Artistic Advisory Council members enhance Source's diverse and creative vision of art song education by consulting on potential artistic partnerships--either with organizations or individuals--and broadening community relationships.

Ann DuHamel

Pianist Ann DuHamel’s performances have been praised as poetic and “… a delight for the ears and the soul” (Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón, Mexico City). Hailed as a “forward thinking classical pianist” (Midwest Record) for her debut album Rückblick: New Piano Music Inspired by Brahms (Furious Artisans, 2020), she actively champions contemporary composers, recently commissioning works by Marc Chan, Flannery Cunningham, Jocelyn Hagen, Edie Hill, and Tyler Kline, among others.

Ann has performed and presented in 16 countries on 4 continents, including Sala Verdi in Milan, Italy; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; and Trinity College in Oxford, England. In demand as a collaborative pianist, Ann’s performed chamber music with members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as with Martha Councell-Vargas, flute; Preston Duncan, saxophone; and Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano. Her performance at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall with ensemble: Périphérie was lauded by the New York Concert Review as “outstanding,” praising the group of “superb musicians” who “played with power and assurance.”

Ann’s latest project, “Prayers for a Feverish Planet,” features 60 new works for piano and piano/electronics about climate change. Ann is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota Morris, and serves as Immediate Past President of Minnesota Music Teachers Association. She earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Iowa under the tutelage of Ksenia Nosikova.

**Juan Carlos Mendoza**

Juan Carlos Mendoza, Tenor, is a native of Muscatine, IA. Over the past decade, he has made a name for himself as a soloist, choral singer, and educator.
Stage roles include the dual roles of Aarón/Javier in the world premiere of *Tienda* by Reinaldo Moya, Freddy in *My Fair Lady*, and Tigranes in Cavalli’s *La Doriclea*. Concert repertoire includes Tenor Soloist in *The Messiah* (Handel), *Requiem* (Mozart), *Magnificat* (Bach), *Bolts of Melody* (Ford), Featured soloist in *Navidad Nuestra* (Ramirez) and Tenor Evangelist in *Passio* (Pärt). As a choral performer, Mr. Mendoza has sung with ensembles such as Grant Park Music Festival Chorus, Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus, and Border CrosSing. As a recitalist, he has performed throughout the US, regularly performing Spanish-language music of Manuel M. Ponce, Salvador Moreno, and Carlos Guastavino. He premiered *Masefield Songs*, a song cycle for Tenor and Piano on poems of John Masefield, by composer Thomas F. Savoy. They can be heard on the recording *Songs by Me- for You: A Selection of Art Songs by Thomas F. Savoy*.
Mendoza received a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Arts degree from The University of Iowa, studying under John Muriello, Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, studying under W. Stephen Smith, with additional studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School. As a researcher, Mr. Mendoza has explored the music of post-revolutionary México through performance and recording, including his debut album with Jessica Monnier through MSR Classics, *Finding A Voice: Mexican Song Cycles After 1920*. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at The University of South Dakota.

For more information, please visit https://www.jcmendozatenor.com/.

**Regina Stroncek**

Soprano Regina Stroncek is a versatile artist who frequently performs as a soloist and ensemble singer. Holding degrees in Voice, and Spanish and Portuguese Studies from the University of Minnesota, her interest lies in communicating with diverse audiences through language and music. Ms. Stroncek is an avid recitalist with a deep-seated passion for art song, and has participated in the Barcelona Festival of Song and Source Song Festival. An advocate for new music, she has programmed numerous recitals featuring repertoire by living composers, and has sung world and regional premieres of art song and chamber music in the United States and Brazil. As a two-time Fulbright scholar to Brazil, Ms. Stroncek spent 2 years researching and performing Brazilian vocal chamber repertoire in the capital city, Brasília. Ms. Stroncek is an alumna of the inaugural class of the Seraphic Fire Professional Choral Institute at Aspen Music Festival and has performed with ensembles such as the Boston Camerata, the Minnesota Chorale, Border CrosSing, MPLS-imPulse, and The First Readings Project. Ms. Stroncek is currently pursuing her masters in Vocal Studies at Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Mari Esabel Valverde

Award-winning composer and singer Mari Esabel Valverde (b. 1987) has been commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses, and Boston Choral Ensemble among others and has appeared with Dallas Chamber Choir, Vox Humana, and EXIGENCE (Detroit). She was a featured composer at the 2016 Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses Festival, where her “Our Phoenix” was premièred by six collective ensembles from the United States and Canada. Her works are published by earthsongs and Walton Music and self-published.

