Faculty

Graciela Acedo is a ballet teacher, choreographer, and a USF grant recipient. She trained in Caracas and at Boston Ballet with a government scholarship and a Harkness Ballet Internship. Professor Acedo performed the classics with Ballet Teresa Carreño sharing the stage with Rudolf Nureyev, Fernando Bujones and Julio Boca. She's a former principal dancer with Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas and worked with choreographers Judith Jamison, Ulises Dove, John Butler, Elisa Monte, Dennis Nahat, Choo San...

Philip Amo Agyapong is a dance teacher and researcher. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance and Theater Arts and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance, specializing in African Dance Traditions and Contemporary African Dance from the University of Ghana. In the same University, he served as an assistant lecturer in the Department of Dance Studies and gained valuable experience in leading undergraduate and exchange students in theory and practical dance classes. Philip has extensive...

Cara Burgoyne is a vocalist, musical-theatre actress, and solo cabaret artist, performing Broadway, American Standards, country music and pop songs in the Bay Area. She enjoys helping new students find their voice and learn to express themselves through music. She also likes working with more advanced students as they improve their vocal technique and create believable and full-bodied characters. Also, Cara is a full-time Speech Language Pathologist with the San Francisco Unified School...

Eugenie Chan is a 5th generation San Franciscan and playwright. Theaters that have produced or developed her award-winning plays include Cutting Ball, Houston Grand Opera: HGOco, Magic Theatre, The Public, Playwrights Horizons, Ma-Yi, Crowded Fire, Thick Description, Northwest Asian American Theatre, Group Theatre, East West Players, Centenary Stage, and Perishable Theatre. Eugenie has received commissions from the Houston Grand Opera, Cutting Ball (3 plays), the San Francisco Arts Commission,...

Brenton Cheng (CLMA, CMT-SE, MSME) is a teacher, director, and performer of improvised and choreographed work, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a teacher, he empowers students to become sophisticated movers through a cultivation of somatic and poetic awarenesses, as well as fostering a capacity for surrender. In addition to USF, he serves on the faculty of Integrated Movement Studies (Laban/Bartenieff movement analysis certification), and also teaches performance workshops...

Daria D'Andrea performs across stylistic boundaries from 17th century Italian to 21st century tango. Daria plays with the San Francisco Opera Center Orchestra and is a member of the California Symphony, Sacramento Opera / Philharmonic and Fremont Symphony. Her baroque specialist training was in Europe where she toured extensively with the European Baroque Orchestra and studied with leaders in early music: Roy Goodman, Ton Koopman and Jaap Ter Linden. Daria performs with outstanding early music...

Poppea Dorsam, cellist, received Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from Boston University under Michael Reynolds and George Neikurg. She also received the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society award. Her Dissertation (UMI # 3214930) is on "Giovanni Battista Cirri."Undergraduate studies were with Andor Toth Jr at Oberlin Conservatory. Dorsam also teaches at SF Community Music Center and GlenView Cello Camp, and runs a private studio. A member of the Sacramento Philharmonic, she...

A street culture cognoscente, Professor Duller is a founding member of 8th Wonder (2000), the nation's premiere Pilipina/o performance poetry collective, and The Rhapsodistas, an all-women interdisciplinary hip hop group, performing throughout the U.S. and the Philippines. Professor Duller's past performance projects include "Pinay Stories: Intersection of the Arts' Hybrid Project", "Kul Like That" at the SF Asian Art Museum, and "How to Skywalk" at both the Post-Modern Performance Project and...

Brian DuSell comes from upstate New York and began his work as Associate Director for Liturgy, Music and Interfaith programs at USF in August 2017. In his current position, Brian is privileged to work with a dedicated team who oversee not only Catholic liturgies on the USF campus but also coordinate with the ministries of our Interfaith partners (the Jewish Student Organization, the Muslim Student Association, the Orthodox Christian Fellowship, and the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship). Prior...

Katie Faulkner is a choreographer, performer, and teacher artist. Since graduating with her MFA in Dance from Mills College, Faulkner has performed the works of Bill T. Jones, Randee Paufve, Stephen Petronio, June Watanabe, Victoria Marks, Kim Epifano, Susan Rethorst, and Ann Carlson. She worked with several of these choreographers as a dancer with AXIS Dance Company, with whom she performed from 2003-2007. In 2006 she founded the little seismic dance company. Since its inception, Faulkner has...

Italian guitarist and musicologist Giacomo Fiore has performed across the United States, Brazil, Canada, and Europe, premiering works by Larry Polansky, Ron Nagorcka, Agustin Castilla-Avila, Kenji Oh, and many others. A Ph.D. graduate from UCSC, Giacomo's research focuses on U.S. experimental music, tunings, and performance. He has published articles in TEMPO and the Journal of the Society for American Music, presented at regional and international conferences, and released four solo recordings...

