Employee Directory

First Name

Last Name

Department

Epiphany Knedler

Lecturer of Art

605-626-7766

Epiphany Knedler

Lecturer of Art

Spafford Hall 209D

605-626-7766

epiphany.knedler@northern.edu

MFA, East Carolina University

BFA and BA, University of South Dakota

Epiphany Knedler is an interdisciplinary artist + educator exploring the ways we engage with history. She is inspired by the aesthetics and geopolitical landscapes of the Midwest, surveying the storied past of bold exploration and quiet melancholy. She graduated from the University of South Dakota with a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Political Science and completed her MFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in Photography at East Carolina University.

She is based in Aberdeen, South Dakota, serving as a Lecturer of Art, a Content Editor with LENSCRATCH, and the co-curator for the art collective Midwest Nice Art. Her work has been exhibited in the New York Times, Vermont Center for Photography, Lenscratch, Dek Unu Arts, and awarded through the Lucie Foundation, F-Stop Magazine, and Photolucida Critical Mass.

Jason Knowles

Assistant Professor of Art

605-626-7763

Jason Knowles

Assistant Professor of Art

Dacotah Hall 208B

605-626-7763

jason.knowles@northern.edu

M.F.A. Digital Filmmaking - University of Central Arkansas

M.S. Instructional Design & Technology - Emporia State University

B.G.S. Special Major: Digital Film & Computer Production - University of Kansas

Website

Originally from Northeast Kansas, Jason Knowles is an award-winning filmmaker who teaches courses in digital media, video streaming and digital filmmaking, podcasting and sound design, game-app-web design, and animations and visual effects at Northern. At other institutions, he developed and facilitated in-person and online classes in video and multimedia journalism, screenwriting, film history and theory, promotional and corporate video production, and documentary filmmaking.

Knowles' media production interests include writing and directing screenplays with strong, complicated female lead characters whose journeys transcend the genres of action-adventure films, science fiction, and romantic comedies. Every November, he serves as executive producer and director of Northern's filmmaking team for the international Four-Points Film Project competition, which is open to all Northern students and employees as well as members of the Aberdeen community.

Knowles' research has involved documentary collaborations with visual history, investigating discipline-specific instructional design methods for adult higher education, and exploring and uncovering facts behind myths and folklore in the Ozark mountains. His current research is focused on modeling and animating photo-realistic digital human characters as well as developing and implementing integrated andragogy for media curricula (the fusion of media theory and history with production practices within each course).

Grant Manhart

Professor of Music, Trumpet/Jazz

605-626-2982

Grant Manhart

Professor of Music, Trumpet/Jazz

Johnson Fine Arts Center 123

605-626-2982

grant.manhart@northern.edu

B.M. University of Wisconsin-Madison

M.M. University of Cincinnati

D.M. Indiana University

Dr. Grant Manhart holds a doctor of music degree in trumpet literature and performance with minors in music history and jazz studies from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He holds a master’s degree in trumpet performance with a minor in jazz studies from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance from the University of Wisconsin.

His extensive performing experience includes classical, jazz and popular music. Before his arrival at NSU in 1998, he toured with the famed Buddy Rich Band and Broadway’s "Dreamgirls;" lived in Puerto Rico and performed with the Latin Jazz group Picante; and performed with many other luminaries including Carol Channing, Herb Jeffries, Rita Moreno, June Valli, Carmen Cavallero, the Delphonics, the Temptations, the O’Jays, and the Blue Notes. He played in the South Bend, Kokomo, and Bloomington (Indiana) symphonies.

In 2004, Dr. Manhart created with NSU students the rhythm and brass group The Dominant 7, which has received five consecutive South Dakota Touring Arts Grants and performed at four International Trumpet Guild conferences. His booking agency, Great Live Music Productions, has provided live music for a variety of clients since 1986. He also created the NSU course Online Music Appreciation.

