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Whether your passion is Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Harp, or Guitar, you will find a program to challenge and inspire you at the University of Oklahoma School of Music. You will learn from a faculty of world-renowned performers and teachers, perform in the school’s large and small ensembles, and be exposed to a wide variety of musical styles and genres. You will join a community of supportive peers who share your commitment and love of music, and you will enjoy the daily experience of practicing and performing in the OU School of Music’s beautiful facilities. Explore our several undergraduate degree options, including music performance, music education, double-major opportunities, and a music minor, to find the best fit for your goals. Further your education at the Master’s or Doctoral level by choosing the OU School of Music for graduate study. Scholarship assistance is available but competitive, including tuition-waiver support, string-specific cash awards, graduate assistantships, and yearly openings in the School of Music’s official string quartets, the Claeys Quartet (undergraduate) and the Crouse Quartet (graduate). Besides these awards and opportunities, OU also offers the Mark Allen Everett Graduate Fellowship in Strings, which supports 2 full-time graduate String Fellows annually.

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Larry Hammett

Prof. Larry Hammett

Associate Professor of Music (Guitar)

Office: Reynolds Performing Arts Center 2250
Email: ldhammett@ou.edu
Website: larryhammett.com

Professor Larry Hammett, director of guitar studies, is a recognized expert in both classical and jazz guitar. He has a master's degree in Guitar Performance and has been teaching guitar at the college level since 1982. At OU, Mr. Hammett heads one of the most successful guitar programs in the country with a full undergraduate and graduate studio and over 150 non-major guitarists each semester.

Mr. Hammett's recordings are aired worldwide and he gives over sixty performances annually both as a classical soloist and with his jazz trio. He has performed and/or given master-classes in France, Mexico, Argentina, and the United States. With his diversity, Mr. Hammett has performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s famous "Concerto de Aranjuez" with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic followed by a late night jazz session in the same evening. He also participates regularly as a Lutenist with Dr. Gene Enrico’s Collegium Musicum and accompanies the Flamenco Dance class for the OUSchool of Dance.

Mr. Hammett recently published two volumes of an innovative elementary classroom guitar book through MIDI FOR KIDS which is being used in after school programs throughout the United States. Larry Hammett is truly a renaissance man of guitar and one of a few guitarists today who is able to successfully balance such diversity.

  • MM - Texas Tech University
  • BM - Texas Tech University

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Gaye LeBlanc

Gaye LeBlanc

Assistant Professor of Music (Harp)

Office: Catlett Music Center 229
Email: gleblanc@ou.edu
Website: gayeleblanc.com

Ms. Gaye LeBlanc, a Dallas native, is enjoying an active career as an orchestral harpist, recording artist, teacher and class lecturer. She is currently principal harpist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic since 1998, Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma and recently joined the Sewanee Music Festival as harp faculty. Her orchestral experience also includes having played principal harp with Fort Smith Symphony (AR) Tulsa Symphony and Opera, Lawton Philharmonic (OK) OK Mozart Festival with the NY Amici Orchestra and nine years with Arizona Music-fest in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Before making Oklahoma her home, Ms. LeBlanc played principal harp in several orchestras in the metropolitan Dallas area including Richardson Symphony, Plano Symphony, Irving Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic and Opera, and Shreveport Symphony (LA).

Ms. LeBlanc regularly performs with touring Broadway show orchestras throughout the years, including My Fair Lady, Peter Pan, and Beauty and the Beast. Also with OKC Lyric Theater orchestra which shows include The King and I, Carousel, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma, Singin in the Rain, Evita, The Producers, A Chorus Line and The Fantastiks mostly conducted by David Andrews Rogers (DAR).

She has also been active as a concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the area performing composers Debussy, Mozart, Malecki and most recently the Hannah Lash Concerto No. 1 for Harp and chamber orchestra with the OKC Philharmonic in May, 2021. Critics praised her performance as providing a “range of color and virtuosic energy which brough sharp staccatos, disjunct shapes and striking contrasts into relief.” (The Oklahoman) or “whose virtuoso work in the famous duet and throughout the opera was simply wonderful” (Opera News) for Bizet’s opera The Pearl Fishers.

