ASSOCIATION FOR BODY MAPPING EDUCATION BOARD

Mezzo Soprano Melissa Malde has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Radio Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, the Bangor Symphony, Kentucky Opera, the Cheyenne Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival. She holds degrees from Oberlin, Northwestern, CCM, and the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich. She teaches at the University on Northern Colorado and is a co-author of What Every Singer Needs to Know about the Body. In her spare time she enjoys working in her organic garden, hiking, and cycling

Max Mendez is a Professor of Music and Director of Choirs at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. For the last fifteen years he has conducted the NIC Cardinal Chorale, Chamber Singers, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and Cardinal Voices. Choirs under his direction have performed concerts in Mexico, San Francisco, and Carnegie Hall. As a singing artist, Max has performed on stages throughout the Northwestern United States as a soloist and ensemble artist. Max is a licensed educator through the Association for Body Mapping Education and is available for group workshops and individual coachings, both in face-to-face and in online formats.

In 2022, Timothy Myers finished his career as Principal Trombone of the St. Louis Symphony. He developed an interest in the structure and function of the human body during a period of study with the legendary teacher and Chicago Symphony tubist Arnold Jacobs. After discovering the existence of Body Mapping, Tim realized that it was a direct path toward achieving the knowledge and understanding that he had been looking for. He became a Licensed Body Mapping Educator in 2020, making him the first member of a Group 1 (major) US symphony orchestra to do so.

Soprano, director, and educator Bonita Bunt is comfortable on stage in the operatic or musical theatre genres, as well as behind the scenes as director and stage manager. Bonita is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she earned her Doctorate and Master of Music in vocal performance and served as performer, director, assistant director, stage manager, and administrator with many of the valley's local opera and theatre companies. Currently she can be found at the University of Alabama where she teaches voice and serves as Associate Director of Opera Theatre.

Anita King is Professor of Music Emeritus at Willamette University, a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and a Licensed Body Mapping Educator. Anita has performed as pianist and chamber musician throughout the US, Europe, and South America. She has given numerous presentations, workshops, and guest residencies for music teachers’ organizations, at colleges and universities, and at conferences focusing on music performance and musicians’ wellness. Intensely interested in the connections between coordinate movement and musical structure, Anita’s groundbreaking presentation, “Understanding Music’s Multiple Layers: Translating the Layered Organization of Music Into Movement,” explores how a complete marriage between the structure and emotion of the music and the movements needed to express it can be developed right from the beginning of the preparation process. Anita lives in Salem, Oregon.

Mezzo soprano Quinn Patrick Ankrum is an active performer, teacher, and scholar. She takes an avid interest in Musicians’ Health and Wellness; not only is she a Licensed Body Mapping Educator, but she has also been a student of the Alexander Technique since 1998. She has presented short Body Mapping workshops for various instrumental studios, voice studios, and choral ensembles over the years, and in 2017 presented “Body Mapping in the Choral Classroom” for the Texas Music Educators Association annual conference. She currently serves as Assistant Professor on the Voice Faculty at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, where she teaches both classical and musical theatre students, coaches vocal chamber music, teaches courses in graduate diction, is a trained facilitator for CCM’s Mind-
Body Medicine course, and is an active participant in the Center for Integrative Health and Wellness for Musicians. A member of the Cincinnati Fusion Ensemble, she also teaches at the Cincinnati Voice Institute (a summer training program for young singers and collaborative pianists).

Dr. Spencer Hartman is an active pedagogue and performer in the West Texas and Eastern New Mexico communities. He currently serves as Instructor of Flute at Texas Tech University and Lecturer of Music at Eastern New Mexico University.

Dr. Hartman earned the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Flute Performance at Texas Tech University, where he served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the flute studio of Dr. Lisa Garner Santa. While attending TTU, He performed regularly with the Lubbock Symphony Educational Outreach Woodwind Quintet and the Texas Tech Graduate Woodwind Quintet. He earned the Master of Music degree in Flute Performance and Pedagogy from Memorial University of Newfoundland under the tutelage of Dr. Michelle Cheramy, and the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he studied with Dr. Therese Wacker. In addition, he has received influential mentorship from Carol Wincenc and Gretchen Pusch.

Stephanie Cooke is a Licensed Body Mapping Educator who actively teaches and performs in Portland, Oregon. She is a solo and collaborative pianist and instructor to students of all ages. Stephanie engages in a wide variety of musical genres as a pianist, both locally and internationally. Along with her own classical and jazz piano projects, she has recently recorded and performed all over the United States and the UK with the indie-pop band, The Von Trapps. In addition, she has made guest appearances with the internationally famous band, Pink Martini.

Stephanie has recorded on a number of different albums including but not limited to The Andrew Endres Collective, Piano! Push! Play!, and The Von Trapps. She recently became a Licensed Body Mapping Educator under the study of Professor Lisa Marsh.

In 1998, Bridget Jankowski was the first person to become a Licensed Body Mapping Educator after logging more than 150 hours of training with noted Alexander Technique teacher and Body Mapping pioneer Barbara Conable. Bridget is an original member of the Association for Body Mapping Education’s Board of Directors and currently serves the organization as co-chair of the Image Committee, as a member of the Training Committee and Sponsoring Teacher, and most recently was hired to serve as their Executive Director.

Amy Likar is a California-based performing and teaching artist. She is a member of the Oakland Symphony and adjunct flute faculty at St. Mary’s College of California. For over twenty years she has been an innovator and educator for musicians’ and artists' wellness as a teacher of Body Mapping and the Alexander Technique. She is the Director of Training for ABME. She is the editor and narrator for the video, Move Well, Avoid Injury and the author of the Breathing Book for Flute. Amy Likar is pleased to be a Powell Performing Artist. Visit www.amylikar.com