Dr. Susan Treacy, Professor of Music
Susan Treacy, Ph.D., joined the faculty as Professor of Sacred Music after having taught at Franciscan University of Steubenville and Luther College. She holds the Ph.D. in historical musicology from the University of North Texas, the M.Mus. in opera from the Manhattan School of Music, and the B.Mus. in voice from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Her research interests are in Catholic liturgical music and English devotional song, and besides having published scholarly articles, Dr. Treacy writes a regular column, “Musica Donum Dei,” for the Saint Austin Review (StAR). As a performer Dr. Treacy directs the Women’s Schola Gregoriana at AMU. While at Franciscan University she directed the Schola Cantorum Franciscana and she was a section leader and soloist with the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh. She was a member of the editorial committee for The Adoremus Hymnal and is on the board of the Church Music Association of America.
Dr. Timothy McDonnell, Assistant Professor of Music – Department Chairman
Timothy McDonnell came to the faculty of the Department of Music in 2007, having served as Director of Liturgical Music at the Pontifical North American College in the Vatican. Professor McDonnell was the master of the Music Chapel at the NAC, and in that capacity led the seminary choir in various liturgical contexts, including many pontifical functions. As director of the Music Chapel, Dr. McDonnell was responsible for the music at some 20 liturgies per week. In addition to these liturgical duties, he was in charge of the musical formation of the seminarians, providing classes, workshops, and conferences in the many facets of liturgical chant and its execution. Professor McDonnell was also the music director for the annual Christmas Concert for the American Community of Rome, in which he directed the seminary choir and members of the Rome Opera Orchestra.
McDonnell was recently appointed the interim conductor of the Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus and has begun an exciting season which will include performances of works by Vaughan Williams, Handel, and Mahler. Dr. McDonnell is also founding music director of Schola Nova, the resident ensemble of the International Institute for Culture in Philadelphia. Schola Nova has performed a wide variety of programs under Mr. McDonnell, including Mahler and the Heavenly Life, Candlemas in Two Worlds: The Polyphony of 17th Century Mexico, and American Gothic: Philadelphia Composers and the Sacred Choral Tradition. He holds the Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Yale University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from the University of South Carolina. Besides his American credits, Mr. McDonnell has conducted in Italy, the Czech Republic, and China. He served as music director of Studio Lirico Opera Festival in Italy in 2001 and has conducted numerous opera productions in Philadelphia and South Carolina, including Don Giovanni, Dido and Aeneas, L’Elisir D’Amore, and Il Trittico.
Mr. McDonnell is very active as a composer and arranger. His works have been performed at Yale University and by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. His arrangements of lieder by Gustav Mahler have been praised widely, as have his arrangements of works by Lehár and Sibelius. Dr. McDonnell has taught at the University of South Carolina, the International Institute for Culture in Philadelphia, and has served as the director of choral and orchestral studies at the Encore/Coda Summer Music Program in Sweden, Maine.
Lynn Kraehling, University Organist & Adjunct Professor of Music
In addition to his post as University Organist, Lynn Kraehling, M.Mus., oversees organ study in the music department and directs the Men’s Schola Gregoriana. Along with Diana Silva, he is a founding member of the professional Catholic touring choir, Voci del Tesoro. He received a Master’s degree in Organ Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree from Macalester College. Prior to his arrival at AMU he was Director of Music at St. John Vianney Church in Walnut Creek, CA. He sang extensively with semi-professional choirs in San Francisco and New York and studied organ with Delbert Disselhorst, Paul Manz, Edward Berryman and Frederick Swann. He is a member of the American Guild of Organists as well as The Hymn Society of America. He is also a member of the newly formed ensemble “Positively Baroque” of Southwest Florida.
Lan Lam, Coordinator of Applied Music, and Lecturer in Piano
Lan Lam began piano lessons in Weymouth, Nova Scotia, shortly after immigrating to Canada from Vietnam. Arriving in Yarmouth in 1981, she studied with Christopher Allworth until entering Acadia University, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree under the tutelage of John Hansen. She completed her Master of Music degree in Performance and Literature at the University of Western Ontario, studying with Ronald Turini and Damjana Bratuz. She also participated in master classes at the Banff Centre for the Arts with Marek Jablonski and at the Orford Arts Centre with André Laplante. Since receiving her degree, Ms. Lam has been coached by Jean Saulnier, and as a participant in the Canadian Music Competition, she performed in Vancouver as a 1994 national finalist.
Currently she lives in Naples, Florida, where she was Director of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for ten years. As a conductor Ms. Lam has led performances of Faure’s Requiem and Schubert’s Mass in G with the Saint Paul’s choir and members of the Naples Philharmonic. Ms. Lam is a professor of piano performance and music theory at Ave Maria University and her private students regularly win local competitions. Lan is a founding member of the Aurore Trio with violinist Geoffrey Day and cellist John Marcy, and she performs frequently as a solo and collaborative artist.
Rebecca Ostermann, Lecturer in Music
Rebecca Ostermann (Assistant Music Director) has been active in choral music for nine years, and has served as the Music Director of the St. Joseph Oratory Choir in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Assistant Director of the Greater Baton Rouge Children’s Chorus. She holds a Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay. In 2009, Ms. Ostermann joined the music faculty of Ave Maria University, where she serves as Assistant Conductor of the AMU choirs and teaches musicianship, theory, and conducting.