Dr. Copeland holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with a cognate in the Alexander Technique. His dissertation, Applied Anatomy in the Studio: Body Mapping and Clarinet Pedagogy, reflects an early and sustained integration of anatomical accuracy, somatic awareness, and pedagogical application. He also holds graduate degrees in music performance and arts management, grounding his work in both artistic practice and institutional systems.

Alongside his musical training, Dr. Copeland has pursued extensive professional preparation in somatic education and embodied learning. He is a Certified Sponsoring Teacher of the Alexander Technique and a Licensed Mentoring Teacher of the Association of Body Mapping Education. He is also a Master Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist (ISMETA), an Integrative Somatic Practitioner (IWA), and holds additional certifications in somatic trauma therapy, integrative somatic coaching, performing arts medicine, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. His training reflects more than two decades of study in anatomy, movement science, nervous system–informed pedagogy, and trauma-aware educational practice.

Dr. Copeland’s scholarship bridges music pedagogy, somatic education, and health sciences. He is co-author of Body Mapping for Clarinetists and the forthcoming The mBODYed Breath: Body Mapping, Breathing, Balance, and Belonging, and his work has been published in somatic journals as well as journals of complementary and rehabilitative medicine. His research and writing examine how embodied awareness, self-belonging, and physiological regulation influence learning, creativity, and professional sustainability in the performing arts.

He has presented widely at national and international conferences and has served in numerous leadership roles within professional organizations, including the College Music Society, Alexander Technique International, and the Association of Body Mapping Education, where his service has focused on pedagogy, ethics, health, accessibility, and belonging. In addition to his academic and clinical work, Dr. Copeland is an artist affiliated with Buffet Crampon USA, Silverstein Works, and Gonzalez Reeds, Inc.

Across his teaching, writing, and consulting, Dr. Copeland is known for articulating a rigorous, embodied approach to music education that reframes excellence not as endurance or self-erasure, but as a capacity that emerges when artistry, physiological awareness, and human sustainability are held together. His work contributes to a growing redefinition of rigor, leadership, and belonging in music schools and higher education.

Gretta also studies how formal functions, traditionally applied to tonal music, can be adapted for Western Art Music composed around the turn of the twentieth century. Recently, Gretta has partnered with colleagues across four faculties at Brandon University in a cross-disciplinary exploration of the cultures and tensions of care in higher education. They aim to shed light on how care manifests, or doesn’t, in academia and explore strategies to foster an environment where all can thrive.

Elizabeth Lantz: 

Lantz’s creative practice centers on contemporary music, interdisciplinary collaboration, and technology integration. She premiered The Fluted Bird for amplified flute and computer by Charles Nichols at ARTX in Montreal, supported by Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT) and McGill University’s CIRMMT, and has performed at new music festivals nationwide. A committed advocate for expanding the flute repertoire, she commissions and premieres new works, including Valerie Coleman’s Wish Sonatine, now widely performed internationally.

An active pedagogue and adjudicator, Lantz has taught in international residencies and served on juries for major competitions. At Virginia Tech, she serves on the Provost’s Innovation Group leadership team for Community and Belonging, grounded in Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, and coordinates visiting artist residencies for the School of Performing Arts.

Lantz also engages in community arts advocacy, serving on the board of the NRV Friends of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and coordinating the SMILES educational series and annual TubaChristmas.

Michele Deramo: 

Deramo earned her Ph.D. from the ASPECT program (Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought) with concentration in cultural and social theory at Virginia Tech. Her research and scholarly interests focus on performative identities in diaspora, forced migration, post-colonial and Italian feminism, refugee voice, autoethnography, and arts-based methodologies. She is president of the Italian American Studies Association and co-editor of Dear Higher Education: Letters from the Social Justice Mountain, an online, open access publication giving voice to those whose labor makes campus environments more diverse, equitable, and just.

Before entering higher education, Dr. Chapman taught general music, choir, and musical theatre for a decade in both charter and public schools in the Phoenix metro area. Her research focuses on music teacher preparation, experiential learning, rural music education, and the mental health of tertiary music students, with particular attention to anxiety, depression, and stress.

In addition to her university role, Dr. Chapman founded a community youth choir in Hays, Kansas, and remains active as an adjudicator for choral and vocal events, with a special interest in supporting programs in smaller and rural districts.

Barry has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals such as Arts and Learning, Psychology of Music, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Contributions to Music Education, UPDATE, and Bulletin of Research in Music Education, and is a frequent presenter at national and international professional conferences. She served as editor of the Journal of Technology in Music Learning, and currently serves as reviewer for national and international research journals such as Psychology of Music. Barry is an active member of professional organizations such as NAfME and the College Music Society (CMS). Professional service includes past President of the CMS Southern Chapter, National CMS Secretary from 2016 – 2018, co-chairing the CMS Career Development Committee, and serving as a screener and for the 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 Grammy Music Educator Awards. Barry was awarded the Auburn University Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lectureship in 2022.

