Department of Music

Dr. Kevin Maret is the Director of Bands and coordinator of Instrumental Music Education at Ottawa University.  Maret conducts the Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Drum Line.  Previously Dr. Maret served as the Fine Arts Coordinator for the Topeka Public School District.  In addition Maret taught band in Missouri, instructed courses at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, was adjunct faculty at Grace University, Northwest Missouri State University and was the Assistant Director of Bands and Director of Percussion Studies at McKendree University.  His performance credits include the "United States Air Force Heartland of America Band" at Offutt AFB, Principal Percussionist with the Sioux City Symphony, and regular performances with the Kansas City, Omaha and Lincoln Symphonies.  His military band Sidewinder has performed on "The Ellen Show", "Entertainment Tonight”, "Fox and Friends”, and at the White House.  Maret has performed with Placido Domingo, Patti LuPone, Idina Menzel, and Tommy Tune.  His compositions can be heard in commercials, movie trailers and television shows.

Dr. Maret holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Northwest Missouri State University, a Master of Music Education Degree, and a Doctorate in Musical Arts - Percussion Performance Degree from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Zachary K Devin received his undergraduate degree in music from Millikin University and graduate degrees from Rice University and The Royal Academy of Music in London. Before his work at Ottawa University, Zack was a member of the voice faculty at the University of Missouri St. Louis, Lindenwood University, and St. Charles Community College. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in music education with an emphasis in vocal pedagogy at the University of Kansas where he serves as a graduate teaching assistant.

Zack teaches courses in vocal pedagogy, principles of speech science, the physics of speech, choral diction, and choral conducting. He is also a passionate voice teacher and maintains private and collegiate vocal studios. As a researcher, he has presented at national and international conferences for associations such as the Voice Foundation, the National Association for Music Educators, and the Kansas Music Educators Association. He is currently working on his dissertation, focusing on assessing and preventing vocal fatigue in young singers.

Along with his work as an educator, Zack is an active stage and concert artist. He made his professional London stage debut as Jupiter in Hampstead Garden Opera’s production of Handel’s Semele and soon after his European debut in Budapest as Peter Quint in Britten’s Turn of The Screw. After performing abroad, he returned to the United States and appeared with companies such as The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Nashville Opera, Dayton Opera, and the St. Louis Symphony Chorus.

Performer, composer, arranger, educator and arts administrator Dan Thomas has received countless performance awards, and has performed, recorded and presented with some of the most influential jazz artists and pedagogues in nearly every state in the continental US, Canada, and abroad. Thomas’ CDs, City Scope, Musical Sanctuary and Voyage continue to receive critical acclaim, and acknowledgement on the national airplay charts.

Thomas has held previous appointments having served as the Executive Director and CEO of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. For nearly two decades, he served on the Doctoral faculty and as the co-chair of the Jazz Studies Program at UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and Dance with Bobby Watson. His students perform throughout the globe and teach at the highest levels, and have appeared many times at the Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program, Jazz Port Townsend workshops, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and JEN. Students have been recognized in numerous jazz competitions and received many awards, notably in Downbeat, by Thelonious Monk, MTNA, Yamaha, ITG, Name, Music for All, Grammy, Bard Summer Jazz Academy (JALCO), the National Youth Orchestra and the Vandoren jazz saxophone competition, among other.

Thomas holds performing artist/educator endorsements with Yamaha, Vandoren, Locoparasaxo, WeWOOD and Roo Pads.

Katie Benyo received her Masters in Violin Performance from The University of Missouri, Kansas City.  She not only performs and teaches classical music, she has also performed and recorded in many different styles of music including country, traditional Americana, jazz, fiddle, bluegrass, pop and rock.  She performed at the Major League Baseball World Series, the American Royal World Series of BBQ, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and with Lindsey Stirling, 2Cellos and Evanescence. She uses her eclectic performing background to inspire students no matter their musical interests.  She studied pedagogy at Indiana University's retreat for Violin and Viola teachers under Mimi Zweig, and she taught at the international music festival, VerArte in Arequipa, Peru.

Aaron Linscheid is a trumpet performer and educator based in Kansas City. In addition to his work as an educator, Linscheid is also an accomplished performer.  Recent performances include with his own trio, the Diamond Empire Band and performances of original works with Clint Ashlock’s New Jazz Order. Before moving to Kansas City, he spent several summers in the Education Department of the New York Philharmonic.

