WPMA Welcomes Seven New Faculty Members for the Fall 2025 Semester

Anna Keiserman

Russian-born pianist Anna Keiserman is known for her creative programming, expressive freedom, and singular vision. Performance credits in New York City include Le Poisson Rouge, the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Fête de La Musique. Other notablevenues include the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts (Toms River, NJ), the Nash Theatre (Raritan Valley Community College), the Strand Theater (Hudson Falls, NY), and the Ateneu Barcelonès (Barcelona, Spain).

Anna has toured through Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Russia. As a soloist, she performed concertos with the Volgograd Symphony Orchestra (Russia), the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, and the Somerset Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has been awarded top prizes in piano competitions in Russia, and 2nd place in the 2019 American Prize Competition.
With her debut album, Russian Mosaic, released in 2019 on the Sheva Collection label, Anna offers rarely heard gems by Rachmaninoff, Shchedrin, Smirnov, and Medtner. Hailed as “the impressive pianist who played brilliantly” by New York Concert Review, the Atlanta Audio Club observed: “Her insights into the four masters of Russian piano music we have here bring them to instant, vibrant life before our very ears. Keiserman applies her notable brilliance to create the strongest impressions.”

Anna Keiserman has served as faculty at the NYU Steinhardt School of the Arts, at the Rutgers University Extension Division, and at William Paterson University. Having earned degrees from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow and the University of Minnesota, Dr. Keiserman completed her Doctorate in Piano Performance at Rutgers University, where she earned the Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham Award for academic distinction and excellence in piano performance. From 2020-24 Anna served as Assistant Professor of Piano at the Raritan Valley Community College before relocating to Georgia, where she joined the Music Department at the University of North and West Georgia as a faculty member.

My teaching experience spans over 20 years working with students ranging from beginners to college music majors. It endowed me with a strong foundation in the theory and practice of teaching, allowing me to help my students effectively identify, isolate, and resolve their technical issues. In each lesson, I share my knowledge with my students on how, through the process of learning technical and interpretive skills, they develop their ability to search for musical meaning. Through a supportive and goal-oriented approach, I strive to help each student discover their own path so that their musical journey is successful and rewarding.

Discover Dr. Keiserman’s teaching philosophy and approach to piano pedagogy:
https://rebrand.ly/TeachingPhilosophy

Watch Dr. Keiserman’s performances:
www.youtube.com/@annakeisermanpianist

Connor Croasmun

Connor Croasmun is a performer and teacher of the clarinet in northern Georgia. He is currently the clarinetist in the Fountain Five (F5) Wind Quintet. He has performed with numerous ensembles including the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Panama City Symphony Orchestra, the Tallahassee Community Chorus, and the UGA Contemporary Chamber Ensemble Rote Hund Musik.

These performances have brought him around the world, giving recitals in Belgium, Ireland, British Columbia, Panama, and many locations in the US like the Kaufman Center in New York City. Connor has been part of many interesting events and opportunities over the years, including a short internship at Chedeville Mouthpiece Company where he helped develop a line of clarinet and saxophone mouthpieces.

From his hometown of Savannah, GA, Connor attended the University of Georgia (UGA) where he received his Bachelor of Music (Clarinet performance). He later attended Florida State University (FSU) where he earned his Masters degree, also in clarinet performance. He is currently finishing his treatise for a Doctorate of Musical Arts a FSU. In his academic life, Connor has held posts as a graduate assistant at both UGA and FSU teaching lessons to undergraduate music majors and minors.

Connor’s primary teachers include Jonathan Holden, Deborah Bish, and D. Ray McClellan, but he has had the opportunity to study with numerous names in the clarinet field, including Philippe Cuper of the Opéra National de Paris, both Ted Gurch and Alcides Rodriguez of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Alain Desgagne of the Montreal Symphony, Robert Spring of Arizona State University, Robert Dilutis of the University of Maryland, and Daniel Gilbert of the University of Michigan.

