Music Education (BME)
"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue" -Plato
"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue" -Plato
As a music education student at Madonna, you will be in many classes with other music majors, giving you a rich and diverse experience. Our faculty, nationally recognized professional musicians and excellent teachers, are devoted to helping you build strong skills in theory, history, ear training, performance, and pedagogy.
Madonna’s curriculum is rigorous, and combined with the that of the College of Education, prepares you for success as a teacher in the K-12 system (public and private schools) in instrumental, vocal, and general music. Our program is designed on NASM standards (National Association of Schools of Music), so you will graduate with a degree competitive with those of larger schools.
*REQUIRED for acceptance into all music degree programs: Music, Music Performance, Music Education
Offering a vibrant community of faculty who instruct from personal experiences as professional performers, composers, and entrepeneurs.
The performance degree opens the door for continued studies on the graduate level, pursuance of performing opportunities, and developing a life-long career as a professional musician and private studio instructor.
Share your talent, have fun with new friends, and show your school spirit in our Pep Band, Jazz Ensemble, String Ensemble. You may also join Lyric Theatre and Chorale. Participation in ensembles may qualify you for a Performing Arts Scholarship! (Music/Athletic scholarship earners are ineligible.)
The Broadcast and Cinema Arts Program will prepare you to enter the business of television, radio, filmmaking, and media. The program combines theory with intensive hands-on learning.
M.Mus., Manhattan School of Music
B.Mus., Eastern Michigan University
734-432-5715, 1506E
Barbara Wiltsie, mezzo-soprano, has soloed with numerous symphonies, chorale groups and opera companies throughout the Midwest; including the DSO, Southwestern Michigan Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Bach Festival of Kalamazoo, Mendelssohn Chorale of Pittsburgh, The Singers Club of Cleveland, Opera!Lenawee, Michigan Opera Theater, Des Moines Metro Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Civic Opera, and Toledo Opera. A former long-time Michigan Opera Theatre Touring Artist, she has garnered many awards—such as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as a two-time Regional finalist, winner of the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Performance Prize and a winner in the NOA Artist Awards.
Her operatic roles with noted opera companies include Carmen, Cherubino, Hansel, Dido, Mercedes, Dorabella, Dinah, Prince Orlofsky, Kate Pinkerton, Giovanna, and La Ciesca. Orchestral works as soloist include Mozart's C Minor Mass, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem Mass, and Stravinski's Oedipus Rex.
A recipient of the Madonna University 2004 Teaching of Excellence Adjunct Faculty award, her full-time duties since 2006 include Director (and 2003 founder) of Lyric Theatre, vocal related courses and additional courses related to theatre and music business management. In 2017 she became Chair of the Music Department, now titled Program Director-Music as part of the Department of Art, Music, and Dance.
In addition to her university duties, Wiltsie was the Founder & Managing Director/Vocal instructor for the Madonna University Summer Music Theater Intensive for high school students, and is a sought-after adjudicator for MSVMA and other musical organizations. She is Co-Director of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Auditions - Michigan Committee, and Board Member for the Livonia Symphony Orchestra.
M.A., Central Michigan University
B.Mus.Ed., Western Michigan University
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Ian Boynton is an adjuct assistant professor of Music. He holds a Bachelor's in Music Education from Western Michigan University, and a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from Central Michigan University. Currently he teaches elementary music to grades pre-Kindergarten through Fourth Grade for Livonia Public Schools.
In addition to his teaching duties, Mr. Boynton serves as the Director of Chiors for Grace Lutheran Church in Redford. He is a frequent clinician around the country speaking on integrating technology into the music classroom and integrating the arts with core subject areas.
B.A. Western Michigan University
B. Mus Education/Jazz Studies – Wayne State University
Kevin Del Pup serves the University as Director of Performing Arts, Director of Instrumental Music, working with both the Jazz Ensemble and Pep Band. Kevin has had an interest in music his whole life. In high school he developed his skills on the drum set under the direction of well-known Detroit jazz artists, Jim Ryan and Dave Taylor. He continued to play semi-professionally while attending college and attained his degree in Music Education from Wayne State. Kevin comes to us with years of experience as a full-time teacher in the Redford Union School District.
