2022-2023 Georgia Music News | Winter Issue

The

President Speaks

Dr. Matthew Koperniak

We hope to see you at our GMEA InService Conference in Athens, January 26-28, 2023! The theme of our conference is “We Begin Anew.” As music educators, WE are GMEA – each and every one of us! We all experience new beginnings through music on a regular basis, including:

• New students experiencing music, programs, and events for the first time

• New teachers connecting with colleagues and mentors to support them through their journeys in music education

• New ideas, pedagogies, and repertoire to breathe fresh life into our music teaching practices

• New challenges and opportunities in our schools and communities

This year will be my twenty-fifth GMEA Conference. As I reflect on past conferences, my favorite memories all center around people. Mentors that have shared words of wisdom. Friends and colleagues spending quality time together. Inspiring clinics and performances by master teachers and their students. Whether it is your first GMEA conference or your fiftieth, we are all looking forward to renewing our connections with each other.

Our conference will begin with our Opening Session in the Classic Center Theatre at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 26, 2023. The Mountain Park ES Exceptional Singers will sing and sign our National Anthem. We will recognize our 25-year and 40-year veteran teachers and celebrate our retirees. We will honor our award recipients, including Administrator of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Music Educator of the Year, and Distinguished Career Award. The Opening Session will conclude with keynote speaker Michael Kobito (2023 Georgia Teacher of the Year). I’m so excited for music teachers around Georgia to gather, celebrate, and kickoff our conference!

Our GMEA Conference has over 120 educational sessions for you to explore new ideas, techniques, and pedagogies. Our exhibit hall includes over 100 booths for you to renew connections with our business partners. We have over 35 performances to share repertoire and showcase programs from around our state. We have

specialized tracks for Band, Chorus, CNAfME, Elementary, Guitar, Music Tech, Orchestra, and Research, as well as GMEA: High School Experience for juniors and seniors interested in a career in music education.

We are excited to welcome Bob Morrison from the Arts Education Data Project. He will present multiple sessions to teach us to use the new Arts Education Data Dashboard to tell our story with data and advocate for music education access. We are also excited to welcome HBCU students, faculty, and alumni for a special reception at our conference. Thank you to our DEIA committee and Dr. Gregory Denson for spearheading this important project. We will also host our CNAfME reception, and numerous college, university, and organization receptions will take place in conjunction with our conference. Check the schedule for more information about these opportunities and more.

Are you looking for a music teaching position? Stop by the Job Fair, anytime between 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, on the upper-level concourse outside the Parthenon and Olympia rooms. Representatives from various school systems will be in attendance to meet-andgreet with potential applicants. There are also resume/ interview prep sessions and mock interviews on Thursday – check the schedule for more details.

Please take time during our conference to visit, connect, and support our business partners in the exhibit hall. The success of our programs and our students depends on access to music stores, repair technicians, travel agents, fundraising companies, sheet music distributors, software developers, non-profit organizations, and more.

Thank you to our Division Chairs, Interest Area Chairs, and Conference Planning Committee for their ongoing work organizing our conference. These volunteers devote an incredible amount of time planning and executing our conference. This would not be possible without the ongoing and outstanding support of our GMEA staff. As always, reach out at any time if there is anything I can do to support you or your district. You can contact me at president@gmea.org or 706-338-4983. Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season!

See you in Athens!

From the

Executive Director

First, thank you all for the incredible outpouring of support I have felt from all across the state and from teachers and friends of music in all fields of music education. Needless to say it has been an interesting few months since my abrupt retirement at the end of the last school year. After 31 years as a teacher, this new gig has truly made for a summer and fall unlike anything I have ever experienced, but the support and encouragement that so many have shown me has been invigorating and encouraging.

You might have heard GMEA has not had a physical office since vacating the one in Eagles Landing early during the pandemic to save money, and as a result, the other staff members and I have only all been in the same place once since I started working. While many people out there seem to thrive working from home, for me, at least, the collegial “team” aspect is not as easy to develop and appreciate in the online world as it was in the classroom and school building.

Confident I am doing good work for our members, our association, and our staff, I do miss simply being around people. That is one reason I have jumped at the offers people have made for me to come visit their schools, whether those invitations have been to work with a group, observe class, speak with teachers, to hear the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, or to speak at “Band Night” in Houston County. Every interaction I have had with members, as well as with students or administrators, elementary through college, has been enlightening. I cannot thank you all enough for how supportive you have been of me and my efforts to be the best executive director I can be, nor can I adequately express the gratitude I have for the members of the Executive Committee for seeing in me the person they wanted to hire to tackle this job. These last several months have been the most humbling of my life, and I fully believe that when I get good at this executive directing business, I will be great.

With all of that said, I would like herein to thank the GMEA staff. Much of these first several months has been

spent learning what exactly they all do, and I can tell you first hand, we are all indebted to them. Knowing what wonderful, hard-working people were already in place making sacrifices daily to better our association, I knew when I interviewed that I wanted to be part of that team.

Speaking of my interview, the first question I was asked addressed why I thought I was a worthy candidate for the job, and my answer was simple: I am a person who loves GMEA. I love helping teachers and students, and I love having something important to do. That is me! And here I am.

There is no doubt this entire first year will be about learning. It would have been impossible to come into this job knowing everything I possibly need to know, but I continue to learn daily and fully expect that to continue. I have been charged with examining how we manage our events and our budget, and I am doing exactly that. Quickly, I learned the staff has been taking steps to save money for years, and I will continue to support them in their efforts, even finding ways to cut our costs as we seek out additional revenue opportunities.

Finally, in addition to our wonderful staff, I would like to thank the countless volunteers who allow GMEA to deliver on our mission: “To promote music education in the state of Georgia.” Without the “boots on the ground” members who organize, host, judge, compile and utilize data, serve as officers, and so much more, GMEA would be nothing. I have enjoyed being one of you my entire adult life and I will never take lightly the fact that I work for you.

Best wishes for continued success. I look forward to seeing you in Athens and wherever else our paths might cross.

Kindly,

Greetings from what I like to call GMEA HQ East.

Band Travis Downs

Greetings! As we near the end of the semester, I hope you have made plans to attend our annual GMEA In-Service Conference. We have a fantastic program of concerts, clinics, and exhibitors for this year, and I hope you will consider joining us in Athens, Ga. January 26-28, 2023. There are many opportunities to network and share ideas with fellow educators from around our state, and I always look forward to learning and re-connecting with colleagues and meeting new ones.

Another fall has come and gone, and with it, another wonderful season of marching band shows! Thank you to every director who hosted a marching band contest. It is such a valuable service to our students and our profession. We had thirty-eight marching band festivals and competitions in Georgia this year. Congratulations to every marching band director in our state and good luck to those who may still be attending football games.

As we prepare for our annual first-round All-State auditions, thank you in advance to each organizer and host in our fourteen districts. Please remember, if you registered students to audition it is your professional responsibility to attend and work the auditions. Failure to do so results in an ethics letter to your principal.

I hope you have a relaxing holiday with friends and family and wish you the very best as you finish up the busy semester. Never doubt the impact you have on your students each day. Take care of yourself and remember to reach out for help within our band community. For the older veteran teachers, let’s continue to mentor new directors in our districts and support each other. I hope to see you in the Classic City in January!

Choral Scott Martin

Georgia Choral Teachers, I’ve just returned from a college choral day, and it is great fun to be back to “normal” in our school-year activities. It’s fulfilling to observe my students work with someone else and continue to learn in our great craft of choral music.

Collaboration is key in our profession, and we should take every opportunity to continue learning from each other. I hope you will consider attending the upcoming GMEA In-Service Conference January 2628 at The Classic Center in Athens. The conference will be packed with great sessions and performances by our outstanding teachers and students. Additionally, I love all the impromptu conversations that occur in the hallway with friends and colleagues, which, oftentimes, yield ideas and practices that are every bit as beneficial as our great sessions.

We had an unusually high number of performing choir applicants, which is a great sign of the work being done across our state. Every group that applied was of a quality level, and I am proud to say that our performing groups are representative of our entire state in several ways. I would like to thank our conference session and performance committee for their wonderful work selecting the choir performances (blind audition process). Listed below are our performing choirs for the conference:

THURSDAY EVENING:

• The Flat Rock Middle School Singers, Directed by Ladell Fortune

• Blake Bass Middle School Chorus, Directed by Kelsey Armstrong

• Central (Carrollton) High School Advanced Women’s Chorus, Directed by Ruthie Phillips

• Southeast Bulloch High School Advanced Chorus, Directed by Brent Whitaker

• Morehouse College Glee Club, Directed by Dr. David Morrow

FRIDAY EVENING:

• Hightower Trail Middle School

Eighth Grade Chorus, Directed by Kati Stewart

• Beacon Hill Middle School Tenor Bass Chorus, Directed by David Hirschorn

• Decatur High School Advanced Women’s Chorus, Directed by Dr. Elise Eskew Sparks

• Spelman College Glee Club, Directed by Dr. Kevin Johnson

• The UGA Hodgson Singers, Directed by Dr. Daniel Bara

SATURDAY MORNING:

• M.D. Roberts School of the Arts Transcendence, Directed by Chrystial Hudson

• Richmond Hill High School Women’s Chorus, Directed by Janet Wooten

• GA State University Treble Choir, Directed by Dr. Jennifer Sengin

• GMEA All-State Reading Chorus, Directed by Dr. Timothy Powell (a big thanks to Nathan Schreer, organizer)

One performance I am excited about is a full 30-minute program by the Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School Harmonix, the school’s outstanding a cappella pop group directed by Phillip Streetman. Their performance will be in the atrium on Friday at 3:15pm. There will be no other choral sessions during that time so let’s pack the atrium with people to enjoy this performance. In fact, the Reading Chorus students will take a break from singing and enjoy this performance as well. It is my hope that we can encourage other schools with similar groups to apply for future conferences, whether it be for a 15-minute lobby performance group or a full 30-minute program. This could be the start of something new and exciting!

See you in Athens!

Elementary Amie Schaff

I really hope to see everyone join in the fun at the GMEA In-Service Conference January 26th28th at the Classic Center in Athens, GA. We are excited to explore drumming, improvisation, techniques in Orff Schulwerk, diversity, ukulele, children's literature, music technology, connections between music and social emotional learning, and more!! Be ready to fill your days with singing, dancing, playing, and be sure to join in on the fun at our evening jam session and community contra dance!

I am overcome with joy to be able to welcome 500 of our outstanding 4th and 5th graders February 10-11, 2023, as we return to the Classic Center Theater for our Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus. This year we are ecstatic to return with TWO choirs of our top 4th and 5th grade students as they shine under the direction of our fantastic clinicians, David Langley and Amanda Dodd.

I look forward to welcoming you all at our In-Service Conference and at our Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus!

Orchestra

Stephen Lawrence

Hi Friends!

Winter is here! If you are like me, you might feel as though this is your third year of recovering from the infamous year of virtual learning. If that is true for you, then just know “You are not alone and that is quite alright!” Recovery equals growth! As we prepare for the upcoming LGPE season, I challenge every teacher (myself included), administrator and student to not only participate in LGPE, but to also remember the meaning behind the “E” in LGPE…Evaluation. To evaluate something is simply to assess it. To assess one’s strengths and areas for growth. The goal of LGPE is not the score (i.e. Superior, Excellent, etc.) but the feedback. As educators we understand that the best way to improve the skill of our students is to teach, assess, diagnose any issues then reteach (if necessary). My hope is that, as a state, we look at the upcoming LGPE not as an indication of what is “Superior” and what is not, but as a source of feedback that we can use to continue our journey toward fostering a music-rich environment for our students and communities.

I look forward to the GMEA In Service Conference where I get to spend time with colleagues, meet new music educators, reconnect with past friends, and be inspired and encouraged by some of our state’s most talented students, directors, and clinicians.

This year’s educational sessions and concerts will offer a wonderful variety. From how to “Develop Technique through Creativity in the Instrumental Classroom” to “Easy Authentic Assessments and Assignments.” Additional sessions include guidance on “Happiness and Sustainability: How to Teach Your Heart Out Without Burning Out,” “Intonation Issues on String Instruments,” “Teaching Cello in the Orchestra Classroom,” and of course, the always entertaining and amusing music reading session!

You will certainly not want to miss any of this year’s performing groups:

• J.C. Booth Middle School Orchestra under the direction of Amanda Moran

• Kennesaw Mountain High School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of David Starnes

• North Gwinnett High School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of David Metrio and Lauren McCombe

• Osborne Middle School 8th Grade Orchestra under

the direction of Carl Rieke

• Peachtree Ridge High School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Victoria Enloe and Bill Scruggs

• Woodward Academy String Machine under the direction of Gina Calloway

Please support your colleagues and music’s future by attending!

It is such a pleasure and honor to teach in a state with a reputation for having such special, dedicated, and knowledgeable professionals. Thank you all for what you do for the students of Georgia through music education. As always, please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, concerns, or observations. I cannot wait to see you all in Athens in January and again in March!

Guitar Caryn Volk

We are witness to a profound change in education, and only now are we really beginning to appreciate the impact of pandemic response protocols on our students.

Some reports indicate that growth and adaptation stopped for children at the point of shut down. We may be dealing with students with a 1–3-year deficit in emotional maturity. So how have you adapted your approach for interacting with these students?

Strategies I have found helpful include providing clear, concise expectations; simplified instructions; opportunity for small groups feedback; and yes, differentiation.

When communicating end goals, we can use established performance norms to dictate benchmarks for success. These benchmarks can include not only musical standards similar to those in adjudicated events, but those ever so elusive performance expectations of active listening, appropriate reactions, and correct behavior.

Simplified instructions relate directly to classroom management and expectations. Did you ever have that director who, if they had to stop a piece in rehearsal, would provide a brief correction, then would immediately return to having the ensemble play? They were using simplified instructions with the expectation to immediately “do.” The opportunity for students to

apply instructions right away allows them to identify and correcting their own mistakes. The short correction allows more time for the individual application, peer support, and assistance, and with the group outcome still expected.

And the pesky differentiation- well, isn’t being a chameleon what a musician does best?

As music educators, we are adept at creating novel class activities that help students apply their musical skills. Self-selected small group performance allows students to practice a variety of skills, both as performers and as active listeners. Something as simple as “only people with short sleeves play this time”, “people with math in first period play”, or “only people with more than one pet play,” will allow a small group that changes each time perform, and gives an authentic snapshot of performance readiness. This approach not only gives young players a low-stakes chance to perform in small groups within the larger ensemble, but also gives students practice playing for an audience, helps guide active listening, and begins to develop the expectation of “complementary or constructive” feedback. Even a simple line or song are effective selections to use.

We continue to bring our musicians forward, with the same quality of instruction and performance as we have in the past. Now we can give them a strong sense of support, training, and authentic practice to produce future music advocates!

Best of wishes for your fall and winter performances. We are very excited to see many of our guitar ensembles at the Giocoso Festival! If you are starting a program, or need support with a current one, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Research

Dr. Martin Norgaard

This was the first year that both spoken and poster research presentation proposals were submitted in the fall. My hope was that this later application deadline allowed for further refinement of proposals and potentially could include newer research that simply had not been conceived for submission in May. Indeed, we had the most research track submissions ever in my time as GMEA research chair with a total of 33 proposals. As in 2022, the posters will be displayed in the atrium all day on Friday and researchers will stand by their posters from 11:15am-12:15pm. Please come by and hear about the outstanding research taking place in Georgia and beyond. Viewing the posters, you can learn about teacher identity development, diversity in repertoire selection, parental expectation about children’s musical development, effects of the COVID pandemic, and much more.

I also hope you will attend several of the spoken research presentations that are now concentrated on Friday. Each hour, you will be able to hear two 25-minute research presentations. The morning will start with presentation of preliminary data from a large survey study of GMEA all-state participants concerning their plans to become future music teachers. This research grew out of a large collaborative project involving faculty from University of Georgia, Georgia Southern University, and Georgia State University in response to a wish from GMEA leadership to investigate teacher pipeline issues. Later that morning, you can learn about how music educators navigate issues related to LGBTQ and sexual orientation in southern K-12 settings and imposter phenomenon among music education undergraduates. After the poster session, the afternoon starts with presentations related to music education in central Asia and adolescent male choral singers’ vocal health. At 3:15, I highly recommend you attend an invited session in which two seasoned researchers describe the steps of a research project from conception to publication. We end the afternoon with research on error detection by music majors at the university level and self-talk and resilience in the secondary instrumental music classroom.

See you in Athens!

Retired Reflections

Wucher with James Thompson

Please answer the following, please write all you want. We want our fellow GMEA members to honor and celebrate everything you have done for us:

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP AND GO TO SCHOOL?

I was born in Fort Gaines, Georgia. My family moved to Savannah, Ga. When I was a few months old. I have lived in Savannah for my entire life. I am a graduate of Tompkins High School where I played first trumpet in the band from 8th grade through my senior year. I also played three years on the basketball team. I received several music scholarships and chose to attend then Savannah State College where I majored in instrumental music. I received my masters degree from Vandercook College of Music and administrative certification from Georgia Southern University.

TELL US ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE FOR US TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS BEYOND MUSIC (FRIENDS, FAMILY, HOBBIES…)

I am extremely interested and entertained by sports; especially power five college football. Of all the schools, I am a devoted fan to the University of Georgia bulldogs. I have followed the UGA Bulldogs from when Coach Vince Dooley became the head football coach in the mid sixties. Once I became a high school director, I enjoyed taking the Savannah High Marching Band to band day in Athens. The Savannah High School fight song is “Glory” which we had in common with the University of Georgia. Our kids always got a kick out of getting to play the fight song beside the Marching Redcoat Band. After attending band day a few times, I think the UGA band directors must have noticed that the Savannah High Band seemed to play “Glory” very well. Every time that we have participated in band day, we seem to have been placed near the Redcoat Band.

I have many interests besides UGA football. I love cooking, grilling, bible study, gardening, and automobiles. Additionally, my wife and I enjoy traveling and spending lots of time with our four kids, 7 grandchildren, family, and Friends. We have traveled to nearly every state in the United States and many other countries and territories, with highlights including Japan, France, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. My wife and I both love to entertain and invite guest to our home.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TEACHING MUSIC AS A PROFESSION?

I have always had a passionate love for music and a zeal to excel as a musician and a teacher. I was a late starter in band. My mother did not buy me a trumpet in the fifth grade because she thought that I only wanted to play in band just to be with my friends. After two years of pleading, she finally surprised me with a brand new conn director trumpet for my October

birthday in seventh grade. Not only was I two years late starting compared to my co-students, I was nearly two months behind in my seventh-grade year. I remember, I practiced hard every day in an effort to catch up to the class. Thank God my mother realized how serious I was about music and paid for me to study privately with the band teacher. By March of my seventh-grade year, I was one of the best players in the band. Thus, when I attended Tompkins High School as an eighth grader, I was assigned first trumpet, and seated beside the upper classman. By the time I had become an upper classman, I became a section leader and enjoyed helping and teaching other students their band music. I enjoyed playing and teaching so much by the time I was in the 9th or 10th grade I knew I wanted to be a band director.

WHERE DID YOU WORK UP UNTIL YOU RETIRED FROM FULL TIME TEACHING?

My first job was in Effingham County at Springfield Central High School. It was during the time of segregation and the Jim Crow south. The band was very small and we did not have a lot of materials. Nevertheless, I had hard working students that were open to knowledge and allowed me to teach effectively every day. Two years later Ed Caughran needed an assistant to work with him at Savannah High School in Savannah Ga. Ed remembered me from an earlier interview to the system but there were no openings. Savannah High was the school where the mayor and many of the important dignitaries of Savannah had gone to school. I was overwhelmed and honored to be the first black band director at a predominately white school in Savannah. The sense of duty, gravity, and responsibility that came with this title was enormous. Failure was not an option. Additionally, I didn’t want Ed Caughran to regret his decision and faith in me. Ed was also the music coordinator for the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools. Soon after arriving, the Savannah High Band had gone from the largest band in Savannah to one of the smallest due to redistricting. My job was to teach every available period and build the band program. In a few years the band program was healthy again and had well over 100 students in the program. In 1975 Ed Caughran turned the program over to me. I completed twenty-one wonderful years and was able to build one of the finest grade 6 symphonic bands, an excellent marching band, and jazz band in the first district. The Savannah High Band was also well represented in the Georgia All-State Bands and Orchestras, while some of the students held first chair positions. After Ed Caughran’s retirement from the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools, I worked in the central office as Music Instructional Resource Specialist, Lead Teacher, Shuman Middle School Magnet Program, and asst. principal, Mercer Middle School. In 1999 I retired from the state of Ga., and became assist. Principal and later Principal at Ridgeland Middle School in South Carolina. In 2002 I returned to Savannah-Chatham Public Schools and accepted a position as band director at Hubert Middle School. Working at Hubert Middle School was one of the most challenging, but most rewarding jobs of my teaching career.

Jay

Hubert is an inter-city school and was struggling with their band program. The year before I got there, the band made straight 4’s at LGPE. The first year that I was there the band received a superior ratings in both performance and sight-reading while receiving A’s in every caption.

SINCE RETIRING FROM TEACHING FULL TIME WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?

For years after I retired, many band directors call me to serve as a substitute teacher, and work with their bands in preparation for LGPE. I have served as a LGPE and festival Judge for more than 40 years throughout the entire states of Georgia and South Carolina. My wife and I along with my family really enjoy traveling with the Lassiter Band on some of their exciting trips. In recent years we have attended two Tournaments Roses Parades, one Macy’s Parade, two Cherry Blossom Parades and many other functions and performances with the Lassiter Band. In addition, I attend the GMEA State Inservice Conference every year. I also attend the Mid-West Clinic every year. I have missed only one MidWest Clinic in the past 34 years and only one GMEA Inservice Conference since 1971. When I attend these conferences, I try to listen to as many fine bands as possible and attend clinics that will keep me sharp. I love sharing my knowledge and serving as a mentor to younger teachers. I have served as a judge for more Than 40 years and I still have a strong passion for judging. I really enjoy sharing some of the tricks and ideas that have been very helpful to me throughout the years.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONSIDERING BECOMING MUSIC TEACHERS?

Teaching is a most rewarding profession. However, chances are that you will not become rich. Nevertheless, there is an excellent chance that you can do well and become financially sound with good management skills. Teaching has many advantages too. I cannot think of many jobs that would allow one to be off nearly three months out of the year? Of course, we know that the average music teacher does not take three months off due to the nature of your particular job. The career is also conducive to raising a family due to shared vacations. If you are one that wants to make a difference in lives of our children and participate in the shaping of your community and country, teaching would be a great profession for you. However, you must be dedicated and willing to constantly work on improving your craft. As long as I have been in music, which covers more than 50 years, I am still working on my craft by attending Music conferences and events throughout the United States. It is most important that young teachers have a mentor. Ed Caughran was an excellent mentor for me. He was very experienced, attended the University of Miami where he played under the baton of Henry Fillmore. I learned a great deal of teaching and organizational skill during the five years that I worked with him.

Personally, my wife and I are both educators and have had great careers while rearing four children and sending all of them to college, as they all have received degrees. As we are enjoying our retirement years. We are somewhat financially sound and able to travel when we want to. When I was a younger teacher, I can remember teaching at school until five or six o’clock, then

working a second job in preparation for sending my children to college. This is the sacrifice that I made so my children would not have student loans when they finished college.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR THOSE WHO ARE RETIRED OR ARE ABOUT TO RETIRE FROM TEACHING MUSIC?

The best advice that I can give those that are about to retire is began planning now! Plan what you would like to do after you retire. You may want to draw your retirement and continue teaching in a lesser capacity, therefore, allowing more free time to do some of the things you would like while continuing to build for the future. Remember, It’s never too late to start saving into a tax shelter or investing into a quality 401K plan. This also works well after retiring. If you are in your fifties, it would be wise to continue to work in some capacity. I believe that continuing to work is healthy for the body and good for the mind. I will not call any names, but some of my retired friends are following this pattern and doing very well.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE FOR US TO KNOW. (THIS CAN BE ANYWHERE IN THE ANSWERS YOU WANT TO PUT IT)

There are five unforgettable personal experiences during my career that I would like to share.

