Joined ISU Faculty in 2022

Dr. Patrick E. Young currently serves as the Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Low Brass at Idaho State University. Prior to assuming his position at ISU, he previously served as the Director of Bands and Low Brass instructor at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia. Dr. Young, an alumnus of Young Harris himself and Georgia native, received a Bachelor of Music Education degree at YHC before going on to receive a Master of Music Performance in Tuba from the University of Georgia. He then completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2020. Dr. Young’s dissertation, entitled “Sorting Shapes: The F-Tuba Helper,” discusses the performance experience between low brass performers and their collaborative pianists.

In addition to his duties at ISU, Dr. Young also serves as the principal tubist of Opera Colorado, a renowned opera company located in the heart of Denver, CO. He also serves as the bass trombonist in the Idaho State-Civic Symphony. He formerly served as the principal tubist with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra and Arapahoe Philharmonic in Colorado. As a soloist he has performed at the Southeastern Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference as a guest artist and with the University of Georgia British Brass Band under the direction of Mr. Phil Smith, former Principal Trumpet of the New York Philharmonic. Dr. Young has received First Place in the Rocky Mountain Brass Solo Contest, was a semi-finalist in the International Lenard Falcone Festival and Competition in Michigan, and was awarded Second Place at the Northwestern Tuba Euphonium Conference in Washington. He has been runner-up or semi-finalist in numerous premiere military bands, including the Army Field Band and the President’s Own Marine Band.

As an educator, Dr. Young was a recent guest artist at the Moscow Conservatory, the Gnessin Musical College, and the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia during the 2019 Russian Tour with the Fortress Brass Quintet. While abroad in Russia, he performed as a soloist with the St. Petersburg Conservatory Orchestra, taught masterclasses, individual lessons, and gave numerous recitals with the Fortress Brass Quintet.

His primary tuba instructors include Professor Mike Dunn (CU Boulder), Professor David Zerkel (UGA/University of Michigan), Dr. David McLemore (Central Washington University, and Simon Wildman (President’s Own Marine Band). Dr. Young’s primary conducting influences include Dr. Don McKinney (CU Boulder), Dr. Dan Bara (UGA), Dr. Jaclyn Hartenberger (UGA), Dr. John Lynch (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point), Dr. Mary Land (Western Michigan), and Dr. Mike Campbell (Young Harris).

Dr. Young is a member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA), American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). He is also on call to perform with the Colorado Ballet, the Boulder Philharmonic, Steamboat Symphony Orchestra, Cheyenne Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and Boise Philharmonic. His other research interests include history of rap music and exploring creative ways to make young music students hirable immediately after their university experience. In his free time, Dr. Young enjoys grilling, going on hikes with Kirby, his Siberian Husky, and watching the Atlanta Braves play baseball.

Joined ISU Faculty in 2008

Michael Helman joined the faculty of Idaho State University in 2008 and is an instructor of music and horn for the department of music.  He also serves as the director of bands at Franklin Middle School (2014) and School District 25’s middle school music coordinator (2019). His teaching responsibilities within the School of Performing Arts include applied horn while also coaching student brass ensembles. He is an active clinician, adjudicator and performer throughout Idaho and works with all levels of musicians. He currently performs as Principal Horn with the Idaho State Civic Symphony, Portneuf Brass Quintet, City Creek Winds, and serves as the personnel manager for the symphony.  He has been featured as a guest soloist multiple times with the ISU Wind Ensemble, has been featured as a guest artist with area local groups, and has performed with the Boise Philharmonic and Idaho Falls Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to taking on the FMS band program, he was the business manager for the School of Performing Arts at ISU.  Other previous teaching and performing includes being the Director of Bands and Music Education for Oaklawn Academy in Edgerton, Wisconsin. He held this position for three years while maintaining a private studio and performing with the Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra and Four Seasons Theater.

Michael attended the University of Iowa from 2002-2004, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in horn performance. During his time in Iowa City, he studied with Jeff Agrell and worked as the teaching assistant to the horn studio. In addition to performing extensively with both the orchestra and band programs, he was active within the Center for New Music and Evan Mazunick’s “soundpainting” ensemble throughout his tenure. Other Iowa chamber ensembles include the Old Capitol Brass Quintet, UI Graduate Woodwind Quintet, Iowa Brass Choir and the Iowa Horn Trio. He holds the Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree from Columbus State University (Columbus, GA), where he studied horn with Dr. Kristen Hansen.

