Gena Greher

Gena R. Greher, Ed.D.

Professor Emeritus

College
College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
Music Department
Email
Gena_Greher@uml.edu
Links

Expertise

Music education

Research Interests

Technology in Music Education; School University Partnerships; Interdisciplinary Studies in Computing and Music; Music Technology and students with ASD; Popular Culture in the Classroom

Recent projects include: Curriculum contributor to https://mathsciencemusic.org, the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz website for Music and STEM integration; a music mentor/partnership with UML music education students and a local K-8 school as well as the local High School; Soundscapes, a technology infused music intervention program for teenagers with autism spectrum disorders; Performamatics, NSF TUES and CPATH grants linking computer science to the arts; and a Healy grant for the investigation of iPads in the music class.

Education

  • EDD: Music and Music Education, (2002), Teachers College Columbia University - New York City, NY
  • MS: Music and Music Education, (1999), Teachers College Columbia University - New York City, NY
  • MA: Music and Music Education, (1998), Teachers College Columbia University - New York City, NY
  • MS, (1976), Boston University - Boston, MA
  • BA: Violin Performance, (1974), Queens College, CUNY - New York City, NY

Biosketch

As part of her work with the Creative Arts Laboratory, Dr. Greher worked with emotionally disturbed students and their teachers at a New York City public school located at Bellevue Hospital,using video to connect with students, integrate music into the curriculum and assess their learning.  She has published several articles and presented papers at national and international conferences on the benefits of creating multimedia projects to develop listening skills, integrate the arts into the curriculum, and engage adolescent learners in school music programs.  In addition, she conducts professional development workshops on campus for Lowell area music teachers in aspects of world music and improvisational techniques for the classroom.

Before entering the education profession, Dr. Greher was an award-winning music director in advertising, where she worked for several multinational advertising agencies producing jingles and underscores for hundreds of commercials.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Winner of CLIO awards
  • Nancy Donahue Endowed Professor of the Arts (2014)
  • UMass Lowell Innovation in Teaching Award for Interdisciplinary Work (2013)
  • UMass Lowell Service Learning Award (2013)
  • UMass Lowell Teacher Recognition Award (2008)
  • Who's Who in American Women (2007)
  • National Award for Excellence (2006)
  • UMass Lowell Student Chapter of the Year - MENC (2006)
  • Honorable Mention -UMass Assessment of Student Learning with Technology Award (2005)
  • MENC award for Outstanding Growth for a collegiate chapter (2004)
  • Outstanding Faculty Advisor (2004) - UMass Lowell
  • U.S. Department of Education Citation (2004)
  • Elihu Rose Fellowship (1999) - Teachers College Columbia University
  • Kappa Delta Pi (1999) - International Honor Society in Education
  • Who's Who in Entertainment (1990)

