August 28, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk, D.M.A., and Steven Roberts, D.M.A., have joined the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Music, announced Department Chairman Jeff W. Reynolds.

Hurst-Wajszczuk will teach applied voice and direct the opera program. She received both bachelor’s and master’s of music degrees from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., and doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder. From 2004-2007, she was director of musical theatre and coordinator of the voice area at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Hurst-Wajszczuk is a noted specialist in the lute songs of English Renaissance composer John Dowland. Her research was recently published in the professional periodical The Journal of Singing and a solo CD of Dowland lute songs is forthcoming. Performances of note include composer Bill Mayer’s 70th birthday celebration concert at Carnegie Hall, a live broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio and regular appearances with the Westminster Choir and the New York Choral Arts Society under the batons of Bernstein, Muti, Mehta, Levine and Masur in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Steven Roberts joins UAB as assistant professor of jazz studies. Previously, he was professor of trumpet and jazz at Mars Hill College after holding a similar position at Iowa State University. Roberts received his bachelor’s of music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Roberts received his master’s of music and doctor of musical arts degrees in trumpet performance and jazz at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Roberts also is a freelance musician and has performed with such greats as Jon Faddis, Cecil and Deedee Bridgewater, Chip McNeill, Jim Pugh and Charo. He has been a member of the Steve Roberts Jazz Quartet, the Mountain Empire Brass Quintet, the Johnson City Symphony, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony and Sinfonia da Camera.