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Christopher Cramer

• D.M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.M., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• B.F.A., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

As a soloist and chamber musician, classical guitarist Christopher Cramer has performed in the U.S., Canada, and Asia. Recent concert engagements have taken him to major cities including Boston, Montréal, Singapore and Taipei among others. From the renowned National Concert Hall in Taiwan to the extraordinary Eastman Museum in New York, concert season highlights have included featured performances at a variety of unique and historic venues including the prestigious National Taiwan University, Suzuki Guitar Singapore, Bibliothèque publique Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc, the National Music Museum, as well as a broadcast performance on Wisconsin Public Radio’s acclaimed Sunday Afternoon Live from the Chazen concert series.

From college campuses to performing arts centers, Dr. Cramer has presented numerous solo recitals featuring an expansive repertoire that includes masterworks of the past as well as newly composed works by contemporary composers. Dr. Cramer made his concerto debut performing Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in D major for guitar and strings with the Madison East Orchestra. More recently, he has appeared with the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. As a chamber musician, Dr. Cramer has performed with a variety of instrumentalists and ensembles including the Beloit College Masterworks Chorus, the Edgewood College Chamber Singers, the St. Norbert Abbey Choir, the St. Norbert College Chamber Singers and Men’s Chorus, and the UW-Madison University Opera. Dr. Cramer also performs regularly, both nationally and internationally, with award-winning soprano Yi-Lan Niu. An advocate of new music, Dr. Cramer has collaborated with and premiered works by a number of contemporary composers including Hong Kong composer Chiwei Hui, New York-based composer Alexander Nohai-Seaman, and Texas-based composer Blake Henson.

Dr. Cramer currently serves on the faculty at Beloit College, Ripon College, and St. Norbert College where he founded and heads the guitar program. He also serves as the director of guitar instruction at the Madison Academy of Music in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to academic teaching, Dr. Cramer also presents programs in schools and community centers for those interested in learning more about the guitar and its music.

Dr. Cramer began his music studies at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc where he won a number of awards including the UW-Manitowoc County Fine Arts Award in the Area of Music. He went on to complete his undergraduate training at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music where he won first place in the annual WCM scholarship competition in classical guitar. Continuing his studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Cramer earned both his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in music performance. While at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Cramer undertook an intensive study of instrumental conducting, ultimately leading to a doctoral minor in the discipline and the opportunity to work with the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra.

Jandelyn Dawn Plane

• Ph.D. from University of Maryland-College Park
• M.S. from UW-Milwaukee
• B.A. from Wartburg College

I recently retired as a computer science faculty member at the University of Maryland College Park where I had been since 1989. I moved back to Wisconsin to be closer to family and now live just outside Ripon with my mother, husband and son. With graduate degrees in both computer science and education, I focus on computer science curriculum, pedagogical methods and underrepresented populations in computing. For 15 years early in my career, I worked on State Department-funded projects building computing degree programs at universities in sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan. After that, I became the founding director of two centers (Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing (I4C) and Maryland Center for Women in Computing (MCWIC)) both of which emphasize improving diversity, equity and inclusion in the computing fields through K-12 outreach education, current student support and research.

Bryan Nell

• Ph.D. from University of Oregon
• B.A. from Ripon College

I grew up in St. Germain, Wisconsin, and graduated from Ripon with a degree in chemistry in 2009. I earned my Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Oregon in Eugene in 2014. My dissertation research focused on the synthesis of tetraphosphine macrocycles and their corresponding coordination chemistry, mostly focused on iron. I taught general chemistry and organic chemistry at the university and classes at a community college and Oregon State University. In 2016, I started a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Rebecca Abergel at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, preparing sulfur-based analogs of the HOPO-type molecules that are well known to capture radionuclei. I then was an assistant professor in chemistry at the University of Minnesota Morris, before returning to teach at Ripon College. I enjoy golf, woodworking projects and being outside with my wife, daughter and pups.

