NAfME Online Professional Learning Community

LIVE Webinar Schedule • Webinar Recordings

Through NAfME’s Professional Learning and Partnerships Committee (PLPC), societies, councils, and other programs/outreach efforts (for advocacy, etc.), and the active participation of members submitting presentation proposals, NAfME provides a variety of webinars for members throughout the year. Selected programming is available for members and nonmembers.

SEE BELOW for upcoming webinars, recent webinars, and other recordings

The PLPC accepts webinar proposals throughout the year and periodically has a call for proposals. If you are interested in submitting a topic for a webinar proposal for review by the PLPC, please contact John Donaldson (johnd@nafme.org). In your email, please include your short bio and the draft title and overview description of your proposed webinar, including learning objectives and target audiences. If approved by the committee, you will be invited to submit a full proposal including your presentation slides in a PDF format. Also, please take a moment to review NAfME’s Strategic Plan.

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NAfME LIVE Webinar Schedule

 

• UPCOMING WEBINARS

 

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Indispensable for Instrumental Music

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 – 7:00–8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Click here to register for this event.

Presenter: Katrina Joyner

Music educators ask how they can be responsive to their students when implementing culturally responsive or relevant practices in their ensemble. Changes in musical literature and programming often answer the topic of cultural relevance in instrumental music; however, these are not the only steps towards cultural responsiveness in instrumental music. Understanding differences in how individuals communicate and learn can be the first step to better understanding our students and colleagues. Being in dialogue with individuals from different backgrounds is the foundation of professional learning communities and a component of sociocultural and responsive learning. Unfortunately, many educators underestimate and disregard those with varying communication styles and pedagogical perspectives. Some may conclude that verbal communication in a highly contextual and that a conversational way is rambling and not aligned with what society deems scholarly (Lind & McKoy, 2016). Professional learning communities are critical for music educators and often challenging to establish due to the competitive nature of instrumental music in addition to contests and evaluations.

Katrina Joyner earned a Bachelor of Music in music education at The University of Houston in Texas and a master’s degree in music education from Kent State University in Ohio. Her thesis topic aligned with her passion for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in band and orchestral ensembles. She has 14 years of teaching experience at the middle and high school levels. Under her direction, her ensembles have received superior ratings from various judges at UIL, large-ensemble assessments, and regional festivals. She has served as a state adjudicator for Maryland and Texas All-State Band Auditions and was the guest conductor for the 2023 Prince George’s County Middle School Honor Band.

 

 

 

Dear New Music Teacher…

Monday, June 12, 2023, 7:00–8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Click here to register for this webinar.

Presenter: Elizabeth McAnally

Are you preparing for or currently engaged in your first year of teaching music? Are you concerned about meeting the challenges and having a positive impact in your school community? The first year of teaching can be hard, but novice teachers are successful when they are prepared and supported. In this session, pre-service and novice music educators will gain insight into the challenges facing new music teachers. Together we will explore high-impact topics such as becoming part of the school community, creating a positive classroom climate, designing rigorous instruction, maintaining physical and emotional health, and continuing to grow as a professional. Participants will receive information and resources, share ideas, and begin to form a professional support network. Resources developed and field-tested by the facilitator will be shared, as well as insights gained from supporting new teachers. The goal is for participants to leave the session with a feeling of optimism and determination, better prepared to manage the challenges they will face in Year One.

Elizabeth Ann McAnally holds degrees in music education from Nazareth College of Rochester and Columbia University Teachers College, and in school leadership from Holy Family University. Formerly a middle-school general music/choral director, teacher-leader, and new teacher coach for 30 years in the School District of Philadelphia, she currently serves as a Professional Learning Specialist supporting professional development initiatives for new and novice teachers. Elizabeth speaks regularly on the topics of middle school general music and urban music education. She also consults for the Philadelphia Orchestra and conducts a volunteer choir from the organ at Memorial Presbyterian Church of Fox Chase. She received the Distinguished Music Educator award from Yale University and the 25 Year Service certificate from PMEA. Her published work appears in the peer-reviewed journals Teaching Music and General Music Today, and she has written curriculum guides for The Philadelphia Orchestra, Astral Artists, and Opera Philadelphia. She is a contributing author of Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom, Volume 1, and is the author of Middle School General Music: The Best Part of Your Day! (2nd edition).

 

 

Margaret Bonds’s Credo and the Expanding Choral Canon: A Case Study

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 – 7:00–8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Click here to register for the June 14 webinar

Presenters: Kendra Kay Friar, Cristino Perez, Justin Smith

This webinar will model a step-by-step approach to expanding understanding of the choral canon by examining the Pacific Northwest premiere of Margaret Bonds’s Credo (1972), a setting of a 1904 text by W. E. B. Du Bois.  Justin Smith, Kendra Kay Friar (accompanist), and Cristino Perez (Baritone soloist) offer a case study in preparing and presenting a major classical work by a composer whose artistic contributions were overlooked due to her race and gender.  The webinar will explore score study, personnel decisions, rehearsal techniques, and reflective practices used to bring this work to life.  Other repertoire suggestions will also be presented. Teachers and conductors show an interest in expanding the repertoire their students experience, but they also express a hesitancy to introduce new works due to concerns of cultural appropriation, imposter syndrome, and unfamiliarity with a work’s historic context.  Conductors already possess the skills needed to bring this repertoire to life for the next generation.  It is time to pair knowledge of art with knowledge of a composer whose voice should no longer be silenced. 

Justin Smith is Assistant Professor of Music, Director of the Music Program, and Director of Choral Activities at Queens University of Charlotte, where he conducts three choirs and teaches courses in music history, conducting, and film music.  He was previously the Joseph Naumes Endowed Chair in Music at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, is the founder and director of the Portland Phoenix Chamber Choir, and in 2020 founded the Royal Voices of Charlotte, which performed at Carnegie Hall in the 2021-22 season. His choirs have also performed at the Northwest American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and North Carolina ACDA conferences.  His publications include Choral Journal articles on neglected choral works by Marc Blitzstein and Vincent Persichetti. 

Kendra Kay Friar is a music teacher at Bonny Slope Elementary School in Beaverton, Oregon, and an Associate Conductor of Pacific Youth Choir in Portland, where she oversees the K-5 choral education program.  She received Oregon MEA’s Excellence in Elementary Music Education Award in 2021 and has presented sessions for national, division, and state NAfME-affiliated conferences.  She has served as Elementary Chair for Oregon Music Educators Association and as an editor of NAfME’s Journal of General Music Education.  Kendra’s peer-reviewed publications include articles for Music Educators Journal, Journal of General Music, and Oregon Music Educator.  She is an accompanist for many choral ensembles and a member of NAfME’s Equity Committee.

 Cristino Perez is a regular guest soloist for Portland Phoenix Choirs and an in-demand performer in and around Houston, Texas.  Cristino performed regularly with Houston Grand Opera (HGO), both as a chorister and as a featured performer in Mainstage productions such as La boheme (Customs Officer) and La Traviata (Commissioner).  He sang regularly in concert with HGOco and in HGOco’s Opera to Go! program and in staged productions for Houston’s Gilbert & Sullivan In addition to growing his performance portfolio, Cristino works as a Software QA Analyst for Onit, a Houston-based enterprise legal management software company.

Additional programming will be announced here as it becomes available.

Visit NAfME’s events page to see additional upcoming events.

 

• RECENT WEBINARS

Most recorded webinars are made available in the NAfME Academy^® within 1-2 weeks after the live event (selected town halls with primarily a discussion focus are not recorded). The NAfME Academy is a robust, online, on-demand catalog in the NAfME Learning Center with 100+ recorded webinars covering a wide range of content areas in music education: click here for details. As noted below, selected webinars can be accessed on NAfME’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA) web page, under “Webinar Resources.”

 

Music Teachers Are Literacy Teachers: Teaching Extramusical Concepts Through a Performance-Based Classroom

Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 7:00–8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenters: Dr. Victor Lozada and Kay Piña

Inevitably, music educators are often asked to teach outside of our content area to reading and literacy. Music educators need the tools to advocate to their administrators so that they understand what we do in the performance-based classroom directly connects with literacy goals of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, all of which occur in a music classroom. Additionally, representation in our classrooms is limited due to many students needing remedial literacy instruction, especially for bi/multilingual students. Join Lozada and Piña as we explore culturally responsive strategies for the general music classroom specifically targeting the strengths of our Spanish-English emergent bilingual students. 

Teachers will (1) develop an understanding of the basic connections between language-based literacy and music literacy such as the connection between music aptitude and phonological awareness (Lozada, 2022), the similarities between language-based and music-based composition processes (Hansen et al., 2014), and the ability for music to serve as a vehicle for critical literacy (Beach & Bolden, 2018), (2) demonstrate concrete strategies tied to the national standards in music and the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, and (3) create advocacy tools for including diverse student populations, especially bi/multilingual students, in the performance-based music classroom.

Victor Lozada, Ph.D., is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas Woman’s University where his research includes the intersections among music education, bilingual education, and literacy. His research can be found in the Journal of General Music Education, the Bilingual Research Journal, and his co-edited book Engage and Empower! Expanding the Curriculum for Justice and Activism. Victor taught K-5 general music in multilingual environments for 14 years in Texas. Currently, he serves on the editorial board of Reverberations: Teachers Teaching Teachers. He frequently presents for the American Orff Schulwerk Association and the National Association for Bilingual Education. 

Kay Piña is a Ph.D. candidate at Penn State University. Before moving to State College, PA, Kay taught K-6 general music and choir in Central Texas. Her public-school experience in Title I schools gave her a passion for teaching students of diverse backgrounds and heritage culture. Kay is the Past-President of the American Eurhythmics Society and presents on a variety of topics including culturally responsive teaching in general music, and Dalcroze Eurhythmics. 

 

 

 

 

NAfME Town Hall: Elevating the Small-School Music Education Experience

Tuesday, May 23, 2023 – 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm Eastern

Click here to register for the May 23 Town Hall.

We want to hear from you! Click here to take a short pre-event survey to share your successes and challenges working in a small school setting.

