WILLIAM DABBACK, Assistant Professor
William Dabback holds degrees in music education from West Chester University (B.S., summa cum laude, 1991) and the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music (M.M., 2000, Ph.D. 2007). Dr. Dabback has supervised student teachers and taught instrumental methods courses, brass techniques, and conducting in the James Madison University School of Music since 2005. His previous collegiate teaching experience includes undergraduate courses and student teaching supervision at Eastman and courses in music appreciation at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Prior to commencing his doctoral studies, Dr. Dabback was music director at Towanda Area High School in Pennsylvania from 1991 to 2003 where he directed the concert, jazz, and marching bands and taught electives in music theory and history.
Dr. Dabback has presented papers and workshops on adult music learning and music improvisation at international symposia and conferences in the United States and Canada and is published in the International Journal of Community Music through New York University. He is active as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the eastern United States. He was an instructor and conductor for the New Horizons Band of Rochester, New York during his three-year residency at Eastman. He continues to teach and perform as a trumpet player in the Madison Brass, the resident brass quintet at James Madison University, and the Massanutten Brass, a British-style brass band in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. His principal teachers include Kenneth Laudermilch, Douglas Prosser, Wesley Nance, Clay Jenkins, and Jimmie Amadie. He is a member of MENC (The National Association for Music Education), the MayDay Group, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha.
Email: dabbacwm@jmu.edu
Office: 540.568.3464
CHARLES DOTAS, Associate Professor
B.M., University of Wisconsin at Green Bay; M.M., Eastman School of Music, and D.A. from the University of Northern Colorado. He comes to JMU from Montreal, Quebec, where he was professor of jazz studies at McGill University. He also taught in the Wisconsin public schools for six years. He studied composition and jazz arranging with Ray Wright, Manny Albam, Bill Dobbins, Fred Sturm and Samuel Adler. His music has been performed in Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and throughout the United States by artists such as Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Phil Woods and Steve Kuhn. His music is published through UNC Jazz Press and Margun Music.
Email: dotascj@jmu.edu
Office: 540.568.6180
LISA MAYNARD, Assistant Professor
B.M., University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; M.M. in Music Education, The University of Texas at Austin; Ph.D. in Music Education, The University of Texas at Austin.
Lisa Maynard is Assistant Professor of String Music Education at James Madison University where she works with music education majors in string technique, instructional methodology, string literature, and introduction to music education classes. Dr. Maynard also works with graduate students at the masters and doctoral level (both in music education and performance) in music pedagogy in higher education classes, and music education research and psychology classes. In addition, Maynard serves as a supervisor to students completing their student teaching experience, and for graduate students completing their masters theses and projects.
Prior to her appointment at JMU, Dr. Maynard served as Assistant Professor of Music Education at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and as a Visiting Instructor of Music Education at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Her initial experiences as a music educator involved teaching classroom music and strings in Australia. She came to the United States in 1989 on a Rotary Graduate Scholarship to study toward a masters degree at The University of Texas at Austin where she was a teacher and conductor in The University of Texas String Project, and studied ‘cello and string pedagogy with Phyllis Young. Following this, Maynard taught orchestra in the Eanes Independent School District in Austin, Texas until her decision to return to UT Austin to pursue doctoral studies. Her dissertation was entitled The Role of Repetition in the Practice Sessions of Artist Teachers and Their Students.
At JMU, Lisa Maynard serves as Director and Master Teacher in the JMU String Project. The String Project is funded in part by a grant from the National String Project Consortium, and provides JMU music education majors with valuable teaching experience through their work teaching string instruments to children from the local Harrisonburg and Rockingham communities.
Dr. Maynard's articles have appeared in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Teaching Music, Southwestern Musician, Texas Music Education Research, Florida Music Director, and Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra (Volumes II and III). She is active as a clinician at conferences of music educators at the state and national level, in addition to serving as an adjudicator and conductor for a number of school districts both in Texas and Virginia. Her past professional contributions have included service as Secretary and Membership Chair for the Texas Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and as a member of the Research Committee for the Texas Music Education Research journal. More recent professional collaborations include service on the ASTA Research Committee, the Executive Board of the Virginia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and the College Advisory Committee of VASTA.
Email: maynarlm@jmu.edu
Office: 540.568.6465
GARY RITCHER, Professor, Coordinator of Music Education
B.S., University of Illinois; M.A., The Ohio State University; Ed.D., University of Illinois. He taught for 10 years as an elementary music specialist in Colorado. He has made presentations at the state and national conventions of Music Educators National Conference and The American Choral Directors Association. He is director of the JMU Orff/Kodaly Ensemble and holds Level III Orff certification from George Mason University. He has served as a guest clinician of district and state children's choirs and is founder and past director of the Southern Illinois Children's Choir. He is co-author of Horizons, a collection of international children's songs and state adviser for the Collegiate Music Education National Conference.
Email: ritchegk@jmu.edu
Office: 540.568.6753
