Faculty and Staff
Michael
Caldwell, D.M.A.
Michael is a concert pianist, respected music educator, arts administrator, and arts advocate, who currently serves as director
of the Division of Performing and Visual Arts in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences at Nova Southeastern University.
A 1990 Pianist Foundation of America “Pianist of the Year”, Michael has appeared in concert on four continents
as a United States Artistic Ambassador to countries in South America, Europe, the Middle and Near East, and Africa, under
the auspices of the U.S. Information Agency, in a position created by President Ronald Reagan. In 1995, he was the national
committee chair for diversity for the College Music Society, a William Grant Still National Symposium Fellow, and he served
as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts American Music Recording Project. In 1999, he was one of three pianists
selected to perform at the Ivan Davis Tribute at Festival Miami. In 2004, Michael made his 21st Century debut in South Florida
with a multi-media update of the piano recital, “Music of Magic, Mystery and Romance” in Ralph R. Bailey
Concert Hall, where he returned on April 22, 2007, to appear as piano soloist with the Broward Symphony Orchestra in a performance
of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. Michael’s civic experience has included symphony orchestra,
cultural theatre, music academy, and library board memberships in New Mexico, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He received
his undergraduate and master’s degrees in music from the University of Miami in Florida and his doctor of musical arts
degree and highest graduate honors from the University of Arizona at Tucson. Michael’s extra-musical adventures include
working as a CBS-TV news reporter and creating and hosting cultural radio and television programs in Virginia, Pennsylvania,
and Tennessee. He most recently served as associate dean of Visual and Performing Arts at Broward College.
Mark
Duncan, M.F.A. (Coordinator of Performing Arts/Assistant Professor of Theatre/ Artistic Director)
Mark earned an M.F.A. in acting from Virginia Commonwealth University, a B.A. in theatre from Coastal Carolina University
and is a graduate of Chicago’s prestigious Second City Conservatory. Regional and international credits include the
Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Theatre of the Stars, New American Theater, Wing and Groove Theatre Company (Chicago), Theatre
Virginia, Richmond Shakespeare Festival, Blue Ridge Theatre Festival, Shockoe Slip Theatre Company (Chicago), Hollywood Shakespeare
Festival, Rude Mechanical Productions, The Promethean Theatre, and the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, Romania. Mark
is an assistant professor of theatre and coordinator of performing arts at Nova Southeastern University. He has served on
the faculties at Wesleyan College, University of Central Arkansas, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Bill
J. Adams, D.M.A. (Assistant Professor of Music/Vocal and Musical Director)
After several years performing and teaching in New York and Pennsylvania, Bill J. returned to South Florida to develop a
music major and support the expanding arts programs at Nova Southeastern University. Prior to leaving, he completed his doctorate
at the University of Miami with opera veteran, Joseph Evans, and wrote An Introduction to Acting for Singers. Bill
J. became the director of the Musical Theatre Program at Barry University in Miami Shores and served as artistic director
of the award-winning South Florida Choral Arts, Inc. In Pittsburgh, he taught voice lessons in the Conservatory of Performing
Arts at Point Park University and served as artistic director of the Renaissance City Men’s Choir. New York credits
include: The Rape of the Lock (Ariel), The Bartered Bride (Vašek), Die Zauberflöte (Monostatos), Madama
Butterfly (Goro). Regional credits include: A View from the Bridge (Mike), Albert Herring (Mayor), Pump
Boys and Dinettes (LM), Man of LaMancha (Anselmo), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph), Assassins (Zangara), Little
Shop of Horrors (Seymour), The Coronation of Poppea (Arnalta), The Very Last Green Thing (Android), Falstaff (Dr.
Cajus), Manon (Guillot), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Cheswick).
Dan Gelbmann, M.F.A. (Assistant Professor of Theatre/Technical Director)
Daniel is an assistant professor specializing in technical theatre and scene design. He has held professional positions
with a number of theatre companies and has particular expertise in Asian theatre. He teaches theatre in the Division of
Humanities at the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences.
Barbara
A. Ryan, M.F.A. (Assistant Professor of Art/Painting)
Barbara received an M.F.A. in painting at the Joint Visual Studies Program of Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University
in Norfolk, Virginia (1996) and a B.F.A. in painting at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (1992). Barbara developed and
taught courses for the Museum School at the San Diego Museum of Art and most recently was the gallery director of the Fine
Arts Gallery and adjunct professor at Broward College. She will be teaching foundation and visual art studio courses including
Two and Three Dimensional Design, Drawing, Life Drawing, and Painting. In addition to the teaching of creative skills, Barbara
prepares students for working in the contemporary art world by focusing on the stewardship of fine craftsmanship and productive
use of time and resources. Her professional work has been exhibited regionally and nationally and includes painting, drawing,
printmaking, and jewelry design. Her work explores the relationship of time, distance and scale, place identity, and themes
surrounding body adornment.
