Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center
Department - Position
- Art + Design : Media + Communication - Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
Department - Position
- School of Fine Arts - Director of Theatre
Alexandra Aguirre has performed as a flutist all over the world. Her career has allowed her to perform as a soloist, a chamber musician, and an orchestral musician.
She is a founding member of Madera Winds and the Ambrosia Flute Trio. She has made appearances at the Festivales Internacionales de Flautistas in Peru, UTRGV's Flute Day, the National Flute Association Conventions, Colorado Flute Association, Oklahoma Flute Society, International Clarinet Association Convention, the World Saxophone Congress in France, the International Saxophone Symposium, Oklahoma State University Saxophone Summit, and the North American Saxophone Alliance National and Regional Conferences.
She is also an active pedagogue, having developed an innovative technique using the Nintendo Wii to monitor body movement while playing the flute. She has also judged competitions and taught masterclasses in Peru, New Mexico, New York, Colorado, and Oklahoma.
She has performed as a soloist with the New York University Symphony Orchestra, directed by Gunther Schuller. She also won the National Flute Association's Jazz Flute Big Band Competition and the Great Southwest Flute Fest's Chamber Music Competition.
She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Northern Colorado. She received an MA and BM from New York University.
Department - Position
- Department of Performing Arts - Director of the School of Fine Arts, Adjunct Instructor of Flute
Department - Position
- Art + Design : Media + Communication - Assistant Professor of Art
Sarah Engel is a multidisciplinary artist from Norman, Oklahoma. She received her BFA in Media Art with an emphasis in Photography from the University of Oklahoma. She taught art, photography, new media and humanities courses as adjunct at Rose State College and the University of Oklahoma from 2015-2018. She was faculty in photography at Firehouse Art Center, a community arts center in Norman, from 2014-2018, as well.
Department - Position
- Art + Design : Media + Communication - Assistant Professor of Mass Communication
- Art + Design : Media + Communication - Chair of Art + Design : Media + Communication
Nicholaus Meyers, a native of Georgia, is currently Director of Bands and Percussion at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma. Dr. Meyers directs the ECU marching band, wind ensemble, concert band, percussion ensemble, teaches applied percussion, conducting, and other courses in the music education sequence. Additionally, he organizes a large annual high school marching band competition “Tigerpalooza” at East Central University that brings marching bands from across the state of Oklahoma to compete. Before coming to ECU, he was the Director of Bands, Percussion, and Composition at Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota. He was also the Assistant Director of the North Dakota State University “Gold Star Marching Band” who were part of 6 Division I FCS National Championship football seasons, 2011-2015, 2017. Additionally, he serves as a faculty member at IMC (International Music Camp), a member of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, as well as the drumline arranger for the Northeastern State University “River Hawk” drumline in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Before coming to Oklahoma, Dr. Meyers also taught at Augusta State University, Troy University, and Augusta Technical College and was the assistant band director at Lakeside High School in Evans, Georgia. Other ensembles he has performed with consist of the Augusta Symphony, Augusta Opera, Augusta Players, Augusta Chorale Society, Greater Grand Forks Symphony, Oak Ridge Symphony, and Fort Gordon Dinner Theater. He also performs throughout the year on recitals, masterclasses and adjudicates solo, chamber, and large group contest. He is also a commissioned composer whose works have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. His latest CD “Stepping Away” was released on September 19, 2016 which features his solo piano music.
He is the Chair of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) Composition Committee, past President of the PAS North Dakota Chapter, is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), and Percussive Arts Society (PAS). Dr. Meyers is also a Black Swamp Percussion, Innovative Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, Gon Bops, Aquarian Drumheads, and Yamaha Performing Artist.
He received his degrees from North Dakota State University (DMA), the University of Tennessee (MM), and Augusta State University (BM). He also studied at the University of Georgia and in Oslo, Norway with the Oslo Philharmonic.
Department - Position
- Department of Performing Arts - Assistant Professor of Music
- Department of Performing Arts - Director of Bands
Destany Schafer-Morgan is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in the state of Oklahoma. She earned her master’s degree in social work, and school social worker certification, from the University of Cincinnati in 2013. In 2019, Destany completed her doctorate in social work from the University of Southern California, where she focused on the Grand Challenge of reducing extreme economic inequality within the Native American population. Destany has extensive experience in the field of child welfare, where she worked closely with families and children. Destany is also an active member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), which is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world.
Department - Position
- Department of Professional Programs and Human Services - Assistant Professor and Internship Director
Graduated from ECU with two masters (Education of Music and Theatre). I have been a member of ACT II Theatre since 1998 and have been president of this organization for the past 7 years. I, along with Rudy Lupinski, founded the ACT II Youth Drama Camp in 2001 and we touch the lives of the Ada community youth through stage performance and live theatre. My passion is teaching and I have been teaching at ECU for over 16 years.
Department - Position
- Department of Performing Arts - Instructor of Theatre
Department - Position
- Art + Design : Media + Communication - Instructor of Mass Communication
Nathaniel Berman holds a Doctor of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado, specializing in woodwind performance. He received his master’s degree from New York University in music performance with an emphasis in chamber music, and a bachelor’s degree in clarinet, saxophone, and flute performance from Michigan State University.
An active performer, he has had recitals at the FNMC New Music Festival in Stony Brook NY, the World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg, France, numerous North American Saxophone Alliance conferences, the International Saxophone Symposium, the International Clarinet Association, and the National Flute Association, and was featured at the 2015 Festival Internacional de Flautistas in Lima, Peru. He was guest artist on saxophone, flute, and clarinet at the Aspen Music Festival, and on contrabass saxophone at Northwestern University. He was a regular member on clarinet and bass clarinet with MahlerFest Orchestra. He is a two-time winner of the NFA’s Jazz Flute Big Band competition, and performed with Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians, Jazz Unlimited, the Big Band on the Rio Grande, and the High Society Orchestra.
Teachers include Andrew Dahlke, Paul Cohen, Joseph Lulloff, Kelland Thomas, Ron Blake, Andrew Speight, James Hall, Robert Dick, Richard Sherman, Bil Jackson, Lauren Jacobson, Frank Ell, and Leroy Borchert.
Nathaniel Berman is a Dahlke Mouthpieces artist. He performs on the Virtuoso Series RS model. nathanielberman.com
Department - Position
- Department of Performing Arts - Associate Professor of Woodwinds