1. In 1983 I was selected star teacher for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.

2. In 1984 the Savannah High Band received its first superior performance at level 6 with a standing ovation , which included the judges. This was done with 110 players on stage and only a few students studying privately. As mentioned earlier, I received my masters degree from Vandercook College of Music, which is an excellent teaching school. I have never taken short cuts or taught by rote. I believed in good pedagogy teaching and teaching fundamentally. In my observations, I have observed quite a bit of rote teaching, students not playing with good time, and very poor reading skills. Due to good pedagogy and fundamental teaching, the Savannah High Band never had a break down in sight-reading at LGPE while reading level 6 music most of the time. I once had a judge after sight-reading to ask me if we had seen the sightreading music.

3. In 1985 I was selected to Phi Beta Mu Music Fraternity. Ed Caughran was my sponsor.

4. In 1990 was selected teacher of the year by my co-workers at Savannah High.

5. In 2018 I served as guest conductor with the Lassiter Symphonic I Band when they performed at the 2018 GMEA Inservice Conference. This was extremely special to me considering my son James Thompson Jr. is the director of bands at Lassiter High School.

EVEN TEACHERS NEED TEACHERS

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Susan Ahmad is a graduate of Shorter University. Mrs. Ahmad has been teaching general music at Lake Windward Elementary School in Fulton County for 35 years. She has served as a Fulton County Fine Arts Support Teacher where she coaches and provides support for elementary music teachers across the district for 35 years. She is a co-author of the book “Music á la Cart”, has served in numerous leadership roles across the state, county and at her home school. Susan has presented at music conferences in Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee...including leveled instruction, implementing music standards, TKES readiness, choral techniques, differentiated instruction, teaching music from a cart, rigor in the music classroom, PBL, and assessment. She holds certificates for Expert Teacher, Master Teacher, and Teacher Support Specialist. Mrs. Ahmad was the recipient of the 2018 Atlanta Journal Constitution Celebrating Teachers Award. Mrs. Ahmad has also served as the Minister of Music at Clear Springs Baptist church for 36 years.

ROBERT J. AMBROSE

Robert J. Ambrose is a versatile musician who pursues a wide range of professional activities. Ambrose currently serves as Director of Bands at Georgia State University, a research institution of over 53,000 students. He is also Founder and Music Director of the Atlanta Chamber Winds, the National Chamber Winds, and Ensemble ATL, and Co-Founder of Bent Frequency Contemporary Music Ensemble. Dr. Ambrose is in constant demand as a guest conductor and has performed on four continents. Recent engagements include performances in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan as well as across the United States. He has also served as a guest conductor on tour with The United States Army Field Band, the only civilian ever to be asked to do so. A prolific arranger, his transcriptions and editions are widely-performed. Ambrose studied at Boston College, Boston University, and Northwestern University, where he received the Doctor of Music degree in conducting.

KATIE ANDERSON

Katie Anderson is the Fine Arts Coordinator of the Paulding County School District in Dallas, Georgia. She spent 16 fun years in the elementary music classroom singing, dancing, composing, banging on instruments, and helping children find their voice before transitioning to an instructional leadership role over the arts programs of the Paulding County School District, where she now supports 112 teachers in visual arts, instrumental music, vocal music, and theatre arts. In her career, Katie has been named Teacher of the Year twice, Distinguished Educator of the Year, and most recently, District Services Employee of the Year in her current role. Over the years, she has written numerous grants, brought more arts access to her schools in Tennessee and Georgia, collaborated with artists and musicians from across the globe, developed quality, content-specific professional development for her teachers, and written curricular resources for districts and supporting agencies. She works every day to support and encourage her teachers in the Paulding County School District and collaborates with her colleagues across the state. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education, a Master of Music Education, and an EdS in Curriculum & Instruction. While in quarantine, she needed a project and decided to start her doctoral program in Curriculum & Instruction.

JENNIFER BAIN

Jennifer Bain is the Orchestra and Guitar Director at Ola High School. Mrs. Bain has taught orchestra, guitar, and AP music theory since 2013. She holds a bachelor's degree in music education from Clayton State University. Bain is a low-string specialist and jazz bassist. She enjoys performing jazz and in musicals.

DANIEL BARA

Grand Prix at the International Choral Competition Ave Verum in Baden, Austria in 2014 and has performed at Southern Division ACDA Conventions in 2014 and 2018. Their 2017 Gothic Records professional recording, Grace Immaculate, is distributed internationally by Naxos.

Recent professional collaborations between Bara include performances conducted and prepared with Kathleen Battle, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, internationally acclaimed vocal sextet The King’s Singers with whom he jointly commissioned and premiered a piece by Nico Muhly in 2018, the acclaimed British professional choir, Tenebrae, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, and international touring artists, Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.

BRITTANY BAUMAN

Brittany Bauman is the Music Education Director for Nuvo Instrumental. She is the author of the WindStars pre-band curriculum focused on bridging the gap between recorder and beginning band. As an elementary music educator, Brittany saw the potential for pre-band to extend recorder instruction and inspire student growth. Brittany has witnessed how pre-band programs revive and grow instrumental programs while increasing retention in schools across the US. Currently, she guides new pre-band educators through teacher training workshops. Brittany is active in sharing her pre-band teaching experiences with other educators through frequent presentations at MEA conferences across the United States and Canada in addition to global virtual presentations. Previously, Brittany taught elementary general music, chorus, and beginning woodwinds in New England for over a decade. Brittany completed her M.M. in Music Education from Kent State University with an emphasis in general and instrumental music. She currently oversees two pre-band programs in her local community in partnership with the YMCA. Brittany is a certified music educator and is excited to continue to explore the opportunities that a pre-band program offers all students.

Daniel Bara is the John D. Boyd UGA Foundation Professor of Choral Music and the Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia where he oversees seven university choral ensembles as well as the graduate choral conducting program. His university choirs have performed by juried invitation for state, regional, and national conventions of ACDA, MENC, and IMC. The UGA Hodgson Singers under Bara’s direction won the

DR. ZANDRA BELL-MCROY

A native of Monroe, Georgia, Zandra Bell-McRoy has been a music educator since 2002. Upon graduating from the University of Georgia in 2001 with degrees in music and music education, Dr. Bell-McRoy began her career as a high school band director in Troup county, and later Clayton county. She has also served as a middle and high school band director in Clayton, Walton, and Gwinnett counties. Bands under her direction have consistently received superior and excellent ratings. Her most recent appointment is as Director of Bands at Cedar Shoals High School, in which she oversees all aspects of the comprehensive band program and serves as fine arts department chairperson. Dr. Bell-McRoy also serves as the Virtual PLC Lead for 6-12 Band with the Georgia Department of Education. Dr. Bell-McRoy received her Doctor of Education in Music Education from the University of Georgia under the direction of Dr. Roy Legette in 2014. While studying at the University of Georgia, Dr. Bell-McRoy served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant earning awards for teaching and being selected to participate in the Future Faculty Program. She maintains an active research presence, being invited to present her research at conferences and symposia across the country. Her research interests include multicultural music education, gender and music education, music teacher preparation, and music teacher evaluation and supervision.

GALE BERMAN

Gale Berman has taught music and band at both the elementary and middle school levels for the past fourteen years. She is currently the Music Specialist at The Epstein School in Sandy Springs, GA, where she teaches general music, band, musical theater and executive functioning. Her goal has an educator has always been to help her students find their own connection to music and to use it to foster the whole child. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and is an active musician in the community. She sings with the Atlanta Women’s Chorus and is a member of GMEA, NAfME and Sigma Alpha Iota. Gale lives in Roswell with her husband and young daughter.

RYAN BERTRAM

the GMEA Music Technology Showcase and the GMEA Student Composition Competition.

JESSICA BOOTH

Jessica Booth serves as the Fine Arts Education Program Manager for the Georgia Department of Education. In her almost twenty- five years as an art educator in Georgia she taught visual art at the middle, high school, and university level, and has served as a district fine arts supervisor for two different urban school systems. In her current role, Jessica leads the Georgia Department of Education Fine Arts Department, professional development, best-practice curriculum and assessment strategies, and the development of the Georgia Standards of Excellence for Fine Art. Through that work she developed the GA STEAM certification, Georgia’s Fine Arts Diploma Seal, and Arts Integration School of Excellence Award. Jessica was named the National Southeastern Secondary Educator of the Year in 2009, Administration and Supervision Educator of the Year in 2011, and the Georgia Art Educator of the Year in 2020. Jessica was a member of the inaugural NAEA School for Arts Leaders cohort and has served NAEA as a member of the Professional Materials Committee and as the Southeastern Representative to the Administration and Supervision Division, and President of NASDAE. She graduated with a BFA in illustration, a Master of Art Education in sculpture, and an Educational Specialist in Leadership and Administration.

KENNETH BOYKIN, JR. H. RUTLEDGE BOYKIN

Mr. Kenneth Boykin is a native of Columbus, GA. He received his undergraduate degree in music education from Young Harris College (2018). He currently serves as an Alumni Coordinator and on the Trustee Advisory Board for the college. He spent his first two years of teaching in Muscogee County where he taught 6-8 chorus and class piano. He currently teaches at Harris County Carver Middle School as the middle school (7th/8th) chorus director, music appreciation instructor (7th), music theory instructor (8th), the connections department chair, and the adaptive music teacher for students with exceptionalities. At the state level, he serves at the GMEA District 3 Chair and as a member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA) committee. He is currently in pursuit of a graduate degree in music education at Georgia College and State University.

Ryan Bertram has taught in Gwinnett County Public Schools for 14 years and currently serves as the Music Technology teacher at Coleman Middle School (CMS), located in Duluth, GA. Mr. Bertram earned his bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Georgia and his master's in Music Education from Boston University. Mr. Bertram began his teaching career as a band director before establishing the Music Technology program at CMS in 2016. Students from the Music Technology program at CMS have had their outstanding works selected for both

H. Rutledge Boykin is the Assistant Band Director at Greenbrier High School in Evans, Georgia. Mr. Boykin has taught music education at all grade levels K-12 and has used guitar when teaching each grade level. Along with teaching music, Mr. Boykin has had a previous career working at Walt Disney World both in Guest Operations as well as in Leadership Education at Disney University. Rutledge has always tied his guitar education approach back to Neil Young's great song title, "Keep on rockin' in the free world."

JOSH BYRD

•WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER: UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY, SCORE STUDY, AND CONDUCTING TO MAXIMIZE REHEARSAL EFFICIENCY

Josh Byrd serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of West Georgia. His primary responsibilities include conducting the Wind Ensemble, teaching conducting and music education courses, and supervising student teachers. Prior to his appointment he served as the band director at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin and assistant band director at Lanier Middle School and Norcross High School in Gwinnett County. Dr. Byrd received a DMA in Conducting from the University of Georgia where he studied with John Lynch and minored in Music Theory. He received his Master of Music degree in Conducting while studying with Tom Dvorak at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia where he studied saxophone with Kenneth Fischer and conducting with Dwight Satterwhite and John Culvahouse. Dr. Byrd is an active clinician and conductor, having recently presented at the 2017 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, 2018 CBDNA National Conference, and the 2018 GMEA annual In-Service conference both as a clinician and as conductor of the UWG Wind Ensemble. In 2020, the UWG Wind Ensemble performed at the CBDNA Southern Division Conference for the first time in the program’s history. He is also a published arranger; his newest works include Beethoven’s “Opus 103b” and Wiggin’s March Timpani (Maestro and Fox Music, 2020) and Chabrier’s España Rhapsody (C. Alan Publications, 2021). Dr. Byrd lives in Carrollton with his wife, Katie, and their two children, Tripp and Haley.

GINA CALLOWAY

Gina Calloway is currently in her 20th year as Orchestra Director at Woodward Academy in College Park, GA. Previously, she held teaching positions at both the Harpeth Hall School and the Nashville School of the Arts, both of which are in Nashville, TN. She holds a double bachelor degree in both Performance and Music education from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where she studied under Masao Kawasaki of the Julliard school. She has played viola professionally in the Detroit Symphony, New World Symphony, Michigan Opera Theatre, Huntsville Symphony and Columbus Symphony. She has been a featured violinist/violist on numerous recording sessions, both in Atlanta and in Nashville. In her spare time she is a free-lance violinist/violist. She has received several teaching awards, including the Ben F. Johnson, III stipend, awarded by Woodward Academy. She has three daughters (ages 12, 14 and 16) and resides in Atlanta.

STEVE CAMPBELL

Steve Campbell is the teaching artist and musical director of Dancing Drum. For the last 20 years, he has been leading and developing drumming programs in hundreds of schools all across the country. His 25 years of world percussion studies combined with his education degree led him to develop a highly effective approach to successfully integrate drumming programs into K-8 music classrooms. Steve has co-authored 5 Dancing Drum curriculum publications and presented interactive drumming clinics at over 20 state music education conferences across the United States, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention and the National Association for Music Education Conference.

SCOTT CASAGRANDE

Scott Casagrande retired in 2021 as Director of Bands at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL after completing 33 years of teaching in Illinois Public Schools. He taught high school, middle school and elementary students in suburban, urban and rural settings over the course of his teaching career. Mr. Casagrande currently serves Music for All/Bands of America as a Music Education Consultant responsible for the National Festival, Affiliate Regional Music Festivals and Affiliate Marching Band Events. He is also an Educational Consultant for MusicFirst software and serves as an administrator for the Music Education Alliance and the Dr. William P. Foster Project involving the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association and Music for All serving bands in under-served communities. In addition, Mr. Casagrande serves on the Board of Trustees for the VanderCook College of Music. Under Mr. Casagrande’s direction, the John Hersey Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble performed as a featured ensemble in the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. Ensembles under his direction were selected to perform in 24 Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festivals, two Illinois Music Educators Association Conventions and four Music for All National Concert Band Festivals. The Hersey Symphonic Band was named the Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festival Honor Band four times and the band program was awarded the Sudler Flag of Honor by the Sousa Foundation. In addition, Jazz Ensembles under Mr. Casagrande’s direction were Grand Champions at the Purdue Jazz Festival and the Jazz in the Meadows Festival a total of eight times (the two largest festivals in the Midwest).

CECILIA CLARK

Cecilia Clark, Director of Bands at Allatoona High School in Acworth, Georgia, is from Upper Marlboro, MD. She attended Duquesne University and received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education and a Master’s Degree in Special Education. Her percussion teachers include Stanley Leonard, Gerald Unger, and Andrew Reamer. Ms. Clark’s professional experience includes Assistant Band Director at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, GA where she assisted with all band operations, conducted Symphonic Band, taught Music Theory and Piano, sponsored Color Guard, and served as Fine Arts Department Chair. Prior to joining the faculty at McEachern, Ms. Clark was the Director of Bands at Deer Lakes High School and Thomas Jefferson High School. She also taught beginning band in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Ms. Clark has served as a percussion consultant and technician for several schools including Norwin Senior High School in North Huntingdon, PA. She was also the Front Ensemble Instructor for the General Butler Vagabonds Division III Jr. Corps and the Pit Caption Head for Conquest Percussion and Project Percussion Independent Open and World Class WGI Finalists. Ms. Clark is an active adjudicator, guest conductor, and clinician. She has served on the Review Committee for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the NAfME Band Advisory Committee, and as the DTA Program Coordinator at the Music for All Summer Symposium. Her professional affiliations include the NAfME, GMEA, NBA and ASBDA. She has received Lifetime Faculty Membership in the TRI-M Music Honor Society and is the President-Elect for Servant Leadership for Music (SLAM), Tim Lautzenheiser, CEO.

Grammy-winning American tenor RICHARD CLEMENT has performed with most of America’s major orchestras and music directors, bringing tonal beauty and superb musicality to repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary. He recently earned particular acclaim for the title role of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the North Carolina Symphony and Sacramento Choral Arts Society and Orchestra. In addition he premiered and recorded the Grammy nominated The Here and Now by Christoper Theofanides’ with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, including performances in Atlanta and at New York’s Carnegie Hall (he has also sung Messiah and concert performances of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic with them). Among the most in-demand tenors for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, invitations include the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; New Jersey, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Oregon, Memphis, San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Phoenix, Colorado, Grand Junction, and Toledo Symphonies. Mr. Clement studied voice at Georgia State University and the Cincinnati Conservatory, where he received his Master of Music degree. He was a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Jacobson Study Grant. Further recordings include Britten’s War Requiem with the Washington Choral Society, Bartók’s Cantata Profana with the Atlanta Symphony (both Grammy winners), Berlioz Lelio with the Montreal Symphony, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Boston Baroque and Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. Mr. Clement is currently an Associate Professor and Artist-in-Residence at Georgia State University.

Mr. Patrick A Collins is in his fifth year of teaching. He currently serves as the Music Technology teacher and Associate Director of Bands at Lanier High School (LHS) in Sugar Hill, GA. He currently serves as the Music Technology Professional Learning Community Lead for the Georgia Department of Education and as the High School Music Technology Lead Teacher for Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS). He has also helped both GCPS and the Country Music Association Foundation to develop both hybrid and fully remote curricular resources for music technology classrooms. Mr. Collins holds a Master of Education in Instructional Technology and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education both from Kennesaw State University. As part of his Master's degree, he also became one of the first educators in the United States to earn a Personalized Learning Endorsement on his teaching certificate.

Nancy Conley is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Kennesaw State University, where she teaches coursework in string technique, pedagogy, and literature. In addition, Dr. Conley supervises student teachers, leads the KSU String Project, and conducts the all-campus KSU Philharmonic. She also serves as the faculty advisor to the KSU collegiate chapter of ASTA. Dr. Conley received the Ph.D. in music education from Michigan State University, the M.M. in performance from Binghamton University, and the B.M. in music education and performance from Ithaca College. Before pursuing her doctoral degree, Dr. Conley was a public school music educator in Central New York, where she taught elementary, middle, and high school instrumental music for seventeen years. Before moving to Georgia, Dr. Conley taught at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam, where she taught string technique and pedagogy classes, music education electives, and directed the National String Project site. Prior to joining the faculty at KSU, Dr. Conley was the Director of Music Education at Clayton State University, where she coordinated the music education program, taught courses in music and music education, supervised student teachers, and was an instructor of applied violin and viola. Dr. Conley also served as faculty advisor for the collegiate NAfME chapter and co-directed the Clayton County Honor Orchestra. Dr. Conley has presented at regional, national, and international conferences. Her research interests include the use of improvisation as a tool for teaching and life-long learning, music teacher education, and musician wellness.

DON CRAFTON

Founder of

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trombonist,

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Called “alluring” and “wildly inventive” by The New York Times, the music of American composer Viet Cuong has been performed on six continents by musicians and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Eighth Blackbird, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Sō Percussion, Alarm Will Sound, Atlanta Symphony, Sandbox Percussion, Albany Symphony, PRISM Quartet, and Dallas Winds, among many others. Viet’s music has been featured in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center, and his works for wind ensemble have amassed hundreds of performances worldwide. Passionate about bringing these different facets of the contemporary music community together, his upcoming projects include a concerto for Eighth Blackbird with the United States Navy Band. Viet also enjoys exploring the unexpected and whimsical, and he is often drawn to projects where he can make peculiar combinations and sounds feel enchanting or oddly satisfying. His recent works thus include a snare drum solo, percussion quartet concerto, and, most recently, a double oboe concerto. He is currently the California Symphony’s Young American Composer-in-Residence, and recently served as the Early Career Musician-in-Residence at the Dumbarton Oaks. Viet holds degrees from Princeton University (MFA/PhD), the Curtis Institute of Music (AD), and Peabody Conservatory (BM/MM).

MELANIE DARBY

Education Manager Melanie Darby joined Spivey Hall in 2013 after more than a decade in education positions with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra managing the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra and creating music education and community outreach programming. She draws on her personal experience with artists, teachers, and patrons to create music opportunities and performances tailor-made for children, representing different musical traditions and cultures.

SightReadingFactory.com,

Crafton received

in music education and performance from The Catholic University of America and his master’s degree in orchestral performance from The Manhattan

taught

school systems located in Maryland, Virginia, and New York. As a bass

he has performed with the Syracuse Symphony, and has taught low brass at Hamilton College. As a clinician, he has presented many workshops throughout the United States on Sight Reading Factory.

ROBERT DAVIDSON

•THE MODERN MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR: STRIKING A BALANCE

Robert Davidson is in his seventh year as Co-Director of Bands at Trickum Middle School. Mr. Davidson is from Cartersville, Georgia where he graduated from Woodland High School. In 2016, Mr. Davidson graduated from the University of Georgia where he received his Bachelor’s in Music Education. While at the University of Georgia, Mr. Davidson served as a Battle Hymn Soloist, and Drum Major of the Redcoat Band. He also studied trumpet under Dr. Brandon Craswell and conducting under Dr. Jaclyn Hartenberger. Mr. Davidson graduated with his Master’s in Music Education from Georgia College and State University. Mr. Davidson is a member of the trumpet section of Tara Winds where he serves on the Board of Directors. He also actively serves as a clinician and adjudicator for band and conducting. His professional affiliations include memberships in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the National Band Association (NBA).

THOMAS DIXON

•WHERE YOU'LL FIND ME...

Thomas Dixon is currently pursuing a M.M. in Choral Conducting at Georgia State University. His primary teachers include Dr. Deanna Joseph, Dr. Jennifer Sengin, and Dr. Patrick Freer. Alongside his choral graduate assistant duties at GSU, Thom also serves as a music intern at Central Presbyterian Church, where he directs the Youth Choir. Prior to beginning graduate school, he was Director of Choirs at Orange County High School in Orange, Virginia for thirteen years. He conducted the treble choir, tenor and bass ensemble, and a mixed voice chamber ensemble. He has led choirs in performances in Washington DC, Carnegie Hall in NYC, and most recently, a ten day tour of Italy. In addition to public school teaching, he served as the family service music coordinator and handbell choir director at Church of Our Saviour Episcopal in Charlottesville, VA. He sang in the Virginia Consort, and he also served as president of their executive board. He has a soft spot for retired racing greyhounds, houseplants, and adventuresome recipes. Thom loves the spirit of community that is created when singing with others.

TYLER EHRLICH

•PREPARATION, REALIZATION, AND INTERPRETATION THREE KEYS FOR AN ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE OF WIND BAND REPERTOIRE

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 and athletic bands, and the instruction of instrumental conducting and wind literature courses. Ehrlich previously lived in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as a conductor and educator at the secondary and collegiate levels. For three years, Ehrlich served on the faculty of Emory University, where he conducted the Emory University Wind Ensemble. Additionally, Ehrlich taught band, music technology, and International Baccalaureate music courses at Decatur High School and Centennial High School. Ehrlich has received the National Band Association Citation of Excellence for his work with the Atlanta Wind Symphony. He conducted the ensemble at the 75th annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December 2021 and the Georgia Music Educators In-Service Conference in January 2020. In June 2022, Ehrlich guest conducted The United States Air Force Band in concert as a participant in the Young Composer Conductor Mentor Project. Ehrlich has presented on music technology and pedagogy at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Conference, the College Band Directors National Association National Conference, and the Georgia Music Educators In-Service Conference. Ehrlich has a Master of Music degree from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Cornell University.

GEORGIA EKONOMOU

•THE WOODWARD ACADEMY STRING MACHINE PERFORMANCE AND CLINIC

Georgia Ekonomou currently serves as Conductor of the Atlanta Festival Chamber Orchestra. She is the former director of orchestras at the Paideia School and the Lovett Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. During her tenure at Lovett, the Lovett Chamber Orchestra performed at the 1990 MENC National Conference in Washington, D.C.; the 1997 Georgia Music Educators Association Conference in Savannah, Georgia; and at the 1997 International Association of Jazz Educators Conference in Atlanta. She is the recipient of the Lovett School’s Woodward Award for excellence in teaching, and the Georgia/ASTA Lifetime Achievement Award in honor and recognition of her contribution to musical excellence in the state of Georgia. In 2006, Ekonomou founded the Atlanta Junior Chamber Orchestra where she served as Artistic Director and Conductor. She is active throughout the United States as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Northwestern University, and a Master’s degree in Music Education from Georgia State University. She is a member of ASTA and NAfME and has served in leadership positions at the State level for both organizations.

DR. LARISA ELISHA

•INTONATION ISSUES ON STRING INSTRUMENTS - CORRECTING THEM IN THE CLASSROOM AND PRIVATE STUDIO SETTINGS.

