MASTER OF MUSIC THERAPY
Creative Arts
Faculty Members
Rob Collier, DMA, MA
Assistant Professor, Music Theory
rob.collier@alverno.edu
Rob Collier is a composer and performer originally from Louisville, Kentucky. He writes music that is meditative and hypnotic, utilizing repetition and simple compositional processes as a means of development. Recordings of Rob’s compositions have been released on Auralgami Sounds and Capstone Records in the United States, and Unlabel, WM Recordings, and Greed Recordings in Europe. He has collaborated with filmmakers, choreographers, visual artists, producers, and performers in a wide variety of genres. Rob’s music has been choreographed by Alight Dance Theater, the Starr Foster Dance Project, Beth Rodriguez, and the Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble. His most recent solo release is Canon in 9 Sections on the Pittsburgh record label Ongoing Box.
Rebecca L. (Becky) Engen, PhD, MT-BC
MT-BC, Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Music Therapy
becky.engen@alverno.edu
Rebecca L. (Becky) Engen, PhD, MT-BC
MT-BC, Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Music Therapy
becky.engen@alverno.edu
Becky Engen is a music therapist, educator and researcher. Her clinical work has specialized in the treatment of adults, particularly in mental health and long term acute medical settings. She is a regular presenter regionally, nationally, and internationally. Having published in both the Journal of Music Therapy and Music Therapy Perspectives, Becky’s research interests center on the voice, vocal health, and music therapy pedagogy. Her most recent publication is as co-author of the book, Functional Voice Skills for Music Therapists through Barcelona Press.
Lisa Gallagher, PhD, MT-BC
Adjunct Instructor
lisa.gallagher@alverno.edu
Lisa Gallagher is the Research Program Manager for the Arts & Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic. She is a board certified music therapist, researcher, author; and she is a frequent presenter at the local, national, and international level. Her clinical work has focused on palliative care, mental health, resilience, and well-being. Lisa is the recipient of the GLR of AMTA Scholarly Activity Award and the Blair L. Sadler International Healing Arts Award.
Leslie A. Henry, MM, MT-BC
Assistant Professor, Director of Music Therapy
leslie.henry@alverno.edu
Leslie joined the college in 2016, bringing a wide variety of clinical experiences from Milwaukee County Behavioral Health, Veteran’s Administration, Seasons Hospice, to St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care. She holds a Fellow designation with the Robert F. Unkefer Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy and is the Co-chair of the Professional Advocacy Committee of the American Music Therapy Association. Leslie teaches Psychology of Music, Geriatric Clinicals, Design and Application of Music Therapy, Creative Music Making, and Internship in our Undergraduate Program and Advocacy Skills for the Music Therapist, and Advanced Practice Skills in our Graduate Program.
Sarah Richardson, DMA, MM, MFA
Adjunct Instructor, Voice, Performance Coordinator
sarah.richardson@alverno.edu
Sarah Richardson, DMA, MM, MFA
Adjunct Instructor, Voice, Performance Coordinator
sarah.richardson@alverno.edu
Sarah Richardson is a Wisconsin native and an active local performer and teacher, having worked with Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Florentine Opera, Bel Canto Chorus, Milwaukee Chamber Choir, the Milwaukee Choral Artists, East Side Chamber Players, and Ensemble Musical Offering. Recent opera credits include Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte) with Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro) with the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, Germany, and Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring) with UW Opera in Madison. She has also performed for UW-Madison’s annual Schubertiade and Le Domaine Musical concerts. Sarah enjoys collaborating with local performers, composers and performing new music. For her dissertation project, Sarah commissioned and recorded a new song cycle for soprano and piano which pays homage to her family’s farming heritage through the writing of an influential Wisconsin woman from the turn of the century. Sarah’s website is www.forgingresonance.com.
Jennifer Sokira, MMT, LCAT, MT-BC
Adjunct Instructor
jennifer.sokira@alverno.edu
Jennifer is the founding director of Connecticut Music Therapy Services, where her clinical work focuses on people who are healing from trauma and complex PTSD using music psychotherapy methods. Her advocacy for increased knowledge and training for music therapists working with clients who have experienced trauma lead to her to presenting regionally, nationally, and internationally on trauma-informed practice and disaster response, as well as developing curriculum and teaching CMTE courses with EnlightenCE. Recent publications include Considerations For Music Therapy in Long-Term Response to Mass Tragedy and Trauma in Music Therapy Today and co-author of The Resilience Framework for Trauma-Informed Music Therapy, forthcoming in Trauma-Informed Practice in Music Therapy: A Clinician’s Guide (Routledge).
Dean Quick
Adjunct instructor
ronald.quick@alverno.edu
Board certified in music therapy since 2010, Dean Quick specializes in treating adults in oncology and individuals of all ages with mental health issues (specifically those with eating disorders and personality disorders). Dean is a music therapist with Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte and a Level II Trainee in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music. Using clinical music therapy interventions and music-based psychological depth work, Dean utilizes music to assist individuals in living a life empowered by music.