DAPA -- Music: Meet Our Faculty

DAPA Music Faculty

Raymond Sidoti
Violin, Viola, Conductor

Several successful New York recitals and repeated performances in major continental capitals (many sponsored by the US State Department) have won violinist Raymond Sidoti the highest critical acclaim. New York Times reviewer Allen Hughes has written: "Raymond Sidoti produced an evenness of tone and reliability of intonation that made the listeners comfortable from start to finish...Not surprisingly, his interpretations were products of intelligence, stylistic acuity and taste."

He has performed as soloist with the Rome Radio Orchestra (RAI) and Rome Festival Orchestra in Italy. While in Rome on a Fulbright Grant, he was active in the performance of contemporary American and Italian music, frequently on European radio and television. Similar performances for the media in the United States include recorded recitals for the WQXR Network, which have been broadcast throughout the United States, Europe and the Orient. In past years, he has been Concertmaster of the Rome Festival Orchestra, the Superior Chamber Orchestra and Missouri Symphony Society Chamber Orchestra, and has been awarded grants for the touring program of the South Dakota Arts Council.

Dr. Sidoti received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music where, from an early age, he was a student of the noted concert violinist and protégé of Leopold Auer, Joseph Knitzer. Subsequently working with Pina Carmirelli (solo violinist of I Musici), he did post-graduate study at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. As assistant to Robert Gerle, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Ohio State University where he was elected to the musical honor society, Pi Kappa Lambda. He has been on the faculty of Baylor University where he was Chairman of the String Department, the Rome Festival Institute in Italy, Northern Michigan University where he was first violinist of the Shiras String Quartet, Stephens College, Dordt College and Capital University where he was first violinist of the Capital University String Quartet. He has conducted the Chamber Orchestra at Capital University and more recently conducted the Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra at Augustana College where he was Associate Professor of Violin and Viola.

Under his leadership, the Augustana Chamber Orchestra performed on and off campus in Sioux Falls. Their tours in South Dakota and surrounding states included a performance at Minneapolis' prestigious Orchestra Hall. The orchestra was recorded for broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio, South Dakota Public Radio and KELO Television, and received invitations to tour Europe under the auspices of several internationally known organizations.

Dr. Sidoti has conducted the J. Laiten Weed Honors Orchestra and conducted the Sioux Empire Youth Symphony and Chamber Orchestra for more than twelve years. He has been President of the South Dakota String Teacher's Association and is now its Newsletter Editor. He is listed in Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in American Music and The International Who's Who in Music.

Sue Sidoti
Violin, Viola, Piano, Assistant Conductor

Sue Sidoti studied violin and viola with Robert Gerle and Raymond Sidoti, organ with Bruce Eicher, Donald McDonald and Jean Langlais, and piano with Reynaldo Reyes and Betty Oberacker. After preliminary study in violin, viola and organ at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the University of Michigan, she received her Bachelor of Music degree in organ from Westminster Choir College in Princeton and her Master of Music degree in violin and viola from The Ohio State University where she was elected to the music honor society, Pi Kappa Lambda. While at The Ohio State University, she was graduate associate and violinist of the graduate string quartet.

Mrs. Sidoti has performed extensively in the United States and Europe and has been violist of the Shiras String Quartet in residence at Northern Michigan University and the Capital University String Quartet in residence at Capital University. She has also performed as soloist with the Rome Festival Orchestra. She has previously taught at Baylor University, the Rome Festival Institute in Italy, Stephens College (where she was also chapel organist), Augustana College, Northwestern College and Dordt College. She has received touring grants from the South Dakota Arts Council as a member of the Sidoti Trio, has been violist of the Academy String Quartet in residence at Augustana College and Director of the former Augustana Academy for the Performing Arts. Formerly Associate Principal Violist of the South Dakota Symphony, she has been Principal Violist of the Rome Festival Orchestra, the Superior Chamber Orchestra and the Missouri Symphony Society Chamber Orchestra and is currently Principal Violist of the Sioux City (Iowa) Symphony Orchestra and violist in the Sidoti Trio and Quartet. She is Personnel Manager of the South Dakota Symphony, was formerly President and Newsletter Editor of the South Dakota String Teacher's Association, and is listed in The International Who's Who of Women.

Julie Melik-Stepanov
Piano

Julie Melik-Stepanov has taught piano very successfully for over 25 years. Her students repeatedly win top honors at state, local and regional competitions including South Dakota MTNA-MTA, South Dakota Symphony Young Artists Competition, Genevieve Truran Competition and Schubert Club Competition (St. Paul). Her daughter and former student, Zarina, won first prize in the J. Earl Lee Piano Competition in 2000 and is now studying at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, earning graduate degrees in Piano Performance.