Internationally acclaimed violinist, Larisa Elisha is a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue, having performed and taught extensively throughout Russia, Europe, Scandinavia, Taiwan, Lithuania, Israel and U.S.. Dr. Elisha was Concertmaster - Witold Lutoslawski State Philharmonic, Principal ViolinistLeopoldinum Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director/First Violinist - Wratislavia String Quartet. She was Professor of Violin, Chamber Music, Pedagogy at K. Lipinski Academy of Music (Wroclaw, Poland). Dr. Elisha has performed at International Festival Wratislavia Cantans and Contemporary Music Festival Musica Polonica Nova, Draeseke’s Festival, Gioventi Musicale d’Italia, Wieniawski Festival and Mozart Festival, and at the Concertgebouw, Warsaw National Philharmonic and Karajan Hall. As Violinist/Co-founder of the Elaris Duo, she received the Global Music Award (Duo/New Release Categories) for DUO VIRTUOSO II: Works for Violin and Cello - Honegger, Ravel, Schulhoff (MSR-Classics), which received critical acclaim in Fanfare, Gramophone, American Record Guide and other noted music publications. Dr. Elisha is author of Advanced Scale Studies for Violin and Viola. As performer-clinician, she frequently presents performances, lectures and Master Classes at national/international music festivals, conferences and universities, including Summit Music Festival, Charleston International Music School Summer Festival, Washington Square Music Festival, Lithuania Music-Theatre Academy, University of Haifa, Jerusalem Academy, National Taiwan University of the Arts, ASTA, Georgia Music Educators Association and College Music Society. Continuing the tradition of Russian violinist David Oistrakh, she holds BM and MM degrees from Lunacharsky State Conservatory of Belarus. She earned her DMA at the K. Lipinski Academy of Music (Wroclaw). Dr. Elisha is currently Professor of Music and Coordinator of Upper Strings Studies at Georgia Southern University.

KATHERINE EMENETH

Dr. Katherine Emeneth is an enthusiastic performer, collaborator, clinician, pedagogue, and teacher with a passion for education. Katherine Emeneth’s expertise and enthusiasm for rigorous flute pedagogy balances with a style that is engaging and encompassing the whole person. She is the owner of the Georgia Flute Academy where she specializes in pre-college flute education in northeast Georgia. In her studio, she creates individualized curriculum, organizes studio events that range from guest artist masterclasses to student recitals at local retirement homes, prepares students for local and national flute competitions, designs unique project-based learning for music history, theory, and listening, and provides learning enrichment through other various activities including field trips and a summer camp. She is in demand as a clinician, adjudicator, and speaker at various middle, high schools, and colleges throughout the southeast and beyond. Katherine Emeneth has served on the faculty of the University of Washington. She currently teaches at Georgia Gwinnett College where she was the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Teaching Award. Katherine Emeneth holds degrees from the University of Georgia and the University of Washington. She lives in Sugar Hill, Georgia with her husband and Old English Sheepdog, Barney.

TIFFANY ENGLISH

Tiffany English is the music specialist at Sugar Hill Elementary School in Gwinnett County, Georgia. She holds multiple degrees from the University of Georgia and Piedmont College. Her education also includes post-Level III Orff Schulwerk teacher education and Level I Kodály training. Tiffany has served the American Orff-Schulwerk Association as Region IV representative on the National Board of Trustees, vice president and president of AOSA, chair of the Professional Development Committee, president of the Atlanta Area Orff Chapter, and co-chair for the 2014 and 2021 AOSA Professional Development Conferences. Tiffany has been named the Teacher of the Year three times in her career and was honored as the Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year in 2007. She presents at numerous conferences and workshops throughout the United States and is a frequent honor chorus clinician. Tiffany has mentored 15+ student teachers in her career and frequently hosts elementary music education methods course observations in her classroom. She was awarded the Athens P-20 Collaborative Mentor Award from the Georgia Colleges of Teacher Education in 2021. She is currently serving on the Board of Advisors for the International Orff-Schulwerk Forum Salzburg.

Since 2008, Emily Floyd has served as Director of Music Ministries at Shallowford Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. In addition to church work, Emily serves as the co-director and clinician of the Choristers Guild Institute, a church music certification program. Emily is the conductor and music director of the Choral Guild of Atlanta, which is the longest running community choir in Atlanta. She frequently serves as a guest conductor for honor choirs and schools in America and Canada. Emily serves as a guest conductor for summer worship conferences, such as the Montreat Music Conference and the Lutheridge Music Conference. She has presented workshops for ACDA, Choristers Guild, and school systems. Choirs under her direction have performed in such international venues as St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, and Carnegie Hall in New York. The Shallowford Youth Choir has sung in 17 states in the U.S.A. Emily attended the Florida State University and received the Bachelor Degree in Music Education (voice) magna cum laude. Emily has taught choral music in public schools and directed church choirs of all ages in Florida, Illinois, and Georgia. Emily is passionate about reaching as many young singers as possible (“drawing the circle wide”) and awakening their inner choral artist. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Choristers Guild, the Georgia Music Educators Association and the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.

MICHELLE FOLTA

Dr. Michelle Folta is associate professor of choral/general music education at Columbus State University and the artistic director for the Voices of the Valley Children’s Chorus. She earned her Ph.D. and masters in music education at the University of North Texas, and a bachelor’s degree in music studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to graduate study, Dr. Folta taught chorus in Austin, Texas, where she was instrumental in transforming her campus into a Fine Arts Academy. Under Dr. Folta’s direction, Voices of the Valley has been selected to collaborate with professional, collegiate, and community ensembles. The choir has performed internationally, at the Georgia Music Educators Association conference, and at the American Choral Directors Association Southern Region conference. Dr. Folta served as the guest clinician for the Georgia Music Educators Association Sixth-Grade Honor Chorus, the West Georgia Choral Society's Choral Festival, and the Region XIII Tenor Bass All Region Choir in Austin, Texas. Dr. Folta was recently named a finalist for the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year Award and Columbus and the Valley’s “Rising Star” award. She was also the recipient of Columbus State University's Faculty Service Award in 2021 and named Columbus and the Valley's 5 Under 40. Dr. Folta and her husband, Zach, reside in Columbus, Georgia with their daughter, Lena.

Mr. Ladell Fortune is currently in his 21st year of teaching music in the state of Georgia. He received his Bachelor’s in Music Education from Georgia Southern University and a Master’s in Music Education from Boston University. Mr. Ladell Fortune has been the choir director at Flat Rock Middle School since 2018. Choirs under his direction consistently receive Superior Ratings in Performance and Sight Reading at Large Group Performance Evaluations(LGPE). His students are active participants in the District 6 Honor Choir and the Georgia All-State Chorus each year. Previously, Mr. Fortune taught in both Richmond and Henry County School Districts. His choirs have placed first and won Grand Champion awards in The Southern Star Music Festival and The OrlandoFest Music Festival. Mr. Ladell Fortune won the 2012 Richmond County Teacher of the Year. He has also received the Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching. In 2021, he received the Going Above and Beyond award from the Fayette County School System. He is currently serving his second term as the District 6 Choral Chair for GMEA. He is the Fine Arts Department Chair and is a member of the Leadership Team and a choral adjudicator for LGPE. Recent individual engagements include serving as the Clinician of the Richmond County Elementary All County Chorus. Mr. Fortune performed at Carnegie Hall in the summer of 2022 with The Wendall P. Whalum Community Chorus where is currently the assistant director.

Dr. Jennifer Gebczyk is the general music teacher at Camp Creek Elementary School in the Gwinnett County Public Schools district in Lilburn, GA. Dr. Gebczyk received the B.M.E. from The University of Georgia, the M.Ed. in Music Education from Auburn University, the Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from Piedmont College, and the DMA in Music Education from Boston University. In addition to her academic degrees, Dr. Gebczyk has completed certification studies in Orff-Schulwerk (Levels I and II), TI:ME (Level I), and Microsoft Innovative Educator. Dr. Gebczyk was a semifinalist for the Gwinnett County Public Schools system-wide Teacher of the Year for the 2021-22 school year. She holds memberships in the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. Throughout her career, Dr. Gebczyk has taught K-5th grade general music and middle school band. Currently, Dr. Gebczyk serves on the Exceptional Student Success committee for GMEA.

Andrew Geocaris teaches elementary general music at Rocky Mount Elementary School in Cobb County where he also directs the Roadrunner Chorus. His 600 students learn performance, composition, improvisation, musical literacy, and interdisciplinary connections. Prior to Rocky Mount, Mr. Geocaris served as Director of Orchestras at Tri-Cities High School in Fulton County from 2009-2012 where he was awarded the Troxell Communications Grant for technology in the classroom. Mr. Geocaris was recognized as the Rocky Mount Elementary School Teacher of the Year in 2017. In 2021, he was awarded first place in the Lowell Mason House National Competition for Virtual Music Lesson Plans in the Elementary Division. Mr. Geocaris holds a Bachelor of Arts, magne cum laude, in music education from Carthage College in Wisconsin. He received Honors in the Music Major with an emphasis in instrumental conducting. He received his Master of Music in Euphonium Performance, summa cum laude, from Georgia State University. There he studied with euphonium soloist Adam Frey and served as a Graduate Assistant in the music department. He also serves as the lesson coordinator for the International Euphonium and Tuba (IET) Festival held at Emory University. Outside of teaching music, Mr. Geocaris is an avid Star Trek fan, he loves spending time with his wife and three children, running, hiking, and building scale models.

Lauded as having “consummate virtuosity” by The New York Times, percussionist Stuart Gerber has performed extensively throughout the North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Recent engagements include: The Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film, Video, and Music Festival, the Montreal New Music Festival, Electronic Music Malta Festival, The Eduardo MATA Festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, the KLANG Festival at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Cervantino Festival in Gunajuato, Mexico, the Now Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, the Chihuahua International Music Festival in Mexico, the Gulbenkian Center in Lisbon, Portugal, the South Bank Centre in London, the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin, Germany, the Melbourne Recital Centre, Australia, the Spoleto Festival, and the Savannah Music Festival. As an active performer of new works, Stuart has recorded for Centaur, Innova, UR-text, Aucourant, Bridge, Capstone, Code Blue, Mode, Albany, Telarc and Vienna Modern Masters labels. He is currently an artist-faculty at the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) held annually at the New England Conservatory, and has taught at New Music on the Point, the Charlotte New Music Festival, and the Stockhausen-Kurse in Germany, and has given masterclasses at many esteemed institutions in the US and abroad (including the Curtis Institute, Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, and The Southbank Center). Stuart studied at the Oberlin College Conservatory, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Hochshule für Musik in Hannover, Germany. He is Professor of Music at Georgia State University and co-artistic director of the Atlanta-based contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency.

DR. MARIE GRAHAM

Dr. Graham joined the UNG Department of Music in 2020 as the Coordinator of Music Education. She serves as assistant professor and supervisor to music interns in curriculum, pedagogy, and senior capstone courses. While new to GA, she has had a thirty-year career as a choral music educator, K-college teaching experience at public and private institutions. She is a Kodaly specialist in music education and taught Kodaly methodology for Denise Bacon, founder of the Kodaly movement in America. Dr. Graham completed her Doctoral of Musical Arts, Music Education degree at Boston University, her Master of Education at Lesley University, and her Bachelor of Music degree at Hartt School of Music.

DR. ALYSSA GREY

Dr. Alyssa Grey is the director of Wind Studies at Berry College. She completed undergraduate degrees in Music Education and Music Theory & Composition from the University of Miami where she studied with GRAMMY-Award Winning composer Lansing McLoskey. She received a Masters degree in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music and a PhD from the University of North Texas where she studied wind band conducting with Eugene Migliaro Corporon. Alyssa has presented sessions and research with the National Association for Music Education, Society for Music Teacher Education, College Music Society, GMEA, NJMEA, FMEA, OKMEA, ArkMEA, TMEA, the Texas Bandmasters Association, and the Midwest Clinic. She is an active researcher and has been published in scholarly journals including the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, the Music Educators Journal, Teaching Music, the Instrumentalist, and is a contributor to the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. Dr. Grey currently serves on the College Music Society’s Presidential Task Force on Leading Change in higher education.

SARA GRIMES

Sara Grimes has been the Assistant/Executive Director of Orchestras at Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia since 2010, and has been a Teacher of the Year nominee twice (2021, 2017). Since 2018, she has been the Fine Arts Department Chair. As a graduate of Walton, she is proud to be teaching at her alma mater. Mrs. Grimes’ prior teaching experiences include Barber Middle School in Cobb County and West Laboratory Elementary in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Additionally, she was the graduate teaching assistant at the University of Miami and taught undergraduate string techniques. Mrs. Grimes serves on the Orchestra Standing Committee for GMEA, as the District 12 GMEA Orchestra Chair, District 12 Orchestra LGPE coordinator, and coordinator for the 11/12 GMEA All-State Full Orchestra. She is Vice-President elect for GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation. She was accepted to present a session entitled "Strategies for Teaching Students Not in Your Top Orchestra" at The Midwest Clinic in 2020. Previously, she presented sessions at the Georgia Music Educators Association Conference in 2020, The Midwest Clinic in 2015, and Florida Music Educators Association Conference in 2009. Sara Grimes holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of South Carolina and Master of Music in Music Education from the University of Miami with cello as her primary instrument. Mrs. Grimes is a member of NafME, GMEA, ASTA, Pi Kappa Lambda, and has been recognized as a Presser Scholar.

DR. ROBERT J GROGAN

Robert Grogan is the director of bands at Barber MS in Acworth, Georgia, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in music education at Auburn University. While at Barber, the program has grown to over 400 students from a school student body of only 850. His ensembles have received several prestigious invitations including the MFA National Festival, the University of Alabama Honor-Band Clinic, the MFA Southeastern Regional Concert Band Festival, and the Utah State Band Festival. He is a two-time recipient of the NBA Citation of Excellence and a 2016 National Quarterfinalist for the GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year. He has been published in both the JRME in 2017 and SB&O magazine in 2020.

MANDY GUNTER

Mandy Gunter currently teaches at Burnette Elementary in Gwinnett County. She holds degrees from Georgia College and Lesley University. Mandy holds a post Level-III Orff Schulwerk teacher education. Mandy has served on the National Board of the American Orff Schulwerk Association and was chair of the Communications Committee. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Virtual Programming Sub Committee. She has also served as President of the Atlanta Area Orff Chapter and currently serves as the Advocacy Chair. Mandy presents Orff Schulwerk Workshops across the Southeast.

BOB HABERSAT

Bob Habersat is a high school guitar, music tech, and theory teacher and co-founder of shedthemusic.com. He has presented clinics on music technology, guitar, and jazz at conferences and festivals across the country. Bob is the author of Rewire Guitar, Rewire Theory, and the Production Through Performance music technology curriculum. When he is not teaching, Bob loves going on adventures with his wife Kristin and their children Lee and Brooke.

CASEY HALL

Mr. Casey Hall serves as a Fine Arts Education Program Specialist for the Georgia Department of Education. He joins the GaDOE Fine Arts Department team from Fulton County Schools as a Fine Arts Support Teacher (FAST) and Music Specialist in Atlanta, Georgia where he was awarded the title of 20192020 South Learning Community Teacher of the Year for Fulton County Schools. On the FAST Team, he coached and provides support for elementary music teachers across the district. He was a member of Fulton County's Vanguard Team and works with educators across all grade levels and disciplines to support a personalized learning environment in their classrooms, build capacity, and seamlessly integrate technology. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University and a master’s degree in music education from Georgia State's School of Music. While at GSU, he studied and developed the term, culturally driven pedagogy (a comprehensive term which uses students' culture to drive instructional practices) as well as developed a songwriting curriculum for the Johnny Mercer Foundation. Mr. Hall has presented at various conferences on topics such as Project-Based Learning, Personalized Learning, App Smashing, Cultural Pedagogies, Culturally Driven Pedagogy, and Behavior and Classroom Management at international, national, state, and local school district professional development sessions.

BENJAMIN HARPER

Benjamin Harper is Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Valdosta State University, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, directs the graduate program in wind conducting, and guides all aspects of the university band program. A champion of new, accessible music for students and audiences, Harper’s performances regularly include standard band music side-by-side with music by contemporary composers. Valdosta State University has been consortium member commissioning composers of diverse backgrounds, including Viet Cuong, Shuying Li, Julia Wolfe, and Juan Pablo Contreras. Harper is currently leading a consortium of universities commissioning a new opera for four voices and wind ensemble by Joni Greene based on the White Rose movement, a non-violent, intellectual resistance group led by a group of students in the Third Reich. Prior to serving as Director of Bands, Harper was Director of Athletic Bands at VSU and spent seven years as a high school band director in Iowa. He holds degrees from Iowa State University, The University of Kansas, and Texas Tech University.

GABRIELLE HASTON

Gabrielle Haston has served as the Director of Choral Activities and Fine Arts Department Chair at Dade County High School and Dade Middle for the past fifteen years. She was selected as the Dade County Schools Teacher of the Year for 2020-2022. Mrs. Haston is active in the Georgia Music Educators Association and has served as the choral chair for GMEA District VII, as well as organizer and conductor for district and county level honor chorus events. Her philosophy of choral music education revolves around helping each student find and develop their own unique voice while building the confidence and skills to lift their voices in song and to make a difference in the world around them. Gabrielle Haston is a Kodály certified music educator. She earned her Bachelors of Music and Masters of Secondary Education: The Arts from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she was granted highest honors for her departmental honors thesis on "Physiological Changes in the Adolescent Female Voice: Applications for Choral Instruction."

TAYLOR HAUN

Taylor taught music in 2 Grammy award winning districts, founded a creative music education organization, and now works with Soundtrap teachers to amplify the creative skills of students around the world. He is life-long lover of groove and melody!

ERIK HERNDON

ROBIN HODSON

Robin comes from a musical family; his Grandfather founded a Symphony Orchestra and Music Conservatory in Zimbabwe, and his Mother taught music for 50 years. An accomplished composer and performer, working in a variety of differing genres, he is also a recording engineer, songwriter and arranger. Robin received a Masters Degree at Magdalen College, Oxford, specializing in choral music. He moved to the US in 1999 and is now a US citizen. He was with Sibelius/Avid for thirteen years, followed by three years with SoundTree. During that time, he became a well-known clinician, trainer and salesman for a wide variety of world class music software and technology products. He joined Jim Frankel and an accomplished team of people to start MusicFirst in 2012, bringing cloud-based music software to schools around the world.

Erik Herndon is an educator, composer, and guitarist in Marietta, GA. He is currently the Orchestra Director and Guitar Instructor at Marietta High School and a performing artist in Metro Atlanta.

CRAIG HURLEY

•PART SINGING DURING THE ELEMENTARY YEARS: A STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

Craig Hurley is the conductor of the Spivey Hall Young Artists, the preparatory choir of the nationally renowned Spivey Hall Children’s Choir (www.spiveyhallchildrenschoir.org). Under Dr. Hurley’s direction, the Spivey Hall Young Artists were honored to perform at the 2018 GMEA In-Service Conference. Dr. Hurley has also served as a guest clinician for several honor choirs throughout the state. Dr. Hurley is also the music specialist at Ford Elementary School in Cobb County, Georgia. Under his direction, the Ford Elementary Chorus has performed at the 2015 GMEA In-Service Conference. He has presented interest sessions at the Music Educators Association in-service conferences for Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, the ACDA Southern Division Conference, as well as for other various teacher organizations. Dr. Hurley was honored as Teacher of the Year in 2002, 2016, and the GMEA Music Educator of the Year in 2021. Dr. Hurley is a published researcher whose interests include music literacy and expressive performance pedagogy. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Shorter College, a Master of Early Childhood Education from Berry College, and a Doctorate in Music Education from The University of Georgia. (GO DAWGS!). Dr. Hurley lives in Marietta with his wife Katie (also a music teacher) and their three children.

KATIE HURLEY

•PART SINGING DURING THE ELEMENTARY YEARS: A STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

Katie Hurley is the music specialist at Frey Elementary School in Cobb County, Georgia. She has taught elementary music for 12 years and has been named teacher of the year three times (2004, 2017, & 2022). She spent 10 years as a stay-at-home mom to her three children. During her hiatus from public education, she opened a Kindermusik studio in Cartersville, GA where she taught mommy-and-me music classes for babies and toddlers. Ms. Hurley’s choirs consistently receive superior ratings at LGPE. She has hosted student-teachers from Reinhardt University and Kennesaw State University. Ms. Hurley holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Shorter College and a Master of Music Education from the University of West Georgia. Katie Hurley resides in Marietta, Georgia with her music teaching husband and three musically gifted children.

JOHN JACOBSON

•SONGS IN THE KEY OF ME!

•IT'S A MUSICAL WORLD - TRAVELING THE WORLD THROUGH MUSIC •D.E.I.J. WITH JOHN J.

John Jacobson is the author and composer of many musicals and choral works that have been performed by millions of children worldwide, as well as educational videos and tapes that have helped music educators excel in their individual teaching arenas. John has staged hundreds of huge music festival ensembles in his association with Walt Disney Productions and directed productions featuring thousands of young singers including NBC’s national broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, presidential inaugurations and more. He is also recognized internationally as a creative and motivating speaker for teachers and students involved in choral music education. John is the founder and volunteer president of America Sings! Inc., a non-profit organization that encourages young performers to use their time and talents for community service. He stars in children’s musical and exercise videotapes, most recently the series “jJump! A Fitness Program for Children” and was the Senior Contributing Writer for John Jacobson’s Music Express Magazine. John’s book A Place In The Choir: Finding Harmony in a World of Many Voices is rapidly becoming a staple with music teachers worldwide.

JOSEY JIMENEZ

•THE MODERN MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR: STRIKING A BALANCE

Josey J. Jimenez is in her seventh year as the Director of Bands at Duluth Middle School in Duluth, Georgia. At Duluth Middle School, Ms. Jimenez oversees the instruction and administration of the DMS concert ensembles, percussion ensemble, and the Wildcat Winds. Ms. Jimenez is also proud to be involved with the Duluth High School Wildcat Marching Band. A native of Effingham County, GA, she is a graduate of South Effingham High School, the University of Georgia, and Georgia College and State University. While at the University of Georgia, she studied saxophone under Connie Frigo and conducting under Jaclyn Hartenberger. She was also a proud member of the University of Georgia Redcoat Band. Ms. Jimenez is an active clinician and adjudicator around the state of Georgia and bands under her direction have consistently earned superior ratings at the Georgia Music Educators Association Large Group Performance Evaluation. Ms. Jimenez is a member of multiple professional organizations, including Sigma Alpha Iota, Woman Band Directors International, the Georgia Music Educators Association, Tara Winds, the National Association for Music Education, and the National Band Association.

HEATH JONES

•MUSIC TECHNOLOGY 101: WHAT, WHY, & HOW •THE NOVATION LAUNCHPAD. IT'S NOT JUST FOR ABLETON

Heath currently teaches Music Technology at McConnell Middle School in the Gwinnett County Public Schools system in Lawrenceville, GA. He has served on working committees for the Gwinnett County Public Schools and the Georgia Department of Education to develop and revise performance standards and assessments both statewide and at the local level. He has also served as the Lead Teacher for Music Technology (6-8) for Gwinnett County Public Schools. Heath has presented music technology sessions at the Midwest Clinic, NAfME National, GMEA, and other in-service conferences around the country on topics of standards, curricula, and instructional strategies. He is a certified Soundtrap Expert and Noteflight Educational Specialist. Heath became a published author in 2021 with the publication of "Music Technology 101" by Hal Leonard. He continues to be a passionate advocate for Music Technology as a vital part of a student's music education options and continues to search out new resources and tools to improve instruction and create relevant and engaging activities for the Music Tech classroom.

DEANNA JOSEPH

•REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES AND CONDUCTING GESTURE FOR THE EMERGING CHORAL MUSIC EDUCATOR •WORK/LIFE BALANCE FOR MUSIC-EDUCATOR MOMS

Dr. Deanna Joseph is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the Georgia State University School of Music where she conducts the University Singers and leads the master’s program in choral conducting. A recent review of her work states, “[t]he choir sings with great musicality, excellent intonation, clear diction, and a healthy and beautiful pallet of tone colors…” (The Choral Scholar). Deanna Joseph holds conducting degrees from the Eastman School of Music. She is the founder and co-artistic director of the Atlanta Summer Conducting Institute, a conducting master class that draws conductors from across the country.

STEPHANIE JUSTEN

•FROM INSTRUMENTS TO IEPS: ADAPTIVE MUSIC FOR ALL NEEDS

Miss Justen received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and has a masters degree in special education with a specialist degree in curriculum and instruction. She has been teaching public school for 22 years at the elementary and high school levels. She currently works with three elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school as itinerant autism support to provide assistance to students, teachers, and families with children on the autism spectrum. She resides in middle Georgia with her dog Disney.

