UMKC Conservatory

We are excited to announce Dr. Louie Hehman as our new Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano. A native of Kentucky, he is equally at home in both classical and jazz styles; his concertizing and teaching frequently explore the intersection of these and other genres. Dr. Hehman is an active performer, educator, clinician, and researcher, and has performed or presented at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Conference, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP), the MTNA Collegiate Symposium, and the Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina Music Teachers Association state conferences. He is also a contributor for both Piano Magazine and American Music Teacher.

During the summer, Dr. Hehman serves on the faculty at Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he coaches chamber music and teaches lecture courses on jazz history, repertoire and theory, including a weeklong intensive on the life and music of Duke Ellington. Prior to his joining the faculty at UMKC, Dr. Hehman served for six years as keyboard area coordinator and preparatory program director at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY.

Congratulation Dr. Hehman! Welcome to Kansas City and the UMKC Conservatory.

Congratulations to 3rd-Year MFA Candidate in Costume Design, Blade Mentjes, who has been nationally recognized as the Region 5 American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) award recipient in Costume Design! ACTF is a national theatre program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country. The conference aims to "recognize and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theatre programs." Well done, Blade!