Audrey Miller

Associate Professor of Clarinet/Music, Director of Bands, Music Department Chair

605-626-2235

Audrey Miller

Associate Professor of Clarinet/Music, Director of Bands, Music Department Chair

Johnson Fine Arts Center 122

605-626-2235

audrey.miller@northern.edu

D.M.A., Arizona State University

M.M., Florida State University

B.M., Western Washington University

Dr. Audrey Miller is an associate professor of clarinet at Northern State University in Aberdeen. At Northern, Dr. Miller teaches applied clarinet, music theory and concert band. She regularly participates in community outreach, teaching clarinet workshops to young, aspiring musicians.

Before coming to Northern, Dr. Miller lived in Phoenix, Ariz., where she was an active chamber musician and clarinet teacher to students of all ages. She performed throughout Phoenix area as part of Classical Revolution PHX, Clarinets for Conservation, Kaleidoscope Winds reed quintet, Paradise Winds, and many more.

Dr. Miller had her international debut in Belgium in 2011 and spent the summer of 2013 teaching and performing in Tanzania as a part of Clarinets for Conservation. She has performed around the United States, premiering a work by composer Scott McAllister at the 2012 International Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest in Lincoln, Neb. Audrey recently finished her doctorate of musical arts degree in clarinet performance at Arizona State University, working as a graduate teaching assistant and studying with Dr. Robert Spring and Dr. Joshua Gardner. Her research focused on commissioning new works for clarinet/bass clarinet and other woodwind instruments. She is a graduate of Florida State University with an M.M. degree, where she studied with Frank Kowalsky and earned a B.M. degree from Western Washington University, studying with Eugene Zoro.

Travis Netzer

Lecturer, Euphonium/Tuba

605-626-3362

Travis Netzer

Lecturer, Euphonium/Tuba

Johnson Fine Arts Center 124

605-626-3362

travis.netzer@northern.edu

B.M.E, Northern State University

M.M., Western Michigan University

D.M.A., Arizona State University (Tuba Performance)

Dr. Travis Netzer is a lecturer of tuba and euphonium at NSU. He grew up in Ipswich, S.D., and attended Northern for his bachelor's degree in music education. During his undergraduate degree studies, Netzer competed in the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Brass Competition and reached the national level of the competition two years in a row, placing runner up his second year. He received a graduate assistantship to attend Western Michigan University for his master’s degree in music performance and earned a doctorate of musical arts at Arizona State University, where he was the graduate assistant to Dr. Deanna Swoboda. While there, he competed and advanced to the semifinals in the International Tuba Euphonium Solo Competition in 2014.

Netzer recently received a developing artist grant from the South Dakota Arts Council to develop his musical project, "Rock Tuba," in which he uses electronics to distort his sound and play rock music.

Brian Omland

Theatre and Production Manager

605-626-7932

Brian Omland

Theatre and Production Manager

Johnson Fine Arts Center 119A

605-626-7932

brian.omland@northern.edu

B.A., Northern State University

Brian Omland serves as the production manager for the School of Fine Arts. He continues to expand his knowledge and experience in set construction, lighting design, and special effects for the stage. He worked on the Northern productions of Sondheim on Sondheim, Man of La Mancha, Silent Sky, Fun Home, The Brain From Planet X, She Kills Monsters, Lasso of Truth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, God of Carnage, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, among others.

Nadya Preszler

Instructor of Art

605-626-3351

Nadya Preszler

Instructor of Art

Dacotah Hall 208A

605-626-3351

nadya.preszler@northern.edu

M.Ed., Lesley University

B.S.Ed., Northern State University

Nadya Preszler graduated from NSU in 1999. A Roscoe, S.D., native, she was a track athlete during her time at Northern. She spent five years teaching art in Marshall, Minn., and five years at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls, S.D. At Northern, she concentrates on art education.