Selected Publications

  • Greher, G.R. (). Music and Well-Being: Teaching Nontraditional Music Learners With Compassion and Empathy. Visions of Research in Music Education, 35(Vol 1).
  • Greher, G.R. (2019). Making Music Count: An Interdisciplinary Journey into Music Teacher Education. Massachusetts Music News, 67(1).
  • Greher, G.R. (). Music Technology as an Intuitive and Inclusive Pathway to Musical Thinking, Learning, and Doing. Wilfred Laurier University Press
  • Greher, G.R. (). Informal, Intuitive, Interdisciplinary, & Interactive: Middle School General Music with a Twist. Rowman and Littlefield
  • Greher, G.R. (2018). Soundtrap: A Browser-Based Digital Audio Workstation (59:1). College Music Symposium
  • Greher, G.R. (UMass Lowell) (2017). On Becoming Musical: Technology, Possibility and Transformation. (First). Oxford University Press
  • Greher, G.R. (2017). Technology in Music Teacher Education and the Enigma of Invisibility (First Edition). Oxford University Press
  • Greher, G.R. (UMass Lowell) (2017). Digital Music Composition and Out of School Learning (First Edition). Sage Publications
  • Greher, G.R. (2017). Teaching outside the box: Community music pathways as a lens for re-imagining, re-defining, re-invigorating music teacher education. The XV International Seminar of the ISME Commission on Community Music Activity
  • Greher, G., Hillier, A., Queenan, A., Marshall, S., Kopec, J. (2016). Music, Technology and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Effectiveness of the Touch Screen Interface. Music Education Research, 18(3) 269.
  • Greher, G.R. (2016). Review of the Book Including Everyone: Creating Music Classrooms Where All Children Learn by Jellison, J. A. (2 pp. 40-41). American Music Teacher
  • Greher, G.R., Hillier, A.J., Queenan, A., Marshall, S.H., Kopec, J. (2015). Music, Technology and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Effectiveness of the Touch Screen Interface. Music Education Research.
  • Greher, G.R., Heines, J.M. (2014). Computational Thinking in Sound: Teaching the Art and Science of Music and Technology. Oxford University Press
  • Greher, G.R. (2014). What If . . . ? A Curriculum in Support of Technology, Curiosity, and Play in Music Teacher Education. Oxford University Press
  • Greher, G.R., Heines, J.M. (2014). Scratch and Middle School Music. Scratch@MIT
  • Greher, G., Marshall, S., Hillier, A., Queenan, A., Prestigiovanni, A., Kopec, J. (2014). Technology and Teens with ASD: A "Social" Project through a Music Education and Psychology Partnership. The College Music Society 2014 Summit
  • Greher, G.R. (2013). Creating School-University Partnerships to Enhance Learning. Oxford University Press
  • Greher, G.R. (2012). Informal, Intuitive, Interdisciplinary, and Interactive: Middle School General Music with a Twist. Rowman & Littlefield Education
  • Greher, G.R., Ruthmann , A. (2012). On Chunking, Simples, and Paradoxes: Why Jeanne Bamberger’s Research Matters. Visions of research in music education, 20 11.
  • Greher, G.R., Hillier , A., Poto , N., Dougherty , M. (2012). Positive Outcomes Following Participation in a Music Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum. Psychology of music, 40(2) 201 - 215.
  • Greher, G.R., Heines, J.M., Ruthmann, S.A. (2012). Techniques at the Intersection of Computing and Music. (pp. 372).
  • Greher, G.R. (2011). Music Technology Partnerships: A Context for Music Teacher Preparation. Arts education policy review, 112(3) 130 - 136.
  • Greher, G.R., Burton , S. (2011). School-University Partnerships: Re-envisioning Music Teacher Education. (112:3). Taylor & Francis
  • Greher, G.R., Burton , S. (2010). Research Meets Reality in School-University Partnerships: An Analysis of Two Diverse School-University Collaborations.
  • Greher, G.R., Hillier , A., Dougherty , M., Poto , N. (2010). SoundScape: An Interdisciplinary Music Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum. International journal of education and the arts, 11 27.
  • Greher, G.R., Heines, J.M., Kuhn, S. (2009). Music Performamatics: Interdisciplinary Interaction.
  • Greher, G.R. (2009). Night & day: Cole Porter,Hip Hop, their Shared Sensibilities and their Teachable Moments. College music symposium, 49-50 158 - 163.
  • Greher, G.R., Heines, J.M. (2009). Sound Thinking: Conceptualizing the Art and Science of Digital Audio for an Interdisciplinary General Education Course. Association for Technology in Music Instruction 2009 Conf..
  • Greher, G.R., Heines, J.M. (2008). Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Connecting Computer Science and Music Students to the Benefit of Both.
  • Greher, G.R. (2008). Response to Panel: Dimensions and Tensions of Disconnect in Music Teacher Preparation. Visions of research in music education, 12 3.
  • Greher, G.R. (2007). If you Build it...: A Distance-Learning approach for Music Teacher Licensure Test Preparation. Journal of music teacher education, 16(2) 61 - 74.
  • Greher, G.R., Burton , S. (2007). School-University Partnerships: What do We know and why do They Matter?. Arts education policy review, 109(1) 13 - 24.
  • Greher, G.R., Tobin , N. (2006). Taking the Long View Toward Music Teacher Preparation: The Rationale for a Dual-Degree Program. Music educators journal, 92(5) 50 - 55.
  • Greher, G.R. (2006). Transforming Music Teacher Preparation through the Lens of Video Technology. Journal of music teacher education, 15(2) 49 - 60.
  • Greher, G.R. (2003). Multimedia in the Classroom: Tapping into an Adolescent’s Cultural Literacy. Journal of technology in music learning, 2(2) 21 - 43.
  • Greher, G.R. (2002). ’Picture This!’ (c)1997: An Interactive Listening Environment for Middle School General Music. University Microfilms International (UMI)
  • Greher, G.R. (2001). Lessons in Analytical Listening from the Reel World. General music today, 15(1) 9 - 15.

