Clay Price is in his first year as Director of Choral Studies at Loyola University Maryland, where he conducts the Loyola Singers and the Repertory Choir and teaches undergraduate music classes.
Dr. Price earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of South Carolina, a Master of Music degree in conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Bachelor of Music in music education from Belmont University. Prior to coming to Loyola, he served as Director of Choral Activities at the State University of New York at Oswego and the Director of Choral Studies at the University of Rio Grande, in Rio Grande, Ohio. He has studied conducting with William Carroll, Richard Cox, Deen Entsminger, Andrew Gowan, Robert Gregg, Sherry Hill Kelly, Larry Wyatt, and Welborn Young, and has conducted in master classes led by Hilary Apfelstadt, Rodney Eichenberger, and Weston Noble.
Dr. Price is an active clinician. His article on the sacred choral music of Cyril Rootham was published in the September 2013 Choral Journal. He holds memberships in the American Choral Directors’ Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Pi Kappa Lambda.
Mr. Mark St. Pierre
Director of Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo
Mark St. Pierre has been a music educator and a professional musician for over 30 years. His degrees include a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Music Education from Towson University. Outside of being the instructor of the Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo at Loyola University, Mark is also a music educator at Loch Raven Technical Academy where he directs the 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade concert bands, steel pan/percussion ensembles, and jazz ensemble. Mark has been a presenter and curriculum writer for Baltimore County Public Schools Music Program, a workshop director at Peabody Institute, a clinician on hand drum and drum set techniques at Gordon Miller Music, Mid Atlantic Drum, and Mars Music and a freelance musician to local bands and ensembles, covering styles that include jazz, Latin, funk, rock, pop, symphonic, folk, and African.
Dr. Anthony D. Villa, Professor Emeritus
Currently: Recording Studio
Formerly: Jazz Performance, Jazz Ensemble, Composition/Arranging, Theory, Electronic Music Studio, Songwriting
avilla@loyola.edu
Dr. Anthony D. Villa Dr. Anthony D. Villa teaches courses in the Recording Studio (MU350/MU351 Recording Studio I and II and MU355 Synths, Samplers, and Sequencing). He is an active jazz musician performing regularly with his trio, (the Anthony Villa Trio) and as the pianist with the Melting Pot Big Band, the Blue Big Band, and the Cold Spring Jazz Quartet. The Washington Post has praised his work as "the rare piece that sounds fresh while hinting at the near past" and as deserv[ing] a lasing place in the musical firmament. To learn more about Dr. Villa, go to
arditomusic.com.
Prof. Ronald Pearl, Professor Emeritus
Guitar Studies, Music History, Music Theory
rpearl@loyola.edu
Ronald Pearl teaches Music Fundamentals, The Art of Listening, Music Theory, World Music, and other courses in Music Literature. As a classical guitarist, he has given concerts and masterclasses across the US, Canada, and England, and released four critically acclaimed recordings on the Dorian label. As a composer, his works have been heard throughout the North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
Recent works premiered include the choral cycle
Songs of Water/Canciones del Agua by Central Maryland Chorale and the Alturas Duo;
Four at III, by Kenji Haba;
Violeta Cascabelera by the ADAA trio; and
A Clear, Quiet Night, by the Sheu-Pettit Duo.
With the release of the Atlantic Guitar Quartet’s recording of
Be Not Afeard: Music from Prospero’s Island, American Record Guide wrote, “this is truly beautiful music”, and “this disc is worth acquiring for this work alone.” For more information, go to
ronaldmpearl.com.
Bass - Shawn Simon
Cello - Ismar Gomez
Flute - David LaVorgna
Guitar - Ronald Pearl (classical), Joe DeCara (jazz)
Percussion - Barry Dove
Piano - Grace Eun Hae Kim (website), Kathryn Locke, Anthony Villa (jazz piano)
Saxophone - Lionel Lyles
Trumpet - David Smith
Trombone- Nick Mazziott
Voice - Elizabeth Hart (website), Julie Kurzava
Violin/Viola - Cathleen Jeffcoat