Faculty and staff appointments

Craig Cramer

Dr. Craig Cramer joined the faculty as visiting professor of organ at the School of Music and the Institute of Sacred Music for the 2020–2021 academic year. One of the most traveled organists of his generation, Cramer maintains an active recital career in North America and Europe and is regularly invited to play some of the most important historic organs in the world. He has made 15 recordings for various labels and has been featured in performance on American Public Radio’s nationally syndicated program Pipedreams. Cramer holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, where he earned a doctor of musical arts degree in organ performance and was awarded a prestigious performer’s certificate. Cramer retired in June from his position as professor of organ at the University of Notre Dame, where his teaching was recognized with a Kaneb Distinguished Faculty Award.

Elaina B. McKie

Elaina B. McKie joined the faculty as a lecturer in musicianship and analysis for the fall 2020 semester. Prof. McKie is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, where she is completing her dissertation, The Business of Music Theory: Problems of Disciplinarity and Canon as Manifestations of Intersectional Inequity. At the University of Rochester, McKie is the undergraduate coordinator for the Department of Computer Science at the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Her previous experience at the University of Rochester includes work as an instructor in the Department of Music and the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program. In 2019, McKie was the recipient of the University of Rochester’s Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student. McKie earned a master of arts degree in music theory pedagogy from University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music and a bachelor of music degree in piano performance from Furman University.

Gerald Martin Moore

Gerald Martin Moore joined the faculty as director of Yale Opera, professor in the practice of voice, and coordinator of vocal studies. He previously served as artistic associate at Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio program and has been engaged as a consultant to the conductor for opera productions at the Edinburgh International Festival, English National Opera, La Scala, Opéra National de Paris, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Moore has worked with such acclaimed performers as Renée Fleming, Erin Morley, Sabine Devieilhe, Natalie Dessay, Dame Sarah Connolly, Magdalena Kožená, Elīna Garanča, Isabel Leonard, and Javier Camarena and has extensive experience and credits as a collaborative artist for opera and recital recordings and film and television productions. He has given master classes at the Merola Opera Program, Los Angeles Opera Young Artist Program, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Moore studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and at the National Opera Studio in London.

André J. Thomas Adriana Zabala Benjamin Schwartz

André J. Thomas joined the faculty as visiting professor of choral conducting and interim conductor of the Yale Camerata for the 2020–2021 academic year. He was previously the Owen F. Sellers Professor of Music at Florida State University. Thomas has appeared with such exceptional ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and served as artistic director of the Tallahassee Community Chorus from 1988 to 2019. He is national vice president of the American Choral Directors Association, and, in 2021, will become the ACDA’s first Afro-American president. Thomas’ original music and arrangements have been widely published and his book, Way Over in Beulah Lan’: Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual (Heritage Music Press), is considered an important resource in the subject area. Thomas earned a bachelor of arts degree from Friends University, a master of music degree from Northwestern University, and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Illinois. Mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala joined the faculty as associate professor of voice. Zabala has performed with such renowned ensembles as the Minnesota Opera, San Diego Opera, and Seattle Opera. A champion of new music, Zabala has appeared in the premieres of Steven Mark Kohn’s The Trial of Susan B. Anthony and Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s The Manchurian Candidate, and in the U.S. premiere of Philip Glass’ Waiting for the Barbarians. Prior to joining the YSM faculty, Zabala served as associate professor of voice at the University of Minnesota. She has given master classes at the San Diego Opera’s Young Artist Training Program, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center. Zabala earned a bachelor of music degree from Louisiana State University and a master of music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst “Mozarteum.” Benjamin Schwartz joined the staff in June as a recording engineer on the school’s media-production team. He served in the same capacity, on a part-time basis, in 2017–2018. Prior to returning to YSM, Schwartz worked as a recording engineer for Arts Laureate, in Baltimore, Md., a position in which he engineered recording sessions and provided on-location audio- and videorecording and editing services at such venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Music Center at Strathmore, and Washington National Cathedral. Schwartz has worked as a liveconcert technician for SCL Sound Systems and, as a freelance recording and sound-reinforcement engineer, has served such clients as the Hartford Chorale, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra New England, Yale Whiffenpoofs, and Yale Citations. He has held internships at Forge Recording and the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival.