Presenters

Leah Claiborne, D.M.A. promotes diversity in the arts by championing piano music by Black composers in her performances, research, and teaching. She was the first pianist at the University of Michigan to be awarded the Rackham Predoc fellowship which is the most prestigious fellowship awarded by the graduate school. This fellowship allowed her to further research, compile, and edit piano music by Black composers.

In 2019, Leah was a prize winner in the ProMusicis International Music competition. This competition awarded her the Father Merlett Award for her high quality musical performance and commitment to social outreach.

In 2018 she curated a sold out concert at the University of Michigan Museum of Art which featured instrumental and vocal music by Black American composers. In the same year, she recorded selections from Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s 24 Negro Melodies for piano solo and piano trio. In 2016 she was a top prize winner in the National Association of Negro Musicians National Piano Competition. In the same year she was awarded the University of Michigan Martin Luther King Spirit Award for her creation of a free piano program for local students where the focus of study was on the impact of Black classical piano composers.

Leah has performed across the United States as well as Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Most recently, she performed at Hiroshima University in Japan with the Asia America New Music Ensemble.

Dr. Claiborne received her undergraduate degree from Manhattan School of Music where she received the Josephine Whitmore graduation award. This award was given to a graduating senior “whose personal qualities enriches the spirit of the school and community at large.” She received her Masters of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Claiborne currently teaches at the University of the District of Columbia where she serves as coordinator of keyboard studies and teaches the History of African American Music.

Artina McCain, Guest Artist

Hailed by the New York Times as a "virtuoso pianist," Artina McCain has built a formidable career as a multi-faceted creative. As a recitalist, her credits include performances at Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre in London, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie in New York City and more. Other highlights include guest appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and others.

As a multi-faceted artist, McCain has been featured in a mirage of spaces; from mistress of ceremony at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition to an artist for the El Dorado Ballroom Series, a multidisciplinary production curated by Solange Knowles. Television appearances include CSPAN for the MLK 50 Commemoration and PBS documentary series Roadtrip Nation: Degree of Impact in an episode exploring the real-world impact of professionals with doctoral degrees in and outside of academia.

Dedicated to presenting works of unsung voices, she is a recording artist and publishing advocate. Recordings including collaborative projects: I, Too (Naxos) focused on African American Spirituals and Art Songs and multiple recordings with husband and duo partner, Martin McCain. She arranged Twenty-Four Traditional African American Folk Songs published by Hal Leonard for intermediate pianists. In 2026, Frances Clark Center will publish her edition of virtuosic piano spirituals by Grammy nominated composer, Joseph Joubert.

After not performing for 6 years while battling a performance injury, she enjoys a prolific concert career with more than 15 years of full injury recovery. She uses her recovery to serve as an advocate of musicians’ wellness–curating articles, university lectures, and conferences to educate teachers and students. Most recently, the BBC featured her on the podcast Sideways, telling her miraculous story of injury to recovery.

McCain graduated from Southern Methodist University (BM), Cleveland Institute of Music (MM) and the University of Texas at Austin (DMA). An avid presenter of chamber music, she is Artistic Curator of Mahogany Chamber Series in Memphis TN. As an educator, she is Associate Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Keyboard Area at the University of Memphis and Co-Founder/Director of the Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition.

In her spare time, Artina enjoys boutique shopping, traveling internationally, and is an enthusiastic foodie and tea aficionado.

Artina McCain is a Yamaha Artist.

Benjamin Williams, Commissioned Composer

Benjamin Williams is a composer in central Mississippi and an Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Mississippi College. Raised in Northeast Ohio, Williams earned degrees in Music Composition from The University of Akron (B.M and M.M.) and The Ohio State University (D.M.A.). Williams also performs locally with the jazz ensemble Brick Street Trio and New JXN, a group dedicated to modern classical music performed with local musicians.