QUINYONIA KEARSE

•PLANNING FOR LGPE SUCCESS! PRACTICAL TIPS AND TOOLS FOR NEW AND VETERAN CHORAL DIRECTORS

Quinyonia Kearse was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a product of Atlanta Public Schools, graduating from Benjamin E. Mays High School in 2000. Kearse received a Bachelor of Music from Mercer University and a Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning from Liberty University. Kearse has been teaching choral music for 17 years in both the middle school and high school setting. Currently, Kearse is the Director of Choral Activities and Fine Arts Department Chairperson at Luella High School, in Locust Grove, GA. There, Kearse has been honored as the Golden Apple Winner, and students choice for teacher of the month. Recently, she was chosen as Star Teacher and 2021-2022 Teacher of the Year for Luella High School. Kearse is a member of the National Association for Music Educators (NAfME), American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), just to name a few. As a member of these organizations, she has organized and hosted several events for students, teachers, parents and community members. “A legacy to keep, an image to uphold,” a quote by Dr. Benjamin E. Mays is a motto that has stuck with Kearse since high school. She always strives to ensure that a legacy is left for generations to come. This is why teaching is a passion for Kearse; as not only teaching students, but mentoring new teachers is a rewarding experience.

CATHERINE KEYSER

•GET CREATIVE, GET NOTICED, GET HIRED! RESUME & INTERVIEW TIPS FROM ARTS SUPERVISORS

Catherine Keyser has been serving as the Forsyth County Fine Arts Specialist since 2016. She began her career teaching band in Gwinnett County in 1997 and moved to Forsyth County Schools in 2003. In addition to teaching band, Mrs. Keyser served as an instructor at the Governor’s Honors Program and at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. Catherine earned an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from the University of North Georgia, a Master of Music Education degree from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia. Currently, Mrs. Keyser serves on several Arts education advisory boards and is President-Elect of the Forsyth County Arts Alliance. She was recently awarded the Distinguished Service Outside of the Profession Award by the Georgia Art Education Association. Catherine is proud to be a part of Forsyth County Schools, where she has the privilege of supporting the wonderful Arts educators who continue to create high quality Visual and Performing Arts experiences for their over 51,000 students.

JEFF KING

•DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? LESSONS LEARNED FROM MASTER MUSICIANS

Jeff King is a Texas music educator, conductor, author, and clinician with over 35 years of experience covering all levels and disciplines. Prior to his current position as a member of The University of Texas at Arlington music faculty, Mr. King served as the Director of Fine Arts for the Irving Independent School District, where he oversaw all aspects of the district’s Fine Arts Programs. The majority of his teaching career was spent in Duncanville ISD, culminating as Director of Bands.

keynote speaker

Michael Kobito is a music educator at Woodland High School in Cartersville, GA. A teacher at his alma mater, Kobito became an educator after encountering teachers who believed in him and inspired him to believe in himself. Kobito’s mission is to provide his students with the ability to see their self-worth and develop skills to make the most out of their gifts.

Kobito teaches high school band and AP Music theory. During his tenure as director, the band has performed at multiple national events including the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington D.C., the GMEA In-Service Conference, the Southeastern United States Honor Band Festival, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, UGA's Janfest Honor Band Festival, and the London New Years Day Parade.

Kobito serves as a clinician and adjudicator across the state providing leadership clinics, judging events, and inspiring other educators to make the most of their outreach. He serves as associate conductor of Tara Winds and as a guest conductor of the Georgia Brass Band.

In his seven years as an educator, Kobito has proudly received three National Band Association Citations of Excellence. He has been named an AP Teacher with Distinction after his AP Music Theory Class experienced a 100% pass rate with 100% test participation. In 2021, Kobito was selected as Woodland High School’s STAR Teacher. Additionally, Kobito was named the 2022 Teacher of the Year for Woodland High School and the Bartow County School System and currently serves as the 2023 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Kristen Kuder Lynch is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Music Education at the University of Georgia. She received her BME (‘99) from Baker University and her MME(‘20) from the University of Georgia. Over a 20 year span, Kristen has taught elementary general music, elementary band and middle school band and orchestra in Kansas, Missouri, and Georgia. During that time, she also taught private flute and piano lessons. Her research interests include preparation of preservice music educators, culturally responsive education and music teacher identity development. Kristen resides in Athens, Georgia with her husband, Michael, and two sons, Parker and Zachary.

Allison completed her Bachelors of Music Education degree at Louisiana State University and teaches elementary music at Lake Windward Elementary School. Her studied instruments are Oboe, English Horn, and Voice. As of summer of 2022 she is fully certified in the Orff-Schulwerk method. Allison has ten years of elementary music teaching experience, and has taught in a variety of socioeconomically diverse communities. In the past, she has presented at GMEA, and for Fulton County Schools. Allison has been performing for over 15 years, and has earned music and service awards from LSU and the Georgia and Louisiana communities. She was nominated for the Louisiana Music Educator Association's Outstanding Young Educator award, as well as the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra's Teacher of the Year. Allison has a musical and supportive husband, as well as two young energetic daughters.

DR. MARY LAND

University

the

at Pickens County

CHRISTINE LAPKA

Dr. Christine Lapka is committed to guiding teacher education candidates in the areas of exceptionalities in music, and elementary music methods at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Before UCF, Dr. Lapka was a professor of music at Western Illinois University. Throughout her career, she found her two undergraduate degrees invaluable to her teaching (Music Education & Music Therapy). She served the Illinois Music Educators Association, as the Learners with Exceptionalities Chair, for 15 years and received the Mary Hoffman Award of Excellence. As a leader in the area of disabilities in music, she presents across the country and has articles in music education journals. Her chapters are “Including Students with Disabilities in Instrumental Ensembles,” in Exceptional Pedagogy for Children with Exceptionalities: International Perspectives (Oxford University Press) and “Breaking Down Barriers for Students with Disabilities in Your Choir” in The Choral Conductor’s Companion (GIA).

SHAWNA LONGO

Shawna E. Longo is the General Music (Music Technology) teacher and Arts Integration Specialist at Durban Avenue School, Hopatcong, NJ. She recently published her first book with Oxford University Press, titled: Integrating STEM with Music. She is also a recipient of the 2021-2022 Sussex County Teacher of the Year, 2021 Arts Educator of the Year from NJ State Teen Arts Festival, 2021 Durban Avenue School Teacher of the Year, 2019 TeachRock Star Teacher Award, 2019 Ti:ME Teacher of the Year (for Music Technology), 2019 New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education Leadership, and 2018 NJMEA Master Music Teacher Award.

JOSH MARKHAM

Mr. Josh Markham is the choral director at Sequoyah High School, located in Canton, Georgia in Cherokee County. He is an avid Braves fan and once met Dale Murphy. Mr. Markham enjoys losing in various games to his clever children and telling them hilarious jokes. He is an Eagle Scout and loves the show Seinfeld. Mr. Markham and his awesome wife, Kimberly, live in the Canton area with their five spirited children, as well as their dog, cat, rabbit, two Guinea pigs, ball python hamster, and two rats. (And yes, he knows that’s a lot.) Three different ensembles from Sequoyah have been selected to perform at GMEA conferences: the Sequoyah Singers Women (2015), Men’s Chorus (2017) and Sequoyah Singers (2022). In addition, Singers Women were selected to perform at Southern Division ACDA (2018) in Louisville, KY. Mr. Markham’s degrees in Music Education are from Shorter College (Rome, GA) and the University of Georgia (Athens). Influential teachers include Martha Shaw, John Ratledge, Bill Caldwell, and Greg Hucks.

Mary Land is Director of Instrumental Music Education, Associate Professor of Music, and conductor of the

Concert Band at Western Michigan University. Prior to this appointment she was Associate Professor of Music at Young Harris College. Dr. Land was also

band director

Middle School in Jasper, Georgia for over 20 years. She has served the Georgia Music Educators Association in various state and local offices including president of GMEA. Dr. Land is on the Board of Directors of the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and continues to make numerous appearances as guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the United States.

LAURA B. MARTIN

FOR MUSIC-EDUCATOR

Laura Burgess Martin is a cum laude graduate of Converse College in Spartanburg, SC where she received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree. She also received a Master of Music in Music Education degree from the University of Georgia. In 2014, Mrs. Martin was named one of Converse College’s 125 Outstanding Alumnae in honor of the college’s 125th anniversary. Mrs. Martin is the choral director at Creekland Middle School in Canton, Georgia. She previously taught chorus at E.T. Booth Middle School and Woodstock Middle School. In 2011, her 8th grade chorus was selected to perform at the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference. Mrs. Martin accompanies choirs on flute and piano and has directed various district and county level middle school honor choirs. Mrs. Martin is President of the Georgia chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. She has also served as treasurer and webmaster within Georgia ACDA. Mrs. Martin serves as pianist at Heritage Fellowship Church in Canton, Georgia. Mrs. Martin is married to Scott Martin, choral director at Creekview High School. They have three children.

NATALIE MATTSON

Natalie Mattson was appointed charter band director for Twin Rivers Middle School in 2007. Since that time her program has grown to more than 300 band students. Her students perform in GMEA District Honor Band, All-State Band, Solo & Ensemble, First Year Honor Band, and Large Group Performance Evaluation receiving consistent Superior and Excellent ratings. Mrs. Mattson has served in many facets at her school and was selected as the 2018 Twin Rivers Middle School Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Mattson attended the University of Georgia where she graduated with a Bachelors of Music Education. Mrs. Mattson studied alto saxophone with Dr. Kenneth Fischer, performed in various ensembles within the University of Georgia, and was a member of the UGA Redcoat Marching Band. She served as Assistant Director of Bands for the Colquitt County High School 50th Regiment Band and Duluth Middle School Band Director. Mrs. Mattson has memberships with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Georgia Music Educators Association

LAURA MCCARTER

McCarter is the Secondary Schools

Georgia Film Academy, facilitating training initiatives for high school and middle school

high school students. Laura’s background in the film industry is rooted in screenwriting, but she has worked on several local Atlanta productions in various roles on set and in the production office. In college, she received her Bachelor of Arts in English with minors in Professional Writing and Film Studies, then went on to obtain her Master of Arts in Professional Writing, with an emphasis on screenwriting. Before graduating from Kennesaw State University, Laura attended GFA classes and received her Production Certification, and became a Certified User of AVID Media Composer. With fellow KSU screenwriters, Laura co-created a screenwriting podcast. In her free time, Laura enjoys analyzing her favorite movies and TV shows, taking inspiration for her own storytelling endeavors.

well as workshop and summer camp experiences

ANGEE MCKEE

Angee McKee holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Berry College, and a Masters degree in Music Education from West Georgia College. She studied piano with Gershefski protégés, Faye Kesler and Betty Tolbert. Angee has earned level two conducting certification from the Choral Music Experience Institute. She has conducted music workshops in elementary music education, worked as a consultant and clinician for Yamaha’s Music In Education Program, and has also served as a choral clinician for numerous honor choruses throughout the state of Georgia. During her teaching career, Angee supervised numerous student teachers in the field of elementary/general music education. She has served as Part-Time Assistant Professor of Music Education at Kennesaw State University, where she taught multiple music education courses. Angee and her husband, Rick, conduct professional development courses in elementary and choral music education for local school districts. She is currently serving as co-director the St. Cecilia Choir at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Cartersville. Angee was named the 2010 Music Educator of the Year by the Georgia Music Educators Association. She was also recognized as 1992 Cartersville City School System Teacher of the Year, as well as other school-level TOTY awards in Cartersville and Bartow County Schools. She was designated as a Master Teacher by the Professional Teacher Education Unit (PTEU) at Kennesaw State University in 1998. McKee is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, Sigma Alpha Iota, Choristers Guild, the American Choral Directors Association, and the National Association for Music Education.

RICK MCKEE

Rick McKee holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Shorter College; and a Master of Music Degree in Music Composition, and Educational Specialist Degree in Music Education from the University of Georgia. He has studied Composition with Peter Dewitt, John Corina, Lewis Nielson, and Michael Hennigan. Rick has completed the Level I, II, III, and master levels in Orff-Schulwerk, studying at Memphis State University. Additionally, he completed Levels I and II of Choral Music Experience training at Elon University and graduate classes in composition at Oklahoma University. Rick has thirty years of experience as a public school elementary school music specialist. In 2011, he was selected as Elementary Teacher of the Year for the Cobb County School District in Georgia. He has also received multiple Teacher of the Year accolades at schools in Cobb, Floyd, and Whitfield Counties. Additionally, he taught music education classes at Shorter College, and at Kennesaw State University. Under his direction, the Garden Lakes Elementary School Chorus performed at the 1992 Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference. Rick has served as a clinician for large choral events throughout the state of Georgia, including the Georgia Music Educators Association Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus in 2000 and 2012, and numerous district and regional honor choruses. An accomplished composer, Rick’s compositions have been performed throughout the country. His choral works have been featured at multiple ACDA state, regional, and national conference sessions. McKee is a member of the National Association for Music Education, Handbell Musicians of America, and the American Choral Directors Association.

(GMEA), and National Bandmasters Association (NBA).

Laura

Coordinator at the

teachers as

for

JEAN MCKEN

Jean McKen is the author of Breezin’ Thru Theory and Breezin’ Thru Composing, two award-winning online programs for teaching music theory & composition to middle and high schools. As a band, choir and orchestra director, and an award-winning composer, Jean has used music technology to compose & teach for many years. At IUPUI, she acquired her MSMT focusing on instructional design, and soon after she co-founded Breezin’ Thru Inc., which offers 21st century teachers and learners current, timesaving and engaging interactive products.

DARVIN MCROY

Darvin McRoy is a band director at Alton C. Crews Middle School. He has also held teaching positions in Walton County, Rockdale County, Houston County, and Thomasville City Schools. McRoy earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Valdosta State University and a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from Brooklyn College CUNY Conservatory of Music. He has studied trumpet with Dr. Kenneth Kirk, Mr. Mark Zielinski, and Dr. Douglas Hedwig. In previous years his bands have consistently received Superior ratings at GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation, Solo and Ensemble, and Gold Standard and Sweepstakes trophies at regional music festivals in Georgia. Over the years, his students have participated in district and all-state honor bands and other regional honor bands. Mr. McRoy has also had the honor of serving as a clinician for honor bands and school band clinics. He has also facilitated trumpet master classes for beginners through high school level students throughout the state and was honored to be a trumpet tech for the United States Army All-American Marching Band in 2017. When not teaching, Mr. McRoy continues to play his trumpet as a freelance musician throughout Georgia. Also, he performs with the Tara Winds and the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra. His professional affiliations are the National Association for Music Education, Georgia Music Educators Association, Georgia Association of Educators, and National Education Association. He is also a proud member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Mr. McRoy resides in Monroe, GA, with his lovely wife, Zandra.

MARIA MENENDEZ

Ms. Menendez, a native of Ontario, Canada, joined the Carrollton City School System as a band director in 2014. After three years at Carrollton Upper Elementary School, she joined the faculty at Carrollton Junior High School. Ms. Menendez is an active teacher, player, and clinician outside of her daily schedule at Carrollton City Schools. In 2015 she presented at the Georgia Music Educators In-Service Conference in Athens, Georgia aimed at aiding young teachers beginning in the field. In 2018 she served as one of the guest conductors for the 2018 and 2022 Fayette County Sixth Grade Honor Band. Past awards include the Fred Factor Award (2016) awarded for going above and beyond as well as the University of West Georgia’s Graduate Studies Fellowship for Underrepresented Minority Students in 2017. In 2019, Ms. Menendez was named the CJHS Teacher of the Year! She is a graduate of South Paulding High School and attended Columbus State University where she earned her Bachelors of Music degree in Music Education. While attending, Ms. Menendez was a member of the Columbus State University’s Trombone Choir, Trombone Octet, CSU Wind Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and the CSU Philharmonic Orchestra. During her senior year, Ms. Menendez served as the president of CSU’s collegiate chapter of the National Association for Music Education. Recently, Ms. Menendez earned her Master of Music Education from the University of West Georgia. At CJHS, Ms. Menendez serves as a member of the PBIS team, the CJHS Trojan Brand Champions representative, and the leader of the Cultural Committee team. Under her direction, The Carrollton Junior High School Wind Ensemble performed at the Reinhardt University Middle School Honor Band as the guest band in October of 2022. In 2022, Ms. Menendez started a middle school honor band group entitled West Georgia Winds. This group aims to provide opportunities to middle school band members across the state who are eager to play literature outside of their classroom and become leaders in their band program. WGW is in its second year of existence and Maria currently serves as the Executive Director. Ms. Menendez currently resides in Carrollton, Georgia.

DAVID METRIO

David Metrio is currently the Orchestra Director at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, GA, as well as the conductor for the Gwinnett County Youth Symphony and the Georgia Youth Symphony Camerata Orchestra. Mr. Metrio has also served as a double bass clinician for the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston, MA. Mr. Metrio holds a masters degree in Music Education from the Florida State University, and has an undergraduate degree in Music Education from Kennesaw State University. Mr. Metrio has served as a guest clinician and conductor around the state of Georgia, and has been invited to present at the Georgia Music Educators Association’s In-Service Conference in 2019 and 2021. Mr. Metrio was also invited to present at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2019. Mr. Metrio recently started his position at North Gwinnett High School after serving as the Orchestra Director at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, GA. In 2020, Mr. Metrio was named the Professional Association of Georgia Educators STAR teacher for Lanier High School. In 2020, Mr. Metrio was also a finalist for Lanier High School Teacher of the Year. Mr. Metrio currently serves as the district chairman for the Georgia Music Educator's Association's 13th district, as well as the membership liaison for the Georgia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

Mr. Today Milford has been Director of Bands at Druid Hills Middle School in Decatur, Georgia since 2016. He leads the Druid Hills MS Symphonic Band, Concert Band, 6th Grade Band, Dragon Jazz Ensemble, and Dragon Drummers Percussion Ensemble. Mr. Milford serves on staff as the Assistant Director with the Druid Hills High School Marching Band. He also serves as a Low Brass Instructor and Drum Major Coach other local schools. At age nine, Mr. Milford began his study of trombone in elementary band and matriculated through the Martin Luther King Jr., High School cluster in Lithonia, GA until graduating in 2011. Mr. Milford graduated from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education. He is currently pursuing a Master of Music Education from the University of Florida and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Florida A&M University. Mr. Milford has performed at the Florida Music Educators Association Conference in 2014 and 2015 with the FAMU Wind Symphony and Florida Intercollegiate Band, at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2015 with the FAMU Wind Symphony. He also participated in the FAMU Jazz Band, FAMU Trombone Choir, and The Incomparable Marching "100" where he was Trombone Section Leader and Drum Major. Mr. Milford’s professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Educators, Georgia Music Educators Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He is also a member of the Cobb Wind Symphony. Mr. Milford was recognized as the 2017-2018 Teacher of Excellence at Druid Hills Middle School.

MARY MILLER

Mary Miller holds a Bachelor of Music in Education degree from Georgia College and State University and a Master of Science in Education from Walden University. She has over 30 years of professional musical experience as a music educator, performer, recording musician, and presenter. Mrs. Miller began her teaching career in Clayton County as a middle school choral director. She then went on to serve as a music specialist in Henry County Schools, where she taught chorus, music appreciation, and general music, and served as Elementary Music Lead Teacher. Mrs. Miller is also on the faculty at Mercer University, where she serves as an adjunct instructor in music for the College of Professional Advancement.

DR. DUNWOODY MIRVIL

A dedicated and inspiring music educator, Dr. Dunwoody Mirvil is currently the Director of Trombone at Florida Memorial University in Miami, Fla., where he enjoys sharing his knowledge as an instrumentalist with young aspiring musicians. His teaching experience includes a term as an Assistant Professor of Low Brass at Southeastern University in Lakeland, and Director of Bands at Amos P. Godby High School in Tallahassee. Dr. Mirvil is also an active performer and currently is the acting principal trombonist of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. His performance resume includes tenures with several other ensembles throughout North Florida and South Georgia, including the Albany Symphony Orchestra and Tallahassee Winds, in which he was a guest soloist several times. His work as an accomplished soloist also includes a performance with the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) Army Brass Band of Ft. Benning, Ga. Dr. Mirvil enjoys consistent work as a resident clinician, presenting previously at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic as a member of the Seminole Trombone Quartet and performed with the group at Carnegie Hall as winners of the 2016 “Noles in NYC” competition. Dunwoody has also presented several times at the Florida Music Educators Conference since 2016. Dr. Mirvil is an adjudicator for the Florida Bandmasters Association, a member of the International Trombone Association, Florida Music Educators Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity of America, Inc., Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society for Education, and a McKnight Fellowship recipient. Dr. Mirvil is also an endorsed Performing Artist for Conn-Selmer, Inc., and has two signature mouthpieces with Giddings Mouthpieces.

DAN MITCHELL

Dan Mitchell composes music for church and school choirs, organ, strings and middle/high school sight-reading methods. His career includes many years of experience with public school and church choirs. His sight-reading methods enabled students to earn superior ratings at choral festivals and over 130 students to qualify for All State Chorus. Dan earned degrees in music education from Georgia State University and the University of Georgia.

RAMIELLE MOORER

Ramielle Moorer is a native of metropolitan Atlanta, GA. She was blessed with a gift and passion for music at an early age. Success and exposure in this avenue led her to pursue and obtain a bachelor’s degree in music education from the renowned Shorter College Schools of the Arts. Ramielle, whose name literally means “God is in charge”, teaches at Riverdale Middle School in the Clayton County School System, of which she is a product, seeking to share her passion and determination, encouraging the next generation to exceed expectations and to challenge their best-selves daily. Though this cause evokes great joy, it is through her son Jeriah, and the role of motherhood, that she finds her greatest fulfillment. Inspired by the life and legacy of her late mother, Rose, Ramielle seeks to live a life dedicated to faith, excellence and integrity.

BARRY MORGAN

Barry Morgan recently retired after 25 years as the Solicitor General of Cobb County, with a total of 35 years as a prosecutor in Cobb. Prior to his tenure as a prosecutor, Barry served as a high school band director for 12 years with the Cobb County School District. Barry serves as a Board Member for Music for All, and United Sound. Barry has three sons.

JACOB MORGAN

Jacob Morgan is an accomplished young music educator based in McDonough, Georgia. Under the direction of Jacob, the Union Grove Middle School (UGMS) Band Program has increased the enrollment of the band program to its largest size in program history and has consistently earned Superior Ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluation. While serving as Director of Bands at UGMS, Jacob was also elected to serve as the Band Chair for District VI of the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), developed the Henry County Unit Plans, Learning Progressions, and Learning Targets for Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Middle School Band, presented professional development sessions to other teachers in Henry County Schools, and has served as a Mentor to new band directors in the county. As an advocate for education, Jacob has presented at the Maryland, Delaware, South Carolina, and Georgia Music Educators’ Association conferences. Jacob has also hosted and organized many different GMEA events, including District Band Auditions and Allstate Band Auditions. Jacob is a graduate of Kennesaw State University (KSU) with a Bachelors in Music Education and also serves as the Vice President of “The Marching Owls” Alumni Society of Kennesaw State University.

DR. ESTHER MORGAN-ELLIS

Dr. Morgan-Ellis is the author of Everybody Sing! Community Singing in the American Picture Palace (2018). Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals, and she has presented papers and lecture-recitals at national conferences. Dr. Morgan-Ellis is President of the South-Central Chapter of the American Musicological Society and Co-Chair of the AMS Pedagogy Study Group. Dr. Morgan-Ellis is also a professional cellist and appears regularly with regional orchestras. At UNG she teaches music history, world music, music in Appalachia, and cello, and she directs the orchestra and old-time string band in Dahlonega.

ROBERT MORRISON

Robert B. Morrison is Founder and CEO of Quadrant Research, the nation’s leading arts education research organization where he has created a deep body of research and policy work. Dr. Morrison is recognized as a pioneer in statewide arts education status and condition research. Dr. Morrison leads the groundbreaking national Arts Education Data Project coordinating the reporting of arts education data from 31 states representing more than 70% of the student population in the United States. These efforts have directly impacted millions of students. Dr. Morrison is the founder of Music for All, was the first CEO of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation and helped create the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Mr. Morrison is recognized for his work add the arts as a core subject to the nation’s education goals in 1994. He served Director of Market Development for NAMM and the Director of Marketing for Pearl. Morrison also founded Arts Ed NJ, the Center for Arts Education and Social Emotional. Mr. Morrison’s advocacy work has earned him both a Prime-Time EMMY and a Peabody Award, the New Jersey Governor’s Award for Arts Education and he received an honorary doctorate degree from the State University of New York. He is a member of the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame.

