Faculty

Tony Gengarelly, Chair - Tony Gengarelly is currently chair of the Fine & Performing Arts department at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Professor Gengarelly is an accomplished teacher and scholar, earning master's degrees from Yale and Williams College, and a doctorate from Boston University. He has curated art exhibits and published books and essays focusing on the Prendergasts, American landscape painting, the image of women in the 19th century, the works Winslow Homer, nineteenth century neoclassical sculpture, civil rights, and Navajo art. Dr. Gengarelly teaches a wide array of art history and museum studies courses, bringing both business savvy and erudition to MCLA. Currently, he and his students are working on a catalogue of the art of autistic artist Jessica Park.

Christine Condaris - Christine Condaris was Chairperson of the Fine & Performing Arts Dept. for 11 years and is a professor of music. She was Chairman of the Board of the Northern Berkshire Creative Arts, a not for profit arts education organization in North Adams, MA. Many of her reviews can be found in Multicultural Journal. Her area of specialization is American music, with a focus on the music of Charles Ives. Last November, she lectured on Ives at Hebei University, west of Beijing. Christine holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, Middletown CT; a MA in Musicology from New York University, and a BA from Wesleyan University, summa cum laude in Music.

Bonnie Bishoff, - Bonnie Bishoff has directed 41 major productions at MCLA, and teaches a number of performance courses, and directs the fall major production each year. Bishoff is a member of Actors' Equity Association, and she acted and directed professionally with Oldcastle Theatre Company (Bennington, VT) for many years, and she has acted professionally with Tulane Center Stage, Commonwealth Stage, Indiana State Theatre, and The Everyman Players, among others. She has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and on PBS American Playhouse. She has also acted in television commercials and in industrial films, and has also served as an acting coach and directed a workshop production acted, as well as acted with, the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has taught theatre courses at Tulane University and at UMass and guest directed a mainstage production for the theatre department at Williams College. Bonnie holds a BA in Speech and Drama from Oklahoma State University; and an MFA in Acting and Directing from University of Massachusetts.

Douglas Jenkins

Lauren O'Neal - B.A., Wellesley College, 1990. Ed.M., Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 1996. M.F.A., Maine College of Art, 2004. Arts management, grantwriting & fundraising, introduction to fine arts. Lauren O’Neal exhibits her work at venues including the Photographic Resource Center/Boston University, the Copley Society of Art, and the Nelimarkka Museum in Finland. O'Neal has worked with art and education organizations including the Somerville Arts Council, the Arlington Center for the Arts, and the Computer Museum. Before joining MCLA, she was a visiting assistant professor of art education at Massachusetts College of Art. O'Neal is also an independent curator and a contributing writer for Art New England.

Gregory Scheckler - Scheckler comes from a family of Wisconsin German-Americans, including doctors, musicians, vaudeville stage managers and artists. He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, next to a zoo (for animals) and a university (a zoo for people). He also lived in Utah, New York City, Bayfield, Wisconsin, plus Duluth, Minnesota, and Innsbruck, Austria. He began college in mechanical engineering, but earned a B.A. in German and Art from the University of Notre Dame, a B.F.A. in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis, and the M.F.A. in Art from Utah State University. He studied traditional figure drawing and anatomy at the New York Academy of Art, and oil painting recently at the Angel Art Academy in Florence, Italy. His artwork has been shown professionally since the early 1990s in over forty exhibits. National and international collectors own his artworks, as nearby as New York City and as far away as Tokyo, Japan. As Assistant Professor of Visual Art at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, he currently teaches art courses that integrate the observation of nature with fine art.

Dawn Shamburger - Dawn Shamburger has worked on costume and set design for over sixty productions. She has worked with Trinity Rep, Hartford Stage Company, Oddfellows Playhouse, Central Piedmont Summer Theatre, Community Theatre of Greensboro, Northwestern State University, and the North Carolina Theatre for Young People. Shows include: CATS, The Winter’s Tale, Gypsy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Rite of Spring, The Little Princess: A Musical, and Hay Fever. She has also designed for dance and opera. Her freelance clients have included Yale Repertory, Loomis Chafee High School, Seaside Musica Theatre, the Hollyberry Foundation, and the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. At MCLA, she has been costumer for Blood Wedding, The Crucible, Because Their Hearts Were Pure, and The Visit, among others. She teaches courses ranging from Costume Construction and Makeup to Scene Construction and Painting to Lighting Design. She is a member of the New England Theatre Conference and USITT. She holds an MFA in Scenography (emphasis in Costume Design) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BA in Theatre Design and Production from Northwestern State University.