Selected Presentations

  • A Novice Guide for Making Music in Scratch - 2019 National Conference, October 2019 - Louisville, KY
  • Music & Well Being:Teaching Non-Traditional Music Learners with Compassion and Empathy - Visions of Research in Music Education: The Conference, May 2019 - Princeton, New Jersey
  • MakeyMaking and Music Creation: Making Meaning Through Words Pictures Sound and Science - FabLearn 2019, March 2019 - Teachers College Columbia University, New York
  • A Collaborative School University Partnership at the Intersection of STEAM Integration - 2018 National Conference , October 2018 - Vancouver, BC
  • Teaching with Video - 2018 National Conference, October 2018 - Vancouver BC
  • Teaching Music for Everyone: Rethinking the Music Teacher Education Paradigm - CMS-NE 39th Regional Meeting , March 2018 - University of Delaware
  • Music Technology: An Intuitive Pathway for Teens on the Autism Spectrum - All State Conference, March 2018 - Boston
  • Community Music as Change Agent: Towards a Culture of Diversity and Inclusivity in Music Teacher Education - 2017 ATMI/CMS National Conference, October 2017 - San Antonio, TX
  • Where are the Women’s Voices in Music Technology Education? - 2017 ATMI/CMS National Conference, October 2017 - San Antonio, TX
  • Music Technology As An Intuitive and Inclusive Pathway to Musical Thinking,Learning, and Doing - International Community Music Conference, May 2017 - Waterloo, Canada
  • Teaching for 21 Century Skills or 21st Century Thinking?: Are they Mutually Exclusive? - Music Educator in Residence, February 2017 - Newark, Delaware
  • Defining Musicianship for the 21st Century Music Teacher - Mike Testa, November 2016 - Santa Fe,NM
  • The MaKey MaKey Invention Lab as a School-Based Enrichment Block - 2016 ATMI/CMS National Conference, November 2016 - Santa Fe, NM
  • Music, Math, Interdisciplinary and Intuitive Pathways to Understanding and Learning - The Annual Interactive Multimedia Performing Arts Collaborative Technology, August 2016 - New York University
  • Music, Math, Interdisciplinary and Intuitive Pathways to Understanding and Learning - 32nd World Conference 
International Society for Music Education, July 2016 - Glasgow, Scotland
  • Teaching Outside the Box: Community Music Pathways as a Lens for Re-Imagining, Re-Defining, Re-Invigorating Music Teacher Education - Innovation and Change in Community Music, , July 2016 - Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Making Music Count - Thelonious Monk Institute’s Math Science Music Initiative Press Launch, April 2016 - Washington, DC
  • Professional Development Workshop for Lowell Music Teachers featuring Janice Smith & Michele Kaschub editors of Composing Out Future by Oxford University Press - Composition in the Classroom, March 2013
  • - Massachusetts Northeast District General Music Festival, April 2011
  • Workshop leader for the regional Music School Session in world music - Massachusetts Northest District General Music Festival, April 2011 - UMass Lowell
  • Workshop for String Project students, UML students, and local music teachers - Harlem String Quartet, November 2010 - Lowell, MA
  • A 3 day symposium featuring key-note address by Jeanna Bamberger, presentations to students, panel presentations, concerts, student and teacher workshops - JeanneBamberger Symposium on Musical Intuition, November 2009
  • Workshop for the regional Music Education Student Organization on the projects and focus on this interdisciplinary General Education course linking Digital Audio to Computer Science - CMENC Workshop-Soundthinking, April 2009
  • Hired by District Supervisor to run a Professional Development workshop for their music teachers - Malden Schools- Global Music: Exploring the Interdisciplinary Connections, January 2009
  • Hired by District Supervisor to run a Professional Development workshop for their music teachers on curriculum development in music - Wellesley Schools-An Inquiry Based Approach to Teaching and Learning, March 2008
