Faculty – Department of Music

Dr. Timothy Jon Tharaldson is the Director of Choral Activities at Benedictine College, where he conducts five choral ensembles, teaches private voice, conducting, and liturgical music. He is also the Artistic Director of the St. Joseph Community Chorus. Prior to his current appointments, he taught at Rocky Mountain High School, Smoky Hill High School, and Ponderosa High School in Colorado. He has sung with Te Deum of Kansas City and was a member of the nationally acclaimed Kantorei of Denver for ten seasons.

Timothy has received commissions from the Notre Dame Magnificat Choir, the Minnesota Sinfonia, Wartburg College, St. Cloud State University, Longmont Chorale, Kantorei, and numerous other choral organizations. His composition Rest was featured by the 2015 Colorado All-State Mixed Choir and was also the contest piece performed by seven different choirs as part of the 122nd Queensland Eisteddfod in Brisbane, Australia.

His compositions are published through MusicSpoke, Hal Leonard, and Santa Barbara Music Publishing. Timothy is a member of the American Choral Director’s Association, American Composers Forum, Colorado Music Educators Association, and the Kansas Music Educators Association. He holds degrees from St. Cloud State University, the University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Kansas.

Dr. Christopher Greco received B.A. music and M.A. music composition from California State University, Los Angeles and the Doctor of Musical Arts, D.M.A. degree in classical performance from University of California, Los Angeles.  

 Dr. Greco is an educator, composer/performer, woodwind specialist, award winning composer, and scholar of music with interests covering a broad range across several musical disciplines including composition, performance, and music theory. He is active in the classical, polystylist, and jazz fields as a recitalist and composer/performer, and was trained as a composer and multi-instrumentalist (clarinet, flute, saxophone, oboe) in his hometown of Los Angeles.  

Publications appear in Saxophone Journal (U.S.), Saxophone Today (U.S.), Clarinet & Saxophone Society of Great Britain (U.K.), and doctoral paper, A Study: An Interpretation and Analysis of a Late Twentieth Century Work for Saxophone and Piano: Steven Stucky’s Notturno is published by Akademiker Verlag, 2008. 

Dr. Greco served on the music faculty at Pepperdine University, UCLA, and University of Maryland. He joined the Benedictine College music faculty in 2008. Currently Dr. Greco teaches: music theory (coordinator), composition (coordinator), seminar in composition, orchestration, counterpoint, studio applied woodwinds, Honors course -Twentieth Century Music: Musical Styles of Modern Europe and America, chamber ensembles, and History of Jazz (summer online) at Benedictine College. He and his wife Yvette have three children, Nicholas, Julia, and Alexander.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Dr. Tom Davoren has held conducting positions with famous British style brass bands including the Fairey and Desford Colliery bands, as well as winning the 2014 section 1 National Brass Band Championship with his own band, Filton. He taught conducting and directed bands at the University of Salford from 2015 to 2019 and has appeared as a guest conductor, composer, and adjudicator in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Serving as Director of Bands at Benedictine College since 2021 he supervises the band area, teaches courses in conducting, and conducts the wind ensemble, concert band, brass band, and percussion ensemble.

Noted performances of Tom’s music have been given by the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble, ‘The President’s Own’ United States Marine Band, United States Air Force Concert Band, ‘West Point’ Band of the United States Military Academy, Bands of the British Royal Air Force and Royal Corps of Army Music, trumpet soloist Jens Lindemann, and euphonium soloists Hiram Daiz and Steven Mead to name a few. His music is performed wherever bands play, including multiple times at New York’s Carnegie Hall, at CBDNA, ITEA, and ITG conferences, and at the WASBE, Jeju, and WMC international festivals. There are over 25 commercial recordings of Tom’s music, his ‘A Midwestern Suite’ was awarded the National Band Association Merrill Jones Composition Prize for 2020 and was performed at the Midwest Clinic 2021. His ‘Kneller’s Legacy’ was commissioned in 2021 to commemorate the decommissioning of the British Army School of Music at Kneller Hall, he composed a fanfare to open the National Assembly for Wales in 2016, and his piece ‘Legacy’ commemorated the 75th Birthday of the British National Health Service with a performance at the Houses of Parliament.

