Department of Music, Theatre and Dance

Success Stories

Luis Santos

CSU graduate and his original piece called "While We Sleep" honoring first responders.

Johnathan Imhoff

 I am a Rural Teacher.

Read Johnathan's inspirational story.

will hartman
Will Hartman

Will is one of five incoming freshmen who received an honorable award. Read the story.  

Chico State president's scholar 2022

ana monte
Ana Monte
After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Recording Arts, Ana Monte moved to Germany to continue her studies. Ana stayed to form a successful AR/VR audio company Delta Soundworks(opens in new window).
Ana has been featured by one of the preeminent audio software manufacturers in support of Women in the audio industry. Ana is also presenting again this year at the Audio Engineering Society Conference! A huge achievement! Read her story!

NUGENAudio

cassie conder
Cassie Conder-Parker

Sr. Manager, Music Festival Success at Eventbrite. Cassie is now a 15 year industry veteran with work in ticketing and event produciton in the SF Bay Area. She began as a box office manager, later moving to Ticketmaster to represent a variety of festival, amphitheater, arena, club, and comedy events. She soon came to specialize in her true passion, music festivals, with work on events such as Outside Lands, Treasure Island, and Life is Beautiful.

Ryan Freeland
4-time Grammy award winning mixer and engineer Ryan Freeland is known for his work with Bonnie Raitt, Ray LaMontagne, Hugh Laurie, Aimee Mann, Joe Henry, Grant-Lee Phillips, Ingrid Michaelson, Loudon Wainwright III, Rodney Crowell, Alana Davis, and Jonatha Brooke. In 2008, Freeland opened the newest incarnation of his “Stampede Origin Studio” in Los Angeles, a custom-built studio featuring a large control room, 15-foot ceiling drum room, three isolation booths and an impressive list of outboard gear and vintage microphones.
Brendan Duffey
Brendan Duffey
Brendan is a 3x Grammy-nominated producer/engineer who has mixed, mastered, and produced some of the largest names in music in Brazil and around the world, working with such artist such as Daniela Mercury, Caetano Veloso, Malta(winner of Globo's Superstar / 2 x 2015 Grammy nomination), Sambô, Move Over(Globo Superstar),Kiko Loureiro(Megadeth/Angra) Angra, Andre Matos, Almah, RPM (2012 Grammy nomination), Lulu Santos, Paula Fernandes, Daniela Mercury, 50 Cent, The Mission, Wanessa Camargo, Billy Sheehan, Mike Mangini, Ripper Owens, and many others
Aly Carlisle-Steinberg
Aly Carlisle-Steinberg
Based in Portland, Oregon, Aly is an in-demand live sound engineer and touring manager. She began her career in studio and live sound audio while her skills and dedication put her working with some of the most famous artists in the world and eventually on tour with Joan Baez. Since then she’s done sound for a list of who’s who including: Of Montreal, Portugal the Man, Fleet Foxes, Local Natives, Beach House, Built to Spill, Yo La Tango, Wilco, The Zombies, Everclear, The Dandy Worhols, Chingy, Tortoise, Cake, George Clinton, Jojo, Dinosaur Jr, Wolfmother, Josh Ritter, The Oh Sees, Snarkey Puppy, Vulfpeck, Manchester Orchestra. She has also worked with radio pop bands such asMilky Chance, Vance Joy, Hippo Campus, and The Neighborhood.
Ryan McLain
Ryan McLain
Ryan oversees global brand experience for the Ernie Ball and Ernie Ball Music Man brands. He creates and executes integrated experiential marketing programs that ensure a successful user experience through strategy, activation, brand visibility, and user engagement. He is responsible for development of visual merchandising display solutions for global distribution partners and key dealers along with managing the Ernie Ball Mobile Stages across North American music marketing tours.
Kevin Broce
Kevin Broce
Business Development Manager for Riedel Communications; a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of innovative real-time networks for video, audio, and communications. Kevin serves the Western US market in the live event productions and audio technology. Kevin has been a leader in the live sound market previously with Meyer Sound, Third Eye Sound and SoCal Productions.
kayte olsufka
Kayte Olsufka

Director of Workplace Development at Downtown Music Publishing in New York. Kayte oversaw Downtown and Songtrust's facility operations, event logistics, community initiatives, and philanthropic efforts towards the expansion of each global business. Previously with Seattle Theatre Group and One Reel.

michael rubsamen
Michael Rubsamen

Los Angeles, director of distribution and marketing for GoDigital, a company that specializes in the acquisition and distribution of independent films. He oversees all operations while focusing on film sales and merchandising across more than 20 digital platforms and cable/satellite services worldwide.