Tony Payne, Director of the Conservatory of Music, Associate Professor of Music, manages the highly successful Artist Series at Wheaton College, now in its 55th season, and fulfills a host of other administrative duties for Wheaton’s respected undergraduate program in music. He leads nearly 50 full- and part-time music faculty, and about 200 music majors, overseeing a complex schedule of performances and educational events. First and foremost, Tony Payne is a composer, with composition degrees from Wheaton College, Bowling Green State University, and a Doctor of Music degree in composition from Northwestern University School of Music. Recent compositions have included Lincoln’s Farewell and Departures, as well as Hold on To Hope for choir and piano, and a large number of hymns and songs for worship. He has composed four music theater works, including the libretto, songs and score for The Little Match Girl, based on the Hans Christian Andersen short story. Dr. Payne has been a member of the worship commission of the Baptist World Alliance and was a participant in the 1998 Baptists in Worship conference in Berlin. He has been an active church musician for nearly thirty years, most recently as Minister of Music, Worship and the Arts at the First Baptist Church of Wheaton, where he has implemented a media system incorporating a digital songbook with words and music. Dr. Payne’s improvisations have found their way into numerous compositions and have served him regularly in a host of public settings.

Jeff Leigh, Assistant Professor of Theory, is currently finishing his dissertation on Messiaen, in pursuit of a PhD in composition at the Grad. Center, CUNY. Jeff previously taught on the faculty of Hunter College, CUNY. He has a BM in violin performance from Indiana University and two masters degrees in violin performance and composition, from the University of Akron. Jeff is also a former fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood. His violin teachers include Henryk Kowalksi and Franco Gulli; and his composition teachers include Gerardo Dirie, David Olan, and David del Tredici. Jeff has an active Christian life, having worked in prison ministry in New York City and feeding the homeless in New York and Akron, OH.

Daniel Sommerville, Associate Professor of Orchestral Music & Conducting, holds the Master of Music degree in conducting and the Doctor of Music degree in composition from Northwestern University. His Bachelor of Music Education degree is from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. In addition to conducting the Symphony Orchestra at Wheaton College, he teaches conducting and orchestration. Further conducting studies have been with Sir Georg Solti, Herbert Blomstedt and Franz Allers. He has been Music Director and Conductor of the Elkhart County (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra, the Westminster Chamber Orchestra, the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra of Chicago, and the Northwind Ensemble of Chicago. He has also served on the faculties of Northwestern University and Trinity College. He is active as a guest conductor and clinician in the Midwest, and recently guest conducted the Sarajevo (Bosnia) Philharmonic, sponsored by the American Embassy. As conductor he has collaborated with such notable performers as Sylvia McNair, soprano, Judith Ingolfsson concert violinist, Christian Frohn, principal violist of the Vienna Philharmonic, as well as Broadway and jazz musicians Marvin Hamlisch and Frank Mantooth. He has worked closely with eminent conductor John Nelson in preparing orchestras for Maestro Nelson’s performances.

Howard Whitaker, Professor of Composition and Clarinet, has studied composition with Ralph Shapely, Roger Sessions, and Darius Milhaud and holds degrees from Wheaton College, the University of Colorado, and the University of Chicago. He has received grants, awards, and commissions from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Aldeen Fund, the University of Chicago, the Aspen School, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Bay Chamber Symphony (San Francisco), and others. Dr. Whitaker's Variations for Orchestra has been performed by the Indianapolis Symphony; Prayers of Habakkuk was recorded by the Warsaw Philharmonic and Chorus in 1994, and his Quartet for Flutes was runner-up in the National Flute Association's competition for best new publication in 1998 and was recorded in 1999. Also active in church music, Dr. Whitaker's choral works have been published by SMP, Harold Flammer, Shawnee Press, and Augsburg.

David M. Gordon, Guest Lecturer in Theory, earned BM and MM degrees in composition from Northern Illinois University, studying primarily with Dr. Jan Bach. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in composition at the University of Chicago where his principal teachers are Shulamit Ran and Marta Ptaszynska. Mr. Gordon has written works for a variety of performers and ensembles, including the Chicago Sinfonietta, steelpan virtuoso Liam Teague, eighth blackbird, Aguava New Music Ensemble, and the Motion Trio. He has taught music theory, aural skills, and composition at Joliet Junior College, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Chicago, and currently serves as the manager of the University of Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players.

Greg Wheatley, Guest Lecturer in Music, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spring Arbor College and a Master of Music degree in Music Theory from Michigan State University. In addition to serving on the adjunct faculty at Wheaton Conservatory, Mr. Wheatley teaches at Moody Bible Institute's Sacred Music Department. Mr. Wheatley is the director of the Glen Ellyn-Wheaton Chorale, a community chorus based in the western suburbs of Chicago. He is active in the music program at College Church in Wheaton, singing in the chancel choir and conducting the College Church Singers. In addition to his musical endeavors, Mr. Wheatley hosts the popular radio programs, Prime Time America and Sounds of Majesty, which are carried on many Moody radio affiliates nationwide.