Tom completed his doctorate in wind conducting at the University of Kansas, under the supervision of Dr. Paul Popiel, and holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in composition from Cardiff University School of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Praised for his “fiery playing,” “dramatic performance,” and “stunning orchestral playing,” cellist Peter Swanson has performed across the United States as soloist, cutting-edge collaborator, and orchestral leader. Highlights as soloist include concerto performances with the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Northshore Philharmonic Orchestra (both MN), and the UNCG Alumni Orchestra. He has also given numerous recital tours performing entirely unaccompanied, with several performances as guest artist at colleges and universities. His passion for the modern cello repertoire has led him to tackle the works of Hindemith, Crumb, Britten, Ligeti, Barber, Shostakovich, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Golijov, Augusta Read Thomas, Peter Vukmirovich Stevens, John Luther Adams, Melinda Wagner, and James MacMillan. His debut CD “Anti-Compass” was released in August 2021 through the Sheva Collection (United Kingdom) label.

Active as a composer with a distinct creative voice, his music has been performed at numerous festivals around the United States, including New Music on the Bayou, Cape Fear New Music Festival, the National Music Festival, the District New Music Coalition Festival, and the Iowa Composer’s Forum Mid-Winter Festival. He is a winner of multiple prizes and distinctions both in the United States and Canada. He has written music for Catchfire Collective, flutist Jillian Storey, oboist Heather Armstrong, the UNC-Greensboro Chorale, and the Domino Ensemble. His music has explored uncharted territory, featuring unconventional techniques such as screaming vocals and works for multiple virtual choirs.

As an orchestral musician, his leadership roles span nearly a dozen orchestras at the community, collegiate, and professional level. Recently he served as Acting Principal Cello of the Fayetteville Symphony (NC). Accolades also include a full fellowship to the National Orchestral Institute, the inaugural Prince George’s Philharmonic Cello Internship (MD), and two years as endowed principal of the Luther College Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. He can also be heard on the Grammy-nominated NAXOS recording of the National Orchestral Institute performing masterworks by Ruggles, Stucky, and Harbison (2018). As a chamber musician, he performs throughout the country as cellist of Catchfire Collective, an innovative chamber ensemble based in North Carolina, and with pianist Meagan Lacher as Duo 336. Other chamber tenures include the Ekklesia Trio, Music In The Shape Of A Pear, the TEMPO Ensemble, the Gate City Camerata, Present~Continuous, and the Di Domani Quartet. In these groups he has premiered numerous pieces and promoted recent compositions from around the world.

He has several posts as conductor, including director of the Methodist University Chamber Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Lee County Community Orchestra, Cover Conductor for the Durham Symphony Orchestra, Interim Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra, the UNC-Greensboro Sinfonia, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra (MN). He currently serves as conductor of the Benedictine College/Atchison Community Orchestra. He studied conducting with Daniel Baldwin, Allen Hightower, Brett Nolker, and Kevin Geraldi.

He is Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. He has previously served on the faculty at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, Methodist University, Guilford College, Catawba Valley Community College, and the UNC-School of the Arts Community Music School (all NC). He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, the University of Maryland, and Luther College (IA). His principal cello teachers include Alex Ezerman, Eric Kutz, Cole Tutino, and Rebecca Peterson. He has performed in masterclasses for Andres Diaz, Robert DeMaine Cecylia Barczyk, Richard Belcher, Tulio Rondon, Christine Kim, and Lawrence Stombeck. He is a winner of the National School Orchestra Award, the Luther Music Excellence Award, and the Burlington Industries Music Award. Peter plays a 2013 Beckmann cello specially commissioned by Givens Violins in Minneapolis.

