Anne Amis, Dean

Anne Amis is the dean of Arts, English, Communications, & Languages Divsions. She joined LSC-Kingwood in 2007. Amis earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Hendrix College and a Master of Arts in Teaching ESOL from the SIT Graduate Institute.

Amis has presented two papers: "Activities to Energize Academic Writing" at the Texas of English of Other Languages (TESOL) conference in 2011. In addition, she presented "Applying Appreciative Inquiry in an ESOL Writing Class."

In 2012, she was the recipient of the Faculty International Education Grant, Vietnam. She was also honored with the 2011 LSC-Kingwood Faculty Excellence Award.

Amis is a member of the college's Intercultural Student Organization, The Academy and the Behavioral Intervention Team.

"I teach ESOL because it gives me the opportunity to work alongside immigrants and international visitors who are exploring the life-changing gifts and challenges mastering another language provides. As a second-language learner myself, I find the process extremely rich and rewarding," Amis explained. "During my time at LSC-Kingwood, I have always been offered opportunities for personal and professional growth; I love teaching and working here because I am always learning something new, be that a new course I teach a diverse and international student population or professional development activities."

Phone: 281.312.1737
Email: Anne.E.Amis@lonestar.edu
Office: APA 109I
Website: Website

Dr. Todd Miller, Department Chair

Professor of Music, Chair of Visual and Performing Arts, Director of Choirs

Tenor and conductor Todd Miller is the founding music faculty member of Lone Star College-Kingwood, and during his tenure the program has grown to over 60 music majors and 20 music faculty. In addition to his administrative duties Miller conducts three ensembles: The Kingwood Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, The Concert Choir, and the chamber choir called Evok (Eclectic Voices). LSC-Kingwood’s choirs have performed all over the world, from Carnegie Hall to England, Scotland, French Canada and the United States, and have served as the back-up choir for international artists Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman on multiple tour stops in Houston.

He has appeared as featured soloist with many ensembles in this region, including the Houston Symphony, Houston Chamber Choir, San Antonio Symphony and Opera, Greenbriar Consortium, Opera in the Heights, Houston Choral Society, The Woodlands Symphony and Chorus.

In 2003 and 2018 he was honored with the LSC-Kingwood Faculty Excellence Award. Miller has also been nominated twice for the Piper Professor Award.

He has “a passion for music and its importance in human society and a passion for mentoring students who want to make music their life's vocation.” He states that “LSC-Kingwood has been very supportive of my dreams as an educator and as a performer, and the students have benefitted from that support."

Miller holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in voice performance and conducting from the University of Houston. He also holds vocal performance degrees from the University of Louisville and the University of Arizona.

To hear Dr. Miller sing, search the following on I-tunes, Amazon, or Spotify:

• “Bridges” recording with composer/pianist/arranger John Cornelius
• “Bring Him Home” “crossover” album
• “Two Cells in Seville,” a new chamber opera by Walter Steffens

Phone: 281.312.1485
Email: Todd.R.Miller@lonestar.edu
Office: MUS 115
Website: Website

Dr. Robert Hunt, Faculty

Professor of Music, (Theory, Piano, Kingwood Pops Orchestra, Opera Workshop)

Robert Hunt is Professor of Music at Lone Star College-Kingwood, where he teaches music theory and piano, conducts the Kingwood Pops Orchestra, serves as collaborative pianist, and directs the summer Opera Workshop. He is a 2024 recipient of the Lone Star College Faculty Excellence award. Prior to coming to LSC, he was Music Director of the Sam Houston State University Opera Workshop, which was awarded the First Place 2014 American Prize for Dido and Aeneas and the Second Place 2015 American Prize for Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortiléges. His rich background in opera and musical theatre includes serving as chorusmaster for operas at TCU and Indiana University, pianist/coach for Boris Goldovsky workshops, and at Dallas Opera as assistant to La Scala chorusmaster Roberto Benaglio. For five years, he was music director of American Cabaret Theatre of New York. He was the music director/conductor of the 2024 Lone Star Lyric Opera Festival, presenting the Houston premier of Todd Frazier’s opera “Breath of Life” at Rice University. The opera, which deals with heart transplant ethics, was sponsored by Houston’s renowned Methodist Hospital and live streamed to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MI.

As Music Director and Conductor of the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale and Artistic Director of the National Young Artist Competition, Dr. Hunt presented classical and pops artists of the first rank, including Helen Donath, Susan Graham, Eugene Fodor, James Dick, and the rock group Kansas, and performed major works with the combined choirs of Texas Christian University. Guest conducting appearances include Westshore Symphony (MI), the Lubbock Symphony, Conroe Symphony, Brazosport Symphony, The Woodlands Symphony, and the Big Spring Symphony. He has also conducted collegiate ensembles of Indiana University-Bloomington, Mannes College (NYC), University of Houston, Cincinnati College-Conservatory, Bard College (NY), and SHSU.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Hunt has served as clinician for junior high and high school all-city and all-region choirs and orchestras. He is a frequent adjudicator for piano festivals and competitions, recently serving as adjudicator and clinician for the chamber music competition at the Texas Music Teachers Association state convention. He has appeared as a pianist at TMEA and ACDA with choirs of TCU and SHSU and was the accompanist for the 2024 Texas Two Year College All-State Choir. He has served as choral accompanist to notable conductors Robert Shaw, Joseph Flummerfelt, Lara Hoggard, Ronald Shirey, Louis Lane, Roberto Benaglio, and Robert Porco. A studio musician and jingle writer in Dallas, he toured with the late Ray Price as conductor and pianist and appeared with Willie Nelson, Rich Little, Peggy Lee, the New York Voices and many other notable artists. His orchestral arrangements were heard at the ESPN Empire State Games and the 2005 televised holiday concert of the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. He arranged and conducted a Broadway revue for the American Express anniversary gala at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

He studied at SMU, TCU, and Indiana University-Bloomington, majoring in piano, musicology and conducting, and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Houston.

