Jenna Piechota builds upon her family’s rich legacy at WestConn

Incoming freshman Jenna Piechota has been a frequent visitor to Western Connecticut State University’s campus her entire life. Her earliest recollection is from around the age of three, when she regularly accompanied her mother, Musical Arts Coordinator Laura Tittemore Piechota, who was running the university’s Summer Music Camp.

Jenna’s history with WestConn actually goes back much further: her paternal grandmother Margaret (Peg) Thorne Meisenhelder, obtained a bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 1961 and a Master of Music Education in 1973. Jenna’s great aunt and uncle, Marilyn Thorne Carrafiello and Louis Carrafiello, also received Education degrees from WestConn in 1962 and 1961, respectively. Lou also earned a Master’s in Education in 1969.

Jenna’s mother, Laura, earned two degrees — a Bachelor of Music Education in 1991 and a Master of Music Education in 1994 — and her father, Edward Piechota (Peg’s son), earned the same two degrees in 1992 and 2002. Clearly, Jenna comes from a distinguished lineage on both sides of her family tree.

The family members all ended up at WestConn from different starting points. Peg attended Danbury High School and enrolled at WCSU with the goal to become a music teacher. “I enjoyed my time there,” she recalled. “We had some wonderful teachers and classes, and I learned a lot. We were required to have a minor instrument and I was very well trained and prepared.”

Peg developed the first senior chorus in Connecticut in the 1960s. It was funded by the Board of Education and the superintendent of schools came to a performance and subsequently offered her a job at the high school. From there, her career included giving piano lessons and conducting choirs in the Derby and Orange schools. In the 1980s, when districts were slashing budgets for the arts, Peg found herself starting a second career as a purchasing agent at Textron and later, Sikorsky, where she started a company choir. “I have always kept up with my music and I’m still involved in community theater, cabarets, and a music group,” she said, proudly.

Peg’s son, Ed, went to Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge and had dreams of becoming a rock star. He worked odd jobs, played in bands, and tried a few on-and-off semesters at Southern Connecticut State University, where he quickly realized that studying to become a math teacher was not making him happy and that music was truly what he liked doing. Given his family history of music teachers with WCSU degrees, the choice became obvious — especially after his uncle told him that legendary jazz guitarist Sal Salvadore was teaching at WestConn.

Following his 1992 graduation, Ed was determined to only work teaching instrumental music. He got a job with Connecticut Future Musicians, which provides in-school instrumental music education and band programs for private and parochial school students. In 1998, he began working for the East Haven schools, rotating through the town’s six elementary schools as a music teacher. In 2002, he transferred to East Haven’s Joseph Melillo Middle School, where he still works today as a music teacher and band director. “I’m the luckiest guy in town because students come to my class because they want to be there since music is an elective,” Ed said. “I love working with the kids. They’re so clever and make me laugh every day.”

He recalled a moment when he was preparing to become a teacher with Music Professor Eric Lewis, an esteemed musician who performed with the Manhattan String Quartet. “I took a music history class with him and he was shocked that I was a music education major,” Ed recalled, laughing. “He said he couldn’t see it at all, but when I told him about all my family members who had music education degrees from WestConn, he said, ‘Oh, yes. You are trapped by your genes.’”

Ed continued, “I loved WCSU. The camaraderie, friendships and connections I made with other students and my professors all centered around White Hall, where all our classes and the practice rooms were. It was our home, and we created bonds while talking about and listening to music.”

One of those close friends Ed made in White Hall was fellow Music Education major Laura Tittemore, who, a few years after their 1991 and 1992 graduations, became Laura Piechota when she and Ed got married.

Laura, who grew up in Mahopac, New York, initially wanted to be a physician and briefly attended the University of Delaware as a Biology major, before realizing her lifelong love of music was what she really wanted to pursue. She transferred to WestConn because she had fond memories of her high school student teachers who were themselves WCSU students.

Once on campus, Laura worked as a student employee in the offices of the president and the provost, and later, for Deans Walter Bernstein and Carol Hawkes. “When I graduated in 1991, there weren’t any public school music teacher jobs,” she said. “So, instead, I was a private music tutor for 70 students. At the time, the university started to rent out the facility in Ives Concert Hall, so I was hired to manage the rentals.” After working as a university assistant in the mid-’90s, Laura became the first person hired to work in an academic area, the Music Department, as a member of the administrative faculty/staff union, SUOAF.

Through the years, she has created and managed countless music events, including the Summer Music Camps; the Professional Development Day for Music Educators held on Election Day each year; and the Honors Music Festival, which brings several hundred high school students from across the state for a one day practice and performance event. She’s also served as a beacon of light for countless music students who need some direction, a place to vent, or some motherly advice.  “My favorite memories involve Dave Smith and the rest of the faculty,” she said. “All of them are retired now. And, of course, the students I became friends with. I love WestConn, this is my home.”

Ed agreed. “WestConn was a great experience and was the perfect place for me. It really set me up for the life I have — the American Dream — my family and my career are because of my WCSU education. Being a music teacher has really been more satisfying than being a rock star ever would have been, and I’m thrilled that my daughter is going there. As she was contemplating whether or not to audition for musicals in the Oxford schools, she was reluctant at first. We didn’t push her, but I told her, ‘You don’t want to regret anything. You have your talent and you should take your shot. You have the brains and talent to do whatever you want to do.’”

Jenna began auditioning and consistently earned the lead role. She found singing and acting, and “she’s a natural,” according to Ed. A flute player like her mother, when Jenna started to look at colleges last year, WestConn, of course, was a contender.

“I had my audition at the end of January for the B.F.A. in Musical Theatre program,” Jenna said. “I was impressed by how kind and supportive everyone was, and I got really good vibes.” She received her acceptance in the middle of March, and now that she’s officially been on campus for about a month, she has already joined several dance clubs and hopes to join a choir when her schedule allows. Jenna said, “The Musical Theatre program is a great program and it’s great for the price; it’s highly competitive, accepting only 16 students instead of other programs that accept 70 or more; and it’s close to home, which is where I want to be.” There’s the added advantage that she can stop by her mom’s office to see her whenever she has the opportunity.

Jenna’s arrival on campus during Welcome Week contained some unexpected fanfare, when the Alumni Office informed her that she was the 2026 Legacy student, and together with her parents and grandmother, they were part of the Legacy family. “When I first heard about it, I thought it sounded cool and interesting and wanted to learn more about it,” she said. “It was exciting to get welcomed through the university Gates and onto campus with my family — to do it all with my family.” Not only did they walk through the Gates together, her parents and grandmother handed the university flag to Jenna at the welcome ceremony, which she accepted and carried through the seated members of her freshman class, the Class of 2030.

Ed said while the family was seated on a bench in the Alumni & Friends Circle waiting for the ceremony to start, he happened to look down and right there at his feet were alumni bricks inscribed with the names of all of his family members who had preceded him — and Jenna — at WestConn. “It really was full circle, celebrating Jenna’s arrival on campus and looking down to see those bricks,” Ed said.

Grandmother Peg summed up the emotions of the day. “We’re a family that loves music, and we all went to WCSU to pursue it. I’ve had a wonderful life with music and the arts, and it’s great to see the children and grandchildren enjoy it, too.”

Note that she said “grandchildren” – plural. Jenna’s younger brother, Ryan, a talented performer in his own right, will be selecting a college soon and the likelihood is that he will follow in his sister’s footsteps at WestConn. “I’m used to it,” Jenna said. “We pretty much do everything together, and he’s one of my best friends.”

And the legacy continues …

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.