Teaching music at small, rural schools affords unique opportunities and benefits, while also presenting specific challenges. Come celebrate the small-school music education experience and share your successes, ideas, challenges, and questions with your peers.  Join NAfME’s Small Schools Initiative Task Force members and other music educators serving geographically isolated small schools and rural communities throughout the United States.  Participate in identifying key issues and effective strategies for networking, community building, professional learning, advocacy, and resource development.  Help celebrate, elevate, and support this enormously important and impactful segment of the profession serving students in small schools in diverse rural communities across wide open spaces in every region of the United States.

 

 

Standing in the Gap: A Survey of Middle-Level Music Education in the United States and its Territories

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenters: Dr. Stephanie Cronenberg and Dr. Brandon Williams

For at least the past century, music educators have advocated for the right of all students to receive music learning at school. Recent discourse has transformed this mission into a discussion of access, equity, and inclusion for all students across K–12 as well as a concern for diversifying the teaching force prepared to teach music education. While all students deserve access to quality music education and qualified music teachers prepared to teach them, there are some gaps in the field’s knowledge of how this mission is enacted across the United States. Join us to learn about the findings of recent survey research investigating one such gap in knowledge: music learning for middle level or 5^th–8^th grade students. Conducted during the turbulent 2020–2021 school year, this survey data provides an initial national demographic profile of middle level music learning across the U.S. and its territories, the impact of COVID-19 on music learning availability, and the teaching responsibilities, demographics, and perceived preparation of those who teach 5^th–8^th grade music learning. This webinar will review our research findings and engage participants in discussion of our recommendations for consideration by music teachers, music teacher educators, school administrators, music researchers, and music advocates. In music education, 5^th–8^th grade is a critical time to begin ensemble learning and an important transition point between required and elective music courses. Access to music education at the middle level matters! Join us for this important discussion.

Dr. Stephanie Cronenberg, Associate Professor of Music, was appointed to the Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts faculty in 2016. She teaches undergraduate courses in music education, with an emphasis on general music methods and graduate courses in research and pedagogy. She also serves as the Area Head of the Music Education Program. In 2022, she published her first book, Fertile Ground in Middle Level General Music. Her 2016 mixed methods dissertation, Music at the Middle: Principles that Guide Middle Level General Music Teachers, received third place in the 2017 Outstanding Dissertation Award Competition hosted by the AERA Mixed Methods Special Interest Group. Her recent research projects focus on middle level music education, teaching middle level general music and the methodological implementation of the dialectic stance in mixed methods inquiry. Her research has been published in Arts Education Policy Review, Bulletin for the Council on Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, International Journal of Research and Method in Education, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, and Research in Middle Level Education Online. Prior to her appointment at Rutgers University, Dr. Cronenberg taught seventh and eighth grade general music at Campus Middle School for Girls as well as undergraduate and graduate courses at the College of Education and School of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to 2011, she served as Director of Education and Community Programs at The Choral Arts Society of Washington (DC) and taught fourth through seventh grade general music at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Brandon Williams is an Associate Professor of Choral Music and Choral Music Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He conducts the Rutgers Voorhees Choir (Carnegie Hall 2019, Eastern ACDA 2020) and teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses related to choral music education. He amassed a decade of middle and high school teaching experience in St. Louis, Missouri, where he also served on the voice faculty at Maryville University and as a conductor with the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus and the St. Louis Children’s Choirs. His school ensembles received invitations to perform at the 2010 and 2013 Missouri Music Educators Association conventions, and his middle school ensemble was featured on GIA’s DVD entitled “How to Make a Good Choir Sound Great!” Dr. Williams has won numerous awards, including the 2009 Missouri Choral Directors Association Prelude Award for excellence in choral music, an Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia Honors College, and the 2021–22 Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence Award. Dr. Williams holds degrees from Western Illinois University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Michigan State University, where he earned the prestigious University Enrichment Graduate Fellowship Award. He also completed an Artist Teacher Diploma from the Choral Music Experience–Institute for Choral Teacher Education. In addition to his articles in the Choral Journal and the Music Educators Journal, Dr. Williams is the editor of Choral Reflections: Insights from American Choral Conductor-Teachers. He has also published numerous choral compositions and arrangements with Hal Leonard, G. Schirmer, Mark Foster, Colla Voce, and MusicSpoke.

 

Supporting Queer Students in Public Schools

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenter: Dr. Christopher T. F. Hanson

This webinar offers practical strategies for supporting queer students in public schools, based on personal and professional testimonies, SEL standards, anti-discrimination policies and laws, and educational theory and practice. Dr. Christopher T. F. Hanson will provide published resources and facilitate dialog on queer issues for students, teachers, and public schools promoting equity and advocacy for all students.

Conductor, violinist, composer, pedagogue, and musicologist Dr. Christopher T. F. Hanson enjoys working with a large and eclectic group of ensembles. Dr. Hanson’s research is focused on community building through the ats, queer theory, and student and teacher agency. He holds three master’s degrees in music and a PhD in Educational Leadership and School Improvement from Texas State University. He currently serves as assistant professor of music and director of music education and orchestral activities at Seattle Pacific University. 

 

 

Arc of Choral Learning: From Planning to Performance

 Wednesday, May 10, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Are you and your students bored of learning a new piece by opening the music and starting at measure one?  The Arc of Choral Learning will explore a variety of ways to introduce and teach a new song to a choral ensemble. The session will include real life classroom videos of students exploring a new piece of music. 

Sara Shikowitz is a proud music educator working in the New York City Department of Education. She serves as the choral director at Halsey Junior High School 157 in Rego Park, Queens. Ms. Shikowitz is a facilitator for the NYC Citywide Music Professional Learning Team and is a mentor for the NYC Paul Simon Mentor Program. She is the Center Director of the NYC Queens Chorus Salute to Music Program, a trained NYSSMA adjudicator for both solo and major performances, and serves as an adjunct professor of music education at CUNY Queens College. A NYC Big Apple Award finalist in 2019, she is the choral coordinator for the MEANYC All County Festival. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Ithaca College and her master’s degree in music education from Queens College. Ms. Shikowitz is a seasoned presenter, with sessions provided for NYSSMA, NAfME, MEANYC, and the New York City Department of Education.

 

 

Sean and The Duke: How to Select Great Pieces for Beginning Band

 Wednesday, May 3, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenter: Jason Luft

The most important thing for a new band director teaching beginning band is selecting appropriate repertoire. Good classroom management, student engagement, and culturally responsive teaching all stem from good lesson planning, and good lesson planning stems from selecting pieces that are fun, pedagogically sound, meaningful, and aesthetically interesting. As a cooperating teacher for 10 years at the City University of New York Brooklyn College, I would often observe talented and promising student teachers struggling in their rehearsals because they had selected pieces of music that were ill suited for the ensemble in front of them. In this webinar two pieces will be explored: Ancient Hunters by Sean O’Loughlin and C-Jam Blues by Duke Ellington, which are perfect for beginning band. New teachers attending the webinar will leave with two pieces and two contrasting methods of teaching beginning band that they can use in their classrooms immediately. And, they will leave with an understanding of why these two pieces work well, so that, in their future programming, they can select repertoire guaranteed to make their ensembles successful.

Jason Luft has taught band for 15 years with the New York City Department of Education. He has also served as a cooperating teacher with CUNY Brooklyn College for 10 years. He currently teaches winds at the Mark Twain School for the Gifted and Talented. He has raised more than $56,000 dollars for his classrooms via donorschoose.org. He earned his B.M. from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, and his M.A. from Stony Brook University.  As a euphonium player with the Brooklyn Wind Symphony, Mr. Luft has presented at the Mid-West Clinic, the WASBE Conference, and the NYSSMA Winter Conference.  He has performed and worked with a variety of great musicians including, Joe Alessi, Howard Johnson, Johan de Meij, James Curnow, David Maslanka, Viet Cuong, and Michael Markowski. He can be heard on Michael Markowski’s album “City Trees.”

 

NAfME Council for Jazz Education Presents: Jazz Literature with Inclusion and Diversity in Mind: Programming from Novice to Advanced

Wednesday, April 26, 2023 – 7:00 to 8:00 pm Eastern

Presenters: William (Bill) Leather and Peter Sampson

Host: Bethany Robinson, Chair, NAfME Council for Jazz Education

Join members of the NAfME Council for Jazz Education as they speak with Bill Leather and Peter Sampson about ways to program jazz literature with inclusion and diversity in mind. Discover new repertoire ideas for ensembles of all levels and share your ideas with colleagues from around the country. Hosted by Bethany Robinson, Chair of the NAfME Council for Jazz Education.

William (Bill) Leather is a 2005 graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a degree in Music Education.  He received his Master’s in Music in 2013 from the American Band College of Sam Houston State University and, in 2016, finished his ninth and final year as an Associate Band Director at Penn High School (Mishawaka, IN).  At Penn, he oversaw all aspects of the percussion and jazz programs and assisted with the Freshmen Concert Band and Symphonic Band.  The Penn Advanced Jazz Ensemble frequently achieved success at festivals throughout the Midwest and was named a top twelve finalist for the 2014 and 2016 Swing Central Jazz Festival in Savannah, GA.  In 2008, Bill was an assistant conductor with the Penn Symphonic Band for their featured performance at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. In the fall of 2016, Bill joined the music team at Mount Si High School as Co-Director of Bands. At Mount Si, Bill teaches Jazz, all wind bands, percussion ensemble and a West African Djembe class. Under Bill’s direction, Mount Si Jazz I has been an Essentially Ellington finalist in 2019, 2020, and 2022. Bill resides in North Bend, WA with his wife Liz, daughters Mya and Makena, and son Greyson.

