Biographies

Faculty

Lisa Marsh

Lisa Marsh is a member of the adjunct piano faculty at Portland State University. As Director of the Coordinate Movement Program at Portland State University she specializes in retraining injured musicians. Her courses focus on injury prevention, health and well being for musicians and mind-body connections for increased artistry and creativity. She received her Bachelor of Science in Music and Master of Music in Performance from Portland State University. Additional background in somatic education includes 19 years as a Registered Nurse in the fields of Neurosurgery and Emergency Medicine, 8 years of piano technique study at the Taubman Institute of Piano and 10 years of study of the Alexander Technique and Body Mapping with Barbara Conable. Ms. Marsh is a certified Andover Educator and a designated Sponsoring Teacher for licensing trainees in Body Mapping.

As a solo performer, she specializes in presenting 20th century music, original compositions and works by Northwest composers. Ms. Marsh is pianist with the Marsh-Titterington Piano Duo, former Principal Keyboard with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, and collaborates frequently with Portland area chamber musicians. For more information on Lisa's musical scores and latest album, visit LisaAnnMarsh.com.

Barbara Conable

Co-Founder Coordinate Movement Program

During her twenty-two years as an Alexander Technique teacher Barbara Conable helped to save hundreds of musical careers and to enhance hundreds more. She experienced frustration, however, because she knew that thousands more musicians were losing careers and capacity. To enhance her effectiveness, she wrote the book What Every Musician Needs to Know about the Body and developed a Body Mapping course by the same name which is now taught by Andover Educators around the world. She co-founded the Coordinate Movement Program at Portland State University in 2002 to help retrain injured pianists. Barbara Conable is the author of How to Learn the Alexander Technique: A Manual for Students, What Every Musician Needs to Know about the Body and The Structures and Movement of Breathing. Now retired from teaching, Barbara Conable continues to develop the theory and practice of Body Mapping.

Stephanie Cooke

Stephanie is a versatile pianist, performer and instructor with a passion for making music education and artistic expression a reality to all levels and ages. She is a confident classical, jazz, and pop artist who incorporates aspects of each genre into her teaching and performing. After receiving her Master's degree in Classical Piano at Portland State University, Stephanie spent two years touring internationally as the pianist for indie-pop group The von Trapps in addition to making guest appearances with internationally-renowned ensemble Pink Martini. Stephanie's music and live performances are an expression of raw vulnerability and honesty; Stephanie believes that by owning her authentic voice, she can empower herself and her audience. Stephanie's mission is to encourage others to embrace their own creative, unique voices. Stephanie is adjunct faculty at Portland State University, where she co-teaches Body Mapping for Musicians with Lisa Marsh, and is the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Coordinate Movement Program. Visit stephaniecooke.org for more information.

Liz Kohl

Liz Kohl is a pianist, instructor, and performer living in Portland, Oregon. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with a Dance Minor from University of Washington and was awarded a graduate teaching assistantship at Baylor University where she earned a Master of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy and Performance. During her Master's degree, Liz started to notice that many of her undergraduate students held a lot of unnecessary tension in their bodies. Because of this, she decided to pursue certification to be a yoga instructor and received her 200-Hour Power Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training at CorePower Yoga in Portland, OR. Upon returning to Baylor, Liz began incorporating yoga in her piano instruction and offering free yoga classes at Baylor to music students. She was then able to combine her experiences teaching yoga and research in body wellness in her thesis, "Cultivating Awareness in the Piano Student."

Liz works locally as a piano instructor and the Director of Piano Studios and Co-Director of Education at Hoffman Academy. She also maintains a private piano studio and works as a freelance collaborative pianist. Liz is a worship leader at her church, Hope PCA, where she leads congregational singing, programs music, and coordinates volunteer musicians.

Todd Marston

Todd Marston graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in jazz piano performance. He spent the next twelve years performing and teaching; both at home in Boston and abroad. He toured nationally with singer/songwriter Sonya Kitchell, indie folk-pop band The Grownup Noise, as well as his original post-rock/jazz quartet Choose to Find. In 2010, Todd participated in a 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher training at Open Hearts Yoga School. He then spent over a year performing blues, jazz and pop music in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing with the Sam Hooper Band and Mike Null's Soulcasters. His composition, Above Water, won fifth place in the Indie International Songwriting Competition in 2013. He completed his master's degree at Portland State University in 2017, with a focus in wellness and music.

Consultants

Dr. Marshall Chasin

Hearing Loss Prevention Consultant

Dr. Marshall Chasin is Director of Audiology at the Musicians' Clinics of Canada, Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto (in Linguistics), and Associate Professor in the School of Communication Disorders and Sciences at Western University. He is the author of over 200 articles and 8 books including Musicians and the Prevention of Hearing Loss.He writes a monthly column in Hearing Review called Back to Basics.Dr. Chasin has been the recipient of many awards over the years including the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Award and the 2017 Canada 150 Medal. He has developed a new TTS app called Temporary Hearing Loss Test app. And he is not as boring as this bio makes him sound!

Dr. Mandy Moreno

Research Consultant

Dr. Mandy Moreno serves as the Choral Music Education specialist at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She has also served as a teacher and choral director in Oregon, California, Washington, North Dakota, and Germany. In addition to classroom teaching, Mandy has maintained a private voice and piano studio, worked with church and community choirs, adjudicated for local and state festivals, and music directed for musical theatre productions at all age levels. Mandy holds a BA in Music Education from California Baptist University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from George Fox University. She also holds a PhD in Music Education from the University of North Dakota, where she completed a fully quantitative research study on the use of Body Mapping instruction for singers. Besides her work with ABME, Mandy is a member of NAfME, CMS, NATS, and ACDA.

Dr. Richard Nichols

Neuroscience Consultant

Dr. Richard Nichols received his undergraduate degree in biology and applied mathematics from Brown University, and his Ph.D. in Physiology from Harvard Medical School. He was appointed to the faculty of Physiology at Emory University, where he remained for 24 years, attaining the rank of Professor and Interim Chair. In 2007, he took the position of Chair of the School of Applied Physiology at Georgia Tech and is currently Professor in the newly formed School of Biological Sciences. He holds appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and in the Division of Physical Therapy at Emory. He is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Association for Body Mapping Education, and an honorary member of the American Physical Therapy Association. His research interests include motor control and spinal cord injury. He is an amateur flute player, and restorer of historic instruments.

Guest Speakers

Eve Bernfeld

Eve Bernfeld is an AmSAT Certified teacher of theAlexander Technique. She owns In Balance Alexander Technique, teaches at Lewis & Clark College, and gives workshops and talks around the region, including as a guest lecturer at PSU. Eve also holds an MA in Theatre Education and has been helping performers find their most authentic, free and expressive selves for two decades. She is also a writer, singer and a mother, all of which give her ample opportunity to practice what she teaches. www.inbalanceat.com

Jen Marsh

Jen Marsh is a strategic business leader with a passion for health and wellness. She is currently Director of Strategic Planning at Columbia Sportswear Company. In this role, she helps shape vision plans to drive business growth and advance strategic initiatives. Outside of her day job, Jen is an exercise nutrition coach and always looking for new ways to expand her health-conscious lifestyle. She is an avid trail runner with three ultra-marathons and a 100-mile race under her belt so far. Jen holds a B.S. in Finance from Bentley University and earned a supplemental certification from Precision Nutrition.