Woodwind Faculty Profiles | University of Portland

Woodwind Faculty Profiles

Nicole Buetti, Adjunct Professor, Bassoon

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Nicole Buetti is a bassoonist, contrabassoonist and composer.  She is the contrabassoonist for the Vancouver (WA) Symphony, Oregon East Symphony, and the Oregon Coast Music festival, and a bassoonist in the Portland Columbia Symphony and Chameleon Wind Quintet.  She is also an active freelance performer.  

She has performed with the Haydn Music festival orchestra in Vienna, and as a soloist and chamber music artist with the Assisi Performing Arts Festival in Italy. When she is not performing or teaching, Nicole composes children’s music for the popular YouTube channel “In A World Music Kids” and composes concert works for chamber ensembles, wind symphonies and orchestra. 

 

Zach Galatis, Adjunct Professor, Flute

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Zachariah Galatis’ “irresistible energy, appealing tone, and dazzling technique” (The Oregonian) have cemented his place in Portland’s music community. Serving as solo piccolo of the Oregon Symphony since 2012, Zach also frequently appears with Third Angle New Music and 45th Parallel. 

A native of LaGrange, NY, Zach graduated summa cum laude with performance honors from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where he studied with Kenneth Andrews. Zach received an M.M. from Peabody Conservatory, studying with Baltimore Symphony’s Laurie Sokoloff (solo piccolo) and Emily Skala (principal flute), and also pursued doctoral studies with Marina Piccinini at Peabody.

In 2009, Zach won first place in the Mid-Atlantic Young Artist Piccolo Competition, and was a winner of the National Flute Association’s 2009 Piccolo Masterclass Competition. Zach was a fellow at the National Orchestral Institute in 2010 and 2012, and in 2011 was awarded the Piccolo Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival. Zach also won first prize in the National Flute Association’s 2012 Piccolo Artist Competition, a competition for which he now serves as coordinator.

In addition to performing, Zach is a passionate educator, having given various masterclasses and seminars on piccolo technique, including at the 2012 Hampton Roads Flute Faire, the 2012 International Flute Symposium in West Virginia, and the 2013 Iowa Piccolo Intensive Workshop. For the 2014-2015 school year, Zach served as the Interim Instructor of Flute at Willamette University. He also maintains a private studio in Portland, working with students of all ages.

Zach has played as guest piccolo with orchestras including Baltimore, Detroit, and Seattle, and has appeared as guest principal flute with the Buffalo Philharmonic. He has also performed at various summer festivals, including the Astoria Music Festival and Oregon Bach Festival. Before Joining the Oregon Symphony, Zach played piccolo/third flute in the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, under music director JoAnn Falletta.

  
Mitch Iimori, Adjunct Professor, Oboe

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Mitch Iimori aka “Mitch the Ultimate Multi- Instrumentalist” was born in the city of Kamakura in Japan. His parents were avid fans of foreign movies and music. They had many vinyl record of mostly American music. Mitch learned to drop the needle onto vinyls at age 3 and started listening to those American vinyls. Among them were Peter Paul & Mary, The Brothers Four, Pete Seeger, New Christy Minstrels, Judy Collins, Simon & Garfunkle. He was particularly drawn to the sounds of guitar and banjo, and decided to learn to play them. As his brother was already playing the piano, he decided to give it a try at age 7, but soon discovered doing the same thing as his brother, who was a high achiever, was not a good way to go. So he picked up the guitar.

Mitch holds a BA and MA in Music from the Eastman School of Music. He has performed with the Greece Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon East Symphony Choral, the Grande Ronde Symphony, and the Rochester Broadway Theatre League.

 


Don Norton, Assistant Professor, Director of Jazz Studies, Saxophone

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Don Norton is an assistant professor of music and director of jazz studies at the University of Portland. As a saxophonist, he has performed extensively in a variety of styles that include jazz, classical, world music, and musical theatre, and he has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including a tour of Costa Rica with world music group Panoramic. His research interests include jazz history and pedagogical methods for jazz and saxophone performance, and he has presented research at conferences of the Jazz Education Network and the North American Saxophone Alliance.

Don previously taught at Gustavus Adolphus College, Minnesota State University-Mankato, Spoon River College, and Laramie County Community College, and he served as a graduate assistant in the Jazz Studies Department at the University of Northern Colorado. Additionally, he has taught at the Northern Illinois University Community School of the Arts, as well as the summer jazz camps of Northern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, and the Birch Creek Music Performance Center. He is also a clinician with the Vandoren Regional Artist program.  More information can be found at www.donniesax.com.

Don holds degrees from the University of Northern Colorado, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Northern Illinois University. Outside of music, his interests include running, reading, watching sports and other television shows, and hanging out with his dog, Buddy.

Education:

Doctor of Arts, University of Northern Colorado
Master of Music, New England Conservatory of Music
Bachelor of Music, Northern Illinois University

 

 

Igor Shakhman, Adjunct Professor, Clarinet
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As a chamber musician and soloist, Igor has played in international music festivals in Oregon, Colorado, France, Greece, Russia and Switzerland. Igor has participated in two critically acclaimed Broadway tours: the first national tour of Oklahoma! and as principal clarinetist and on-stage soloist in the North American tour of Fiddler on the Roof. He received his B.A. in  Music from Kharkov Music College, his Master’s from the Moscow Conservatory and his Doctorate from the University of Colorado.

He teaches at the University of Portland and is the Oregon state chair for the International Clarinet Association. In addition to being principal clarinet, he’s also the orchestra’s Executive Director.