Peter Sampson has been the Director of Bands at Whiteland Community High School since 2008.  While there he has more than doubled the size of the program to include three concert bands, three curricular jazz bands, jazz combos, pep band, and the Marching Warriors Marching Band. The Whiteland Jazz Bands have been honored as ISSMA Jazz State Finalists four times, performed at the Indiana Music Education Association State Conference and the Indiana State House, and have earned ensemble, solo, and scholarship awards at jazz festivals across the state. In 2014, Whiteland Jazz Band One was selected as a National Finalist in the Essentially Ellington program through Jazz at Lincoln Center earning them the opportunity to perform for Wynton Marsalis in the world-famous Rose Hall in New York City.  While attending this event the band was chosen as the subject of a documentary film called “On the Road to EE” that can be seen on the Jazz at Lincoln Center YouTube channel. Sampson is a cum laude graduate of Ball State University with a major in Music Education and minor in Voice Performance as well as a Master of Science in Music Technology from Indiana University.  He has been named the 2021 Outstanding High School Music Teacher by the Indiana Music Education Association, a national Distinguished Music Educator by Yale University, a 2020 Grammy National Music Educator Award Semi-finalist, and a Graduate of the Last Decade by Ball State University.  Sampson was the founding Vice-President of the Indiana Jazz Educators Association and currently serves on their state board as the All-District Jazz event chair, a project that he started through IJEA in 2015.  He is the President-Elect of the Indiana State School Music Association, the IMEA State Jazz Chair, and has served at the ISSMA State Jazz List Chair multiple times.  He resides in Whiteland, Indiana with his wife Julie and their twin 12-year old sons Conner and Luke.

 

 

A Mentoring Model for Arts Teacher Equity

Tuesday, April 25, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenter: Rachel Hoke

This webinar shares original research that piloted a virtual peer mentoring program for novice K-12 art and music teachers at high risk for professional isolation and attrition due to their status as one-person departments within their schools. By facilitating a blend of synchronous and asynchronous virtual interactions, the geographic and scheduling barriers that typically prevent access to effective content-specific mentors were removed, enabling these specialized teachers to experience beneficial early-career mentoring in an equitable manner while meeting the state mentoring requirements for continued teacher licensure. The study methodology, notable results, and potential opportunities for and obstacles to implementing a similar program will be discussed, including evidence of direct benefits to teachers and recommendations for structural changes to support arts teacher retention and job satisfaction. Attendees will leave prepared with strategies to coordinate, develop, and advocate for similar innovations in their own professional settings to benefit both novice and experienced visual and performing arts teachers.

Rachel Hoke (she/her) taught music and special education in K-12 settings for more than a decade prior to her current role as the Director for Teaching & Learning Design at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction: Educational Technology from the University of South Carolina, an M.S. in School Psychology from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and a B.M. from West Chester University. Her research interests include teacher education, technology integration, faculty development, and learning experience design.

 

Music-Driven Classroom Management Strategies for Elementary

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenter: Anthony Molinaro

Classroom management is maybe the most important skill for a music teaching artist to develop. A well-managed class is crucial to the overall experience of the students. If there is chaos, we can’t have music. In many ways music is the cure fMusior chaos. If the students are going to connect to music and experience its JOY, the class must be well managed. Not only is music the goal of the class, it’s also the solution oftentimes to classroom management difficulties. For music teachers, our training and talents provide a valuable resource for classroom management. Conceiving the structure and procedures of the classroom as more musical can be a great way to reduce chaos and engage learners in the flow of instruction. This workshop will provide perspectives and strategies to create a music driven classroom that utilizes the unique qualities of music to maximize instructional time and transform behaviors.

As a music educator, instrumentalist, podcaster, and producer Anthony Molinaro has always kept the Dalcroze approach central to his philosophy. With more than 16 years’ experience in public school classrooms on both coasts of the United States, Anthony created an authentic Dalcroze classroom in his elementary school in Grove City, PA. He is also a faculty member and guest lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University, where he pursues graduate studies in music education. A sought-after clinician and presenter, Anthony has presented at PMEA District 7 and District 5 events. He has been a guest presenter at Elizabethtown College, Westminster College, Duquesne University, Slippery Rock University, Grove City College, and Messiah College. He has served as the board chair and treasurer of the Dalcroze Society of America as well as a presenter at two national conferences and several national virtual events. He has presented workshops for Music Construct ED as well as the Virtual Dalcroze Meetup and runs an online roundtable forum for the leadership of the major national pedagogical organizations. His podcast, The New Dalcrozian, has an international listenership that spans 48 countries. His popular SubStack newsletter, MusicXT – Moments and Movement, allows subscribers to follow his thoughts and career in real time, with many instructional videos and content to help embrace the Dalcroze approach in a public-school setting. 

 

Scott Joplin: A Guide for K-12 Music Educators

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenter: Kendra Kay Friar

Did you know that Scott Joplin, “King of Ragtime Composers,” began his career as a quartet singer and entrepreneur?  Did you know that Joplin was a lifelong learner, a respected music editor, and a community leader?  This interactive session empowers participants to introduce the real Scott Joplin to their students through improvisation, dance, and listening activities.  Study the score of a Joplin piano rag, which was intended to be played as written.  Consider historic photos of ragtime faces and places.  Learn the “One-Step,” the “Stop-Time,” and other celebrated dance steps of the ragtime era.  If Scott Joplin could speak to students today, what would he want them to know about his ragtime life?  Participants will receive the resources needed to bring Scott Joplin’s story and his revolutionary ragtime ideas to life for students of every age and stage.

Kendra Kay Friar is a music teacher at Bonny Slope Elementary School in Beaverton, OR, and an associate conductor of Pacific Youth Choir in Portland, OR, where she oversees the K-5 choral education program.  She has been a member of NAfME’s Equity Committee since 2022 and has served as Elementary Chair for Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA) for the last four years. Kendra received OMEA’s Excellence in Elementary Music Education Award in 2021.  She has presented sessions at NAfME National, NAfME-NW, and multiple state-affiliated conferences, and she served as an editor of NAfME’s Journal of General Music Education from 2016 to 2022.  Kendra’s peer-reviewed publications include articles for Music Educators Journal, Journal of General Music, and Oregon Music Educator.  Her practitioner-focused work appears in NAfME’s Teaching Music Magazine and Lorenz Corporation’s Activate! magazine. Kendra is also an active clinician, accompanist, and professional choral singer working in and around Portland, OR.  In June 2022, she accompanied the Pacific Northwest premiere of Credo by Margaret Bonds, presented by Portland’s Phoenix Chamber Choir, conducted by Dr. Justin Smith. 

Kendra Kay Friar is completing an Ed.D. in Educational Policy, Leadership, and Organization–Diversity & Equity Concentration at the University of Illinois;  she holds an M.M., Music Education, from the University of Texas and a B.S., Music Education, Elementary-General Specialization, from the University of Illinois.

 

Programming Culturally Diverse Music: The Time is Now!

Monday, April 3, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

Presenter: Stacy Dziuk

As educators, our ensembles and our students are increasingly diverse. Our repertoire selections and programming should be as well! All students should have the opportunity to have global experiences and understanding within the instrumental classroom. However, it can be difficult to know where to start, how to approach more culturally diverse programming, and how to incorporate it into our curriculum. This webinar will offer suggestions and solutions for questions pertaining to diversifying repertoire as well as resources for the music educator. At the end of this webinar, educators will be able to:

• Understand the need for diversifying repertoire choices for wind band.
• Identify the key issues that inhibit directors from choosing repertoire that is more culturally diverse or composed by more diverse composers-
• Identify solutions for each of the presented issues in relation to choosing culturally diverse repertoire
• Identify resources to help promote the programming of more culturally diverse music for wind band.

Dr. Stacy Dziuk is the Director of Bands/ Instrumental Music at Carroll University where she directs the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, and courses in music education. Previously she was the Director of Instrumental Activities at Monmouth College. As an educator, Dr. Dziuk has been active with the Minnesota All-State Bands, Connecticut Regional and All-State Bands, and Illinois Music Educators’ Association, as well as students in K-12 general and instrumental music programs. Prior to her collegiate positions, Dr. Dziuk taught at St. John the Baptist School in New Brighton, MN, teaching general music and band. She has also taught at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, the University of St. Catherine, the University of Minnesota, as well as maintaining a large private lesson studio. She has presented clinics in woodwinds, band, and diversity access practices across the Midwest and New England. She is currently published in Teaching Music and Music Educators’ Journal.

 

Debunking Misconceptions about Equity: A Realistic Approach to a Truly Equitable Music Education Program

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Presenter: Ashante Griffin

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

Research has shown that music educators are not addressing equity within the classroom consistently throughout all music classrooms. There are many different documented reasons attributed to this lack of equity in music education. Many of the teacher-centered inequities stem from misconceptions and a lack of preparation. I hope to inspire music educators to create truly equitable music classrooms and give them resources to debunk the common misconceptions surrounding inequity in music classrooms. If music educators understand ways in which they can create change, they might feel more inclined and empowered to do so.

Born and raised in Detroit, MI, Ashante Griffin came to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from Clark Atlanta University. After graduating, she attended the University of West Georgia to receive her teacher certification and earn a master’s degree in Music Education. Ashante began teaching at Mundy’s Mill High School in 2014 as the choral director and assists with other activities and organizations including Student Government, Senior Class, and Prom. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in Music Education at Georgia State University. Her research interests are centered on equity in music education and creating music classrooms where students can experience music in the best way possible.

 

Simple Classroom Management Strategies

Wednesday, March 22, 2023 – 7:00-8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Presenter: Dave Schaefer

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

Classroom management is the most important tool that a teacher can have in their toolbox.  The amount of knowledge a teacher has in a particular content area means little if the teacher cannot control the classes they teach.  This session explores simple-to-implement strategies for any music classroom. These methods require no amount of yelling, and will be beneficial to your voice, your mind, and the learning of your students.

Dave Schaefer is currently the Choral Director at South Garland High School in Garland, TX.  Prior to this position he was the Choral Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (2019-2020) and served as the Choral Director at Ralston Middle School in Omaha, NE (2014-2019). He received his Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Schaefer has presented on topics including technology in the classroom, classroom management, vocal development for middle level voices, and marching band/show choir techniques in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota, and Texas.

 

 

A Thousand Tiny Cuts: Overcoming Implicit Bias to Promote Belonging

Monday, March 6, 2023 – 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

Some sources claim teachers make more than 1,500 decisions each day, many instantly. Our biases, conscious or not, cause us to unwittingly commit a multitude of microaggressions toward students who are members of marginalized communities. The focus of this session is on issues of race/ethnicity, LGBTQIA+, and disability. Though choral directors were the original intended audience, music educators from all disciplines can benefit from this session. Participants can expect to learn how to define and identify biases and will be introduced to a framework and resources to help rewrite those biases to better ensure a more equitable and just environment for their students.