Mike Fiorentino is a Bay Area guitarist and violinist since moving from the east coast in 1999, and performs with Dear Liza and Viv. He has shared the stage with Merle Saunders, Blues Traveler, The Spin Doctors, Camper Van Beethoven, and John Hiatt. In addition to teaching music and rock ensemble to Woodside students, he teaches at the Blue Bear School of Music and is on the music board at the University of San Francisco. Most memorable musical experience: Playing "Imagine" on the guitar for...

Suzanne Garramone has played piano as an accompanist and chamber musician for more than 40 years. She earned her Master's Degree in piano performance from the University of Iowa. Since then, Suzanne has musical-directed and performed hundreds of productions staged by middle schools, colleges and community theatre groups. She co-founded oboe/piano duo Classical Trash with Brenda Schuman-Post. Suzanne is also an original member of squeezebox rock band Those Darn Accordions. She has performed...

Natalie Greene is a performer, teacher, creator and collaborator working in dance and theater. Since 2003, she has worked as an Artist-in-Residence with the San Francisco Arts Education Project, and is currently the Associate Director of the SFArtsED Players. As Adjunct Faculty in the USF Dance Program, Natalie leads a service-learning summer program in southern Peru and co-directs the inter-generational performance company, Dance Generators. Natalie has also taught through ODC School, SF...

Angela is interested in and maintains a career in performing jazz, folk, pop, Broadway, opera, and sacred music. She is passionate about performance, music outreach programs, and composing opera for young people. She is equally passionate about helping students nurture and enjoy their own unique voices. In addition to opera performances, Angela can be seen performing with the New World Jazz Ensemble, and as cantor for Saint Ignatius Church.

As a Core Member of the Bay Area theatre company, Word for Word, Stephanie has acted in numerous productions, including Upton Sinclair’s Oil! and Susan Glaspell’s A Jury of her Peers. For Word for Word, she directed the long-running production of Bullet in the Brain and Lady's Dream by Tobias Wolff, which played at the Magic Theatre and toured France. She has acted with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Campo Santo, Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Shakespeare, the One Act Theater, and in New York at La Mama...

Joseph Lares is the conductor and faculty advisor for the USF Don Marching Band, which he formed in 2009. Born and raised in Northern California, his areas of interests include student development, building community through musical performance, street photography, and media production. Joe is an alumnus of the University of California, Davis, where he studied new media and documentary film production as part of the Technocultural Studies program. His photographic work can be found at the...

Jeffrey Lee studied various forms of martial arts in his youth attaining mastery levels in later years. He has progressed to incorporate and apply his earlier disciplined and physical trainings to dance forms in Ballroom and Latin. Professor Lee has performed in various venues, taught and coached students of varying age groups, cultural backgrounds, and experience levels. His deep love for music, dance, connection and the importance of musicality imparts passion and sheer joy in those he works...

Sharonjean Leeds has taught Ballet, Modern, Dance Exploration, Choreography & Tap at USF since 1973. She has choreographed for USF's Dance Ensemble and the USF College Players. She received the College of Arts & Sciences Service Award in 1993 and USF's Distinguished Lecturer Award in 1995. She has a BA in Theater & Dance from Smith College and an MA in Dance from UCLA, danced with the Wuppertal (Germany) Opera Ballet, taught ballet and modern dance throughout the Bay Area for 35...

Sydney Loyola toured internationally as a principal dancer of the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company and was considered a protégé of choreographer Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, Philippine's National Artist for Folk Dance. Loyola is the founding artistic director for American Center of Philippine Arts, and consultant for Philippine Cultural Night at various universities, including UC Berkeley, CSU East Bay, UC Merced, UC Irvine and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her awards...

Michelle is an actress with over 20 years experience performing in traditional and experimental theater. She has appeared internationally, regionally and in NYC at numerous Off Broadway venues including Cherry Lane, Culture Project, INTAR and EST. She developed original work at HERE Arts Space and Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theatre, as well as acting in developmental workshops and readings with New York Theatre Workshop, The Lark, and American Repertory Theatre. In the Bay Area, she...

Judith May, educator, vocalist, and songwriter has been using music to promote community building, change, activism, and healing since 1985. An instructor and vocal coach, she teaches voice lessons, songwriting, and is an ensembles coach at the University of San Francisco and in her private studio. She has adapted psychotherapy principles, learned while earning her master’s degree in somatic psychology, to enhance the effectiveness of her teaching style and help performers overcome performance...

Joshua McDermott has been working in the Bay Area as a Designer and Technical Director since 2005 and joined the Performing Arts Department at the University of San Francisco in 2010, where he founded and directs the Tech and Design Certificate program.  

Florentina Mocanu-Schendel was born and raised in Romania. She studied at the People's School of Art in Bucharest and University of Theater Arts in Targu Mures graduating with Diploma in Acting/MFA for theatre and film. She performed for the National Theatre, Comedy Theatre of Bucharest, Romania Film and won several awards for her work. Since moving to the United States, she has worked in theatre and film while completing her education with an MA in Drama from San Francisco State University and...

Born and raised in New York, "D" began dancing professionally at 14 and began instructing dance classes one year later. His work has appeared in numerous music videos, television shows, and international venues and he has appeared on the MTV, BET, Telemundo and Fox networks. As a dance educator, "D" has taught at many schools including SUNY Purchase College, Dominican University, SOTA, LINES Ballet and ODC Dance Commons. After obtaining his BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase College, he was...

