2026 Musicians

Samuel Magrill, D.M.A., coordinator of graduate studies, professor of music and composer-in-residence in the School of Music at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he has taught music theory and composition since 1988. Previously, he taught at the University of Wyoming and California State University, Long Beach. He obtained his Bachelor of Music in composition from Oberlin Conservatory and his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Magrill has written more than one hundred compositions for a variety of instruments, from solo piano and chamber music to choir, wind ensemble and symphony orchestra. His works have been performed throughout the United States and abroad and at many regional and national conferences including the Society of Composers, Inc., the National Flute Association, the North American Saxophone Alliance and the College Music Society. His CDs include electro-acoustic music ("The Electric Collection"), his four operas (“Gorgon’s Head,” “Paradise of Children,” “Showdown on Two Street,” and “Circe’s Palace”), wind symphony compositions (“Oklahoma Bandscapes”), and collections of music for cello and other instruments, many of which he wrote specifically for his colleague Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher and the UCO Cello Ensemble. He has received numerous awards and commissions, including ones from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Music Center, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Illinois Arts Council, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), the Oklahoma Music Teachers’ Association, the American Composers' Forum’s Continental Harmony Program and faculty research grants and merit credit awards from the University of Central Oklahoma. In the spring of 2000, he was inducted into SAI as an Arts Associate and won the AAUP-UCO Distinguished Creativity Award. Other memberships include ASCAP, Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda. Dr. Magrill is also an active collaborative pianist. In the fall of 2023, he received a “Modeling the Way” award from the University of Central Oklahoma.

His interest in World Music led him to collaborate with M.V. Narasimhachari. Together they produced two volumes of The Music of India: An Introduction (1996-2003). His work with Indian music came to fruition when he presented his “East-West Duo” for violin, cello and mridangam in a concert of his music in Chennai, India on January 1, 2005.

Recent compositions and performances include “Cello Dance”, performed by Linda Jennings, cello and Chindarat Charoenwongse, piano, on their Thailand tour (June 2013), “The Winding Way”, performed at the V Festival Internacional de Musica de Campina Grande in Brazil by the UCO Concert Chorale, Karl Nelson, D.M.A., director (July 2014), and “Stone Poems”, performed by Natalie Syring, flute and the composer at the piano, at the National Flute Association Conference in Chicago (August 2014).

“Concerto fantastique” for flute and orchestra was premiered 4/21/17 by Mira Magrill, flute and the Chelsea Symphony at St. Paul’s Church in New York City. “Five Bagatelles” (2018), for flute, violin, cello and piano was performed 4/17/18 by Mira Magrill, flute; Gregory Lee, violin; Jonathan Ruck, cello; Samuel Magrill, piano, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Oklahoma City on a brightmusic concert entitled “Old and New." “Out of Thyme” for one piano six hands was premiered 2/4/20 on a concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Pianists’ Club at the UCO Jazz Lab. “Celloklavier: Beethoven Deconstructed” was written especially for cellist Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death and was premiered 8/30/22 on the Faculty Artists Concert Series at the UCO Jazz Lab.

Mira Magrill is an active freelance flutist and teacher in the greater New York City area. She currently holds the chair of Principal Flute with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, as well as Principal Flute of the Sarasota Opera. She performs frequently with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and various Broadway shows. Previous positions include 3rd Flute/Piccolo with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and playing flute, piccolo, and bamboo flutes with the Broadway US National Tour of Miss Saigon. She recently completed her Doctorate in Flute Performance from Stony Brook University studying with Carol Wincenc. Previous studies include a BFA from Carnegie Mellon with Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza, MM in Flute Performance and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan with Amy Porter, and a Graduate Certificate from the University of Southern California with Jim Walker. 

Dan Pugach is a GRAMMY® Award-winning drummer and composer, a 5X GRAMMY® nominee, 2X  ASCAP Foundation Jazz Composer Award winner, a recipient of the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize/Manny Albam Commission for Big Band and a participant at the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Residency Program at the Kennedy Center. He is a 2025 Chamber Music America “New Jazz Works” Grantee.

His latest album, Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence (2024), featuring Nicole Zuraitis, won the 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Additionally, he was the featured drummer on the 2024 GRAMMY® Award-winning album How Love Begins, co-produced by Nicole Zuraitis and Christian McBride. His debut album, Dan Pugach Nonet - Plus One (2018), reached the top 20 in Jazz radio and earned a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocal for “Jolene” alongside Zuraitis. 

The Dan Pugach nonet and big band perform regularly and have headlined at Dizzy’s, Deer Head Inn, Birdland, Blue Note, Smalls, the 55bar, and the Red Sea Jazz Festival. 

Born in Tel Aviv, he served as the drummer for The Air Force Band while attending the Rimon School of Jazz. After studying percussion in Rio de Janeiro, he moved to the U.S. in 2006 to pursue a career in Jazz performance. Pugach holds a Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music (2008), where he studied with Terri Lynn Carrington and Joe Lovano, and a Master of Arts from the City College of New York (2011), where he studied with Mike Holober, Scott Reeves and John Patitucci.