Matt McGrory began his formal music education at Northwest Missouri State University and continued at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He taught for four years in the Spring Hill School District, serving as the assistant band and orchestra director. In 2019, McGrory started at the University of Kansas as a graduate teaching assistant in addition to pursuing a PhD in Music Education. McGrory is the principal bass of the Saint Joseph Symphony and the Midwest Chamber Ensemble. He subs regularly with the Topeka Symphony and Kansas City Symphony.

Brent Mead, a Mason City, IA native, is an enthusiastic performer, educator and supporter of music in the Kansas City area. He joined the Wichita Symphony as principal trombone in 2018. Mead has performed with Orchestra Iowa, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Fountain City Brass Band, Sunflower Music Festival Orchestra, and many other community and chamber ensembles. Brent was a member of the Volker Brass Quintet who won the 2019 American Brass Quintet Brass Prize and was a semifinalist at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in addition to finishing in 3^rd place at the 2018 MTNA National Chamber Music Competition.

Brian Steever is a drummer on a mission to inject joy into every musical situation that he finds himself.  He is a Jazz Studies alumnus of UMKC where he was fortunate enough to study with drummers Doug Auwarter, Brandon Draper, Curtis Lundy, and Michael Carvin.  Beyond being one of the busiest drummers in the Midwest, Brian has had the opportunity to perform with musicians from all over the world including Steve Cardenas, Ben Allison, Javon Jackson, Deborah Brown, Bob Sheppard, Jerry Dodgion, Tony Tixier, Shunzo Ohno, Frank Basile, Roger Rosenberg, and Sam Newsome among others.

Forest Stewart's experience includes work on both French horn and electric bass. Forest is bassist and musical director for a popular and well-known singer in the Kansas City area, Ida McBeth and Friends, plays bass with Dan Thomas and Voyage, Cubanisms, and has worked extensively with Orquesta Alto Maiz, "the Salsa Band". On horn, Forest has performed with the Des Moines Symphony, the Rochester Orchestra and Chorale, the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, and currently plays with Lee’s Summit Symphony and the People’s Liberation Big Band under the direction of Brad Cox. Forest has performed in New York, Las Vegas, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, in cities throughout Germany and Italy, and at festivals in Chicago, Los Angeles, Geneva, Montreaux, Den Haag and Cuba.

Artists with whom Forest has performed include Nick Brignola, Steve Cardenas, Richie Cole, Jerry Coker, Garry Dial, John Fedchock, Bruce Forman, Mike Freeman, Bill Goodwin, Steve Houghton, Arnie Lawrence, David Liebman, Chip McNeal, Jim McNeely, Roy Meriwether, Dick Oatts, Kim Park, Jack Peterson, Jim Piu, Joe Porcaro, Emil Richards, Bobby Shew, Marvin Stam, Jerry Steinholtz, Clark Terry, Dan Thomas, Phil Upchurch, Bobby Watson, Jiggs Wiggums, and the Paul Winter Consort.

Ivy Lu Wang is an active pianist, chamber musician, lecturer, teacher, and founder of the Conero International Piano Festival & Competition and the International Piano Professionals Association (IPPA). As an inspiring lecturer and teacher, Wang is frequently invited to give concerts, masterclasses, and lectures at many different universities and piano schools. Wang's academic research specialty is injury prevention. She graduated with honors from University of Kansas with her doctoral Dissertation “Applying the Rotation Principle to Avoid Injury in Piano Practice”. In her performance career, Wang has won multiple competition prizes, including the first prize in the 2011 Zhong-sin International Music Competition in Singapore, where she was invited to perform in the award ceremony with the jury.

Brian Ward is a keyboardist, educator, composer, and arranger from Portland, Oregon. Brian has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Bobby Torres, Shirley Nanette, Curtis Salgado, Obo Addy, Will Matthews, Dan Thomas, Dave Valdez, Bobby Watson, and many others. “City of Roses,” one of the arrangements Ward helped create for Esperanza Spalding's album Radio Music Society, won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for Vocal Performance. Ward has teaching affiliations at Portland State University, Washington State University, University of Idaho, Eastern Washington University, University of Kansas, and Benedictine College. Currently, Brian came to Kansas City to complete his Doctor of Musical Arts in composition degree at KU Lawrence and is enjoying performing jazz and blues in the Kansas City area.