Alex Rivera (he/him) is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair for Oklahoma Choral Directors Association and the Director of Music Ministries at Disciples Christian Church in Bartlesville, OK. He received his bachelor’s in music education (voice) with Special Distinction from the University of Oklahoma. He taught for ten years in public schools, where he conducted and accompanied several choirs in addition to teaching AP Music Theory and Music Appreciation. Rivera is in demand as a guest clinician and has conducted more than a dozen honor choirs. He has received the Masonic Teacher of Today Award and the OkMEA Outstanding Young Music Educator Award. He served on the OkCDA Junior High All-State Choir Committee for five years. Rivera has presented workshop sessions at several state and national conventions, including for NAfME and the American Choral Directors Association. Alex and his wife, Callie, have three children and two cats. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling with his family, baking, and reading.

 

Teaching in 2023: Finding Balance and Joy

 February 28, 2023 – 7:00 to 8:00 pm Eastern

This program was not recorded.

Join members of the NAfME Council for General Music Education and other general music educators from throughout the country as we discuss topics relevant to general music teachers in 2023. Bring your questions, ideas, and issues you want to discuss!

 

NAfME Council for Guitar Education Town Hall – Come One, Come All!

 February 22, 2023 – 8:00 to 9:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

Members of the NAfME Council for Guitar Education Executive Committee will be on hand to answer your questions related to guitar performance, technique and everything else related to guitar! Come join us and connect with fellow music educators from around the U.S. The Guitar Council looks forward to your participation.

Speakers/facilitators:  Executive Committee of the NAfME Council for Guitar Education

 

NAfME Council for Jazz Education and Jazz Education Network Crossover Event: Serving Educators of All Levels

February 16, 2023 – 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

Please join NAfME’s Council for Jazz Education and the Jazz Education Network Board to find out how both organizations help support and elevate teachers of all levels in the area of Jazz Education. You will learn about available resources, opportunities for networking and jazz pedagogy, with plenty of time for questions. Learn about key trends, common challenges, and successful strategies for building a strong jazz program. Get energized and inspired with innovative ideas looking ahead to Jazz Appreciation month in April.

Born in Landstuhl, Germany, Lonnie Davis has proud 300-year-old Louisiana Creole roots in her home of New Orleans. Following Hurricane Katrina, Davis and her family relocated to Charlotte, NC, where she became President/CEO and Co-founder of the 501(c)3 education and presenting organization JazzArts Charlotte (JazzArts). Davis has a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in music and additional graduate work in Urban and Regional Planning. She is a flutist, arts advocate, and community leader, currently serving on numerous committees and Boards. Some of these positions include volunteer leadership roles with both Arts NC and the National Association for Music Educators (NAfME), as well as Jazz Education Network (JEN) where she serves as current Board President. Davis has led the development of a thriving jazz audience in Charlotte, NC, through her vision and work at JazzArts, now recognized as having the region’s “most diverse arts audience” in a recent research study. Under her leadership, JazzArts now operates with budget of over $1 million annually and serves thousands of students of all ages and audience members each year through various educational and performance-based programs and partnerships. Davis has been recognized with the receipt of numerous awards over the past decade, including the recent Jazz Journalists Association “Jazz Heroes Award” and the 2022 Charlotte Center City Partners Vision Award.

Dr. Lenora Z. Helm Hammonds is a Chicago IL native, former U.S. Jazz Ambassador two-time Fulbright Senior Music Specialist, and a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Music and Jazz Studies Program at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She is Interim Chair for the Department of Music and Director of Graduate Programs, Jazz Studies. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in vocal jazz performance, jazz ear training, jazz pedagogy and songwriting, and is Director of NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Dr. Hammonds has authored several academic and student initiatives, including the planning, design, and coordination of an NEA-sponsored Teaching Artist Certificate program. The inaugural recipient of the 2022 Jazz Educator of Distinction award from Jazz Music Awards foundation, her academic award highlights include a Duke University-NCCU John Hope Franklin Digital Humanities Fellowship, 2018 Javett Music Award International Jazz Scholar at University of Pretoria, South Africa, a 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Publishing, NCCU’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and receiving the highest faculty honor, the 2021 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award. Lenora’s dream for creating access to under-served global populations interested in vocal jazz education was realized in the creation of a library of online vocal training programs at www.LenoraHelm.online. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Film Scoring and Voice from Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music, Jazz Performance from East Carolina University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Boston University. Her research interests are at the intersection of digital humanities, intercultural competence, and Jazz, and she is a published author with Routledge, Taylor & Francis, and Springer. Her achievements in academia are in addition to more than three decades as a recording artist. Previously known as Lenora Zenzalai Helm, she is acclaimed as a jazz vocalist, vocal musicianship coach, lyricist, composer, arranger, and big band bandleader.

Jesse Nolan is a multi-disciplinary creative artist and entrepreneur who works in various mediums including music, video, and software development to craft unique entertainment and educational experiences for clients all over the world through his company Big Pear Productions. His commercial work has appeared in advertising placements and live events for Banana Republic, Virgin America Airlines, Bergdorf-Goodman, the Intercontinental Hotel Group, HSBC China, State Farm, and more. A former Resident Music Director and drummer for Blue Man Group, additional performance credits include Gregory Porter, James Moody, Steve Turre, Allen Vizzutti, Freda Payne, Lorraine Feather, and the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra. A former Assistant Professor of Jazz at Marshall University, Jesse holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies and Percussion and a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Indiana University and is currently in the dissertation phase for his DMA in Music Education at Boston University.

Bethany Robinson is a Yamaha Performing Artist, 2022 Grammy Music Educator Award Finalist, Chair for the National Association for Music Education Jazz Council, President of the Indiana Jazz Educators Association, and serves on the Jazz Education Network Board. She is the Jazz Band Director for Noblesville Schools in Noblesville, Indiana. Robinson was named 2014 Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year, 2015 Noblesville Teacher of the Year, a 2016 Indiana Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist and named a 2022 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association. She helps lead the annual Indiana Jazz Girls Day, was a keynote speaker for the 2021 Australia National Band and Orchestra Conference, a presenter for the 2021 Indiana Music Educator Association Conference and will present at the 2021 International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. She is an avid clinician, adjudicator, and performer on upright bass, electric bass, and vocals.

 

Developing and Nurturing an Inclusive Music Teaching Community 

February 15, 2023 – 7:00 to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

In this crucial moment when there is an ever-growing demand for good and committed music teachers, Deb Confredo, Cecil Adderley, and Carlos Abril will share data and insights gathered by NAfME’s Music Teacher Profession Initiative which worked to identify obstacles to the profession at three levels: before and during the degree program, as well as during the critical first five years of professional life. We will provide information on ways of mitigating barriers to diversifying the music teaching profession and invite participants to offer their insights. 

Deborah Confredo is Professor of Music Education at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). She is President-Elect of the National Association for Music Education, chairs the NAfME Music Teacher Profession Initiative, and serves on the higher education sub-committee of the NAfME Repertory Diversity Task Force. Although a professor for Temple University, Dr. Confredo resides in Louisiana where she is an active member of the Louisiana Music Educators Association in her work on the LMEA Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Professional Development Committee, and the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association. She has co-authored the texts The Complete Woodwind Instructor: A Guidebook for the Music Educator and Lessons in Performance (FJH), and is editor of Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks, and Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands. Confredo is lead author for the FJH publication Measures of Success®, a multi-level band method for beginning and intermediate instrumentalists. She developed and is featured in the Measures of Success® Video Practice Buddy Series, an online video tutorial program for developing band musicians. Her numerous articles are published in journals such as the Journal for Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education (CRME), Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal for Music Teacher Education, Journal of Music Therapy, Music Educators Journal, Journal of Band Research, The Instrumentalist, and Contributions to Music Education, and various state music education journals. She has been an editorial board member on several professional journals and currently serves as editorial board member for the Journal of Band Research.  

Cecil Adderley, Ph.D., Chair of Berklee’s Music Education Department, has over 35 years of teaching experience at the junior/senior high school (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools), and college levels. He has performed professionally in the Charlotte Community Band (NC) as a clarinetist, and the Asheville Symphony Orchestra (NC) as a violinist.  He has served as a US Congressional Intern on Capital Hill, Chair of the Northborough School Committee, member of the Northborough Cultural Council, New Jersey Music Educators Association as the Higher Education Representative, and as an adjudicator for Drum Corps International (DCI).

Dr. Adderley has written and published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Choral Journal, Contributions to Music Education, Journal of Band Research, Southeastern Journal of Music Education, and Strategies for Teaching: Technology.  Cecil Adderley is also one of the contributing authors to, Musical Experience in Our Lives:  Expanding the Boundaries of Music Education, Chapter 13, Music in Motion:  An Overture to the Student Experience in the Outdoor Music Ensemble.  Dr. Adderley holds a B.S. from Western Carolina University, an M.M. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.  In addition, he is the Past-President to Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Board, and serves on the NAfME (National Association for Music Education) Equity Committee, NAfME Teacher Preparation Initiative Committee, and ISME (International Society for Music Education) Advocacy Committee.

Carlos R. Abril is Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he teaches courses in equity, access, and diversity in music education, qualitative methods, and general music education. His research seeks to document barriers to the study of music in schools, as well as to illuminate ways to make the study of music more relevant and accessible. His work is published in numerous research and professional journals, as well as in books. He co-edited the books General Music: Dimensions of Practice (Oxford), Teaching General Music: Approaches, Issues, and Viewpoints (Oxford) and Musical Experiences in Our Lives (Rowan & Littlefield).  Abril is the Immediate Part Chair of the Society for Research in Music Education and has served on the Research Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts. He is the recipient of the Phillip Frost Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship.  

 

A Dialogue with School Counselors and Music Educators: Practical Insights for Supporting Students’ Social and Emotional Learning and Success in the Classroom, the Arts, and Beyond

February 6, 2023 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

Coming out of the worst of the pandemic, PreK-12 music educators throughout the country have reported a wide range of challenges with behavior management issues in the classroom and the need for social and emotional learning support for students. As noted by NAfME’s Professional Learning and Partnerships Committee and many others, these issues (which vary by teaching level and school context) include reacclimating students to classroom behaviors, lack of student participation, the need for a deeper understanding of trauma-informed practices, and supporting all students’ social and emotional learning and well-being.

