enhancing individuals, families
& communities through the arts
& communities through the arts
Meet the Clinicians
Our 2025 Clinicians
Click & Hover over the images for more details on each clinician.
Abigail Erickson
Abigail Erickson is the current band and orchestra teacher at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan, Utah. This is her 6th year of teaching music. Abigail, a professional horn player, is an active performer and has performed with many groups including the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Music Theatre West, the Chamber Orchestra of Ogden, the Orchestra at Temple Square, and the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds. For two years, Abby directed the Northern Utah Youth Wind Ensemble, a feeder group she started to help woodwind, brass and percussion in their preparation to participate in the Northern Utah Youth Symphony, of which she headed the brass section for three years. Abigail graduated from Utah State University in December 2018 with a bachelors of music in music education. In the spring of 2019, she was selected to be the Valedictorian for the Caine College of the Arts. While at Utah State, Abigail participated in performing groups such as the Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Caine Woodwind Quintet, Caine Brass Quintet, the USU Aggie Marching Band and USU Pep Band. In the summer of 2018, Abigail spent three weeks in northern Italy performing with the La Via dei Concerti music festival. Additionally, in 2015 she spent a month in Prague, Czech Republic performing with the Prague Summer Nights Music Festival. Abby loves teaching and performing with her husband, and fellow music educator and professional musician, Kresten Erickson. In her free time, she enjoys spending time crocheting, drawing, running, and snuggling with her cats Sophie and Cora. In February of 2024, Abby and Kresten welcomed their baby boy, Jonas, currently a music enthusiast and (hopefully) a future musician.
Laurisa Cope
Laurisa Ward Cope, NCTM, received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Brigham Young University, where she studied with Dr. Irene Peery-Fox and Robert Smith. In addition to classical piano studies, she also studied jazz with Steve Erickson, Craig Larson, Dan Waldis, Steve Call and Ray Smith, and was a member of Synthesis, BYU’s top jazz band. She has performed in Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands and has soloed with the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra. Laurisa currently serves as both an adjunct faculty member and the Assistant Director of the Piano Preparatory Program at Weber State University. She is a recipient of the D. H. Baldwin Fellowship, a national award for teaching, and the Music Teachers National Association Foundation Fellow award. Laurisa’s students have been prize winners in local, state, and national competitions. Laurisa has served as an adjudicator for competitions in Utah, Idaho, Washington, and Nevada. She has held many positions in the Utah Music Teachers Association, including UMTA President from 2018-2020. Laurisa and her husband, Eldon, are the parents of four children.
Michael Sheranian
Michael Judd Sheranian violin, has been a member of the Utah Symphony for many seasons and has performed both as a violin soloist and vocal soloist with the Utah Symphony, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Dr. Sheranian received his education at the Juilliard School, where he studied violin with Dorothy Delay, the University of Texas at Austin (MM, 1976), and the University of Arizona (DMA, 1998). Under a Fulbright-Hays grant, he studied voice, opera, and Lieder in Berlin. He is an active studio recording artist with violin and voice and has taught voice and violin on the faculties of the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Utah State University, and Brigham Young University. He also owns and operates a violin school teaching Suzuki and traditional methods. In addition to a full teaching and performing schedule, he is Director of Committees for the Stradivarius International Violin Competition. In his spare time Dr. Sheranian works with his Arabian horses in Grantsville, Utah, on his family’s ranch. He and his wife, Sharon, are the parents of six children, and grandparents of two.
Isaac Hurtado
Dr. Isaac Hurtado has drawn critical acclaim for performances of over 30 leading tenor roles across the United States. Since making his leading role debut in 2004 with Festival Opera (CA) in the title role of "Romeo et Juliette," his portrayals of Rodolfo in "La Boheme," Edgardo in "Lucia di Lamermoor," Werther in "Werther," Il Duca di Mantova in "Rigoletto," Tamino in "Die Zauberflote," Alfredo in "La Traviata," Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly," the title role in Bernstein's "Candide," Ferrando in "Cosi fan tutte," and Don Jose in "Carmen," have demonstrated "money notes worth every penny" and "wonderful acting." Dr. Hurtado's former students include one national winner and two national finalists in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and national winners of Classical Singer, Schmidt, NATS, and YoungArts competitions. His students have performed with Santa fe Opera, Central City Opera, Des Moines Opera, among many others, and attended prestigious schools including Juilliard, Rice, Eastman, CCM, Manhattan School of Music. He is the founding director of Utah Valley Operafest, which produces full operas each summer with singers from around the world and boasts a world class faculty. At UVU, Dr. Hurtado has directed "Die Zauberflote," "Romeo et Juliette," "Die Fledermaus," and scenes productions including "Opera Goes to the Movies," "Operatizers," "Awkward Family Opera Scenes," and "Die Like a Diva." He received his degrees in Voice Performance from Brigham Young University (BM), University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (MM), and Florida State University (DM).