D'Angelo Faculty Recital: Faculty Chamber Music Featuring Recent Alumni
The Faculty Recital Series of the D’Angelo Department of Music continues on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m., in the Walker Recital Hall. As part of Mercyhurst’s Centennial celebration, alumni are featured in the October and November faculty recitals. Tonight’s performance showcases four recent music alumni who have been very successful upon graduating from Mercyhurst.
Featured alumni:
- Aidan Moore, B.M. in Music Education, clarinet, 2026
- Kirk Morrison, B.M. in Music Education, trumpet, 2023
- Paul Caram, B.M. in Music Education, piano, 2022
- Maria Dombrowski Caram, B.A. in Creative Writing for Entertainment, voice, 2019
Kirk Morrison will open the concert with the first movement of Trumpet Concerto by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, followed by the Poulenc Sonata for Two Clarinets, performed by Aidan Moore and faculty member Rebecca L. Wunch. Next is Paul Caram and faculty member Nathan Hess performing two movements from Copland’s Billy the Kid ballet music, arranged for two pianos by the composer. Kirk Morrison will return to the stage to play the second movement of the Concerto by Oskar Bohme. Rounding out the recital will be two vocal works—Into the Night by Clara Edwards and Home from Phantom by Maury Yeston—sung by Maria Caram with her husband, Paul Caram, at the piano, followed by Views of the Blues for two clarinets by Gordon Lewin, performed by Aidan Moore and Rebecca Wunch.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Maria Dombrowski Caram is a performer, vocalist, and voice teacher with a passion for music, theater, dance, and storytelling. She graduated from Mercyhurst University in 2019 with a unique degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment, a program that combined vocal performance with English and creative writing.
During her time at Mercyhurst, Maria was an active member of the D’Angelo Opera Theater, where she performed the roles of the Doll in The Tales of Hoffmann and Monica in The Medium. With more than 17 years of experience in dance, she choreographed many pieces in the operas and theater program. In 2019, Maria won the Mercyhurst Civic Orchestra Concerto Competition.
Following graduation, Maria pursued a professional performance career at Walt Disney World, where she was honored with first place in Disney’s Night of Stars. She now shares her passion for music as a vocal coach at Accurate Performance School of Music, where she works with over twenty individual students. She also serves as a cantor at St. Francis Xavier Church over the past five years and continues to support the theater and dance departments at Mercyhurst Preparatory School. She is especially excited to continue this next chapter of her life as a newlywed and to share the stage with her husband and college sweetheart.
Paul Caram is an accomplished pianist, vocalist, and music educator based in the Erie area. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Mercyhurst University, where he spent four years as the accompanist for both the Chamber and Concert Choirs. With over twenty years of experience at the piano, he was awarded first place in the senior division of the Erie Music Teachers Association competition in 2019 and won the Mercyhurst Civic Orchestra Concerto Competition in 2020. More recently, he accompanied for a masterclass led by Broadway star Ashley Brown.
As a collaborative artist, Paul has served as a staff accompanist for the Erie Philharmonic’s Junior Chorus since its founding in 2019. He frequently accompanies PMEA festivals and the Gannon University Choir and regularly plays organ and piano at First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. Equally versatile as a vocalist, Paul has competed at both the state and national levels, including performing backup vocals for Broadway legends Patti LuPone and Kristin Chenoweth.
Passionate about music education, Paul directs the instrumental music program at Strong Vincent Middle School, where he has successfully grown the band program to over 120 students. Outside of his musical endeavors, he is an avid traveler who has accomplished the rare goal of visiting all 50 states. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, swimming, and playing board games. Paul is enjoying being newly married to his wife Maria.
Aidan Moore is a graduate of Mercyhurst University holding a Bachelor of Music in Music Education with a concentration in clarinet. He is currently working as a full-time substitute teacher at Grandview Elementary School, teaching general music, chorus, and band. While at Mercyhurst, Aidan studied clarinet with Department Chair Rebecca Wunch. He also served as Mercyhurst’s NAfME chapter president for two years, leading and organizing multiple events during his tenure. In 2025, Aidan received second place in the Mercyhurst Concerto and Aria Competition, performing the first movement of Carl Maria Von Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 2, Op. 74.
