SU Names Michael Stepniak, Ed.D., Dean of Shenandoah Conservatory

Posted May 08, 2009:

Shenandoah University President Tracy Fitzsimmons has announced the appointment of Michael Stepniak, Ed.D., as the next dean of Shenandoah Conservatory, effective July, 1, 2009.

<P>Shenandoah University President Tracy Fitzsimmons has announced the appointment of Michael Stepniak, Ed.D., as the next dean of Shenandoah Conservatory, effective July, 1, 2009. Dr. Stepniak follows Laurence Kaptain, who has served as conservatory dean since July 2006.<BR><BR>Stepniak currently is the associate dean of performing arts at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., where he works with senior leadership on issues ranging from arts initiatives, strategic planning, curriculum reviews to institutional assessment. He has done research for David Gergen at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government to better define factors that affect leadership development and constitute human flourishing. He has also served as a consultant on leadership development at Rice University. Stepniak taught as associate professor in music performance and history at Columbia Union College, where he served as assistant to the president for special projects, director of summer programs and coordinator of outcomes assessment.<BR><BR>He is also an accomplished performer, playing the violin and viola with chamber musicians such as Ann Schein, Earl Carlyss, Chris Gekker and Lory Wallfisch as well as legendary performers such as Arlo Guthrie. He can be heard on three recordings with members of the Mendelssohn Piano Trio: Piano Quartet in A Minor, Op. 1 by Josef Suk (2007), Piano Quartet by Richard Strauss (2004) and Piano Quartet by Sergei Taneyev (2002); all are on Centaur Records. As a soloist and chamber musician, Stepniak has performed in major concert halls and venues in 11 countries. He has been featured on National Public Radio, and has collaborated with various leading chamber musicians. Newspapers such as The Washington Post have referred to his playing as “tremendously poised,” “transcendent” and “unfathomably beautiful.”<BR></P> Share