Faculty
| Craig Leland Sparks, multifaceted musician, composer and conductor, has been performing throughout the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for 10 years. He is comfortable in a broad range of styles including jazz, blues, rock, music theater, and classical. Currently, he leads his own jazz group, The Craig Sparks Swingtet, that performs a mix of standards and contemporary song arranged in a jazz style. In addition, he is working on his first solo albus of original blues-rock inspired music. Mr. Sparks is the conductor and artictic director for the Bowie Senior Chorale. Under his leadership, the choir has grown to over 100 members and recently received the Governor's Award for Leaderhip in Aging. Mr. Sparks hold a B.C. Summa Cum Laude from Towson University and an M.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, both in Music Composition. |
Rebecca E. Bell, soprano, recently made her international debut in Florence, Italy, with performances of Mozart scenes and arias. Miss Bell is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Maryland in Vocal Pedagogy, where she studies under the direction of world-renown Baritone, Dominic Cossa. Rebecca holds a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, a Masters Degree in Voice from the Shenandoah Conservatory, and a Bachelors degree in Voice Performance and piano from Stetson University. Rebecca is an adjunct faculty member at Carroll Community College, where she directs two choirs and teaches voice, maintaining a studio of 20-25 students. Rebecca is also the Director of Music at Ark and Dove Presbyterian Church.
Mark Edwards, Interim Director of Contemporary Music at Ark and Dove Presbyterian Church. Mark currently holds a Master's degree from the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore. He graduated magna cum laude from Columbus State University in 2007. In 2008 he achieved First Place at the Baltimore Music Clubs Competition., and in 2009 received first place at the Montreal International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition. Although he is a classical guitarist, he also has skills in jazz and popular styles. His experience playing in a military praise band where members were constantly changing, gives him flexibility to work with many people with different economic, cultural and musical backgrounds and goals.
Joshua Horsch, Executive Director of and Instructor in the School of Music, has a Master's degree in orchestral conducting from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor's degree from Ithaca College in piano performance. He has served as a pianist with philharmonic orchestras and chamber music groups. He has conducted orchestras both here on the east coast and in Kiev, Ukraine. Beyond that he has conducted opera and musical theater events, as well as choral groups. He has served as a coordinator of orchestral studies and an administrative assistant which allowed him to hone his administrative skills.
Brandon Norton was the principal trumpet for Columbus State University (CSU) Symphony Orchestra in Georgia, as well as principal trumpet of the CSU Wind Ensemble. He also performed with the Chattahoochee Valley brass quintet, the CSU chamber winds, and the CSU jazz band. He also performed with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra at the Springer Opera House. Brandon is currently pursuing his second year of study for a Master's of Music at Peabody Institute. At Peabody, he is a member of the Shogun Brass Quartet and is associate principal trumpet for the Peabody Symphony Orchestra.