Harrison Sheckler is a distinguished musician, educator, and composer, hailing from Charles City, Iowa. He is currently advancing towards his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the University of Arizona, studying under Dr. John Milbauer and Dr. Daniel Linder. Additionally, he is pursuing a DMA minor in Composition under the guidance of Dan Asia. Harrison holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Dr. Soyeon Kate Lee, and a Master of Music degree from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Jeffrey Biegel. He is a celebrated pianist with numerous accolades, including winning the 2014 Terrace Hill Endowment for the Musical Arts Competition, receiving honors in the Music Teachers National Association Senior Piano Duet Competition, and earning several prestigious scholarships and awards.

His orchestration prowess was showcased in 2021 when the Dallas Symphony premiered his work on Jeffrey Biegel’s piano piece, “Reflections of Justice: An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg” in a concert honoring the late supreme court justice. A subsequent and complete performance of the piano concerto occurred in Florida with Jeffrey Biegel and the SpaceCoast Symphony. During the pandemic, Harrison innovatively connected with audiences and artists. He launched the Virtual Choir Project Covid-19, turning the classic “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel into a global phenomenon. Garnering over 1.9 million YouTube views, this project featured 300 participants from 15 countries. A baseball-themed follow-up involved former major league pitcher Bronson Arroyo in a virtual rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” His most recent virtual choir project released in January 2024, features 2x GRAMMY® award winner Gloria Gaynor on a new gospel music video titled “Talkin’ ‘Bout Jesus.” The song, featured on Gaynor’s Grammy® award-winning album “Testimony,” celebrates themes of hope and spiritual resilience. The collaboration was highlighted by the Sheckler Virtual Choir, an innovative approach by Sheckler that brings together vocalists from around the world through technology, creating a unified musical performance despite physical distances.

In addition to his role as a piano professor at Benedictine College, he is the Director of Music at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Olathe, Kansas. Harrison previously served as Visiting Professor of Piano at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Before moving to Olathe, he was the primary pianist/organist at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Charles City, Iowa, and St. Francis de Sales Parish in Tucson, Arizona. Outside of his professional life, Harrison has a deep appreciation for nature, the arts, and sports. He is an avid fisherman, enjoys the thrill of downhill skiing, has acted in feature films and on television, and never misses an opportunity to attend major league baseball games.

Laura Goehner Moreno, originally from Kansas, received a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Kansas, and continued postgraduates studies at the National Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. She studied with Dr. Richard Reber and Dr. Jack Winerock at the University of Kansas and with the famed pianist Claude Frank for seven years in master classes. Her later studies were with the renowned pianist Sequeira Costa, with whom she studied for five years.

Laura has performed numerous piano concerts in the US and Mexico and has recorded a CD of classical Mexican piano music and another CD with her own compositions. She performs as soloist, chamber pianist and collaborative pianist. Her piano teaching and performance experience encompasses 30 years. She taught piano and formed various piano trios in the San Francisco Bay area (1990-2013).

In 2013 she and her family relocated to Atchison, Kansas where she serves as Adjunct Piano Faculty for the Benedictine College Music Department, specializing in Applied Piano. She maintains her own private piano studio, the Laura Goehner Moreno Piano Studio, located in Atchison, Kansas.

Dr. Stephanie Meyer (soprano) currently serves as a voice instructor at Benedictine College and UMKC Conservatory’s Academy/Musical Bridges programs, 2011-present, with previous teaching at Avila University, 2016-2020. Her past stage roles include: Noema (Mother Noah), Nimue (Camelot), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Le feu and Le rossignol (L’enfant et les Sortilèges), Mrs. Fiorentino (Street Scene), La Fée (Cendrillon), Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and the title role of Donizetti’s Rita. Lyric Opera Kansas City, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Missouri Oratorio Society, and Taneycomo Festival Orchestral are among her prior concert engagements.

As a champion of interdisciplinary collaboration, she has produced two opéra-ballets entitled Moving Songs: Faith, Hope, and Love in 2009 and Moving Songs: Celebration of Diversity in 2016. Her research on Debussy and the cultural influences surrounding his early vocal works was initially presented on her 2014 lecture recital and reprised with Midwest Chamber Ensemble in 2021.

