Faculty and Department News
New Faculty Members
The Department of Music and Theatre Arts has three new faculty members whose talent and experience will continue UW-Eau Claire's reputation for excellence in the performing arts.
- Jennifer Chapman - theatre education
- Owen Lovell - applied piano
- Laura Wayth - theatre
UW-Eau Claire Music Professor Chosen for Maxwell Schoenfeld Distinguished Professorship
Vanissa Murphy, professor of music and theatre arts, is the 10th recipient of the Maxwell Schoenfeld Distinguished Professorship at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
- Vanissa Murphy - music education
Jennifer Chapman, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts
Dr. Jennifer J. Chapman received her Ph.D. in Theatre and Drama with an emphasis in Theatre for Youth in 2005 and M.A. in Theatre and Drama in 1998 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her B.A. from San Francisco State University in 1995. Dr. Chapman joins the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Music & Theatre Arts Department as Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts in the fall of 2008 teaching theatre education classes and directing Theatre for Young Audiences. Previously Dr. Chapman taught theatre classes at Albion College in Michigan, Bluffton College in Ohio, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Owen Lovell, Assistant Professor of Music
Pianist Owen Lovell earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where his primary teacher was Boris Slutsky. While in Baltimore, he studied additionally with Julian Martin, Ellen Mack, and Leon Fleisher. Owen served as the staff pianist for the Peabody orchestras, and was awarded the Clara Ascherfeld Prize in Accompanying by the director of the Conservatory in 1997. In 1999, he was inducted to the Pi Kappa Lambda musical honor society by the faculty. Owen Lovell received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005, where his principal instructors were Dr. Betty Mallard and Gregory Allen.
Dr. Lovell has appeared as a soloist, accompanist, chamber musician, and new music advocate in New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Wisconsin, Ontario (Canada), Mexico and the Netherlands. During his tenure as pianist for the University of Texas New Music Ensemble, Dr. Lovell worked with many prizewinning composers, most notably Lowell Liebermann, Michael Torke, Samuel Adler, Joan Tower, Dan Welcher, Eric Ewazen, David Maslanka, Denis Smalley, and Roberto Sierra. He has been heard in live performance on Austin’s NPR affiliate, KUT-FM.
Dr. Lovell has been appointed as an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in fall 2008, where his duties include teaching applied piano lessons and class piano. He previously served on the keyboard faculties of the University of Texas—San Antonio, Texas State University, and the Eastern U.S. Music Camp at Colgate University.
Visit Dr. Lovell’s personal website for more information: www.owenlovell.com
Laura Wayth, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts
Laura Wayth received her MFA from the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University and the Moscow Art Theatre School Institute in Russia. Ms. Wayth has taught and coached voice, acting and musical theatre at Louisiana State University, Tufts University, Boston College, the Moscow Art Theatre, the College of the Holycross, and most recently as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Miami BFA and BA programs. She was a 2002-2003 Fulbright Fellow to Moscow. In addition to her teaching and training in Russia, she has worked internationally as a teacher and coach in Italy, Morocco and at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Ms. Wayth joins the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Music & Theatre Arts Department in the fall of 2008 as Assistant Professor of Theatre teaching acting, directing, voice, and theatre history classes.
Vanissa Murphy, Professor of Music
Vanissa Murphy, professor of music and theatre arts, is the 10th recipient of the Maxwell Schoenfeld Distinguished Professorship at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The award, created in honor of Maxwell Schoenfeld, a UW-Eau Claire history professor and scholar from 1964 until his death in 1996, recognizes a commitment to the university, achievement in scholarship and a commitment to student learning and life.
"Because of the way this award was set up to honor teaching and scholarship, I think it is one of the most meaningful ways to be recognized," said Murphy who joined the UW-Eau Claire music and theatre arts department in 1989. "It is very humbling and an honor to be the recipient. I'm very appreciative."
She will use the funds to continue her research looking at the educational implications of the current body of knowledge regarding brain-based learning, Murphy said.
"There's a debate in the world of education about the usefulness of brain-based learning," Murphy said. "Articles published in the 1980s suggested brain-based pedagogy would help students learn better. Other authors dispelled that suggestion because there was not a large enough body of research to support some of the claims. Because of advances in technology, the last 10 years have provided much more detailed information on this topic."
As an example, a PET brain scan — a nuclear magnetic imaging technique that produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the brain — might show certain areas of the brain are more active when listening to music and those areas differ depending upon whether the listener is a novice or a trained musician, Murphy said. We also know that certain areas of the brain are bigger in the brains of children who study, for example, violin for many years before age 11, she said.
"Based on that information, some people would believe that those larger areas imply something about the superior development of that brain and we should, therefore, have children study violin before a certain age," Murphy said. "The truth is we don't know what, or if, there is any sort of correlation. We need to do more studies."
Murphy said she might use some of the award funds to attend the Connecting the Mind, Brain, and Education Institute at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., in June. The institute will bring together educators and researchers to explore promising developments, new insights and emerging connections in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and educational practice.
"The information from this institute has the potential to change how I teach and redesign courses, ultimately making me a much better teacher and, in turn, positively impact student learning," Murphy said.
Murphy has applied for a sabbatical starting in fall 2009 during which she plans to continue her inquiry into brain-based research. A sabbatical would coincide nicely with receiving the Schoenfeld award, she said.
She hopes to publish the results of her brain-based research in Wisconsin School Musician, the Journal of Teacher Education and the Journal of Music Teacher Education. She also plans to submit a poster for consideration at the Music Educators National Conference. In addition, she hopes her research will present opportunities for student-faculty collaboration.
Murphy earned a bachelor's degree from Middle Tennessee State University; a master's degree from the University of Kentucky; and a doctorate in music education, with emphasis in elementary music education and piano pedagogy, from the University of North Texas.
Murphy's previous research projects regarding interdisciplinary lessons in general music, teacher recruitment and retention, as well as reflective inquiry in action research projects, resulted in presentations at national MENC conferences, Wisconsin Music Educators conferences and the Innovations in Music Teacher Education Symposium. She serves as the Wisconsin Music Educators Association state coordinator of the Mentoring and Professional Development Project; state chair of the college/university area of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association; and the National Association for Music Education: MENC chair of the Wisconsin Society for Music Teacher Education.
--New Bureau, Sept. 2008