Williams has been performed by The Cleveland Chamber Symphony, The University of Akron Chamber Choir and the Ohio State University Symphonic Band. His music has been performed at the NACUSA National Conference, UCM New Music Festival, The Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest Festival, Denison New Music Festival, Kentucky New Music Festival and the University of Nebraska New Music Festival. Williams was the 2008–9 Composer-in-Residence with the Ohio State University Symphony and the 2013–15 Composer-in-Residence for the Premiere Orchestral Institute in Jackson, Mississippi.

He has won the Johnstone Woodwind Master Series III Competition and the APSU Annual Young Composers Competition. Williams has also been finalist in the Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest and a National Federation of Music Clubs recipient of the ASCAP/Victor Herbert Award. Commissions include Voices of Canton, Inc., the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, the University of Akron Men's Chorus and the Mississippi College Singers.

Benjamin Williams served as editor of the SCI Newsletter and has been an editor for the The Ohio State Online Music Journal. He has also served as the chair of Composition and Theory for the Mississippi Music Teachers Association and a conference manager for an SCI Student National Conference.

Pamela Pike, IMTF Speaker

Pamela D. Pike, PhD, NCTM, is the Spillman Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Associate Dean of Research, Creative Practice, and Community Engagement in the College of Music & Dramatic Arts at Louisiana State University. Pike has won state Music Teacher of the Year awards in both Arkansas and Louisiana and has been the recipient of the coveted LSU Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award for graduate teaching and mentorship. Her extensive asynchronous curriculum, How to Play Piano, is a best-seller with The Great Courses. Pike is a member of the RCM College of Examiners and a Yamaha Master Educator. Her students have won teaching, research, and performance awards for their work and have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Pike has published over four dozen scholarly articles in top music education journals on topics of her pedagogical research, including sight reading, practicing, distance teaching, andragogy, and teacher burnout. She has twice won the MTNA American Music Teacher Article of the Year Award (in 2013 and 2026) and, in 2025, Pike was awarded the LSU Senior Rainmaker Award for decades of outstanding research. Pike enjoys sharing practical applications of scholarly studies with teachers around the globe and is a sought-after speaker and clinician. She has presented throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Pike has published full-length books, book chapters, and currently serves as editor-in-chief of the Piano Magazine and the Journal of Piano Research. Her books from Routledge include The Adult Music Student: Making Music throughout the Lifespan and Dynamic Group Piano Teaching: Transforming Group Theory into Teaching Practice.

Hannah E. Adhikari

Making Composition Accessible: A Practical Approach for All Music Teachers

Hannah E. Adhikari is a pianist, composer, and piano teacher currently located in Mississippi. She is passionate about sharing the love of music through composition, imagery, critical thinking, and clear concepts. Her method books and piano solos are known for their melodic and new age style, while also reinforcing technique and theory concepts. She is currently engaged in her Build Your Studio campaign during her teaching sabbatical. She holds a B.A. in Music for piano performance and composition and is affiliated with many music teacher and composer organizations, and other music groups. She is currently serving as MMTA's Chair of the International Music Teacher's Forum and Assistant to Web Management. Hannah regularly composes piano solos for herself to perform and record, and her students regularly used her piano solos, materials, studies, and method books. Her music and story has been featured on BoldJourney articles, CD albums, local presentations and recitals, MTNA concerts and lecture recitals. Most of her music and her podcast, "Music, Marriage, and Motherhood," is also streaming on most platforms! Learn more about Hannah and her music on her website hannahehmusic.com.

Christopher Dixon

Faculty Forum: Creating a Smooth Transfer from Community College to a Four-Year University

Christopher Dixon is a pianist and music educator from Mobile, Alabama. He currently serves as Instructor of Music at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Harrison County Campus and previously held faculty appointments at Stillman College and the University of the Ozarks. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from Arkansas State University. He serves as Vice President of the Gulf Coast Music Teachers Association and is active as a recitalist and adjudicator.