Michael’s other professional experience includes performances with the American Wind Symphony (2003), St. Louis Chamber Winds, North Carolina Symphony, North Carolina Opera Company, and the Brevard Music Festival (2000/2001). He has had additional studies and/or master class appearances with Jack Masarie, Dr. John Ericson, Allen Spanjer, Gregory Hustis, Gregory Miller, Andrew McAfee and Jean Rife.

His favorite chamber musician to collaborate with is his wife, Shandra, with whom he is raising two boys and two cats.

Joined ISU Faculty in 1999

Dr. Kori Bond is Professor of Piano at Idaho State University, where she coordinates the piano program, teaches piano and related courses, and directs the Preparatory Piano Program. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Indiana University in Piano Performance, a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University, and Bachelors degrees in Music, Biology, and Religion from Walla Walla University. She began her piano studies at age 6 with Florence Brinton in Salt Lake City and her other primary piano teachers were Edward Auer, Donald Walker, and Leonard Richter. She also studied chamber music extensively with Gyorgy Sebok, Leonard Hokanson, members of the Vermeer Quartet, and faculty at the Sarasota Music Festival, where she studied for two summers.

Bond has performed in numerous states as a solo and collaborative artist and as a soloist with orchestra. She frequently appears in concert with pianist Karlyn Bond and with other colleagues at ISU. She has also performed with numerous internationally esteemed artists such as sopranos Caroline Worra and Diane Ragains, violinist Corey Cerovsek, flutist Christina Jennings, and violist Roland Glassl, along with many others. Recent performances include recitals at the Summer Festival at Indiana University, the University of Montana, Boise State University, Westminster College of Salt Lake City, the College of Idaho, Brigham Young University, Walla Walla University, Brigham Young University-Idaho, and recitals on the Temple Square Concert Series in Salt Lake City. Recent concerto performances include Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 3 and Nights in the Garden of Spain, by Manuel de Falla with the Idaho State Civic Symphony, and Mozart’s Concerto No. 27 with the Idaho Falls Symphony Orchestra. Every summer, she directs the ISU Summer Piano Institute, and has also been a guest artist at the Sierra Music Festival in Mammoth Lakes, California, and a guest faculty member at the Edward Auer Piano Festival at Indiana University. This school year she will be featured performing solo recitals in several venues, including the “Stars of Steinway Series” in Boise, and the University of Wyoming.

In 2007, Bond released her first CD of the Complete 24 Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich, published by Centaur Records. Her playing on this recording has been acclaimed as featuring the “technique to play Shostakovich’s sometimes knotty piano writing without dropping a note, but she also plays with immense musicality” (Allmusic). Her second CD, featuring songs by Howard Boatwright performed with soprano Diana Livingston Friedley, has just been released, also by Centaur Records.

While a student, Kori Bond was a prizewinner in numerous regional and national competitions. She is now a frequent adjudicator and clinician throughout the West. Her students have been prizewinners at the state and division levels of the MTNA competition and winners of numerous other local and state competitions, including the Federation of Music Clubs Collegiate Competition and the Musicians West competition.

Joined ISU Faculty in 2005

Ms. Adams has considerable experience as a performer and teacher for both piano and voice. Prior to returning to Idaho, she served as a Teaching Assistant in Music Theory at Northern Illinois University. She also taught piano and voice in the NIU Community School of the Arts.

Joined ISU Faculty in 2005

Pianist Mark Neiwirth, a Distinguished Steinway Artist, has gained a national reputation as soloist, chamber musician, teacher and adjudicator. He was Chairman of the Piano Department at the Sun Valley School of Music for seven years and is currently an Adjunct Professor at Idaho State University and Director of Artistic Planning for the ISU Summer Institute for Piano and Strings.

Mr. Neiwirth has performed a repertoire of 31 piano concerti with orchestras throughout the country. For sixteen years he was the featured concerto soloist with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. An avid chamber musician, he was a founding member of Davidsbund (New York City), the California Trio (Los Angeles), the Vista Trio (Salt Lake City), the Sun Valley Chamber Players, and the Amadeus Trio of Idaho

After growing up in Idaho as a student of Faun King, Olive Boren Stirland and Teala Bellini, he pursued his advanced studies with Raymond Hanson (The Hartt School) in Connecticut, and Constance Keene and Dora Zaslavsky (Manhattan School of Music) in New York, where he served as Mme. Zaslavsky’s teaching assistant. Other major teachers were Aube Tzerko (UCLA) and Thomas Schumacher (Eastman School of Music). He worked with notable chamber music coaches Lillian Fuchs, Erick Friedman, Rafael Bronstein, Joseph Seiger, Gary Karr and Arianna Bronne, and studied vocal coaching with Ellen Faull, William Metcalf and Judith Raskin.

