Teaching Artists

Richard Fountain serves as Dean and Professor of Piano in the School of Creative Arts at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, TX, where he provides academic and strategic leadership in the areas of music, art, graphic design, media arts, and communications. Fountain teaches entrepreneurship, applied and collaborative piano, and piano pedagogy in both traditional and online formats, and also serves as Wayland’s official institutional representative to the National Association of Schools of Music.

Suna Avci Gunther is delighted to join the faculty of Triple Threat this summer. In her fifth year as Assistant Professor of Voice in the Glenn Korff School of Music, she is a frequent collaborator with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film as a music director, coach, and course instructor for Musical Theatre-related classes.

Reagan Kennedy is a triple threat performer with excitement and passion towards story telling through dance. You most recently saw her on the Mean Girls National Tour( ensemble, u/s Cady, Regina) Legally Blonde National Tour (Dance Captain, u/s Elle, swing) She has also has worked regionally and has been an affiliated instructor at both Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute and the Broadway Dreams Foundation. 

Feifei Jiang is an acclaimed pianist and educator who has performed extensively across the United States, Mexico, and China. She is a founding member of the JF Piano Duo, a husband-and-wife ensemble renowned for their dynamic and expressive performances. Together with Peter Jiang, the duo presents inventive programs that span a diverse range of musical styles, with a special emphasis on French Impressionism. Their four-hand piano performances of works by composers such as Debussy and Ravel have captivated audiences with their sensitivity, nuance, and artistic depth.

Ann Marie Pollard joined the Performance Area faculty at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in order to serve as Assistant Professor of Voice, Movement, and Acting and as the Voice and Dialect Coach for the Nebraska Repertory Theatre in 2018.

Kaleb is a music teacher and collaborator based in Lincoln, Nebraska. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studied with Dr. Paul Barnes. Kaleb studied Organ with Dr. Christopher Marks and Brent Shaw. While studying at UNL he attended the Vienna International Piano Academy and has performed in masterclasses with artists such as Joyce Yang, Sean Chen, and Eva Polgar. Kaleb was recently a teaching artist with the Lied Center Piano Academy and has led music theory classes with Lied Center Community Learning.

Originally from Eldorado, IL, Madeline Rogers is an accomplished solo and collaborative performer in the US and abroad. Significant international performances include the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and a recurring scholarship at Brahmshaus Baden-Baden, where she researched and performed in 2022 and 2024. In October 2024, Rogers toured Vietnam with faculty from the University of Nebraska as part of their Global Arts Academy, teaching masterclasses and performing at renowned music schools in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam.

David von Kampen (b. 1986) is a composer based in Lincoln, Nebraska. David’s creative work spans a wide variety of genres and styles, including jazz, choral music, hymnody and liturgy, solo voice, chamber music, and musical theater. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Nebraska. He has studied composition with James Barnes, Dan Gailey, Forrest Pierce, Eric Richards, and Randall Snyder.

Tom Larson is Assistant Professor of Composition (Emerging Media and Digital Arts) at the Glenn Korff School of Music. At the GKSoM, Tom has taught courses in Film Scoring, Digital Audio Recording and Production, Jazz History, Rock History, and Jazz Piano. His current course work includes teaching Film Scoring and Creative Sound Design, Digital Audio Recording/Production, and private Composition lessons. He also is a member of the UNL Faculty Jazz Ensemble, for which he serves as Music Director and Composer in Residence.

Praised by the New York Times for his “Lisztian thunder and deft fluidity,” and the San Francisco Chronicle as “ferociously virtuosic,” pianist Paul Barnes has electrified audiences with his intensely expressive playing and cutting-edge programming. He has been featured seven times on APM’s Performance Today, on the cover of Clavier Magazine, and his recordings are streamed worldwide.