When not teaching or performing, Connor can be found golfing, reading books, and hiking the southern Appalachians with his wife Maggie.

Ricardo Ferreira

Dr. Ricardo Ferreira is a highly experienced educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. He has served as Clarinet Professor at Spelman College and as a clarinet instructor with Buford City Schools. Additionally, he has been on faculty at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and the University of Georgia Community Music School.

During the summer, Dr. Ferreira teaches clarinet at both the UGA Summer Music Camp and the Music Do-Re-Mi Clarinet Camp. His extensive teaching background also includes roles at the Londrina Music Festival and Domingos Martins Music Festival in Brazil, as well as various U.S. programs such as the Colquitt County High School Band Camp, East Jackson High School Band Camp, and the Youth Middle School Clarinet Clinic.

At just 20 years old, Dr. Ferreira was appointed Principal Clarinetist of the Rio de Janeiro Opera Theater Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for over two decades. He later moved to the United States to continue his musical studies. As an orchestral musician, he has performed with esteemed ensembles both in Brazil and internationally, under the baton of world-renowned conductors including Kurt Masur, Mstislav Rostropovich, Romano Gandolfi, Erich Bergel, Gustavo Plis-Sterenberg, Hilary Griffiths, Isaac Karabtchevsky, and Roberto Minczuk.

Dr. Ferreira’s performances have been featured at major events such as ClarinetFest, the El Sistema Clarinet Festival in Venezuela, the College Band Directors National Association Conference, UGA Summer Music Camp, Clarinet Academy of America Day Camp, Londrina Music Festival, and Domingos Martins Music Festival. In 2022, he conducted the University of Georgia Clarinet Choir in its premiere performance.

He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Georgia, studying under Dr. D. Ray McClellan.

To watch Dr. Ferreira’s performances, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/@ricardoferreiraclarinet

Courtney Vega-King

Courtney Vega-King began her violin studies at age six and has enjoyed playingthe violin since the early 1990s. In her formative years, Ms. Vega-King participated in various honorary orchestras and summer programs. While earning her bachelor’s degree at Emory University, Ms. Vega-King served as assistant principal second violin with the Emory Symphony Orchestra. In her performances with the symphony Ms. Vega-King has had the opportunity to be featured in a PBS special as well as to play at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Ms. Vega-King is deeply indebted to her many wonderful teachers, including Lisa Yancich of the Atlanta Symphony and Oliver Steiner, a violin professor at the Eastman School of Music for 20 years. While completing graduate work at the University of Georgia, Ms. Vega King studied with Valerie Gardner, Levon Ambartsumian and Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva.

Through a graduate assistantship to perform with ARCO Chamber Orchestra and UGA Symphony, Ms. Vega-King earned an M.M. degree in Violin Performance from the University of Georgia (2020). During her graduate work at UGA, Ms. Vega-King passed her degree exam with distinction and received the Director’s Excellence Award for exemplary scholarship, musicianship, service and leadership at the graduate level.

Ms. Vega-King received the Eckstein Merit Scholarship and a graduate assistantship to complete an M.M. in Instrumental Music Education at Northwestern University (2023). Ms. Vega-King performed with the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra for the 2021-2022 season.

Ms. Vega-King has performed in orchestras throughout the southeast including the cities of Augusta, Greenville, and Asheville among others. Most recently, Ms. Vega-King received a scholarship in 2023 to perform chamber music in Italy through Orvieto Musica.

Ms. Vega-King has maintained a private violin and viola studio since the mid 2000s. Her private students’ accomplishments include membership and leadership positions in many youth orchestras and competitive programs such as Atlanta Youth Symphony, Governor’s Honors Program, and concertmaster positions in both GMEA All-State and Cobb County Honor Orchestra.