SHAWN MORTON

Shawn Morton is currently in her twentieth year as an orchestra teacher in Gwinnett County. Mrs. Morton has taught in her current position at Duluth High School for fifteen years. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Mrs. Morton also holds a Master’s of Business Administration from Shorter College. Mrs. Morton conducts the Gwinnett County Kendall Youth Orchestra, and she has served as a clinician for local school orchestras, workshops, clinics and camps. Mrs. Morton’s orchestras have performed at the 2007 Midwest Clinic, 2009 American String Teachers Association Conference, the 2011 Georgia Music Educators Association In-service Conference, the 2013 National Band and Orchestra Festival at Lincoln Center, the 2014 Midwest Clinic, and the 2018 American String Teachers Conference, and the 2019 Capital Orchestra Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. The Duluth HS Chamber Orchestra was invited to play at the 2022 Georgia Music Educators Association In-service Conference. Mrs. Morton has served as the secretary for the Georgia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and as the GMEA District 13 Orchestra Chair. In addition, Mrs. Morton was selected to present at the 2014 GMEA In-service Conference about recruitment and retention of orchestra students and the 2019 GMEA Conference about working with student teachers. Mrs. Morton also presented at the 2019 Midwest Clinic and the 2021 National ASTA Conference. Recently, she served as one of the writers for the new Georgia Standards of Excellence for Orchestra. She currently serves as the HS Orchestra Lead Teacher for GCPS and the Duluth HS Fine Arts Department Chair. Mrs. Morton also serves the facilitator for the GA DOE Orchestra Community. She is the 2021-2022 Duluth High School Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Morton is a member of the American String Teachers Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, and Sigma Beta Delta. She resides in Buford, GA with her husband Dale, son Hudson, and dogs Mozart and Aria.

KELLY MRAZ

Kelly Mraz is in her twelfth year as the music specialist at R.D. Head Elementary in Lilburn, Georgia where she teaches general music for grades K-5. She also directs the R.D. Head Chorus and Drum Club. She has been teaching in Gwinnett County for eighteen years and was recognized as a county semifinalist for Teacher of the Year in 2015. She is a lead elementary music teacher for Gwinnett County. Kelly received her Bachelors in Music Education and Percussion Performance from Ithaca College and her Masters in Percussion Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her performing and teaching experience as a percussionist includes orchestra, steel band, Latin jazz, West African drumming, and marching band. She has presented for state music conferences, the Atlanta Area Orff Chapter, and online for AOSA and the NAfME Academy. Kelly also served on the rewriting committee for the Georgia Performance Standards for General Music in 2017. She has completed three levels of Orff-Schulwerk training. Kelly is also the president of the Atlanta Area Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association.

JENNIFER MYLES

served in leadership roles in Gwinnett County Public Schools, as well as the American Orff Schulwerk Association. Dr. Jennifer Gebczyk is a music specialist at Camp Creek Elementary School (GCPS). She has been teaching for 22 years, and recently completed her Doctor in Musical Arts in Music Education from Boston University with an emphasis on the inclusion of students with exceptionalities in the general music classroom. Jennifer Myles is music specialist at Harbins Elementary School (GCPS) and has been teaching music for 8 years. She has experience working with a variety of students with exceptionalities including EBD, ASD, and SLD.

The Exceptional Student Success Committee is an emerging committee through the Georgia Music Educators Association committed to educating and supporting music educators in creating safe and accessible spaces for students with exceptionalities in music classrooms. Founded in 2022 under the leadership of Amber Weldon-Stephens, the elementary division includes Mandy Gunter, Jennifer Gebczyk, and Jennifer Myles. Mandy Gunter is a music specialist at Burnette Elementary School (GCPS), having taught music for 18 years. She has

Elise Naber Allen is a band director at Oak Hill Middle School in Milledgeville, Georgia. She has taught band in a variety of settings in North Texas and Middle Georgia. In addition to teaching Ms. Allen is committed to researching and promoting women and diversity in music education. She has presented her research in the poster session at Texas Music Educators Association conference, and has presented at the Georgia Music Educators Association conference in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, she presented on connecting cultures at the WBDI Summer Symposium in 2021. Ms. Allen has written articles for The Instrumentalist on a variety of topics, including, strategies for teaching in rural communities and practical ways to promote diversity in the band room. Ms. Allen holds a BME from the University of South Carolina and a MMEd from the University of North Texas. Her professional affiliations include NAfME, GMEA, WBDI, and SAI.

DR. TESS NIELSEN

Tess Nielsen is a choral conductor, music theater director, and music education researcher with interests in technology mediation, teacher preparation, and interdisciplinary arts. She is Fine Arts Director at Frederica Academy on St. Simons Island, GA. Previous appointments included adjunct music professor at Rowan University, Montclair State University, and CUNY.

Vincent Oakes is in his twentieth season as Artistic Director of the Chattanooga Boys Choir, a music education and performance organization founded in 1954 which now includes five ensembles comprised of over 120 choristers in grades 3-12. He also serves as Upper School Choral Director and Chair of the Department of Fine & Performing Arts at Baylor School, a grade 6-12 day and boarding school in Chattanooga. A frequent choral clinician and guest conductor, he has conducted NAfME and ACDA honor choirs in Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, West Virginia, and South Dakota in the 2022-2023 season, as well as recent international festivals in Thailand, Portugal, and Cuba. Oakes served as President of ACDA’s eleven-state Southern Region from 2019-2021 and was chair of its 2020 “Lift Every Voice” conference in Mobile AL. An author of articles and book chapters in Choral Journal and ChorTeach, his chapter on strategies for working with the adolescent singing voice appears in Class Voice: Fundamental Skills for Lifelong Singing by Brenda Smith and Ron Burrichter (Plural Publishing, 2022). Oakes earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Florida and the Master of Sacred Music degree in Choral Conducting from Emory University. He was named to an Ireland Chair for Distinguished Teaching at Baylor School in 2016 and was awarded the Belz Lipman Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education from the Tennessee Holocaust Commission in 2021.

P. OWENS

William Owens is a native of Gainesville, GA and is entering his 20th year of teaching music. He holds degrees from the University of Georgia (B.Mus); University of West Georgia (M.M); and is currently enrolled in the DMA program through Boston University. William served as a High School band director for 16 years before transitioning over to full time Music Technology & AP Music Theory at Mountain View High School in Gwinnett County. Throughout his career, the building of relationships and developing connections between individuals and music has been a passion along with developing student leadership. He is an active member of GMEA District 13 having served as Honor Band Organizer, District Vice Chair and recently District Chair. He currently resides in Hoschton, GA where he enjoys relaxing, writing drill, and serving as a guest adjudicator or clinician around the state.

Keith has been sharing his life-long passion for music with the students at Rotolo Middle School in Batavia, Illinois, an eight-time NAMM Best Community for Music Education, since 2001. He team-teaches band and orchestra and leads the Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble while finding unique ways to integrate technology to enhance his students’ learning. Keith teaches courses at VanderCook College of Music & has presented numerous professional development sessions at The Midwest Clinic, Virginia Music Educators Association, Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, and Illinois Music Educators Conference. Keith is co-founder and coordinator for the Middle School Concert Band Camp at the Music for All Summer Symposium. He is a member of the American School Band Directors Association, National Band Association, Illinois Music Education Association, and a MusicFirst teacher ambassador.

Velma Page Jenkins, a native of Tampa, Florida, is a graduate of the University of Georgia where she earned a Master of Music Education degree with an emphasis in choral studies with distinction. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree with a major in flute performance and a minor in psychology from DePauw University in Greencastle, IN. She studied flute with Anne Reynolds, Barbara Giesler in the Fall of 2004 in Vienna, Austria, and voice with the late Dr. Stanley Irwin. She is scheduled to graduate from Piedmont University in December 2022 with an Education Specialist of Music Education Degree.Mrs. Jenkins is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon International Fraternity of Music, Georgia Music Educators Association, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. During her teaching tenure, her choral ensembles have consistently earned excellent and superior ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluation. In recent years her students have participated in Governor’s Honors Program, GMEA All-State Chorus, District Honor Chorus, Fayette All-County Honor Chorus, UGA High School Choral Day, GSU Singfest, Clayton State University High School Choral Festival, and other various honor ensembles including the All-City Chorus alongside the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Her Sandy Creek High School Advanced Women’s Chorus was featured in concert at the 2020 GMEA In-Service Conference. When she is not hard at work at Sandy Creek High School, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her loving husband and two beautiful daughters.

JOE M. PEARCE

Joe Pearce is a retired band director, with 31 years of teaching experience in the state of Georgia. He spent the last 18 years of that career as the Director of Bands at Westside Middle School in Winder, GA. Before that, he also taught in Rome, Henry County, and Albany, GA. During his career, he taught band at all levels of public education. Mr. Pearce received his Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree from the University of Georgia, his Masters in Music Education from the University of West Georgia, and his undergraduate degree—Batchelor of Music Education--from Valdosta State College (University). He holds membership in the National Music Association for Music Education (NAfME), Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Professional Fraternity, and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE). Mr. Pearce performed in multiple ensembles including the North Georgia Winds, Hebron Church Orchestra, the Gwinnett Symphony, and Tara Winds, among others, and has performed in multiple small ensembles at various functions. During his college work, he studied with Dr. Mary Leglar, Dr. Michael Robinson, Dr. M. Scott McBride, Dr. Eric Bradshaw, and Dr. David Mills, among others. His interest in the exceptional child began when his own children were diagnosed with ASD. Since that time, he has worked for the inclusion of exceptional students in music education, seeking out and teaching numerous students with exceptionalities. He has presented to parent support organizations on the value of music (band, specifically) in the education of the exceptional student. He is currently a member of the GMEA Exceptional Student Success Committee.

DR. ROB PETHEL

SESSION

KRISTIN M. PUGLIESE

Kristin M. Pugliese has been an educator for over 15 years. She has worked almost exclusively in Title 1 Schools and helped create music standards for Cambridge Public Schools. In 2009, Kristin created Note Knacks Music to provide support for educators via lesson plans, a blog, workshops and as a national clinician.

TIFFINY C. RECKLEY

GMEA, TMEA and ISSME on issues of equity, social emotional learning, mentorship, and representation in the field of music education. She has published in the Southwestern Musician, and has held the honor of being a guest clinician for Atlanta Public Schools Honor Band.

DEVIN REID

T. Devin Reid is currently an active musician and educator throughout the southeast. A native of Fayetteville, NC, Mr. Reid is a 2005 recipient of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Scholarship. He holds a Master of Music in Wind Band Conducting from Georgia State University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2018 Mr. Reid accepted the position as Assistant Director of Bands at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA. In this capacity he co-teaches the Panther Marching Band, conducts the Basketball Band, conducts the University Concert Band, teaches undergraduate and graduate level conducting courses, and supervises student teachers in the field among other duties and courses. Since his arrival, the GSU Concert Band has grown to become the largest instrumental concert ensemble at the university. With Mr. Reid’s direction, the GSU Panther Band performed in 2019 as part of the Pepsi Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, been accepted as a CBDNA Southern Region top marching band in 2020, and performed in the 2022 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA. Preceding to his appointment at Georgia State, Mr. Reid taught public school in Georgia and North Carolina and served as Graduate Assistant for the Georgia State University Bands. While teaching at James Kenan High School (NC), Mr. Reid grew the program from 0% to 10% of

DAVID ROTH

David Roth joined the faculty at Kell High School as the Assistant Director of Bands in 2008 and was named Director of Bands in 2011. Under his direction, the Kell Wind Ensemble has performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Music For All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival, GMEA Troy University, and JanFest. In 2010, the Kell Wind Symphony performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and the marching band won two BOA Regional Championships. Prior to joining the Kell program, Mr. Roth was the Assistant Director of Bands at Kennesaw Mountain High School where he conducted the Kennesaw Mountain Wind Symphony at the 2006 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and was a part of multiple BOA regional championship marching bands between 2004-2008. A native of Marietta, Georgia, Mr. Roth graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Music Composition and earned his Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois. Mr. Roth is currently an active clinician, guest lecturer, adjudicator, and music arranger across the Southeast. His professional affiliations include Phi Beta Mu, the National Band Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Georgia Music Educator’s Association, Music Educator’s National Conference, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Mr. Roth lives in Kennesaw, GA with his husband Jeff and eight-year old son Jacob.

Atlanta-based music educator, Teaching Guitar Workshop clinician, and member of NAfME Council for Guitar Education.

Tiffiny C. Reckley is currently an Instructional Supervisor in Los Angeles. She has served all levels of K-12, primarily as a band director. Ms. Reckley earned her Bachelors from Xavier U of LA, and a Masters from North Texas. Her research is rooted in sociology, intersectionality, addressing trauma, SEL, DEI and social justice issues in the urban classroom. Her clinic and research presentation platforms include HAABSE,

DR. CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL

•THE NUTS AND SADDLES OF A UKULELE PROGRAM •USING TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSFORM UKULELE METHODOLOGY.

Christopher J. Russell, Ph.D. is the classroom music teacher at Nuevas Fronteras Spanish Immersion Elementary School in St. Paul Park, Minnesota. An active author and clinician with twenty-six years of teaching experience, Dr. Russell is an authority on the topics of technology in music education and the integration of ukulele into music education. As a musician, he is a conductor, tenor, tubist, and ukulele player. He blogs at techinmusiced.com and ukestuff. info, and hosts the Ukulele Video Play Along Podcast and co-hosts the Music Education and Technology Podcast. When not involved with music, Dr. Russell spends time with his family (wife and three sons), plays ukulele, or travels on his Honda Goldwing motorcycle.

SHELLEY M SANDERSON

•FROM INSTRUMENTS TO IEPS: ADAPTIVE MUSIC FOR ALL NEEDS

Dr. Shelley M. Sanderson, a native of Warner Robins, GA, joined the Young Harris College music faculty in the Fall of 2015 as the Coordinator of Music Education. Dr. Sanderson teaches all Music Education courses and has an Applied Voice studio. Dr. Sanderson received her PhD from the University of Florida (2015) and is a graduate of Georgia College and State University (MME) and Georgia College and State University (BME). She has previous K-12 teaching/ conducting experiences in the Middle Georgia school system where she taught general music, chorus, piano, music appreciation, and musical theatre, and has musically directed and conducted multiple musicals. Shelley currently resides in Hiawassee, Georgia with her husband James and daughter Sofia.

RICK SARGENT

•D.I. FOR THE GUITAR CLASSROOM

JEFFREY SCHAEFER

•D.I. FOR THE GUITAR CLASSROOM

and two sons.

DANIEL MARQUES SCOTT

•BALLOONS AND BREATHING TUBES: BETTER OUTDOOR ENSEMBLES FOR $5 OR LESS!

Daniel is a graduate of Western Carolina University where he received a BM in Trombone Performance and a minor in Bassoon, as well as a BS.Ed with a minor in psychology, concentrating on adolescent development. Daniel is currently the Director of Bands at Cambridge High School. Prior to Cambridge Mr. Scott was the Director of Bands at Swansboro High School. Under his direction, the Swansboro Concert and Jazz Programs received consistent superior ratings at music performance adjudications and state festivals. In 2019 Mr. Scott was named the Swansboro High School Teacher of the Year,

Margaret

the Texas

Association (TMEA) and is a contributing author

distributed by GIA. She is the orchestra director and 2020-21 Teacher of the Year at Laing Middle School in Charleston, SC where she grew the program from 42 to over 200 students. She has conducted the West Virginia Junior All-State Orchestra and multiple regional orchestras across the southeast, and has adjudicated orchestras in Las Vegas and South Carolina. Mrs. Selby has co-presented sessions at the ASTA National Conference (2012, 2020, 2021) and was a panelist at the 2019 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. She has also presented sessions for the Texas Orchestra Directors Association (TODA) and the South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA). She served as the President for the SCMEA Orchestra Division and is currently the SCMEA Orchestra Division Region 4 Representative. Mrs. Selby is the 2017-18 String Educator of the Year awarded by Southern String Supply. She earned degrees in Music Education and Cello Performance from the University of South Carolina, studying under Dr. Robert Jesselson. She has performed with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Charleston Symphony, and regularly as a freelance cellist. She is also a registered Suzuki cello teacher. Mrs. Selby lives in Mt. Pleasant, SC with her husband and their two children. She enjoys running and sampling Charleston’s many amazing restaurants. She is currently writing a beginner method book, Habits of a Successful Young String Musician for GIA Publications.

Jeffrey Schaefer is director of Guitar at Trickum Middle School. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Georgia Southern University and a Masters of Arts from the University of Georgia. Schaefer has been teaching in Gwinnett County since 1999. For twelve years he taught with an emphasis in Orchestra interspersed with Guitar and General Music. Since 2011, he has taught with an emphasis in Guitar interspersed with Orchestra and Chorus. Schaefer enjoys spending time with his wife, Kelly,

the 201920 Onslow County Teacher of the Year, and most recently the 2020 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Southeast Regional Teacher of the Year.

Rick Sargent is a retired Band Director and freelance trombonist/bassist in the Atlanta area. He began his career at Chamblee High School (DeKalb County) in 1988, then came to Gwinnett County in 1994, teaching at Sweetwater Middle School and Trickum Middle School. He enjoys playing jazz, salsa and (most recently) with a Chicago Tribute Band. Rick and his wife, Renee (also a Music Educator), have three adult children.

Selby was the 2022 Featured Clinician for the Orchestra Division of

Music Educators

of Rehearsing the Middle School Orchestra, published by Meredith Music and

JENNIFER SENGIN

Jennifer Sengin is the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Georgia State University where she conducts the Treble Choir (formerly Women’s Chorus) and Choral Union and teaches graduate choral literature, graduate and undergraduate conducting, undergraduate choral methods, and supervises student teachers. Under her direction, the Women’s Chorus won first place in The American Prize Choral Performance category and Dr. Sengin received 2nd place in the conducting division. The Women’s Chorus recently performed at the Georgia Music Educators Association Conference in January 2020. An active guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and presenter, Dr. Sengin has conducted honor choirs in Georgia, Florida, New Jersey, Michigan, and New York, and presented sessions with the Dublin Youth Singers (Ireland), NAFME Eastern Division Conference, ACDA Central/North Central Division Conference, Georgia Music Educators Conference, Florida Music Educators Conference, and at the Virtual mirabai Women’s Leadership Retreat among others.

Martha Shaw is Professor of Music and the Director of Choral Activities at Reinhardt University. A specialist in vocal pedagogy for all ages, she is active as a clinician and as a guest conductor throughout the United States. Her fifteen years of experience as a public school music specialist and twenty-seven years at the collegiate level contribute significantly to her work at Reinhardt, where she teaches conducting, choral literature, and music methods classes as well as conducts the Chamber Singers. Dr. Shaw is the founding director of the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir. Under her direction, the choir has been featured in performances for state, regional, and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, for the national conference of the Orff-Schulwerk Association and for the 2010 national conference of Chorus America. The choir has also been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and From the Top. Previously, Dr. Shaw served on the faculty of Shorter University. She also taught at the University of South Carolina, where she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting with Larry Wyatt. Studying with Donald Neuen, she earned a Master of Science in Music Education from the University of Tennessee. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Shorter College.

LAUREN TAYLOR

Lauren Taylor is a native of Lawrenceville, Georgia. She currently serves as the Lower School Orchestra Director at Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to teaching at Pace Academy, Lauren was an orchestra director at Twin Rivers Middle School in Gwinnett County. Lauren received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Georgia. During her time at UGA, Lauren studied piano under the direction of Dr. Evgeny Rivkin and played violin in the University Philharmonia. Lauren also recently graduated from the University of West Georgia with a Master of Music in Music Education. In addition to teaching at Pace Academy, Lauren teaches private lessons and is a pianist for the Sugar Hill Choir in Suwanee, Georgia. Lauren currently resides in Johns Creek, Georgia and enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

BRANDYN TAYLOR

Atlanta-based saxophonist, Brandyn Taylor, is Artist-Affiliate of Saxophone at Georgia State University and is in demand as a clinician throughout the state. In addition to mentoring a thriving private studio of students from across the metropolitan region, he is the Principal Saxophonist of the 116th United States Army Band in Marietta, GA, and co-hosts the Atlanta Saxophone Day with Dr. Scott Stewart. He has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Ballet, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Saxophone Quartet, Bent Frequency, Terminus Ensemble, and Chamber Cartel. In his work as an Atlanta freelancer, he has performed with Grammy Award winners Patti LaBelle, Maxwell, and Brandon Bush. Brandyn has been featured on various NPR programs broadcasted across the north and southeast including “Atlanta Music Scene”, “In a Mellow Tone”, and MIT’s “Not Brahms and Liszt”. He made his Nashville recording debut in the summer of 2014. Former students have been awarded top prizes/chairs in competitions across the southeast and earned full-ride scholarships to study music at prestigious universities. Brandyn holds degrees in music performance from Columbus State University and Georgia State University. His primary teacher was Dr. Jan Berry Baker, with additional studies from Dr. Frederick Hemke, Joseph Lulloff, and Mace Hibbard. Brandyn is a Vandoren Artist-Clinician and a ConnSelmer Performing Artist.

DR. MARTHA SHAW JENNIFER A. THEILACKER

DAVID THOMAS

David Thomas is a native of the Jacksonville, Florida area where he grew up listening to and singing all genres of music. His undergraduate studies included work at Florida State College at Jacksonville, the University of North Florida, and William Carey University. He recently completed his Master of Music in Music Education at The University of Florida working closely with Dr. William Bauer, author of Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. He has been teaching music as a professional musician and conductor for 37 years, and is equally comfortable in front of 100 voice choirs, hired orchestras, marching bands, or in his private studio, teaching piano, saxophone and voice. Recently he brought his 'real world' knowledge into the Music Lab of Discovery High School in Lawrenceville, GA, where he teaches Music Technology and Class Piano and consistently has over 300 students requesting his courses each year. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at DHS, he is an instructor for the Grayson High School Marching Band, and Music Director at First Baptist Church in Grayson where he has lived for the last 21 years. Through the years he has served as Music Director / Conductor for National and International Music & Creative Arts events. More recently he presented "Exploring Hip-Hop Music through Technology-Based Culturally Responsive Pedagogies" at the NAfME National Conference in 2021. His work as an arranger,

Ms. Jennifer Theilacker, a native of Lancaster County, has been actively teaching and performing for over twenty years. She is currently a band director with Fayette County Schools in Fayetteville, Georgia, previously teaching in public, private and charter schools in Pennsylvania, New York City, and in Wilmington, DE. Ms. Theilacker is the past Associate Director of Music Programs at the Boys and Girls Harbor in Harlem. She specializes in initiating band programs in high needs areas. Jennifer holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Millersville University. Jennifer has received a Master's certificate +60 for completing graduate work at the following institutions: Hofstra, West Chester, Millersville and The University of the Arts. In addition, she holds a Masters from the American Band College through Central Washington University. Her professional affiliations include WBDI, ABWBD, MBDNA, NAfME and the Georgia Music Educators Association.

DR. BRIAN M. TONEY

•RHYTHM GIVING YOU THE BLUES?

Dr. Brian M. Toney is honored to be the third Band Director in the history of Greenbrier High School. At Greenbrier (2018-present), all facets of the band program have continued to distinguish themselves as premier groups through consistently earning Superior Ratings at ensemble adjudications, and placing significant numbers of students in District and All-State Bands. Dr. Toney graduated with Bachelors's in Music Education from Grove City College (PA), a Masters's in Music Education from Lebanon Valley College (PA), and a Doctorate in Education with concentrations in music education philosophy and relevant assessment of student performance from the University of Georgia. He is in demand as a clinician, adjudicator, and resource for music educators and has been a presenter at GMEA and NAfME conferences. Dr. Toney has taught music in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and resides in Evans, Georgia with his bride and college sweetheart Amy, sons Simon and Nolan, and two quirky dogs named Toby and Belle.

DREW TUCKER

•TRAINING OUR YOUNG PERCUSSIONISTS TO BE MUSICIANS AND NOT JUST TECHNICIANS.

