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).

Dr. Bryan Powell is Associate Professor of Music Education and Music Technology, and Coordinator for the Recording Arts and Production degree at Montclair State University where he teaches classes in music education, music technology, popular music, and directs the Montclair State University popular music ensemble. Bryan is also the Chief Program Officer for the non-profit organization Music Will. Prior to joining Montclair State, Bryan worked as the Director of Programs for Amp Up NYC, a partnership between Berklee College of Music and Little Kids Rock. A former NYC public school music teacher, Bryan has served as the Executive Director of the Association for Popular Music Education since 2013, an organization dedicated to promoting and advancing popular music at all levels of education.

Dr. Powell is the Past-Chair for the National Association for Music Education’s Special Research Interest Group for Popular Music Education, and is a current member of the International Society for Music Education’s Committee for the Popular Music Education Special Interest Group. Bryan is an in-demand clinician, having delivered modern band and popular music workshops at over 50 colleges and universities across the globe, as has presented at over 100 music education conferences, including providing keynote addresses at the 2015 Research in Popular Music Education Symposium in Huddersfield, England, the 2018 Mountain Lake Symposium, and the 2019 Iowa Music Educators Association conference. Bryan is also in demand as a modern band ensemble director, serving as Director for the 2022 NAfME All-National Honors Modern Band Ensemble, the 2023 NAfME All-Eastern Division Honors Modern Band Ensemble, the 2022 New York City All-City Honors Modern Band Ensemble, the 2022 PMEA District 7 and 2023 PMEA District 8 All-District Honors Modern Band Ensemble, the 2023 Missouri MEA All-State Popular Music Collective, the 2024 New Jersey honors Modern Band, the 2024 Maryland All-State Commercial Music Band and the 2024 New Hampshire All-State Honors Modern Band. In 2025, Bryan directed the 2025 Oklahoma All-State Collective Ensemble.

Bryan is a widely published researcher and author. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music Education, a peer-reviewed, academic journal. Bryan has co-edited several books including the Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Education (Bloomsbury), Places and Purposes of Popular Music Education: Perspectives from the Field (Intellect), Teaching Instrumental Music: Perspectives and Pedagogies for the 21^st Century (Oxford University Press), and The Modern Band Handbook (OUP). Bryan also co-authored multiple books including Popular Music Pedagogies: A Practical Guide for Music Teachers (Routledge) as well as The Music Learning Profiles Project: Let’s Take this Outside (Routledge).  He has published over a dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals including: International Journal of Music Education; Journal of Music Teacher Education; International Journal of Community Music; Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education; Research Studies in Music Education, Music Education Research, Journal of Music, Technology and Education; Journal of Historical Research in Music Education; Update: Applications of Research to Music Education; Visions of Research in Music Education; @IASPM Journal; Education 3-13; Music Educators Journal; Arts Education Policy Review; and Action Critique and Theory in Music Education. He also has authored multiple chapters in Oxford and Routledge Research Handbooks.

Bryan has a Bachelor of Music degree from Pepperdine University, a Master’s degree in Teaching from Chapman University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University. His research interests include popular music education and music technology education.

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 is currently the Director of University Bands in the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University in New Jersey where he conducts the Montclair State University Wind Symphony, the Symphonic Band, and teaches both graduate and undergraduate conducting. He has held similar positions in the states of Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, in addition to teaching high school instrumental music in Nevada for nine years. Composers including Karel Husa, David Gillingham, Michael Daugherty, Joseph Turrin, Bruce Yurko, Robert Aldridge, Morten Lauridsen, Armando Bayolo, Eric Whitacre, Jake Runestad, and O’Neal Douglas have praised his work. Dr. McCauley has appeared as a clinician at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago on three different occasions. Each November, he hosts and co-teaches the Weekend Wind Conducting Symposium at Montclair State University, with special guest clinicians and participants from around the world.

Dr. Thomas McCauley is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician, and ensembles under his direction have appeared at regional, national, and international conventions and conferences. McCauley has collaborated with artists including Dame Evelyn Glennie, Arturo Sandoval, Imani Winds, Manhattan Brass Quintet, Decoda, The Westerlies, Monarch Brass, and Phil Smith among many others. In February of 2019, Dr. McCauley led the Montclair Wind Symphony in concert at the 2019 College Band Directors Association national conference in Tempe, Arizona. And the appearance of the Montclair State Wind Symphony at the WASBE International Conference in Prague, Czech Republic in July of 2022 was the first in the school’s history.

Dr. McCauley’s book titled, Adventures in Band Building (or How to Turn a Less-Than-It-Could-Be into a More-Than-It-Should-Be) is published by G.I.A. Publications. He has been published in The Instrumentalist magazine, several state music magazines, and in the second edition of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Vol I published by G.I.A. publications. In 1995, the Nevada Music Educators Association named Dr. McCauley Music Educator of the Year and in 2006, the Indiana Music Educators Association honored Dr. McCauley with an Outstanding University Music Educator Award. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the New Jersey Band Association, is 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, in addition to serving as a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician. Dr. McCauley holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Music Education from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and earned a Doctor of Music in conducting from Northwestern University.

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.

Joe Bergen is a musician, educator, composer, and arts administrator dedicated to building diverse and equitable music communities. He is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Mantra Percussion, Inc., described by The New York Times as “finely polished” and by NPR’s All Things Considered as bringing “a paradigm shift” to percussion. Joe serves as Director of Percussion at the New Jersey Youth Symphony and Director of Percussion Studies and adjunct music education faculty at Caldwell University. He has also taught for NJPAC, Stevens Institute of Technology, and in the Elizabeth, Rahway, Ramsey, and Newark Public Schools.

Joe has toured North America, Asia, and Europe, with highlights including the San Francisco Symphony’s American Mavericks series, Pulitzer Prize–winner David Lang’s Collected Stories at Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall’s REDCAT Theater, the Right Now Festival in Seoul, Korea, and the Sacrum Profanum series in Krakow, Poland. He appears on over a dozen albums and has premiered over one hundred new works. Joe has presented workshops for Carnegie Hall, the New Jersey Music Educators Association, Percussive Arts Society, Montclair State University, William Paterson University, and Mannes Conservatory.

Joe is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Music Education at Boston University and holds degrees from William Paterson University and Montclair State University.

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.

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.

Amy Wilcox is the Director of Instrumental Music at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan (NVOT) where she leads the Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble and Orchestra. In addition to curricular ensembles, Ms. Wilcox directs the NVOT Marching Band and serves as Producer and Conductor for the NVOT Musical Program. During her tenure at NVOT, the ensembles have received consistent Gold ratings at the North Jersey Region Festivals as well as various competitions in the tri-state area. In addition, the Marching Band won State Championships in 2021 and 2023 as well as a National Championship in 2022, the first in school history. By invitation, in 2022, 2024, and 2025, the NVOT Wind Ensemble performed at the prestigious State Concert Band Gala and, in 2025, at the NJ Music Educators’ Association annual conference. Before NVOT, Ms. Wilcox served as Director of Instrumental Music at Tenakill Middle School in Closter, New Jersey.

Ms. Wilcox is the band division co-chair of the North Jersey School Music Association, an organization where she has held several other leadership positions. Ms. Wilcox received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from The College of New Jersey and her Master of Arts in Conducting from Montclair State University under the direction of Dr. Thomas McCauley. When not teaching, Ms. Wilcox enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her family and two cats, Finn and Sadie.