Music and Dance New Faculty Artist Talks: Jarell Rochelle and Holly Zagaria

Join us for artist talks by new music and dance faculty Jarell Rochelle and Holly Zagaria. Let's extend a big welcome to Jarell and Holly while learning about them as artists and teachers. 

Jarell Rochelle is a distinguished movement artist, actor, and inspirational speaker hailing from Alief, Texas. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State University and an MFA in dance and social justice from the University of Texas in Austin. Jarell's career includes an appearance on So You Think You Can Dance, background dancing for Grammy-nominated artist Angie Stone, and choreographic contributions to the Harlem Globetrotters halftime show. In 2019, Jarell made his speaking debut at TEDx Greenville and was honored as the "Speaker of the Night" at an open mic event. Jarell's impactful speech at TEDx caught the attention of international recording artist Dennis Lloyd, signed to Sony Music, who sampled Jarell's speech "How I Moved From Fame to Purpose" in the title track of his studio album Some Days. This album reached number one in ten countries and earned gold certification, thereby introducing Jarell's inspiring message to a global audience of 1.25 million listeners. Beyond his artistic pursuits, Jarell is a dedicated husband and father. His primary focus lies in empowering youth and young adults who grapple with fear hindering their authentic self-expression. He employs the "Xpression" pedagogy, a methodology he developed that utilizes Paul Ekman's six primary emotions in relation to movement art. Through mentorship, training programs, and speaking engagements, Jarell has guided numerous young individuals in shedding their "created selves" to embrace their truest and most genuine identities.

Holly Zagaria started as an applied voice instructor at Salem State in 2008 where she has gone on to teach Fundamentals of Music Theory, Ear Training, and Introduction to Music. Holly has also led Opera Ensembles and currently directs the University Chorus and Chamber Singers. While she is not entirely "new," her role as a full-time faculty member in the music department is new! 

She is a singer, pianist, organist, music director, adjudicator, clinician, educator, and vocal pedagogue, and performs regularly in all capacities.  She hails from Wakefield, MA and received her undergraduate degree in Music Performance (Voice) from the University of New Hampshire, and earned her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from Boston University.  Dr. Zagaria joined the voice faculty at Gordon College in September 2019 and has also served on the faculties of Suffolk University, Emerson College, New England Conservatory/ Department of Continuing Education and University of Massachusetts-Boston.