2026 Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) 2026 Biennial Music Research and Teacher Education Conference will take place September 30-October 3, 2026, at the Hilton Long Beach, in Long Beach, California. NAfME welcomes the participation of future, current, and retired music educators, music teacher educators, administrators, and community and corporate partners who are passionate about the critical role of music education for all. Attendees will benefit from current research, policy discourse, and dialogue concerning the human experience in music teaching and learning.

Guided by the 2026 Biennial Conference Planning Committee, the conference will feature a keynote session, the 2026 Senior Researcher Address, hundreds of presentation and poster sessions selected by NAfME’s Society for Research in Music Education and Society for Music Teacher Education from the call for research proposals, and more.

2026 Biennial Conference Keynote Speaker

Pedro Antonio Noguera, PhD

Pedro Noguera is the Dean of the Rossier School of Education, and Distinguished Professor of Education at University of Southern California (USC). He is one of the nation’s leading scholars on issues related to inequality, public policy and education. Prior to coming to USC, he held endowed chairs at UCLA, NYU, Harvard, and the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of 15 books. His most recent book A Search for Common Ground with Rick Hess was the winner of the American Association of Publishers Prose Award in 2021. Noguera serves as an advisor to several states, school districts, foundations, NGOs, and nonprofits. In 2014 he was elected to the National Academy of Education and Phi Delta Kappa honor society, and in 2020 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Noguera has received eight honorary doctorates from American universities, most recently from his Alma Mater, Brown University. He has received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at NYU for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty. In 2023 he was ranked 1st in the nation for influence and impact in the field of education by Education Week. Born in New York City to Caribbean immigrants, Noguera is the father of five children, and grandfather to five grandchildren. Learn more about Pedro Noguera.

Update: The open window for proposal submissions for the 2026 Biennial Conference was January 19 to February 23, 2026. The call for submissions is now closed and not accepting new proposals.

Bookmark this web page for regular updates about the 2026 Biennial Conference. More information on registration and booking your room at the Hilton Long Beach is coming soon!

2026 Biennial Conference Program

Please note that the complete, fully scheduled and detailed program for this conference will be published online by NAfME in August 2026. To get an overall example and feel for the different types of presentation and poster sessions and wide spectrum of music research and teacher education topics shared and discussed at a NAfME Biennial conference see the 2024 Biennial Conference program.

Overview Agenda for the 2026 Biennial Conference

*Additional program information will be provided as confirmed/available.

In addition to the hundreds of presentation and poster sessions selected from the call for research proposals following the overall schedule below, there will be three interactive sessions led by members of NAfME’s Music Teacher Profession Advisory Committee (MTPAC):

• The Music Teacher, 2050: Skills, Knowledge, and Dispositions Teachers Will Need in the Future
• Leading from the Middle: Administrative Advocacy for Curricular Evolution
• Models of Change in Music Teacher Education: New Directions and Approaches

• Wednesday, September 30
  • 9:00 am–5:00 pm – NAfME Society and Journal Editorial Meetings
  • 5:30 pm–7:00 pm – Mentoring Session for Emerging Faculty and Researchers
    • SRME and SMTE leaders will provide career mentoring opportunities for attendees on Wednesday evening and Friday morning. Music education professors at various career stages and representing different types of institutions will be available for small-group or one-on-one mentoring on a variety of career topics that include applying for first jobs in academia, the tenure and promotion process, middle and late career stages, and publishing in research journals. Mentees will be encouraged to move to one or more topics throughout the sessions and come and go as their time permits. Please join us for one or both sessions.
• Thursday, October 1
  • 8:30 am–3:30 pm
    • Presentation Sessions
    • Poster Session 1
  • 4:00 pm–5:15 pm – Plenary Session: Keynote Speaker, Dean Pedro Noguera
  • 5:15 pm–6:30 pm – Welcome Reception
• Friday, October 2
  • 7:15 am–8:15 am – Mentoring Session for Emerging Faculty and Researchers
  • 8:30 am–4:55 pm
    • Presentation Sessions
    • Poster Sessions 2 and 3
  • 5:15 pm–6:30 pm – Plenary Session: 2026 NAfME Senior Research Address and Annual SRME Business Meeting
• Saturday, October 3
  • 8:00 am–12:45 pm
    • Presentation Sessions
    • Poster Session 4

Special NAfME Music Teacher Profession Advisory Committee (MTPAC) Sessions at the 2026 Biennial Conference

*Session dates and times to be announced.

The Music Teacher, 2050: Skills, Knowledge, and Dispositions Teachers Will Need in the Future

What are the skills, knowledge, dispositions, and competencies a music teacher will need in the future? Join us for a highly interactive brainstorming session designed to inform MTPAC’s development of forward-looking recommendations.

Presenters: Carlos R. Abril, Wendy Sims

Leading from the Middle: Administrative Advocacy for Curricular Evolution

This interactive session presents music education researchers and teacher preparation leaders with potential strategies to effectively lead from the middle when engaging with Deans and Directors. Participants will explore critical pathways for institutional change through topics including auditions and curricular evolution, offering practical guidance on navigating faculty resistance and institutional inertia to achieve meaningful, program-wide revision.

Presenters: Latasha Casterlow-Lalla, Shawn Chastain, Ramon Jackson, Sarah Nietupski, Kelly Parkes, Jared Rawlings, Martina Vasil

Models of Change in Music Teacher Education: New Directions and Approaches

Panelists will describe successful programmatic shifts in pre-service music teacher education designed to expand access and relevance. They will share specific changes, including removing audition requirements and developing new concentrations in popular music, mariachi, and bilingual music education to better serve diverse and non-traditional students. The session will examine both the opportunities and challenges involved in revising auditions, studio lessons, ensemble expectations, and coursework to prepare future music teachers for the realities of current and future music classrooms.

Presenters: Bryan Powell, Virginia Davis, Cassandra Eisenreich, Jennifer Walter

2026 Biennial Music Research and Teacher Education Conference Planning Committee

• Cecil Adderley, NAfME President and Conference Chair
• Judy Bush, NAfME President-Elect
• Scott Sheehan, NAfME Immediate Past President
• James Daugherty, Immediate Past President, Southern Division; NAfME NEB Executive Committee Member
• Carlos Abril, Music Teacher Profession Advisory Committee Co-Chair
• SRME Conference Co-Chairs
  • Phillip Hash, SRME Chair
  • Kelly Parkes, SRME Chair-Elect
  • Jessica Nápoles, SRME Conference Coordinator
• SMTE Conference Co-Chairs
  • Ann Marie Stanley, SMTE Chair
  • Tami Draves, SMTE Chair-Elect
  • Brian Weidner, SMTE Conference Chair
• Western Division and California MEA Representatives
  • Scott Hedgecock, Western Division Immediate Past President
  • Chad Zullinger, California MEA President

Staff Liaison: John Donaldson – johnd@nafme.org

---

Hilton Long Beach

The Hilton Long Beach is located at 701 W. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, California, 90831. The hotel is located within walking distance of a great number and variety of restaurants and attractions (including the Waterfront and Beach, The Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, and The Pike Outlets). It is easily accessible from three airports, including by Uber/Lyft: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX – 30 minutes); John Wayne Airport, in Orange County (SNA – 40 minutes); and Long Beach Airport (LGB – 15 minutes).