VIVA! Performing Arts School

The Gallery Performing Arts School 113 West First Street, Dixon, IL 61021 815/285-4924 info@vivaschool.org

Broadening each student's exposure to the many facets of the Arts through Master Classes,
workshops and performances by professional teachers and musicians.

	Kathy Hann King, Director of VIVA Performing Arts School, holds her Bachelor's Degree in Performance from NIU, advanced studies in Early Music and Harpsichord from Converse College, Spartanburg, S.C. and is a Yamaha certified teacher. She has developed a successful, contemporary approach to teaching piano to both children and adults. For over 25 years she has implemented her programs in private schools and performing arts centers throughout the states of South Carolina and Illinois. Her students have won many scholarships and competitions, including first place in the Chandler Starr Miller Solo Piano Competition at the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center, as well as audition winners for solo performances in one of the largest music festivals, Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC. She is a member of the NMTA, IMTA, and the SCMTA.
	Instructor Tim Boles won the All-State Theater Award in 1979. He was one of 20 students chosen from over 1,000 auditioned to perform the new Story Theater Technique at the Krannert Performing Arts Center at the University of Illinois. He has worked at Timberlake Playhouse and has performed workshops in the Sterling Community Schools. Mr. Boles is currently Artistic Director of the Canterbury Singers, a regional Choral Society devoted to the performance and promotion of English Choral Music.
	Robert Campbell, vocal instructor for VIVA! Performing Arts School, has performed extensively throughout northern Illinois including the Chicagoland area. He has experience in solo performance, choral conducting, musical theater and teaching. Past experience includes seven years lead tenor with The Canterbury Singers as well as appearances at the American Choral Directors Association’s National Convention in Milwaukee and the National Collegiate Choral Organization in San Antonio. Mr. Campbell currently sings with the group Cor Cantiamo, directed by Dr. Eric Johnson. This ensemble performs a wide range of repertoire from Classical to Twentieth Century music. In 2009, Mr. Campbell was appointed director of the vocal ensemble, The Canterbury Singers, a 24-voice group of professional singers specializing in English music. He is also the director of the Chancel Choir at the First Congregational Church in Dekalb. Robert has performed under the direction of Maestro John Nelson, Music Director of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Paul Freeman conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta, and Grammy Award winning American choral composers Jerry Blackstone and Morten Lauridsen. Robert holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University. During his time at NIU he studied conducting with Dr. Eric Johnson and private voice with Myron Myers. At VIVA! Performing Arts School, Robert teaches private lessons. He recently made his stage directorial debut with the first Reagan Middle School musical, Aladdin Jr. The success of this production has lead to an invitation to direct future musicals.
	Carolyn Guido is a graduate of Northern Illinois University. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Studies. She studied in London at Kingston University Fall 2010, and has just moved to Chicago. She attended New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with a concentration in Musical Theatre. She has danced for 18 years and trained in classical ballet, jazz, tap, and musical theatre dance, She danced with the Delta Festival Ballet Company in New Orleans, LA. She has choreographed many shows for high school and middle school aged young adults. She received a Ginny award from her choreography in Beauty and the Beast in Slidell, LA. Recently she directed and choreographed a shortened version of Singin in the Rain for Northern Illinois University's Summer in the Arts Theatre Camp.
	Susan Hurm holds a Bachelor's Degree in applied piano from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and a Master's Degree in piano performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Mrs. Hurm has obtained her Suzuki Certification through Book 4, from both the American Suzuki Institute, Steven's Point, WI., and the Chicago Suzuki Institute, Deerfield, IL. She has also had extensive training in the Taubman Technique, a method used to instruct students on how to keep a relaxed and balanced hand to avoid injuries. Her studies include instruction at the Taubman Piano Institute, Amherst, MA., and the Golandsky Institute, Princeton, N.J. In addition to teaching at VIVA Performing Arts School, she teaches at the Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College, the Community School of the Arts at Northern Illinois University and maintains a private studio at her home in DeKalb.
	Mei Li (May) Began her piano study at age five in China. She holds a Bachelor degree in Piano Performance from Sichuan Music Conservatory in China, and she earned her Master Degree in Piano Performance from Northern Illinois University. She is currently pursuing her Performers’ Certificate in Piano at NIU. As a pianist, May has performed many concerts as soloist and accompanist in China, Hong Kong and the United States. These performances include recitals, TV show concerts, music festivals, musical performances and a film festival opening concert. May is also an experienced piano teacher, and has taught piano for 15 years. May has served as a teaching assistant at NIU since 2008, teaching both group piano and private lessons for children and adults. Over the years, many of May’s piano students have won prizes and honors at different piano competitions and music festivals in China, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States.
	Jie Luman (Jenny) is originally from China, and moved to the United States in 2006. She attended the Hebei Art School and received her undergraduate degree from the Tianjin Conservatory of Music. She holds a Master's Degree and Performance Certificate from Northern Illinois University where she studied with Mattias Tacke, of the acclaimed Vermeer Quartet. Although Jie's primary instrument is violin she has ten years experience teaching strings.
	Christine Schweitz began her violin studies at the age of five with Ernest Seeman, orchestra director of Freeport, IL., High School. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Illinois State University and has taught in various capacities in the public school system, grades pre-school through 12, for more than 35 years. She presently teaches string lessons for the Freeport School District and has maintained a private violin studio in her home for the past 14 years. Mrs. Schweitz is a Suzuki certified instructor, and has studied Suzuki Violin Pedagogy with Mr. Seeman, Edward Kreitman at the SAA Institute in Stevens Point, WI., and Eleanor Stanlis and Peggy Crow at the Music Academy of Rockford College. She performs with her family string trio/quartet for weddings and events in Chicago, Rockford, and Galena and has played in the Beloit-Janesville, Clinton, Dubuque and Rockford Symphony Orchestras from 1994 to the present.