New Faculty arrive for fall semester

Jeffrey Eckels

Assistant Professor of Double Bass,
School of Music
Jeffry Eckels comes to UNL from the University of North Texas in Denton. He received his doctorate in composition and his Master of Arts in double bass performance from the University of Wisconsin and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Jeff has performed extensively around the country as a bassist for numerous jazz festivals and recording dates, as well as with symphony orchestras in Madison, Wis., and Dubuque, Iowa. He also served as principal bassist for Public Radio International?s radio show ?Whad'Ya Know??; as a guest soloist at the Aspen Music Festival; and in 2005 performed with singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler for the Oscar Award-winning song ?Al Otro Lado Del Rio? from The Motorcycle Diaries.

Damon Thomas Lee

Assistant Professor of Digital Arts and Music Composition,
School of Music
Lee composes instrumental, electronic, and multimedia works. His recent projects include chamber and solo works for the Ensemble Modern; a trio for Saxophone, Accordion, Cello, and live-electronics for the Ensemble ?ecco? based in Freiburg, Germany; and an installation work for visual artist Lida Abdul realized at the Ok Centrum in Linz, Austria. Lee was previously Lecturer in music technology at the University of Huddersfield in England and a former Lecturer and Artistic/Scientific Associate at the University of Music Karlsruhe in Germany. Lee received his D.M.A. from Cornell University and his B.M. from the Eastman School of Music. He has also studied at the University of Music Karlsruhe.

Carrie Lee Patterson

Professor of Practice,
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Patterson previously lived in Chicago, where she has performed with Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, Pendulum Theatre Company, Borealis Theatre Company and Famous Door Theatre Company, where she played the singer Hayyah in their award-winning production of Ghetto. Her favorite work includes playing Desdemona in Othello with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Lizzie in 110 in the Shade for Canterbury Theatre, C in Three Tall Women at Bas Bleu Theatre Company and Ophelia in Hamlet with the Washington Shakespeare Festival. She has also performed with the Nebraska Repertory Theatre. Patterson is a graduate of Willamette University in Salem, Ore., and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Arizona.

Laurel Shoemaker

Assistant Professor of Lighting Design,
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Shoemaker received her B.F.A. from UNL and her M.F.A. from Florida State University. She returned to Nebraska in 1987 and acquired an Associate of Architectural Technology degree from Southeast Community College, Milford Campus. She served as production coordinator and architectural assistant at Berggren Architects from 1987 to 2010. She has also worked as a freelance scenic and lighting designer. Three times in the past 10 years, the UNL Opera program has been honored with a National Opera Association Award for Best Production (1998 Mozart?s Cosi fan Tutte; 2001 Kurt Weill?s Street Scene; and 2008 Jake Heggie?s Dead Man Walking), which Shoemaker set designed. In 2007, Shoemaker won for best sets at the Waterford Light Opera Festival in Ireland for Most Happy Fella.