Mr. Neiwirth is a champion of new music and premiered several pieces, many of which were written expressly for him by major composers. He is a favorite interpreter of Thom Ritter George’s compositions and premiered Piano Sonata No. 3; Six American Folk Songs for flute and piano with Patricia George, and subsequently recorded them with Laurel Ann Maurer on 4Tay Records; Introduction and Waltz after Ysaÿe  for violin and piano with Ardith Moran; Piano Trio No. 1 with Charles Castleman and Terry King; and Piano Concerto No. 3, composed for the sixtieth anniversary of the Idaho State Civic Symphony. Neiwirth also premiered Wilderness Suite for Two Pianos with Jeanne Green Sherman by Randy Earles, and a soon to be released recording of Old Playgrounds by Thom Hasenpflug. Other premieres include pieces by Lukas Foss, Carl Byron, Leon Levitch, Jett Hitt, Ralph Kessler, Tully Cathey and Terrence Napier.

He is the founder of Musicians West, Inc., a non-profit corporation that sponsors musical events in the state of Idaho. Now in its eighteenth year, the Musicians West Piano Competition presents Idaho’s finest students and has become one of the most prestigious musical events in the region.

Joined ISU Faculty in 2016

Dr. Hyeri Choi is Associate Professor of Violin at Idaho State University where she coordinates the string program, teaches violin, viola, and related academic courses, and directs the string division of the ISU Summer Institute for Piano and Strings. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music.

Dr. Choi is a passionate orchestra, solo, and chamber musician. As an orchestral musician, she has been the Concertmaster of the Idaho State-Civic Symphony since 2016 and is also a section violin of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra in Montana. She served as a guest concertmaster of the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra in 2016, assistant concertmaster of the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes from 2012-16, and principal second violin of the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Orchestra in Korea.

As a soloist, Hyeri made her New York debut at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, as the First Prize Winner of 2014 American Protégé International Strings and Piano Competition. During her Eastman years, she gave a solo recital in the Musicales Concert Series at George Eastman House in 2012. As a chamber player, Dr. Choi is a violinist in the Monarch Piano Trio at ISU, a member of Duo “Raon,” and a member of the Piano Trio “Dante Deo” which was created by Eastman alumni. She was invited to perform at the 2017 / 2019 Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF) Summer Season Preview Concert and was invited as a full scholarship fellow of the 1st and 2nd New Mexico Chamber Music Festival in Albuquerque. Hyeri has participated internationally with renowned artists in various summer festivals with full scholarships, including the Kirishima International Music Festival (Japan), the Music Alp Festival (France), and the Music Academy of the West (USA).

Dr. Choi was on the faculty of Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, and Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts Extension Division in New Jersey. During the summer, she serves as an assistant concertmaster at the MostArts Festival in Alfred, NY, and she is on the faculty at Montecito International Music Festival in Riverside, CA, and InterHarmony International Music Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy. 

Joined ISU Faculty in 2002

Dr. Diana Livingston Friedley has appeared as a guest soloist with numerous organizations including: Idaho State Civic Symphony, Idaho Falls Symphony, Idaho; The Fresno Philharmonic in California; The Nebraska Choral Arts Society in Omaha; St. Cecilia Chorus and Chamber Orchestra of New York; The Central Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale; Bremen Camerata Instrumentale in Bremen, Germany; Princeton University's Concert Jazz Ensemble; and The Hunterdon Choral Union and Symphony of New Jersey. As a guest artist she has performed in Merkin Hall's Composers' Series, N. Y.; Michigan State University’s Fifth Contemporary Clarinet Festival in Lansing, MI.; the Orpheus Concert Series in Fresno, California; a five-city concert tour of Taiwan in 2001; and The Taiwanese American 9/11 Benefit Concert held at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago. With ISU’s Trio Lyrique Diana performed for the McCall Concert Series in McCall, ID; the Inaugural Concert for the Joseph C. and Cheryl H. Jensen Grand Concert Hall in Pocatello, ID, and many recitals.

