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.
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.
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.
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.
Well known to many Catholic musicians as a composer, teacher and author, Steve served for ten years as Director of the Rensselaer Program of Church Music and Liturgy at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. “Though the MAML is a new curriculum, developed in response to the needs of parishes and musicians today, it draws inspiration from the practical, can-do approach of Fr. Larry Heiman, CPPS, and the Rensselaer Program that he founded nearly sixty years ago. I’d like to think that the Rensselaer Spirit now lives in Milwaukee!”
Carlos Adames
Percussion Techniques, Adjunct Instructor
Carlos is a widely acclaimed percussionist, composer, arranger, and educator. He is committed to breaking down traditional percussion barriers to perform Latin rhythms, jazz, funk, and
hip hop while retaining his distinctly Latin roots.
Glenn Asch, M.M.
Glenn has been teaching violin and viola at Alverno since 2017. He has been a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra since 1980. He is currently in the Chris Hanson Band (swing), the
Tritonics (roots reggae, ska), and Xalaat (West African). He is also a rhythm student of Hindole Majumdar. Glenn has his Bachelor of Music in violin performance from UW-Madison, and his
masters from UW-Milwaukee, where he studied under Ralph Evans.
Megan Buschkopf, M.M., M.F.A.
Adjunct Instructor
Megan is a freelance musician in the Milwaukee area and one of the founding members of Angelic Strings. She has played at Wisconsin Lutheran College and Wisconsin Lutheran High School, in
addition to performing with the Jubilate String Quartet and the Lutheran Chorale. She has also participated in the Milwaukee Chamber Music Festival as first violinist with several trios and
quartets.
Megan received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Violin Performance from UW-Milwaukee in 2010. She received her Masters degrees in Chamber Music Performance and String Pedagogy in May
of 2013. Megan is on the faculty of the Waukesha String Academié and Wisconsin String Studio.
Mark Davis
Adjunct Instructor
Mark Davis is a local expert in jazz piano who has studied with Barry Harris, David Hazeltine, Adelaide Banszynski, and more. He has been an adjunct faculty teaching the improvisational
piano course since 2008. He has served as Chairman of the Jazz Institute at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music between 1994-2019 and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Cardinal Stritch
University between 1995-2015. Mark is a performer in Milwaukee and Chicago including the Pabst Theater, Jazz in the Park, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, Summerfest, Lakefront Festival of
the Arts and has played with the Cab Calloway Orchestra, Brian Lynch, Doc Serverinsen, and more.
Nancy Dexter-Schabow, M.M.T., MT-BC, WMTR
Assistant Professor
Nancy Dexter - Schabow, MMT, MT-BC, WMTR is an Alverno alumnae who has served Alverno College in the role of Adjunct Faculty for over 20 years. Her 26+ years of clinical experience is
primarily derived from the establishment of a thriving private practice that grew into the first music therapy clinic in Wisconsin in 1999. Nancy and her staff serve over 400 consumers
each week, specializing in providing services for those diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities. In her role at Alverno, she brings real-life clinical experiences to
her courses focused on improvisation, developmental disabilities, and theoretical frameworks.
Drew Donica, M.M.
Adjunct Instructor
Drew is a well-rounded performer and pedagogue who has studied under Davide Korevaar, Alejandro Cremaschi, Anthony Padillia, and Mary Van De Loo. He holds both bachelor and graduate
degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy. He is an active teacher with the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, St. Robert’s School, collaborative pianist at Shorewood
School District, adjudicator with a variety of local and regional state teacher scholarship competitions, active board member for the Wisconsin State Music Teachers Association, and presenter
at local and national music teacher conferences.
Drew coordinates our piano program and piano proficiencies.
Warren Enstrom, M.A. M.F.A.
Adjunct Instructor
Warren Enström makes sounds — but not always! His works exist across various mediums, including installation art, sonic composition, sculpture, performance art, and more. Often,
his work brings audiences to see the world around them in new, detailed ways, encouraging a curiosity towards all aspects of life. Recent works have included a ninety-minute performance of
moving furniture (Place in Exhaustion, 2016), a haunting sound installation in a 19th-century mansion in Middletown, Connecticut (remnant // residue, 2017), and a live-generated soundtrack to
a video of glitch art created by Paul Mitchell, with choreography from Mauriah Kraker (wave function collapse, 2019).
Lisa Gallagher, P.h.D., M.A.
MMT Adjunct instructor
Lisa Gallagher is the Research Program Manager for the Arts & Medicine Institute at the 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. The title of her 2020 Dissertation was: HeRe We ArtsTM: Utilizing the Arts
to Improve Health, Resilience, and Well-Being.
David Hein
David is an experienced choral conductor, church music director, and music educator and joined faculty as the Alverno Choir Director at Alverno in 2020. Previously he was an Assistant
Professor of Music at Marian University. Currently he is the Artistic Director of the Fond du Lac
Children’s Chorale and Organist and Sanctuary Choir Accompanist at the United Methodist Church of Shorewood. His experiences include music production, composing, vocal clinics,
presenting, and service in a variety of capacities. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America Wisconsin, Music Educators Association, Choristers Guild
Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, College Music Society.
