jake Hinkson is the author of several books, including the novels Hell On Church Street, The Posthumous Man, and No Tomorrow, the short story collection The Deepening Shade, and the essay collection The Blind Alley: Exploring Film Noir’s Forgotten Corners. He was a a guest lecturer at The Academy in early 2016 and later joined the faculty.
Director of Jazz Combos, Jazz Saxophone Instructor
Saxophonist and composer Gregory Dudzienski lives a life of constant motion. After years of travel, he has become a member of Chicago’s strong community of musicians and improvisers. His original music has been featured on the Anagram Series at The Elastic Arts Foundation, the Actual Jazz Series at Cafe Mustache, and the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective At The Green Mill as well as the Is This Jazz Series at AS200 in Providence, Rhode Island, the International Saxophone Symposium in Fairfax, Virginia, and the Salerno Jazz Festival in Salerno Italy.
Director of Recording Arts and Commercial Music
A native of Naperville, Illinois, Jack Murray began training in classical piano at the age of four. For the past four years, Jack has led an impressive career in the audio industry. Before joining the faculty at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, Jack was involved in numerous recording, live sound, and televised productions during which he worked alongside local stars, national touring acts, and seasoned music legends.
Vocal Jazz Ensemble Co-Director, Jazz Voice Instructor
Callandra (Cal) Youngleson is a South African jazz vocalist, composer and educator. She has performed internationally collaborating with some of South Africa and America's greatest jazz musicians. Callandra is a proud graduate of the University of North Texas College of Music having completed her Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies in 2019 where she was also a jazz voice teaching fellow and had the opportunity to tour and perform across Chicago, New York and Dallas as well as receive Downbeat student music awards in her time at UNT.
Classical Harp Instructor
Nichole’s love for the harp and her stellar performances have made her one of the most highly sought-after harpists in Chicago and northern Illinois. She specializes in performing for special celebrations, helping to create a soundscape that enhances the moment, creating a moment in time that will be remembered forever.
Kelli Harrington earned both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University.
Olga Meyer graduated from Azerbajian State College in Baku and earned her Masters in Music from the State Conservatory. She taught and concertized before coming to the United States in 1981. She has been at The Academy since 1985.
Drum Set Instructor
Jonah Lazarus is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator, from Oak Park, IL. Coming from a family of Jewish artists, social workers and educators, he grew up learning to improvise musically with his two brothers. At Macalester College, Jonah worked under Sowah Mensah, studying and playing various genres of Ghanaian and African music. In Salvador, Brazil, he studied and collaborated with Iuri Passos, Bira Santos, Letieres Leite, and Beto Martins. In Chicago, Jonah focuses his energy on teaching as well as composing, performing and recording for his family band, Family Junket.