Kyle Canjar is a Part-time Instructor in Music at Mott Community College and a guitarist, educator, and performing musician whose work spans classical, Brazilian, jazz, popular, and contemporary music. He holds both a Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in Classical Guitar Performance from Wayne State University, where he also completed a minor in Jazz Guitar. He also holds a Certificate in Music Technology from Mott Community College.
Brazilian music is a central area of Canjar's musical and scholarly work. From 2008 to 2009, he studied classical guitar and Brazilian popular music at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where he studied with Flávio Barbeitas and performed in formal and informal ensembles. He continued this specialization during his graduate studies at Wayne State, culminating in a master's recital devoted to Brazilian guitar music, including works by Brazilian composers, music written specifically for the guitar, and his own arrangements of classics from Música Popular Brasileira (MPB). He is also the founder and guitarist of Canja de Boa, a Michigan-based Brazilian music collective that performs repertoire drawn from MPB and related Brazilian musical traditions.
Canjar brings more than a decade of music education experience to MCC. He served as Director of the Kettering University Jazz Band from 2016 to 2024 and as a music instructor and ensemble coach at the Flint School of Performing Arts from 2011 to 2024. As a professional guitarist, he has performed with orchestral and operatic organizations including Detroit Opera (formerly Michigan Opera Theatre), the Saginaw Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and Adrian Symphony Orchestra. His operatic work includes performances in Robert Xavier Rodríguez's Frida and Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar, the latter alongside flamenco guitarist and composer Adam del Monte.
In 2024, Canjar appeared as a guest lecturer for the Flint Symphony Orchestra, presenting on the history of the classical guitar and the cultural context of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. His teaching and creative work also encompass arranging, recording, music technology, and contemporary approaches to live performance.
Rufus Ferguson is a multi-genre keyboardist raised in Flint, Michigan and based in Detroit, Michigan. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz piano from Western Michigan University under the mentorship of Roger Jones, Jeremy Siskind and Matthew Fries. He began his musical journey at a young age as a gospel pianist and organist and later began playing jazz piano at age 13. His commitment to being well-versed in multiple genres of music has afforded him many unique opportunities such as playing with Grammy-nominated and award-winning artists and groups of all genres.
Rufus is an experienced performer who has traveled the world sharing the stage with such artists as The Temptations, The Velveletes, Bishop Marvin Sapp, Rodney Whitaker, Dwight Adams, Brandon Williams, Wycliffe Gordon and so many more. Rufus is currently featured on Grammy Nominated producer Brandon Wiliams upcoming album alongside pianist Taylor Eigsti and Robert Glasper. He is also an experienced arranger, composer and teacher, specifically in the jazz and gospel music genres. His compositions and arrangements have been showcased by his 9-piece ensemble at the 2018 Gilmore Keyboard Festival and his orchestral arrangements have been performed by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra as well as the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. Rufus has served as class piano instructor at Western Michigan University where he also directed the University Jazz Lab Band. He has also served as Assistant Professor of Jazz and Popular Music at Albion College.
Flutist Townes Osborn Miller is a Professor of Music at Mott Community College and Flute Instructor at Saginaw Valley State University, where she also directs Flute Choir. She is a recitalist throughout Michigan and in North Carolina, and has toured widely in Europe as a member of the International Flute Orchestra and the Metropolitan Flute Orchestra. She has commissioned and performed new works from composers such as Moonyeen Albrecht, Bill Withem, and Bruce Frazier. She is an active member of the National Flute Association, serving as the Volunteer Coordinator for nine years as well as presenting and performing at their annual conferences. Dr. Miller is the Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustee’s for the Flint Institute of Music, and chairs the Patron Development committee She is a past member of the Flint Cultural Center Corporation board. Dr. Miller received her DMA with honors, from the University of Kansas and her MA and BA from Western Carolina University. Her primary professors were Dr. Eldred Spell and David Fedele.
Matthew Packer received his Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1987 and his Master of Music degree in 1995 from Central Michigan University. While at CMU, he studied voice with Timothy Caldwell and Dr. Jeffrey Foote, choral music with Dr. Nina Nash-Robertson, piano with Dr. Forrest Robinson, and composition with Dr. David Gillingham. His doctoral work was done at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies in Orange Park, Florida, and he attended seminary at the Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio.
Matt has been a professional church musician since 1983. He taught elementary music for LakeVille Schools and has taught part-time at Mid-Michigan Community College and the University of Michigan-Flint. In addition to his responsibilities at MCC, Matt is the music director for Flushing United Methodist Church, the Flint Male Chorus, Swartz Creek Center Stage Community Theater, and choral accompanist at Swartz Creek High School. He is active as a singer and pianist at senior care facilities, sacred and civic functions and also performs as half of the duo, Brother 2 Brother.