Drew Tucker is a Percussionist who specializes in Vibraphone, a bandleader, studio musician, clinician and speaker. Educated at Berklee College of Music and Florida Atlantic University, he's recorded and performed with artists, ranging from Grammy award winning stars such as Norah Jones, Shaun Martin, Deena Martin, Englebert Humperdink, Mono-Neon, Mani Hoffman and Diana Krall to renowned classical & contemporary giants from around the globe. Drew has assisted in the growth and development of countless youths across the nation through countless workshops, and his work in non-profit development. In addition, he has composed and arranged and taught for several competitive academic and professional groups that have competed on the national stage, including The Blue Coats, Blue Stars and Atlanta CV Drum and Bugle Corps, West Boca High H.S., Boca Raton (east) H.S. Stoneman Douglas H.S. and many more. Drew is a cultural ambassador for the U.S.State Department, Music Director for Sarah Reich's Tap Music Project, Percussion and Jazz Director at Kell H.S. an active clinician and tours with several regional hip hop and jazz artists, as well as his own musical projects.

JODY UNDERWOOD

•SOUND SYSTEM BASICS FOR THE MUSIC EDUCATOR

Jody has been working in the field of music education technology for over 20 years and believes in "Educating the Educators". Because of his love of music, Jody also devotes many non-working hours to utilizing his musical gifts at church. In addition to leading the church band from the piano during weekly services, he also sings, plays keyboards/keytar and runs sound and lighting for his 80's band, MIXTAPE. Jody resides in Murfreesboro, TN with his wife and 3 children. Jody earned his BA in Commercial Keyboard with a Technology Emphasis at Belmont University in Nashville, TN.

DAVID W VANDEWALKER

•STRATEGIC REHEARSING FOR TEACHING EXPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE

•LEADING WITH CARE: STRATEGICALLY TRANSFORMING MUSIC PROGRAMS THROUGH CRAFT, ARTISTRY, RELATIONSHIPS, AND EQUITY.

•STRATEGIC REHEARSING FOR BUILDING BETTER BANDS

•DEVELOPING A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE: THE FOUNDATION FOR MUSICAL SUCCESS

David W. Vandewalker serves as the lead instructional coach for Strategic Musications, executive director for the Servant Leadership Association for Music, artistic director and conductor of the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble and the principal conductor of the Georgia Wind Symphony. Previously, he served as the Coordinator of Performing Arts for the Fulton County Schools (2016-2020), associate conductor for Tara Winds (2017-2019), assistant director of bands at Georgia State University (2012-2016) and Director of Bands at Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Georgia (2000-2012). Dr. Vandewalker earned degrees at Baylor University, Central Michigan University, and Boston University. Dr. Vandewalker has led concerts before esteemed audiences such as the CBDNA/NBA, Music for All National Concert Festival, and the Midwest Clinic. Marching Bands under his instruction received honors including participation in the 57th Presidential Inaugural Parade, 2009 & 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, ranked top-ten nationally by the 2013 College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), and Bands of America Grand National Finalist. He serves as an evaluator for the Music for All National Festival and Executive Director for Conn Selmer Parent Booster Community, is an author of multiple resources with GIA publications, and has shared professional development in North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Dr. Vandewalker is a recipient of the Sudler Flag of Honor, ten-NBA Citation of Excellence Awards, three National Wind Band Honors Awards, and is an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association. David and Pamela reside in Marietta, GA where she serves over 800 children in music each week.

CARYN VOLK

Caryn Volk is the Director of Guitars at North Gwinnett Middle School in Sugar Hill, Georgia (Gwinnett County). Ms. Volk developed the guitar program in 2010, and was instrumental in creating the Gwinnett County guitar curriculum standards, and the Georgia Performance Standards for guitar. Ms. Volk has been a music educator for 26 years, with positions including elementary and secondary general music, chorus, guitar, orchestra, and band. In her positions at schools throughout the country, she has demonstrated growth in various programs through recruitment and retention. Ms. Volk holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and a Master of Arts from The University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, and toured the mid-west United States, Germany, Italy, and Austria as a member of both vocal and instrumental ensembles. She began teaching in Gwinnett County in 2007, and has been a proud member of the North Gwinnett Middle School faculty since the school opened in 2009.

TAYLOR WATTS

Taylor Watts joined the faculty of Kell High School as the Associate Director of Bands in 2013. He serves the band program as the primary conductor of the Symphonic and Concert bands and directs the Kell Band Leadership Program. During his tenure at Kell, the program has performed at the Midwest Clinic, MFA Southeastern Concert Band Festival, GMEA conference, Troy University, and won multiple BOA regional class championships. He also works on the board of the Cobb County Student Leadership Academy, presenting lessons to hundreds of students across Cobb each year. In 2018, he founded Taylor Watts Leadership to share his passion for, experiences in, and insight on character development, conflict resolution, and leadership with students and teachers. He now actively works with high school and collegiate programs across the country as a clinician, speaker, consultant, and curriculum developer focusing on widening students’ situational perspective while helping them develop communication and interpretation skills to positively inspire change in others. Additionally, he serves on the board of SLAM, the Servant Leadership Association for Music, developing curriculum for its teacher certification program. Mr. Watts earned his Master’s in Educational Psychology and Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Georgia and currently resides in Kennesaw, Georgia with his loving wife, Caitlin, their beautiful daughter, Emma, and their adorable troupe of animal companions.

in Choral Conducting from The University of Southern Mississippi, and a DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Kentucky. He lives in Cleveland, Tennessee with his wife Caroline and their three children, Hudson, Annie, and Scout.

DR. RAN WHITLEY

Ran Whitley is a Professor of Music Education at Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC where he holds the Alma Dark Howard Endowed Chair of Music. His course offerings at Campbell University include music theory, elementary music methods and children’s music ministry. He earned the DM degree in music ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as a PhD in music education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Ran holds current teacher licensure in North Carolina in both Music Education (K-12) and ESL (K-12). His Orff training includes Orff Levels I-III and the Orff Master Class from the University of Memphis. Ran has over 40 years of experience in elementary music including public school teaching, children’s music ministry, theory/counterpoint instruction and teacher education. Some of his publications include Orff orchestrations, hand-held instrument accompaniments and Boomwhacker arrangements with Macie Publishing Company. In addition, several of his recent articles have been featured in The Orff Echo. Ran frequently conducts virtual and live clinics and workshops in music education throughout the United States and spends his summers teaching elementary music in Honduras and Cuba. Ran also performs extensively in North Carolina as a jazz musician. He is married to Donna and has five children and four grandchildren.

DR. CAMERON WEATHERFORD TRACEY WILEY

Tracey is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a concentration in photojournalism. She received her master’s degree in policy from the University of Delaware.

MEGAN

WILLIAMS

Megan Williams has been an instrumental music educator in metro-Atlanta for the past 16 years. In that time, she has conducted bands for the City Schools of Decatur, Gwinnett County and Greater Atlanta Christian Schools. Ensembles under her direction have performed in the Hollywood Christmas Parade in Hollywood, California, on a 10-day tour in Chiapas, Mexico, and in countless community and GMEA performances. Mrs. Williams currently serves as woodwind specialist for Wesleyan School, clarinet instructor for the Atlanta Music Academy, and has taught nearly 400 music students on the Outschool online teaching platform. Mrs. Williams has also directed four different chamber ensembles in performances at the Georgia Music Educators Association Convention. Mrs. Williams holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education from the University of Georgia where she graduated with honors in 2006, and again with distinction in 2013. While at the University of Georgia, Mrs. Williams served as Drum Major and Assistant Band Captain for the Redcoat Marching Band. As a performer, Mrs. Williams is among the top woodwind clinicians in metro Atlanta and maintains a full schedule of teaching and traveling to area schools. Her clarinet studio typically has 25 to 30 students who perform at recitals and in area honor ensembles. Mrs. Williams currently serves as a board member for HEART Music, a non-profit organization serving the public schools of Athens-Clarke County. She is also currently serving as Executive Director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestras of Atlanta.

Dr. Cameron Weatherford serves as Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee where he conducts the Ladies of Lee, Choral Union, oversees the graduate program in choral conducting, and teaches courses in the undergraduate and graduate choral music curriculum. In March 2017, Dr. Weatherford won first place in the National ACDA Graduate Conducting Competition in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2016, he was awarded the Outstanding Young Music Educator Award by the Louisiana Music Educators Association. He has conducted numerous honor choirs and has served as an adjudicator throughout the country. He has been featured as a session presenter in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Ohio state conferences including LMEA, MMEA, ACDA, and the Kettering National A Cappella Conference. Dr. Weatherford holds a B.M. in Church Music from Louisiana College, a M.M.

Tracey Wiley serves as the manager for GPB’s statewide education outreach team and the dedicated specialist for north Georgia, building content and providing support and training for GPB Education's array of free digital resources. Tracey has served as an educator for more than 25 years, teaching and consulting at various schools and organizations throughout metro Atlanta and beyond, including Georgia State University, the Dunwoody Nature Center, the Georgia Aquarium, and Zoo Atlanta.

TODD WILSON

•YOU MEAN I WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT BEFORE I STARTED TEACHING?

Todd Wilson is the Band Director at Elkins Pointe Middle School in Roswell Georgia. He has had many roles in District V and with GMEA. He has coordinated Large Group Performance Evaluation Districts XI and V. He has coordinated Percussion for All State Band in both middle and high school for fourteen years. Mr. Wilson has also worked with the coordination of middle and high school District Honor Band event and auditions in both District XI and V for twenty years in various capacities. Mr. Wilson has served as a Teacher Selector for Fulton County Schools and currently serves as Department Chair for Connections at EPMS. He also achieved the Honor of Teacher of The Year in 2021.

WENDY WILSON

Wendy Wilson is Director of Bands at Autrey Mill Middle School in Johns Creek, GA. Mrs. Wilson has been the director at Autrey Mill for 15 years since its opening in 2003. Prior to her appointment at AMMS in Fulton County, she taught at Sandy Springs Middle School (Fulton County/2000-2003) and Lilburn Middle School (Gwinnett County/1998-2000). Bands under her direction consistently earn Superior ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluation. Her students participate in Solo and Ensemble and earn Superior ratings. Students also hold positions in several honor ensembles including District Band, District Honor Jazz Band, and the Georgia All-State Band. Ensembles under Mrs. Wilson’s direction have been invited to perform at the Governor’s Mansion, Spruill Oaks Library events, and the Johns Creek Arts Festival. In recent years, her ensembles have received Superior ratings at the Southern Star Music Festival and Orlando Fest Music Festival as well as earned first place in their category. Mrs. Wilson is an active member of GMEA and has served as coordinator for Solo and Ensemble Performance Evaluation, District All-State auditions, District Honor Band, and the Georgia All-State Band. She has been called upon as a sectional clinician for various events. Mrs. Wilson is equally active in her school serving as a Leadership Team member, department chair, 6th grade Mini Camp Manager, PRIDE Coordinator, new teacher mentor, and cooperating teacher for student teachers.

GRAEME WINDER

•KEYS & KINGDOMS: UNLOCK YOUR MUSICAL POWER!

DR. SARA WOMACK

In her fifth year as the Fine and Performing Arts Coordinator for Atlanta Public Schools (APS), Sara Womack is creating an arts-rich district with arts-rich schools by providing opportunities for student engagement, building the capacity of teachers, and partnering with community organizations to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality, sequential arts education. Before journeying into administration, Dr. Womack served as an elementary music teacher in metro Birmingham, as well as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), for 15 years. She earned a BS in music education, MA in music education, and MA in instructional leadership from UAB and a Doctor of Education degree in music education from the University of Georgia. Dr. Womack achieved National Board Certification in early and middle childhood music, served as President of the Alabama Music Educators Association and Southern Division of the National Association for Music Education, and currently serves the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) as Advocacy Chair. She was the winner of the 2019 APS Schools First Award and the 2021 GMEA Administrative Leadership Award for her dedication to supporting the leaders, teachers, and students of Atlanta. Her and her husband, Sean, enjoy traveling and hiking with their sons, Will, 17, and Mason, 13.

JACK ZAINO

•YOU MEAN I WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT BEFORE I STARTED TEACHING? •GET CREATIVE, GET NOTICED, GET HIRED! RESUME & INTERVIEW TIPS FROM ARTS SUPERVISORS •JUST ADD KIDS

SONG: NEW 2-PART CHORAL REPERTOIRE

Jack Zaino is

from New England. His choirs strive to create bravely and work to promote social justice through singing. Jack holds a Master’s in Curriculum & Instruction

University

Connecticut. He also earned a B.A. in Voice and a B.S. in Music Education from UConn. Jack serves as a Repertoire & Resources Chair for Connecticut ACDA, and was honored to be named their Young Choral Director of the Year in 2020. An active writer/arranger, Jack believes in embracing artistry in popular styles. His arrangements represent top-notch pop artists, and his work helps choirs build and refine musicianship. In addition to contributing his own music to the repertoire, Jack enjoys doing part-time editorial work for Alfred Music.

a choral educator

from the

of

Graeme Winder is the CEO/Founder of the new music learning game, Keys & Kingdoms. He is also the author of the SRM learning method which was created to reach a broader spectrum of different types of music learners. He has over 20+ years of education experience and now seeks to bring music technology to the forefront of education.

RESEARCH SESSIONS & POSTERS

DR. REBECCA L. ATKINS

•THE EFFECTS OF EXPRESSIVE MODELING AND LEARNING SEQUENCE ON THE MUSICAL EXPRESSIVITY OF YOUNG VOICES

•SINGER’S THOUGHTS WHEN PERFORMING UNDER INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FOCUS OF ATTENTION DIRECTIVES

•RECRUITING MUSIC EDUCATORS: A STUDY OF GMEA ALL-STATE MEMBERS FUTURE PLANS

•WRITING RESEARCH . . . FROM PROJECT TO PROPOSAL TO MANUSCRIPT

Rebecca L. Atkins is Associate Professor of Music Education (Vocal) at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia. Dr. Atkins teaches Choral Methods, Elementary Methods, voice classes, pedagogy and research classes, and supervises the vocal student teachers and dissertations. She received her Ph.D. in Music and Human Learning at The University of Texas at Austin (2013), an M.M. in Choral Conducting at Missouri State University (2008), and a B.M. in Music Studies at The University of Texas at Austin (1994). Dr. Atkins is an active clinician, adjudicator, performer, and music education researcher.

MOLLY BLAIR

•TOWARD HEALTHY INTERNAL DIALOGUES: EXAMINING SECONDARY-LEVEL MUSIC STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SELF-TALK, RESILIENCE, AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

•EXPLORING MUSIC TEACHER IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE REVISED MODEL OF MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF IDENTITY

Molly Blair is a doctoral Music Education candidate at the University of Georgia. Molly graduated, with honors, from Western Carolina University (BM, BSEd, 2012) and the University of Georgia (MMEd, 2020). From 2013 to 2018, Molly was a middle and high school band director in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina area. Molly is an active flute performer and instructor, a woodwind and visual technician for high school and collegiate marching bands, including the UGA Redcoat Marching Band, and has maintained an active adjudication and clinician schedule. Molly currently resides in Athens, GA with her husband Andrew, who is a student in Percussion Performance (DMA, 2023) at UGA, their two-year-old son, Bennett, and their two dogs, Chaco and Fritz.

GEORGE BLANKSON

•PROGRAM EVALUATION OF MUSIC TEACHER EDUCATION IN GHANA: IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE, POLICY, AND RESEARCH

(DMA, 2023) at UGA, their two-year-old son, Bennett, and their two dogs, Chaco and Fritz.

CARINA CARDOSO DE ARAUJO

•PARENTAL EXPECTATIONS ABOUT CHILDREN’S MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY WITH PARENT-MUSICIANS

Carina Cardoso de Araujo is a Master’s in Music Education student at Georgia Southern University. She works as a Research Assistant for the GSU’s Head of Music Education, Dr. Laura Stambaugh. She finished her Undergraduate course in Brazil at the Federal University of Parana. During her time in Brazil, she taught early childhood music education and elementary music education to children from 6 months to 8 yearsold. She worked as principal and second oboe in the Federal University of Parana Philharmonic Orchestra from 2019-2021, and is currently a member of the Georgia Southern University Woodwind Quintet. She is also the principal oboe at GSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble and GSU Symphonic Orchestra. She has presented works at international conferences, such as 2022 ISME Conference (International Society for Music Education) and 2020 ABEM (Brazilian Association of Music Education) Sul Regional Conference.

THOMAS L CHAFIN

•TEACHER IDENTITY IN MALE CHORAL DIRECTORS AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Thomas L. Chafin is the choral director at Wheeler High School in the Cobb County School District. He previously served as Choral Director at Allatoona High School and Valdosta High School, and as a church music director and staff singer at several churches in the Atlanta area. Currently, he is pursuing the PhD in Teaching and Learning: Music Education at Georgia State University, and has research interests in Biographical research, Music Education History and Sociology, and Choral Director (music teacher) Identity.

He lives in Atlanta with his two sons, Rhys and Leo.

Molly Blair is a doctoral Music Education candidate at the University of Georgia. Molly graduated, with honors, from Western Carolina University (BM, BSEd, 2012) and the University of Georgia (MMEd, 2020). From 2013 to 2018, Molly was a middle and high school band director in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina area. Molly is an active flute performer and instructor, a woodwind and visual technician for high school and collegiate marching bands, including the UGA Redcoat Marching Band, and has maintained an active adjudication and clinician schedule. Molly currently resides in Athens, GA with her husband Andrew, who is a student in Percussion Performance

LEVI HOPKINS DEAN

Levi Dean is a music education PhD student at the University of Georgia. He holds a BFA in performance double bass from Manhattan School of Music, NYC; a MFA in performance double bass from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; and a MFA in music education from the University of Georgia, Athens. Mr. Dean has taught middle school orchestra in Houston, Texas and in Atlanta, Georgia. He has performed in many orchestras under the direction of conductors like Kurt Masur, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pierre Boulez, and Valerie Gergiev to name a few. Mr. Dean is broadening his musical experience and music identity to more diversified musical styles and expressions. He is actively pursuing research projects evaluating the cultural predispositions children have towards western art music, in school music and music broadly. He is also interested in children’s musical cultures, children’s musical resources in the home, and cultural diversity in music education. Mr. Dean is published in the International Journal of Music Education.

DR. ALISON FARLEY

Dr. Alison Farley is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Georgia where she teaches courses in instrumental music education, psychology of music and advises graduate students. Prior to her appointment at UGA, Dr. Farley was a Lecturer of Music Education at the University of Washington and a Research Coordinator at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at UW. Her research interests include psychology of music, student directed learning, teacher education and perception and performance of written notation. Dr. Farley has presented her research at international, national and state conferences. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Dr. Farley taught public school in Steelville, MO (near St. Louis) where she taught middle and high school band, jazz band and chorus. Dr. Farley holds a BME from the University of Kansas, an MM in Wind Conducting from the University of Louisville and a PhD from the University of Washington.

DR. ADRIAN J. FORD

Adrian J. Ford is a band director, music performance researcher, pianist, composer, and religious music conductor. He has served as a strings and choral music education professional for the past ten years in private and public school settings. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music with concentrations in Choral Conducting and Commercial Composition from Morris Brown College in 2014. He earned a Master of Arts Degree with a concentration in Music Education from Liberty University in 2016. He earned a Doctor of Education degree with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction in 2021. Dr. Ford has served as a music clinician, program developer, and efficiency expert in the areas of music administration and worship arts for the states of Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. Dr. Ford holds professional membership affiliation with the Atlanta Guild of Organists, Metropolitan Atlanta Musician's Association, PAGE, and Georgia Music Educators Association. Dr. Ford is currently a Band instructor pursuing further research in Music Performance and Special Learning Disorders for students with learning disabilities in inclusive public education classroom settings. Dr. Ford is a sought-after music educator, librarian, music program clinician, and program curriculum developer who specializes in piano and string pedagogy to develop students’ skill levels from beginner to proficient status. Dr. Ford has composed several orchestral and piano music scores as supplementary materials used to help develop the student's skills and ability to (1) understand the terminology (2) decipher music notation, (3) work in collaborative groups, and to (4) gain music proficiency for performance.

PATRICK FREER

Patrick K. Freer is Professor of Music at Georgia State University where he conducts the Tenor-Bass Choir and directs the doctoral programs in music education. The GSU Tenor-Bass Choir was a featured choir in 2022’s XIV Corhabana International Choir Festival (Havana, Cuba). Dr. Freer has held Visiting Professorships at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria) and at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), and has been in residence as a guest conductor for the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra (Colombia). His degrees are from Westminster Choir College and Teachers College-Columbia University. Dr. Freer has guest conducted or presented in 40 states and 30 countries. Dr. Freer is Editor of the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing and former longtime editor of Music Educators Journal. Dr. Freer received the Outstanding Senior Faculty Award for Research & Creative Activity (2022) in GSU’s College of the Arts.

DR. JENNIFER GEBCZYK

Dr. Jennifer Gebczyk is the general music teacher at Camp Creek Elementary School in the Gwinnett County Public Schools district in Lilburn, GA. Dr. Gebczyk received the B.M.E. from The University of Georgia, the M.Ed. in Music Education from Auburn University, the Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from Piedmont College, and the DMA in Music Education from Boston University. In addition to her academic degrees, Dr. Gebczyk has completed certification studies in Orff-Schulwerk (Levels I and II), TI:ME (Level I), and Microsoft Innovative Educator. Dr. Gebczyk was a semifinalist for the Gwinnett County Public Schools system-wide Teacher of the Year for the 2021-22 school year. She holds memberships in the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. Throughout her career, Dr. Gebczyk has taught K-5th grade general music and middle school band. Currently, Dr. Gebczyk serves on the Exceptional Student Success committee for GMEA.

AUSTIN HANNON

•THE EFFECTS OF EXPRESSIVE MODELING AND LEARNING SEQUENCE ON THE MUSICAL EXPRESSIVITY OF YOUNG VOICES

Austin Hannon is in his first year as the Choral Director at Twin Rivers Middle School in Buford, Georgia. At Twin Rivers, Austin leads a program of near 300 students, including grade level choirs and the Twin Rivers Singers. He also serves as music director for the school’s theatre productions. Prior to Twin Rivers Middle, Austin obtained his Master’s in Choral Conducting/Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi where he studied under Dr. Gregory Fuller and Dr. Jonathan Kilgore. He assisted with university ensembles, recruitment, and logistics. He worked as a site manager for the MMEA Conference and Southern Inivtiational Choral Conference. Austin was the director of the a capella group, Spirit of Southern, as well as assistant conductor for The Southern Chorale and Concert Choir. He also served as a music theory teaching assistant. Austin received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Georgia Southern University and studied under Dr. Shannon Jeffreys, Dr. David Langley, and Dr. Laura Stambaugh. During his time at Georgia Southern, he served as an undergraduate choral assistant where he aided in managing the Southern Invitational Competition, University Singers, and area recruitment. Austin has presented at NAfME and ACDA conferences around the Southeast including the Southern Division American Choral Directors Association Conference, Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference, Florida Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference, Mississippi Bandmasters Association Conference, and the Lousiana Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference.

CRAIG HURLEY

•THE EFFECTS OF EXPRESSIVE MODELING AND LEARNING SEQUENCE ON

THE MUSICAL EXPRESSIVITY OF YOUNG VOICES

Craig Hurley is the conductor of the Spivey Hall Young Artists, the preparatory choir of the nationally renowned Spivey Hall Children’s Choir (www.spiveyhallchildrenschoir.org). Under Dr. Hurley’s direction, the Spivey Hall Young Artists were honored to perform at the 2018 GMEA In-Service Conference. Dr. Hurley has also served as a guest clinician for several honor choirs throughout the state. Dr. Hurley is also the music specialist at Ford Elementary School in Cobb County, Georgia. Under his direction, the Ford Elementary Chorus has performed at the 2015 GMEA In-Service Conference. He has presented interest sessions at the Music Educators Association in-service conferences for Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, the ACDA Southern Division Conference, as well as for other various teacher organizations. Dr. Hurley was honored as Teacher of the Year in 2002, 2016, and the GMEA Music Educator of the Year in 2021. Dr. Hurley is a published researcher whose interests include music literacy and expressive performance pedagogy. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Shorter College, a Master of Early Childhood Education from Berry College, and a Doctorate in Music Education from The University of Georgia. (GO DAWGS!). Dr. Hurley lives in Marietta with his wife Katie (also a music teacher) and their three children.

