Emily McCumber holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from UCO’s Academy of Contemporary Music. Emily’s performance experience began at an early age singing at festivals and community events in the Oklahoma City area. She has entertained at the State Capital, the Governor’s Mansion, ACM rocks Bricktown, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the Rodeo Opry, The Poncan Opry (Ponca City), the Oklahoma Opry, Johnnie High”s Country Music Revue (Ft. Worth, TX), Sac & Fox Casinos (Shawnee/Stroud), Koma Fan Jam, Grape Ranch (Okemah), Festival of Arts, Integris Health’s road shows at various hospitals in Oklahoma, and many other venues around the state.Emily currently performs with the Royal Dukes cover band at private parties and corporate events, and she is also half of an acoustic duo called “ME” with her friend Matt Cowell. ME performs weekly at Hensleys’s Top Shelf Grill in Yukon.
In addition to singing, Emily is an aspiring actress. She has appeared in local and national TV commercials, industrial films, and print ads. She was chosen for a role in a video and state-wide billboard campaign sponsored by Oklahoma State Board of Regents for Higher Education.
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Lauren Nichols Caraway grew up in Chandler, Oklahoma and has been on stage since her first lead role in Annie at the age of 8. Growing up with the love of theatre, Lauren attended University of Central Oklahoma for two years studying Musical Theatre. Later attended Southern Nazarene University graduating with a Bachelor of Science in organizational leadership. Lauren has performed all around the state with bands including Kalamity Jane and the Lauren Nichols Band. Lauren has debuted at many venues around Oklahoma including Remington Casino, Riverwind Casino, The Rodeo Opry, Stoney LaRue’s Music Hall, The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Whiskey Chicks, Legend’s (Nashville) and many others including her largest crowd, the Chesapeake Area performing the National Anthem for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Classically trained for over 10 years, Lauren, has experience in many genres of music including, contemporary, country, Opera, and Musical Theatre.
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Lindsay Freeman is a graduate from USAO with a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Music Education. Lindsay is a certified Vocal Music teacher and Elementary Education teacher. She has been teaching music in the public school systems for 11 years and teaching private vocal and piano lessons for 13 years. Lindsay is currently a music teacher in Putnam City School District. As a singer, she has performed many times and taught all ages and levels of vocal performance. The piano is also one of Lindsay’s passions and is a great skill to accomplish. Lindsay likes to share her knowledge of music through teaching in a class setting and in a one on one setting. She believes music can help people of all ages accomplish many goals and can be used as a therapy to the soul.
EDUCATION
B.S in Vocal Music Education July 2004
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
For twenty years, Dr. Daniel Farris has worked professionally as a choral conductor, tenor soloist/chorister, adjudicator, and voice teacher. Raised in the strong choral tradition of west Texas music education, he completed a Bachelor of Music with all-level teacher certification at Angelo State University under the direction of Dr. Pamela Lee. After teaching with Jeff Rice at John Glenn Junior High School, the University of North Texas hired Daniel as a teaching fellow to teach men’s chorus (1998-2001) and aural skills (2001-2003) concurrently while completing his DMA study in conducting. In this capacity, he worked with Dr. Jerry McCoy, Dr. Gene Cho, Professor Henry Gibbons, and other marvelous educators and professionals in the conducting, theory, and opera divisions. After teaching at Arlington High School with Ms. Dinah Menger (2004-2006), Daniel finished his doctoral coursework at UNT and received the position at Southwestern as choral conductor and teacher of the choral music education sequence. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting with related fields of music theory and musicology.
Daniel is an associate professor of music and is in his tenth year as vocal area coordinator at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He works in conjunction with Dr. Kristin Griffeath, Dr. Robin Griffeath, and the other music faculty to teach opera workshop, applied voice, and the choral music education sequence to performance, education, music business, and music therapy majors. He also teaches the Southwestern summer choral camp for OMEA/OCDA preparation and other workshops during the academic year that work to further enrich and improve the audition skills needed for Oklahoma students’ successful placement in the state-level honor choirs. Daniel is a fervent advocate in the consistent use of solmization, voice building, and ensemble coaching in every rehearsal to better reinforce fundamentals of vocal music pedagogy and other core music principles found throughout a rounded music education. Read more about Dr. Daniel Farris
Angela Farris holds a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Angelo State University in Texas and a Masters of Music Education from Southwestern Oklahoma University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. She has played the piano for 35 years and has sung all her life. She began teaching piano at the age of 16.
During Angela’s undergraduate years she studied piano and voice at ASU. She also accompanied choirs, vocalists, and instrumentalists. She sang in opera workshops and accompanied opera scenes. Her first teaching position was teaching choir in Keller ISD in Texas. During her graduate studies she studied voice privately with Dr. Robin Griffeath. Angela also studied piano and harpsichord privately with the late Dr. Dennis Widen. She was a vocal coach for Dr. Robin and Dr. Kristin Griffeath’s vocal studios.
Angela has spent many years accompanying choirs, chamber ensembles, vocalists, and instrumentalists. She has played the piano, harpsichord, and organ for these performances. She has also served as rehearsal accompanist for major vocal works. As well as accompanying major ensembles, Angela has also sung in chamber ensembles, various choirs, and major work ensembles.
Since the age of 18, Angela has been a professional church musician throughout Texas and Oklahoma. She has led children, youth, and adult choirs. She has been an accompanist on both piano and organ. Angela was the director of music for seven years at a First Presbyterian Church in Elk City, OK.
Angela lives in Bethany with her husband and three children. She currently teaches math at Mustang North Middle School.
Education: Master of Music Education 2010-2013 Southwestern Oklahoma State Weatherford, OK
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Ryan Gonzales attended Oklahoma Christian University for 5 years pursuing a degree in vocal performance. He performed leading roles in various musicals, operas, and plays during his time there. He then spent 2 years in the Dallas area teaching private voice and piano lessons full-time for a studio in the area. There he also served as the artistic director for a local children’s theater for several seasons. Several of his older students have since gone on to pursue degrees in music, music business, and broadcasting. Since then, Ryan has returned to Oklahoma City where he has spent the last year working as an accompanist for various schools, musical productions, weddings, and music studios. He is actively performing in the OKC area, performing roles in musicals at Poteet Theatre, singing with the Windsong Chamber Choir, and singing on the praise team at New Covenant Christian Church.
Education: Vocal Performance at Oklahoma Christian University (Outstanding Freshman Music Major of the Year – 2008)
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