Phone: 281.312.1746
Email: Robert.E.Hunt@LoneStar.edu
Office: MUS 112

Dr. Michael Johnson, Faculty

Band Director

Dr. Michael Johnson is currently the Director of Bands at Lone Star College in Kingwood, TX. He conducts the Kingwood Winds, Kingwood Jazz Ensemble, Kingwood Jazz Combo, and teaches low brass. Previously, Dr. Johnson was an adjunct faculty at the Alabama School of Fine Arts and Shelton State Community College. As a private instructor, his students have had numerous accomplishments in all-state band, all-state orchestra, and various regional honor bands and music festivals. Dr. Johnson is also a sought-after brass instructor, working with band programs all over Alabama as well San Marcos, Austin, and Houston, Texas.

As a performer, Dr. Johnson was recently a member of the Alabama Winds, a professional wind ensemble based in Birmingham, AL. A member from 2017-2023, Michael performed with the Alabama Winds at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Alabama Music Educators Association, the Western International Band Clinic, and various state honor band festivals in Alabama and Tennessee. An avid jazz musician, Michael is currently the bass trombonist with the Kingwood Big Band. Previously, he was the lead trombone player with the Tuscaloosa Big Band. Dr. Johnson has performed with several jazz bands across Alabama and Texas such as the Republic of Texas Big Band, Gabriel Santiago Orchestra, NOW Jazz Orchestra, Rocket City Big Band, Jazz Inc., Silvery Moon Big Band, and several others. Michael was a guest soloist with the Austin Civic Orchestra in 2018 and has performed with orchestras such as the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, Laredo Philharmonic, Tuscaloosa Symphony, and Meridian Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, he was the Division III winner of the American Trombone Workshop Bass Trombone Solo Competition and a finalist for the Big 12 Trombone Conference Bach Bass Trombone Solo Competition (a finalist in 2018 as well). Michael has also been selected as a member of the Performer's Class at the Southeast Trombone Symposium twice and as a participant in the Mulcahy Masterclass.

As a composer, Dr. Johnson has a broad portfolio of works for brass instruments including solos with fixed media. He has had pieces performed at Midwest and AMEA, as well as several premieres by collegiate trombone choirs. Michael has also composed music for a few commercial projects including special music for Texas State University's submission to the 2016 Global News Relay and commercial videos for Shelton State Community College's fine arts program. Some of his original compositions and arrangements can be heard on albums by Jonathan Whitaker (University of Alabama), Peter Ellefson (Indiana University), and Martin McCain (University of Memphis). 

Dr. Johnson holds degrees from the University of Alabama (DMA, BM) and Texas State University (MM). His primary instructors include Jonathan Whitaker, Martin McCain, Peter Ellefson, and Billy Bargetzi. He has received secondary instruction from James Markey, Demondrae Thurman, Gerry Pagano, and several other top players in the field.

Adjunct Faculty

Brass

• Dr. Michael Johnson: low brass, trumpet, french horn

Guitar

• Jeremy Garcia

Piano/Class Piano/Organ

• Barbara Butler
• Dr. Rob Hunt
• Dr. Nell Matthews
• Bryan (Heath) Vercher
• Dr. Sara Astrid Ayala Schrubski
• Olena Blahulyak
• John Gearhart
• Dr. Hayden Coie

Percussion

• Marvin Sparks

Strings

• Dr. Xia Xia Zhang (Violin, Viola)
• Stephen Martin (Cello, Bass)
• Aaron Bielish, violin/viola
• Larysa Horichenko-Balema,  violin, viola, and cello

Voice/Diction/Opera

• Dr. Todd Miller, tenor
• Brian Yeakley, tenor
• Dr. Rob Hunt, summer opera director
• Juan Garza, baritone
• Dr. Carolena Lara, mezzo-soprano
• Erika Harrington, soprano
• Anne Heath-Welch, soprano
• Mary Hines Lee, soprano

Woodwinds

• Dennis Eichler, saxophone/clarinet
• Rebecca Powell Garfield, flue

Theory/Aural Skills

• Dr. John Crabtree
• Dr. Rob Hunt
• Rosendo Reyna
• Dr. Hayden Coie

American Music, Music Appreciation, Music Literature

• Patrick Brink
• Dr. John Crabtree
• John Gearhart
• Marvin Sparks
• Juan Garza
• Rosendo Reyna
• Aaron Bielish
• Olena Blahulyak

Music Office Suite

• Mail: MUS 109

Staff