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Four new members join music faculty

The West Virginia University School of Music welcomes four new members to the faculty this school year.

"Our new faculty members are leaders in their fields, bringing depth, creativity, and diversity of ideas to our School,” said Sandy Schwartz, interim director. “I look forward to seeing our students grow professionally with the mentorship of our new faculty. They will strengthen the School of Music's commitment to excellence in teaching and research/creative activity.”

Andy Sledge

Andy Sledge, assistant professor of bassoon and theory, brings a passion for communication and nuance to their work as a performer, teacher, and collaborator. An advocate for contemporary music, they have commissioned and premiered solo and chamber works by composers including Alexis Lamb, Nicky Sohn, and Max Vinetz. Andy has performed with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Sinfonietta, and Opera Theater of Connecticut. Their playing has been featured on WPLN Nashville and the soundtrack to the video game Destiny 2.

Sledge is currently a D.M.A. candidate at the Yale School of Music. They hold a Master’s in Music from Yale and a Bachelor’s in Music from Vanderbilt University, where they received the Founder’s Medal for highest honors.

Emily Lambert

Emily Dugas Lambert, M.M., MT-BC is an assistant professor of music therapy and serves as the Director of Music Therapy at WVU. Lambert teaches Introduction to Music Therapy, Principles and Practices of Music Therapy, Advanced Principles and Practices of Music Therapy, and Evidence Based Practice in Music Therapy while also supervising music therapy practicum students.

Previously, Lambert practiced clinically for over 10 years in Minnesota, Michigan and Florida. Her clinical experiences include working with clients aged 18 months to 103 years with a variety of needs including those recovering from TBI, older adults, and children and adolescents on the autism spectrum, amongst many others.

Sunmi Chang

As the laureate of the 2007 International Markneukirchen Violin Competition and the 2007 Sion-Valais International Violin Competition, Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin Sunmi Chang has performed widely and to acclaim throughout North America and Europe as a solo artist and chamber musician.

Chang completed her studies with Peter Oundjian and Ani Kavafian earning the Artist Diploma and the Master of Music degree at Yale University, where she won the School of Music Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition in 2006 performing the Bartok Violin Concerto No.2 with the Yale Philharmonia. She won a position in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2009, and was a full time tenured member of the orchestra from 2009 until 2015. 

In 2020, Chang completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan. Currently, she serves as the artistic director of Summit Chamber Music Series, which aspires to bring joy, peace, comfort and encouragement to Morgantown by presenting world-class chamber music performances throughout the season. 

Jacob Sandridge

Visiting Teaching Assistant Professor of Theory and Composition Jacob Sandridge is a doctoral candidate at Rice University in Houston, TX. He holds degrees from Bowling Green State University in composition and WVU in composition and piano performance.

Sandridge is a composer, music technologist, installation artist, and pianist teaching electronic music and theory courses at WVU. His interests lie primarily in experimenting with ways to incorporate interactive technology into sound, investigating ways in which sound and technology can create and strengthen community and creating works that encourage audience and performer agency.

For more information on WVU’s School of Music and faculty, visit music.wvu.edu.