LYNCH

Kristen Kuder Lynch is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Music Education at the University of Georgia. She received her BME (‘99) from Baker University and her MME(‘20) from the University of Georgia. Over a 20 year span, Kristen has taught elementary general music, elementary band and middle school band and orchestra in Kansas, Missouri, and Georgia. During that time, she also taught private flute and piano lessons. Her research interests include preparation of preservice music educators, culturally responsive education and music teacher identity development. Kristen resides in Athens, Georgia with her husband, Michael, and two sons, Parker and Zachary.

Kenneth is currently enrolled at the Florida State University, and is pursuing a Master of Music Education degree with an Instrumental emphasis. Kenneth is completing his Master's under the supervision of Dr. Steve Kelly. Prior to his enrollment at Florida State, he completed his Bachelor of Music Education at Georgia Southern University. Outside of his Music Education studies, Kenneth is an accomplished Tuba player. His primary applied instructor are Dr. Justin Benavidez (FSU), and Mr. Mark B. Johnson (GSU - Armstrong). Kenneth is an alumni of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

a native of Richmond Hill, GA.

Brendan Kennedy is a Senior Choral Music Education Major at Georgia Southern University. He currently serves as a Choral Area Assistant and President of both the Zeta Omicron Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and the collegiate chapter of the American Choral Directors Association on campus. As an Honors College Scholar and a 1906 Scholar, he has completed his Honors Thesis titled: The Psychological Effects of the Voice Change in Female Students and the Implications of Current Pedagogy.

Kenneth is

Kimberly Maugans, Ed. S is a second year Ph. D Candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant in music education at the University of Georgia. With 35 Years of teaching experience in choral music in Gwinnett County Schools, Ms Maugans serves GMEA as LGPE Adjudicator and 6-year LGPE Standing Committee member. Certified in educational leadership and teacher mentorship, she hopes to inspire future music educators at the collegiate level upon completion of her doctoral degree.

Abigail McMichen is a senior choral music education major at Georgia Southern University. She is a member of the Honors College at the university. Born and raised in Peachtree City, Georgia, Abigail is a member of both Georgia Southern Opera and the international competition winning ensemble Southern Chorale. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, reading, and spending time with loved ones.

Damon Postle is an independent music educator, ethnomusicologist and independent researcher in the New York City area. His research interests included teaching and learning of khöömei in the Republic of Tyva located in south eastern Siberia. In addition to research in Tyvan khöömei, Mr. Postle is an active bluegrass banjo performer, educator and researcher of bluegrass music.

Robert Saunders is Assistant Professor of Music Education and Orchestra Director at Augusta University in Augusta, GA and teaches courses in instrumental and general music methods and music production technology. Robert is currently a cello section member of the Augusta Symphony and has performed and produced classical, bluegrass, jazz, rock-and-roll, and traditional dance music with amateur community ensembles, professional artists, and orchestras on cello, mandolin, bass, guitar, and violin. He has also worked at youth and adult popular music production and performance programs with underserved students and students with disabilities. As Robert approaches teacher training and instructional design with experience as a performer and live audio engineer in varied settings, providing support for musicianship and music literacy skill development with community members and students. Currently, Robert's leadership in teaching and music production activities include; Caroga Lake Music Festival Education Program board member and production manager in Caroga, NY, Augusta University Conservatory Program Sand Hills String Band community ensemble and Creative Strings director, and regular member of CSRA traditional folk music performance groups. Robert maintains a thriving research agenda with primary interest in community engagement and education, creative pedagogy, and music performance. Most recently, Robert has accepted an invitation to present research at the NAfME SMTE conference in Washington, DC this fall. Titled ""The Art of Teaching for the Teaching Artist"", a program 3 years in development and supporting community music teaching artists nationally is presented and feedback from participants and program metrics are discussed."

DAMON POSTLE DR. ROBERT SAUNDERS RACHEL A.

SORENSON

LAURA A. STAMBAUGH

Laura A. Stambaugh is Professor and Head of Music Education at Georgia Southern University. She teaches courses in music education and music cognition, and she supervises field experiences. Prior to joining the faculty of GS, she taught at Western Washington University, and spent eleven years teaching beginning and middle school band and chorus in New Hampshire. Her book, Music and the Brain for Musicians: Understanding the Research and Getting Involved, was published in 2022. She has presented at local, national, and international conferences. Her publications appear in Journal of Research in Music Education; Update: Applications of Research in Music Education; Psychology of Music; Psychomusicology, Music Educators Journal, and Teaching Music.

DR. MCKINLEY STINSON, JR.

Bands

co-founder of Atlanta-based

North Star Percussion. Dr. Stinson has

Tim Zimmerman and the King’s Brass, Habib Kiote, The Marcus Young Jazz Quintet, City Springs Theatre, and Aretha Franklin

in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Stinson holds a Doctor of Music Education degree from Liberty University, a Masters degree in Percussion Performance from the Florida State University College of Music, and a Bachelors degree in Percussion Performance from the University of South Carolina. He is also an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival and School, Gateways Music Festival, The International Festival at Round Top, and the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps. He also holds membership in Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, the National Association for Music Education, and the Georgia Music Educators Association. Dr. Stinson resides in East Point, GA with his lovely wife Jessica, and son, James Oliver.

McKinley Stinson, Jr. is the band director at J.C. Booth Middle School in Peachtree City, GA, and the percussion instructor for the Governor’s Honors Program. Prior to joining J.C. Booth Middle School, Dr. Stinson was the Director of

at Inman Middle School in Atlanta, GA, and Strong Rock Christian School in Locust Grove. McKinley is the

trio,

also performed with

at the Fox Theatre

Dr. Sorenson is Assistant Professor of Music Education (Instrumental) at Kennesaw State University. She holds degrees from Stetson University and Florida State University, where she completed an MME and Ph.D in music education. She has taught a wide range of courses at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, as well as at Florida State, and previously served as a band director in the Central Florida area. An active scholar, she has been published in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Contributions to Music Education, and in Research Perspectives in Music Education, and has presented nationally and internationally. Her research interests include pre-service music teacher preparation, mentoring, and the Impostor Phenomenon.

MARLEE E. VAN MULLEKOM

•SINGER’S THOUGHTS WHEN PERFORMING UNDER INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FOCUS OF ATTENTION DIRECTIVES

Marlee Van Mullekom is a second year choral music education major at the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music. As an active member of the HHSOM community, Marlee sings in several vocal ensembles including Women’s Glee Club, African American Choral Ensemble, Repertory Singers, Opera Chorus, Choral Project, and Hodsgon Singers. Marlee is an active member of ACDA, CNAfME, and GMEA. Marlee has also held leadership positions as a School of Music Ambassador, the Public Relations Chair for African American Choral Ensemble, the Fundraising Chair of the UGA American Choral Directors Association, and the president of the UGA Choral Boosters Club. Outside of the HHSOM, Marlee is a choral scholar at Young Harris Memorial United Methodist Church and sings in UGA’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble, Classic City Jazz. Through the UGA Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, Marlee is a collaborator on a research study that examines the effects of focus of attention on vocal quality as well as level of singer cognition in choral music education. Under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Atkins and Dr. Elizabeth Knight, Marlee presented the preliminary findings at the CURO Symposium in April of 2022. Marlee plans on further exploring the effects of focus of attention on tone quality in vocal music education through CURO at UGA. After graduating from the HHSOM, Marlee plans on pursuing her Master’s and DMA in choral conducting.

VICTORIA WARNET

•TIME USE OF BAND STUDENT TEACHERS IN REHEARSALS

Victoria Warnet is an assistant professor of music education at Columbus State University. Dr. Warnet received her Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Prior to her appointment at Columbus State University, Dr. Warnet served as an Adjunct Professor of Music Education at Indiana State University while completing her graduate work. Before returning to graduate school, she was the Director of Bands at Tavares Middle School and the Associate Director of Bands at Tavares High School in the central Florida area. Dr. Warnet has conducted research in effective teaching, jazz pedagogy, and teaching students with exceptionalities. She has presented sessions at regional, national, and international venues, including the NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, Florida Music Education Association Professional Development Conference, the Very Special Arts Conference, the International Society for Music Education World Conference, and the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education. The results of her research are published in refereed journals, including the Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Band Research, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Research Perspectives in Music Education, and Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy. Currently, Dr. Warnet is also serving as a reviewer for Update: Applications of Research in Music Education and as the Communications Chair for the ISME’s Music in Special Education Commission. In addition to her roles as a researcher and educator, Dr. Warnet maintains an active agenda as a drill writer, clinician, adjudicator, and guest clinician.

KEXIN XU

•AN EXAMINATION OF TWO CHINESE OPERA PERFORMANCE RECORDINGS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CROSSCULTURAL MUSIC PEDAGOGY •SELF-EFFICACY, INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, AND SELF-WORTH OF MIDDLE SCHOOL SINGERS: A

PILOT STUDY

Kexin Xu is originally from Jinan city, Shandong province, China. She is a doctoral candidate in music education with a minor in Vocology at Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. She has taught private voice, choir, and general music at all levels in the United States and China. At IU, she served as the Associate Instructor for the graduate choral methods course and was an assistant conductor for IU Children’s Choir. She has taught M323 Teaching of Music in Elementary School and served as the course coordinator of E241 Introduction to Music Fundamentals. Specializing in general/choral music education as well as private voice studio teaching, Kexin’s research interests include vocal pedagogy, psychology of music, philosophy of music education, culturally responsive teaching, creativity, and popular music pedagogy. She has presented research presentations and posters at the World Conference of the International Society for Music Education, Suncoast Music Education Research Symposium, and the Association for Popular Music Education Graduate Student Conference. She will be presenting two practitioner presentations at the 2022 NAfME National Conference and the Indiana Music Education Association Conference. Kexin has an invited book chapter in the Routledge Companion to Musical Creativity, which will come out in 2022. As an active vocalist, Kexin has performed numerous opera roles and attended various vocal training programs including the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado, and the Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Westminster Choir College. Kexin holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal/Choral Music Education from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College.

PERFORMING GROUPS

BERRY COLLEGE WIND ENSEMBLE

DIRECTOR:

DR. ALYSSA GREY

Founded by Martha Berry in 1902 as the Boys Industrial School with the mission of providing educational opportunity to poor children of the rural South, Berry became a four-year coeducational college in 1926. Located within the Department of Music, the Wind Ensemble is the premiere instrumental ensemble at Berry College in Mount Berry, GA. The group includes students from every major within the college. The Berry Wind Ensemble musicians perform several concerts a semester. Literature for the ensemble includes music by under-represented composers, new compositions, and band classics.

BUFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL SYMPHONIC BAND

DIRECTORS:

KATHY MASON & MATT SCOTT

The Buford Middle School Band program is comprised of 265 students. Additionally, 55 students are enrolled in a second band class bringing the total number of students on roll to 320. Students have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of instrumental ensembles including Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Bucket Band, Jazz Band, and many chamber groups. The Symphonic Band is the premier group of our program and consists of seventh and eighth-grade band students who have earned the position through their dedication to excellence in instrumental studies. The Symphonic Band consistently earns superior ratings at LGPE and students are well represented in GMEA District and All-State events. In 2021 and 2022, Buford had the highest number of

All-State groups. Our band students are active in all aspects of the school including school

in Academics, Athletics, and the Arts.

COBB WIND SYMPHONY

DIRECTORS: ALFRED L. WATKINS & ROBERT J. COWLES

The group’s roster includes individuals from all professions including education, medicine, law, engineering, management, sales, technology and music. Brought together by a common love of music, the members of the Cobb Wind Symphony bring a unique new sound to the metro Atlanta area. The charter committee and founders were four former members (and one spouse) of the Lassiter High School Band. Alfred L. Watkins is a Co-Founder and has served as Principal Conductor and Musical Director since the group’s inception in 1999. Some of the band’s past performances include: Southern Division College Band Directors National Association (2), GMEA In-Service Conference (3), National Band Association Southern Division Conference, and Midwest Band Clinic (3xs). Past guest conductors include: Harry Begian,Richard Clary, Jerry Junkin, Shelby Chipman, Ray Cramer, Jamie Nix, Mark Camphouse, Frank Ticheli and David Holsinger. Past guest soloists include: Fred Mills, former Professor of Trumpet, UGA, and founding member of the Canadian Brass; Chris Martin, Principal Trumpet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Colin Williams, Principal Trombone, Atlanta Symphony

Cobb Wind Symphony is the 2009 recipient of the Sudler Scroll Award, awarded to outstanding

by the John Philip Sousa

more about the Cobb Wind Symphony or for information on becoming a member, please visit us at http://www.cobbwindsymphony.org.

EAST COBB MIDDLE SCHOOL HONORS BAND

DIRECTORS: GREGORY DENSON, PATRICK WALSH, AND WILLIAM BURKE

The East Cobb Middle School Honors Band is the most advanced ensemble at East Cobb Middle School. The students in the Honors Band participate in all GMEA sanctioned events such as District XII Solo and Ensemble, All-State and District Honor Band, Large Group Performance Evaluation, and the East Cobb MS Solo and Ensemble Festival in the Spring. Most recently, the Honors Band was selected to perform as a guest band at the 2020 (virtual) and 2021 University of Georgia Midfest Honor Band Clinic.

students selected to the GMEA District 13 Honor Band and ten students selected to GMEA

sports, leadership, and clubs. They truly exemplify the Buford tradition of AAA Excellence: Excellence

Orchestra; Dr. Otis Murphy, Professor of Saxophone, Indiana University and Cecil Welch. The

community bands and sponsored

Foundation. To learn

PERFORMING GROUPS

GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY JAZZ ENSEMBLE

DIRECTOR: DR. RICK MASON

The Georgia Southern University Jazz Ensemble is a scholarship funded 17-19 piece big band made up of both music majors and non-majors from the Gretsch School of Music on the Statesboro campus. The ensemble performs at least four full concerts per year both on campus at our Performing Arts Center, and at off-campus venues. For the past several years, we performed by invitation at the annual Savannah Jazz Festival. The Jazz Ensemble often performs with guest artist such as Byron Stripling, Bobby Shew, Jon Faddis, The Eric Mintel Quartet, Harry and Ken Watters, and Tom “Bones” Malone.

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY SYMPHONIC WIND ENSEMBLE

DIRECTOR: ROBERT J. AMBROSE

Under the direction of Dr. Robert J. Ambrose, the Georgia State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble is recognized as one of the finest ensembles of its type in the region. As the premier wind band at Georgia State, the ensemble is comprised of the most advanced woodwind, brass, and percussion players in the School of Music, selected each semester by audition. The ensemble’s repertoire is drawn from significant literature written for wind ensemble, symphonic band and chamber winds. Most literature is performed with one player assigned to each part. Alumni of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble hold positions in many of the leading orchestras, bands and chamber ensembles in the country, including the Atlanta Symphony and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the

“Pershing’s Own. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble has accepted multiple performance invitations at prestigious conferences of the College Band Directors National Association and Georgia Music Educators Association. A performance of by the ensemble of Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, under the direction of Robert Ambrose, has received repeated airings on Georgia Public Radio. In addition, the ensemble’s reference recordings can be heard on the websites of numerous composers. In 2009, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble released its first CD, American Manuscripts, on the Summit Records label. Comprising premiere recordings of pieces by Michael Colgrass, John Mackey, Andrew Rindfleisch and John Zdechlik, the CD is available through iTunes, Amazon and other music retailers.

HILLGROVE JAZZ ORCHESTRA

DIRECTOR: JEREMY LUMPKIN

The Hillgrove High School Jazz Orchestra is a newly formed ensemble with students ranging from 9th through 12th grade. They have been asked to perform at local and district level activities. While the ensemble is new this year, there are many district and all state level musicians that make up the ensemble. We also have two students that perform in the District 12 Honor Jazz ensemble.

DIRECTORS: JAY DAVIS & DILLON WATKINS

The Houston County High School Band Program serves over 300 students daily and consists of four concert ensembles, a jazz ensemble, a percussion ensemble, and a color guard class. The Houston County Wind Symphony has received straight Superior ratings at adjudicated events since the school's inception in 1991, and the group was awarded

the 2016-2017 school year. Students in the HCHS Band have placed in numerous honor

Honors Program. Past appearances of this group include performances at The Southeastern United States Band Clinic

University,

Bands of Georgia at Columbus State University, the Concert Band Invitational at Kennesaw State University, and two appearances at the Music

most recently in 2022.

DIRECTORS: WILLIAM KILGORE & MATT TINNELL

For 37 years, the Jackson County Jazz Ensemble has received superior ratings at Jazz Performance Evaluation. As well, we have been a two-time participant in the Essentially Ellington regional competition at the University of North Carolina. Throughout the career of Jazz program, the bands have accumulated an enviable record of the highest ratings and twice been selected to perform at the Georgia Music Educators Association’s InService Conference. Most recently, we have performed at the Lovett Jazz Festival and on two occasions had the opportunity to perform for Former Governor Nathan Deal and other honored guests.

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the United States Army Band

the Exemplary Performance Award by the Georgia Music Educators Association for

groups, including the Georgia All State Band, the South Georgia Region Honor Band, and the Governor’s

at Troy

the Honor

for All Regional Concert Band Festival at Georgia State University,

PERFORMING GROUPS

JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL WIND ENSEMBLE

DIRECTOR:

NICHOLAS GOLDING

The Jefferson High School Wind Ensemble is the flagship ensemble of the Jefferson High School band program. Members are selected by the director, and represent grades 9-12. Musicians in the JHS Wind Ensemble are well-rounded and active participants in Jefferson High School student life, and are members of the men’s chorus, women’s chorus, drama department, yearbook team, tennis team, soccer team, winter guard, jazz ensemble, cross country team, academic team, FBLA, art club, and more. The JHS band program has 100 students that participate in the JHS concert band, wind ensemble, winter guard, percussion ensemble, and the award-winning Dragon Regiment marching band. The JHS Wind Ensemble consistently receives superiors at Large Group Performance Evaluations, and was an invited guest of the 2022 Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival at Georgia State University.

LAKESIDE MIDDLE SCHOOL SYMPHONIC BAND

DIRECTORS:

REGGIE HUMPHREY & JARON LEHMAN

The Lakeside Band program is comprised of over 420 students who participate in four concert ensembles, beginning bands, jazz band, and chamber ensembles. One of the earliest honors the program received, was the Middle School Exemplary Performance Award from the Georgia Music Educators Association in 2021. In 2020, due to the growth of the program, Mr. Jaron Lehman joined the staff as Assistant Director of Bands. The Lakeside Middle School Bands consistently earn Superior ratings at the GMEA District 9 Large Group Performance Evaluation. With a strong chamber music program, a large percentage of student successfully participate in the GMEA District 9 Solo & Ensemble Festival, as well as, provide significant presence in the District 9 Middle School Honor Bands and GMEA All-State Bands. Most recent, the ensemble won the Best in Class and Best Overall Performance Award at the 2022 Festival of Disney Competition.

MILTON HIGH SCHOOL PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

DIRECTORS: KEVIN KENNEY & CHRIS SHUMICK

The Milton High School Percussion Ensemble has performed at state level and national level events consistently for the past 13 years. This past year the percussion ensemble competed at the Percussive Art's Society's Small Ensemble Competition where it came in third overall. The ensemble performs full percussion ensemble concerts both in the fall and spring semesters along with competing in WGI in the Percussion Scholastic World division. Along with concert band, percussion ensemble, marching band, and indoor drumline, these dedicated students go above and beyond in performing in solo percussion recitals and participating in ensembles such as All-State Band and Orchestra, Georgia Honors Program, and community music ensembles.

WEST FORSYTH HIGH SCHOOL PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

DIRECTORS:

JOHN HERNDON & JOSH TYREE

The West Forsyth High School Percussion Ensemble is made up of ninth through twelfth grade students in four different percussion classes. In addition to preparing two concert cycles of percussion repertoire each year, they also work their parts for the concert bands to which they belong. Students in the percussion ensembles have been selected for District Honor Band, All-State Band, the Atlanta Youth Percussion Ensemble, and the Governor's Honor Program. The Percussion Ensemble recently performed at the Southeastern Percussion Ensemble Symposium, a Music For All Affiliate Regional Music Festival, marking the first year that an ensemble from Forsyth County has participated in that event.

PERFORMING GROUPS

BEACON HILL MIDDLE SCHOOL TENOR BASS CHORUS

DIRECTOR:

DAVID HIRSCHORN

For six years, the Tenor/Bass classes at Beacon Hill Middle School have provided students an opportunity to move through the stages of voice change and maturation in a safe environment. The choir meets daily during Connections time and is comprised of 6th, 7th and 8th graders who love to sing.

BLAKE BASS MIDDLE SCHOOL CHORUS

DIRECTOR:

KELSEY ARMSTRONG

In the Fall of 2021, the long awaited Blake Bass Middle School opened its doors in Coweta County to approximately 850 students. In the first year of existence, the choir program had 94 members, and began to cultivate a culture of excellence that embodies the school's motto "Be Bulldog Bold." Throughout the 2021-2022 school year, Bass Middle School students auditioned for and participated in All-State Chorus, Sixth Grade State-Wide Honor Chorus, District 6 Honor Chorus, and Large Group Performance Evaluation, in which all groups from the school received superior ratings from all judges both in performance and sight-reading. At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, the Blake Bass Middle School choir program grew to include 130 students across 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, and participation in All-State auditions, and GMEA District 6 Honor Chorus grew as well. All groups are non-auditioned, and perform in a variety of settings throughout the school year.

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL ADVANCED WOMEN'S CHORUS

DIRECTOR:

RUTHIE PHILLIPS

The Central Advanced Women’s Chorus consists of students from all walks of life. The members of the Advanced Women’s Chorus include athletes, band musicians, student council representatives, foreign language speakers, academic achievers, and more. None of the members of the Advanced Women’s Chorus study voice outside of the school day. As the only auditioned choral ensemble at Central High School, the Advanced Women’s Chorus contains mostly upperclassmen, though it is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The women of this ensemble have exceptional music reading skills which allow them to learn and perform a large quantity of music with an expert caliber. The Advanced Women’s Chorus regularly performs either SSA or SSAA repertoire in a concert series that includes a fall concert, winter concert, spring concert, and GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluations. In addition to singing treble repertoire, this group also learns music for the Advanced Mixed Chorus. This choral ensemble is a combination of the Advanced Women’s Chorus and the Central Men’s Chorus. Though they do not rehearse with each other during the school day, these ensembles perform mixed repertoire at concerts in addition to their own respective repertoire. Thus, the Advanced Women's Chorus learns a larger volume of music throughout the school year.

DAVIDSON FINE ARTS MAGNET SCHOOL HARMONIX

DIRECTOR: PHILLIP STREETMAN

Harmonix is a 10 member auditioned a cappella ensemble with a classic Americana repertoire. They made their national debut back in 2019 when they were personally requested by Dr. Richard Woods, Georgia State School Superintendent to be the opening performance for the National School Superintendent Association Conference. Harmonix then went on to debut statewide at the GMEA 2022 Conference as a lobby performing group.

PERFORMING GROUPS

DECATUR HIGH SCHOOL ADVANCED TREBLE CHORUS

DIRECTOR: ELISE ESKEW SPARKS

The DHS Advanced Treble Chorus is an auditioned ensemble open to 10th-12th grade soprano and alto voices of Decatur High School—the one high school within the City Schools of Decatur, located in downtown Decatur in eastern metro Atlanta. The current enrollment of DHS is approximately 1,800 students. The DHS Advanced Treble Chorus performs repertoire in diverse styles and genres, though it is focused on achieving a balance of historically significant works with works of the modern era. This year features an emphasis on kinesthetic learning, with workshops by Moira Smiley, Evie Laden, and

at Beacon Hill Middle School and sight-sing at an advanced level. DHS has led the state

from non-performing arts high schools. Many members of this chorus study

THE FLAT ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL SINGERS

DIRECTOR:

LADELL FORTUNE

Flat Rock Middle School is located in Tyrone, Georgia and has a student body of 850 students. The school is a Community for Creative Learning in the prestigious Fayette County School District. The Choral program at Flat Rock features approximately 120 non-auditioned singers who participate in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade chorus ensembles. The “Flat Rock Singers” is a non- auditioned group of 7th and 8th grade students that have participated in chorus for at least one year. All Flat Rock Choirs have consistently received Superior Ratings in performance and sight reading at the annual Large Group Performance Evaluations (LGPE). Students in this program are selected to participate in many GMEA sponsored events which include the Sixth Grade Statewide Honors Chorus, the Georgia All State Chorus and the District 6 Honors Chorus each year. The 2022-2023 school year is the first year that the Flat Rock Singers have been invited to perform at the GMEA conference. Many of the students involved in Chorus excel academically and are active participants in extra curricular activities such as athletics, STEAM, robotics, academic team, cheerleading, drama club and the Community Music Theater just to name a few. Some of the most talented students have even landed roles in major movie productions filmed in Fayette County and the surrounding Metro Atlanta area.

