Music Education

Marissa Silverman is Professor at the John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University, NJ. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Silverman has published invited chapters in recent research handbooks, as well as journal articles in the International Journal of Music Education, the British Journal of Music Education, Research Studies in Music Education, Music Education Research, the International Journal of Community Music, Visions of Research in Music Education, and The New York Times. Her research agenda focuses on dimensions of music education philosophy, general music, artistic interpretation, music teacher education, community music, and interdisciplinary curriculum development. Dr. Silverman is author of Gregory Haimovsky: A Pianist’s Odyssey to Freedom (University of Rochester Press, 2018) and co-author of Music Lesson Plans for Social Justice: A Contemporary Approach for Secondary School Teachers (with Lisa DeLorenzo, 2022) as well as the co-author (with David Elliott, 2015) of the 2nd edition of Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education (both with Oxford University Press). She is co-editor of Eudaimonia: Perspectives for Music Learning (Routledge, 2020); The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Assessment in Music Education; Artistic Citizenship: Artistry, Social Responsibility, and Ethical Praxis (Oxford University Press, 2019, 2016); and Community Music Today (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013). As a secondary school teacher, Dr. Silverman taught band, general music, and English literature at Long Island City High School (Queens, New York).

Prior to joining Montclair State University, Dr. Powell served as the Director of Higher Education for Little Kids Rock, and the Interim Director of Amp Up NYC, a partnership between Berklee College of Music and Little Kids Rock. A former NYC DOE music teacher, Dr. Powell is published in the International Journal of Music Education, Journal of Music, Technology and Education, IASPM@Journal, Journal of Music Teacher Education, and Action Critique and Theory in Music Education. Bryan is a co-author of The Music Learning Profiles Project: Let’s Take this Outside (Routledge), and a co-editor of the Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Education: Perspectives and Practices (Bloomsbury). Bryan has chapters published in the Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music Education, the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning and the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Perspectives on Assessment in Music Education. Bryan is the founding co-editor of Journal of Popular Music Education, a peer-reviewed, academic journal, and he currently serves as the Executive Director of the Association for Popular Music Education. Additionally, Dr. Powell currently serves as the Chair for NAFME Special Research Interest Group (SRIG) in Popular Music Education and is an International Affiliate for the organization Musical Futures.

Dr. Whitney Covalle is a singer, researcher, and choral music educator. Her research focuses on music education in the city with emphasis on engaging community expertise, the intersection of race and teaching music, and teaching in the aural-oral tradition. Her dissertation research on Philadelphia experts teaching Black Gospel music was recently published in Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education (2022). Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Covalle was a choir director in public schools and community music organizations in urban settings for seventeen years, primarily in Chicago at Jones College Prep High School, a Chicago public high school, and Uniting Voices Chicago (Chicago Children’s Choir). Dr. Covalle has degrees from Michigan State University (BME), Westminster Choir College – Choral Emphasis (MME), and Temple University (PhD in Music Education) and the Urban Education Certificate from the College of Education and Human Development.

Laura Montanari is a singer/songwriter and music educator from Umbria, Italy. Her research focuses on embodied ways of learning, body music, and the relationship between songs and history, namely how songs can function as primary sources, and reveal different cultural perspectives and non-hegemonic historical discourses. Her career as a singer-songwriter has guided her pedagogy and scholarship, relying on songwriting and arts-based methodologies to access different ways of knowing, an approach she shared with her NYC students during her 12 year-tenure as a K-8 general music teacher.
Dr. Montanari holds an Ed.D. in Music & Music Education from Teachers College (Columbia University); a Master’s in Music Education from NYU; a Master’s in American Studies from Sapienza Università di Roma; a diploma in Jazz Vocal Performance from St. Louis College of Music (Rome, Italy). In 2022 she self-published her first children’s book, “Let’s Make Our Sound”. Her original music is published under the pseudonym Larthia.

Thomas McCauley conducts the Montclair State University Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting. Ensembles under Dr. McCauley’s direction have appeared at national and regional conventions and conferences. He has collaborated with artists including the Imani Winds, Manhattan Brass Quintet, Warren Vaché, Demondrae Thurman, and Phil Smith, and been praised by composers including Karel Husa, David Gillingham, Joseph Turrin, Bruce Yurko, and O’Neal Douglas. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Windhaven; an intensive, week-long performance opportunity for wind players and percussionists ages 18-28 (Kinhaven Music School, VT). His publications include articles in The Instrumentalist, a chapter in Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, 2nd Ed., Vol I, and a book, Adventures in Band Building (or How to Turn a Less-Than-It-Could-Be into a More-Than-It-Should-Be). In 1995, the Nevada Music Educator’s Association named him Music Educator of the Year and in 2006, the Indiana Music Educators Association honored Dr. McCauley with an Outstanding University Music Educator Award. Dr. McCauley currently serves on the Executive Board of the New Jersey Band Association, the New Jersey State Representative of the College Band Directors National Association, and is the former New Jersey State Representative of the National Band Association. He is also an active member of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles and the National Association for Music Education.

Dennis Argul has been active in the marching arts activity as a performer, arranger, composer, clinician, and designer. For the last three decades Dennis has also been an adjudicator for many organizations and genres, most recently enjoying his experiences as a judge with Drum Corps International. Dennis is a retired music educator and administrator with a 35 – year career in the NJ Public Schools system. He is currently an adjunct professor at five NJ Universities, supervising student teachers in their music education departments. Dennis is also the Advocacy Chair and on the Board of the NJ Music Educators Association and the NJ Music Administrators Association. Dennis is the Advocacy Chair for NJMEA and NJMAA, a member of the NJ September Ready Task Force, NJ Steering Arts Committee and Director of the inaugural NJ State Solo and Ensemble Festival. As a performer, Dennis is a freelance low brass musician, specializing in bass trombone, and performs with many ensembles in the NY/NJ metropolitan area.