Traditionally he works with middle and high school bands, but he has also directed a variety of performing groups to include jazz bands, pep bands, pit ensembles, and percussion ensembles. After fifteen years of teaching he continues to enjoy sharing his expertise and passion for music with such a wide array of students. He is always on the lookout for talented musicians to perform with while educating local young artists during the day.
Dr. Katie Fellman received her DMA in Composition from the University of Michigan, her MM in composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and her BM in composition from the University of Southern California. She has also received a certificate in Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television from USC. Dr. Fellman is an educator who enjoys working with students to develop their musical skills and understanding. Outside of her academic work, she is an avid birdwatcher.
D.M.A. University of Michigan
M.Mus., University of Michigan
B.Mus., Bowling Green State University
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Dr. Brendan Ige, a native of Pearl City, Hawaii, is Instructor of Brass at Madonna University. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and his master’s degrees (in Tuba Performance and Chamber Music) and DMA from University of Michigan in 2016. He performs on tuba and euphonium, composes, and teaches low brass in the Michigan and Ohio area. He can be heard recorded on tuba, euphonium, trombone, and trumpet. His primary teachers include Fritz Kaenzig and David Saltzman. Brendan has performed in the Toledo Symphony, Toledo Symphony Concert Band, Adrian Symphony, Akron Symphony, Perrysburg Symphony, The Royal Hawaiian Band, and the Cedar Point Beach Band.
He has also performed guest recitals or taught masterclasses at Baldwin Wallace University, Kent State University, The University of Akron, Madonna University, Bowling Green State University, and Oakland University. In 2017, he was invited to perform at the North American Saxophone Alliance giving a recital of tuba chamber music with saxophone. In 2018 he was a featured Euphonium artist for the Dublin Silver Band.
Brendan is an avid proponent of contemporary music. He has premiered, composed and commissioned numerous works. His chamber groups Conviviality and Low and Lower frequently perform his own compositions as well as seek out other composers to write for the group. Brendan’s chamber group in his undergraduate studies, The Fig Newtons, won the Douglas Wayland Chamber Music Competition in 2013.
Brendan has taught all levels of education. He has served on the faculty of Oakland University. He teaches in the Van Buren public school district as a sectional coach and private lessons teacher for kids from 6th-12th grade and conducted the University of Michigan’s Youth Euphonium and Tuba Ensemble for five years.
M.Mus., Boston University
B.Mus., University of Cincinnati
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Violinist Velda Kelly has been teaching and performing in metropolitan Detroit since 1983. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College - Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from Boston University. Her violin teachers included Henry Meyer, Joseph Silverstein and Denes Zsigmondy. Ms. Kelly is a member of the Detroit Opera Orchestra, is co-artistic director of Chamber Music at the Scarab Club and runs the Tuesday Musicale of Detroit Student League. She also performs as an extra musician with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has a large class of private violin students.
M.A. – Education – Marygrove College
B.F.A. – Dance Performance – Teaching Certificate Dance K-12, Health 6-12 – University of Michigan
B.F.A., Texas Christian University
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As a lifelong learner, Mrs. K has also become certified in Acrobatic Arts and Progressing Ballet Technique and holds a 200-hour Yoga Certification. Along with directing the dance program for the Livonia Public Schools magnet program CAPA, Mrs. Kwiatokowski currenlty choreographs for MU Lyric Theatre program. She believes teaching dance in a supportive yet rigorous environment is possible, and she tries to bring her enthusiasm for all things dance wherever she goes. Mrs. K. loves cultivating a passion for dance within her students, and seeing where their dreams take them. She feels fortunate to be a part of so many students' journeys
Kassia Martin holds positions in the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the Midland Symphony Orchestra, the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, and the Livonia Symphony Orchestra. She also performs regularly as a soloist and with her husband, Sam Martin, as the Martin Wind Duo.