Destiny Miskel

Destiny Miskel is a trombonist and music educator based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of South Alabama, where she studied with Dr. Arie VandeWaa. She also holds a Master’s degree in Trombone Performance from Western Michigan University, during which she held a Graduate Teaching Assistantship under the tutelage of Dr. Steve Wolfinbarger.

As a performer, Destiny has diverse experiences in both academic and professional settings. During her schooling, she prioritized becoming well-rounded in styles of trombone playing, participating in jazz ensembles, marching band, concert band, and symphony orchestra. Professionally, Destiny has been a substitute for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, performed in pit orchestras for musicals throughout southwest Michigan, and played for miscellaneous events, including weddings, church services, second-line parades, and theme park entertainment initiatives.

Destiny’s musicianship has always remained rooted in a strong desire to promote music education in all its forms. She serves as a trombone and low brass instructor at several secondary schools in the Atlanta area. Additionally, she maintains a private studio of low brass musicians of various levels, has served on staff for marching bands, and been invited to present masterclasses and presentations at secondary and post-secondary institutions. Her approach to private teaching emphasizes goal-setting, consistent student engagement, critical thinking, and individualized feedback.

Also committed to making her mark in the broader music community, Destiny has been involved in several regional and national programs. She serves as on faculty for the Windy City Trombone Retreat, a summer program hosted by Brass Beyond, an organization which supports gender-marginalized trombonists. She has performed as a member of the International Women’s Trombone Choir at the 2021 and 2024 International Trombone Festivals. Additionally, she is a performing member of Chromatic Brass Collective, a featured performing artist group at the 2022 International Women’s Brass Conference.
Outside of music, she enjoys reading books and articles, watching and participating in sports, and spending time with family, friends, and her two pets.

Dan Phipps

Dr. Dan Phipps is a saxophonist, improvisor, and educator based in Atlanta, GA. An advocate for the creation of new works, Dan has played an active role in commissioning solo and chamber saxophone works. He has attended summer festivals dedicated to new music such as the SPLICE Institute and New Music on the Point, where he worked with festival members and esteemed faculty composers on performances of their work, including world premieres. He can be heard performing free and guided improvisations on Kaphca Trio’s eponymous debut album. Dan has received many accolades as a solo and chamber performer. As a soloist, he has won concerto competitions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Georgia, the Georgia and Massachusetts MTNA Young Artist Woodwind Solo competitions, received an honorable mention in the Eastern Regional competition, and was a quarterfinalist in the Naumburg International Saxophone Competition.

As tenor saxophonist of the Athena Quartet, he was a semifinalist at the North American Saxophone Alliance 2018 Conference. He is the baritone saxophonist of the Fischoff gold-winning Mixed Media saxophone quartet, and frequently collaborates with the Atlanta Contemporary Music Collective (ATLCMC). In March 2025, Dan performed as a featured concerto soloist with the ATLCMC, playing Badie Khaleghian’s Debilitator, a work he first premiered in 2019. His chamber playing can be heard on studio recordings by the Massachusetts Chamber Players and Mixed Media.

As an educator, Dan has taught saxophone to students of various levels and ages. From 2019-2021 and in 2024, he served as a saxophone instructor at the UGA Summer Music Institute, giving daily masterclasses and private lessons. During his Master of Music studies, Dan taught Freshman Aural Skills, a role which earned him UGA’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2019.

Currently, Dan works closely with various middle and high schools in North Metro Atlanta, where he teaches private lessons, group lessons, and marching band. Dan’s approach to saxophone lessons synthesizes his aural skills and saxophone pedagogy training and experience: he aims to help students cultivate their own sound and develop their personal interpretation by guiding their ear through the discovery process. Dan holds the Doctor of Musical Arts (minor in music theory) and Master of Music degrees in saxophone performance from the University of Georgia, where he studied under Dr. Connie Frigo and Dr. Brandon Quarles. He holds a Bachelor of Music in saxophone performance from UMass Amherst, where he studied under Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, Lynn Klock, Joe D’Aleo, and Dr. Felipe Salles (jazz).