FAME Board of Directors 2025
The FAME Board of Directors meet monthly with the exception of December, and serve annually from July to June. Each year, Membership elects board members for two-year volunteer positions; in even years, a Vice-President, Secretary, and one Member-at-Large are elected. In odd years, a President-Elect, Treasurer, and one Member-at-Large are elected. The President-Elect becomes President in odd years, two years after their election as President-Elect. Voting runs from May 1st to June 1st with newly installed directors beginning service at the summer annual meeting held in July. All terms begin and end at the Annual Meeting each year.
Dr. John Feierabend, Artistic Director and Founder
Dr. John Feierabend is considered one of the leading authorities on music and movement development in childhood. He is a Professor Emeritus of Music Education at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford and is a past President of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. He has given presentations in all 50 states and many other countries. He is the author of over 70 books, recordings, and DVDs, several of which served as the inspiration for the award winning PBS children’s television series Lomax: The Hound of Music.
Dr. Feierabend has been honored as a Lowell Mason Fellow by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME); named University Educator of the Year by the Connecticut Music Educators Association; received the outstanding alumni award from Wayne State University; received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Organization of American Kodály Educators, the James Bent Award for outstanding achievement in scholarship and creativity from the University of Hartford, and was the first U.S. recipient of the LEGO Prize, an international award given annually to “an individual who has made a distinctive contribution to the betterment of children.”
Dr. Feierabend continues to be committed to collecting, preserving and teaching the diverse folk music of our country and using that folk music as a bridge to help children understand and enjoy classical music. Feierabend’s creativity and research has resulted in two music methods; First Steps in Music, a music and movement program for infants through elementary-aged children and Conversational Solfege, a music literacy method suitable for elementary through college-aged students.
Dr. Feierabend’s teaching has provided thousands of teachers and their students with the materials and techniques to help build community through music by evoking enthusiastic participation of all people. To that end his approach strives for all people to become tuneful, beatful and artful through research based and developmentally appropriate pedagogies while promoting the use of quality literature. In the summer of 2012 a group of dedicated and like-minded educators honored Dr. Feierabend’s 40 plus years of teaching and research with the formation of the Feierabend Association for Music Education.
Christopher Tranberg, President
Christopher Tranberg, Ph.D., is Superintendent of the Branford Public Schools in Branford, Connecticut. Prior to the superintendency, Christopher enjoyed several years as an assistant superintendent, high school principal, high school assistant principal, director of performing arts, and music educator. Christopher is a presenter and consultant in the areas of high reliability organizations, teaching and learning, teacher collaboration, and various topics in music education. Christopher is co-author of First Steps in Music with Orff Schulwerk, and Conversational Solfege with Orff Schulwerk, and is the current president and a founding member of the Feierabend Association of Music Education.
Lillie Feierabend, Vice President
Lillie is known for her work with young children and instilling a love of music within them. She has been an early childhood and general music educator for over thirty years and was a conductor for the Connecticut Children’s Chorus for seventeen. She has twice been honored with her respective district’s Teacher of the Year Award for her inclusive and innovative music programs, and in 2008 also received the Outstanding Elementary Music Educator Award from the Connecticut Music Educators Association.
She is a frequent clinician at local, state, national and international conferences, and has presented over three hundred lively and thought-provoking sessions on music and movement development. She conducts regional honors choirs, teaches weeklong workshops around the country, and is adjunct faculty at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. Over the course of her career, Lillie has mentored twenty-three student teachers and will forever be grateful for the opportunity.
Stephanie Schall-Brazee, President-Elect (2023)
Stephanie Schall-Brazee is an elementary general music teacher for the Traverse City Area Public Schools where she also directs the select Women’s Choir, Bella Voce. As a choral director, Stephanie’s choirs have consistently earned first degree ratings at festivals, and have been invited to sing at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2022 and 2023, Bella Voce was selected as one of 10 small ensembles to perform in the MSVMA All-State concert on the campus of Michigan State University. In addition to her public school teaching, Stephanie is the Artistic Director of the Northwest Michigan College Childrens’ Choir Program where she also directs the Intermezzo Choir.
Stephanie’s training includes a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Central Michigan University, and a Master of Music Education from The Hartt School, where she was a graduate assistant to Dr. John Feierabend.
As an endorsed Teacher Trainer for First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege, Stephanie has presented courses and sessions on “Singing Development in Young Children”, “First Steps in Music”, “Music and Movement in Preschool” and “Conversational Solfege”. In 2018, Stephanie co-authored a chapter in the book, Feierabend Fundamentals.
In 2018, Stephanie was selected as an Outstanding Educator by the Traverse City Area ISD. She has served two terms on the board for the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME) and is still actively involved in this important association serving as President-Elect.
Andrew Himelick, President-Elect (2025)
Andrew M. Himelick has been an elementary music teacher in Carmel, Indiana, for 32 years and has served as an assistant choral director with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir for 26 years. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Butler University in 1993, where he was recognized as Outstanding Student Teacher.
In 1999, he completed the Kodály Certificate of Music Education at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. He also completed Orff-Schulwerk Levels I and II at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota (2001–2002), and Level III at Anderson University in 2005.
Mr. Himelick was honored with the Martha Lea and Bill Armstrong Teacher Educator Award from the Indiana University School of Education in 2006. More recently, he received the Indiana Music Education Association’s Outstanding Elementary Music Educator Award in 2021 and was named Teacher of the Year at Towne Meadow Elementary in 2022.