Fluent in Spanish and French, she actively studies Brazilian Portuguese and Swedish. She has translated numerous vocal works and documents including a phonetic guide of Ravel’s opera L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Based in North Texas, she taught voice at the high school level for over six years. Her former students have participated in All-State Choirs and State Solo Competition. She currently teaches singing and transgender voice training with Your Lessons Now.

She holds degrees from St. Olaf College, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Composers Forum, and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

Minnita Daniel-Cox

Dr. Minnita Daniel-Cox, a native of Columbus, Ohio, attended Bowling Green State University, where she received a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance, and the University of Michigan, where she earned both her Master of Music and her Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees.

In 2014 Dr. Daniel-Cox established the Dunbar Music Archive after extensive research regarding the musical settings of texts by poet and Dayton native Paul Laurence Dunbar. She has presented her archival research for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the National Opera Association (NOA), College Music Society, Society for American Music, National Association for Music Education, International Society for Music Education, Song Collaborators Consortia, Ohio Music Education Association, and the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives. She has performed Dunbar Archive repertoire recitals in venues across the United States including the University of Michigan, Bowling Green State University, University of Puget Sound, Ohio Northern University, Central Michigan University, Detroit Musicians Association, Taylor University, and Hanover University with a recital tour in Stara Zagora, Haskovo, and Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Dr. Daniel-Cox has received two National Endowment for the Humanities grants to plan and implement interdisciplinary curriculum based on Dunbar’s work and legacy. In addition to receiving extensive research funding from the University of Dayton, Dr. Daniel-Cox is also a grant recipient of the Mellon Foundation for the recording of Highlights of the Dunbar Music Archive, volume 1 with Albany records.

Dr. Daniel-Cox is an active member of the African American Art Song Alliance, National Association of Negro Musicians, NATS, and is an alumna of the NATS Intern Program. She serves on the board of the NOA and is Co-Chair of the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Initiative for the National Opera Association.

A performing scholar with roots firmly planted in American Music, her notable roles include Leonora in the world premiere of the opera Witness by Zae Munn, and Irene in the world premiere of James P. Johnson's The Dreamy Kid, which the Ann Arbor News described as “compelling and beautifully sung.” As an active musician within the thriving arts community of Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding areas, Dr. Daniel-Cox has appeared with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Bach Society of Dayton. In recent seasons she has performed the roles of Anna Gomez in Menotti’s The Consul and Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking with Dayton Opera. She is regularly featured in broadcasts with Dayton Opera and Bach Society of Dayton.

In addition to her stage work, she has won numerous awards as a concert artist including The American Traditions Competition (finalist), the Hartford Memorial Scholarship Competition and the Marjorie Conrad Peatee Art Song Competition. She is also a two-time recipient of the Sigurd I. Rislov & Jarmila H. Rislov Award.

As a dedicated educator, Dr. Daniel-Cox has taught music courses or applied voice for programs at Western Michigan University, University of Michigan, Bowling Green State University, and within the award-winning music program at Grosse Pointe South High School. She began her tenure at the University of Dayton in 2009 as an Artist-in-Residence and is currently Associate Professor of Voice and Coordinator of the Voice Area where she teaches applied lessons and music courses, serves as Artistic Director of the yearly musical/opera productions, and coordinates the Vocal Performance Institute, a summer program for high school-aged singers.

Artistic Advisory Council

Minnita Daniel-Cox

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