Yukiko Grine

Originally from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, I am the music director of the Oshkosh Youth Symphony Orchestra Inc. I teach orchestra at Oshkosh North and West high schools, a position I began in 2007, and am department chair of the Oshkosh West High School Music Department. I began my violin studies at an early age and received a bachelor of music degree in violin performance from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. I hold a Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction and completed my Wisconsin teaching certification at Lawrence University.

Scott Elford

I have been a freelance percussionist in central Wisconsin for 25 years. My work includes orchestral performances with the Fox Valley Symphony, Wisconsin Philharmonic Orchestra, Weidner Philharmonic and more. I also have been the percussionist on the national tours of Broadway shows including runs of “Wicked,” “Newsies,” “Anastasia,” and “West Side Story.” I maintain a private studio and have been the clinician at high schools around the state.

Victoria N. Folse

• Ph.D., Research Methodology Concentration, Saint Louis University, School of Nursing
• M.S., Adult Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing
• B.S.N., Illinois Wesleyan University

Paul Thompson

• DMA, University of Colorado – Boulder
• MM, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
• B.A., Marian University

I am the Director of Choral Activities at Ripon College. I direct the Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, and Choral Union. I also teach Conducting I and II, Choral Techniques, Music History I, and in the Catalyst curriculum. My research includes applications of Servant Leadership in Choral Rehearsals, and the use of concepts from Information Pedagogy to frame Conducting Pedagogy. I conduct Aperi Animam, a professional early music choir in Milwaukee, and sing with several professional choirs throughout the country. In my free time, I love to spend time with my family and friends, read, golf and cook.

Paul Dietrich

Paul Dietrich has been described as “an apt bandleader, an exception composer, and a superlative performer” (All About Jazz) and “a skilled composer” (JazzTrail) and his music has been praised as “stunningly beautiful” (Audiophile Audition) and “captivating” (Chicago Jazz Magazine).

A composer, trumpet player and educator based in the Midwest, Dietrich has led the Paul Dietrich Quintet since 2012 and the Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble since 2016. The Chicago-based Quintet has released two albums: Focus (2017, ears&eyes) and We Always Get There (2014, Blujazz). The Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble’s 2019 album Forward features guest artist and world-renowned drummer Clarence Penn (Dave Douglas, Maria Schneider) alongside many of the Midwest’s best jazz musicians.

As a composer, Dietrich has completed over a dozen commissions for schools and organizations including the Isthmus Jazz Festival, Lawrence University’s Jazz Weekend, Ripon College, Madison College, the Mount Horeb Middle School Jazz Festival, and various high schools throughout Wisconsin. He is a two-time recipient of the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium’s Artistic Development Grant.

Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet and jazz studies from Lawrence University and a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from DePaul University. As an educator, Paul has directed the Jazz Ensemble at Ripon College since 2021, and served as co-trumpet instructor with his wife, Jessica Jensen, while filling in for his former teacher, John Daniel, at Lawrence University in 2021. Previously, Paul taught at Prairie Music & Arts in Sun Prairie, WI, and directed the jazz ensemble at Madison East High School.

Lillian C. Brown

I’m originally from Las Vegas, Nevada. Most of my work involves creating theatrical encounters that conjure a sense of enthusiasm and social responsibility. I received my bachelor’s degree in theatre from the University of Northern Colorado and an MFA in theatre from Ohio State University. In addition to being an educator, I am a solo performing artist, actor and director. Currently, I’m touring my solo performance ‘The OREO Complex,” a multi-disciplinary art experience that explores the politics of racial performance by investigating the complexities of black identity.

Andrew Prellwitz

As Director of Lane Library I connect students to the collections, spaces and library services they need for academic growth and success. This means providing books and articles from the world’s best scholars, making innovative spaces like the Franzen Center possible, and working with students to help them navigate the flood of information available. Like many Ripon students, I was the first in my family to go to college. That’s one of the many reasons I find the additional services we provide, like chromebook and textbook check-outs as well as supporting open-educational resources so essential.