Meyer holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, a Master of Music from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from South Dakota State University.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Joon Park is a performer and educator currently based out of Kansas City, Missouri. Joon performs in a variety of different ensembles and genres that has taken him across the United States and internationally. He has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and is a member of the Brass Band of Battle Creek and the Fountain City Brass Band. In addition to playing in orchestras and brass bands, Joon has appeared in concert with popular music artists such as Seal and plays in musical theater orchestras.

Joon has led a variety of clinics, masterclasses, and workshops throughout the United States. Recently, Joon was on faculty for the Brass Band of Battle Creek’s Summer Youth Camps, the California Central Coast Orchestra & Jazz Academy, and presented masterclasses for the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Previously, Joon was a Teaching Artist with Youth Orchestra Salinas (YOSAL), an El Sistema USA member organization that provides tuition-free musical training for at-risk and underserved youth in Salinas, CA.

Born in South Korea, pianist Seyoung Park has made numerous appearances as recitalist and collaborative pianist in the United States, Europe, and Korea. Seyoung started playing the piano at the age of seven. By the age of eleven, she was attending Seoul Art’s Center Music Prodigy Program. She has won prizes at many competitions including Eumaksekye Competition, Eumyoun Competition and Music Education Journal Competition in Seoul, Korea.

As an active solo performer, she has given solo recitals in various venues including the White Recital Hall at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, Barness Recital Hall at the University of South Florida, Concert Hall in the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Youngsan Art Hall and Dreamforest Art Center in Seoul, Korea. Her performances include performing with the Steinway Series in both the 2018 Late Beethoven Sonata Series and the 2019 series of Art of Fugue. Seyoung has participated in masterclasses, allowing her to work with renowned pedagogues such as Christopher Harding, Arthur Greene, James Giles, Balaz Szokolay, Rebecca Penneys, Fabio Bidini, Logan Skelton and Boris Slutsky. She has actively attended and performed in many music festivals, including the Amalfi Coast Music International Festival (Italy), the Atlantic Music Festival (Unites States), Brancaleoni International Music Festival (Italy), Music Alps Festival (France), Liszt Academy International Music Festival (Budapest), and Yeonum Piano Summer School (South Korea).

As an enthusiastic educator, Seyoung has taught students in different levels of piano, from beginner to advanced. She served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the UMKC Conservatory for three years, where she taught group piano classes and applied secondary piano lessons for undergraduate and graduate students, including music majors as well as non-music majors.

She actively performs as a collaborative pianist and has worked with various musicians from different backgrounds. During her masters program at the University of South Florida, she held a Graduate Assistantship in instrumental accompanying. Her experience ranges from standard repertoire to new music, including premieres of composers’ works.

Seyoung obtained her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Chamber Music at the University of South Florida with Dr. Svetozar Ivanov and obtained a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Dongduk Women’s University in Seoul with Prof. Hyosun Nah, Dr. Minyoung Lee and Noel McRobbie. She is currently finishing a Doctoral of Musical Arts in Piano Performance with Dr. Thomas Rosenkranz at the UMKC Conservatory. In 2022 Fall, Seyoung joined Benedictine College as collaborative pianist and piano faculty.

An active performing musician in all styles, Mr. Riley has released four solo CDs, including Notes to Self, a recording of original compositions. He is also featured on the recordings of many other artists, tours regularly with many national and international artists and has made numerous radio and television appearances. Mr. Riley teaches guitar at Benedictine College and Missouri Western State University. He has degrees in classical guitar performance and commercial music from MWSU, is a certified Suzuki guitar method teacher, member of the Missouri Music Teachers Association and director of the St. Joseph Arts Academy.

Dr. Kevin Thomas Smith holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in voice performance from the University of Kansas, where he studied with John Stephens. He performed a number of opera and musical theater roles at the university, including Flute in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Oronte in Handel’s Alcina, Don Basilio in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, the Norwin Spokesman in the Sherman Brothers’ Over Here, and Mr. One in Joshua Schmidt’s Adding Machine: A Musical.

