The Division of Performing Arts welcomes two new faculty members
May 15, 2020 - The Division of Performing Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of two new faculty members. Karissa Millington will join the Challey School of Music as Assistant Professor of Voice and Ryan Scoble will join Theatre NDSU as Assistant Professor of Theatre. Both will begin in the fall of 2020.
Karisa L. Millington soprano, is thrilled to join NDSU Challey School of Music in the fall as the new assistant professor of voice. An active performer of opera and avid art song enthusiast, she has sung with Opera on the Avalon, The Princeton Opera Festival, New Voices Opera, Reimagining Opera for Kids, and the Beijing Festival Chorus. She greatly enjoys programming recitals of lesser-known vocal gems and highlighting compositions from historically underrepresented groups including women and composers of color.
Karisa received a B.M. in Music Education with an emphasis in Voice and Choral studies from Cedarville University in Ohio. She received her M.M in Voice Performance & Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College and is a doctoral candidate in Voice Performance at Indiana University. Prior to her new role at NDSU, Karisa has been a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Wabash College where she taught voice and served as the Interim Glee Club Director. She previously has taught musical theatre voice at the University of Evansville and voice at the Stafford Music Academy and Belvoir Terrace Arts Camp.
As an educator, Karisa has a strong enthusiasm for the anatomy and physiology of the voice, the physics of sound, historical and present theories of teaching singing, and diverse vocal repertoire. Her research focuses on developing innovative voice pedagogy curriculum for music educators and performers. Additionally, her background teaching in Asia and working with international students has led to her research into culturally responsive pedagogy practices for the music studio.
As an educator, Ms. Millington has a passion for voice pedagogy – the anatomy and physiology of the voice, the physics of sound, historical and present theories of teaching singing, and diverse song repertoire – and merges all of these elements in her own teaching of classical voice, musical theatre, and commercial music. Her research focuses on innovative voice pedagogy curriculum for undergraduate music students. The three years she spent living and teaching in Beijing led to her research in ways to better support and engage culturally diverse learners in the applied voice studio. She has worked with students from many countries including China, Korea, Australia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Norway, Germany, Russia, Italy, France, and Martinique.
Karisa's operatic roles include Helena from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten); Cleopatra from Guilio Cesare (Handel); Donna Elvira from Don Giovanni (Mozart); Marschallin from Der Rosenkavalier (R. Strauss); Sifare from Mitridate (Mozart); Antonia’s Mother from Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach); Queen from The True Story of Cinderella (Martin); Dido from Dido and Aeneas (Purcell); and Laurie from The Tender Land (Copland).
Ryan Scoble is excited to be joining the theatre faculty of North Dakota State University as the Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre. Ryan is an award-winning actor, director, and choreographer who spent fourteen years living and working in New York City. In his training, Ryan received a B.M. in Vocal Performance with an emphasis in Musical Theatre from NYU's Steinhardt School. He received his first Master's degree, a M.S.Ed in Educational Theatre, from The City College of New York (CUNY), and recently completed his second, an M.F.A. in Acting from Kent State University, where he also taught intro-level acting, musical theatre, and theatre appreciation, as well as directing and assisting on mainstage productions.
Ryan has worked as a theatre educator teaching musical theatre and acting to students in every borough of New York City. He has worked as a teaching artist and a high school drama instructor, directing and choreographing countless productions. He also served as a resident director/choreographer for the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus for over four years.
As a performer, Ryan has appeared in four Off-Broadway shows in New York City: Murder in the First (Bailiff), Tall Pines Lodge (Booker), Bitty Bear’s Matinee (Bitty Puppy), and The Mask of Medusa (Mr. Sideon). Recent regional theatre credits include a critically acclaimed performance as Marcellus in The Music Man at Porthouse Theatre. Other regional credits include productions at Weathervane Theatre, The Arts Center of Cannon County, and Murfreesboro Little Theatre. In addition to musicals and plays, Ryan has performed in a number of concerts and cabarets including performances with the NY Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall, Chita Rivera and Alan Cumming at Carnegie Hall, Demi Lovato at the Barclays Center, The Broadway by the Years Chorus at prestigious The Town Hall and Feinstein's/54 Below, as well as solo shows at The Metropolitan Room, and The Duplex. Ryan is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association.