Teaching Staff

Macie

Skinner

Ms. Macie graduated cum laude from Florida State University’s College of Music, where she received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Therapy as well as completing a certification degree program in Music in Special Education. Though voice was her declared primary instrument, during her four years at Florida State Macie trained extensively in voice, guitar, and piano, learning under highly regarded professors such as Dr. Marcia Porter, Dr. Jayne Standley, Dr. Lori Gooding, and Dr. Alice-Ann Darrow. Throughout her training, Macie completed hundreds of hours of supervised Music Therapy clinical work in areas such as: pediatric healthcare, special education, IDD, child/adolescent behavioral health, and quality of life care for senior citizens. She also declared a specialization area in hearing impairments/Deaf studies, studying American Sign Language and Deaf culture. She was a Teaching Assistant in a Nonverbal Communication class her senior year, helping to teach undergraduate students methods of communication for students who have hearing impairments or are nonverbal in special education settings!

Outside of her educational and musical training, Macie had the honor of serving as Co-Captain of LEVEL Dance Company, a student-run dance team at FSU, for three years! During her time with LEVEL, Macie choreographed lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, and jazz pieces for her team to perform at campus events such as FSU’s Homecoming Pow-Wow and Parade, as well as fundraising events such as Relay for Life, Dance Marathon, and the team’s annual spring showcases!

Before heading to college, Macie was a RISPA company member for 10 years, performing with the ballet, modern, lyrical, tap, jazz, musical theatre, hip-hop, and voice companies. Macie was also a student teacher at RISPA throughout all of high school and performed in RISPA theatrical productions such as Leader of the Pack, CATS, Shrek, Seussical, and Dear Edwina.

Since becoming a teacher at RISPA, Macie has had the pleasure of coaching several students who have since been accepted into highly regarded collegiate music programs. She has also choreographed and directed numerous high-score award pieces competing at both the regional and national competition levels. In recent years, Macie has had the incredible honor of being the Music Director for the 2023 and 2024 Orange Conference opening numbers at the Gas South Arena, and has served as the Director of the RISPA Voice Shows.