Henrique Tártare Fortunato

From Festival to Legacy: Four Decades of the Hattiesburg Music Teachers League Composer Festival

Henrique Tártare Fortunato is a Doctor of Musical Arts student in Piano Performance and a Graduate Assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi, studying with Dr. Elizabeth Moak. He holds a Master of Music degree from the University of South Dakota, where he studied with Dr. Alessandra Feris, and a Bachelor 's degree in Piano Performance from Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina under Dr. Luis Cláudio Barros.

Fortunato's background in music education includes academic and private group piano instruction, individual lessons, and community outreach teaching. As a pianist, he regularly collaborates with vocalists, instrumentalists, and choral ensembles in academic and community settings, and serves as a church pianist and organist. His competition awards include first prize in the 2025 Mississippi MTNA-Steinway Young Artist Piano Competition and the 2023 South Dakota MTNA Young Artist Competition, third place at the XXVIII Concurso de Piano Souza Lima, and finalist recognition in the 2022-2023 University of South Dakota Concerto Competition and the 2020 Concurso de Piano Gilberto Tinetti.

Ian Hominick

Faculty Forum: Creating a Smooth Transfer from Community College to a Four-Year University

A native of Nova Scotia, Ian Hominick earned his doctorate in Piano Performance from Ohio State University. He studied with and served as assistant to the legendary American pianist Earl Wild and also served as assistant to Tchaikovsky Competition silver-medalist André Laplante. As an active soloist, adjudicator and teacher, he maintained a busy schedule of concerts and master classes across the United States, Canada as well as in Europe and China. He has three critically-acclaimed CD’s to date and is the author of “Earl Wild: The Brilliant Career of an American Pianist” recently released by Bloomsbury Press. Hominick currently serves as Piano Area Chair at the University of Mississippi; Artistic Director of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and is a past president of the Mississippi Music Teachers Association.

Douglas Mark

Faculty Forum: Creating a Smooth Transfer from Community College to a Four-Year University

Dr. Douglas Mark is Professor of Brass Studies and Director of the Community Music School at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS. He provides instruction in applied brass, music education, music appreciation, and directs the MUW brass ensembles. Prior to his arrival at the W, he was Professor of Trombone/Low Brass at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS. He has held similar positions at the Hochstein School of Music, Hamilton College, Nazareth College, and Colgate University, all located in western NY. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Dr. Mark has performed in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Russia and Taiwan as well as with numerous orchestras and has been an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

In the summer months, Dr. Mark serves as resident artist and Dean of Students at the Atlantic Music Festival, located in Waterville, ME. Dr. Mark received his DMA from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with John Marcellus. He earned his MM from the New England Conservatory of Music and undergraduate degrees in music performance and sociology from Northwestern University. His musical training also included studies with John Swallow, Frank Crisafulli, and Per Brevig. Dr. Mark is an artist-clinician for the Buffet Group USA and Antoine Courtois-Paris trombones.

Jonathan Mitchell

Faculty Forum: Creating a Smooth Transfer from Community College to a Four-Year University

Jonathan Mitchell is an instructor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (Jackson County Campus) where he has taught piano and music theory since 2016. A graduate of Millsaps College and LSU, Dr. Mitchell is active as a scholar, a teacher, and as a performer. Currently, he is the president of the Gulf Coast Music Teachers Association (GCMTA) and the chair of theory and composition for the Mississippi Music Teachers Association (MMTA.) Dr. Mitchell attended the Brevard Music Center in the summer of 2002 and has played for several important pianists including Alexander Peskanov, Ann Schein, Vladimir Valjarević, Peter Takács, Pavlina Dokovska, and Robert Taub. His major teachers were Lynn Raley and Michael Gurt. Steinway recognized Jonathan as a Top Piano Teacher in 2023. He is Steinway Educational partner.

