Staff Directory

Dean's Office

James Forger, Dean
The Dean is responsible to the Provost for the educational, research, service, and performance programs of the College of Music. This responsibility includes budgetary matters, physical facilities, and personnel matters in his or her jurisdiction, taking into account the advisory procedures of the College.

  • 105 Music Building
  • Email: forger@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-4583
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

Shawn Myrda Mahorney, Administrative Assistant to the Dean
Provides administrative support to the dean; manages travel and master class proposals; manages reappointment/promotion/tenure process;  and distributes and collects Faculty Information Forms.

  • 105 Music Building
  • Email: myrdasha@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-4583
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

Rodney Whitaker, Special Assistant to the Dean, Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Director of Jazz Studies

 

Associate Deans' Offices

Derrick Fox, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Creative Endeavors, Professor of Choral Music
For questions about graduate study in the College of Music, please send an email message to the address below. Graduate advising; certifies all College of Music graduate degrees for graduation; mediates between graduate students and faculty as needed; answers curricular questions from prospective students.

  • 102 Music Building
  • Email: musgrad@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-7667
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Anne Simon, Administrative Assistant to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Creative Endeavors
Oversees the general office operations in the graduate office. Informs and assists students and faculty regarding assistantships, fellowships, travel and research awards, dissertation completion awards, graduation, curriculum, enrollment issues, comprehensive examinations, deadlines, and university, college, and Office of International Students and Scholars policies.

  • 116 Music Building
  • Email: musgrad@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-9122
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Susan Hoekstra, Graduate Advisor
Advises all incoming and current graduate students and provides annual progress report to each student. Informs and assists faculty and students regarding graduation requirements, curriculum, and enrollment issues. Provides liaison with OISS and approves CPT and OPT forms for international students. Monitors completion of Responsible Conduct of Research requirements. Coordinates the course schedule for summer session, new graduate student orientation, comprehensive examinations, orientation examination in music theory.

  • 204 Music Practice Builiding
  • Email: shoekst@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 884-9448
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Michael Kroth, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Professor of Bassoon
Directs and coordinates undergraduate academic student affairs, scheduling of courses, scholarships, academic orientation programs, and annual production of Undergraduate Handbook for the College of Music; guides curricular changes; mediates between undergraduate students and faculty; coordinates non-tenured teaching observations, study abroad and study away programs, administrative academic actions involving undergraduate students, SIRS program from all College of Music students, and undergraduate research; plans and directs undergraduate commencement; and serves as College of Music liaison with Honors College.

  • 155 Music Building/203 Music Building
  • Email: kroth@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-4585
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880/(517) 355-7663

Talitha Wimberly, Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs
Undergraduate and some graduate advising; degree certification; summer Academic Orientation Program and Fall Welcome; approval of academic forms; financial aid monitoring; career counseling; at-risk students; Alumni Distinguished Scholar program; study abroad; undergraduate awards; and internships.

  • 206 Music Practice Building
  • Email: talithat@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 432-2616
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880
  • Advising hours in the College of Music vary from semester to semester. In order to make an appointment please click here to use the Advisor Calendar. You will need to sign in with your MSU ID and password. 

Dan Hanrath, Undergraduate Academic Advisor
Undergraduate advising; degree certification; summer Academic Orientation Program and Fall Welcome; approval of academic forms; financial aid monitoring; career counseling; at-risk students; Alumni Distinguished Scholar program; study abroad; undergraduate awards; and internships.

  • 205 Music Practice Building
  • Email: hanrathd@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-6481
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880
  • Advising hours in the College of Music vary from semester to semester. In order to make an appointment please click here to use the Advisor Calendar. You will need to sign in with your MSU ID and password. 

Christine Bastian, Assistant Dean for Operations and Strategic Initiatives

Directs and coordinates operations for the College of Music, including providing leadership and oversight of the following areas: Piano Technology, Recording Services, Computer Support, Event/Concert Production Management, Facilities (building management, maintenance issues and renovations), the Main Office, and career education inititatives including the Running Start  program.

Admissions Office

Benjamin Ebener, Director of Admissions
Provides admissions and recruitment services for music minor, undergraduate and graduate applicants. Manages music scholarship and named awards. Enrollment management and admissions policy/procedure support for faculty.

Grimaldo Robles, Assistant Director of Admissions
Provides admissions and recruitment services for music minor, undergraduate and graduate applicants. Manages music scholarship and named awards. Enrollment management and admissions policy/procedure support for faculty.