Jack Brown - Jack Brown made his professional singing debut as Elijah at Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall in 1995. Since then, he has established himself as a critically acclaimed soloist in over 100 oratorio performances throughout the northeast and Canada. He sings the full range from Handel's Messiah, the passions and cantatas of J.S. Bach, Beethoven’s Ninth, and 20th century works by Durufle, Szymanowski, and Bloch. Performances include the Brahms Requiem in Albany, Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem in Boston, Einhorn's "Voices of Light" in Albany with Albany ProMusica and Dave Brubeck's jazz mass, "To Hope", in Hartford. A frequent recitalist, he has presented a range of programs focusing on the music of Schubert, Brahms, Mahler and Ives. His early training as an instrumentalist and conductor was followed by his primary vocal study with Richard Cross at Juilliard. He was a finalist in both the Oratorio Society of New York Competition and the Concert Artist Guild International Competition. He also teaches voice and directs the choral programs at both The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville Ct. and at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington. Jack is the owner/manager of Beethoven House Music, a national source for classical and educational print music.

David Denhard - David Denhard’s compositions for theatre, chamber opera, solo voice, chorus, chamber ensemble and orchestra have been performed throughout New England and the Northeastern U.S., as well as in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and England. Denhard is in his twenty-fifth year as Director of Music and Composer-in-Residence at Buxton School in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and taught composition and vocal accompanying at Bennington College’s July Program for fifteen summers. Denhard has been composer-in-residence at the Chamber Music Conference and Composer’s Forum of the East and has been the recipient of grants and awards from the Massachusetts Arts Council, The Massachusetts Arts Lottery, Meet the Composer, The Rensselaer County (NY) Council of the Arts and Buxton Faculty Fellowships. Since September 2005, Denhard has been adjunct instructor at MCLA teaching Piano I and II, Introduction to Music and Performance Workshops on Gershwin, American Musical Theatre and Duke Ellington.

Jonathan Dimock Secor, Director of Special Programs (Performing Arts Management) - Jonathan Secor oversees Gallery 51, the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, the Berkshire Hills Internship Program, and the Patrons of the Arts series. Jonathan has worked as a producer, director, general manager, production manager and stage manager including at: Yale Rep, Arts at St. Ann’s, Center Stage Theater, Sid Caesar and Company (Broadway), Dance Africa, BAM, and The Dallas Opera Company. Jonathan also served as the Artistic Director for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, and as the Director of Performing Arts at MASS MoCA, where he presented work by Bill T. Jones, Sekou Sundiata, Patti Smith, and Bang On A Can. His company, Secor Productions, has produced events including the Candlelight Concert for Remembrance and Hope at the Cathedral of St. John, the The Harlem Nutcracker tour, and the Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards. Raised in NYC, Jonathan attend City-As School High School, holds a BFA with Honors in theater design and technology from SUNY Purchase and has credits towards a Masters of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary. He has taught at the Yale School of Drama and SUNY Purchase. Jonathan resides on Florida Mountain with his wife, Ana Maria, and daughters Christina and Alegra.

Support Staff:
Terrie Pratt, Administrative Assistant

Andrew Hoar, Theatre Production Designer/Technical Director - Andy Hoar has led a varied and active life as a theatre technician. While pursuing his Bachelor of Arts degree at New England College in tech and performance, he also survived summer stock in New Jersey and New Hampshire. He has also worked as an electrician and “roadie” for several bands including Boston and New Riders of the Purple Sage. His technical expertise has taken him to the Boston Opera, the Palace Theater (Manchester, NH), Northfield-Mount Hermon School and Colby-Sawyer College. Over the last 20+ years at MCLA, Andy has designed more than fifty shows, including a post-apocalyptic Macbeth with scrap metal including two compacted cars, the elegant solarium for Pillars of Society and the computer projected artwork of The Laramie Project. As advisor and lighting designer for the MCLA Dance Company, Andy works closely with the student organization to produce two full scale dance shows each year. He also enjoys riding his custom Harley-Davidson, creating unique 4-wheel drive trucks, and fishing and boating on a quiet lake in Maine. Andy serves as a board member on the Mohawk Theater restoration committee and is Chair of the Williamstown Zoning Board of Appeals. Andy’s position at MCLA allows him to be active in all aspects of his art as he directs his energies towards the involvement of students in theatre.