Faculty & Graduate Students

Dr. Brian C. Murray

Dr. Brian C. Murray is the Director of Choral Activities, Assistant Professor of Music, and Vocal Arts Area Coordinator at the University of Wyoming. At UW he conducts the Collegiate Chorale, Singing Statesmen, and Happy Jacks, as well as teaching choral conducting. 

Dr. Murray earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting at the University of North Texas, studying with Drs. Allen Hightower, Jessica Nápoles, Richard Sparks, and Kristina MacMullen. He also completed a related field in vocal studies, studying voice with Dr. David Robison and vocal literature with Dr. Jeff Snider. While at the University of North Texas, Dr. Murray served as the instructor of Fundamentals of Conducting and the conducting associate for A Cappella, University Singers, Concert Choir, and Vox Aquilae. 

Prior to beginning his doctoral coursework, Dr. Murray taught high school choir for seven years in Carrollton, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in choral music education, summa cum laude, from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music Education degree from the Florida State University. Dr. Murray has presented interest sessions for state, divisional, and international choral conferences and he has published in ChorTeach and the Choral Journal. Dr. Murray is a frequent clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor, and his professional affiliations include ACDA, NAfME, TCDA, TMAA, TMEA, WMEA, and Pi Kappa Lambda.

O'Neil Jones

A Native of Montego Bay, Jamaica, O’Neil Jones remains an active baritone soloist and conductor. Having made his solo debut in 2011, he went on to perform the lead role in Jamaica’s first operetta, 1865, a role he reprised 3 years later in the country’s first full scale opera. An active vocalist, he has been a soloist in several masterworks, most recently the Faure Requiem.  Equally interested in traditional opera, Jones’ credits include lead roles in classics such as Donizetti’s L'elisir D'amore and Edwin Penhorwood’s modern opera, Too Many Sopranos.

He is highly interested in Jamaican Choral Theatre and its amalgamation with the recital style of choral production practiced in the Americas. His current research centers on Jamaica’s search for a Post-Colonial Identity as expressed in the development of a uniquely Jamaican style of choral composition and arrangement. In the spring of 2024, he will host the Inaugural Jamaica Choral Music Symposium, which seeks to expand the availability of, and increase accessibility to Jamaican Choral Music.

Jones holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Alcorn State University and Master of Music degree with double emphases in choral conducting, and vocal performance and pedagogy from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a DMA Candidate in Choral Conducting and Literature at The University of Colorado, Boulder. When not onstage, Jones can be found enjoying a concert, listening to a wide array of musical genres from Mozart to Marley or simply enjoying a day at the beach.

 

 

 

 

Emily Peterson

Emily Peterson is a graduate student in music performance with emphasis in choral conducting and voice. Emily earned her bachelor’s degree in 2013 and master’s degree in 2023, both in music education, from the University of Wyoming. Emily taught music in Wyoming for ten years: four years of elementary general music and six years of junior high choir. Emily is actively involved in the American Choral Directors Association and the Wyoming Music Educators Association.

Amanda Ferreira

Amanda Ferreira was born in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. She started her studies as a singer in 2009 in a social program in her neighborhood, since then she has studied in the best musical education institutions in Brazil.

In 2019, she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Lyric Singing from the Alcântara Machado Arts College (FAAM) and in 2015, in the Arts Diploma in Conducting from the Technical School of Arts (ETEC).

She graduated from one of the most prestigious music schools in her home country: the Municipal School of Music of São Paulo (EMMSP) - under the guidance of Professor Maria Lucia Waldow. She was also a member of the Academy of Music of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) singing in the OSESP Academic Choir, where she had the honor of being conducted by important conductors such as: Marin Alsop, Nathalie Stutzmann and Thierry Fisher.

In addition, she stood out as a soloist in several performances by the OSESP Academic Choir at Sala São Paulo (the most important concert hall in Brazil), she also excelled in EMMSP presentations and she sang as a soloist on many stages in the state of São Paulo, for example the stage of the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, where she was a soloist in the Choral Fantasy by Beethoven in 2019.

The mezzo-soprano participated in important music festivals in Brazil in the last years, such as: 3rd Singing Academy in Trancoso, Londrina International Festival and Campos do Jordão Winter Festival, as well as she participated in international festivals, for example, the Summer Academy of Chorakademie Lübeck in Germany in 2018 and Lyrical singing course at the Higher Institute of Art of Theatro Colón, Argentina in 2020.