Mary Procopio, Associate Professor and Music Coordinator, has served as Director of Instrumental Studies at Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan since 2006, where she teaches classes in world music, music history, music appreciation, and directs the college concert band and chamber ensembles. An active performer, adjudicator, and clinician, Dr. Procopio received her doctorate in flute performance with a concentration in ethnomusicology, an M.A. degree in ethnomusicology/musicology, and an M.M. in flute performance from Michigan State University, and her B.M. degree in music education and performance from the Crane School of Music (Potsdam College, NY). Her doctoral dissertation focuses on Haitian classical music that is inspired by traditional and ceremonial music, and examines how music, nationalism and identity intersect in Haitian culture. Her master’s thesis examines the causes for ambivalence felt by many Haitians towards Vodou, and the ways in which Haitian composers and educators are challenging those ambivalent feelings, working to bring together social classes and communities, and educating Haitian and non-Haitians about Haitian indigenous culture.
Dr. Procopio has received numerous fellowships and grants to conduct research in Haiti and the United States, and was the recipient of a Title VI Foreign Language Areas Studies (FLAS) fellowship to study Haitian Creole. She has presented papers, lecture recitals and performances throughout the United States, Canada and Haiti at regional, national and international conferences for the Society for Ethnomusicology, KOSANBA, The Haitian Studies Association, the College Music Society, The American Folklore Society and the Midwest Popular Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Haitian Studies Association, and has served on the Advisory Board for Instrumental Change, Inc. In 2004 Dr. Procopio was invited to give a four-day residency at Marshall University in West Virginia, where she was also a guest artist for the Marshall Fluteworks Festival. She has been a guest lecturer at Olivet College and a guest clinician at the Red Cedar Band Festival. In 2004 she received the Geoffrey Gilbert Memorial Teaching Award from the Florida Flute Association, and was awarded the first annual Best Graduate Student Presenter Prize from the Great Lakes regional chapter of the College Music Society. Dr. Procopio has taught at Michigan State University, the University of Michigan—Flint, the Flint School of Performing Arts, the Leocardie and Alexandre Kenscoff Cultural Center, Ecole de Musique St. Trinité and Ecole de Musique Dessaix Baptiste (Haiti), the Limonest Conservatoire (France), and St. Croix (Virgin Islands).
Currently, Dr.Procopio performs with and is artistic director of Z.A.M.A. (Zanmi Ansanm Mizik Ayisyen), which promotes the music of Haitian composers, and the London Trio, which was selected to participate in the Michigan Arts and Humanities Touring Program and performed twice at the East Lansing Arts Festival. Dr. Procopio was selected to perform in the National Flute Association Professional Flute Choir in 1998. She has performed with the Orchestre Philharmonique Sainte Trinite (Haiti), Chamber Orchestra of Northern New York, Champlain Valley Symphony Orchestra (VT), Jackson Symphony Orchestra (MI), and the Limonest Wind Band and Dream America Orchestra (France).
Dr. Procopio’s articles “Crossing Borders: Solo and Chamber Music for Flute by Haitian Composers” and “When East Meets West: Takemitsu’s Itinerant for Flute Solo” were published in the National Flute Association’s Flutist Quarterly in the fall of 2006 and winter 2006 respectively. In 2007, she released the CD Belle Ayiti: Mizik Savant Ayisyen (Beautiful Haiti: Haitian Classical Music) which features music for solo flute, flute and piano, and flute and strings by Haitian composers. She is a member of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Haitian Studies Association, KOSANBA (the scholarly association for the study of Haitian Vodou), National Flute Association, College Music Society, American Folklore Society, and the American Musicological Society.
In her spare time, Dr. Procopio breeds and shows sporthorse Haflinger horses throughout the Midwest and East coast. Her current music-related projects include recording a second CD of Haitian classical music, publishing music by Haitian composers that is currently unavailable (except in manuscript form), and acquiring instruments and musical supplies for music schools in Haiti.
Holly Richardson, Adjunct Professor in Music, graduated from MCC in 1986, and finished her BME at U of M-Flint. Catherine McMichael was Professor Richardson’s piano coach at U of M. She earned a MA from Marygrove College in 1994. Professor Richardson has an additional 21 hours of graduate credit from WMU and Vandercook College of Music in Chicago. She has been part of the Music Faculty at MCC since 1998, she also is employed full time at Flint Community Schools and is an adjunct professor at Ferris State University. Professor Richardson performs locally with the High Heeled PianoTrio, and for charity events and area churches.
