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Be part of the unending circle of becoming a music performer

Music Performance degrees lead to a world where winning competitions and getting concert tours are just a small part of your musical life. The myriad of opportunities to build on your successes as a musician come in many shapes and sizes, and Madonna’s Music Program is just the place for you to grow and get involved. Our faculty are performers in major orchestras, jazz bands, and opera companies and they are so in love with making music that you become the focus of the unending circle of the musician you can be. You also share many classes with other majors, which creates the rich and diverse world that is only possible in a small, liberal arts university.

Music Performance Shot

Audition & Entrance Requirements

*REQUIRED for acceptance into all music degree programs: Music, Music Performance, Music Education

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Student Success

Errin Duane Brooks

Errin Duane Brooks, Bachelor of Music Vocal Performance

"I think what I liked most about the Madonna University Department of Music was the intimate environment set by the faculty! They have the experience of professors from "big universities" yet because of the great teacher-to-student ratio, you can work with the teachers as much as you need to; it is as if you have the best of both worlds. The music professors want you to succeed and they will see to it that you do! At the last minute I decided to go to college instead of the service and it may have been the best decision of my life!"  Errin Brooks, '09 Bachelor of Music - Vocal Performance 
Errin's most recent winnings: Fourth place winner and audience favorite of the 2017 Concorso Internazionale di Musica in Alessandria, Italy 

Errin was one of three winners in the Detroit District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and recently took first place in the Vocal Arts Competition for the Emerging Artists, formerly the Leontyne Price Competition. He has also performed in the chorus with the Michigan Opera Theater in Margarete Garner, Carmen, Mikado, and Magic Flute. Brooks was a Resident Artist Program with the Opera Theater in Pittsburgh singing Scaramuccio and covering Bacchus in one of Richard Strauss'  operas, Ariadne auf Naxo. Errin was one of five winners of the 46th annual 2017 George London Foundation Awards, which honors American and Canadian opera singers. Our baritone turned Helden-tenor won the $10,000 George London-Kirsten Flagstad Award at the competition, which took place in New York City.  

Most recently, Fall of 2019 he was honored to have the role of Mingo in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Porgy and Bess, which was also part of the "Live at the MET" films shown across the country.  He debuted in March of 2020 the role of Mr. Charles in the new opera by Ricky Ian Gordon Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theatre.  Due to the pandemic, the show was closed but will be revived Fall 2021. 

https://www.wnpr.org/post/promising-young-tenor-comes-connecticut-tackle-biggest-opera-role-his-career 

His performances: Opera includes Porgy and Bess(Metropolitan Opera); Tristan und Isolde (Connecticut Lyric Opera); HerodiadeLa Forza del Destino (New Amsterdam Opera); Stonewall (American Opera Project); Trouble in TahitiI Pagliacci (Boheme Opera New Jersey). Concerts: Brahms’ Libeslieder WaltzesCarmina Burano (Lincoln Center); Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Vaughn Williams’ Serenade to Music, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (Carnegie Hall); Verdi Requiem (Utah Festival Opera); Duke Ellington’s Sacred Songs (Christ Church Cranbrook). Tours: American Spiritual Ensemble,Porgy and Bess (Barkheimer). Awards: Guilio Gari International Vocal Competition, George London Foundation, The Mary E. Singletary Vocal Arts Competition.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Bachelor of Arts in Music

Offering a vibrant community of faculty who instruct from personal experiences as professional performers, composers, and entrepeneurs. 

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Bachelor of Music Education

Degree designed on NASM standards (National Association of Schools of Music), so you will graduate with a degree competitive with those of larger schools.

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Religious Studies

Religious Studies program fosters an understanding of the religious and moral dimensions of human experience by examining religious sources, traditions, beliefs and practices.

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Performing Arts

Share your talent, have fun with new friends, and show your school spirit in our Pep Band, Drum Core, Jazz Ensemble, String Ensemble, Lyric Theatre, and Chorale. Participation in some ensembles qualify you for a Performing Arts Scholarship!

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Broadcast and Cinema Arts

Prepare to enter the business of television, radio, filmmaking, and media. The program combines theory with intensive hands-on learning.

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Faculty Bios

Barbara S. Wiltsie

Associate Professor, Program Director, Director Lyric Theatre & Summer MT, Applied Voice, Diction, Fundamentals of Music

M.Mus., Manhattan School of Music

B.Mus., Eastern Michigan University

bwiltsie@madonna.edu

734-432-5715, 1506E

Barbara S. Wiltsie

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. 

A recipient of the 2004 Teaching of Excellence Adjunct Faculty award, her full-time duties since 2006 include Director (and founder) of Lyric Theatre and vocal-related classes. In addition to her university duties, Ms. Wiltsie is the Founder & Managing Director for the Madonna University Summer Music Theater Intensive for high school students, as well as a sought-after adjudicator for MSVMA, NATS and other musical organizations. She is Co-Director of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions - Michigan Committee. For more information about the Summer MT Intensive program, please visit http://madonnauniversitysummermt.weebly.com/.