Meryl Geib, cellist and pedagogue, has maintained an active and varied career as a musician in central Oklahoma since 2009. She earned her Bachelors of Music degree with distinction from the School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with previous studies at the University of Texas-Arlington and the University of Central Oklahoma. Her primary teachers include Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher, Dr. Karen Becker, and Dr. Elizabeth Morrow.

As a performer, Mrs. Geib has played in orchestras and chamber groups in Arkansas, California, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. She is a former member of the Garland Symphony, Las Colinas Symphony, ION Trio, Red Rock Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony Arlington. Currently, she is principal of the Covenant Chamber Orchestra, a founding member the Edmond Chamber Orchestra, and also performs with the Enid Symphony Orchestra. She has performed at venues nationally and abroad, including the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City. During her career, music tour opportunities have taken her to Australia with a cello ensemble and to Nuremberg, Germany for the premiere of “Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, op. 170” with guitarist Stefan Grasse. To further expand her understanding of music throughout time, Mrs. Geib has begun the study and performance of baroque cello and viola da gamba. She regularly performs with Trio Antiqua and at various events held in conjunction with the Brisch Center for Historical Performance.

As an educator, Mrs. Geib is committed to expanding cello and chamber music education in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. She is an active member of the American String Teachers Association, and currently maintains a large private studio. Her students have participated in various Oklahoma ensembles, including the North Central Honors Orchestra, All-OMEA, Oklahoma Youth Orchestras and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's Society of Strings. She also co-founded the student-musician scholarship program at Covenant Presbyterian in The Village, Oklahoma in order to help young musicians learn how they can benefit the community. To further improve the education of young cellists Mrs. Geib has teamed with other local teachers to form the OKC Cello Project, a group dedicated to creating unique educational experiences for young cellists in central Oklahoma.

With an eye toward the future, Mrs. Geib hopes to inspire entrepreneurship in the field of music. She is available to mentor young musicians in how to start and manage new businesses. She has been a guest speaker for UCO music business courses and the UCO cello studio. Ultimately, Mrs. Geib hopes to help young musicians redefine the role of music in the twenty-first century and have fun doing so.

In 2019 Meryl Geib was honored by her fellow string teachers and received the American String Teachers Association-Oklahoma Chapter 2019 Teacher of the Year Award.

Dr. Michael Geib, double bassist, composer, and pedagogue, joined the faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma School of Music in 2010. He has also taught at Florida State University, Oklahoma Christian University, Edmond North High School, and the Quartz Mountain Music Festival. He is committed to teaching bassists to be versed in all types of music, with his doctoral treatise focusing on teaching improvisation to orchestral double bass players. His principal teachers have included Melanie Punter, Rodney Jordan, Ian Bracchitta, and Delbert Felix.

As a symphonic musician, Dr. Geib has performed in professional orchestras in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Currently he is the principal bassist of the Enid Symphony Orchestra and Edmond Chamber Orchestra, as well as a member of the Norman Philharmonic, the Painted Sky Opera Orchestra, and the Colorado Mahlerfest Orchestra. He has performed on multiple recordings for the Naxos Label, including Ellen Taafe Zwilich: Millennium Fantasy, Images, Peanuts Gallery in 2009, where he was principal bassist and a featured soloist. He has performed in festivals internationally, including the Ringling International Arts Festival in Sarasota, Florida and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has also been featured on a number of radio broadcasts, including Performance Today on American Public Media and Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? on National Public Radio.

As a jazz musician, Dr. Geib has performed with Benny Golson, Dave Douglas, Kenny Garrett, Jerry Tachoir, John Fedchock, Marcus Roberts, Jason Marsalis, Marcus Printup, Walt Weiskopf, Martin Bejerano, and Paul McKee, among others. He has frequently performed at The Jazz Corner on Hilton Head Island, recognized by Downbeat Magazine as one of the “150 Great Jazz Venues of the World.” He has performed at several national festivals including Jazz in June Inc., Chamber Music Amarillo, and the Jazz Education Network Conference.

Internationally, he has performed in such clubs as The Music Village in Brussels, Belgium. Currently he performs with the 5th Street Jazz Collective, the Claire Piersol Band, the Edmond Jazz Orchestra, and various other groups in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. He is also an active jazz composer, having written original music for productions and festivals in Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

An active theatre orchestra musician, Dr. Geib has performed in the musicals Assassins, Kiss Me Kate, Anything Goes, Spring Awakening, Beauty and the Beast, South Pacific, The Last Five Years, Little Shop of Horrors, and Big River, among others. He has performed in multiple premieres, including Mann... and Wife in 2016, Bernice Bobs Her Hair in 2015, and Broadway Tonight’s Flipside: The Patti Page Story in 2011. He also performs regularly for the Lyric Theater of Oklahoma.

To learn more, visit michaeltgeib.com.