He has formerly held positions with the Spokane Symphony, the Boise Philharmonic, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, and Whitman College. Taylor’s clarinet playing can be heard on recordings on the Navona, Centaur, Naxos American Classics and Gothic recording labels, and the most recent releases are two Centaur records projects with New Music Raleigh. The most recent is the world premiere recording of Brett William Dietz’s opera introspective Headcase, and another recent release is the debut recording of composer DJ Sparr, 21207. He can also be found on youtube; his video promoting his March 2011 basset clarinet performances of the Mozart concerto with the Winston-Salem symphony now has nearly 100,000 views. In 2014, Taylor was among the first performers of Donald Crockett’s Dance Concerto(please see media page for recordings). He has appeared at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest®, with a notable performance of John Adams’s clarinet concerto Gnarly Buttons in 2010 and in 2011, the world premiere of UNCG composer Alejandro Rutty’s work for Guitars, for two clarinets and Ableton Live-based electronics. In recent years, Taylor has been expanding his pedagogical skills through extensive study of human movement and the Alexander Technique, and expects to complete his ATI certification as a teacher of the Alexander Technique some time during the 2016–17 academic year. Taylor holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the Florida State University and Washington State University. His former teachers include Steve Cohen, Ron Aufmann, Richard Hawkins, Frank Kowalsky, Jim Schoepflin, and Joseph Brooks.

After earning degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Yale University, and Stanford University, he was a technical director at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics and an Associate Professor at the University of Montana. He currently serves as Professor of Composition and Music Technologies at Virginia Tech. Recent publications include the album Crossing the Divide, recorded by the Beo String Quartet and released by Centaur Records, the Modality album Embodiment, released by House of Watts, the Kill All Kings album Four of a Kind, released by Mother Brain Records, and the chapter "Motion Capture for Musical Expression" in the book Collaboration, Engagement, and Tradition in Contemporary and Electronic Music, published by Routledge.

Dr. Stetson has presented at numerous conferences, including the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic and Convention and the Florida Music Educators Association Convention. He has also served as an invited presenter at the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) and the College Music Society.

His performances, recordings, clinics, and masterclasses have earned him the 2022 Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award, the top faculty honor for research within the entire system of Texas Tech University.

Dr. Stetson is also a dedicated educator, recently named one of Yamaha's 40 under 40 for Music Education Excellence. His students have achieved numerous accolades, including invited performances at the National Trumpet Competition, Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Solo Competition, winning positions with full-time military ensembles, and gaining admission to top graduate programs.

She is widely recognized for developing high-impact, student-centered curricula, including popular music surveys centered on Taylor Swift. Additionally, she promotes cross-cultural musical collaborations with international artists, notably with the Dal’Ouna Ensemble.

As an administrator she has led music humanities initiatives that increased relevance and expanded access to music-based courses for students across campus. Her leadership in curriculum development has shaped multiple undergraduate programs, including the creation of new minors, honors programming, and community-based music projects, including a partnership with the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project. 

Her research explores popular music studies, feminist pedagogy, AI and creativity, and community-engaged musical practices. She currently serves as an editor for a forthcoming special issue of Popular Music and Society: Taylor Swift. Dr. Brinker has presented work at national and international conferences, including the International Musicological Society, Popular Culture/American Culture Association, and the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru).

Suzanne Hall: 

She is the author of The Musical Bookshelf and co-author of Teaching Elementary Music: Integrative Strategies between Music and Other Subjects and General Music: A K–12 Experience. Her articles appear in journals such as the Journal of General Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Philosophy of Music Education Review, Journal for Music Teacher Education, and College Music Symposium. Her forthcoming book, Repositioning Musical Creativity in Higher Education: Leading Change Toward a More Panoptic, Creative Future (Routledge), explores human-centered approaches to creativity, drawing on diverse perspectives and epistemologies to inform how educators teach and engage with creative practice in the future. She currently chairs the College Music Society’s Council on Music Education and serves as a board member for the Save The Music Foundation. She earned her Master of Education and Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Central Florida and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Memphis.

Kathleen Doutt: 

Her ongoing research in latino music has yielded rich folk music and dance resources for coursework and conferences.    Supported by Teagle grants focused on faculty metacognition, she has established a faculty learning community at her university and has created a rubric for cross-disciplinary faculty metacognition.   She regularly gives presentations on Latin American music and dance, integration of technology in music teaching, and the higher education music core curriculum.  These include sessions at the PMEA conference, ATMI section of the 2014 College Music Society Conference, the 2016 CMS Pre-conference on Technology, the 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024 College Music Society Conferences, and the 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2023 CMS Northeast Regional Conferences.   She holds credentials in AI and is developing pedagogical strategies for using AI to develop musicianship and critical thinking in the collegiate music education curriculum.

Angelica Brooks: 

Dr. Brooks received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Teaching and Learning from the University of Southern California. She is the Alumnae Association Director of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda International Honor Society for Music.  In service to the field of music education, Dr. Brooks serves on the National Executive Board for the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and is co-chair of the NAfME Equity Committee. She is also a member of the College Music Society’s (CMS) Music Education Committee and is a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).

More recently, Susan’s research has turned to music theory pedagogy, including a website called Steps to Harmonic Dictation and an Open Educational Resource called Steps to Music Theory. At TAMU-CC, she has won the University Excellence Award in Teaching, the Digital Innovator of the Year, and the Excellence in Disability Access and Inclusion Award. In 2025, Susan was named a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor.