Musical Theatre

Dr. Kristin N. Clark
Assoc. Prof., Chair, Dept. of Performing Arts
Email: Kbclark@adrian.edu
Office: Spencer-112
Office Ext.: 3893

Dr. Kristin Clark, mezzo-soprano, has been lauded for her “technical prowess” and “approachability” (classical.net). She can be heard in the role of Electre on the 2015 GRAMMY nominated recording of Milhaud’s L'Orestie d'Eschyle, for which Opera News described her voice as “slicing the air unassailably.” In 2015, Dr. Clark made her solo debut in Carnegie Hall, singing Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Blue Period Ensemble. She returns to Carnegie Hall in the summer of 2024 to sing Duruflé’s Requiem with Manhattan Concert Productions. Particularly at home on the concert stage, Dr. Clark has appeared as a guest soloist with organizations such as the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony, the Bozeman Symphony, the Oakland Choral Society, the University Musical Society, the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra, and the Adrian Symphony. Other notable concert appearances include the world premiere of Susan Botti’s Tagore Madrigals at the American Academy in Rome and a Canadian Tour of Aaron Copland’s In the Beginning. Frequently performed works include Handel’s Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Requiem, and Beethoven’s Mass in C.

Opera audiences have seen Dr. Clark on stage with Michigan Opera Theatre, Arbor Opera Theatre, The Metropolitan Baroque Ensemble, the University of Michigan Opera Theatre, and the Blue Lake Summer Arts Festival. Favorite performances include the role of Dritte Magd in Elektra with Christine Goerke and the title roles in Dido and Aeneas, Hansel and Gretel, and Gluck’s Armide. Dr. Clark's other operatic roles include Vlasta in The Passenger, Jo in Little Women, the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, Ruth in Pirates of Penzance. Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mercedes in Carmen, Madama Rose in Il Campanello, and Florence Pike in Albert Herring.

Dr. Clark completed her Doctorate in vocal performance at the University of Michigan, where she also received Master’s degrees in vocal performance and choral conducting and an undergraduate degree in music education. As a graduate student in conducting, she led the University’s Orpheus Singers and Residential College choirs, and she received the honor of conducting in master class with Helmuth Rilling. As a graduate student vocalist, Dr. Clark made solo appearances with every major choral and orchestral ensemble on campus, performed in recital with Martin Katz, and was selected to sing in master classes with Jessye Norman, Ann Baltz, and David Daniels. Dr. Clark also performed as a cover to Jessye Norman in a workshop of Laura Karpman’s Ask Your Mama. As an alum, she has returned to her alma mater to perform works by De Falla and Gubaidulina with the University Symphony Orchestra and Band.

Dr. Clark is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Adrian College. She has previously held positions teaching voice for the University of Michigan musical theatre program and at Concordia University. In the summer, she has taught on the voice faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, MPulse Vocal Arts Institute and Musical Theatre Workshops, and the Interlochen Adult Choir Camp. Graduates of Dr. Clark’s studio have gone on to perform leading and supporting roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in national tours, to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance, and to teach music in elementary, secondary, and collegiate classrooms.

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Assist. Prof. Phillip A. Clark
Assist. Prof., Director, Choir and Orchestra
Email: pclark@adrian.edu
Office: Spencer-113/103
Office Ext.: 4118

Phillip received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance at the University of Toledo. As a pianist, Professor Clark has performed in recitals with soloists from many of America’s top opera companies and symphony orchestras. He has also performed as a guest artist with regional symphonies, including the Adrian Symphony Orchestra. In the spring of 2023, Professor Clark performed at Steinway Hall in New York City, in honor of his achievements as a University of Toledo alumnus. Under Professor Clark’s direction, our choir and orchestra perform multiple concerts each year, including the beloved community holiday tradition of Lessons and Carols. In June of 2024, the College Choir will join with invited choirs from all over the country in performance at Carnegie Hall.

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Pianist Dr. John Etsell collaborates with musical artists from all around the world. He is currently Staff Pianist at Detroit Opera and an adjunct professor at Adrian College. He has been on faculty at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy, and The Institute for Young Dramatic Voices in Reno, NV. Equally active in the instrumental realm, John is a member of the Lumino Trio (luminomusic.com), which has been described as “just the sort of high-execution, high-ambition ensemble that Detroit’s chamber music world so desperately needs” (Avant Music News).

John holds degrees in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Nevada, Reno, and received a D.M.A. in Collaborative Piano at the University of Michigan. He espouses a creative, open-minded, and improvisatory approach to performance informed by scholarship, personal sensibility, and intuition.

Prof. Peter T. Ford
Professor
Email: pford@adrian.edu
Office: Spencer-116
Office Ext.: 4507

As a serious composer, he has published various combinations of chamber music. At the request of music education publisher Conway Publications, he has authored and published a series of three substantive music theory textbooks, Music Fundamentals, Practical Music Theory Part 1, and Practical Music Theory Part 2. He is mentioned multiple times in the acknowledgments for his contributions to Mark Gridley’s ubiquitous Jazz History text Concise Guide to Jazz.

Ford is an internationally-recognized scholar of the music of the late progressive rock keyboardist and composer Keith Emerson. Ford’s work on his saxophone quartet arrangement of Emerson Lake and Palmer’s suite Tarkus is a focus of Woodrow Chenoweth’s 2019 doctoral academic research at the University of Arizona. Ford’s 1994 master’s thesis on Emerson’s compositional style is referenced multiple times in a 2006 dissertation by Giuseppi Lupis at the University of Georgia. In 2019, at the invitation of video producers in British Columbia, Ford was sought out and interviewed on camera regarding structural aspects of the music of Keith Emerson, for a documentary on Emerson’s legacy (still in production).

Ford actively gigs on jazz and rock piano around the Midwest as a freelance musician. He can be found playing keyboards in a variety of musical situations, ranging from jazz clubs to planetarium programs to playing keys for various popular tribute artists. More information can be found at his personal website petefordtheory.com.

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Anna Hart, soprano, is a Nevada native and has earned Bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Performance and Spanish Language from the University of Nevada, Reno, as well as a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan. She has performed many leading roles, including Königen der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, and the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Anna continues to further her dedication to education and vocal science and maintains memberships to the National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Musicological Society, Society for Ethnomusicology, and the Pan American Vocology Association. When she is not providing snacks at Adrian College, she works as the Assistant Director of Voice at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival.