Clinician Bios

Dr. Christopher Azzara 

Pianist, arranger, author, and educator, Christopher Azzara has made important contributions to advancing the understanding of creativity and improvisation in the music learning process. An innovator in the area of music teaching and learning, Dr. Azzara is Professor and Chair of Music Education and Affiliate Faculty of Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music.

Teaching and performing internationally, he is the author of numerous articles, arrangements, and books, including Developing Musicianship Through Improvisation, Creativity In Improvisation, and Jump Right In: The Instrumental Series (GIA). His arrangements for instrumental and vocal ensembles include A la nanita nana for choir and chamber orchestra or piano (Oxford), and Concert Selections for Winds and Percussion (GIA). His research and publications are concerned with meaningful relationships among listening, creating, improvising, reading, composing and analyzing music in vocal and instrumental settings. Dr. Azzara’s work has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Music Educators Journal, Early Childhood Connections, and in The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (MENC/Oxford). He performs as a soloist and in various ensembles, including the Chris Azzara Quartet, and has played on and produced many studio and educational recordings. In Rochester, he performs with free-lance musicians, members of the Eastman School of Music faculty, and members of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. An active teacher and clinician, he has taught and performed extensively throughout the United States, and in Canada, the Caribbean, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Japan, and Australia. He has presented clinics and workshops in a variety of settings, including TEDxRochester, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and leading music schools in this country and abroad.

Christopher Azzara is a native of Virginia and attended public schools in Fairfax County. After receiving the Bachelor of Music degree from George Mason University, he taught instrumental music in the Fairfax County Public Schools and performed as a pianist in the Washington D.C. area. He later received a Master of Music and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music. Prior to joining the Eastman faculty, Dr. Azzara was a professor at The Hartt School of Music, Dance, and Theatre of the University of Hartford, CT.

Dr. Sandra Doneski

Dr. Sandra Doneski has taught in the Department of Music at Gordon College since 1999. She has been a teacher of music to students in kindergarten through graduate school. She teaches courses in music education methods, learning theory, assessment, curriculum development. She also supervises student teachers and conducts the Gordon College Children's Choir. Dr. Doneski founded the Children's Choir in 2000 to give children in the community an opportunity to grow as musicians, and music education majors an opportunity to develop as teachers and conductors.

Dr. Doneski has also served on the facuty of the New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory School, where she was associate conductor of the Children's Choir Program. Under her guidance, NEC implemented choral programs for early elementary and middle school students that focused on vocal pedagogy and building musicianship. She has served as a conductor for events in the northeast sponsored by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and is co-founder of Embracing the New Music Educator, a mentoring program for new music educators in Massachusetts.

In 2009 Dr. Doneski was the recipient of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Lowell Mason Award and the Society for General Music in Massachusetts Excellence in General Music Award. In 2012 she received the MMEA Distinguished Service Award, and in 2013 she received the Administrators in Music Education Visionary Leadership Award.

Dr. Donesi has published articles and conducted workshops on choral literature and techniques, curriculum development, assessment and mentoring. She recently co-authored "Research on Elementary and Secondary School Singing" a chapter in the MENC Handbooj of Research on Teaching ad Learning in Music Education.

Lillie Feierabend

Lillie Feierabend is known for her work with young children and instilling a love of music within them. She has been an early childhood and general music educator for over thirty years and was conductor for the Connecticut Children's Chorus for eighteen. She has twice been honored with her respective district's Teacher of the Year Award for her inclusive and innovative music programs, and in 2008 also received the Outstanding Elementary Music Educator Award from the Connecticut Music Educators Association.  She is a frequent clinician at local, state and national conferences, and has presented over two hundred sessions on music and movement development. She conducts regional honors choirs and teaches weeklong workshops around the country including Anderson University (IN), Gordon College (MA), Silver Lake College (WI), and the University of Hartford (CT). Over the course of her career, Lille has mentored twenty-three student teachers and will forever be grateful for the opportunity.

Lillie is a founding and lifetime member of FAME. She is also a member of NAfME, OAKE, CMEA, and ACDA, where she served as the National Children's Honor Choir Chair for the 2010 Conference.  She is a member and former president of KESNE (Kodaly Educators of Southern New England and President-Elect of the regional chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international organization which supports and promotes excellence in education.

While Lillie taught First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege as they evolved, she became an endorsed Teacher Trainer in both curriculums in 2012.

Dr. Michael Hildebrandt

Dr. Michael Hildebrandt moved to the North Shore of MA in 2004 to teach at Landmark School and pursue a master's degree in the area of moderate disabilities and literacy. He taught at Study Skills and Language Arts at Landmark until 2012 and continues to lead workshops and classes for students, parents, and teachers. Michael's doctiral work allowed him to develop his research and practice in the areas of self-regulated learning and executive function deficits into a private practive serving individuals and families. Michael has completed several studies on the experiences of individuals in periods of transition. His work explores the loss of identity, the need for community, narrative constructions of the selv/selves, and the reconstruction pursued through various sociocultural factors. Michael has taught Introduction to Exceptionality at Gordon College since 2011, and has also taught at Granite State College, Manchester (NH) Community College, and the University of New Hampshire.

Michael's academic scholarship has been funded by fellowships at the Ahimsa Institute for Nonviolence in California and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire. Michael's academic program development work has been funded through grants from the Davis Educational Foundation and from the Oak Foundation USA. He holds a B.A. from Colby College, M.S.Ed. from Simmons College and Ph.D from the University of New Hampshire.

Kenneth Trapp

Kenneth Trapp teaches general music K-6 in Stratford, CT. He is also an adjunct Professor of Music Education at the Hartt School, University of Hartford, and at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. Ken has contributed chapters to two textbooks on the topic of developing aural skills; Engaging Music Practices; A Sourcebook for Middle School General Music, 2012, and The Development and Practical Application of Music Learning Theory, 2005. He is also a professional musician who performs in many ensembles both locally and nationally. Through years of study, Ken has used his knowledge of ensemble performance, harmonic awareness and improvisation to develop activities and materials for students of all ages to become successful playing the ukulele. He is committed to the challenge of bringing aural comprehension to young music learners.