Don’t miss this unique, interactive dialogue with experienced school counselors and music educators.  During the first half of the program, experienced professionals from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) will identify trends and issues they are seeing in the field and offer some practical insights, tools, and strategies for how music educators, in tandem with school counselors, principals, and the overall school community, can support students social and emotional learning and success in the classroom, the arts, and beyond.

The second half of the program will be an interactive dialogue with the ASCA speakers and a panel of experienced music educators and some Q/A with the audience. Both music educators and school counselors are invited to participate in this program.

Speakers from ASCA:

Jill Cook, CAE, is the Executive Director of the American School Counselor Association.Lauded as “a tireless advocate” for school counselors by First Lady Jill Biden, she has dedicated her life to supporting, empowering, and improving the profession. A music teacher, middle school counselor, and assistant principal by profession, Jill joined the American School Counselor Association more than two decades ago. In her roles developing the National School Counselor of the Year Program, the Recognized ASCA Model Program, and as liaison to numerous K-12, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations that work on issues related to the well-being of our nation’s students, and now as Executive Director, Jill’s singular focus has remained the same: to ensure that every student has access to the best student counselor.

Dr. Beth Ruff has worked as a school counselor for 14 years. (2 years at the middle school and 12 years at the elementary level). This is her 7^th year at Powder Springs Elementary; a certified and awarded Arts Integrated school where she infuses the elements or art, drama, music, and dance into counseling instruction. She loves to collaborate with other counseling rockstars by presenting at local and state level conferences on increasing student engagement. In 2021, she won a $9,000 grant to design and build an Arts integrated sensory hall to help students with self-regulation in this pandemic world we live in. Georgia School Counselor Association recognized her as the 2021 Georgia School Counselor of the Year. She was recognized as and ASCA school counselor of the year finalist in 2022. 

NAfME Discussion Facilitators:

Johnathan Hamiel serves as the Director of Bands at Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville, North Carolina and is the current President of the North Carolina Music Education Association.  Hamiel is also a member of NAfME’s Professional Learning and Partnerships Committee and Equity Committee.

Mr. Hamiel has been teaching public school in Winston-Salem, NC for 16 years.  In 2003, he graduated from Winston-Salem State University with a bachelor’s degree in Music Business Management and Merchandising and certification in Music Education. In 2007, he earned his Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Music and Music Education. In 2008, Mr. Hamiel received “Teacher of the Year” for his work and dedication at Downtown Middle School. While teaching at Parkland Magnet IB High School (PHS), he transformed the Band program from a program of 35 students and 2 ensembles to a program of over 100 students and 5 ensembles. Under the baton of Mr. Johnathan Hamiel, the band program at PHS won countless awards and received “superior” and “excellent” ratings throughout the southeast United States, and also was featured on a segment for ABC’s “Good Morning America.” During this tenure at Parkland, Mr. Hamiel again won the “Teacher of the Year” award and the “Band Director of the Year” with the Forsyth County Band Director Association.

LaSaundra Booth, Ed.D. is an accomplished arts leader and teaching artist. She is founder and executive director of the Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra (WFCYO), a non-profit organization that provides expert orchestral instruction and free instruments to youth living in rural and under-resourced communities. Under her leadership, WFCYO grew from 3 students to over 350 within three years. In addition to working with youth, Dr. Booth is a lecturer for music education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In this role, she prepares the next generation of educators to lead culturally inclusive arts education programs.  Dr. Booth serves on the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) Council for Orchestra Education, where she is heavily involved in implementing diversity initiatives for K-12 string orchestra classrooms. She is an inventor who received a patent for a music instruction apparatus for string instruments (USPTO# 20140260902). She is an alumnus of Sphinx LEAD(Leaders in Excellence, Arts & Diversity), a 2-year professional empowerment program designed to evolve the landscape of arts leadership.  Dr. Booth understands the importance of professional development. She is excited to facilitate sessions on creating equitable, diverse, and culturally inclusive string orchestra programs.  Her most recent offering is Empowered to Lead Inclusive Orchestra Classrooms, which provides strategies to help string teachers thrive within their classrooms and school community.    

Angela Schendel Keedy serves as the NAfME Professional Development Specialist, working on the Connected Arts Networks grant project.  Originally from Montana, she is a master teacher who has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Keedy has taught within private, traditional public, and charter schools in rural, suburban, and urban environments.  Her students have been featured on NBC Nightly News, been invited to perform at the Olympics, and have performed with the Wally Cardona Dance Quartet in New York as part of a National Endowment for the Arts grant.  She currently teaches 7-12 band. Ms. Keedy is a doctoral candidate at the University of Northern Colorado where she teaches undergraduate music education courses, supervises student teachers, and provides annual festival support for the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival. 

Keedy is also a former principal and school founder pioneering new educational opportunities for K-12 students that include an emphasis in arts integration.  Under her leadership, her school implemented a building-wide multi year social emotional learning program that greatly improved school culture and connection to community. She now acts as a consultant and trainer to schools and districts that are implementing SEL in their arts programs.  She serves on the National Practices Board for The Center for Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning (www.artedsel.org) where she co-authored an article on empowering arts staff during times of trauma.  She is a frequent speaker at conferences nationwide.

Building a Better Brass Section

January 25, 2023 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact laurar@nafme.org.

This session will offer many creative ways to build your brass section. Upper range, sound quality and performance anxiety among other concepts, will all be discussed with proven ways of improving your students’ technical abilities. Four main “tools” will be used to develop range, endurance and sound quality. All will be demonstrated during the clinic and audience members will be invited to participate. In addition, the psychological components of playing and improving, will be discussed. These will include confidence, leadership and performance anxiety with fresh ideas about how to enhance your students solo and ensemble participation. All of these strategies will be interfaced and integrated to enhance each other. The result will be SMART goals that all can carry away to guarantee improvement!  The session will be of interest to band directors and teachers of brass instruments at ALL levels and ages.

Dennis Edelbrock – Described by the Washington Post as having “incredible technique” and performing with “reckless abandon”, Dennis Edelbrock has had a performing career spanning 48 states and 14 foreign countries. As a member of the U.S. Army Band and the Army Brass Quintet for 35 years, he was tasked with performing and producing White House concerts and internationally televised historical events including presidential state funerals and inaugurations, as well as international Olympic events. He was awarded the Legion of Merit by the U.S. Army in 2010. Edelbrock has performed in other internationally televised events such as those at the Kennedy Center where he was featured as soloist in Messiah for the world’s first webcast, opening ceremonies for Olympic Games and shows as varied as NBC’s Today Show, the BBC and NPR’s Prairie Home Companion. As a soloist he has been featured in Contact, Wag the Dog, and Gardens of Stone and in the Spielberg film (Dreamworks 2013) Lincoln which garnered several academy awards. More recently, Edelbrock was nominated for a GRAMMY Music Educator Award, a category created by the Recording Academy in partnership with the GRAMMY Foundation. He is Professor of Trumpet at George Mason University where he has been awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award. As the Founder and Executive Director of the National Trumpet Competition, Edelbrock has overseen the growth and development of the largest instrument competition in the world, which now has over 10 million downloads of its educational and performance YouTube archives. (Also see dennisedelbrock.com)

 

Ring in a New Way of Teaching Music: Using Handbells and Handchimes with Your Music Students

January 17, 2023 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact johnd@nafme.org.

Handbells and handchimes are increasingly growing in popularity throughout the United States. As a result, they are becoming important tools in every level of music education. Handbells and handchimes lend themselves well to playing a wide variety of musical styles while teaching music reading and musical performance skills. Additionally, there is an enormous repertoire of musical works written specifically for the instrument alone and in combination with other instruments and voices. This clinic aims to empower educators to use handbells and handchimes in effective ways for multiple educational settings, including general music, as a stand-alone performance-based instrument, and within existing instrumental and vocal settings. In addition to learning about handbell/handchime techniques, teaching resources, and repertoire, attendees will discover the many benefits of using handbells and handchimes in their existing music programs. Handbells and handchimes are ideal instruments for differentiated instruction, teambuilding, and social-emotional learning (SEL). The clinicians will provide resources and suggestions for engaging students in meaningful learning using the unique musical art of handbell and handchime playing.

Greig Ashurst – For more than thirty years, Greig Ashurst has developed an impressive conducting and teaching career in many facets of music and technology. He has taught in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas. Currently, Mr. Ashurst is Band Director and Technology Director at Cathedral-Carmel School.  He is a published composer and has developed two lines of handbell mallets that have changed the timbral landscape of handbell music worldwide. He is the president-elect of the Handbell Musicians of America. Mr. Ashurst has a BME from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and a Master of Music in Conducting from Southern Methodist University.

Gillian Erlenborn is the Choral Director and Musical Theatre Teacher at Frelinghuysen Middle School, in Morristown, New Jersey. Gillian utilizes handbells and handchimes in her vocal ensemble curriculum to better engage her students in a full body and literacy based musical education. Gillian graduated from Westminster Choir College in 2018 with both a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and a Master of Arts in Teaching. She also directs the handbell choir and children’s choir at Middlebush Reformed Church in Middlebush, New Jersey. Gillian is proud to serve on the National Board of the Handbell Musicians of America.

 

Planning for Identity Through ‘Connecting’ Standards

Wednesday, January 11, 2023 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact johnd@nafme.org.

“Planning for Identity Through ‘Connecting’ Standards” is a one-hour virtual session designed to provide in-depth insight into how teachers’ and students’ identities influence various lesson planning stages utilizing a connecting standard:

• selecting content and repertoire
• making sense of an unpacked standard
• seeking opportunities to provide student choice to encourage student innovation
• exploring varied assessment practices that anticipate student response

The session will not thoroughly address these complex topics; instead, the focus is on investigating opportunities to consider student and teacher identity when planning. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Increase depth of understanding for how an educator’s Identity influences how they see students and select content/repertoire.
2. Unpack a ‘connecting’ standard and investigate opportunities to explore student and educator identity.
3. Design learning opportunities for a ‘connecting’ standard.

