Interlochen Arts Academy adds four teachers for fall

Four new faculty members will be joining the staff at Interlochen Arts Academy for the fall of 2014. 

Violin instructor Ara Sarkissian was most recently a violin instructor at the University of Memphis music school, and might be familiar to students from the summer Interlochen Arts Camp, where he has taught for the past seven years. He's currently pursuing a doctoral degree in violin performance, and holds master's and bachelor's degrees in violin performance from New England Conservatory.

Laura Osgood Brown will teach voice and opera workshop, and recently completed a doctoral degree in voice performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music. She's most recently taught at Eastman, as well as at several other schools. She also is an award-winning and active performer.

The new clarinet instructor will be Emil Khudyev, who comes most recently from the Kansas City Symphony. His teaching credit include private and academy positions, and he is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy himself. He earned a bachelor's at the Cleveland Institute of Music, a master's at Yale, and a postgraduate diploma at the Colburn School.

The fourth instructor, Francine Harris, will join the writing faculty. She most recently was a writer-in-residence with Front Street Writers in Traverse City, and is a Detroit native. Her first poetry collection, Allegiance, reached the top spot for poetry bestsellers, and she also has been published in many literary journals.

Writer: Kim Eggleston
Source: Interlochen Arts Academy