Mary A. Jirovec, M.S., M.F.A.
Adjunct Instructor, Performance Lab and Clarinet
Mary Jirovec has been an adjunct instructor at Alverno College since 2008. She presently teaches an Instrumental Performance Lab, and in the past, taught the Wind Ensemble and Clarinet
lessons. She was also an Instrumental Music Teacher in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District for 30+ years and previous to that, taught 2 years in Montana. She received both her
B.F.A. and M.S. in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she studied with principal Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra clarinetist Russell Dagon. She has also served as
the Clarinet and Saxophone instructor at Cardinal Stritch University for 10 years. Mary was awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 and is listed in Who's Who
Among America's Teachers. She presently performs with the Knightwind Ensemble, Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra and Cream City Clarinet Quartet. Other performances have
been with the Crossroads Quartet, MAMCCO, various Woodwind Ensembles, and university and community pit orchestras. She enjoys traveling, reading, and teaching English to International adults
and students.
Gerry Keene, M.M.
Adjunct Instructor
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, Milwaukee Ballet 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.
Mackenzie Kojis
Adjunct Instructor
Makenzie is a board-certified music therapist who has worked almost exclusively in behavioral healthcare. She has specialized training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) through
Behavior Tech, LLC. Currently she is employed at the VA Medical Center and works on both the inpatient mental health unit and outpatient DBT program. Previously she has also
worked at Rogers Behavioral Health System and Life in Harmony Music Therapy, LLC. Makenzie teaches behavioral clinical classes for music therapy majors.
John McIntyre, D.M.A., M.M.
John McIntyre is Professor of Music at St. Mary of the Woods College in Terre Haute, IN, where he also serves as music department representative to NASM. He served on the summer graduate
faculty at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, IN, for two decades, having taught theory and composition, arranging, conducting, Gregorian Chant, and hymnody. He studied chant with
Rev. Lawrence Heiman, CPPS, for many summers—and later served as assistant to Rev. Columba Kelly, OSB, who in recent years taught the annual Gregorian Chant Institute in
Rensselaer. John has also taught at Texas Christian University and spent a year as a member of the Facultad de Artes, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia.
John is a talented composer and arranger whose work is published by Southern Music Company, GIA Publications, and Augsburg Fortress. In addition to teaching and composing, John has long been
involved in music ministry at ELCA Lutheran parishes. He serves on the boards of the Terre Haute Symphony and the Terre Haute Children’s Chorus. He has received thirteen consecutive
ASCAPLUS awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
Linda Nielsen Korducki, D.M.A, M.M.
Adjunct Instructor, Music History, Flute, Performance Coordinator
Flutist Dr. Linda Nielsen Korducki, a native of Green Bay, completed her D.M.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and
UW-Milwaukee, and completed Trevor Wye's prestigious "Flute Studio", a one-year residential course in Kent, England.
Nielsen currently serves as principal flutist of The Fox Valley and Oshkosh Symphony Orchestras. She has also performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Milwaukee Ballet, Pamiro
Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theater, Bel Canto, Racine, Kenosha, Rockford, Chicago Pops and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestras. She has appeared as a soloist with the Fox Valley Symphony, Green Bay
Civic Symphony and Concord Chamber Orchestra.
As a highly sought-after instructor, Linda maintains a private teaching studio in Milwaukee area and is a faculty member at Cardinal Stritch University and Alverno College where she
teaches flute and music history. She served on the faculty of the International Music camp from 1991-2005 and has taught as a guest instructor at the University of Minnesota,
UW-Whitewater, UW-Parkside and UW-Oshkosh.
Michael Oriatti, D.M.A., M.M.
Adjunct Instructor
Michael Oriatti brings impeccable credentials, relevant teaching and performance experience, and expertise both as a conductor and voice teacher. Currently Associate Professor of Music at
Lyon College in Batesville, AR, where he directs the Lyon College Concert Chorale. Oriatti also directs the Batesville Choral Society, an adult community choir, and is a cofounder of the
Weston Studio of Music’s Highlander Youth Singers and Wee Highlanders.
Meredith Pizzi, M.P.A.
MMT Adjunct Instructor
Meredith has founded and led several music therapy organizations and programs, including Roman Music Therapy Services, Raising Harmony and Sprouting Melodies®, an award-winning early
childhood music program with worldwide reach. Regionally and nationally, Meredith is in demand as a keynote speaker, program leader, business coach, and consultant, offering insights on
clinical and range of professional and consumer audiences. Meredith’s publications include Leading the Way – Music Therapy Businesses of the Future, (co-editor)published by
American Music Therapy Association and Early Childhood Mental Health and Music Therapy: Defining Universal and Preventative Models, Published in Ricerche di Psicologia (2016).
