Ellen Nordstrom
Voice Department Chair
Ellen Nordstrom (lyric mezzo) graduated from the University of North Carolina and continued her studies in voice with Sandra Sliker and Louis Burkot at Dartmouth College. She later served as an intern for two years with the Lake George Opera and received a Lila Wallace Grant awarded to music school faculty to pursue studies in speech pathology under mentor Mary McDonald Klimek at Harvard Medical School. Her other coaches and teachers have included John Balme, Steve Steiner, John Wustman, Richard Hughes, Stafford Wing, Marajean Marvin and Peggy Russell. She debuted in Europe in 1995 with the Rome Opera Festival as Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus. She also has performed lead and comprimaria roles with the Brandenburg Opera, Dartmouth Repertory Players, Echo Valley Arts Opera Series, Granite State Opera, Handel Society of Dartmouth College, Liederkranz Society of Manhattan, Northern Stage, Opera Burlington, Opera North, Operafest of New Hampshire, Vermont Opera Theater and Woodstock Madrigals. She is a frequent lecturer in northern New England on vocal health and Italian diction and has been featured as a vocal coach on MTV's Made as well as NECN's Sports World. Nordstrom has taught at Classicopia, Colby-Sawyer College, Dartmouth College, Interplay Jazz, Kimball Union Academy, Operafestival di Roma's Opera Academy in collaboration with the University of Virginia, Phillips Exeter Academy, Plymouth State University, St. Paul's School, UNH and UVMC. Some of her students have gone on to perform on American Idol, MTV, Star Search and at the Metropolitan Opera. She works in conjunction with local speech therapy recovery programs and serves as a freelance music critic for the state of New Hampshire for the Performing Arts of New England out of Kennebunk, Maine. Most recently, Nordstrom taught at AIR (Arts in Reach) in Portsmouth as well as BYPC (Bedford Youth Performing Company).
Mark Andrew Cleveland, bass, has performed extensively throughout the Northeast. His credits include performances with Boston Baroque and Cantata Singers in Boston to performances with the Bethlehem Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the Southwest Symphony, Florida. He has performed at Tanglewood, Ravinia, and at the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his frequent appearances as an oratorio soloist, Mr. Cleveland has appeared on the operatic stage in Spoleto, Italy and Charleston, S.C. with the Festivale dei Due Mondi, the June Opera Festival of New Jersey, Granite State Opera and Monadnock Festival. A respected collaborative musician, Mr. Cleveland has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout New England. Recently, he toured Europe with La Donna Musicale, a Boston based chamber ensemble which specializes in the historically informed performances of women composers from the Baroque era. In addition, he has recorded with New World Records and Telarc in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to the 20th century. In addition to his frequent solo performances, Mr. Cleveland maintains an active vocal studio. His students have received top scores in NH All State auditions, been judged competition winners, and represented New Hampshire as winners of the National Music Teachers Association at District and National competitions. His students have matriculated at many prestigious colleges and conservatories including Boston Conservatory, Cincinnati Conservatory, Ithaca College, New England Conservatory, and Westminster Choir College. Mr. Cleveland teaches voice at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Phillips Exeter Academy, St. Paul’s School, and at the Concord Community Music School. A magna cum laude graduate of Westminster Choir College, Mr. Cleveland is the Director of Music at Grace Episcopal Church in Manchester, NH.
Maria Isaak received a master of music degree and bachelor of fine arts degree in bassoon performance from the New England Conservatory. She also is certified as a Kodály Specialist and has studied at the International School for Kodály Studies in Hungary. She has taught in the San Francisco public schools and supervised music education interns/student teachers at the University of New Hampshire. Isaak has performed with the Boston Philharmonic and the symphonies of Central Massachusetts, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Sacramento. She has been a concerto soloist with orchestras in San Francisco, Chile, and China and has attended Tanglewood, Banff, Chautauqua, and Sarasota festivals.
arolyn Parrott earned a bachelor's degree in voice from Lake Erie College and a master's in Italian literature from the University of California-Berkeley, as well as a degree in storytelling and music therapy from Lesley College. She is a member of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Touring Roster and the award-winning Blackwater Band. Parrott is known regionally for calling traditional country dances.
Jane Berlin Pauley received a bachelor of music degree in performance from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. She pursued further studies at Westminster Choir College, Manhattan School of Music, Aspen Opera Theater Center and the Tanglewood Music Center. Her opera and concert engagements include Rutgers Summerfest, New England Lyric Operetta, Dartmouth Handel Society, Longwood Opera, and Opera D’amore. Her teachers include Susan Clickner, Bruce Kolb, Cynthia Hoffman and William Sharp.