Clarinetist Jennifer Branch has soloed internationally with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, has toured nationally with the NY-based Music Man in the capacity of Reed 2 and Associate Conductor, has performed with the Sousa Band, and in Carnegie Hall with the Allentown Band. She currently freelances with Baroque Orchestra of NJ, Light Opera of NJ and local pit orchestras.

A devoted teacher, Jennifer’s students have earned seats at Interlochen and NJ All-State Ensembles, with New Jersey Youth Symphony Orchestra, and have gone on to study music in colleges across the US. In addition to being Suzuki Piano book 1 trained, Jennifer is working on creating a Suzuki clarinet method as a part of her DMA studies.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor Music Education from University of Colorado, a Master of Music from University of Michigan and is currently a candidate for Doctorate of Musical Arts at Rutgers University.

Ardith Collins teaches orchestra, general music, and serves as grammar school music coordinator at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in New York City and is adjunct faculty at Montclair State University Cali School of Music. Ardith has completed Orff Schulwerk and Kodály certifications, beginner level Dalcroze training, and is past president of the Northern New Jersey Orff Schulwerk Association. Ardith is an active writer and presenter, serving on the American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA) Reverberations Editorial Board, the AOSA Curriculum Oversight and Review Subcommittee, and is an AOSA national teacher trainer. Ardith has performed with the Montclair State University Albanian American Balkan Ensemble and is a folk dance and rounds singing enthusiast.

Laurie D’Amico is а music educator, performer (saxophone) and conductor specializing in marching band and wind ensembes. An Astor lnternational Travel Fellow, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Music and History (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ) and Master’s degree in Music Education (NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development). Нег сагеег with the NYC Department of Education includes teaching high school and intermediate school students in а vast range of music subjects (advanced placement music theory, competitive marching band, symphonic and jazz bands) in Brooklyn and Staten lsland. Laurie is currently teaching at Tottenville High School in Staten lsland, NY where she conducts bands ranging from beginning to advanced levels, teaches advanced placement music theory, and coaches chamber ensembes. She is the co-director of the award-winning, champion Marching Band. She serves the community as Director of the Ceremonial TAPS Unit and is the music director of that school’s spring musicals. She is the Director of the NYC DOE Summer Arts Program and the Center Director of the Salute to Music Program, Staten lsland. Laurie holds an advanced certificate in School Building and District Leadership from Canisus College in Buffalo, NY. She is an active performer and soloist оп the alto saxophone.

A New Jersey native, Lauren Delesky is an accomplished music educator with over 14 years of experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts in Instrumental Conducting from Montclair State University. She studied conducting under Dr. Thomas McCauley and Dr. Jack Stamp. Lauren has a rich teaching background, having served as an instrumental music teacher at Northern Valley Regional High School Demarest, where she directed various ensembles and taught AP Music Theory. She is dedicated to fostering a supportive and motivating learning environment, ensuring every student feels seen and heard. She has been actively involved in various honors ensembles previously serving as conductor of the 2023 MEBCI Honors Symphony Band.  Lauren is currently an experiential learning specialist with WorldStrides and is an active teacher and performer on clarinet and piano.

Ryan Stroud has been Director of Bands at Kinnelon High School since 2005.  His ensembles have consistently earned top honors at various region and state festivals and he has been selected as conductor for various area and region honors bands.  Mr. Stroud has composed and performed original works for live theater and was a member of a successful original touring rock band where he was voted the best keyboard player in Philadelphia in 2002.  He marched two seasons in a Top-12 DCI drum and bugle corps and earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia where he studied Music Composition and Music Education.

A New Jersey native, Erika Sulich graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education where she studied euphonium with Dr. Mary Ann Craig. After teaching in the public school setting for a number of years, she returned to MSU to pursue a Master’s degree in performance, studying wind band conducting with Dr. Thomas McCauley. A dedicated music educator, Erika has experience in both the middle school and high school settings where she teaches concert band, wind ensemble, jazz band, marching band, pit orchestra, and music production. She is actively involved in various honors ensembles in New Jersey, previously serving as Vice President of the North Jersey Junior Area Band and was conductor of the 2016 NJAB junior ensemble. Erika is currently the Director of Bands at Martin J. Ryerson Middle School in Ringwood, NJ.

Ashlen Udell is an instrumental music educator at Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School (BRMS), where she teaches concert band, wind ensemble, instrumental lessons, general music, and drumming courses for students in the special education program. Dr. Udell is a graduate of Montclair State University (BA – Music Education, Minor in Dance), Northwestern University (MM – Music Education), and Rutgers University (DMA – Music Education). Ashlen received the 2023 John J. Cali School of Music Alumni Achievement Award and was Teacher of the Year for the 2023-2024 school year. She serves on the CJMEA Board as Intermediate Band Chair and will be conducting the Intermediate Region 2 Symphonic Band in the Spring.

As an educator, Dr. Udell has worked with composers through commissions, consortiums, and her Composer-in-Residence program which brings composers into the classroom to interact with students. Dr. Udell has presented and performed with her students at the NJMEA conference and has been an invited guest with Montclair State Bands. She has presented her dissertation research at BTAA, NJMEA, and AERA. Outside of music education, she is a woodwind doubler in local musical theater productions and teaches dance.