As a recording artist, she has recorded movements of Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols with the Dallas Orpheus Chamber Singers along with the Stephen Paulus’ Three Nativity Carols. In 2010 and 2011, Ms. LeBlanc recorded the William Grant Still Symphonies No. 2 & 3, Symphonies No. 4 & 5 with the Fort Smith Symphony (Naxos label)

In concert, she has backed a wide variety of artists, including Ray Charles, Josh Groshban, Ben Folds, Joshua Bell, YoYo Ma, Kristin Chenoweth, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks amongst others.

As a teacher, Ms. LeBlanc has been at the University of Oklahoma since 1998 where she built the harp program from the ground up. Starting with a dormant department, she found the stolen OU harp, raised funds for two new Lyon & Healy harps, received two more beautiful instruments, added Harp Pedagogy, Harp Orchestral Literature, harp ensemble to the degree program and has graduated several harp students throughout the years. She has also been teaching her two classes of Understanding Music to Non-majors since 2000 and enjoys meeting all types of students who thought they “didn’t like” Classical music.

Ms. LeBlanc has also taught harp at Oklahoma City University (OCU) from 1998 – 2010, University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) from 2000 – 2001 and the University of North Texas (UNT) from 2005 – 2006. She started and directed the Harp Oklahoma Workshop from 2012 – 2020 with other faculty harpists Rachel Starr Ellins, Shelly Du, Julie Smith Phillips and Yolanda Kondonassis. She has taught at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute.

Her education consists of starting the harp at the age of 20 after many years of piano, theory, organ and flute. Ms. LeBlanc earned from her Bachelors in Performance at the University of North Texas with harp professor Ellen Ritscher and Masters of Music in Performance with Dallas Symphony Harpist Susan Pejovich. She spent five summers at the Salzedo School in Camden, Maine with Alice Chalifoux and two additional summers at Boston University Tanglewood Institute with Lucile Lawrence.

  • MM - Harp Performance, Southern Methodist University
  • BM - Harp Performance, University of North Texas

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Yena Lee

Dr. Yena Lee

Assistant Professor of Music (Violin)

Email: yena.lee73@ou.edu
Office: Catlett Music Center 244D

Notably known for her diverse musical style, Dr. Lee received prizes in competitions ranging from classical to modern international competitions: Wolfgang Marschner International Competition, Shean Competition, Canadian Music Competition, Young Texas Artist Competition, Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, Oneppo chamber music competition, Grande Ronde Symphony Competition, Boston University Bach Competition and Young Korean Music Competition of Canada. Dr. Lee made an orchestra debut at the age of 14 and was awarded the “Most Promising Musician Award” from district of British Columbia in the same year. She was youngest recipient of the prestigious JGU-Preis in the history from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. She is supported by Canada Council for Arts and British Columbia Council for Arts.

She often features as a soloist around the globe. She has worked with Adrian Ensemble Italy, Casalmaggiore International Music Festival Orchestra, Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra, Mainzer Virtuosi Kammerorchester, Mainz Hochschulorchester, Neumeyer Consort Frankfurt, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Pilgrim Orchestra, and West Coast Symphony. Her performances were featured on art channels in Germany, Italy, and CBC Radio 2 in Canada. Dr. Lee gives regular solo and chamber music concerts throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Some of highlight concerts were held in venues such as Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Museo del violino, Orpheum Theatre, St. John’s Square, and Symphony Hall.

As an active chamber and orchestra musician, Dr. Lee is a member of Mainzer Virtuosi Kammerorchester in Mainz, Germany where she served as co-concertmaster. She works with Houston Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Boston Chamber Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and Mercury Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Lee has worked with Nai-Yuan Hu, Frank Huang, Ilya Kaler, Ida Kavafian, Soovin Kim, Dora Schwarzberg, and Arnold Steinhardt; chamber music with Artis Quartet, Borromeo Quartet, Brentano Quartet, Danish Quartet, Dover Quartet, Emerson Quartet, Hagen Quartet, Jupiter Quartet, Miami Quartet, Miro Quartet, Muir Quartet, Takacs Quartet, and Tokyo Quartet. Dr. Lee also has participated in orchestral projects with John Adams, Juilius Berger, James Conlon, Valery Gergiev, Ken-David Masur, Peter Oundjian, Kryzstof Penderecki, Larry Rachleff, Jose Serebrier, and Bramwell Tovey.