Amanda Suckow (they/them) is a veteran K-12 music educator, and they are the Music Content Specialist for the Department of Arts Education for Chicago Public Schools. They earned their MMEd from VanderCook College of Music with a focus on string education. They are pursuing their MBA in Arts Entrepreneurship and Social Impact through The Global Leaders Program. Their mission is to bring a sense of belonging to every stakeholder they engage with, from students to administrators, as a result of their own continuous learning around equity, inclusion, and best practices in music education. 

 

Mariachi Espuelas de Plata: A Case Study of Mariachi Instructional Practices and Student/Director Perceptions

 December 12, 2022 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you would like to view this program, click here to access NAfME’s DEIA web page (under Webinar Resources)

The purpose of this case study was to examine an established, successful public school Mariachi program to document instructional practices and time use, student and director perceptions and demographics, and methods of adaptation in the school setting.  The selected case is the Mariachi Espuelas de Plata from North Side High School in Fort Worth, Texas.  In this webinar, Dr. Laura Singletary and North Side Mariachi director Wendy Martinez will discuss the research findings and the implications for existing mariachi programs as well as for schools or directors who wish to start a new program.

Dr. Laura Singletary is in her sixth year as Assistant Professor of Music Education and serves as Division Chair of Music Education at Texas Christian University.  She completed her Ph.D. at Florida State University and earned her Master of Science degree from the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana.  She earned bachelor’s degrees from Florida State University in music education and flute performance. Prior to her graduate work at FSU, Singletary taught secondary instrumental music for twenty years in Georgia and Florida, working with middle school and high school band and orchestra students in a variety of educational settings.   Dr. Singletary is an active researcher, conductor, and teacher.  Her research interests include music teacher education, young band instruction, time use in the instrumental classroom, and mariachi education.  

Imelda Martinez received her BME from New Mexico State University.  She taught orchestra in El Paso, Texas and orchestra/mariachi in Las Cruces, New Mexico before joining the mariachi staff at J.P. Elder Middle School and North Side High School in Fort Worth, Texas.  She has performed as a violinist and singer in Mariachi in both educational and professional settings.  Under her leadership, the mariachi ensembles at North Side have achieved high acclaim.  They will be performing as a featured ensemble at the Texas Music Educators Association Conference in February 2023.  Ms. Martinez is currently serving as the Vice-President of the Texas Association of Mariachi Educators (TAME).

 

Lifting Up Voices and Narratives of the AAPI Community in the Greater Educational Orchestra and Strings Landscape

November 16, 2022 – 7:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern

If you would like to view this program, click here to access NAfME’s DEIA web page (under Webinar Resources)

Hear from and converse with a panel of experts from opposite ends of the US representing many facets of the Educational Orchestra and Strings Landscape who will share stories, thoughts, and hopes and dreams centered on fostering understanding about the diversity within the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and moving music education forward by creating learning and learning spaces that are reflective of and uplifting to the communities that are present.  Organized by NAfME’s Council for Orchestral Education, this session is open to all. Participants will come away with new knowledge and ideas for building culturally inclusive curricula and programming. 

Randy Wong – Hawaii-born and raised, Randy Wong (he/him) is a distinctive voice within the arts administration and musical communities, and one of few Asian American executive directors out of hundreds of orchestras nationwide. Randy joined Hawaii Youth Symphony (HYS) as its Executive Director in 2012 and became its President in 2017, and is its first leader to be an alumnus, musician, and educator.

Hawaii Youth Symphony is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 with a mission to develop youth to their fullest potential through orchestral music, in the context of Hawaii’s unique cultures. HYS serves over 700 youth ages 7-18 across the Hawaiian islands, through over 15 symphonic, string, jazz, ukulele, and general music ensembles. Randy oversees all of Hawaii Youth Symphony’s strategic, administrative, artistic, educational, and community pursuits and its Pacific Music Institute. HYS’ aspirational vision is to Make Music A Right, in pursuit of a future where children of all backgrounds can play an instrument and an ensemble. 

Outside of HYS, Randy performs professionally with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as a section bassist, and has numerous side projects. Randy holds an Ed. M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (Arts in Education) and a B.M. (Performance) from New England Conservatory. 

Alice Tsui (pronounced TSOY) is an Asian American/Chinese American pianist, Grammy-nominated music educator, scholar, activist, dog mom, and lifelong Brooklyn, New Yorker! Alice is the Founding Music Teacher and Arts Coordinator at PS 532 New Bridges Elementary, an arts-integrated public elementary school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a Master of Arts in Music Education, and is currently a doctoral candidate (ABD) in music education at Boston University. Alice is an adjunct lecturer at CUNY Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music. Alice is an active national presenter and facilitator, including for professional development with Carnegie Hall, NYC Department of Education Citywide Professional Learning, and the National Association for Music Education Connected Arts Network. Alice serves on the boards of the Association of Popular Music Education and F-flat Books. As a product of the NYC public school system, Alice is passionate about decolonizing, ABAR (anti-bias, anti-racist), and abolitionist public music education. Alice aims to empower the individual and collective voices of youth through music as expression. Learn more about Alice at http://www.alicetsui.com and http://www.instagram.com/musicwithmissalice.

Duane Padilla – After earning degrees from Northwestern University and Yale University, concert artist and educator, Duane Padilla began his performance career as an orchestral musician, performing with the National Repertoire Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.  Also an active classical chamber music performer, his ensemble The Gemini Duo was a semi-finalist in the prestigious International Concert Artists Guild Competition in NYC, and earned outreach grants from Chamber Music America and the American Federation of Musicians and was a featured ensemble on the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Performing Artist Roster and the CMA Rural Residency Artist Roster. Duane’s more recent artistic endeavors have turned towards jazz. As a founding member of The Hot Club of Hulaville, he won the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts’s award for jazz album of the year for their gypsy jazz release “Django Would Go!”. His subsequent solo jazz violin album “Sentimental Swing” was named one of the top 40 jazz releases of 2011 by the South African Jazz Educators Association.  Recent concert collaborations include duo performances with Pianist Tommy James (Music Director of the Duke Ellington Orchestra NYC), fingerstlye guitar legend Jeff Linsky, Guitarist Paul Mehling (Hot Club of San Francisco), Grammy winning Hawaiian Slack Key Guitarist Jeff Peterson, and Jazz Ukulele Grand Master Ben Chong and ukulele superstar Jake Shimabukuro. He has opened concerts for jazz giants Martin Taylor, John Jorgensen, and John Pizzarelli. He currently performs with the Mana Music Quartet whose recent album “Queen Lili’uokalani” was named Instrumental Album of the year by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts. 

An equally accomplished educator, Duane studied Suzuki violin pedagogy with Betty Haig, Lisa Hershumgel, Stevie Svenden, Teri Einfeld, Alan Lieb as well as Rolland/Zweig Pedagogy with Stacia Spencer. He has studied conducting with Marvin Rabin, William Jones &  Shinick Hahm. He has studied jazz violin with Tim Kliphuis, Ben Powell, and Aaron Weinstein, Jason Anick and Christian Howes. Duane began his teaching career in Connecticut where he was head of the Suzuki Program at the Tabor Community Arts Center and the Bethwood Suzuki School. While in Connecticut, he also designed and implemented a unique public school string program for grades 1-3 based on the Suzuki violin method for Wintergreen Magnet School.  He has served as President of the Hawaii Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and has also served on the Board of Directors of the Suzuki Association of Hawaii and the Suzuki Talent Education of Hawaii After serving on the National Board of the American String Teacher’s Association as Chair of the American String Teachers Association’s Eclectic Styles Committee he served ASTA as an Executive Board Member as Member At Large and is currently Chair of the Content Committee.  He currently is on faculty at the Punahou Music School and Chaminade University.

LaSaundra Booth is a National Board Certified teaching artist, inventor, author, conductor, and arts administrator. Booth was named one of 50 Directors who Make A Difference by School Band and Orchestra Magazine. She has 20 years experience teaching and conducting orchestra at the elementary, middle, high, and collegiate level.  All of her performing ensembles received superior ratings in adjudicated music festivals and competitions. 

Booth has a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University, a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership, a Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Bachelor of Music from North Carolina Central University. She studied with Dr. Timothy Holley, Alex Ezerman, Jesse L. Suggs, Jr., Kellie Keiser, and Jennifer Wernicke. Booth serves as lecturer of music education at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill.  Booth previously served as Director of Strings at Winston-Salem State University, a historically black university in Winston-Salem, N.C. 

Booth is an alumni of  Sphinx LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts & Diversity), who is known for anchoring discussions on how to make public school orchestra programs more equitable, diverse, and inclusive to all students.  Booth has a successful history of establishing diverse, equitable, and inclusive programs at the elementary, middle, high school, and collegiate levels. She founded the Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra (2013), a non-profit organization that provides expert orchestral instruction and free instruments to youth where orchestra opportunities are limited or do not exist. In her tenure, Booth has grown the organization from 3 students to over 350 Pre-K through 12th grade students across Wake, Franklin, and Vance counties. In April 2021, Booth received the Vance County Champion of the Arts Award for bringing the first after-school string program to the district. 

Booth is in demand as a cellist and conductor. She has performed with Integrity Strings, Cellist Ti Awo, Colour of Music Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Philharmonia, Raleigh Symphony, Duke Symphony, and Durham Symphony. Her most recent appointments include guest conductor of the Intercollegiate Music Association’s String Orchestra (IMA), conductor of NAfME’s All-National Honors Symphony Orchestra, guest clinician for the California Orchestra Director Association (CODA 2022) and Washoe County School District High School Honors Orchestra in Reno, NV (2022). Dr. Booth most recently served as the Chamber Orchestra conductor for  Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles(YOLA) National Festival. Dr. Booth is the first woman of color to have conducted both the NAfME All-National Symphony as well as YOLA’s National Festival. Her programming features the music of BIPOC composers, including women and living composers.  