 

Advancement Office

Ann-Marie Lindley, Senior Director
Serves as the chief development officer and member of the Dean's executive leadership team to grow philanthropic support from individuals, corporations, and foundations. In addition, manages a team of professional and administrative staff to advance philanthropic support for the College's faculty, students, and programs.

  • 155 Music Building
  • Email: alindley@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 432-4889
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

BethAnne Kunert, Associate Director
Assists the Senior Director of Development for the College of Music with planning and implementing a comprehensive fundraising program for the College of Music with a focus on managing a portfolio of individual major gift prospects to fully develop potential gifts to support students, programs, faculty, and facilities in the College of Music.

  • Address: 101 Music Practice Building
  • Email: kunertel@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-4331
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

Katie Bethel, Assistant Director
Assists the Senior Director of Development for the College of Music with planning and implementing a comprehensive fundraising program. Directs the annual giving program and manages a portfolio of individual major gift prospects to fully develop potential gifts to support students, programs, faculty, and facilities in the College of Music.

  • 112 Music Practice Building
  • Email: bethelka@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 432-4888
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

Amy Rivard, Administrative Assistant
Performs administrative tasks necessary to assist with the overall management of the College of Music's Advancement Office. In addition, the position provides support to the Senior Director of Development, Associate Director of Development, and Assistant Director of Development.

  • 153 Music Building
  • Email: arivard@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-9872
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

Lisa Wilton, Director of Special Events
Responsible for providing leadership and direction for events coordinated by the Advancement Office, Career Services Office, and special projects from the Dean's Office. This involves managing the logistics, coordination, and execution of College programs and events, including, but not limited to, donor receptions and dinners; special off-site performances; convocation, commencement, and distinguished alumni events; guest artist residencies and concerts; special projects and festivals. In addition, this collaborative position supports concert production, including the ticketing system, box office, and student events staff management.

  • 210 Music Building
  • Email: wiltonlk@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-3844
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

 

Band Office

Lupe Dominguez, Office Assistant
Provides administrative support to Bands, Brass, Communications, Conducting, Music Ed, Musicology, Orchestra, Percussion, Piano Tech, Strings, and Woodwinds areas. Makes travel arrangements, prepares reimbursement requests, purchases supplies, pays guest honoraria and vendors, deposits funds, reconciles accounts, and coordinates bands and orchestra activities. Performs hiring and payroll functions for bands and orchestra student and temp/on-call employees under the leadership of the HR Director.

  • A240 Billman Music Pavilion
  • Phone: (517) 355-7654
  • Fax: (517) 432-0726

     

Career Services and Music Entrepreneurship

Christine Bastian, Assistant Dean for Operations and Strategic Initiatives
Directs the Running Start program for career and professional development; provides career and creative project coaching for undergraduate and graduate students; teaches career related coursework and programs; coordinates student experiential learning and outreach activities; develops relationships with employers and organizations; manages Music in the Garden summer series and Entrepreneurial Musical Artist in Residence program.

  • 110 Music Practice Building
  • Email: beamerch@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 432-7371
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Emily Henley, Assistant Director of Career Education 
Coordinator of the Running Start program for career and professional development; teaches career related coursework and programs; coordinates student experiential learning and outreach activities; develops relationships with employers and organizations.

  • 207 Music Practice Building
  • Email: henleyem@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-9939
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Nicole Bouwkamp, Career Education Performance and Marketing Coordinator
Manage the MSU classical gigline to coordinate performance opportunities for current students; manage digital and physical marketing for the career education office to publicize events, opportunities, and resources.

  • 202 Music Practice Building
  • Email: bouwka11@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-4585
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Communications Office

College communications, marketing, advertising, branding, public relations and media relations; print and digital communications, including the College of Music website and social media; event publicity and concert promotion; College of Music audio and video recording services, editing and mastering for live and recorded concert production, and video story-telling.

Michael Sundermann, Director
Directs overall activities for the Communications Office and oversees marketing, advertising and media relations, and promotes concerts and events through print and digital platforms.

  • 253 Music Building
  • Email: sunderm7@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-2043
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

Rick Seguin, Communications Manager
Develops, directs and edits content for articles, announcements, and press releases. Manages social media and oversees content development, digital strategies and content deployment.

  • 253 Music Building
  • Email: seguinr@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-9958
  • Fax: (517) 432-7081

Community Music School – East Lansing  www.cms.msu.edu

Jaime DeMott, Director, Community Music School - East Lansing
Oversees all Community Music School operations and strategic planning. Manages all faculty and staff at the Community Music School.

