Leslie joined the college as Director of Music Therapy in 2016, bringing clinical music therapy experiences from a wide variety of Milwaukee-based health and community service agencies including: Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division, Clement Zablocki VA, Seasons Hospice, and St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care. She holds a Fellow designation with the Robert F. Unkefer Academy of Neurologic Music Therapists and is involved at the national level with the American Music Therapy Association, Inc. as a Co-chair of the Professional Advocacy Committee.
Quality music therapy services are in high demand, and she considers working with students a joy and privilege. Throughout her career, she has taken the opportunity to mentor and teach emerging professionals in clinical and educational settings. Under her leadership, she promotes the highest quality training standards, integrating a breadth of theory and methods with emerging practices for a well-rounded education with the student at the center of their learning experience.
Becky joined the faculty at Alverno College in June of 2018 to implement the graduate program in Music Therapy. She previously served as a Professor and Director of Music Therapy at Queens University of Charlotte for 16 years. Prior to teaching in higher education, she was an internship director and clinician specializing in adult populations, specifically psychiatric and medical. Her dissertation research, singing with persons who have COPD, evolved from her clinical work and serves as a foundation for continued international inquiry. More current research interests relate to the vocal health of practicing music therapists. She has been published in both the Journal of Music Therapy and Music Therapy Perspectives. Becky has been a leader in the profession for more than 25 years, starting as a representative to the Student Affairs Advisory Board for the Midwest region. She also has served as an Assembly Delegate in multiple regions, Past President for the Music Therapy Association of North Carolina, and past Chair of the CBMT Continuing Education Committee. She currently serves as a member of the Education and Clinical Training Advisory Board for AMTA and is a Co-Chair for the Academic Program Approval Committee.
Advancing the profession through advocacy and education is the passion that drives Becky. Her teaching has a student-centered focus with the goal of helping students to meet their own educational needs including the advancement of clinical practice, preparing for an increased leadership role, accessing evidence-based practices, enhancing advocacy efforts, and keeping current in a still evolving field of practice. She has a history of mentorship that has led to students being awarded Noble Fellowships and national awards in research, writing, and clinical work. Being raised in an age without cell phones and social media and not enjoying a pencil and paper correspondence course once taken over a summer have elevated Becky's desire to provide a supportive foundation of community through the online and hybrid course formats found in the graduate Music Therapy Program at Alverno.
Rob Collier
Assistant Professor, Music Theory
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 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 Ten Simple Pieces for Piano on Auralgami Sounds.
Nancy Dexter-Schabow, M.M.T., MT-BC, WMTR
Assistant Professor, Alverno College Music Therapy Clinic Supervisor
With 15+ years of part-time teaching experience at Alverno College, Nancy brings to the classroom her knowledge from ongoing work as a community music therapy clinician. Her clinical work for
the past 25 years has focused on providing meaningful music therapy services for persons with autism and developmental disabilities. She has integrated documentation techniques and
advocacy work into classroom discussion and assignments, striving to keep students on the cutting edge of a rapidly changing clinical landscape.
Theresa Chardos Camilli Ph.D., MT-BC
Adjunct Instructor, Piano
Dr. Theresa Chardos Camilli earned her doctorate from the University of Oklahoma, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Therapy from
Loyola University in New Orleans. She completed her Master’s degree in Music Therapy at the University of Iowa and has worked as a board-certified Music Therapist. Theresa
previously held faculty positions at the University of Northern Iowa as the Coordinator of UNI’s Group Piano and Graduate Piano Pedagogy and at the University of South
Carolina teaching Applied Piano and Piano Pedagogy courses. Active in both the fields of music education and music therapy, Theresa continues to be invited to present and adjudicate at the
local, regional, and national level. She was the President of the Iowa's Northeast Area Music Teachers Association (2014-16), was the Editor of the Iowa Music Teacher Association's
(IMTA) State Magazine (2010-16) and received the IMTA Service Award (2016). Theresa received the 2011 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy "Best Research Paper" Award and
has articles published in the following publications: MTNA E-Journal, Clavier Companion, American Music Teacher, and the Music Educators Journal. Theresa enjoys teaching
students of all ages and abilities in both group and private settings. She currently teaches piano at the Wisconsin Conservatory, Alverno College, and serves as Archivist for the Wisconsin
Music Teachers Association.
Mary A. Jirovec
Adjunct Instructor, Performance Lab and Clarinet
Mary studied 4 years with former Milwaukee Symphony Principal Clarinetist Russell Dagon. She taught in Public Education for 30+ years and is also teaching clarinet and saxophone at the
university level. She has travelled extensively overseas in short term missions with music/drama teams and teaching ESL.
Linda Nielsen Korducki
Adjunct Instructor, Music History, Flute, Performance Coordinator
Linda Nielsen Korducki, has been a part-time faculty member at Alverno College since 2006, where she teaches flute lessons, music history and conducts the flute ensemble. In addition to her
earned degrees, her education includes the completion of Trevor Wye's "Flute Studio," a one-year residential course in Kent, England.
Nielsen currently performs as principal flutist of the Fox Valley and OshkoshSymphony Orchestras, and was a member of the former Green Bay Symphony
Orchestra. She has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Bel Canto Chorus, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Pops and Wisconsin Chamber orchestras. She has performed as a
soloist with the Fox Valley Symphony, Green Bay Civic Symphony and Concord Chamber Orchestra.
In addition to her active performing career, Nielsen has maintained a private teaching studio in the Milwaukee area for over twenty years and served on the faculty of the International Music
Camp from 1991-2005. She has taught as a guest instructor at the University of Minnesota, UW–Whitewater, UW–Parkside, and is a sought-after clinician at flute festivals and
summer music clinics.
Gerry Keene
Adjunct Instructor, Trumpet
Gerry is a freelance trumpet player in the Milwaukee area. He has over 20 years of teaching experience, and has taught at Alverno since 2015. He is currently principal trumpet of
the Festival City Symphony, and has played with numerous Milwaukee area ensembles, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Kenosha Symphony and Racine Symphony. He has also
performed in the pit orchestra for touring Broadway productions, and with the Festival City Symphony Brass Quintet, which performs for various festive occasions.
Sarah Richardson
Adjunct Instructor, Voice
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.
Diane Skrobis
Director, Alverno College Chorus
Diane is proud to return to her alma mater as choral director. She is the Founder/Director of the Singing Tree - a preschool music and movement program for children and caregivers from birth
to age six and the Children's Choir of Waukesha, a choral program featuring four choirs spanning grades 1 through 12. Diane's students frequently audition into regional and national honors
choirs. She is also a free lance piano accompanist, vocal coach and church musician.
Mary Stryck
M.S., MT-BC, Adjunct Instructor, Music Therapy
Mary has served as an adjunct faculty member since 2001. She brings 30+ years of clinical and administrative experience in music therapy, having worked at the Milwaukee County
Behavioral Health Division as a Music Therapist and Rehab Services Coordinator, overseeing rehabilitative services programming, managing a Day Treatment Program, and serving as Music
Therapy and Occupational Therapy Internship Director. She is a member of the Assembly of Delegates for the American Music Therapy Association, has served as Chair of the Association
Internship Approval Committee, and was a member of the Education and Clinical Training Advisory Board. Mary is also a freelance violinist, playing for the Festival City Symphony and
other area performing groups, local churches and Festival Masses, weddings, and other celebrations.