EMERITUS FACULTY

Kathryn Smith Bowers, Emerita Professor of Music. 
During a 24-year-tenure Dr. Bowers led the Webster Chorale and Choral Society, in addition to the highly regarded St. Louis Summer Sings series. She served Webster as Director of Music Education and Sacred Music, and continues to teach various courses in her very active retirement.  Dr. Bowers has published articles and presented papers and workshops in Finland, Hungary, England, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and the United States. She has also directed choral festivals in Washington, DC and the St. Louis area. Her research interests cover a broad range of historical and contemporary topics, including commissioned works for children’s choirs, the American shaped-note tradition, Jacobean verse anthems, and the sacred vocal music of John Jenkins. Other musical activities include transcribing, editing, and composing choral music. Dr. Bowers received degrees in music education and choral music from Northwestern University (BME), the University of Oregon (MA), and the University of Illinois (DMA). Her conducting teachers have included Margaret Hillis, Helmuth Rilling, and Milko Kolarov.

Allen Carl Larson, Emeritus Conductor of the Webster University Symphony Orchestra and Professor Emeritus of Music. 

Dr. Larson received his undergraduate degree at Park University in Kansas City, with his masters and doctoral degrees from Indiana University.  His doctoral mentor was the renowned Bach scholar and score studies expert, Dr. Julius Herford.  Dr. Larson has held posts with the St. Joseph Symphony, the St. Joseph Youth Symphony and Nova Choralis, the Indiana University Choral Union and Chamber Singers, the Northland Symphony, and the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus.  Dr. Larson for nine years was director of the choir at the First Unitarian Church of St. Louis.  As a guest conductor, he has led performances with the Saint Louis Symphony, the Webster Chamber Winds, the Saint Louis Symphony chamber Ensemble, the Washington University Wind Ensemble, and the Kansas City (KS) Civic Symphony.  He has conducted performances with the Webster Opera Studio and Conservatory Theatre of The Magic Flute, Dido and Aeneas, The Marriage of Figaro, Fiddler on the Roof, Brigadoon, Carousel, and others.  In 1996 he conducted the world premiere of Andrew York's concerto for two classical guitars and chamber orchestra, Word, at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Dr. Larson has conducted instrumental and vocal ensemble performances for the KFUO "Live from the Garden" series.  he has presented clinics and workshops for high schools, colleges, and churches, and has served as the pre-concert lecturer for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.  Twice during his tenure at Webster, he has served as chair of the Department of Music. Dr. Larson recently founded a new chorus in Saint Louis, the Sheldon Chorale.  His final concerts with the Webster Symphony Orchestra were during the 2008-2009 school year.

Kendall Stallings, Professor of Music-Emeritus.
Dr. Stallings received a doctorate in Musical Composition and Theory from Washington University in St. Louis and has been a member of the faculty at Webster University since 1967. He has taught courses in analysis, theory, musicianship, literature and composition, and served as Director of Theory and Musicianship, and Music Department chair. Employing vocal, instrumental, and tape media, he has composed concert, film, and theater music ranging from brief pieces for a single performer to much longer works for relatively large forces. His music has been heard in the concert hall, the theater, on radio and television, and at Dressel’s in St. Louis’s Central West End.

ARTIST AFFILIATES

Christine Brewer, Visiting Professor of Voice. 
Grammy® Award winning American soprano Christine Brewer’s appearances in opera, concert and recital are marked with her own unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty reminiscent of the great sopranos of the past.  Her range, golden tone, boundless power, and control make her a favorite of the stage as well as a sought-after recording artist.  At Webster University, Ms. Brewer teaches master classes each term, and speaks annually in a popular lecture series.    On the opera stage, Ms. Brewer is highly regarded for her striking portrayl of the title role in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, which she has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Théâtre du Châtelet, the Santa Fe Opera, the English National Opera, and the Opera Theater of St. Louis. Garnering critical acclaim with each role, Ms. Brewer has performed Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the San Francisco Opera, Gluck’s Alceste with the Santa Fe Opera, the Dyer’s Wife in Strauss’s Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Paris Opera, and Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring at the Santa Fe Opera. She is also celebrated for her work on lesser known operas such as the title roles in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride with the Edinburgh Festival, the Rio de Janeiro Opera, and Madrid Opera and Strauss’s Die ägyptische Helena with the Santa Fe Opera. A stunning recitalist, in addition to her many appearances at Carnegie and Wigmore Halls, Ms. Brewer has graced Lincoln Center’s “Art of the Song” series at Alice Tully Hall. Other appearances include the Kennedy Center in Washington. D.C., Spivey Hall in Georgia, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Mondavi Center in California. Her unique voice has been featured at the Gilmore, Ravinia, and Cleveland Art Song festivals.  www.christinebrewer.com

David Halen, Adjunct Professor of Violin.
David Halen is Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. He received the Master of Music from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the Bachelor of Music from Central Missouri State University; He has also been a Fulbright Scholar at the Freiburg Hochschule, Germany; Soloist Diploma, Freiburg, Germany. He appears regularly as a soloist and chamber musician and is first violin with the St. Louis String Quartet. Professor Halen is the former Associate Concertmaster, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, 1991-95; former Assistant Concertmaster, 1986-1990, and first violin, 1983-86, Houston Symphony; former first violin, Harrington String Quartet, 1983. Professor Halen is a faculty member of the Community Music School of Webster University.