  • This session will highlight the importance of working in a project based environment for training music education majors about interdisciplinary strategies to incorporate in their own classrooms - Technology Applications in the Classroom: It's All About the Context!, March 2007 - Boston, MA
  • Technology as a Person Centered Process: A Contextual Framework for Music Education - Toward Tanglewood II: Music as a Person Centered Process, June 2006 - Columbia University, NY
  • School University Partnerships with Suzanna Burton, April 2006 - University of Delaware
  • A Pre-Service Mentorship as Experiential Learning Lab Session will explore a year long pilot mentorship between the UMass Lowell Demonstration School and the UMass Lowell Music Education program, the lessons learned, the benefits and the pitfalls, March 2006 - Boston, MA
  • Presenter and organizer of a two day workshop geared to Lowell area Music Teachers, UML Music Education students and String Project Participants - Crossing Over: Explorations in Cross-Cultural Musical Improvisation with Jesus Eduardo Florido, March 2006
  • Presenter and organizer of all day hands-on workshop for Lowell area Music Teachers with presentations with Chuck Johnson, Mindware Music and Wayne Splettstoeszer, Connecticut music educator of the year - Becoming TechnoForward in the Music Classroom, February 2006
  • Workshop Presenter and Organizer for all day workshop for Lowell area Music Teachers in the music of India and South Africa and the connections into the classroom - World Music Workshop at UMass Lowell, April 2005
  • - Music, Literacy and Learning Standards: Exploring the Connections, March 2005 - Boston, MA
  • Strings Alive - UMass Lowell String Project Presentation with Kay G. Roberts, March 2005 - Reno, NV
  • World Music as Communal Music Making and Creation Myths: A Multicultural Association to Arts Integration, March 2004 - Danvers, MA
  • - MCMENC Opening Session, September 2003 - Lowell, MA
  • Hands-on music-making workshops for a variety of special needs students throughout the day in conjunction with NYC School District 75 - Very Special Arts Fairs, May 2003 - NYC
  • Workshop Presenter - Celluloid Illusions and the Magic of Music: Creating Analytical Listeners in Middle School, March 2003 - Danvers, MA
  • Presenter of student workshops in "Music as Soundtrack-Classical Music in Film" once every fall and spring for 4 years - Carnegie Hall Weill Institute at the High School of Economics and Finance, May 2002
  • Presented and organized a series of Professional Development workshops that were given in Queens and Brooklyn for participating teachers in the CAL program - Creative Arts Laboratory (CAL), 2001 - Teachers College
  • Presented and organized a series of Professional Development workshops that were given in Queens and Brooklyn for participating teachers in the CAL program - Creative Arts Laboratory (CAL), 2000
  • Presenter for Special Needs District 75 Teachers and Assistant Principals - Creative Arts Laboratory (CAL), 2000 - Teachers College Workshop
  • Coordinator of an interactive children's concert, given by Spirit" in collaboration with the Creative Arts Laboratory at Teachers College, Columbia University for students in District 75 - Very Special Arts Fairs, May 2000 - Columbia Univeristy, NYC

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • Computational Thinking Through Computing and Music (2011), Grant -
    Greher, G.R. (Co-Principal)
  • Computational Thinking through Computing and Music (2011), Grant -
    Heines, J.M. (Principal), Greher, G.R. (Co-Principal), Ruthmann, S.A. (Co-Principal), Kuhn, S. (Other), Martin, F. (Other)
  • Performamatics: Connecting Computer Science to the Performing, Fine, and Design Arts (2007), Grant -
    Heines, J.M. (Principal), Greher, G.R. (Co-Principal), Jeffers, J. (Co-Principal), Kuhn, S. (Co-Principal), Martin, F. (Co-Principal), Roehr, K.E. (Co-Principal), Selleck, N.G. (Co-Principal)
  • Licensure Preparation Web Site for the Massachusetts Educator Certification Tests in Music (2003), Grant - UMass President’s Office 2003 Professional Development Grant Program
    Heines, J.M., Greher, G.R. (Co-Principal)