Emily Rozanski, D.M.A., M.M.
Adjunct Instructor
Emmy Rozanski is an enthusiastic music educator and active freelance trombonist in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. She is adjunct music faculty at Alverno College, a teaching artist for
Sistema Ravinia, and low brass instructor at Highland Park High School. In the summers of 2019 and 2018 Emmy traveled to El Salvador as a teaching artist with MusAid. She is researching
motivation and growth mindset as they pertain to musicians and educators and presented on these topics at the 2019 International Trombone Festival and International Women’s Brass
Conference. Emmy holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trombone performance from Arizona State University. She is a passionate visual artist, as well as a musician. As part of her doctoral
project she wrote and illustrated a children’s book about the trombone, Mr. Fitch Joins the Band.
Matt Schroeder
Adjunct Instructor
Matthew Schroeder is a Milwaukee based WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) winning guitarist who is equally at home on electric or acoustic guitar. Matt is one of a handful of players to
graduate, with honors, from the short lived cooperative program between The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a performance degree in American
Finger-Style guitar
Matt is one of Milwaukee’s prominent guitar educators and teaches guitar at Alverno College, Mount Mary University and has taught at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music since 1992. Matt
is also the Artistic Director for Interlochen College of Creative Arts' annual Fingerstyle Guitar
Workshop.
Matt is a featured guitar instructor on Hal Leonard's Guitar Instructor website and on the Hal Leonard instructional DVDs Acoustic Guitar Licks Goldmine and Rock Guitar Licks Goldmine.
Lee Stovall
Adjunct Instructor
Lee Stovall currently is the vocal music director at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, WI and directs an A Cappella group at Alverno College. Previously, he taught for the South Milwaukee
School District and directed the award-winning a cappella groups, Delta V and the Poprockets. A founding member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison A Cappella group, Fundamentally Sound,
he has been interested in promoting contemporary A Cappella education since college, and kept busy arranging and coaching groups around the world. Lee’s work has earned ICCA awards and
CARAs, and spots on BOCA and BOHSA compilations. He has attended seminars with The Vocal Company and Vocomotion studios, volunteered for SingStrong Chicago and A School to Collegiate levels,
and is a board member of A Cappella University. Outside of the contemporary a cappella world, Lee sings with two professional classical ensembles: the Madison Choral Project and Present Music
Milwaukee.
Mary Stryck, M.S.
Adjunct Instructor of Music Therapy
Mary Stryck, MS, MT-BC retired in 2015 from her position at the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division where she worked as a clinician on acute inpatient units for the majority of her
career. Her last position with Milwaukee County was that of Rehab Services Coordinator, where she coordinated Music and Occupational Therapy Services and Managed a DBT based Day Treatment
program. She has been an MT clinical supervisor and Internship Director for both Occupational and Music Therapy Internships.
Mary has taught at Alverno College for the past 22 years with courses including Psychiatric Music Therapy Clinical Course and an Internship Course. She assisted in creating the approved
Music Therapy Master’s Degree program.
She is an active member of the American Music Therapy Association, and serves as a delegate to the AMTA assembly. She has served on the Education and Clinical Training Advisory Board and was
national chair of the Association Internship Approval Committee. She has also assumed several regional and state positions in service to the profession and has given numerous presentations on
various aspects of student training and music therapy in mental health.
In addition to her work as a music therapist, she is a freelance violinist, playing with Festival City Symphony, for musicals, and for weddings, receptions, and church services.
Mary Jane Wagner, SSSF, M.A., M.M.
Adjunct Instructor, MAML
Sr. Mary Jane Wagner is a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis, the religious community that sponsors Alverno College. Mary Jane was mentored by Sr. Theophane Hytrek, SSSF, nationally
known composer and organist. She has served as music director for her religious congregation, a large suburban parish, a cathedral parish, and a graduate seminary. From 2009-2017 she taught
graduate organ and liturgical music during the summer at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, IN. An active member of the Milwaukee AGO chapter, and a long-time board member of the
Archdiocesan Liturgical Musicians Association (NPM-Milwaukee), Mary Jane has been involved in professional development for liturgical musicians for many years.
Jeremy Zelman, M.M.
Adjunct Instructor
Jeremy Zelman is a composer, musician, and educator from Milwaukee Wisconsin. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music
Composition and Technology, Zelman used the following year for professional development. In 2019, he performed extensively and completed mastering and post production work on a number of
projects including a compilation album of Milwaukee based hip hop artists. In 2015, Zelman returned to UWM as a teaching assistant enrolled in the Master of Music program studying Music
Composition and Theory, as well as studying a great deal of music history and literature, contributing to his teaching philosophy that music theory can be understood as a historic score study
in pattern recognition. Zelman currently teaches part time at UWM and at Alverno College in Milwaukee, teaches lessons at the Guitar Center in Brookfield Wisconsin, and continues to play in
local bands.