An advocate of the living composer, Backman has commissioned in collaborative student composition projects Fred Sturm, Shelley Hanson, Ricky Kirby, Jack Stamp, Michael Colgrass, and Kim Archer. She has also written all-school arts curricula in coordination with artists in residence from Jazz at Lincoln Center, bestselling authors Michael Perry and Jacquelyn Mitchard, and The Amigos Band. Guest artist residencies and collaborations are the cornerstone of the instrumental music curriculum. Backman serves on the American Composers Forum BandQuest Curriculum Advisory Committee.
Ms. Backman is a founding member of and Organizational Facilitator and executive board member for Winds of Wisconsin, a premier high school youth wind ensemble on the UW-Madison Campus. Backman has been on the faculty of the UW-Madison Summer Music Clinic since 2000 and has taught music theory, brass and percussion, wind band sectionals, and jazz ensembles/combos. Prior to her appointment at EHS, Ms. Backman taught grade 5-12 band for one year in Southwestern Minnesota.
Ms. Backman received her B.M. in Music Education, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, her Masters of Music Education, summa cum laude, from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, IL, and is a 1999 graduate of Edgewood High School.
Her professional affiliations include the Music Educators National Conference, Wisconsin School Music Association, Wisconsin Music Educator's Association, Minnesota Music Educator's Association, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, National Catholic Education Association, American String Teacher's Association, the National Catholic Band Association, the National Pastoral Musician's Association, the Minnesota Band Directors Association, the World Adult Wind Orchestra Project, and the National Band Association.
Backman is the recipient of a College Band Director's National Association "Women in Conducting" Grant to attend a wind conducting workshop at Michigan State University, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles grant to conduct a wind ensemble in Procida, Italy, and a grant to study at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She is a 2015 recipient of the Herb Kohl Foundation Fellowship for excellence in teaching and a 2016 finalist for the Northwestern University Distinguished Teaching Award. Backman served as the Assistant Director of the University of Minnesota Marching Band in 2016-2017 in addition to other duties at the University of Minnesota School of Music.
Contact:
608-257-1023 x. 148
carrie.backman@edgewoodhs.org
Ms. Hikari Maekawa
Hikari Maekawa serves as a piano teacher at
Edgewood High School and also teaches private lessons to age 4-adult in the
Madison area and adult group lessons through Continuing Studies program at
UW-Madison.
As a passionate chamber musician, Ms. Maekawa
enjoys collaborating with various instrumentalists and attended
ARIA-International Chamber Music Festival and Green lake Chamber Music Festival
where she worked with the Amelia Piano Trio.
Ms. Maekawa holds a BA in Music Education and a BM
in Piano Performance with Piano Pedagogy emphasis from the University of
Nebraska at Kearney where she studied with Dr. Valerie Cisler, and a MM in
Piano Performance with Piano Pedagogy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
where she studied with Dr. Jessica Johnson.
Contact:608-257-1023 x. 332
hikari.maekawa@edgewoodhs.org
Tamra Bickel
Tamra Bickel serves as the Choir Director at Edgewood High School. Curricular Choirs include Edgewood Chorus, Concert Choir as well as private lessons. She also directs Mass Band, Crusader Singers and serves as the Vocal Director for the annual school musical.
Mrs. Bickel received her B.M.E in Music Education (Vocal and General Music Emphasis) from Drake University in 2010 where she studied Choral Conducting with Dr. Aimee Beckmann-Collier and Studio Voice with Dr. Ann Cravero. She graduated from Pulaski High School, Pulaski, WI in 2006. While there, she was involved in Choir, Concert and Marching Band, Theater, NHS and College Credit Program through St. Norbert College.
Mrs. Bickel is an active member of Wisconsin Choral Directors Association, serving as Registration Chair since 2017, as well as being a past coordinator for the All State Treble Honor Choir. Mrs. Bickel is a member of the National Association for Music Education as well as an active Adjudicator for WSMA Solo/Ensemble Festivals. In October 2015, she and her colleagues presented a session entitled “Small town, Big Boosers: How to make the most of your small town music booster organization” at the Wisconsin State Music Conference.
Before coming to Edgewood High School in 2018, Mrs. Bickel served as the 6-12 Choir and General Music Instructor for Dodgeville School District. Teaching responsibilities included 9-12 Concert Choir, 6th Grade Choir, 7th and 8th Grade Mixed Choir, 6th Grade General Music in addition to lessons and Independent Study Programs. She also directed the annual Fall Musical and Spring Play; some shows include: Guys and Dolls, Anything Goes, Music Man, Joseph...Dreamcoat, Leader of the Pack, Our Town, Charlotte’s Web, and The Cinderella Complex to name a few. She served on the Scheduling Committee, PBIS/RTI-B Committee as well as the Acknowledgement Committee during her time in Dodgeville.
Mrs. Bickel has been involved with Cedar Rapids Vocal Arts Ensemble and Chamber Choir as well as the Lancaster Community Choir; has served as vocalist and accompanist for St. Joseph’s Parish in Dodgeville and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Pulaski; has been involved in community theater productions including Aida, Oliver, Mary Poppins and was featured as The Lady of the Lake in Monty Python’s SPAMalot with POP Factory Players in Darlington, WI.
Contact information: tamra.bickel@edgewoodhs.org
608-257-1023x146