While a student, Kevin participated in several world premieres, including two recitals of art songs by student composers and a new cantata by Timothy Jon Tharaldson, Floretum, which premiered at Benedictine College in 2021.

Annija Veitnere teaches Liturgical Music I and II, Functional Keyboard, Recreational Piano, and conducts the Liturgical Choir at Benedictine College. Her studies and teaching experience were cultivated in her native country of Latvia and time in Poland and Italy. While in Rome, she was a Lecturer and cantor at the Music School for the Liturgy, Cantatibus Organis, at the Basilica di San Cecilia in Trastevere. She was a cantor and soprano in the Coro Liturgico Polifonico of the Basilica Papale di San Paolo Fuori le Mura. She also taught Gregorian chant to female Benedictine monasteries and parish choirs in Rome and surrounding areas as well as intensive special summer courses in Gregorian chant and modality. She has held the position of Liturgical Music Director in parishes in Latvia and Poland.

Her studies include degrees and certificates from The Music School for the Liturgy, Toruń, Poland, the Rīga Higher Institute of Religious Studies (affiliated with Pontifical Lateran University in Rome), the Music School for the Liturgy, Cantatibus Organis, Basilica di San Cecilia, and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of University of San Anselmo in Urbe in Rome.

Dr. Brian Ward is a keyboardist, educator, composer, and arranger from Portland, Oregon. Brian has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Bobby Torres, Shirley Nanette, Curtis Salgado, Obo Addy, Will Matthews, Bobby Watson, and many others. “City of Roses,” one of the arrangements Ward helped create for Esperanza Spalding’s album Radio Music Society, won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for Vocal Performance. Ward has taught jazz band and jazz piano at Portland State University, Washington State University, University of Idaho, Eastern Washington University, University of Kansas, Ottawa University, and Benedictine College. Brian completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from the University of Kansas and is enjoying performing jazz and blues in the Kansas City area.

Jessica is in charge of organization and communication among all the professors, she schedules events and meetings, coordinates operations within the department, and keeps everything running smoothly.

Dr. Lara West earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree in church music from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Her lecture-recital focused on the organ works of Hugo Distler.  In addition to teaching organ lessons at Benedictine, Dr. West serves as Music Minister and Organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mission, Kansas. Dr. West studied church music and worked as a church musician in Germany, and continues to enjoy German language and culture.

Flutist Christina Webster maintains an active and varied career as orchestral musician, recital soloist, chamber player, and teacher, and has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe. She earned her D.M.A. in Flute Performance at the Conservatory of Music and Dance of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Winner of a Fulbright Award, she earned a Postgraduate Performance Diploma with Merit at the Royal Academy of Music (London). Ms. Webster earned a Master of Music in Flute Performance at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, and a Bachelor of Music in Flute and Piano Performance, summa cum laude, at the University of Kansas.

She was a winner of the National Flute Association’s 2023 Convention Performers Competition, and recently performed at the 2023 NFA Convention in Phoenix, AZ. Ms. Webster has also been an invited performer at the 2023 Mid-Atlantic (Washington, D.C.) Flute Convention and will be performing and teaching at the 15th World Flutes Festival in Mendoza, Argentina this fall, all three solo flute works of Tōru Takemitsu. She holds the permanent position of Second Flute with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and she performs as Principal Flute and frequent soloist with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and as Principal Flute of the Kansas City-based newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. She is also an active substitute/extra flute for the Kansas City Symphony. Ms. Webster has performed as Principal Flute of the Manson Ensemble, the Royal Academy’s contemporary music ensemble, giving performances at the Oxford Festival of Contemporary Music, the Duke’s Hall of the Royal Academy of Music, and alongside the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (South Bank Centre, London). She has also performed at the Purcell Room in London, the US Embassy in London, and in various venues throughout the UK, Germany, and Italy.

Ms. Webster has taught at King’s College, London (on behalf of the Royal Academy of Music) and at Kansas State University as Visiting Assistant Professor of Flute. Principal teachers include William Bennett, John Boulton, Kate Hill, and Mary Posses.