Gregório Oliveira

From Festival to Legacy: Four Decades of the Hattiesburg Music Teachers League Composer Festival

Gregório Oliveira is a pianist and scholar pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Southern Mississippi under the guidance of Dr. Ellen Elder. With master’s degrees in Piano Performance from Georgia State University and Musicology from the University of São Paulo, he maintains an active profile that combines performance, research, pedagogy, and collaboration. At the University of Southern Mississippi, he serves as a Graduate Assistant in piano and as a Collaborative Pianist, accompanying applied lessons, juries, recitals, and ensembles. He also serves as President of the University’s MTNA Collegiate Chapter, where he contributes to projects that connect piano pedagogy, professional development, and community engagement.

Oliveira's research interests include keyboard performance and improvisation, music theory and analysis, Brazilian concert music, and piano pedagogy. His peer-reviewed research on Brazilian music has been published in Musica Theorica, and he has presented his work at conferences of the CMS, MTNA, IPPA, and ANPPOM. Awards and recognitions include the Chopin Society of Atlanta Scholarship, first prize in the MMTA Collegiate Competitions (Graduate Solo Division), the Steigner Piano Scholarship, the CMS David Z. Kushner Student Paper Award, a CAPES Research Fellowship, and Honorable Mention at the NCKP Piano Conference.

Adrienne Park

Flowers and Family – A Selection of Piano Preludes from Flower Catalog, Books 1 & 2 by American Composer Stephanie Ann Boyd – commissioned by women and featuring poetry and artwork by women

Adrienne Park has extensive experience as a collaborative pianist in chamber, symphonic, and contemporary music settings. She has performed in recital with violinist Joshua Bell, cellists Shauna Rolston and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, bassist Edgar Meyer, flutists Timothy Hutchins and Tara Helen O’Connor, bassoonist Frank Morelli, saxophonist Nikita Zimin, horn artist Frøydis Ree Wekre, percussion group NEXUS, soprano Mary Wilson, and tenor Telly Leung.

Park is Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano at the University of Mississippi and Head of Collaborative Piano, mentoring graduate collaborative pianists, coaching chamber ensembles, and collaborating with UM students and faculty. She is also the Artistic Director of the UM Music concert series Sonic Explorations which features multimedia performances with music faculty and professional musicians in the region.

Prof. Park has been Principal Piano/Celeste with Memphis Symphony Orchestra since 2004, and she performs regularly with Iris Collective, Memphis Chamber Music Society and Blueshift Ensemble, a contemporary chamber ensemble based in Memphis, performing works by ICEBERG New Music composers. She was the Banff Centre for the Art’s faculty collaborative pianist for six years and studied with Abbey Simon and Ruth Tomfohrde at the University of Houston and Robert Silverman at the University of British Columbia. For more information: adrienneparkpiano.com

Jesyel Cezar Quevedo

From Festival to Legacy: Four Decades of the Hattiesburg Music Teachers League Composer Festival

Jesyel Cezar Quevedo is a Brazilian pianist, composer, and educator currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at The University of Southern Mississippi, where he studies with Dr. Ellen Elder. His repertoire includes major works of the European piano tradition as well as Brazilian and Latin American music, with works by Ravel, Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, and Camargo Guarnieri, as well as his own compositions. Quevedo received the Láurea Acadêmica from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) upon completing his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree under Dr. Ney Fialkow. His honors also include First Prize in the Franz Liszt Foundation Composition Competition in 2018 and Third Prize in the Souza Lima Piano Competition in 2021. He later earned a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Wyoming, where he studied with Dr. Theresa Bogard. During his graduate studies in Wyoming, Quevedo taught piano, aural skills, and music history while also working as a collaborative pianist with singers and instrumentalists. He continues to combine performance, teaching, collaboration, and composition in his professional work.

Rosângela Yazbec Sebba

From Baroque to Today – Exploring Piano Works for Beginner and Intermediate Students

Rosângela Sebba is a Professor of Piano at Mississippi State University, where she coordinates the piano area for the Department of Music and the Community Music School. She serves as a reviewer for the American Music Teacher Magazine, College Music Society Symposium and is part of the International Initiatives, a program at the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. She has performed, taught masterclasses, and presented lectures throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, at state, regional, national and international conferences. Her album Eight Sonatinas and the Sonata for Piano by M. Camargo Guarnieri was the first complete world-released recording of the set, funded by a Brazilian Arts Council. In 2017 she released a chamber music CD on the Centaur Label, featuring works by contemporary composers.

