Delores Beery-Norwood - Voice and Piano

Ms. Beery-Norwood, a mezzo-soprano, has performed professionally on stages all across the United States and Europe. She has toured in Europe with leading roles in musicals and opera and was the vocal soloist with the New Glenn Miller Orchestra. Ms. Beery-Norwood's international teaching includes the Director of the Music and Theater department of the Salzburg International Preparatory School in Austria, and in Germany she was a faculty member of the Un iv. of Maryland's European Division and maintained private voice studios in Munich, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. She holds a Magister Degree (the European Music Doctorate equivalent) in Opera and a diploma in Art Song and Church Music from the prestigious Hochschule fuer Musik and Darstellende Kunst ("Mozarteum") in Salzburg, Austria. Ms. Beery-Norwood also holds the M.M. degree in Vocal Performance from Wichita State University. She is a former winner of the Grand Prize for Singing awarded by the Austrian Ministry of the Arts, and has served our School of Fine Arts as its Interim Director (2002). In addition to her teaching at our school, Ms. Beery-Norwood is an Adjunct Professor of Music at Bryan College (Dayton, TN) and Covenant College (Lookout Mtn, TN), is an Associate Director of the Chattanooga Girls Choir directing the Concordia Choir, and is alto soloist at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lookout Mountain. Ms. Beery-Norwood is a member of the College Music Society, The National Association of Teachers of Singing, The MacDowell Club and The National Exchange Club.

Brian Cook - Violin

Mr. Cook is an accomplished performer who teaches violin from a blend of traditional and Suzuki methods. He is currently violinist with the New Art Trio and the Chattanooga Symphony and has taught on the faculty of UTC - Cadek Conservatory, the Montessori School (Chattanooga), and in the private studio. He has performed with the Huntsville (Alabama) Symphony, in solo recital, and participated in the Sewanee Music Festival for several seasons. He is a former winner of the Chattanooga Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, and has studied with Don Zimmer, Ann Rylands, Henry Reuben, Harvery Thurmer, Gabriel Pegis, and Jay Christy. Mr. Cook is currently pursuing the BA degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

David Kammerdiener - Piano

A member of the faculty since January, 1997, Mr. Kammerdiener holds the following degrees: Master in Music Education - Kodaly Emphasis (Holy Names College, Oakland, CA), Masters in Church Music (Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, CA), and the Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma Baptist University. He has taught for more than 27 years in the U.S. and four Latin American countries. His piano students have won several prestigious awards in competitions across the South, and routinely place well in the Tennessee Music Teachers Association state and local competitions.. Fluent in Spanish, he has also served as a Baptist Music Missionary in South America and is currently on the Adjunct Faculty at Chattanooga State Technical College. Mr. Kammerdiener is the Minister of Music at White Oak United Methodist Church in Chattanooga. In addition, Mr. Kammerdiener is the pianist for the Chattanooga Girls Choir - Concert Choir (grades 6, 7, & 8), the Sweet Georgia Sound Big Band and the Morgan Five Jazz Ensemble.

Sarah Pearson - Flute

Mrs. Pearson holds the Bachelor of Science degree in Music Performance from Tennessee Temple University where she studied with Janet Hale. She has taught private lessons at both Grace Baptist Academy and Tennessee Temple Academy before joining the School of Fine Arts in 2002. She performs regularly with the Highland Park Baptist Church Orchestra (Chattanooga).

Philip Rice - Voice and Conducting

Mr. Rice brings a wide musical experience to the School of Fine Arts. In addition to his private students, Mr. Rice is the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the New Bedford Symphony (Massachusetts). He is also Music Director of the Georgia Philharmonic and the Rome Symphony Orchestra (GA). He enjoyed eight seasons as the Music Director of Orchestra Atlanta and as Music Director of Chattanooga Choral Arts, and thirteen seasons with the Chattanooga Ballet Orchestra. A performing tenor as well, Mr. Rice was a soloist in France under the late Robert Shaw and has recently released his first vocal CD.

