New faculty in the College of Fine Arts

The WMU College of Fine Arts has added a number of new faculty to the team this spring. We are excited to share with you the following hires, whose guidance and leadership will be an amazing asset to our students.

WMU Dance is thrilled to welcome Kelsey Paschich as a new Assistant Professor of Dance, beginning in August. Paschich is a dancer, choreographer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, and is a co-founder/co-director of SHIFT DANCE. She views dance as a language that can be shared across many mediums and generations. Her work often utilizes multi-media elements inspired by surrealism as the theoretical and conceptual framework. Paschich holds an MFA in Dance from the University of New Mexico and was the recipient of the National Dizzy Feet Foundation Gene Kelly Legacy Scholarship in 2016. She holds a BFA (Cum Laude) from Point Park University. Paschich has been teaching dance and performing professionally for over eighteen years. Paschich received her Countertechnique® Teacher Certification in Melbourne, Australia, with founder Anouk van Dijk, in 2016. Paschich has performed extensively with: The Moscow State Classical Ballet, DCDC2, Thodos Dance Chicago, River North Chicago Dance Company, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Interdansa Dance Festival 2010, Keshet Dance Company, ARCOS Dance, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the Hannibal Project in Solden, Austria. She has performed the rep of choreographers: Robert Battle, José Límôn, Ann Reinking, Lucas Crandall, Lar Lubovitch, Tamir Ginz, Margo Sappington, Johan Renvall, Kevin O’ Day, Alan Heinline, Joanie Smith, Frank Chaves, Melissa Thodos, Zac Whittenburg, Curtis Uhlemann, Robert Moses, Gail Gilbert, Donna Jewell, Erika Pujic, Lawine Torrèn, Tomaz Simatovic, and others.

In addition, Jeremy Blair will be joining WMU Dance next year in a new role as an Assistant Professor. Jeremy is a choreographer, performer, and educator, whose creative research addresses race and gender politics in dance performance and dance pedagogy. His choreography has been presented at Jacob's Pillow, City Center, Gibney, Harris Theatre, and other venues throughout the United States. Jeremy has performed with Thodos Dance Chicago, Lucky Plush Productions, Chicago Moving Company, Khecari Dance Theatre, Aerial Dance Chicago, and Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago, and with Friches Theatre Urbaine in Paris. Jeremy received an MFA in choreography from the University of Iowa and a BA in theatre from Millikin University. Jeremy is also a 500-hour registered Hatha yoga teacher.

The School of Music is welcoming Dr. Ellen Breakfield-Glick as the new Assistant Professor of Clarinet. Dr. Glick will teach applied clarinet, coach chamber music and perform with Western Winds and the Western Wind Quintet. She will also continue her active career as a performer in solo and chamber music recitals and orchestral work. Dr. Glick has held positions with CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, the Michigan Philharmonic Orchestra and frequently performs with the Louisville Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony and other orchestras throughout the Midwest. Her playing has been described by The Cleveland Plain Dealer as “both a novelty and a delight.” She was previously a faculty member at Cleveland State University. In 2016, she was awarded the Golden Apple Teaching Award, given to faculty members for excellence in teaching and outstanding contributions to the CSU community. During the summer, she is the Guest Faculty Director at the University of Michigan’s MPulse Clarinet Institute, a position she has held since 2014 and has also served as a chamber music coach at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.

Dr. Lauron Kehrer is the new Assistant Professor of Ethno/Musicology in the School of Music. Dr. Kehrer will teach world music classes, music history surveys, and seminar for undergraduate and graduate students in ethnomusicology, popular music, and gender studies. She comes to WMU with a wealth and variety of experiences that will enhance our instruction and further our successes. Dr. Kehrer is presently completing her second year as Assistant Professor of Music at the College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA), where she taught courses on American popular music, hip-hop, gender and sexuality in music, and Western art music. She earned her Ph.D. in Musicology from the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, where she also completed an MA in Ethnomusicology and a Graduate Certificate from the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. Her current book project examines the work of queer and trans artists of color in hip-hop. She has published and forthcoming articles in the journals American Music, Journal of the Society for American Music, and Popular Music and Society. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in American popular music, especially hip-hop.

The Western Michigan University Bands welcome Dr. Trey Harris as Associate Director of Bands. Dr. Harris will lead the Bronco Marching Band, conduct Symphonic Band and teach basic conducting classes. He comes to WMU with a wealth and variety of experiences that will enhance our traditions and further our successes. Dr. Harris is presently completing his second year as the Assistant Director of Bands at Kennesaw State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Music Education at The Florida State University, his Master of Music in Wind Conducting at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, and his Bachelor of Music Education at Michigan State University. He also served in the military, earning a musician’s diploma at the Armed Forces School of Music.

Violinist David Lisker will be joining the WMU School of Music faculty as Assistant Professor of Violin this Fall. Described as an “exquisite virtuoso violinist” (Chicago Sun-Times) whose “playing possesses a deeply profound musical instinct” (The Classical Network) and a “cultivated artistic taste” (Kulturas Diena, Latvia), David Lisker has appeared as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer in many of today’s most prestigious concert halls including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Merkin Hall, The Mann Auditorium in Israel, The Orange County Performing Arts Center in California, The National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and The Shanghai Theatre in China. Lisker has also performed on the live PBS television broadcast of “Live from Lincoln Center”, was featured on Bob Sherman’s “Young Artist Showcase” on WQXR in New York, and was the only violinist ever to appear on David Dubal’s “Piano Matters” on WWFM Radio. In addition to extensive studio teaching both in the studio and via Distance Learning Technology, he has given lessons, masterclasses, and coachings at festivals throughout the world. Lisker is also artistic director of his nonprofit organization, the Lisker Music Foundation, which strives to support current and future generations of musicians through its acclaimed concert series, outreach programs, and scholarships.