Rosângela serves as secretary of the Golden Triangle Music Forum, District Audition Chair, and MMTA VP for Pre-College Evaluations. As a member of the Mississippi Arts Commission Artist Roster, she was named a Fellow Artist in 2015. Recognized as a Steinway Artist in 2013, she received the Steinway Teacher of the Year Award in 2022 and 2023, as well as inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teachers Hall of Fame. In 2024 she received the Mississippi Music Teachers Association Outstanding Teacher Award and the 2024 MSU Grisham Master Teacher Award.

Carolina Whitfield-Smith

Exploring Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” in Music Lessons

Carolina K. Whitfield-Smith is an independent music teacher in Jackson, Mississippi, where she has run a private studio focused on piano and theory since 2002. She maintains membership in Music Forum of Jackson (local affiliate of MMTA and MTNA) and MacDowell Music Club (affiliated with MFMC and NFMC), and has served in various offices of both- president, secretary, program VP, whatnot (she counts herself lucky to have been drafted into a teacher community where we all take turns). For 16 years she was a chair of the District IV Federated Festival (the last 10 of which she was also state chair), and from 2003-2021ish, she was counselor of Jr. MacDowell Music Club of Jackson. She is working to reinstate the club, so stay tuned. Currently she is President of Music Forum and Jr. Clubs Advisor of MacDowell.

Whitfield-Smith completed her B.S. with a major in music at Millsaps College, where she studied piano with Elizabeth Moak and Jonathan Sweat. Her other beloved piano teachers were Betty Simms of Raleigh, NC, Kay Johnson of Jackson, MS, and Lois Svard at Bucknell University. Close piano teacher mentors include Kay, Annette Joe, Jacquelyn Thornell, and Sandra Polanski.

Susan Smith

Faculty Forum: Creating a Smooth Transfer from Community College to a Four-Year University

Dr. Susan A. Smith currently teaches applied voice, music theory, ear training and recital class at Jones College, where she previously served as Fine Arts Division Chair. Dr. Smith is also the Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Columbia, MS. Prior to coming to Mississippi, she was the Director of Choral Activities at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN, where she conducted and travelled internationally with her choral ensembles as well as The Tennessee Ambassadors. She has taught at both high school and college levels in Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi and has degrees from The Florida State University in Vocal Performance, Music Theory, and Choral Music Education and Conducting.

Dr. Smith is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Voice and is active as a vocal judge and clinician. She has presented and/or published articles on vocal technique, sight singing, and the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet in high school choral programs. Dr. Smith received the Clayton Krehbiel conducting award while in Florida and was chosen as a recipient of the Lamplighters award as well as Teacher of the Year at JCJC. In addition to teaching responsibilities, Dr. Smith is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and serves as President for the Hattiesburg Music Teachers League and Vocal Area Chair for Mississippi Music Teachers National Association.

Jianyu Zhao

From Festival to Legacy: Four Decades of the Hattiesburg Music Teachers League Composer Festival

Jianyu Zhao is from Shandong Province, China. She is currently in the progress of pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Southern Mississippi, under the direction of Dr. Ellen Elder. Ms. Zhao holds the degree of Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy and Performance and Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where she studied with Professor Ingrid Clarfield.

Ms. Zhao currently serves as the co-Vice President of the MTNA Student Chapter at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is a member of the Mississippi Music Teachers Association and Hattiesburg Music Teachers League. She is a faculty member of the Southern Miss Piano Institute, and her students have attended the MMTA Pre-college Evaluations and received superior ratings. She has taught group piano and voice classes in China.

Ms. Zhao performed Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Todd Machover’s Philadelphia Voices, at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center as well as Carnegie Hall, as a member of the chorus. She has also performed in the chorus of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the New York Philharmonic in David Geffen Hall.

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