Jennifer Matthias (she/her) graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 2016 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. She is a former public school music educator teaching grades K-12 in Virginia. She has completed Orff Schulwerk levels I and II. Jennifer is currently a graduate student in the Music Therapy equivalency program at the University of Kentucky and research assistant for Alaine.

Riley Chenoweth (she/her) is a graduate student in the Music Therapy program at the University of Kentucky. She graduated in 2022 with a BA in Music Industry from Eastern Kentucky University. Riley is the student project manager on the Melo-SWell study.

Caroline Copley is a board-certified music therapist in the UK Music Therapy program and has completed a graduate certificate in Diversity and Inclusion. She has worked on several projects as Dr. Reschke-Hernandez’s research assistant. Her thesis regards biases about heavy music and implications for music therapy practice.

Mary Elizabeth Henton is the orchestra director for grades four through twelve at Model Laboratory Schools at Eastern Kentucky University, assistant conductor for the Bravo Orchestra for the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, and a Ph.D. candidate in Music Education at UK. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from Eastern Kentucky University and has her Rank 1 in Curriculum and Instruction with an endorsement in Gifted and Talented Education. She is an active member of the KY Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and was awarded the 2023 Orchestra Director of the Year. Her research topics include peer mentoring in string education, musical performance anxiety, and self-efficacy in music education.

Amber Parker, MT-BC is a music therapist based in Georgetown, KY. Amber received her Bachelor’s in vocal music and in Biblical Studies and Master of Arts in Christian Leadership from Kentucky Christian University. Upon discovering a way to combine her passions for music and working with people, she returned to school to obtain her equivalency degree in Music Therapy from the University of Kentucky. Amber met Alaine while working to complete her Masters degree in music therapy. Alaine’s compassion, insight, and beneficent guidance led Amber to request she serve as committee chair for her thesis focusing on integrating social-emotional learning and music therapy for adolescent mental health. In clinical practice, Amber’s primary focus includes working with children in mental health and in substance recovery.

amber.parker.mt@gmail.com

Chandi Millet Plummer has more than 20 years of experience as a teacher at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky, serves as the coordinator for voice studies, and excels in training voices in classical and contemporary commercial music. She regularly performs faculty recitals and was the conductor for the Women’s Chorale. In the 2022 International Clara Schumann Competition, she won second prize in the professional voice category. She received a B.M. in voice from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (studied with Patricia Berlin), an M.M. in voice performance from Southern Seminary, and will complete a D.M.A. in voice at the University of Kentucky, May 2024, where she studies with Dr. Everett McCorvey. She plans to apply what she has learned from Dr. Reschke-Hernandez’s course, “Psychology of Music,” in her dissertation and is honored to have her on her committee.

Caleb (he/him) is a board-certified music therapist and is currently completing a master’s degree in music therapy at the University of Kentucky. Caleb holds a bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from Indiana University and has completed the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certificate program at the University of Kentucky. As a music therapist, Caleb currently works in memory care/assisted living, rehab, and disability settings and with adults with Parkinson’s disease. Alaine is Caleb’s mentor and committee chair for his thesis titled, “More than Shave and a Haircut? The Relevance of Humor in Music Therapy Practice with Older Adults,” which is in line with Caleb’s desire to improve the quality of life and care for older adults.

Austin is a board-certified music therapist and Visiting Lecturer of music therapy at the University of Kentucky. Austin is a doctoral student in Rehabilitation and Health Sciences at the University of Kentucky and also the owner of Edge Music Therapy in Lexington, KY. Austin serves as a board member and conference coordinator for the Southeast Region of the American Music Therapy Association. He also serves as a board member with the Bluegrass Parkinson’s Association. Austin believes music can contribute to health and wellness. His primary areas of interest include utilization of music therapy in interdisciplinary treatment and the intersection of music, aging, and the brain.

Fairynne Rogers is a DMA Vocal Performance Candidate at the University of Kentucky. Her performance and teaching philosophies revolve not only around producing a healthy and sustainable sound, but also focusing on the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of the performer. Her research will investigate positive self-efficacy teaching methods in the collegiate vocal studio and hopes to create a useful guide on implementing these teaching methods.

fairynnerogers@gmail.com

Laura Elliott Buckner (they/them) has earned their Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education, a graduate certificate in Diversity and Inclusion, and they have completed Level I of the Orff Schulwerk training. Elliott is currently pursuing their Master of Music degree in Music Therapy at the University of Kentucky. They completed their music therapy equivalency course work at the University of Kentucky and their clinical internship at Louisville Expressive Therapies where they gained experience working with children and adults of all ages with various disabilities, mental illness, behavioral disorders at in-patient psychiatric facilities and various community programs across Louisville. Elliott’s approach to music therapy is an eclectic approach that draws heavily on Orff Schulwerk and goal-oriented approaches to help clients achieve their maximum potential. Elliott currently practices music therapy with students in school systems across central Kentucky, with both disabled and non-disabled preschool children, and with adults with ID/DD and various physical disabilities. Elliott’s personal professional vision statement is “Accessible and equitable music therapy for a greater quality of life.”