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Rachel Bletstein-QuirogaAdjunct Assistant Professor, Applied Piano, Piano Pedagogy, Improvisational Piano

D.M.A., University of South Carolina

M. Mus., Bowling Green State University

B.Mus., Cincinnati College - Conservatory of Music

rbletstein@madonna.edu

734-432-5707, Room 1506A

Rachel Bletstein-Quiroga

Rachel Bletstein, a native of West Bloomfield, Michigan has a passion for both playing and teaching piano. She received her Doctoral of Musical Arts degree in Piano Pedagogy at the University of South Carolina under the tutelage of Phillip Bush. While at USC she collaborated as accompanist with instrumentalists and vocalists. Additionally, she taught private piano lessons at the University of South Carolina through the Center for Piano Studies. In May 2018, Dr. Bletstein completed her dissertation, A Theoretical and Stylistic Analysis of Paul Ben-Haim’s Five Pieces for Piano, Op. 34 and Piano Sonata, Op. 49. She began her research after traveling to Israel in 2016, where she became very interested in Israeli and Middle Eastern music. Dr. Bletstein received her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Bowling Green State University Music where she studied with Dr. Laura Melton. At Bowling Green State University, she taught group piano to undergraduate music majors. Dr. Bletstein holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She also enjoys playing chamber music, as well as experimenting with improvisation, a topic with which she became particularly interested while completing her doctoral degree.

Dr. Bletstein has been active as an Officer in the collegiate chapters of the Music Teacher’s National Association. She has presented research at poster sessions at the 2015 and 2016 at SCMTA state conferences and has also presented at the MTNA National Conference in March of 2017.

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Ian BoyntonAdjunct Assistant Professor, Music Education

M.A., Central Michigan University

B.Mus.Ed., Western Michigan University

iboynton@madonna.edu

734-432-5543, Room 1506A

Ian Boynton

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 Fifth Grade for Redford Union 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.

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Katie FellmanAdjunct Assistant Professor, Theory, Composition, Orchestration

D.M.A., University of Michigan

kfellman@madonna.edu

734-432-5707, Room 1506A

Katie Fellman

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Brendan IgeAdjunct Instructor, Applied Low Brass, Brass Pedagogy 

M.Mus., University of Michigan

B.Mus., Bowling Green State University

bige@madonna.edu

734-432-5707, Room 1506A

Brendan Ige

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Velda KellyAdjunct Instructor, Applied Violin/Viola, Strings Pedagogy

M.Mus., Boston University

B.Mus., University of Cincinnati

vkelly@madonna.edu

734-432-5543, Room 1506A

Velda Kelly

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 Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra and is co-artistic director of Chamber Music at the Scarab Club. She also performs as an extra musician with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has a large class of private violin students.

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Kassia MartinAdjunct Instructor,
Applied Flute

B.Mus., Wayne State University

kamartin@madonna.edu

734-432-5543, Room 1506A

Kassia Martin

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.

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Linette Popoff-ParksAdjunct Professor, Applied Piano, Coaching for the Singer, Humanities

M.A., Eastern Michigan University

B.Mus., Marygrove College

lpopoff-parks@madonna.edu

734-432-5709, 1506D

Linette Popoff-Parks

Professor Popoff-Parks is a performing member of the Tuesday Musicale of Detroit, performed with local and national artists, and has premiered works by local composers such as Elaine Lebenbaum. Ms. Popoff-Parks has entertained audiences at Chamber Music at the Scarab Club with works of female composers like Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Mel Bonis, and Elfrida Andree. As a member of the College Music Society, Livonia Area Piano Teachers Guild, the Michigan Music Teachers Association and Music Teacher National Association, she serves as an adjudicator for numerous piano competitions, scholarship auditions, and has been guest speaker at State Conventions as well as local chapters meetings. She was a member of the MMTA State Board of Certification for 6 years, encouraging the certification of piano teachers. She also researches advanced literature for pianists with small hands, avoiding injuries to finger, hand, and arm.

Professor Popoff-Parks teaches applied piano, theory, and humanities, and is devoted to bringing “classical” music into non-traditional venues through the Classical Revolution Detroit Series. Professor Popoff-Parks has received three Madonna President’s Citations, and two awards for Effective and Creative Teaching. Most recently, she was nominated for a Grammy Music Educator Award for 2015.

For further information, visit Linette's website at linettepopoff-parks.com

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Lisa RaschiatoreAdjunct Associate Professor, Applied Clarinet, Music Appreciation, Chamber Music, Music History

D.M.A., University of Michigan

M.Mus., University Michigan

B.A., Pepperdine University

lraschiatore@madonna.edu

734-432-5706, Room 1506F

Lisa Raschiatore

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

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Helene RottenbergAdjunct Professor
Applied Guitar

M.A., Musicology, Univ of Michigan

B.A., Music History/Art History, Univ of Michigan

hrottenberg@madonna.edu

734-432-5706, Room 1506F

Helene Rottenberg

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.

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Sarah SimkoAdjunct Instructor,
Applied Organ, Form & Analysis, Contrapuntal Tech.

M.Mus., University of Michigan

B.Mus., Eastman School of Music

ssimko@madonna.edu

734-432-5543, Room 1506A

Sarah Simko

 Sarah Simko is a first year Doctoral student in Organ Performance at the University of Michigan. Ms. Simko studies with Professor James Kibbie.

Ms. Simko is the recipient of a Graduate Award from the Presser Foundation, to be used to create a comprehensive set of recordings of organ music by living American female composers. The goal of this project is to expand the accessibility of a rich, and overlooked body of repertoire. A series of three CD’s will be released in Fall 2019 and Winter 2020

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