Diana Friedley has also performed many operatic roles including: Lucy in Menotti's The Telephone, at The Old Town Actors Studio (OTAS), Pocatello; Woman in Poulenc's La voix humane also at OTAS and ISU and The College of Southern Idaho as part of Women's History Month; Mrs. Webb in Ned Rorem’s Our Town, with Opera Idaho, Boise; Ichi Ban, in Napa De Monk, Queen of the Lost Waters of Mars, Bloomington Playwright’s Project, Bloomington, Indiana; Peggy Shippen in A Twist of Treason at the John Waldron Arts Center in Bloomington, Indiana; and Mimi Manini with the Zwei-Groschen-Oper's production of 1001 Nights in Venice at the Theaterhof in Humbach, Germany. Diana has also performed with ISU's Theatre/Dance department as Fraülein Kost in the musical Cabaret. Other operatic roles include: Fiorilla in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Musetta in a critically acclaimed production of La Bohéme, which received the 1995 National Opera Association's "Best Production" Award. Diana has also worked with numerous opera companies in New York including: Opera Orchestra of New York, The Bronx Opera Company, The American Chamber Opera Company, and The Liederkranz Foundation.

Directorial projects for The College of Arts and Letters Summer Musicals since 2014 include: The King and I; Anything Goes; Oliver! and Fiddler on the Roof.

Recent projects at ISU include: releasing "The Songs of Howard Boatwright" with ISU piano faculty, Professor Kori Bond, on Centaur Record label. In April, 2015 she performed Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne with The Idaho State Civic Symphony. April 2016 Diana performed the Israelitish Woman from Handel's Judas Maccabaeus with the Boise Baroque Orchestra. Upcoming 2017 projects will include: recording the chamber-vocal works of Howard Boatwright with ISU Faculty and Guests, and singing as the soprano soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria for ISU's annual Joy to the World Concert.

Diana Friedley completed a Doctor of Musical Arts at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts under Judith Nicosia, a Master of Music at Indiana University and Bachelor of Music at Westminster Choir College. Dr. Livingston Friedley is currently Professor of Music in The School of Performing Arts at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.

"In each work, Livingston Friedley created a different vocal character…she sang with a lovely florid tone that blended excellently with the strings…" George Warren for The Fresno Be

"...Soprano Diana Livingston as Fiorilla turned in a marvelous performance, both vocally and dramatically. Ms. Livingston is a gifted actress with an extremely flexible voice. The soprano has clarity, brilliance of tone and a seamless compass throughout her registers." Sonia Lewis for CLASSICNJ@AOL.COM

"...An extraordinarily beautiful personality, in the middle voice secure, and the high with an unchanging clarity, a loaded lyrical voice has Diana Livingston, whom the audience took as their own." Ernst Naredi-Rainer for Kleine Zeitung-Graz, Austria

"...the evening's star proved not to be one of the aristocratic primaries but the slightly secondary role of the chamber maid Adele, exquisitely portrayed by Diana Livingston. When this kind of acting was matched with her kind of voice, Adele easily became the most memorable part of the show...Adele was silly and as opportunity-seeking as the others but Livingston balances the stock negative stereotype with humanizing comic touches and vulnerability that made her like any of us." Robert W. Butts for CLASSICNJ@AOL.COM

"...Most effective was Diana Livingston as Zerlina. Livingston has the kind of charismatic stage presence one loves to see. Graceful as a ballerina, she smiles, cavorts and sings with beauty of tone...Her work in the famous duet, "La ci darem la mano" is a delight." Albert H. Cohen for The Home News & Tribune

Joined ISU Faculty in 1992 (1992-2003; returned in 2005)

Dr. Scott Eric Anderson conducts the ISU Chamber & Concert Choirs, the Camerata Singers, and teaches Choral Conducting, Choral Methods, and voice. Dr. Anderson has received Idaho State University's "Master Teacher" and "Outstanding Public Service" awards on three occasions. He has studied conducting with such eminent teachers as Eph Ehly, Joseph Flummerfelt, Allen Crowell, Frauke Hassemann, Wilhelm Ehmann, Robert Shaw, and many others.

Choirs under Dr. Anderson¹s direction have traveled throughout the United State, Europe, and South America. As Director of Choral Activities at Idaho State University, Anderson has led the Idaho State University Chamber Choir or Camerata Singers on performance tours of Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Brazil, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Peru, France, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Idaho State University choral ensembles have performed under Anderson's direction at state, regional and divisional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and the Music Educators National Conference.

Dr. Anderson serves as the Artistic Director of the Idaho International Choral Festival where choral groups from around the world join together in Pocatello, Idaho for a week of choral performances, conducting master classes and artistic and cultural exchange. He has served the American Choral Directors Association in state, divisional, and national offices, and has been featured as guest conductor, lecturer and teacher throughout the United States and abroad.