Joan Tonkinson - Voice and Piano.

Mrs. Tonkinson, soprano, brings a wealth of experience as both a teacher and performer to the School of Fine Arts. She has taught voice and voice-related subjects, music education methods, and directed choirs on the college level at Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Covenant College (Lookout Mountain, Georgia), Tennessee Temple University (Chattanooga), and Baptist Bible College (Springfield, Missouri). She is currently the Director of the Concert Choir of the Chattanooga Girls Choir, and also teaches General Music (K-5) for McConnell Elementary School in Hixson, Tenon. Mrs. Tonkinson also uses her pianistic talents as accompanist for East Ridge United Methodist Church in East Ridge, Tenon. She is a member of NATS, MTNA, and has sung with the Springfield (MO) Regional Opera, Choral Arts of Tennessee, and the Theater Center of Chattanooga. Her education includes the BM (Vocal Performance) from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX; the MS in Education (Music/Secondary Education) from Southwest Missouri State University (Springfield, MO), Vocal Study at the Hochschule für Musik und Marseille Kunst in Vienna, Austria, and Kodaly and Orff-Schulwerk studies at the University of Tennessee (Chattanooga). Mrs. Tonkinson is married to Steve Tonkinson, our Clarinet Instructor in the School of Fine Arts.

Steve Tonkinson - Clarinet

Dr. Tonkinson received his Bachelor of Music degree (Clarinet) from Midwestern University (Wichita Falls, TX), the Master of Music degree (Clarinet) from the University of Oklahoma, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree (Conducting) from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. His clarinet teachers have included Stephen Girko, Lee Gibson and Patricia Kostek. He has taught music in schools for more than 20 years in Texas, Missouri and Tennessee, and has performed on clarinet with the Wichita Fall (TX) Symphony Orchestra (1969-72; 1975-79), the Springfield (MO) Symphony Orchestra (1987-91), and the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Orchestra (1991 -). He is currently Education and Outreach Coordinator for the CSOA.

Ms. Tullock - Voice

Ms. Tullock earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Carson-Newman College. She is a former Regional Winner of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition. A frequent guest artist and recitalist, Ms. Tullock can be heard on Days of Blue and Gray, a CD of Civil War era music, and Dave Brubeck in Chattanooga, both recorded with Choral Arts of Chattanooga. She has performed as guest soloist with Carson-Newman College, Orchestra Atlanta, Southern Adventist University, the Rome (GA) Symphony, Choral Arts Society (Chattanooga) and the Chattanooga Bach Choir. A skilled pianist, Ms. Tullock is currently the accompanist for the Chattanooga Girls Choir and is the staff accompanist at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and The Baylor School. A faculty member of the School of Fine Arts since 1997, Ms. Tullock's students routinely receive college scholarships in music and finish as finalists and winners of music competitions across the region.

Sarah Hutton - Piano Instructor

Piano Instructor Sarah Hutton is a graduate of Covenant College (BM cum laude). While at Covenant, Miss Hutton excelled in both the piano and academic fields. Miss Hutton received numerous honors, including the Presidential Scholarship and the Simpson Music Scholarship. She also has served as a summer missionary to Uganda, has served as a Crossroads Camp counselor/teacher, and has done summer study at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University in England. Miss Hutton strives to teach each student as an individual while working to inspire both their creative and physical gifts. In addition to teaching, Miss Hutton is also active in the music ministry of North Shore Fellowship Church.

Miloslav Dunka - Guitarist

Guitarist Miloslav Dunka is originally from the Czech Republic, and he came to the United States in 1996, where he has pursued his musical career of both teaching and performing. He performs regularly in the Chattanooga area for the MacDowell Club gatherings, as well as for arts festivals and concerts of the Creative Arts Guild Dalton, GA, and other concert venues in Tennessee and Georgia. Mr. Dunka is an experienced teacher of all ages, and currently has students ranging from four to eighty-four years young! His students learn total musicianship on the instrument, including theory, scales, classical technique, and chordal harmony.