Selected Student Bios

• Susan Davis
  Susan A. Davis is a PhD candidate in Music Education in the department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at NYU Steinhardt.
  
  Ms. Davis holds degrees in music performance (BFA, Stony Brook University) and music education (MSEd, Queens College).
  
  As an orchestra director, Ms. Davis has more than twelve years of experience in public schools; as a violinist, she has maintained a private studio for eighteen years. She has served actively as a festival chairperson and adjudicator for numerous New York State School Music Association and Suffolk County, NY, Music Educators Association festivals.
  
  In 2005, Ms. Davis released a CD with New York classical guitarist, Eric B. Davis: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: An Album of Classical Lullabies. The CD was recognized with an iParenting Media Product of Excellence Award (Walt Disney Internet Group). She has performed frequently in productions at the Smithtown Performing Arts Center and throughout the New York area.
  
  Ms. Davis has presented papers at the American String Teachers Association National Conference, the Third Biennial Symposium for Research in Music Teaching and Learning Conference (University of North Texas), and the “Arts Education - To What End?” Conference (New York University). Her publications include an article on string student recruiting for American String Teacher (August, 2009) and several columns at www.musicedmagic.com.
  
• Kate Bowerman
  Kate Bowerman is studying for her MA in Music Education in the department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at NYU Steinhardt.
  
  Kate grew up in Mastic Beach, NY, where she was fortunate to have extremely supportive parents and a strong public school music program. Kate began flute studies at the age of eight, and became deeply involved in her school district's musical offerings, including jazz groups (vocal and instrumental) and musical theater. She performed with the Long Island Youth Orchestra and Brookhaven Youth Orchestra in venues along the East Coast.
  
  Kate attended college at the University of Michigan, where she received scholarships from both the School of Music and the Michigan Marching Band. Kate studied classical flute with Amy Porter and performed with the UM Symphony Band, Concert Band, and Philharmonic Orchestra. She was piccolo section leader for three years in the Michigan Marching Band and played various woodwinds in the pit orchestra for several productions by the Musical Theater Department. She studied music education with, among others, Dr. Colleen Conway, who asked Kate to contribute an article to her recently published book, Handbook for the Beginning Music Teacher. Kate graduated from UM as a James B. Angell Scholar with Bachelors degrees in both music education and flute performance.
  
  After graduating, Kate moved to New York City to teach instrumental music at a middle school in Harlem. There she helped shape the fledgling music program by creating a system that allowed students to take school instruments home to practice. She also implemented a discount instrument rental program that allowed more students in owning their own instruments.
  
  In addition to classical flute, Kate also performs Irish traditional music on tin whistle. She began studying the instrument with Bill Ochs at the Irish Arts Center soon after moving to New York City. She performs regularly on tin whistle and piccolo with the Irish traditional ensemble the “Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra,” and she has appeared with the renowned Irish musicians Mick Moloney, Ivan Goff, and Dan Milner.
  
  Kate is currently studying flute with Robert Dick. She has appeared at several NYC venues, including The Gallery Players Theater in their production of YANK! The Musical. Her other interests include cooking, swimming, running, lifeguarding, and reading. After completing her MA, she plans to teach beginning band in order to give back what she herself received: an influential music education from enthusiastic, caring teachers.
• Andrew Krikun
  Andrew Krikun is a PhD candidate in Music Education in the department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at NYU Steinhardt.
  
  He is Assistant Professor of Music at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey.  At Bergen, he teaches a variety of courses for music and non-music majors, including music business, music appreciation, music history, and songwriting. He also directs the Jazz and Pop/Rock Ensembles. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Bergen's Center for the Study of Intercultural Understanding. In 2006, he was awarded a Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Texas-National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development.
  
  Prof. Krikun received his MA in Ethnomusicology from UCLA, researching the music of Nepal and performing with the Balinese, Javanese, Ghanaian, Ugandan, and Afro-American ensembles. He received his BA in Music from Hunter College, where he studied composition with Ruth Anderson.  His articles have appeared in the Journal of Popular Music Studies, the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Diversity Digest, and The Beat. He has presented papers at several professional conferences, including the College Music Society and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.
  
  Prof. Krikun's research focuses on the historical role of the community college in popular music instruction in American higher education.  He is also active in the field of community music, as a founding member of the North American Coalition for Community Music, and as music curator of the non-profit performing arts center, Riverspace Arts in Nyack, NY.  In 2007-08, he was awarded a grant by the Bergen County Arts Council for the multicultural performing arts coffeehouse series, Café Bergen.
  
  As a singer-songwriter, Prof. Krikun has maintained an active career as a performer, composer, and recording artist. His band, “Andy and the Rattlesnakes,” was a seminal force in the L.A. Punk/New Wave scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, combining rock, R&B, reggae, jazz, and world beat to create a unique sound. A compilation CD of the band's recordings, Last Summer to Dance, was released in 2006.   In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Krikun joined the funk-rock band “Urban Artillery” as keyboardist and vocalist, and led the country-rock combo “Blazing Wheel,” releasing their CD, Racing Through My Heart, in 1993.  He has written music for theatre and film, including the Hollywood comedy, The Shot, written and directed by Dan Bell.
• Justin Dayhoff
  Justin Dayhoff is a third year undergraduate in the music education program with a concentration in trombone. Justin’s interest and passion in music is longstanding. Originally from Tampa, Florida, he began playing trombone with an independent jazz band performing throughout Florida and across several states. After relocating to Erie, Pennsylvania in 2001, he participated in both the Erie Junior Philharmonic and Greater Erie Youth Symphony Orchestra in addition to several PMEA, district, regional, and state festivals. At NYU Justin has continued to enjoy performing with many ensembles including the NYU Symphony, Brass Quintet, the NYU Jazz Orchestra, Big Band, New Music Ensemble, and Wind Ensemble.
  
  In addition to his passion for performance, Justin is incredibly passionate about music education. He would like to thank NYU for opening his eyes to engaging with what it means to be an educator. He constantly finds himself grappling with what it means to “know,” to “learn,” and to “teach.”  He often problematizes, challenges and inquires how he wants to teach and engage students and what it means to address and afford space for the multiple individuals in the classroom. He seeks to fight systems of oppression and replication that pervade so many classrooms in the attempt of fostering student-teacher reciprocity.
  
  In addition to his studies, Justin has spent time involved in several clubs, leadership and service organizations on campus including the Steinhardt Scholars, College Connection, the National Residence Hall Honorary, the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and Residential Education where he serves as the Resident Assistant for Featuring All Musical Endeavors Exploration Floor. Currently, he is also interning in the education department at the New Victory Theater. As junior year winds down, he looks forward to the stress of graduate school and scholarship applications right around the corner.