New Faculty

Jamaal Baptiste joined the department in September 2024 as its newest tenure-track faculty member. He directs the University Jazz Band and Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and teaches jazz history and applied jazz piano. He is a pianist, composer, arranger and ethnomusicologist. Born and raised in San Nicolas, Aruba, he began taking piano lessons at age 8 and quickly became comfortable performing in a wide range of music. In 2010, he relocated to the U.S. to attend Indiana University, where he studied with renowned music educators David Baker, Pat Harbison and pianist Luke Gillespie. In 2013, Baptiste was a jazz fellow at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute under the tutelage of Baker, Curtis Fuller, Nathan Davis and Rufus Reid. Baptiste has been featured as a guest artist and clinician at various colleges, festivals and clubs throughout the U.S., as well as Aruba, Austria and South Africa. He has collaborated with esteemed practitioners of Caribbean and Latin American popular music and contributed to several albums by Grammy Award-nominated artists Michael Spiro and Wayne Wallace. Baptiste is an original member of the Batuquê Trio with drummer Andy Smith and bassist Natalie Boeyink. With this trio, he recorded the album “Transparency” (2015). He is also a co-founder of the NelBap Duo with saxophonist/clarinetist Ana Nelson and a member of Carlos Bislip’s Aruban Jazz Collective. Baptiste holds a doctorate and master’s degree in ethnomusicology, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in jazz studies from Indiana University. In April Baptiste was honored by the Aruban government for his talent, perseverance and dedication. He is pictured on the back cover with Prime Minister Mike Eman, Vice-Premier Gerlien Croes, and Carlos Bislip, director of the JAM Jazz Appreciation Concert where the presentation took place.

In April Baptiste received the Aruban government’s Pursuit of Excellence Award. He is pictured at right with Prime Minister Mike Eman; Vice-Premier Gerlien Croes; and Carlos Bislip, director of the JAM Jazz Appreciation Concert where the award was presented.

 

Ana Nelson, clarinet, saxophone and composer, started teaching for the department in winter 2025. She received the prestigious Presser Graduate Award from Indiana University (IU), which supported the recording of her 2022 debut album, “Bridges,” which charted on the Roots Music Report and Jazz Week’s Top 100. She has performed with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, and with Michael Spiro and funk legend Bootsy Collins. She is a recipient of the Earl Hines Outstanding Soloist Award which was presented by Wynton Marsalis at the inaugural Jack Rudin Jazz Championship for her clarinet performance. She teaches applied saxophone and music appreciation, and directs the Saxophone Ensemble.

 

 

Luis Molina is a composer and performer of electronic and acoustic music. Influenced by the diverse cultural and socioeconomic influences of his upbringing, his pieces range from solo piano works to computer music. His music was most recently performed as part of the Hear Now Music Festival that showcases the work of contemporary composers from the Los Angeles area. In addition to composing, Molina’s teaching interests range from traditional music theory to music technology classes. He teaches applied composition at Cal Poly, and is a lecturer at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, where he teaches a wide variety of theory and musicianship classes. He also teaches music technology at Rio Hondo College in Whittier.

 

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More Award-Winning Faculty and Staff

Scott Glysson is a recipient of Cal Poly’s Distinguished Teaching Award for the 2024–25 academic year! This award is especially meaningful as nominations are made by students, and the final selection is made by faculty colleagues. This recognition is a powerful testament to the depth and breadth of acknowledgement for Glysson’s outstanding contributions to teaching and learning from those he teaches and those he teaches alongside. His commitment to pedagogical excellence, creativity in the classroom and dedication to student success are all central to this recognition. Glysson has been director of choral activities and vocal studies since 2017.

 

 

Paul Woodring is this year’s winner of the College of Liberal Arts Staff Outstanding Career Achievement Award! It recognizes individuals who have demonstrated sustained excellence, a commitment to teamwork, and the ability to inspire excellence in others throughout their careers at Cal Poly. For more than two decades Woodring has served as a cornerstone of the Music Department, contributing significantly to the academic, artistic and cultural life of the university. In his roles as accompanist, vocal and instrumental coach, and collaborative artist, he has supported hundreds of student juries, recitals, and performances, consistently providing not only expert musical accompaniment but also mentorship and coaching that elevate the student experience.

 

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Faculty Update

Amy Goymerac’s recent performances include Micaëla in “Carmen” with Opera San Luis Obispo — with which she will revisit Gretel in “Hansel and Gretel” later this year —and as soprano soloist for Handel’s “Messiah” with the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale. She recently earned her graduate certificate of vocology from Lamar University and is currently working toward her RV (Recognized Vocologist) by the Pan American Vocology Association. She will give the world premiere performance of Douglas Cuomo’s “La Cita” with the legendary Romero Guitar Quartet at the historic Herbst Theater in San Francisco in fall 2025.

Aaron Kline will have compositions published by C. Alan Publications: two for string orchestra and one for band. In April, he and colleague Sarra Hey-Folick, clarinet, presented a recital titled a “Musical Time Machine” which featured three of his compositions alongside music by Debussy, Messiaen, Mozart and Schumann; and included guest artists Kate Meyer, mezzo-soprano, and pianists W. Terrence Spiller and Alin Melik-Adamyan. The College Music Society selected three of his compositions and his music theory research for presentation at peer-reviewed conferences across the U.S. His research on timbral modulation in Karel Husa’s “Music for Prague 1968” was selected for the national conference which will take place in fall 2025. Kline has also been commissioned to compose a solo for horn for Olivier Blakeney this summer which will be on Blakeney’s upcoming album.

Alyson McLamore and her overseas colleague, Barnaby Priest, continue to issue modern editions of “The Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts.” They recently completed the score and commentary for “Periodical Overture No. 15” by Johann Christian Bach, and the full set of 61 works is being published by the German publishing house Musikproduktion Höflich.

The U.S. Academic Decathlon again used a music curriculum written by McLamore for its 2024-25 competition. The theme was “Our Changing Climate,” so she focused on pieces that celebrate the natural world — Cal Poly music-history alumni would recognize “A Hermit Thrush at Morn” by Amy Beach — along with songs that caution us to care for our planet by composers ranging from Joni Mitchell to Childish Gambino (Donald Glover, Jr.).

McLamore continues to write program notes and give lectures for the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale and Festival Mozaic. Speaking of lecturing, she is grateful for the group of juniors in the spring 2025 Music History II class, because that cohort will take Music History III and IV in the coming year, which will be the final time that McLamore will teach those classes.

McLamore will retire in June 2026, after 35 years at Cal Poly, the last of the faculty who inaugurated the Bachelor of Arts in music degree in 1991, when, according to her, dinosaurs still roamed the earth and the faculty offices did not even have modems, let alone ethernet or Wi-Fi! Sign her card.