Tim Rickett

Assistant Professor of 3D Media/Art Galleries Director

605-626-2032

Tim Rickett

Assistant Professor of 3D Media/Art Galleries Director

Spafford Hall 209F

605-626-2032

tim.rickett@northern.edu

M.F.A., East Carolina University

B.A., Hastings College

Tim Rickett, an artist and educator based in Aberdeen in northeastern South Dakota, employs the practice of bricolage to create work that explores ideas of nostalgia, politics, history, and the Anthropocene. He graduated from Hastings College in 2016 with a BFA in sculpture and completed his MFA at East Carolina University in 2019. He is assistant professor of 3D media and gallery director at Northern State University.

Rickett co-curates exhibitions in the collective MidwestNice Art with Epiphany Knedler. His work has been exhibited at the Washington Pavilion, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Del Mar College Annual National Drawing and Small Sculpture Show, Contemporary Arts Museum Raleigh, and a collaborative exhibition at the University of South Dakota.

At Northern, Rickett teaches four levels of sculpture and ceramics, 2D and 3D design, senior capstone, and the graduate MSED art residency course in the summer. As gallery director, Rickett facilitates multiple visiting artists each year, bringing contemporary art to our Great Plains region while maintaining Northern's permanent collection, working with students and artists to display their artwork in Northern's many galleries, and serving on campus committees.

Michael Skyles

Instructor of Voice

605-626-2501

Michael Skyles

Instructor of Voice

Spafford Hall 301A

605-626-2501

michael.skyles@northern.edu

B.M.E. University of Illinois

M.M. Cleveland Institute of Music

D.M.A. North Dakota (currently)

Tenor Michael Skyles joined the music faculty at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., in 2009. Mr. Skyles received a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Illinois in 1992, and obtained his master's of music in vocal performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1996. A certified vocologist, he specializes in voice lessons, vocal pedagogy, and diction for singers, and is music director for theatre at Northern.

Born and raised in the Chicago area, he previously maintained a private voice studio and taught voice at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. In recent years, his students have advanced to compete at the national level. In 2009, one of his students was selected to be a finalist with the NFAA YoungArts program in classical voice, an honor bestowed on only 12 students from across the country, and was the first finalist in any discipline ever from North Dakota. In 2010, another of Mr. Skyles' students was selected to be an NFAA Young Arts finalist in musical theater. Following this student's performance at the finals, he was invited for further competition and workshops in New York and was selected to be a Presidential Scholar.

More recently, many of Mr. Skyles' students have won or placed in competitions hosted by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). Not only have his students competed well, but many of his students are attending high-profile graduate programs, and are performing on Broadway and in regional musical theater and operas.

As a performer, Mr. Skyles has been featured with a number of opera companies across the United States, including Lyric Opera Cleveland, Natchez Opera in Mississippi, Florida State Opera, and Brevard Opera in North Carolina. In recent engagements, Mr. Skyles has performed the roles of Nemoriono in Sounds of South Dakota's L'elisir d'amore, Pong in South Dakota Symphony's production of Turandot, Remendado in Fargo Moorhead Opera's production of Carmen, Mr. Erlanson in Muddy River Opera's production of A Little Night Music, Ferrando in CandleOpera's production of Cosi fan tutte, Rodolfo in N.O.V.A.'s production of La boheme, Arturo in Bowen Park Opera's production of Lucia di Lammermoor, and Larry/Matt in Face on the Barroom Floor with Fargo Moorhead Opera.

Mr. Skyles' concert performances have included the Beethoven 9th Symphony (tenor soloist) with the South Dakota Symphony, An Afternoon of Opera with the Huron Symphony Orchestra, SchÃ¼tz Musikalische Exequien with Early Music Chicago, Bach's Magnificat with Urban Baroque in Chicago, Schubert's Mass in G, countless performances as tenor soloist in Handel's Messiah, and other varied concert works around the country. He also has performed as a professional member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Grant Park Symphony Chorus.

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