  • 101 Community Music School, 4930 S. Hagadorn Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823
  • Email: jdemott@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 884-4827
  • Fax: (517) 355-3292

Kathryn Pletka, Registrar
Registers all individuals at the Community Music School including management of accounts.  Serves as Pre-College Youth Programs representative and oversees all aspects of summer camp programming. 

Carmen Zavala-Kelly, Administrative Assistant
Provides budgeting, financial reporting and financial transaction processing for the Community Music Schools in East Lansing and Detroit as well as overseeing the hiring processes and payroll for both locations. Additionally, oversees financial aid application requests for the Community Music School - East Lansing.

Mary Fukagawa, Receptionist
Greets students, families and visitors that participate in Community Music School programming and supports the Registrar with registrations and billing functions. Also produces programs and maintains instrument inventory.

Community Music School – Detroit  www.cms.msu.edu/detroit 

Kristopher Johnson, Director, Community Music School – Detroit
Carries out the strategic vision of the CMS-D and its implementation by overseeing programming, operations, financial planning, fundraising, and marketing; builds broad community support and facilitates community partnerships.

  • 3408 Woodward, Detroit, MI 48201
  • Email: john1678@msu.edu
  • Phone: (313) 578-9716
  • Fax: (313) 578-9701

Paola M. Smith, Assistant Director, Community Music School – Detroit 
Oversees the daily administration of the CMS-D including management of personnel, recruitment, community outreach and engagement, special events, marketing, scheduling and operations. 

  • 3408 Woodward, Detroit, MI 48201
  • Email: smithpao@msu.edu
  • Phone: (313) 578-9716
  • ​ Fax: (313) 578-9701

Jonathan Klar, Program Manager
Manages the daily and ongoing tasks related to Early Childhood, Aspiring Musicians Program (AMP), and Music Therapy programs.

  • 3408 Woodward, Detroit, MI 48201
  • Email: klarjona@msu.edu
  • Phone: (313) 578-9716
  • Fax: (313) 578-9701

Keir Lee, Program Manager
Manages the daily and ongoing tasks related to Adult, Verses, and Spartan Youth Jazz programs.

  • 3408 Woodward, Detroit, MI 48201
  • Email: Leekeir@msu.edu
  • Phone: (313) 578-9716
  • Fax: (313) 578-9701

Christie Lower, Program Manager
Manages the daily and ongoing tasks related to Early Childhood Music programs.

  • 3408 Woodward, Detroit, MI 48201
  • Email: lowerchr@msu.edu
  • Phone: (313) 578-9716
  • Fax: (313) 578-9701

Computer Support

Justin Baker, Network Administrator
Serves as System Administrator for the College of Music, CMS East Lansing and CMS Detroit. Responsible for hardware and software needs, IT processes, computer and server systems, IT budgeting and ordering, the monitoring of system performance and troubleshooting.

Health, Safety and Wellness

Christian Gibson, Embedded Counselor 
In-person and telehealth counseling appointments for undergraduate and graduate students in the college of music; group counseling; support for faculty and staff including consultations, class visits, and training.

Facilities

Chuck Roberts, Facilities Coordinator 
Provides daily oversight to the operation of the College of Music Facilities. This to include; scheduling classes and special events, setting rooms, access control, transportation of instruments, and maintenance and repair of facilities and equipment.

Nick Raffaele portraitNick Raffaele, Operations Manager
Head of operations at Fairchild Theater, College of Music liaison to Wharton Center, Alumni Chapel and other outside venues. Provides scheduling, technical consultation, and the advancement of concerts and events as sponsored by the College of Music.

  • Fairchild Theatre, 124 Auditorium Building
  • 216 Music Building (M-W-F, 9-noon)
  • Email: raffael2@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-5711

Jim Peters, Fairchild Stage Manager
Assists with the daily supervision, maintenance, and operation of Fairchild Theatre as it relates to the College of Music’s rehearsals, recitals, events and performances; serves as the supervising Stage Manager during production activities, while also training and assisting the student event staff to run successful events. 

Christy Jung, Box Office Coordinator
Manage the ticket box office during performances to make sure the sales events run smoothly; sell customer tickets, handle seat exchanges, print tickets, and handle monetary transactions.

Finance Office

Andrea Worful, Director of Finance
Leads the Finance Team. Prepares and manages the budget, and oversees all accounts. Approves all financial transactions for the college including reimbursements, payments to vendors and purchases.  Prepares reports on behalf of the college, and helps implement college initiatives and strategic projects.