Elana Lanczi, M.F.A. (Assistant Professor of Dance/Choreographer)
Elana Lanczi is a dancer and choreographer originally from Boston, Massachusetts. She performed internationally in both South
Korea and Brazil and nationally with noted choreographers Sean Curran, Katie Duck, Anita Gonzalez, Li Chiao-Ping, Lionel
Popkin, Merian Soto, and Maida Withers, among others. Her own choreography is influenced by the investigation of contemporary
dance forms and has been performed throughout Pennsylvania, Virgina, Washington, D.C., and Florida. In 2004, Elana and
Miami wheelchair dancer John Beauregard traveled to Koln, Germany, to work with noted German choreographer Gerda Konig
on a mixed-ability duet commissioned by Tigertail Productions. In 2005, Elana traveled to Mexico to begin research for
a future dance project with the help of Tigertail Productions and an International Cultural Exchange grant. In addition
to her work as a dancer and choreographer, Elana has taught at The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, FL, and Broward Community
College, where she served as the dance program coordinator. Elana holds an M.F.A. in dance choreography and performance
from Temple University.
Ed Fitzpatrick ( Performing and Visual Arts Facilities Manager)
Ed earned a bachelor of fine arts in theatre arts from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri. He worked as a technician
for summer stock companies in Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri before moving to Florida in 1997. Ed was the assistant technical
director at the Lake Worth Playhouse in Lake Worth for close to three years. After that, he moved on to the Caldwell Theatre
Company in Boca Raton. He was the master carpenter there for six and a half years. During that time, he also worked as
a carpenter and technician for Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach. He continues to work as a freelance technician
for area theaters.
Mark J. Cavanaugh, Ph.D. (Music Director of the NSU "Sharkestra" Pep
Band and University Orchestra)
Mark is a conductor, arranger, composer, and pianist. His principal conducting teachers are Kirk Trevor and Tsung Yeh, and
he has also studied with Johannes Schlaefly, Emil Simon, Marius Smolij, and Tomas Koutnik , among others. He has been
an invited participant in conducting workshops sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra League and the Conductors’ Guild,
as well as by the International Workshop for Conductors featuring the Bhoduslav Martinu Philharmonic in Zlin, Czech Republic.
He is also the founder of the NSU Commencement Orchestra, now it in its eighteenth year. The orchestra draws from the
best local talent in South Florida and former members have gone on to memberships in prestigious musical organizations
such as the United States Marine Band (The “President’s Own”), the Florida Philharmonic, and the
original London cast of the Broadway show Blast!. Mark has arranged and conducted for many different ensembles,
including symphony orchestras in the United States and Europe, including the South Bend (IN) Symphony and the Austin (TX)
Symphony orchestras. He has also written for marching bands, big bands, and vocal ensembles, and has composed the two school
songs for Nova Southeastern University. At NSU, he is the founder and music director of both the “Sharkestra” pep
band and the university orchestra. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree from Iona College and master’s and doctor’s
degrees from the University of Notre Dame.
Jennifer Donelson, D.M.A. (Assistant Professor of Music)
Jennifer Donelson received her D.M.A. in Piano Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has studied with Paul
Barnes, Mark Clinton, Ann Chang-Barnes, Robert Groves, and Quentin Faulkner. A specialist in the piano works and writings
of Olivier Messiaen, she has lectured on and given performances of portions of the Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus throughout
the United States, France and Mexico. Dr. Donelson has been awarded numerous academic fellowships, as well as a grant
supporting her research at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France on the controversy surrounding the premiere
of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards. She is the founding director of the Cor Immaculatae Schola Cantorum,
a professional vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony. She also currently
directs scholae cantorum at St. Michael the Archangel and St. Robert Bellarmine parishes in Miami.
Chetachi Egwu, Ph.D. (Choreographer)
Chetachi was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Nigerian parents and raised in Buffalo, New York. She completed her bachelor
of arts in communication at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1996. While a student there, Chetachi
undertook many ventures, including dancing with Buffalo’s renowned African dance company, Kakilambe. Chetachi earned a Ph.D.
in communication from Howard University in 2005. She has served on the faculties of Howard University, Morgan State University,
and the George Washington University and currently serves as an assistant professor in the Farquhar College of Arts and
Sciences' Division of Humanities. As Chetachi's passion for communication and academia grew, so did her passion for dance.
She has studied under and performed the choreography of several well-respected dancers, including Sherrill Berryman-Johnson,
Deborah Riley, Carla Perlo, Chris Aiken, Mohammed DaCosta, Nejla Yatkin, and Reggie Glass. She has been a company member
of Carla & Company, Coyaba Dance Theater, and the Choreographers’ Collaboration Project and has also danced
various projects with companies like Son Urbano. Chetachi feels that being immersed in both the dance and the academic
world gives her a unique perspective that helps her to excel in both.
Margaret M. Ledford
Margaret hails from Chattanooga, Tennessee, where
she received her bachelor of arts in theatre and speech from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She studied
Cubo-Expressionistic Scenography post-WWI in an exchange program with Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. Before
moving to Miami, Margaret was a production assistant Off-Broadway for Doctor! Doctor! at the Players Theatre,
production stage manager for the historic Barter Theatre in Virginia, and co-founder/co-director for the Renegade Theatre
Players in Tennessee. Margaret is the resident director for The Promethean Theatre (TPT), the resident professional
theatre company at Nova Southeastern University, and has been nominated for Best Director in this year’s
Carbonell Award for TPT’s production of Nilo Cruz’s Two Sisters and a Piano (also
nominated for Best Ensemble and Best Sound Design). She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association
and serves on the board of the Theatre League of South Florida. Margaret has professionally worked
in theatre from New York to Miami over the past 15 years in almost every aspect, granting her the unique
and terrific opportunity to have worked with many great theatre artists such as Kathleen Turner, Tony
Randall, Jack Klugman, and Tony-award winning director Jack Hoffssiss.
