Juliana Gondek is Professor of Voice and Chair of the Vocal Studies Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. A soprano/mezzo-soprano, she has had a distinguished career on the operatic stage in roles such as Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, Bizet's Carmen, Handel's Alcina, Theodora, Rodelinda, and Ginevra, Puccini's Mimi, Rosalinde ("Die Fledermaus"), many Mozart heroines, and Pat Nixon ("Nixon in China"), as well as dozens of world premieres and symphony appearances. She is also a highly regarded master teacher who lectures and leads workshops in the USA and worldwide, and frequently judges some of the nation’s foremost vocal competitions.
Paul Chihara is Professor of Music Theory and Composition and Chair of the Composition Area at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also an accomplished composer for both the concert hall and for films, who studied with Nadia Boulanger, Ernst Pepping, and Gunther Schuller. His compositions have won numerous awards and have been played by notable ensembles around the world, and he has also written several groundbreaking ballets including Shin-ju and The Tempest. In addition, he has composed scores for nearly 100 feature films, including films by Sidney Lumet, Louis Malle, and Hayao Miyazaki.
Susan McClary - Acting Assoc. Vice-Provost, International Studios UCLA
UCLA-International Institute
Susan McClary is Professor of Musicology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Best known for her book, Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality (U. Minnesota Press, 1991), she is a specialist in the cultural criticism and critical theory of music, especially in the European and Western popular canons. She has written widely on subjects like feminism, narrativity and gender issues as expressed in the European music tradition, and is an avid pianist and harpsichordist.