A founding member of the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME), he has served as Treasurer and is currently President-Elect. He is an Endorsed Teacher Trainer in both First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege. With GIA Publications, he contributed to Feierabend Fundamentals, demonstrated lessons in First Steps in Music: In Action, and served as a choral arranger for Sing in Parts, Vol. 1.
Holly Hinchley, Secretary
Holly Hinchley has been teaching K-5 general music and choir since 2006. She currently teaches at Porter Lakes and Boone Grove Elementary in Northwest Indiana. She became familiar with First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege at the IMEA conference which prompted her to attend Silver Lake College to get certified in First Steps and Conversational Solfege. Since then she shares the love of being tuneful, beatful, and artful with her students, staff, and community.
Holly’s other passions include leadership training, content creation, and crafting. She lives in Chesterton, Indiana with her husband Bud and dogs Sharpy and Jewels.
Emily Woock, Treasurer
She currently serves at Concordia University Chicago, where she teaches courses in both music education and church music. She also serves as chapel organist and teaches applied organ. In addition to her work at the university, she works part-time as music director and organist at her church in Elmhurst, Illinois. She currently serves on the FAME board as treasurer.
Jessica Nohner, Member-at-Large
Jessica has been a music educator for sixteen years. Originally from Minnesota, Jessica earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Instrumental and General Music Education from St. Cloud State University. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in music education. Jessica’s perspective of music education is influenced by her teaching experiences in the Upper Midwest state of Minnesota and the Southeast state of Georgia. She views music education not only as a general music teacher but as an instrumentalist, middle and high school band director, elementary chorus teacher, and drama director. Jessica teaches K-5 vocal general music at Ball Ground Elementary School STEM Academy where she utilizes First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege. She directs the chorus and drama programs and is a member of the Leadership Team and STEM Committees. Jessica is certified in First Steps in Music, Conversational Solfege Levels 1&2, Orff Schulwerk Level 1 and is an active member of FAME.
David Rankine, Member-at-Large
David Rankine has been teaching music in schools, community organizations, and historic sites for more than 20 years. A certified Teacher Trainer in First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege with the Feierabend Association for Music Education, David completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University where he was an apprentice conductor with Dr. Mark Sirett, and his Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University where he received the L.W. Copp Teaching Award. He has presented throughout Canada and the United States including at the Ontario Music Educators Association Conferences, Music Conference Alberta, the Royal Conservatory of Music, Music-Ed Amplified Podcast, and the 2022 National Association for Music Education National Conference.
David is the former Artistic Director of the Gananoque Choral Society and was the Drum Major and Company Captain of the Fort Henry Guard where he received the Colonel Truman Crawford Cup, USMC, for Excellence in Music. A recipient of several scholarships from the Royal Canadian College of Organists, David has both Piano and Organ certifications from the Royal Conservatory of Music, is a Church Organist and Music Director, as well as the former Organist for the Kingston Frontenacs OHL Hockey Franchise.
In addition to his classroom work, he has received numerous grants and donations under the umbrella of ‘Building Community Through Music.’ Surmounting his belief that to build community one must go into the community, these proceeds have enabled more than 800 K-6 students to annually take part in and host Folk Festivals, May Day Festivals, and Family Folk Dances. During the COVID Epidemic, GIA Music published 8 Episodes of ‘Mr. Rankine’s Music Cabin,’ all based on the First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege curricula to help create a more Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful society. David lives in a forest just north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and two children, Eva and George.
Emily Maurek, Executive Director
Emily Maurek received a BS in Music Education and a minor in journalism from Ball State University in 1995, where she also was an Undergraduate Fellow in Music History. In 2004 she completed a Masters’ Degree in Music Technology from Indiana University and earned the Chancellor’s Scholar Award for the Department of Fine Arts. Since 1998, she has taught Kindergarten through fourth grade general music and choir with the Lake Central School Corporation in St. John, Indiana. Emily has presented conference sessions in conjunction with the Indiana Music Educators’ Association (IMEA), Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME), and the Wisconsin Music Education Association (WMEA) and Texas Music Educators (TMEA). In addition to hosting student teachers, she served on the state of Indiana Fine Arts Standards in Music revision committee in 2018. Emily is an endorsed FAME Teacher Trainer in First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege and is the current FAME Board President. Emily resides in Valparaiso, Indiana with her husband, John and their son Max.
Tom Hawley, Executive Treasurer
Tom Hawley is Vice President of Operations at GIA Publications, Inc. He is a CPA and received his Bachelors in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He worked in Public Accounting for seven years where GIA was one of his first clients. From 1995 to 1997, he worked as an Accounting Software consultant until he came to work for GIA.
He is the Principle String Bassist with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra in the suburban Chicago area and has an active string quartet that plays for weddings, etc. In addition, he is Treasurer of the Blue Island Arts Alliance and serves as Treasurer for the Board of Directors of the American Catholic Publishers and Executive Treasurer of the Feierabend Association for Music Education. He is also an Alderman for the City of Blue Island where he was appointed Mayor Pro-Tem and serves on the Community Development and Judiciary Committees. He is currently running for Treasurer of the City of Blue Island.
Past Board of Directors
President: Christopher Tranberg (2023 – 2025)
Vice President: Lillie Feierabend (2022 – 2025)
President-Elect: Stephanie Schall-Brazee (2023 – 2025)
Secretary: Holly Hinchley (2022 – 2026)
Treasurer: Emily Woock (2023 – 2027)
Member-at-Large: Jess Nohner (2021 – 2027)
Member-at-Large: David Rankine (2023 – 2025)