Elizabeth Fortune is a change-agent in music education. She is the Director of Education for the Wintergrass Festival, a nonprofit organization that hosts a nationally acclaimed acoustic music festival with award-nominated educational programming every February in Bellevue, WA; and the chairperson for the National Association for Music Education Council for Orchestral Education.  She is also the co-host of a popular forward-thinking music education podcast/ Facebook Live show called “The Beth and Kelly Show.”  She is a veteran classroom instrumental music educator. From 2018-2022, she was the Director of Orchestras at Seattle’s Ballard High School.  From  2002-2018, she was the Director of Orchestras and Jazz Strings at Seattle’s Washington Middle School. 

Fortune is driven by the desire to transform music education by helping students and colleagues acquire an intrinsic ownership of the Artistic Process through Courageous Collaboration. No stone is left unturned in the work she is doing in all areas of music education to empower students and educators to see themselves as artists, musical decision makers, and lovers of music. 

 

Council for Jazz Education Town Hall:  Building Your Jazz Program at Any Level and Q&A!

November 14, 2022 – 7:00 to 8:00 pm

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact johnd@nafme.org. 

Please join Dr. Roosevelt Griffin, Dr. Lenora Helm Hammonds, and Ms. Bethany Robinson from the Jazz Council as they discuss ways to build jazz programs from 5–12th grade and university perspective- including instrumental and vocals programs! Bring your questions to collaborate with our presenters during the second half of the Town Hall. 

Roosevelt Griffin III, Ed. D. is an award-winning educator with international acclaim for excellence in music education. He serves as the Walter Dyett Chair for Jazz Studies Diversity and Inclusion at VanderCook College of Music and is the Founder and CEO of the Griffin Institute of Performing Arts NFP. Dr. Griffin is the Jazz Education Network and Berklee College of Music’s 2022 John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year and is one of the nation’s most sought-after clinicians. He is most noted for his work with elementary and middle school band programs. He is also esteemed for his ability to transform classrooms and communities through building valuable relationships, effective pedagogy, and his dedication to musical excellence. His passion for building sustainable music programs and teaching in underserved communities has been highlighted in national and international publications. 

Bethany Robinson is a Yamaha Performing Artist, 2022 Grammy Music Educator Award Finalist, Chair for the National Association for Music Education Jazz Council, President of the Indiana Jazz Educators Association, and serves on the Jazz Education Network Board. She is the Jazz Band Director for Noblesville Schools in Noblesville, Indiana. Robinson was named 2014 Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year, 2015 Noblesville Teacher of the Year, a 2016 Indiana Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist and named a 2022 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association. She helps lead the annual Indiana Jazz Girls Day, was a keynote speaker for the 2021 Australia National Band and Orchestra Conference, a presenter for the 2021 Indiana Music Educator Association Conference and will present at the 2021 International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. She is an avid clinician, adjudicator, and performer on upright bass, electric bass, and vocals.

Dr. Lenora Z. Helm Hammonds is a Chicago IL native, Former U.S. Jazz Ambassador two-time Fulbright Senior Music Specialist, and a tenured, Associate Professor in the Department of Music and Jazz Studies Program at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She is Interim Chair for the Department of Music and Director of Graduate Programs, Jazz Studies. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in vocal jazz performance, jazz ear training, jazz pedagogy and songwriting, and is Director of NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Dr. Hammonds has authored several academic and student initiatives, including the planning, design, and coordination of an NEA-sponsored Teaching Artist Certificate program. The inaugural recipient of the 2022 Jazz Educator of Distinction award from Jazz Music Awards foundation, her academic award highlights include a Duke University-NCCU John Hope Franklin Digital Humanities Fellowship, 2018 Javett Music Award International Jazz Scholar at University of Pretoria, South Africa, a 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Publishing, NCCU’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and receiving the highest faculty honor, the 2021 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award. Lenora’s dream for creating access to under-served global populations interested in vocal jazz education was realized in the creation of a library of online vocal training programs at www.LenoraHelm.online. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Film Scoring and Voice from Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music, Jazz Performance from East Carolina University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Boston University. Her research interests are at the intersection of digital humanities, intercultural competence, and Jazz, and is a published author with Routledge, Taylor & Francis, and Springer. Her achievements in academia are in addition to more than three decades as a recording artist. P/K/A Lenora Zenzalai Helm, she is acclaimed as a jazz vocalist, vocal musicianship coach, lyricist, composer, arranger, and big band bandleader.

 

General Music Town Hall: Calling All General Music Teachers!

October 24, 2022 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm EDT

Join members of the NAfME Council for General Music Education and other general music educators from throughout the country as we compare notes, network, build community, discuss challenges, and share what is working well so far in the 2022-2023 school year. Bring your questions, ideas, and issues you want to discuss!

Please note that to provide participants with an opportunity to have the best possible open discussion this event was not recorded.

 

Cultivating and Fostering a Classroom Culture of Your Design

October 19, 2022 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact johnd@nafme.org. 

How do you want your classroom to feel, and how do your students contribute to that feeling? While many younger music educators feel comfortable with our content area, establishing a positive learning environment is often an area for growth. This interactive webinar will focus on cultivating and fostering a classroom culture of your design. Attendees will first start by reflecting on their current classroom culture, and defining goals on how they’d like for it to be. Then, we will discuss ways to foster this positive environment through daily actions. An emphasis will be placed on ensuring the inclusiveness of all learners.

Hosts include Tyler Ehrlich (DMA student in Wind Conducting at The University of Texas at Austin, former Director of Bands at Decatur (Ga.) High School), and Jonathan Grantham (Director of Bands at Amador Valley (Calif.) High School.) The clinicians have combined nearly thirty years of experience teaching secondary music, and have frequently collaborated in the past to improve their own classroom environments. They are looking forward to sharing the fruits of their friendship with attendees.

In this session, participants will:

• Understand the importance of establishing an inclusive classroom culture
• Reflect on the current environment of their classroom (pre-service educators will use a collegiate ensemble or class)
• Define a vision for their ideal classroom culture
• Discuss strategies for including student voice in defining classroom culture and in your teaching practice
• Exit with resources to further develop their classroom culture (books on successful organizations, habit building, and more)

Tyler Ehrlich (he/him) serves as a graduate teaching assistant and doctoral student in wind conducting at The University of Texas at Austin. In this role, he assists with the conducting and administration of the university’s concert bands, athletic bands, and conducting courses. Ehrlich previously lived in Atlanta, Georgia where he served as director of bands at Decatur High School and conductor of the Emory University Wind Ensemble. He holds degrees from the University of Georgia and Cornell University. Tyler resides with his partner, Dr. Brent Allman, and their dog Milo. Tyler’s website is http://tylerehrlich.com.

Jonathan Grantham, director of bands at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California, leads a band program of 300 students involved in five concert ensembles, three jazz bands, a competitive marching band, various chamber ensembles, two winter percussion units, and two winter guards. Mr. Grantham maintains an active music education blog, The Accidental Expert, and enjoys mentoring new teachers. He resides in Martinez, California with his partner Ryan.

 

Bringing Amateurism into the Choral Classroom to Inspire Lifelong Learners

October 11, 2022 – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact johnd@nafme.org. 

America is full of former musicians. As a music teacher I constantly meet adults who tell of how they used to perform in school band, choir, or orchestra. I cannot help but imagine if the world would be a better place for them, and for everyone, if they had continued actively learning and making music. Too often our music classes place the strongest emphasis on musical performance products of large ensembles. That focus can leave graduates with little more in their hands than trophies and fond memories. Schools should provide them the inspiration and skills to continue active, vibrant musical lives after high school ends. Preparing students to become amateur adult musicians equips them with the abilities to make music independently and in small groups, for their own personal enjoyment, in a variety of styles (especially those they choose), with modern instruments.

In this webinar, I will address the philosophical position of amateurism in music education, then present lessons that increase students’ musical independence, curiosity, and transferable knowledge in many genres. Learning activities include performing, composing, improvising, listening, collaborating, songwriting, arranging, and producing. In my chorus class I utilize the ukulele and keyboards, which engage students and aid them in developing powerful musical knowledge that can sustain their musical involvement into adulthood.

Tom FitzStephens currently serves as a music teacher at Lakeside High School in Atlanta, Georgia and is a Music Education PhD candidate at Georgia State University. He also serves Capitol City Opera as the Madrigal Singers Director. Tom holds a Bachelor of Choral Music Education from The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and a Master of Music in Conducting from Michigan State University’s College of Music. He studied conducting with Dr. Jerry Blackstone, Dr. Sandra Snow, Dr. Jonathan Reed, and Dr. David Rayl, and voice with George Irving Shirley and Molly Fillmore.

Tom has twelve years of full-time public high school music teaching experience and four years of private high school and middle school music teaching experience. He has played in rock bands all his life. He currently spends his summers as Vocal Music Director and Music Department Chair at the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program at Berry College, working with Georgia’s most gifted high school students.

 

Successful Music Instruction for English Language Learners

October 6, 2022 –  7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

Click here to access a robust resource with lessons plans from these authors.

If you would like to view this program, click here to access NAfME’s DEIA web page (under Webinar Resources)

Students come to the music classroom with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. For those classified as English learners (ELs), the ability of music teachers to scaffold instruction in order to make it meaningful and help the students develop English proficiency at the same time is essential. According to the federal government, there are currently 5 million EL students (10.1 percent of the total U.S. student population), and this statistic has increased every year with a predicted continued upward trajectory. Without supports in place, ELs often experience challenges in the classroom setting. These challenges are related to their comprehension of the academic content as well as their ability to engage meaningfully with their teacher and peers for social or academic purposes. Even in the music classroom, ELs may struggle with the linguistic demands put upon them, from unknown vocabulary in an Appalachian folk song to navigating a score in an orchestra rehearsal, or even something as basic as understanding and being able to follow directions for a class activity. 

Sheltered instruction can help connect students to the content, to language, and to one another. Sheltered instruction encourages teachers to build on students’ background knowledge (including language and literacy skills in the home language) using an asset-based approach that affirms and centers what students know and can do (Short et al., 2018). This session will provide music teachers with components for effective instruction of ELs using the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP). Participants will then apply the SIOP practices to lessons and repertoire they currently teach.