Angela Bowles Edwards is the Director of Health Equity at the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, working with communities historically underserved by social and health care services to eliminate health disparities. Angela graduated from Grinnell College in 2016 with a major in Psychology and a Concentration in Neuroscience. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Health through the Executive Public Health Administration and Policy program at the University of Minnesota. While participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Dr. Daniel Tranel’s lab at the University of Iowa in 2015, Angela had the opportunity to work with and learn from Alaine on a study of music and stress. Alaine’s guidance and faith in her helped build her confidence, involving her in the whole process from recruiting and testing participants to co-authoring a published paper.

Courtney Catron is a board-certified music therapist currently in the master’s program at the University of Kentucky. She has received an undergraduate degree in music therapy and music education. While attending UK she has been working in multiple settings including UKHC healthcare, childcare, skilled nursing, dementia groups, and adults with intellectual disabilities, both groups and individual.   

Emma King, MM, MT-BC (she/her) is a music therapist based in Lexington, KY. Emma holds a master’s degree in music therapy from the University of Kentucky and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Western Kentucky University. As a graduate student, Emma completed a qualitative phenomenological thesis titled “Leveraging Cultural Assets of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Individuals in Music Therapy” with Alaine as her thesis committee chair and mentor.

Emma (she/her) is a board-certified music therapist and holds a bachelor’s degree in music education. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in music therapy as well as a graduate certificate in Developmental Disabilities. Emma brings diverse experience from her completed internship at UK Healthcare and current work in private practice. These experiences include work with: childcare centers, schools, oncology, hospice, psychiatric, and pediatric populations. Emma’s research interests include early childhood development, parent-child interaction, and substance use disorders. Emma’s current research, with Alaine as advisor, is Expert Perceptions of Needs of Pregnant Individuals with Substance Use Disorder in Kentucky: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study. emmaforetlatham@uky.edu

Jasmine Leahy is a senior at Duke University studying music and neuroscience. In high school, she worked with Alaine at the University of Iowa on a project about music and emotion in patients with Alzheimer’s. Now she works in Dr. Tobias Overath’s auditory neuroscience lab at Duke, where she is currently working on an EEG study about encoding musical features in the brain. Alaine inspired her to not only study music cognition extensively in college, but also to become a doctor. Jasmine will be attending the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai after college to pursue her love of working with patients, which she discovered in part thanks to Alaine.

Emma Martin (MM, LPMT, MT-BC) is a board-certified and licensed music therapist currently living and working in Maryland. She received her undergraduate degree in music therapy from Slippery Rock University and her graduate degree in music therapy from the University of Kentucky. While at the University of Kentucky she completed her thesis, The Lived Supervision Experiences of Disabled Music Therapists, and received her NICU-MT designation. She now works as a music therapist and clinical coordinator for the Sonatina Center, where she specializes in providing music therapy services for infancy/early childhood, disability, and mental health settings. She is also the Music Therapy Clinical Coordinator and Supervisor at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, MD. She can be contacted via email at emma@thesonatinacenter.com.

Syra graduated with her Master’s Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis in May, 2023. She is still conducting “Singing Brain” interviews, highlighting female neuroscientists studying the impact of music on the brain, while applying to medical school.

Ashwathi Nair is a recent graduate from UCLA who studied psychobiology and bioinformatics. During the summer after her junior year of high school, she worked on research with Alaine at the University of Iowa about the effects of personally significant music on the feelings of Alzheimer’s patients. After shadowing Alaine at a music therapy session, she realized her research had real-world implications for patients, which inspired her to pursue medicine and become a physician. She is currently applying to medical schools while working as a research assistant at Rice University examining the neurobiological basis of emotional memories.

Alaina Sheridan (she/her) is a board-certified music therapist working with Wellness Therapy Services primarily in public schools in Lexington, Kentucky. She received her bachelors in music therapy and music education from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and then completed her master of music therapy degree and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion graduate certificate at the University of Kentucky. Her thesis was titled “A Brief Teacher Training on Using Music to Support Social Emotional Learning in Preschool: Training Materials Development.” The purpose of the thesis was to develop a one-day training that targeted preschool teachers’ uses of music-based activities to support culturally responsive SEL in the classroom. Alaina’s primary clinical and research interests include inclusive, equitable, and accessible early childhood music.