She is also a dedicated teacher, with private students throughout southeast Michigan, and is the flute instructor at Madonna University in Livonia and the Steiner School of Ann Arbor. She is also the music director and conductor of the Flute Specialists Flute Choirs in Clawson, MI.
M. Mus Education, University of Missouri – Columbia
B. Mus Education, University of Missouri – St. Louis
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Zack Nenaber is a second year PhD student and graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan. Prior to this appointment he held a graduate teaching assistantship in the band and music education department at the University of Missouri. He taught for six years, one as a music specialist in the K-12 classroom in Saint Louis, Missouri metro area, three years as assistant director in Columbia, Missouri at the middle and high school level, and two as director of bands and instrumental area coordinator in Casablanca, Morocco at a private American curriculum school.
Zack holds a Masters of Music Degree from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Bachelors of Music Education Degree from the University of Missouri - Saint Louis.
D.M.A. Michigan State University
M.Mus, Michigan State University
B.Mus – Shanghai Conservatory of Music
734-432-5707, 1506A
Pianist Yalan Piao, originally from China, is an active soloist and collaborative pianist who has performed extensively in concert halls and churches across the United States, Italy, and China. As a soloist, Dr. Piao has earned top prizes in the Marquette Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition and the American Protégé Competition. She has given solo recitals at renowned venues including the Shanghai Concert Hall, He Luting Concert Hall, Kresge Hall at Madonna University, and numerous churches throughout the Metro Detroit area. Her recent performances include a recital tour in Alaska, where she was featured as soloist. She has also participated in esteemed music festivals such as the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, BIMFA on the Road International Music Festival, and Walnut Hill Music Festival.
As a collaborative pianist, Dr. Piao has worked with a wide range of instrumentalists and orchestras in both China and the United States. Her performances have taken place at prominent venues such as Shanghai Concert Hall and Chongqing Symphony Orchestra Hall, as well as in Michigan at Jackson College’s Potter Center, Chelsea High School with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Dawson Auditorium with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and the Brighton Center for the Performing Arts with the Michigan Philharmonic. She has also performed in Italy with vocalists and cellists as part of the “Centro Studi Della Giacoma” program. In addition, she has served as a staff pianist at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Stulberg International String Competition, Collabfest, and the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference.
Beyond the stage, Dr. Piao is a passionate educator. She has served as a mentor at “Celebrating the Spectrum: A Festival for Music and Life,” a program for young pianists with autism at Michigan State University. She is a sought-after adjudicator for piano competitions and has successfully guided her students through programs such as RCM, MMTA’s Student Achievement Testing, and the American Guild of Music. She currently serves on the Member at Large for the Livonia Area Piano Teachers Forum (LAPTF), and will serve as the Michigan Regional Director for the 2026 Orbifold Competition.
Dr. Piao holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Michigan State University, where she served as a Graduate Assistant. She earned her Bachelor of Music from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Deborah Moriarty and Minsoo Sohn, among others.
She currently serves as collaborative pianist for EMA Singers and is the pianist at the Congregational Church of Birmingham. Most recently, she joined the faculty at Madonna University as Piano Instructor and Collaborative Pianist. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys teaching, traveling, and spending time with family in China and Korea.
M.A., Eastern Michigan University
B.Mus., Marygrove College
734-432-5709, 1506D
Linette Popoff-Parks is a former full-time Professor and Chair of the Music Department, having taught theory, piano, humanities, counterpoint, and analysis. She is now adjunct Professor Emerita and is devoting her time to teaching at Madonna, performance opportunities, speaking engagements, coaching high school singers, serving as Program Coordinator for the Livonia Piano Teachers Forum, researching piano literature for advanced pianists with small hands, and is a member of the Well-Balanced Pianist Teacher Training Program in New York. She holds several awards in teaching Excellence, Creative Teaching & Innovation, and was nominated for the GRAMMY Music Educator Award in 2015. Linette also composed the Madonna Alma Mater (copyrighted).
