Selected Alumni Bios

• Dr. Penny Prince

  Dr. Penny Prince (BM, MM, PhD) is Assistant Professor of Music at Lehman College, City University of New York. She is supervisor of music student teachers and interns at Lehman, and has devised curricula for a number of courses including “Music in the Elementary School: Advanced Techniques,” “Music in Early Childhood,” and “Introduction to Structure and Literature.” She received a PSC-CUNY grant in 2006 for her work bringing original college theatre to public school audiences.
  
  Dr. Prince received her BM and MM in piano from Manhattan School of Music where she studied with the legendary Zenon Fishbein. She has concertized throughout the New York area, and performed the Ravel Piano Concerto in G with orchestra and in master class with Gina Bachauer. Upon graduation from Manhattan School, she received the Sylvia Bruck Award.
  
  Dr. Prince earned her Ph.D. in Music Education from NYU Steinhardt in 2009, and was awarded the Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women’s 125th Year Fellowship. Her doctoral research focused on Co-creating Cinderella: Examining and Documenting a Collaboratory Musical Theatre Process. Interests include working with participants on all aspects of a musical, from retelling a story to choreographing and staging it for public performance, working with pre-service music and general education teachers, and piano pedagogy. She is on the board of MEANYC, and is a frequent presenter at conferences including NYSSMA, NYACTE, NYU’s Educational Theatre Pedagogy, and New York City Music Teachers’ Professional Development Events.
  
  Dr. Prince is a prolific composer of musical theatre pieces, and has won 10 consecutive ASCAP merit awards for her educational and children’s music. She has collaborated on original plays with established playwrights, cast members, and students of all ages, including works for the Manhattan School of Music Summer Program, the Renaissance After School Program of P.S.9M, the Multiple Intelligences School at P.S.37x, the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, and various community centers. She has written songs for noted performers including Tovah Feldshuh, with works broadcast on radio and cable television. Dr. Prince’s musicals staged at Lehman College have included Rapunzel, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, When I Get To Where I’m Going, and Sleeping Beauty.

• Dr. Manuel Prestamo
  Dr. Manuel Prestamo (Ph.D., Music Education, 1995) was selected for a Fulbright Scholar appointment to Ecuador in 1997. He regularly makes presentations on higher education programs and/or K-12 programs from the South American perspective.
  

  Manuel Prestamo is well known for his leadership skills and experience in developing and promoting numerous educational and non-profit organizations throughout the United States, South America, and Europe. As a result, he was selected to serve on the international juries of the Young Artists Competition of Brazil, the Joanna Hodges Piano Competition, and the Sleider Violin Competition. He was named the first Honorary Member of the Federation of Youth Orchestras in l988. Receiving rave reviews and critical acclaim from major publications such as the Washington Post, New York Times, and Musical America, the Youth Symphony of the United States, which he was asked to create, has performed concerts in major cities throughout the United States, including performances at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. In 1983, Manuel Prestamo also served as a conductor for the Youth Symphony of the Americas, a project of the Organization of American States, and was later invited to conduct a major recording project for their Inter-American Musical Editions. You can learn more about his current activities and interests at his website.

• Dr. Casey Hayes
  Dr. Casey J. Hayes serves as the Chair of the Creative Arts Department as well as the Choral and Band Director of The Hewitt School in New York City, which is a private school for girls on Manhattan's Upper East Side.  Prior to his arrival in New York City, Dr. Hayes was the Assistant Conductor and Principal Accompanist for the Indianapolis Men's Chorus.  He began playing the piano at age 7 under legendary teachers Armilla Zix Wilson and Edgar Roberts of The Juilliard School.  He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Music Education and Choral Conducting from Butler University, where he studied with acclaimed choral conductor Henry Leck and composer/arranger James Quitman Mulholland. 

         

  Dr. Hayes received his Ph.D. in Music Education from NYU Steinhardt in 2009. His doctoral research focused on Educational Outreach within Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Choruses.  His studies of the GLBT Choral Movement led him to be the Co-Music Director of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, as well as Musical Director of The New York City Ambassador Chorus, which is the outreach arm of the NYCGMC. 

         

  At present, Dr. Hayes serves as the Artistic Director of New Amsterdam Performing Arts, Inc., conducting The Gay Men's Chorus of Manhattan.  He is in worldwide demand as a clinician and speaker on issues facing GLBT community choruses. He has made many recent presentations throughout the United States, Canada, and the UK, and he presents papers at many professional conferences, including (for example) the 27th World Conference of the International Society for Music Education in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  His international work within the world of community choruses led him to be a founding member of the North American Coalition for Community Music. 

         

  In addition to championing the causes of the GLBT choral movement, Dr. Hayes also serves as Musical Director for Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Joanna Gleason.  He serves on the Board of the New York State Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the International Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA Choruses) and the Board of Advisors for the Chicago Arts Orchestra. Also, he has professional affiliations with the Music Educators National Conference, Chorus America, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Mu, Alpha Sinfonia, and the New York State School Music Association.
• Dr. Giacomo M. Oliva
  

  Dr. Giacomo M. Oliva (Ed.D., Music Education, 1982) is Professor of Music and Dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a position he has held since 2001. Prior to coming to Nebraska, Dr. Oliva served as Director of the School of Music at the University of Florida from 1992 to 2001, and as Head of the Department of Music at Mississippi State University from 1985 to 1992.

  
  Dr. Oliva has presented numerous papers and lecture recitals for a variety of professional organizations, including the College Music Society, MENC, the International Society for Music Education, the Australian Society for Music Education, the Annual Meeting of the South Central Holmes Group, the Association of Teacher Educators, the Music Teachers National Association, the National Association of Schools of Music, the New Jersey Educators and Music Education Associations, and the Mississippi Music Educators Association. He has also served on the editorial boards for UPDATE (1983-1989) and the Southeastern Journal of Music Education (1992-2001), and most recently as a reviewer for the second volume of the Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning.
  
  In addition to his work in education, Dr. Oliva is active as a pianist and conductor in both the classical and popular music traditions. He maintains a special interest in ragtime and other forms of American popular music, and presents recitals and lectures on piano rags on a regular basis. He has served as percussionist with the New Jersey Opera, as a conductor and clinician for all-state and regional choral and instrumental performing groups in Mississippi and in New Jersey, and as an adjudicator for Performing Arts Consultants and for piano auditions and festivals sponsored by the Florida Federated Music Clubs and the Mississippi Music Teachers Association. His activities as a pianist and conductor also include several years as musical director and accompanist for singer Connie Francis, performing with Ms. Francis on the Tomorrow Show (WNBC-TV) and at Avery Fischer Hall in Lincoln Center, as well as in numerous other venues throughout New York and New Jersey.
  
  Dr. Oliva’s leadership positions in professional organizations have included serving as Junior High Choral Division Chair and Research Chair for the New Jersey Music Educators Association, as CMENC Chair and President-elect for the Mississippi Music Educators Association, as Southern Division Chair and National Chair of the MENC General Research Special Interest Group (SRIG), and as a board member for Very Special Arts Mississippi. He has also served as President of the University of Florida Chapter of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, and has recently begun a two-year term as President of the International Society for Music Education. He maintains active membership in the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 (New York City).
  
  Dr. Oliva’s early music studies were as a piano student of Isabella Byman, and as a scholarship student with Seymour Bernstein, Stefan Volpe, Jan Gorbaty and Augusta Scheiber at the Chatham Square Music School in New York City. He holds the B.A. cum laude in Music Education and the M.A. in Applied Music Studies (piano) from Montclair State University, as well as the doctorate in Music Education and Administration from New York University. He also holds certifications as a K-12 Curriculum Supervisor and School Principal in the New Jersey Public Schools, and as an evaluator of provisional teachers in the state of Mississippi.