School of Music - University of Louisiana Lafayette

Orchestra Faculty

	Michael Blaney, violin, serves as conductor of the UL-Lafayette Symphony and coordinator of strings. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Conservatory and two Master of Music degrees from the University of Michigan. Mr. Blaney has given solo recitals in Colorado, Maryland, Michigan and Louisiana, and has soloed with several orchestras, including the Louisiana Philharmonic. His teachers include Daniel Heifetz, Sylvia Rosenberg and Paul Kantor. His chamber music coaches include Earl Carlyss of the Juilliard String Quartet, Stephen Shipps of the Amadeus Trio, Richard Young of the Vermeer String Quartet, and members of the Peabody Trio. Mr. Blaney? summer activities include teaching at Blue Lake Fine Art? Camp and performing at the Britt Music Festival. Mr. Blaney was a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic from 1993-1996.
	Susan Morton, cello, received her Bachelor of Music at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Artist Diploma in cello performance at the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford. Her teachers include Eleonore Schoenfeld, Robert Marsh, and David Finckel of the Emerson String Quartet. Ms. Morton toured Europe with the International Music Program and has performed with orchestras from northern Minnesota to eastern North Carolina to southern Louisiana. As an active orchestral and chamber musician, she enjoys playing throughout the region as a member of the Acadiana Symphony, Rapides Symphony, Lake Charles Symphony, and the Lafayette String Quartet. Ms. Morton joined the UL-Lafayette faculty in 2000.
	Jennifer Cassin, viola, has performed and recorded numerous chamber works on the Centaur label. A graduate of Louisiana State University, where she studied with Jerzy Kosmala, Ms. Cassin has also studied with Kathie Jarrett, John Di Janni, Wayne Crouse and Phil Rose. Ms. Cassin has enjoyed an extensive career performing with chamber groups and orchestras, including the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Louisiana Sinfonietta, the Acadiana Symphony, the Valcour String Quartet and the Capital Chamber Players. While maintaining a large private studio, including many students who have received national recognition through competitions and music festivals, Ms. Cassin is a board member of ASTA and a representative of LFMC. Ms. Cassin is the co-founder of the Campanile Chamber Music Festival - a music camp for dedicated young musicians.
	Robert Nash, bass, received his Bachelor? and Master? degrees in double bass performance from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of music in New York City, and a D.M.A. degree from the LSU School of Music. His teachers include Julius Levine, Orin O?rien, Kirk B. Smith, and Dr. William Grimes. Dr. Nash? career as a bassist encompasses almost every genre of concert and popular music, including solo recitals, chamber music, symphony, opera, jazz, blues, country, and musical theater. He is a founding member of Contra-Contrabass, an improvisatory trio of bassists. Dr. Nash has been a member of the UL-Lafayette faculty since 1994.
	Mark Wallace, cello, received his Bachelor? of Music at West Texas State University, Master? of Music from the St. Louis Conservatory of Music, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Memphis. Mr. Wallace? teachers include Leslie Parnas, Yuang Tung, Richard Weiss, Mathew Lad and Peter Spurbeck. His chamber music coaches include Michael Tree of the Guarneri String Quartet, Jaime Laredo and Joseph Kalichstein of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, and John S?nt Ambrogio, principal cello of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Wallace has performed solo and chamber concerts throughout the United States. He is currently a member of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Wallace joined the UL-Lafayette faculty in 1997.
	Dr. Sue Lein, harp, graduated with a B.A. in Applied Music (1963) and a B.S. in Music Education (1966) from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., and the University of Wyoming, respectively. She also received her Master? and Doctorate (1972 and 1980) from the University of Wyoming and the University of South Dakota, respectively. Dr. Lein has performed as soloist with orchestras in Michigan, South Dakota and Louisiana. She has also given numerous concerts in the northwestern and north central areas of the United States, in Texas and Louisiana. She has performed as a member of various symphony orchestras, choral and chamber groups, and for various musical productions.