Dr. Lee enthusiastically taught musicians from amateur to professionals of all ages for more than a decade. Dr. Lee is Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Oklahoma School of Music. Prior to joining University of Oklahoma School of Music, she was a teaching artist in the Music Initiative program and was a violin instructor for music minors and non-major undergraduate and graduate students at Yale University. Her passion in pedagogy led to lecturing string pedagogy for music education major students at the Boston University, and taught violin, chamber music and music fundamental at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. In 2018, Dr. Lee was appointed as an assistant artistic director at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival. She has been invited as guest artist and taught masterclass in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, United States, and United Kingdom: Brightmusic Chamber Music, Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, Eckelhauser Musikfestival, Kalmia Music Festival, Musicalta International Festival, Muzewest Concerts, Musiktage am Rhein Music Festival, and Norfolk Festival, to name few. Dr. Lee served as teaching assistant at Hochschule fuer Musik Mainz, Yale University, Boston University, and Rice University.

Dr. Lee’s mentors include Taras Gabora, Lawrie Hill, Hyo Kang, Cho-liang Lin, Anne Shih, and Peter Zazofsky. She completed Diplom-Orchestermusik and Konzertexamen (Artist Diploma) as a youngest candidate at the Hochschule fur Musik in Mainz, Germany. She received Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts at the Yale School of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music.

  • Rice University
    • DMA (2017 - 2021)
  • Yale University
    • MMA (2015 - 2016)
    • MM (2013 - 2015)
  • Johannes Gutenberg Universität Rheinland-Pfalz
    • Konzertexamen/Artist Diploma (2013)
    • Diplom Orchestermusik (2011)

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Mark Neumann

Dr. Mark Neumann

Professor of Music (Viola)

Office: Catlett Music Center 244B
Email: mneumann@ou.edu

Dr. Mark Neumann joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma School of Music as viola professor in 2009. A native of Edmonton, Canada, his musical studies took place at the University of Victoria, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School in New York, from which he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1995. His principal teachers have included such eminent violists as Karen Tuttle (Professor, The Juilliard School), Robert Vernon (Principal Viola, The Cleveland Orchestra), and Jaroslav Karlovsky (Prague String Quartet, Czechoslovakia). Other renowned violists with whom he has worked in festival and masterclass settings include Kim Kashkashian, Barbara Westphal, Heidi Castleman, Donald McInnes, Gerald Stanick and Eric Shumsky.

Dr. Neumann’s versatile performing career has included appearances as soloist with the Victoria Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and Thunder Bay Symphony orchestras in Canada, the symphony orchestras of Big Spring (Texas) and Rome (Georgia) in the USA, the Cusco Symphony Orchestra in Peru, and the Collegium Musicum of Straubing, Germany. As a chamber musician he has performed at the International Performance Symposium in Goiania, Brazil; the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria; the Victoria International Festival, the Banff Festival of the Arts, and the Pacific Rim Summer Festival in Canada; and at the Sarasota Music Festival and the “Academy of Music” at Ramapo College (New Jersey) in the USA. Among the artists with whom he has collaborated in chamber music are Robert Chen, Daniel Heifetz, Peter Winograd and Jose Maria Blumenschein (violin); Edgar Meyer and Milton Masciadri (double bass); Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, David Geber and Joshua Roman (cello); and David Shifrin (clarinet). Additionally, he has participated in broadcast recordings of chamber music for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and for Deutschland-Funk (Munich, Germany).

As an orchestral musician, Dr. Neumann has performed extensively with many professional ensembles including the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (as Assistant Principal Viola), the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra (as Principal Viola), the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, Canada. During the course of these orchestral activities he has participated in concert tours to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and 8 European countries, and has performed under such internationally-renowned conductors as Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwartz, David Zinman, Eduardo Mata, Sir Roger Norrington, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Stanislaw Skrowaszewski, Mario Bernardi, Franz-Paul Decker, Trevor Pinnock, Hans Graf, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

Dr. Neumann held previous faculty positions as viola professor at Texas Tech University and at the University of Georgia, and has presented numerous recitals and masterclasses in Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and across the USA. He has been a frequent faculty artist at music festivals in South America, including the Vale Veneto Winter Festival and the Santa Catarina Strings Academy in Brazil as well as the Cusco Music Festival in Peru, and was also an invited solo performer at the International Viola Congresses in Adelaide, Australia (2007) and Rochester, New York (2012). Additionally, he was presented as a solo performer at the American Viola Society Festivals in Oberlin, Ohio (2016) and Los Angeles (2018). His first solo CD album, entitled “Romantic Showpieces for Viola”, was released by the ACA Digital label in 2009. Currently, Dr. Neumann performs regularly with the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble of Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, and maintains an active schedule as a performer, teacher and clinician in Oklahoma as well as nationally and internationally.

  • DMA - The Juilliard School (1995)
  • Advanced Certificate - The Juilliard School (1989)
  • MM (Performance) - University of Victoria (1987)
  • BM (Performance) - University of Victoria (1983)

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Jonathan Ruck

Dr. Jonathan Ruck

Professor of Music (Cello)

Office: Catlett Music Center 245
Email: jruck@ou.edu
Website: jonathanruck.com

American cellist Jonathan Ruck maintains a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and pedagogue. Praised for his “virtuosic command” and “full-bodied tone,” he has performed throughout North America, Europe, Australia and the Caribbean. Festival appearances include recent engagements at the Oregon Bach Festival, Sanibel Island Festival, OK Mozart, Unruly Music, and as principal cellist of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico. Jonathan currently serves as the principal cellist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

An avid chamber musician, Jonathan Ruck is a core member of Brightmusic, Oklahoma City’s resident chamber music ensemble. He has performed as a guest cellist with the American Chamber Players and Penderecki String Quartet and given recent world-premiere performances of chamber works by Christopher Theofanidis and Sydney Corbett. As a founding member of the Dubinsky String Quartet, Jonathan was a prizewinner in the Fischoff and Coleman national chamber music competitions.

Jonathan Ruck joined the University of Oklahoma School of Music in 2006 as one of the youngest faculty appointees in the school’s history. Previous appointments include serving as the teaching assistant to both Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a visiting professorship at the Depauw University School of Music. During the summer, he has enjoyed teaching on the faculties of the Fresno Summer Orchestra and Opera Academy (FOOSA), the Zodiac Festival in Southern France and the Indiana University Summer String Academy. In 2018, he founded the University of Oklahoma Summer String Academy and continues as its director. Graduates of Jonathan Ruck’s cello studio have been accepted to continue their studies at schools such as Juilliard, Indiana University, Eastman, Oberlin, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and can be found in ensembles and on college and pre-college faculties throughout the world.

Jonathan Ruck currently lives in Norman, Oklahoma with his wife, violinist Katrin Statmatis, and their two daughters, Arianna and Galia.

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Anthony Stoops

Dr. Anthony Stoops

Professor of Music (Double Bass)

Office: Catlett Music Center 244C
Email: a.stoops@ou.edu
Website: anthonystoops.com

Anthony Stoops currently serves as Professor of Double Bass at the University of Oklahoma School of Music. Since winning first prize in the International Society of Bassists solo competition, he has maintained an active international profile as a soloist, improviser, chamber musician, composer and educator. Stoops has performed as a member of over a dozen orchestras including the Detroit, Columbus (OH) and Toledo Symphony orchestras, and the Michigan Opera Theater among many others, under many of the world’s great conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Neeme Järvi, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez and Charles Dutoit. As an educator, Dr. Stoops has given masterclasses and presentations in Europe, South America and throughout the U.S at venues such as the Paris Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Wroclaw, Poland, University of Michigan, University of Belo Horizonte and many others. In addition to his duties at the University of Oklahoma, Stoops serves as Principal Bass of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. He lives in Norman, OK with his wife and two children.

  • DMA - University of Michigan
  • MM - University of Michigan
  • BM - University of Iowa