Prior to teaching and playing in America, she was Assistant Professor and Director of Keyboard Activities at the National College of Ballet and Dance in Baku (Soviet Union). She was also Assistant Professor of Piano at Baku Regional University and the Special School of Music in Baku. In Sioux Falls, she has taught at the University of Sioux Falls and is currently Staff Accompanist at Augustana College in addition to maintaining a private piano studio. She holds a BMA degree in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from the National Music College in Baku, and a MMA degree and an Artist's Diploma in Piano Performance from the Azerbaijan National Conservatory of Music.

Karren Melik-Stepanov
Cello, Chamber Music Program

Cellist Karren Melik-Stepanov maintains a very active schedule as a teacher, recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. Currently on the
faculty of Augustana College where he teaches applied cello, chamber music and string pedagogy, Dr. Melik-Stepanov was Assistant Professor at the State College of Music and City School of Music in Baku (Soviet Union) and Associate Professor at the Azerbaijan National Conservatory of Music, also in Baku.

Dr. Melik-Stepanov earned his BMA and MMA degrees with honors in Cello Performance at the Azerbaijan National Conservatory of Music in Baku, also earning an Artist's Diploma in Cello Performance. He later earned his DMA degree in Cello Performance from the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory of Music in Yerevan (Soviet Union), and counts Mstislav Rostropovich as one of his principal cello teachers. Before coming to America he performed in Southern Europe, Russia, North Africa, the Baltic Republics and the Caucasian Republics,
serving as Principal Cellist of the Moscow Regional Chamber Players, Co-Principal Cellist of the National Cinema Orchestra in Moscow and Associate Principal Cellist of the Moscow Experimental Opera Orchestra. He also played in the Azerbaijan National Chamber Orchestra, the trio in Residence at the Azerbaijan National Conservatory and the "Apsheron" Chamber Players.

Louisa Biteler
Violin, Chamber Music Program - Suzuki

Louisa Biteler is a graduate of Luther College (Decorah, Iowa), where she held the position of concert master of the Luther College Symphony Orchestra and attained a bachelor's degree in K - 12 Education. A native of Sioux Falls, she is currently a private Suzuki/Traditional style violin instructor. She has 14 years of studio teaching experience in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota with students ranging in ages from 3 to 50+ years. She recently celebrated her 8th season with the South Dakota Symphony as a member of the first violin section.

Dr. Beverly Gibson
Woodwind, Chamber Music Program

Dr. Beverly Gibson is an Associate Professor of clarinet and saxophone at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she teaches applied clarinet and saxophone, chamber music, pedagogy, jazz history and world music. She is also a visiting adjunct professor at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. She holds the bass clarinet/Eb clarinet position with the South Dakota Symphony and Northwest Iowa Symphony. She has appeared as a soloist for the College Music Society, Northern Plains Clarinet Symposium, MidWest Clarifest, International ClarinetFestand the National Music Museum. She has presented clinics for Yamaha Music Asia, the Northern Saxophone Alliance, Florida Music Educator's Convention, and numerous other bandmasters' conventions.

Her international recital tours have included successful performances in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, and New Zealand. A versatile woodwind performer, Dr. Gibson has played in the house orchestras on several cruise lines, numerous big bands such as the Jimmy Dorsey
Orchestra and has backed up artists such as the Temptations and Andy Williams. She is a featured clarinet soloist on the CD "Blues for Cook."

Her areas of research have included post World War II Norwegian composers for the clarinet, Klezmer music, and Swiss clarinet music. She is the leader of "The Sweet Swinging Swiss," an ensemble that specializes in the folk music of Switzerland.

A native of Buffalo, New York, Gibson was awarded a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia, her Master of music degree in multiple woodwind performance from the University of North Texas and her doctorate in clarinet performance from Louisiana State University. She has held teaching positions for the Plano, Texas school district, McNeese State University and the University of Central Arkansas. Her orchestral experience includes positions with the Baton Rouge, Rapides and Lake Charles Symphony Orchestras (Louisiana), the Sioux City Symphony (Iowa) and the Classical Music Festival in Austria. She performs on Buffet clarinets and Keilwerth saxophones exclusively.

Kevin Fullerton
Brass Chamber Groups, Music Theory Classes

Kevin Fullerton is currently an adjunct instructor at the University South Dakota and Kilian Community College. He holds Masters degrees in Musicology and Music Performance. Kevin has extensive performing experience as a bass trombonist, and is also a jazz scholar. He recently returned from Helsinki, Finland where he presented his research on Nat Towles at an international music history symposium. He is new on faculty with DAPA and is looking forward to directing jazz combos, brass chamber groups, and teaching music theory classes.