After receiving a bachelor's degree in composition and choreography from the University of California, Riverside, Eli danced with Heidi Duckler's Collage Dance Theater, Stephanie Gilliland and Dancers, and Lizz Roman and Dancers. An excellent musician and composer, Eli has enhanced the Conservatory's ballet and modern technique classes as a musical accompanist since 2005. He has also composed dance music for a number of works created by Summer Lee Rhatigan on the Conservatory's students, as...

David has been employed by USF since 1984. Longtime Technical Director for the USF College Players and transferring in that position to Performing Arts & Social Justice after it's inception, David has been involved in hundreds of productions and events over many years. David has taught technical courses and currently has an Appreciation of Theater core course as an offering. In 2008, David left the Tech Director position and moved down the hill to run Presentation Theater. On the outside,...

Jennifer Polyocan has completed a three year training course at the Alexander Technique Center in Cambridge Massachusetts and is ATI certified. She danced ballet professionally for over ten years. She has danced with the Miami City Ballet, the Alabama Ballet, and with the Washington Ballet. Throughout her career she experienced mind-body techniques as an important and valuable measure for preventing injuries. She firmly believe that body awareness and curiosity leads to an intelligent dancer,...

Rashad Pridgen is a dance artist, somatic educator (CMT-SE) and teaching practitioner & performer. His recent works include: selected artist with The Future Soul Think Tank: "What Will Soul Look Like in 2038?" presented at Yerba Beuna Center For The Arts as the creative director of Translating Global Street Dance: A Media & Dance Presentation, performer in The Ed Mock Project conceptualized by Amara Tabor-Smith, choreographer for singer Sila (2010 NAACP Winner of The Outstanding World...

Mark Rafael (aka. Truitt) has been a professional actor for the past 25 years. His Bay Area appearances include Ted Kaczinski Killed People with Bombs, Schrodinger's Girlfriend, and Joe Goode's Body Familiar for the Magic Theatre, The Best of Playgrounds 9 & 11, Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, ReOrient Festival, and the Bay Area Playwrights' Festival. He has also appeared regionally at Yale Repertory, American Stage, Wisdom Bridge, and Northlight Theatre, among others. Film and...

Rick Roberts is now approaching his 22nd season of conducting both Voices and Voices sub-groups (Men's, Women's, Jazz, and Six). Roberts is an alumni of both University of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University.

Christopher "Kit" Ruscoe, originally from Louisville KY, studied Classical Composition at the University of Louisville and Jazz Performance and Improvisation at the University of North Texas. He has over 25 years of experience in composing, performing, recording, and teaching music and guitar and is a member of ASCAP. Kit is currently working on film scoring and compositions for TV and documentaries as well as playing in several recognized Bay Area bands.

Rebecca has been a member of the music faculty at University of San Francisco since 2001, where she conducts the University Classical Choral Ensembles, teaches Music Appreciation, Musicianship & Principles of Tonal Theory, and Private Voice. In addition to her work at USF, Rebecca directs Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus in Oakland. She holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Voice and Conducting from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral...

Lauren Simpson is a San Francisco-based choreographer, performer, and arts educator. She has danced for Liz Lerman, Christine Cali/Cali & Co., and Risa Jaroslow. Along with her artistic collaborator Jenny Stulberg, she creates Still Life Dances, a series of movement studies based on paintings found in the de Young Museum’s permanent collection. Simpson/Stulberg Collaborations has been the recipient of a Theatre Bay Area CA$H Grant, the Rainin Opportunity Fund, and a commission from FACT/SF...

Ken Sonkin is an actor/director who has worked at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, SF Playhouse, Magic Theater, Center REP, Sonoma Rep, Broadway by the Bay, San Jose Stage Company, California Conservatory Theatre, Pacific Resident Theater (LA), Grove Shakespeare Festival (LA), Seacoast Rep (NH), Denver Center, and Pennsylvania Centre Stage. He is a company member of PlayGround, and a member of Actors’ Equity Association. Ken was a member of A.C.T.’s acting company and core...

Paul S. Flores is a writer and performer whose work has been featured on hundreds of stages and universities across the hemisphere. He appeared on Season 3 and 4 of HBO Def Poetry and he was named the San Francisco Weekly 2011 Most Politically Active Hip-Hop Performance Artist. His recent plays Placas, You're Gonna Cry and REPRESENTA! have impacted youth and Latino audiences across the United States. He is the co-founder of Youth Speaks, and he currently works as program manager for Latino Men...

Pascal Bokar Thiam has earned a Master's Degree from Cambridge College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Doctorate Degree in Education with honors from the University of San Francisco, CA. Born in Paris, France, and raised in France and in Senegal, his music invites the listener to a musical banquet from around the world from his native France to his Senegalese and Malian roots. Along the way, one samples bits of Jazz, R&B and Afro Pop, Bebop mixed with African harmonies and infectious...