Aidan was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he currently resides. He enjoys playing in a variety of ensembles, including the Gem City Jazz Band, Mercyhurst Civic Orchestra, and the band Hidden Treasures, a tribute to Earth, Wind, and Fire. Aidan has also played freelance gigs with a number of groups, including The Groove and the Misery Bay Big Band. In his spare time, Aidan enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, and playing video games.
Kirk Morrison is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance & Literature with a Performer’s Certificate in 2025. Before attending Eastman, he earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree from Mercyhurst University in 2023. His primary teachers include Andrew McCandless, Wes Nance, Micah Wilkinson, and Jacob Malec.
Kirk currently serves as Principal Trumpet of the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Canton, Ohio. Following a successful audition, he will join the trumpet section of the West Point Band in 2027, one of the U.S. military’s eleven premier ensembles. He has also performed with ensembles including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Orchestra, and Erie Philharmonic.
Kirk resides in Buffalo, NY, with his partner, Willow, a fellow graduate of Mercyhurst University’s music program, and their dog, Kooper. Outside of music, he enjoys coffee, dining out, spending time with friends and family, and running marathons.
Nathan Hess has soloed with the Manassas Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Western New York Chamber Orchestra, and York Symphony Orchestra, among others. Recent guest recital appearances and masterclasses have included the American Liszt Society Festival; the Americas Society in New York City; College Music Society Northeast Regional Conference; the Second Sunday Recital Series in Binghamton, NY; Southwest String Quartet in Tucson, AZ; Bowling Green State University; Duke University; University of Wisconsin Eau Claire; West Chester University; Morgan State University; Randolph College; Duquesne University; the Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania; and the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Pittsburgh.
Dr. Hess holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University, summa cum laude, where he was named a Presser Scholar. He has performed in chamber music settings with members of orchestras, such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and Buffalo Philharmonic. Dr. Hess also acts as an orchestral pianist with the Erie Philharmonic. For five years, Dr. Hess chaired the Piano program at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts in Erie, teaching piano to some of the state's most talented pre-college students. He performed in and produced a set of recordings for the textbook Harmony in Context, published by McGraw-Hill and written by Miguel Roig-Francoli. In addition to teaching and performing, Dr. Hess is active in the Music Teachers National Association as president of the local Erie chapter, and he adjudicates frequently throughout the region and East Coast. Dr. Hess is a professor of piano in the D’Angelo Department of Music at Mercyhurst, where he coordinates the piano area, the Faculty Recital Series, and the Roche Guest Artists Series. In 2018, he received an award for excellence in faculty scholarship. For nine summers, he taught on the faculty at Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado, and currently he teaches summers at Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. He is the organist/pianist at Fairview Presbyterian Church in Fairview, PA. Dr. Hess can be heard on the Centaur label in recordings with flutist Susan Royal and of Bach arias produced by the International Trumpet Guild.
Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, Rebecca L. Wunch is a clarinetist, saxophonist, pianist, and music educator. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance with minors in piano and saxophone from Duquesne University, where she studied clarinet with Ron Samuels of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, piano with Sr. Carole Riley, Ph.D., and saxophone with world-renowned performer James Houlik. She later received a Master of Music in Music Theory with a dual concentration in clarinet performance from Bowling Green State University, where she also served as a teaching assistant in Music Theory and Aural Skills.
Ms. Wunch currently serves as the Mary A. Spadafor endowed chair of Music and department chair in the D’Angelo Department of Music at Mercyhurst University. She teaches music theory, aural skills, and clarinet, and coaches the clarinet choir and saxophone quartet. She also directs the Sullivan Conservatory of Music at Mercyhurst, which provides private music instruction for children and adults in the Erie area. Earlier in her career, she developed the curriculum for the middle school music program at the Perseus House Charter School of Excellence.
An active performer, Ms. Wunch has appeared in a variety of ensembles and venues, including performances with the Erie Chamber Orchestra, the woodwind trio Reed’m & Weep, and as a featured soloist with the Mercyhurst Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Presque Isle Sax Quartet and the Misery Bay Big Band, and serves as pianist and organist for Westminster Presbyterian Church in Erie. Her performance work has also included orchestral and theater productions such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, the Broadway Production of Chicago, and Cirque Musica.