Joined ISU Faculty in 1993

Professor Kathleen Lane joined the Idaho State University voice faculty in 1993, after teaching singing for five years at the Yale University School of Drama, where her studio included award-winning actors Paul Giamatti and Liev Schreiber. She currently serves in the Department of Music as Vocal Coordinator and head of Opera ISU, while appearing as a singer and actress throughout the region and maintaining a busy and successful vocal studio. Last January, she was featured in the title role of Gian-Carlo Menotti’s opera The Medium at Old Town Actors Studio here in Pocatello. Also well known as a choral conductor, Prof. Lane founded the ISU Women’s Choir and directed it over two decades. This fall, she served as the guest clinician and conductor for the annual District VI Choral Festival in Ashton.

As general director of Opera ISU since 1996, Prof. Lane has mounted major productions ranging from Johann Strauss and Franz Lehar to Mozart and Puccini. She collaborated with Theatre ISU in 2016 as music director for Frank Loesser’s popular musical Guys and Dolls. 

Foremost a dedicated teacher, she offers clinics and master classes throughout the Northwest, presenting in 2015 and 2017 at the biennial conference of the National Association for Music Educators, Northwest Region. Since 2015, she has appeared as a lecturer at the summer Utah Festival Opera Music Theater in Logan.

Throughout Prof. Lane’s entire university career, she has maintained a commitment to youth outreach. Even while teaching graduate students at Yale, she spent summers as the music teacher and assistant director of a large Connecticut day camp with students aged 6-15. During her tenure in Idaho, she has taught voice and opera workshop to middle- and high-school students at the Sun Valley Summer Symphony Youth Program; in 2013, she founded the youth opera workshop at the annual Star Valley Junior Music Festival outside Jackson, Wyoming. For the past two decades, her Opera ISU Outreach Program has brought thousands of Idaho students to her productions at ISU, and has exported ISU Opera Workshop on tour to area schools.

Professor Lane earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree at the University of Montana, followed by post-graduate studies in choral conducting at Portland State University. After winning the 1986 district Metropolitan Opera Auditions, the mezzo-soprano was recruited into the Yale University Opera Program, where she earned her Master of Music degree in 1988, along with the Yale School of Music Alumni Prize.

Joined ISU Faculty in 1991

Patrick Brooks is in his twenty-first year as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Idaho State University. In this capacity he conducts the Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band I and guides all other aspects of the ISU Band Program. Dr. Brooks also teaches conducting, trombone, and coaches various small ensembles. Active as a trombonist, for eighteen years he performed as a member of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony where he played alongside members of many of the nation’s major symphony orchestras. He has also performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, the Portneuf Brass, and is principal trombone in the Idaho State Civic Symphony Orchestra. Prior to coming to Idaho State he held similar positions at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, and at The Latin School of Chicago. Under Dr. Brook’s leadership, the ISU Band program has grown in size and quality, and has developed into a complete band program with a strong regional reputation.

Dr. Brooks holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Master of Music degrees in Wind Conducting and Trombone Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from Cincinnati. He is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, the International Trombone Association, and Phi Kappa Lambda, and is past- President of the College Band Directors National Association - Northwest Division. Dr. Brooks has appeared as a clinician, guest conductor, and performer throughout the Northwest and Canada. Ensembles under his direction at Idaho State have been invited to perform at numerous state and regional conferences. The ISU Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the College Band Directors National Association Conference in 2004 and 2010, and ISU Jazz I Big Band toured Europe in 2000 and 2007. In 2012 the ISU Wind Ensemble performed at the Idaho Music Educators Association Biennial Conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Joined ISU Faculty in 1991; Retired Summer of 2019

Dr. Earles has won several awards for his compositions, and many of his creative projects have been published or recorded commercially. His transcription for concert band of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite was recorded on compact disc by Frederick Fennell and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, and published by Ludwig Music. Recently he completed commissions for the Twin Falls Municipal Band, and for the piano duo of Mark Neiwirth and Jeanne Green-Sherman. His Bluebrass Music was performed by the Portneuf Brass for the presidential investiture gala concert for ISU President Arthur Vailas, and his Oklahoma Elegy was performed by the Magic Valley Symphony. In Summer 2013 his choral composition, Sing the World Together, was used once again as the grand finale for the Idaho International Choral Festival, where it was sung jointly by nine choirs from eight countries on four continents. His band composition, Idaho Celebration, was commissioned by the State Department of Education and was performed by many Idaho high schools bands. His new composition, Five Metric Dances, was given its premiere performance in February 2013 by the ISU Wind Ensemble.

Dr. Earles has performed on trumpet with the Portneuf Brass, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Pops Orchestra, the Houston Ballet Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Community Orchestra, the Idaho State Civic Symphony, the Idaho Falls Symphony, the Magic Valley Symphony, the Snake River Chamber Orchestra, and he has toured the USA with show bands.