Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
Office: 815-753-2435
E-mail: mdoherty@niu.edu
Dr. Doherty is a children’s music specialist and has taught in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois at the K-12 and university levels. She received her Master of Music degree and her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in Music Education degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College (Iowa). As a student, Dr. Doherty sang in the esteemed Nordic Choir, under the direction of Weston Noble. She is the former Artistic Director of the Northeast Iowa Area Youth Chorus as well as the former Interim Director of Music Education at Luther College. In the spring of 2000, she was invited to teach in Hornby and Lancaster England at the invitation of the College of St. Martins, Lancaster. Dr. Doherty’s research has been on vocal health issues experienced by music teachers and she has presented her work both nationally and internationally. This summer, she has been invited to present for the third time at the Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium in Newfoundland, Canada.
Most recently, Dr. Doherty held the post of Director of Music Education and Associate Conductor of the Chicago Choir Academy, a Charter School in Chicago. This choir school, founded by the Chicago Children’s Choir, is the only public choir school of its kind in the country. During her time with the Academy, Dr. Doherty prepared 120 young singers to perform with the Chicago Symphony in a production of Benjamin Britten’s Noah’s Flood. In addition, her fourth grade choir performed the opera Stone Soup, by Chicago composer Philip Seward. At the request of Lyric Opera of Chicago, the choir was recorded and can be heard at http://www.lyricopera.org/education/stoneSoup.asp.
At NIU, Dr. Doherty teaches both undergraduate and graduate students in Foundations of Music Education and Elementary, Middle School, and Choral Methods.