  • 205 Music Building
  • Email: worful@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-1811
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Renee Graff, Finance/HR coordinator 
Provides administrative support to Admissions, Advising, Career Services/Entrepreneurship, Composition, Computer Support, Counselor, Facilities, Keyboard, Music Theory, Recording/Video Services, and Voocal Arts areas. Makes travel arrangements, prepares reimbursement requests, purchases supplies, pays guest honoraria and vendors, deposits funds, reconciles accounts and manages ticket revenue reconciliation. Performs hiring and payroll functions for student and temp/on-call employees for all areas except bands and orchestra under the leadership of the HR Director.

  • 115 Music Building
  • Email: graffren@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 432-8675
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Lupe Dominguez, Office Assistant
Provides administrative support to Brass, Chamber Music, Communications/Marketing, Conducting, Music Education, Musicology, Percussion, Piano Tech, Strings, and Woodwinds areas. Makes travel arrangements, prepares reimbursement requests, purchases supplies, pays guest honoraria and vendors, deposits funds, reconciles accounts, and coordinates bands and orchestra activities. Performs hiring and payroll functions for bands and orchestra student and temp/on-call employees under the leadership of the HR Director.

  • A240 Pavilion
  • Email: doming38@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-7650
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Lynne Funk, Office Assistant
Oversees the Main Office. Manages key loans, room reservations and incoming mail and packages. Prepares and prints concert programs for faculty, guest artists and students. Serves as the College of Music Box Office during normal business hours. Generates monthly financial reports. Schedules and supervises student employees.

  • 102 Music Building
  • Email: funklynn@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-5340
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880
     

Human Resources

LaConya Murchison, Human Resources Director
Provides leadership and directs the human resources tasks and initiatives of the College of Music including staffing and recruitment, faculty reappointments, employee relations, performance management, faculty and staff merit processes and coordinating the reappointment, promotion and tenure process.

 

Jazz Office

Cookey Whitaker, Assistant to Director of Jazz Studies; Assistant to Director of Diversity & Inclusion/Special Assistant to Dean; Specialist; Advisor; Artist Representative for MSU Professors of Jazz and Spartan Jazz Ensembles; Jazz Studies Area Librarian
Provides administrative support to the director of Jazz Studies, jazz faculty, support staff and students; manages jazz library; organizes travel/hotel/dining events, master classes and workshops for jazz faculty, staff, students and guest artists; arranges jazz/diversity meetings and jazz undergraduate/graduate recital events.

  • A233 Billman Music Pavilion
  • Email: whitak48@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 432-6449
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Tim Blackmon, Jazz Events Coordinator
Coordinates tours for the jazz area; road manager on all jazz area tours; live sound engineer for all jazz area performances; facilitates jazz area's social media pages; jazz festival coordinator; jazz camp coordinator.

  • A210 Billman Music Pavilion
  • Email: blackm76@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 432-4837
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

 

Main Office

Lynne Funk, Operations Coordinator
Oversees and manages the operations of the Main Office, responsible for training and supervising student employees. Serves as the main point of contact for event scheduling for multiple performance venues. Coordinates communications between multiple internal stakeholders to ensure successful execution of performance activities.

  • 102 Music Building
  • Email: funklynn@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-5340
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

 

Music Library

Laura Thompson, Music Librarian
Develops and manages library music collections in a broad range of areas of study, styles, genres, and formats and manages the services and facilities within the Music Library. Provides music information literacy instruction and music research assistance in all areas relevant to the study and performance of music at MSU. Visit the Music Library website for more information.

  • W410 Library (Music Library, within the Main Library)
  • Email: thom2552@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 353-1857

 

Piano Technology

Provides tuning and technical services for over 215 pianos and other keyboard instruments within the College of Music's practice rooms, classrooms, faculty studios, and performance venues.​​

Billy Sadler, Lead Artist Piano Technician
Services pianos; assists in the operation of keyboard inventory management; provides concert production assistance.

  • 97 Music Building
  • Email: sadlerw2@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-3813
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

Dave Foster, Artist Piano Technician
Services pianos; assists in the operation of keyboard inventory management; provides concert production assistance.

Book Time for Piano Tuning or visit the Piano Technology SharePoint site

  • 97 Music Building
  • Email: foste326@msu.edu
  • Phone: (517) 355-3813
  • Fax: (517) 432-2880

 

Recording Services

Jen Shangraw, Recording Engineer
Oversees the scheduling and services for audio recording, editing and mastering for concerts, faculty and student recitals, and recording sessions as well as sound reinforcement.

Justin Rumenapp, Video Producer/Director
Provides video capture of concerts and special events, broadcasts live events, conducts video interviews, directs story content, edits final production, and manages digital video channels.