D.M.A., University of Michigan
M.Mus., University Michigan
B.A., Pepperdine University
734-432-5706, Room 1506F
Clarinetist Lisa Raschiatore is a freelance musician and teacher in the Southeastern Michigan area. She currently serves as Principal Clarinetist with the Michigan Philharmonic and Bass Clarinetist with the West Michigan Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as a substitute musician with the Windsor, Grand Rapids, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras on clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, and basset horn. She has also toured the country with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players as principal clarinetist, and has appeared with many other regional orchestras including the Dearborn, Traverse City, Ann Arbor, Flint, Saginaw, Adrian, Oakland, Macomb, Birmingham-Bloomfield, and Warren Symphony Orchestras.As an active proponent of contemporary music, she regularly performs and commissions composers in chamber music settings, most recently with her wind trio, Protea, at Trinosophes, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Kerrytown Concert House, and with Amphion Percussion at the DIA and Constellation in Chicago.
She has appeared with vocalist/composer Shara Worden and her band My Brightest Diamond at Art X in Detroit, the Laneway Festival at Meadowbrook, the MusicNOW Festival in Cincinnati, and with the ensemble Music at the Lincoln Center "Out of Doors" Festival in New York City. She co-founded a new-music ensemble called Warped Consort and commissioned works from composers David T. Little, Evan Chambers, Andre Myers, and Kirsten Volness. She recently worked with composer Evan Chambers in the development of his clarinet sonata, Atonement, and was a member of the commissioning consortium that sponsored the work. She has also worked with composer Michael Daugherty in the creation of his clarinet concerto, Brooklyn Bridge, and his chamber work Ladder to the Moon, recently premiering the trio version. She has premiered numerous works by young composers as a three-year member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble in residence at the Aspen Music Festival, and has participated in the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, and the Festival de Música de Santa Catarina in Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil.
While a member of ACE, she was a featured performer on "Performance Today," the nationally syndicated radio show from American Public Media.She completed her undergraduate degree at Pepperdine University under the tutelage of Mary Gale, and earned both her Masters and Doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan with Fred Ormand, Dan Gilbert, and Monica Kaenzig. Dr. Raschiatore has served as the Interim Professor of Clarinet at Central Michigan University, as Instructor of Clarinet at Alma College, and as Adjunct Professor of Music Theory at Adrian College. Currently, she teaches clarinet, chamber music, and appreciation courses at Madonna University in Livonia, and maintains a private studio. This summer, she leads the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts Clarinet Workshop for middle and high school students, and is on faculty at the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit www.lisaraschiatore.com
M.A., Musicology, Univ of Michigan
B.A., Music History/Art History, Univ of Michigan
734-432-5706, Room 1506F
Helene Rottenberg is a Professor of Music at Madonna University in Livonia, MI, and also teaches guitar at Herb David Guitar Studio in Ann Arbor, MI. She has a Master of Musicology degree from the University of Michigan and was a student of the late Argentinean guitarist, Manuel Lopez-Ramos.
Helene has performed extensively in the Midwest, particularly in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area, since 1975. She has often played as a featured performer in chamber music concerts at the “Festival of the Lakes” in Alexandria, Minnesota, and has appeared on Minnesota Public Radio. She plays professionally in a flute/guitar duo, Divertimente, with flutist Susan Lazar, and they recently have released their first CD, featuring music by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Bela Bartok. She performs as a soloist and also enjoys playing in various ensembles. She has often played with Chamber Music at the Scarab Club, and is a regular performer with Woodward Corridor Musicians and the Detroit Concert Choir.
For the last few years she has been on the faculty of the Adult Classical Guitar Workshop at the Interlochen Music Camp, judged the International Youth Competition, and with the Guitar Foundation of America she serves on the board and conducts workshops at their conferences.
D.M.A. University of Texas at Austin
M. A. University of Michigan
B. A. National Taiwan Normal University
Dr. Wang is principal cellist for the Livonia Symphony Orchestra and maintains a teaching studio in Farmington Hills.
