MUSIC EDUCATION FACULTY
O. Richard Bundy joined the University Park faculty in 1983. He is director of the Penn State Marching Blue Band. In addition, he teaches courses in conducting, marching band techniques, instrumental music education, and band literature.
An active guest conductor and adjudicator, Bundy has conducted ensembles and presented clinics throughout the eastern United States and Canada. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Music Educators National Conference, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, Phi Beta Mu, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He is a past president of the Eastern Division of CBDNA and Phi Beta Mu, Nu chapter.
He received his undergraduate degree in music education from Penn State and, after receiving a master's degree from The University of Michigan, returned to Penn State for his doctoral degree. Prior to his appointment to the faculty, he served as trombonist with the United States Continental Army Band and as band director/instrumental music instructor in the Iroquois School District, Erie, Pennsylvania.
Ann C. Clements, is Associate Professor of Music Education in The Pennsylvania State University School of Music. An active researcher and clinician, Clements has directed ensembles and given presentations throughout the United States and in New Zealand, Japan, Australia, and Canada. She has published in Journal of Research in Music Education (JRME), Journal of Research in the New Zealand Performing Arts, General Music Today, The Mountain Lake Reader, and the International Society for Music Education (ISME) Pacific Region Proceedings.
She is co-author of the textbook Field Guide to Student Teaching in Music, published by Routledge Press and is the editor of the book Alternative Approaches in Music Education: Case Studies from the Field published by Rowman and Littlefield in association with MENC. She is a chapter editor and author to the textbook Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education (eds. Andersen & Campbell), published by Rowan and Littlefield, and a contributing author to the Making Music series, published by Scott Foresman/Silver Burdett and The Choral Cookbook, published by Hal Leonard.
Her primary areas of interest include secondary general music, middle school/junior high choral music, music participation, and ethnomusicology, particularly within the Pacific Rim and Polynesia. She is a member of the National Association for Music Education (MENC), the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference (PMEA) of which she is Culture and Community State Chair, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) of which she is the state Ethic and Multicultural Chair, and the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) of which she currently serves as the international Education Chair.
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Robert Gardner is a bassist, conductor, and composer with experience in a wide variety of musical genres. He has served on the faculty of the Penn State School of Music since 2003, where he is an assistant professor of music education, specializing in stringed instrument playing and teaching, orchestral conducting, and alternative styles for string ensembles. Gardner has written chapters and articles in various publications, including Arts Education Policy Review and American String Teacher, and has given presentations at conferences and workshops throughout the country. His research has focused on the nature of improvisation and composition, as well as the supply and demand of American public school music teachers. Several of his pieces and arrangements for string orchestra are available through Alfred Publishers.
Robert received his bachelor’s degree in music education from the Ohio State University, and his master's and Ph.D. degrees in music education from the Eastman School of Music. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State, he served as orchestra director and instructor for public school districts in Ohio and New York. Gardner was also music director for two youth orchestras at the Hochstein School of Music, and has been guest conductor for many honors ensembles. He has designed and directed programs for adult learners and alternative styles for string ensembles. Robert has served as chairperson of the Alternative Styles Task Force for the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), and as president of the Pennsylvania Delaware chapter of ASTA (PADESTA).
Anthony Leach is professor of music and music education at Penn State. He holds degrees in music and music education from Lebanon Valley College (Annville, Pennsylvania) and Penn State. A native of Washington, D.C., Leach taught choral and general music for fourteen years in Maryland, New York City, and Pennsylvania prior to joining the School of Music faculty in 1994. At Penn State, Leach teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in music education and conducts the University Choir and Essence of Joy. During the 2009–2010 academic year, Leach served as Penn State Laureate.
Currently, Dr. Leach serves as artist-in-residence at the New Bethel Baptist Church, Washington, D.C. From 1997 to 2003, he served as national chair for the American Choral Directors Association's Repertoire and Standards Committee on Ethnic and Multicultural Perspectives. Currently, Leach and Sam Martinborough serve as co-chairs for the Eastern Division ACDA Committee on Urban Coalitions. He also serves as music director for Essence 2 and the Essence of Joy Alumni Singers.
Joanne Rutkowski, Professor of Music Education and Coordinator of Music Education Programs has been a member of the faculty since 1984. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education with particular emphases in music learning and development, curriculum design, assessment, and music for children birth through 12-years-old.
Her research on the nature of the child singing voice and the development of techniques and materials for enhancing the singing achievement of children in a classroom setting has been presented at state, regional, national, and international symposia and conferences. She has written articles for numerous journals including The Journal of Research in Music Education, General Music Today, Update, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education and Contributions to Music Education, and has published chapters in the Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, The Musical Lives of Young Children and Early Adolescence: Perspectives on Research, Policy, and Intervention. She is also co-author of the MENC publication, TIPS: The Child Voice. She is a member of the Music Educators National Conference (having just completed a 6-year appointment to the national executive board of the Society for Research in Music Education), the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Rutkowski received her degrees in music education from Miami University (Ohio), B.M., and the State University of New York at Buffalo, M.F.A., and Ph.D. She has taught general and choral music, grades K-8, in Ohio and New York. Currently she provides music experiences for children ages 3-5 at a day care center on the University Park campus and for children ages birth-5 at the State College Music Academy. For additional information about the Music Academy program, please visit http://www.scmusicacademy.org/all-program.php.
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Debbie Smith (biography coming soon)
Linda Thornton was appointed assistant professor of music education at Penn State in 2002, having previously served in a similar position at the State University of New York, College at Fredonia. Her research interests include perception and cognition by elementary and middle school instrumentalists, creativity discovery and development for instrumentalists, and teacher recruitment and training.
She holds Ph.D. and master's degrees from the University of Missouri at Columbia and an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University. Her public school experience includes teaching beginning, middle, and high school instrumental music in Illinois, as well as fourteen years of private saxophone and clarinet lesson instruction.
Currently, Thornton is an active conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States. Her professional affiliations include the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA), College Music Society (CMS), and the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE).
Darrin Thornton is an assistant professor of music at Penn State. He joined the School of Music faculty in 2010 and currently serves as an e-Learning Institute Faculty Fellow and director of the Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching while teaching music education courses. His research focuses on music education teacher training, professional development for in-service music professionals, educational access and outreach in music, and adult music engagement and participation.
Prior to this appointment, he taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in the state of New York and served on the conducting faculties at the University of Missouri and SUNY-Fredonia. He has more than nineteen years of administrative experience, holding posts at the University of Missouri, SUNY-Fredonia, and Penn State.
Thornton holds an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and graduate degrees from National Louis University, University of Missouri, and Penn State. Professional affiliations include College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), College Music Society (CMS), National Association for Music Education (MENC), Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA), and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He currently remains active as a performing percussionist, conductor, and adjudicator and assists with the Penn State Marching Blue Band.