Timothy Schmalz is an educator, composer, multi instrumentalist, and conductor whose studies and career in music have brought him from Maryland, to Boston, to Los Angeles, and now to Flint. Tim spent 8 years in Los Angeles working in the media music industry, and worked on many prominent projects for which he composed original or additional music. Some of the projects include Supergirl, Playmobil, Smallfoot, Terminator: Dark Fate, and Sonic: the Hedgehog. His original work can be heard in various branding campaigns and documentaries for companies like Acura, Coachella/Goldenvoice, Audi, Nurburgring, and many others. His studies include Berklee College of Music, UCLA, and competitive workshops like the ASCAP film scoring workshop, and the Los Angeles Film Conducting Intensive. Since becoming a Michigander, Tim has embarked on a forthcoming collaboration and album release with members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Now a proud part of the Mott Community College music technology department, Tim hopes to share his experience and expertise on a wide range of subjects for his students.
Although perhaps best known among the professional community for his works for wind band, Matthew Schoendorff writes for all types of ensembles. His pieces have been performed on several continents and are on many state festival required music lists. Schoendorff’s music has received recognition by the first National Band Association’s Young Composer Mentor Project, The National Association for Music Education (MENC), and several competitions and festivals in Michigan.
He currently serves as faculty in music theory and composition at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI), music theory and aural skills at Mott Community College (Flint, MI), and music theory, composition, and songwriting at the Flint Institute of Music School of Performing Arts (Flint, MI). Previous appointments include Theory and Composition Chair at the National Music Institute for Young Artists (in affiliation with the Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, MI), middle/high school instrumental music in the Coldwater Community Schools (Coldwater, MI), and theory and composition at the Mott Community College Jim Lee Fine Arts Camp (Flint, MI). He has performed as a euphonium and/or tuba section member with the Ann Arbor Concert Band, the Hillsdale Wind Symphony, the Saginaw Eddy Concert Band, and ensembles at both Michigan State University and Western Michigan University. He served as guest conductor for the Ann Arbor Concert Band during the 2003-04 season.
First published as an undergraduate student at Western Michigan University, Schoendorff continues an extensive writing and publishing career. His music is published by Grand Mesa Music Publishers, TRN Music Publisher, MSB Publishing Co., Advance Music, and The Tuba Press. He is a member of ASCAP. In addition to his published compositions, he is also co-author of a warm-up method for wind band. Schoendorff appears in Composers on Composing for Band, Vol. IV (ed. Camphouse; GIA Publications, 2008) and Musicianship: Composing in Band and Orchestra (ed. Randles/Stringham; GIA Publications, 2013). He previously was the composer- in-residence for the NUCLASSICA Ensemble in Detroit, MI and has arranged for the OPERA REMIX Initiative at the Townsend Opera Company in Modesto, CA.
Schoendorff completed his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in composition at Michigan State University, where he studied with Jere Hutcheson and Ricardo Lorenz and served as a graduate assistant in music theory. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and education from Western Michigan University.
HI! I am one of four full-time Academic Success Specialists at Mott Community College and have been advising for about 15 years. I also teach in the Music area, primarily guitar classes/ensembles and Music Appreciation. I earned my Bachelor's in Music Education from UMF, my Master's in Music from OU, and my Doctorate in Community College from FSU. I am excited to help you attain your educational goals while here at Mott and look forward to working with you!
Frank Yon has been deeply involved in the musical life of the Flint area since arriving in the seventies as a music educator for the Montrose Community Schools. A graduate of Central Michigan University, with a masters in music from Michigan State University, he was a jazz soloist in the CMU Swingin’ Chips and 1st trumpet in the CMU Wind Ensemble. Using his many experiences in playing jazz all the way through high school and college he established the Montrose Middle School Jazz Ensemble, winning top honors in competitions with AA high schools. They have also been the featured band at the MSBOA Convention in Ann Arbor. He has played trumpet for every kind of ensemble including the Shrine Circus, Christmas at Whiting Orchestra, fifteen years in the Flint Symphony Orchestra, Holiday on Ice, and the Star Theater Orchestra for twelve years. While with the Star Theater Orchestra he got to play for many entertainers such as Helen O’Connell, Louie Bellson, Milton Berle, Rosemary Clooney, Jim Nabors, Mark Hamill, Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and many more.
His Montrose High School Jazz Ensemble competed to top honors locally as well as in Toronto, Virginia Beach, Chicago, and New York City. Mr. Yon was director of the Mott Community College Jim Lee Fine Arts Camp for several years as well as an adjunct professor at MCC for the past 25 years. He presently directs the jazz ensemble and jazz combo.