Participants will:

• Develop strategies for how to instruct English language learners
• Apply SIOP practices to repertoire and lesson plans
• Experience a music lesson taught in Spanish without using SIOP practices and then teach it again using SIOP. This process will not only have participants learn the practices but also will have them experience what it can feel like to be an ELL in classrooms where they are supported and where they are not. 

Cara Bernard is Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Connecticut, where she teaches courses in choral and elementary methods and curriculum. As a conductor, Cara prepared choruses for performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Cara’s research areas include music teacher evaluation, policy, curriculum, and social justice. She serves on the editorial committees of Music Educators Journal, Arts Education Policy Review, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Journal of Popular Music Education, and is associate editor of Visions of Research in Music Education. She is co-author of the book Navigating Teacher Evaluation: A Guide for Music Teachers, published by Oxford University Press. 

Joseph Michael Abramo, Ed. D. is an Associate Professor of Music Education in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, where he teaches undergraduate courses in instrumental methods and graduate courses in the theoretical foundations of music education and popular music and informal learning, and supervises student teachers. He has presented internationally and has published over 30 articles and book chapters. He is a co-author of the book Music Teacher Evaluation: A Guide for Teachers in the U.S. also published by Oxford University Press and is Senior Editor of the journal Visions of Research in Music Education. 

 

We Want to Hear from You – a NAfME Professional Learning Town Hall

September 29, 2022  – 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern

This discussion-based event was not recorded.

NAfME’s Professional Learning and Partnerships Committee (PLPC) wants to hear from you!

Join members of the PLPC for an interactive discussion (an “unwebinar”) focused on key trends and issues facing PreK-12 teachers nationwide. Share your success stories/innovations, challenges, questions, and areas where you would like to see more professional development resources as you start the new school year.

What are the most important current and emerging trends you are seeing in your area? Examples of issues identified by the PLPC in recent months include teacher self-care, student recruitment, support for new teachers, innovation in the classroom and curriculum to meet changing needs, culturally responsive teaching, addressing learning loss, classroom management, advocating for music education in your school, staff shortages, and ensuring success for new teachers.

The committee will take their lead from the input, interests, and priorities of the registrants/attendees. Breakout rooms will be used for parts of the townhall to allow discussions on specific topics in smaller groups. To encourage robust sharing, this event will not be recorded.

 

Jazz Programming at Every Level

September 21, 2022 – 7:00 to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you are a NAfME member and would like to view this program, contact johnd@nafme.org. 

During this NAfME Town Hall, Council for Jazz Education members Joseph Jefferson and Peter Sampson will discuss how choosing great literature to teach from is key to building a successful jazz program at any level.  Whether you have a blossoming jazz program or are starting from scratch, the music you decide to teach with makes a difference.

Moderator: Bethany Robinson, Chair, NAfME Council for Jazz Education.

Presenters:

Dr. Joseph L. Jefferson is the Associate Professor of Trombone/Euphonium and Director of Jazz Studies at Southeast Missouri State University.  He has been an invited guest artist and presenter at the International Trombone Festival, Jazz Education Network Conference, among many others. At the 13th Annual Jazz Education Network Conference, Dr. Jefferson was awarded the 2022 Ellis Marsalis, Jr. Jazz Educator of the Year.

Lisa Linde teaches instrumental music in Massachusetts at Newton South High School where her ensembles regularly receive top ratings at state and national festivals .  She is also a passionate advocate for gender equality in jazz and is the founder of the nonprofit, jazzhers. Ms Linde  is a frequent adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor and was the 2022  recipient of the MICCA Hall of Fame award for teaching excellence.

 

Between the Podium and Me: Recruiting and Mentoring a Diverse Body of Future Music Teachers

September 20, 2022 – 7:00 to 8:00 pm Eastern

If you would like to view this program, click here to access NAfME’s DEIA web page (under Webinar Resources)

Can you imagine going through your entire K-12 career without ever encountering a teacher who looks like you? This is precisely the case for many of our young musicians of color, leading many to question whether or not they truly belong in music. Join us as we explore the beginnings of a career in music education for students of color through stories from music educators, music administrators, and music teacher trainers. Craft a plan to support and encourage your diverse student-musicians from elementary school through their first teaching job. Develop strategies for recruiting a more representative body of music teachers and enjoy the exponential impact you can have on future musicians for years to come! (This webinar is part of a Building a Legacy series.)

Panelists:

Angelica Brooks serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in the Music Education department.  She is an award-winning choral director and music educator. She received her Bachelor of Music from Bowie State University, her Master of Music from The Catholic University of America and received her Administrator I Certification from McDaniel College. 

During her tenure as a public school educator, she was named a Maryland Music Educators Associations’ Outstanding Music Educator in 2021 and Prince George’s County Public Schools Teacher of the Year in 2019.  She has taught Vocal and General Music for grades PreK-12 for 13 years and served as a mentor teacher, curriculum writer, and professional development presenter for MMEA, MAC-OASA, and MSDE Fine Arts Office. Mrs. Brooks is now a 3^rd year DMA student In the Music Teaching and Learning Department at the University of Southern California. Her research area of focus is on the recruitment and retention of minority music educators as an act of social justice in music education.

Annalisa C. Chang is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Music Education at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia.  At Clayton State, Dr. Chang teaches general music education courses, string methods, music for early childhood, music appreciation, and supervises student teachers. Additionally, she serves as the Associate Conductor of the Clayton County Youth Orchestra and the Director of the CSU Music Preparatory School.

Her research on string teacher education, the inclusion of students with disabilities in string classrooms, and equitable access to music education has been presented at state, national, and international music education conferences. Her work has been published in the String Research Journal, the Florida Music Director, and the ArkMEA Journal. Dr. Chang is an active member of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), currently serving on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and the Research Committee. She is also an active member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) through her participation in the Georgia Music Educators Association as the state CNAfME Advisor, a member of the Musician Health and Wellness Area for Strategic Planning and Action (ASPA), and the Children with Exceptionalities Special Research Interest Group (SRIG), for which she is currently Chair-Elect.

Dr. Chang holds degrees in Music Education from Florida State University (Ph.D), and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (M.M., B.M) where she was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow.

Monica Guido is band director at Mannion Middle School in Henderson, NV where she conducts the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band and Beginning Band in a program of 300 students!  Mrs. Guido assists the Foothill High School Marching Band as a flute section coach and visual instructor. Mrs. Guido has been a music educator for 20 years in the states of Texas and Nevada, and as a flutist, has performed at the Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and the Midwest Conference in Chicago. Mrs. Guido’s ensembles have earned superior ratings at the Clark County School District Band Festivals and Best Overall at music festivals in California, Washington, and New York.

Ebonee Woodland is the Assistant Band Director at North Side High School in Jackson, TN. She has earned her Bachelors Degree in Music Education at The University of Tennessee at Martin. During her time at Martin, she held leadership positions in CNAfME for her college and state level. Since college, she has been on staff for Project Imagination Winterguard for three years, served as President for the Jackson Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, and she now serves as Psi C Province Officer for Sigma Alpha Iota. 

John Rine Zabanal is an educator, conductor, clinician, and researcher in string music education. He has presented research and pedagogy at national conferences for the American String Teacher Association, the National Association for Music Education, the International Research Symposium for Talent Education with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, as well as state music education conferences nationwide. He has articles published with Update: Applications for Music Research, String Research Journal, and the American String Teacher, and served on the editorial board for AST, Update, and Contributions to Music Education. He is also an active clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor across the eastern United States.

His work has included being an assistant professor and director of string music education at VanderCook College of Music, where he taught courses in string techniques, string methods, and conducting, directed the Philharmonic Orchestra and string ensembles, and supervised student teachers. He was also an adjunct professor at Florida State University where he taught courses in music education and music technology. He was previously the orchestra teacher at Riverbend High School, Ni River Middle School, and Freedom Middle School in Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Virginia. He holds degrees in music education from The Ohio State University (BME) and Florida State University (MME, Ph.D.).

 

• ADDITIONAL WEBINARS

 

Here is a partial list of additional NAfME webinars and Town Halls held during the 2021-2022 school year:

Creativity Across the Curriculum

Let’s Put the Festive Back In Student Festivals!

College Readiness and the Piano: What Every Prospective Music Major Needs to Know

Making Key Changes: End-of-Year Questions for Reflection and Strategies to Refresh

Teaching Music Culturally

Recruiting and Rebuilding: A Council for Choral Education Town Hall

Council for General Music Education Town Hall: How Are You Doing? (not recorded)

Pay Attention!

An Influencer’s Toolkit: Practical Steps to Build Your Legacy

NAfME Council for Jazz Education Town Hall: Energize and Expand Participation in Your Jazz Program

NAfME Council for Guitar Education Town Hall – “Come One, Come All”!

Building a Legacy: Mentoring Future Music Educators from Kindergarten to 12th Grade!

Educating the Future Music Professional Through Service-Learning

Mindfulness Matters: How Music Educators Can Incorporate Mindfulness and Self-Care Practices into Busy Schedules

Building a Legacy: Recruiting Future Music Educators

Emotional Intelligence: Tools to Take Care of Yourself as a Music Teacher

We Want to Hear from You – a NAfME Unwebinar (hosted by NAfME’s Professional Learning and Partnerships Committee – not recorded)

The Empathy Project: Accentuating the Inherent SEL Component of Music Education

NAfME Creators Corner Council for Music Composition Town Hall – Songwriting and Salvage: Demystifying the Process 

Council for Band Education Town Hall: Successful Rebuilding from COVID-19      

Surviving AND Thriving: Success in the Initial Years

Fine-Tune Your Positivity in A Major Way

Work Smarter, Not Harder: An Objective Look Within

Vocal Health as Self Care for Teachers: How Promoting Vocal Health in Teachers Can Improve Teacher Wellness, Classroom Management, and Foster Student Independence in the Music Classroom 

Building a Legacy: Recruiting Future Music Educators

NAfME Creators Corner – Council for Music Composition Town Hall

A General Music Town Hall: Suggestions and Answers for Teaching During the 2021-2022 School Year (not recorded)

*Note: selected 2021-2022 recorded programs from the Council for Music Program Leaders and Collegiate Advisory Council are also available in the NAfME Academy.