I currently teach information literacy as part of the Catalyst curriculum and have also taught courses on German language, culture and literature, the digital humanities, oral history as well as a half-marathon course.

Professionally, I am an active member of the Wisconsin Library Association as current co-chair of the Leadership Committee, co-chair of the Literary Awards committee as well as a past chair of the Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians. I also serve on two public library boards. My scholarship focuses on local history and culture.

John Sisko

• Ph.D. in Philosophy, Rutgers University
• B.A. in Liberal Arts, St. John’s College (Annapolis, MD)

Marc Sackman

• D.M.A., Flute Performance, Rutgers University
• M.M., Flute Performance, Rutgers University
• B.Mus. program (no degree), University of Illinois
• B.A., History/Social Studies Secondary Education, Rutgers College

Benjamin R. Grady

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.S., University of Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls
• B.A., University of Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls

Nature has always been a central part of my life. I was lucky enough to turn this passion for the natural world into a career as a scientist and educator in the field of biology. My areas of research focus broadly on evolution, ecology and conservation. Specifically, I study a group of fascinating plants that inhabit some of the most inhospitable North American desert areas, the wild buckwheat (Eriogonum). Additionally, the complexity and rarity of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem have always interested me. Currently, students in my research lab at Ripon College are investigating the diversity of insect pollinators (bees, butterflies, etc.) in prairies of Wisconsin. There is still a lot we can learn from the species around us!

At Ripon College, I teach courses ranging from Introductory Biology and Environmental Studies to advanced courses in Plant Diversity, Flora and Vegetation, and Conservation Biology.

Erin C. Munro Krull

• Ph.D., Tufts University
• M.A., Tufts University
• B.A., Connecticut College

I started teaching at Ripon College in 2019, joining the math and computer science department with a specialty in applied mathematics. At Ripon, my teaching focuses on mathematical modeling (including modeling within courses like calculus), statistics and data analysis. I have also been able to do both modeling and research projects with senior math majors as part of their senior thesis.

Before coming to Ripon, I taught at Beloit College, and did research in computational neuroscience in Tokyo and Boston. My research includes action potential propagation across gap junctions (with applications to epilepsy), and neocortical processing during sleep. I use both mathematical modeling and data analysis extensively in my research.

While I was always drawn to math because I always loved puzzles, I also love music because I love to sing. While in college, I wanted to become an opera singer, and studied many languages and theater along that goal. I still sing, on occasion, and am always up for a puzzle or a game!

Jessica A. Jensen

• D.Mus., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.Mus., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.Mus., Lawrence University

Erin K. Bryan

• D.Mus., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.Mus., University of Louisville
• B.Mus., Lawrence University

American soprano Erin Bryan has been praised for her “deft” operatic characterizations and a voice that is “a lyric soprano of exceptional beauty.” Recent engagements include Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Anne Sexton/#2 (Transformations), and the Governess (The Turn of the Screw), and she is featured as Young Anne/#1 on the recently released world-premiere recording of Conrad Susa’s Transformations. An advocate for new music, she enjoys frequent collaboration with living composers, including the Midwest premiere of Laura Schwendinger’s Kay Ryan Songs and the world premiere of Dangerous New Avenues, a chamber duet for soprano and percussion by Justin Giarrusso. She has just completed her second season with the innovative Fresco Opera of Wisconsin, where she was heard in works by Mozart, Verdi, Floyd, and Bellini.

Dr. Bryan holds degrees from Lawrence University, where she studied with Steven Spears and Patrice Michaels, and the University of Louisville, where she studied with Edith Davis Tidwell. She earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied with Paul Rowe. Her research concentration is largely in the area of vocal repertoire, with particular emphasis on eighteenth-century opera.

As a member of the music faculty at Ripon College, Dr. Bryan instructs courses in applied voice study, vocal pedagogy, lyric diction, and musicology, and she also enjoys regular collaboration with both the school’s choral program and the theatre department.