Diane Dingler has a degree in music with certification in education from Capital University Conservatory of Music, a Masters Degree in Vocal Pedagogy from The Ohio State University, post graduate work at OSU and Ashland University. She is an adjunct instructor of voice at Kenyon College, teaches voice and piano in her home studio, and is the Director of Music at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church. Diane is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the American Choral Directors Association. She has been the vocal director for MTV Arts since its inception.
Susan S B Brown has been doing theatre since she was a little girl and although she started college as a Pre-Med major, by the end of her Freshman year she was spending all her spare time at the theatre. She went on to achieve an MA, most of a PhD and an MFA in theatre. She worked at a Non-Equity summer theatre company for two summers and at the New York Renaissance Festival for 3 summers. She taught Costume and Make-up design, directed several plays and taught Intro to Theatre at Ashland University for 15 years. She is currently the curator of the Costume collection at MtVArts in Mt Vernon, Ohio, for which she has designed costumes for Wizard of Oz (twice), Addams Family, the Musical., She has also designed costumes for Mt Vernon Nazarene University, and Fredericktown High School, the Alcove dinner theatre, and some period costumes for members of Historical Reenactment groups.
Christa has been a piano accompanist for MTVarts since their inception. She accompanies musicians from local high schools and Kenyon College. A graduate of Mount Vernon High School, she has always had a passion for all things musical and is thrilled to share her gift- not only with the community, but with her own children who look forward to being a part of each theater season.
Sample of her work:
Lalo Cello Concerto Prelude with Caleb Zak
Ruth Frady's passion of the arts goes back to her childhood where she sang, wrote and performed for elementary school and church activities. She developed a love for landscape, still life, and portraiture in her teens and had studied under American professional artist, Robert Warren in her young adult life. Ruth also directed an award winning teen drama ministry through The Church of the Nazarene for ten years, and has enjoyed artistic interests such as calligraphy, clay head sculpture, and jazz singing. Given the opportunity to work with MTVarts, Ruth was given the opportunity to work with makeup and hair, as she had been a Mary Kay beauty consultant and local school hair stylist in the theater program. This evolved in honing her diverse art background into the area of coiffure and wig design. Self taught, Ruth now oversees a four hundred piece inventory of wigs, hairpieces and supplements for a very active theater schedule. She is continually challenged by character interpretations, quick change conflicts, and even gravity constraints in her designs. Inspired by media accessibility to Broadway-caliber creativity and quality tutorials, Ruth's education continues.
Michael Sears has seven years of experience handling replacement parts orders and logistics for worldwide distributors of a locally manufactured product. He works closely with software and web developers for a better experience for both external and internal users. He previously worked for 5 years as a Marketing Manager and Event Coordinator for an industrial truck distributor with multiple locations in North and South Carolina. Mike earned an Associate’s degree in Business with a focus on Marketing and Promotion. However, his various life and work experience makes him a jack-of-all trades and that fits right in when working with theater and the arts.
"After moving to Mt. Vernon, Ohio with my wife and daughter in 2013, we did not know about MTVarts or that we had moved to a community that was so supportive of the arts. We definitely had no idea that we would all become involved and get so much enjoyment out of being a part of the arts community. My daughter, who was only three years old at the time we moved here, has discovered a love of singing, performing, and learning that has helped develop her confidence and overall well-being."