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY TREBLE CHOIR

DIRECTOR: JENNIFER SENGIN

The Georgia State University Treble Choir (formerly Women’s Chorus) is one of the newest choral ensembles at the university and performs throughout the year both on and off campus. Reinstated during the 2018-2019 school year, the membership includes students majoring in fields across the entire university. The Treble Choir recently won first place in The American Prize Choral Performance division and performed at the 2020 Georgia Music Educators Association Conference. The ensemble’s works to highlight the vast array of repertoire written for treble voicing and seeks to promote and feature compositions and poetry by women.

HIGHTOWER TRAIL MIDDLE SCHOOL EIGHTH GRADE CHORUS

DIRECTOR: KATI STEWART

The Hightower Trail Middle School Eighth Grade Chorus has had a very unconventional middle school choral experience. These students joined chorus in the height of the pandemic during their sixth-grade year. At that time, we were 100% masked and socially distanced, 20-30% virtual, and only had 40 minutes of rehearsal time 4 days per week! Even though this choir did not put on their first full live performance until their seventhgrade year, their love of singing has helped them persevere through the tough times and carried them through all 3 years of chorus to this very special moment tonight. The Choral Department at HTMS has been under the direction of Kati Stewart since 2019. There are 3 non-auditioned ensembles: Sixth Grade Chorus, Seventh Grade Chorus, and Eighth Grade Chorus. Students rehearse for 50 minutes daily. The program maintains a continuous membership of over 300 singers. The students in this choir were previously taught by Bess Yunek at Tritt Elementary, Gina Davis at Mountain View Elementary, Patrick Hydo at Murdock Elementary, and Lynn Boland at Shallowford Falls Elementary. They will go on to sing for Zelda Johns at Pope High School. Hightower Trail Middle School, a Cobb County Public School, is located in Marietta, GA and opened in 1993. Our principal is Dr. Hannah Polk. Hightower Trail has been ranked in the top 10 of Georgia middle schools in each state report card issued. The school has been named a 2002-2003 Georgia School of Excellence as well as a 2009-2010 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. The school has an active PTSA and a non-profit Foundation. The band, chorus, and orchestra have all performed at the GMEA In-Service Conference. Additional academic achievements include: Gold Awards for Greatest Gains in 2017, National Beta School of Distinction, Music Program of the year Award in 2018, AdvancED STEM Certified School, Platinum Award for Highest Performing School in 2019 and most recently HTMS was recertified as a Model Professional Learning Community (PLC) School in the fall of 2022.

Keith Terry. Most students in this choir were involved in the choral program of David Hirschorn

in total All State Reading Chorus participants and is often high among total All State Chorus participants

voice privately and are involved with the Shuler-recognized musical theater program at DHS.

VOICES OF TRANSCENDENCE OF M. D. ROBERTS SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

DIRECTOR: CHRYSTIAL HUDSON

Transcendence, the premiere choir of the Voices of Excellence, is in its fourth year of existence. Voices of Excellence, the choral department of M. D. Roberts School of the Arts in Jonesboro, Ga., strives to give students excellent instruction in vocal performance, a risk-free learning environment, and plenty of performance opportunities. Transcendence consists of seventh and eighth grade students. Eighth grade students help to shape the lasting legacy of the choral department by assisting the younger students with concert etiquette and choir decorum. Together the students work as a team to engage and entertain the audience. The choir has performed in such places as the Hartsfield-Jackson airport and community events around Clayton County under the name of M. D. Roberts Concert Choir, rebranded to Transcendence in 2019. In 2020, Transcendence’s rise was cut short due to COVID-19. Being virtual in 2020 - 2021, the choir was not able to perform or even sing together. This school year, Transcendence was back together with many obstacles to overcome. However, the students have persevered and worked hard to perform for you today. We are delighted to perform for you and hope you enjoy it as much as we love singing together and for an audience.

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE GLEE CLUB

DIRECTOR: DAVID MORROW

The Morehouse College Glee Club is the premier singing organization of Morehouse College, traveling all over the country and the world, demonstrating excellence not only in choral performance but also in discipline, dedication, and brotherhood. Through its tradition the Glee Club has an impressive history and seeks to secure its future through even greater accomplishments, continuing in this tradition through the dedication and commitment of its members and the leadership that its directors have provided throughout the years. It is the mission of the Morehouse College Glee Club to maintain a high standard of musical excellence. In 1911, Morehouse College, then under the name of Atlanta Baptist College, had a music professor named Georgia Starr. She served the College from 1903-1905 and again from 1908-1911. Mr. Kemper Harreld, who officially founded the Morehouse College Glee Club, assumed leadership when he joined the College’s music faculty in the fall of 1911. Mr. Harreld became both, Chair of the Music Department and Director of the Glee Club. After faithfully serving for forty-two years, he retired in 1953. Mr. Harreld was responsible for beginning the Glee Club’s strong legacy of excellence that has since been passed down to all members of the organization. The Glee Club’s history continues in 1953 with the second director, Wendell Phillips Whalum, Sr., '52. Dr. Whalum was a prized student of Kemper Harreld. He served as Student Director during his tenure in the Glee Club. Dr. Whalum, was more commonly known as ""Doc"", and served Morehouse College and the Glee Club with the continued tradition of excellence through expanded repertoire and national and international exposure throughout his tenure at the College. Dr. Whalum took a sabbatical in 1961-1963 to finish doctoral studies during which Albert T. Perkins served as Interim Director. Dr. Whalum continued this fine legacy his passing in June, 1987. In the fall semester of 1987, David E. Morrow, '80, assumed directorship of the Glee Club. David Morrow was a prized student of ""Doc"", just as ""Doc"" was of Mr. Kemper Harreld. He earned his Master's degree in 1981 and then returned to his alma mater, joined the music faculty, and served as Assistant Director of the Glee Club. During the 1992-1993 school year, Harding Epps, '74, served as interim Director, while Dr. Morrow finished doctoral studies. Dr. David Morrow continues to serve as the Director of the Morehouse College Glee Club which has gained world recognition through national and international tours. On January 18, 1993, the Glee Club, as part of the Morehouse-Spelman Chorus, sang at Atlanta's Symphony Hall, with soprano Jessye Norman, in a concert celebrating the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. The Glee Club also performed the National Anthem with Natalie Cole for Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994. The organization participated with Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, and Trisha Yearwood in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games held in Atlanta, Georgia. In February 2002, the Glee Club performed for the Witness Concert with the Plymouth Music Series (now Vocal Essence), where the work, Of Dreams and Other Possibilities, written by Patrice Rushen was premiered. In 2004, the Glee Club performed with Take 6 at the Rialto Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, the Glee Club recorded the spiritual, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, for Spike Lee’s movie, Miracle at St. Anna. Earlier that year, the organization performed with mezzo-soprano, Denyce Graves, for the inaugural concert for the 10th president of Morehouse College, Dr. Robert M. Franklin. In 2011, its Centennial year, the Glee Club performed commemorative concerts in Atlanta and New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, for events leading to the dedication of the King Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and recorded Zachary and the Scaly Bark Tree by Bill Lee for his son, Spike Lee’s movie, Red Hook Summer. In 2013, the Glee club performed at the 129th Commencement Exercises at Morehouse College, where President Barack Obama was given an honorary degree. In 2015, the Glee Club performed with Demetria McKinney at the “Portraits of John Lewis: Celebrating the 75th Birthday” festivities at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia, for the 83rd birthday celebration of Ambassador Andrew Young. and the Glee Club performed original works from musical composer, James Olivero, in a collection entitled, Songs from the World House. The Glee Club was featured on an American Family Insurance commercial with the famous recording artist Jennifer Hudson. The Glee Club recently performed concerts with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra featuring the work Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson. The Covid 19 pandemic did not stop the Morehouse College Glee Club. We performed virtually for our annual concert in 2021 and 2022, and with the Spelman College Glee Club for our annual Christmas Carol Concerts. Additionally, the Glee Club did virtual workshops with choral organizations in Atlanta and Boston. In 2022 they safely finished the tour the they had to abandon in 2020 because of the Covid 19. The Glee Club has performed internationally on several different occasions: African Nations – Senegal, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria (1972), Russia (1996), Poland (1998), Bermuda (2001), the Bahamas (2005), South Africa (2008), Canada and Puerto Rico (2011), Honduras (2018), Algeria (2019), and recently finished the 50th Anniversary Tour of Nigeria in July, 2022 also performing with other choirs from Lagos, Enugu, Nsukka, and Abuja. Since the Glee Club’s origin, excellence through brotherhood, dedication and commitment and unselfish labors of love has continued in musical performance and in whatever the organization does. The current members come from all over the United States and even from other countries around the world. The Glee Club members all have different interests, which adds to the diversity of the organization. While some are music majors, members are in all academic divisions at the college. Even though some members take Glee Club as a course for credit, all members still sing as a labor of love and enjoy being ambassadors for Morehouse College.

PERFORMING GROUPS

RICHMOND HILL HIGH SCHOOL WOMEN'S CHORUS

DIRECTOR: JANET S. WOOTEN

The Women’s Chorus, one of the premiere ensembles at Richmond Hill High School, consists of singers from the freshmen to the senior class. The members of this ensemble have committed their time, hard work, dedication and talents to the choral program. The ensemble has consistently received superior ratings in performance and sight reading in state evaluations and are an integral part of the fine arts in our community. Members of this ensemble participate in District Honor Choir, Southern Invitational

Governor’s Honors Program. Most recently, the RHHS Women’s Chorus performed

SOUTHEAST BULLOCH

HIGH

SCHOOL ADVANCED CHORUS

DIRECTOR: BRENT WHITAKER

The SEBHS Choral program is part of Southeast Bulloch High School in rural Brooklet, GA. Since it’s revitalization from 18 students 16 years ago, we are now a full and very active program with an Advanced Mixed, Women’s, and Men’s Choir. Our Advanced Chorus has rated three straight superiors at LGPE each year since we began, and multiple Southeast Bulloch choral members are present at Georgia All-State Choir and All-State Reading Choir every year. The SEBHS Advanced Chorus has performed for the Governor’s office multiple times, both in Atlanta and at home. They have also performed at Southern Star, taking the Sweepstakes trophy for highest scoring choir, and most recently the Championship for highest scoring musical group overall. This group also took the overall Championship at Festival Disney while competing against choirs from all around the United States. In 2015, the group traveled to Carnegie Hall, received a superior rating in Queens, worked with Jo-Michael Scheibe, performed a world-premiere by Dan Forrest under the direction of Z. Randall Stroope, and finally performed Eric Whitacer’s “Nox Aurumque” by themselves as a showcase choir. This same year they also performed at the GMEA Convention. In 2017 the SEBHS Women’s Choir won 2nd place for non-mixed choirs at the Southern Invitational Competition while Advanced Chorus took the Championship trophy for top choir overall. In 2019, the Advanced Chorus was the highest rated choir at Worldstrides “Gold” series event in San Fransisco, being judged by Dr. Jessop, former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Singing Sergeants, and Dr. Armstrong, director of the St. Olaf Choir. Returning to regular travel in Spring of 2022, the SEBHS Advanced Chorus won the Championship at Festival Disney for our second time. Music is truly a way of life for us here at Southeast Bulloch High School, and we are striving, every day, to provide a top choral music education/experience to our students.

Choir Competition, All-State Chorus, All-State Reading Choir, GHSA Literary Meet and the Georgia

at the Georgia American Choral Directors Association State Conference in Rome, GA.

PERFORMING GROUPS

SPELMAN COLLEGE GLEE CLUB

DIRECTOR: KEVIN JOHNSON

Now celebrating its 98th season, the historic Spelman College Glee Club has maintained a reputation for choral excellence since 1924. Open by audition to all students of the College community, the Glee Club performs a repertoire that includes selections from world cultures, commissioned works, sacred and secular choral literature, Negro spirituals, and music by African American composers, all with a particular focus on harmonies that complement women’s voices. Generations of young women, including those who major and minor in music and those focusing on other areas of study have given their time, talent, and energy in exchange for membership in this special elite group embedded within the Spelman sisterhood. Currently, under the direction of Dr. Kevin Johnson, associate professor of music, the Glee Club has performed for a variety of

throughout the United States and abroad. Past performance venues include the Faneuil Hall in Boston, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the National Museum of American

in Washington, D.C., and the

in New York City. Internationally, the Glee Club has traveled to Canada, Brazil, Portugal, and, most recently, Italy for the 2022 ASCO International Summit in Rome. Performance highlights include a 2016 concert at the White House for President Barack Obama and a March 2017 performance at the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Active in the local and national music community, the Glee Club has shared the stage with the Dance Theater of Harlem, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and an array of other African American celebrities. Locally, they have performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and most recently provided the choral soundtrack for the Atlanta Ballet’s world premiere of Dwight Rhoden's “Sunrise Divine,” which featured arrangements and original music by Dr. Johnson. As the premiere performance organization for the College, the Glee Club sings for most campus events. In 2021, they celebrated the 95th anniversary of the annual Spelman-Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert with the Morehouse College Glee Club. Over those 95 years, this event has become the perennial highlight of the Christmas season in Atlanta. This concert is featured on National Public Radio and Georgia Public Broadcasting during the holiday season. Other major performances include the annual Spring Concert and Spring Tour, which take place during the College’s observation of spring break.

THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA HODGSON SINGERS

DIRECTOR: DANIEL BARA

The international award-winning UGA Hodgson Singers serves as the premiere, ambassadorial choral ensemble of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia. Comprised of mostly undergraduate music majors at the University of Georgia and conducted by Dr. Daniel Bara, the John D. Boyd UGA Foundation Professor of Choral Music, the choir has performed by invitation in recent years for the American Choral Directors Association Southern Division Convention (2014, 2018), Georgia Music Educators Association (2011, 2017), and in concert with Kathleen Battle, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, The Kings Singers, with whom it co-commissioned a choral work by Nico Muhly that had its North American premiere in Hodgson Hall in January 2018, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, the acclaimed professional British choir, Tenebrae. In February 2020 the choir was featured in concert with Andrew Bocelli and the Atlanta Symphony. In 2014 it was the Grand Prix winner at The International Choral Competition Ave Verum in Baden, Austria. The Hodgson Singers released its first internationally distributed recording, Grace Immaculate: Prayers and Love Songs, on the Gothic Records label in June 2017.

audiences

History

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center

HOWARD HIGH SCHOOL GUITAR ENSEMBLE

The Howard High School Guitar Ensemble began in 2008 when the school opened. Under the direction of Mr. John E. Sweat, the group has performed annual concerts on campus and for several organizations within the Middle Georgia community such as senior citizens organizations, children’s hospitals, and shelters. They have also performed at the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta, The Walt Disney World Resort, the Universal Orlando Resort, Charleston, SC, and St. Augustine, FL. Many of the guitar ensemble performances are collaborative efforts with the Howard High School Orchestra. Students from both ensembles participated at presentations at the 2019 GMEA In-Service Conference as well as the 2020 ASTA National Conference. They also gave a lobby performance at the 2019 GMEA In-Service conference. In addition to performances with orchestra, the guitar ensemble has also performed on its own as well. In 2022, the guitar ensemble participated in its first ever Giocoso Day at North Gwinnett Middle School and earned all superior ratings. The ensemble will also be represented at the district level solo/ensemble performance evaluation as well. Plans for the 2022-2023 academic year include a performance tour to our feeder elementary schools in order to establish a guitar program at our feeder middle school for the 2023-2024 academic year. With this new direction, we anticipate major growth in our high school guitar enrollment.

TRICKUM MIDDLE SCHOOL 8TH GRADE GUITAR ENSEMBLE

DIRECTOR: JOHN E. SWEAT DIRECTORS: JEFFREY SCHAEFER & RICK SARGENT

Trickum Middle School is located in Lilburn, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. The school has an enrollment of over 2,200 students with many of the students participating in Band, Chorus, Guitar and Orchestra. The Trickum Middle School Guitar program currently has over 350 students enrolled in grades 6-8, under the direction of Jeffrey Schaefer and assisted by Rick Sargent. Established in 2011, the Trickum Middle School Guitar program is a fully established fine art with six year-long classes with honors and rock ensembles. The 7th and 8th grade Guitar Ensembles consistently receive superiors at Giocoso. In 2019, the Trickum Middle School 8th Grade Guitar Ensemble performed at the GMEA In-Service Conference. The mission of Trickum

leadership, fostering creativity and empowering students with skills to succeed in an

guitar students, their families, directors and school administrators are honored the

In-Service Conference.

Middle School is to pursue excellence in all areas by providing rigorous academics, developing

ever-changing society through a partnership between students, parents, faculty and staff. The

Trickum Middle School 8th Grade Guitar Ensemble has been invited to perform at the 2023 Georgia Music Educators Association

PERFORMING GROUPS

J. C. BOOTH ORCHESTRA

DIRECTOR: AMANDA MORAN

J. C. Booth is located in Peachtree City, GA. The orchestra has been at the school for 20 years. The Booth orchestra consistently earn Superior ratings at LGPE. They have been invited to play at GMEA in 2007. They have also performed at Disney, Universal Studios, and Six Flags. Students in orchestra have been members of AYSO, FPYO, MYSO and the Emory Youth Orchestra. Over the years many students have represented Booth at All State. Students also participate in Solo and Ensemble and the Fayette County All County Orchestra. Students from Booth feed in to McIntosh High School.

KENNESAW MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

DIRECTOR: DAVID STARNES

Kennesaw Mountain High School is celebrating 22 years of existence in 2022. The Orchestra program offers three string orchestras, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Sinfonia Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra, as well as a Symphony Orchestra. 3. The three orchestras meet daily for 90-minute rehearsals and perform two concerts each semester as well as participate in the Georgia Music Educators Association Large Group Performance Evaluation. The orchestra is financially supported by the Cobb County Schools as well as the Kennesaw Mountain Orchestra Boosters Association. The Kennesaw Mountain High School Orchestra program partners with Georgia State University as well as members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Atlanta Opera Orchestra, and Atlanta Ballet Orchestra who serve as section coaches and mentors on an on-going basis. Students receive group master classes from professionals during the school day that supplements their full ensemble experience. Members of the Kennesaw Mountain High School Orchestra are also members of area youth orchestras including the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, the Georgia Youth Symphony, as well as the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. Orchestra students from Kennesaw Mountain High School have been selected for the Cobb County Honor Orchestra as well as the Georgia All State Orchestra.

NORTH GWINNETT HIGH SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

DIRECTORS:

DAVID METRIO & LAUREN MCCOMBE

North Gwinnett High School is located in Suwanee, Georgia (Gwinnett County). The North Gwinnett High School Orchestra Program has an established tradition of excellence. The NGHS Chamber Orchestra in particular consistently receives Superior ratings at GMEA District 13 LGPE and is well-represented at county, district, state, and national events including the GMEA District 13 Honor Orchestra, Gwinnett County Youth Symphony, GMEA All-State, the Governor's Honors Program, the NAfME All-National Honor Orchestra, the Ludwig Symphony, the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. Several of our students who participate in our string quartet program are accepted

competition with the Grammy Award winning Parker String Quartet.

OSBORNE MIDDLE SCHOOL ORCHESTRA

DIRECTORS:

CARL RIEKE & FRANK FOLDS

Osborne Middle School is located in Hoschton, Georgia. The school opened in the fall of 2004 and has a rich history of outstanding student involvement in all fine arts programs. The Osborne Orchestra program averages between 300 to 325 students in sixth through eighth grades each year. The orchestras have received straight superior ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluation for the past seven years. Osborne Orchestras have performed at the Georgia State Orchestra Festival, the Kennesaw State University Orchestra Invitational, the Governor’s Mansion, and many other local venues in Gwinnett County. The Osborne Honor Orchestra, consisting of 40-45 of the most advanced string players at the school, is the face of the Osborne orchestra program in the community and gives ten to fifteen performances each year.

every year to participate in the University of South Carolina’s string quartet workshop and

PEACHTREE RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

DIRECTORS: VICTORIA ENLOE, BILL SCRUGGS, AND BERNADETTE SCRUGGS

Peachtree Ridge High School is located in Suwanee, Georgia, and is part of the Gwinnett County Public School system. With a minority enrollment of 83%, the student population of Peachtree Ridge reflects Suwanee’s rich cultural diversity. The Peachtree Ridge Orchestra program was established in 2003 with 120 orchestra members and has grown to comprise more than 370 students, 12% of the school population. The orchestra program consists of four levels: Concert, Symphonic, Philharmonic, and Chamber that meet daily for 90 minutes on the school’s four-by-four block schedule. Peachtree Ridge Orchestras have performed at events throughout the metro Atlanta area including the Kennesaw State University Orchestra Invitational, the Georgia State University Orchestra Festival, the Georgia School Board/State Superintendents Association Conference, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce 2021 Winter Reception, and has been featured twice in sessions at the annual GMEA In-Service Conference. Each ensemble also designs and participates in an annual community outreach concert directed at feeder elementary, middle, or special needs high school students. Numerous students from the PRHS Orchestra are selected each year to participate in All-State orchestra, the Governor’s Honors Program, Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra, Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. In addition to enriching the Peachtree Ridge community through ensemble performance, orchestra students have been STAR students, varsity athletes, National Merit finalists, TSA State Champions, Robolions robotics team members, and Peachtree Ridge drama and dance department members.

WOODWARD ACADEMY STRING MACHINE

DIRECTOR: GINA CALLOWAY

The Woodward Academy String Machine is part of the robust performing arts program at Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia. The High School String Orchestra program at Woodward consists of three ensembles: Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia and String Machine. String Machine is the highest level string ensemble at Woodward and consistently earns superior ratings at LGPE. Additionally, this group regularly includes individual members of All State Orchestra, Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra, Emory Symphony Youth Orchestra and Metropolitan youth Symphony Orchestra. Members of String Machine are also very accomplished outside of music as National Merit finalists, National Honors Society members and Varsity athletes, to mention a few.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR MUSIC EDUCATION (NAFME). THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 18, 2022, CAN BE FOUND HERE (HTTPS://NAFME.ORG/NAFME-ENDORSESFEDERAL-LEGISLATION-TO-SUPPORT-TEACHER-RECRUITMENT-RETENTION/).

NAfME ENDORSES FEDERAL LEGISLATION TO SUPPORT TEACHER

INTRODUCTION

The Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF) program has been a valuable tool for teachers since its authorization in 1998, providing them with $5,000-$17,500 worth of student loan forgiveness (depending on what criteria are met) in exchange for five consecutive years of K–12 teaching in high-needs schools. TLF was originally intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue in the teaching profession by providing them with substantive loan forgiveness. The amount of loan forgiveness provided by TLF has been stagnant since 2004, while the cost of college (and subsequent debt) has risen sharply, making the program a much less attractive incentive for prospective teachers.

Research shows that high college costs and student loan debt influence students’ career choices, with higher debt burdens associated with students avoiding public service jobs, particularly in the education field. Student loan debt also impacts teacher retention, causing teachers to leave the profession, due to their salary being insufficient to cover monthly student loan payments. Student loan debt has even been shown to impact the diversity of the teacher profession, with students of color having higher average debt burdens that make entering and staying in the profession more difficult. With our country experiencing a national teacher shortage, the need to attract qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds to the profession is dire. NAfME has endorsed the following two pieces of legislation that seek to revise the TLF program and strengthen the educator pipeline.

LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR EDUCATORS ACT (S.4867) (H.R.8856)

The Loan Forgiveness for Educators Act, introduced by Senator Ben Ray Luján (NM) and Representative Teresa LegerFernandez (NM-3), would expand eligibility for loan forgiveness under the newly named Educator Loan Forgiveness (ELF) Program to early childhood educators, program directors, and K–12 school leaders serving high-need schools. These are schools that are eligible for Title I funding; have been identified by the state for comprehensive or targeted support and improvements; or operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, Tribal educational agencies, or the Native Hawaiian education system. The federal government would make monthly student loan payments on behalf of qualified educators during their service and provide complete loan forgiveness at the end of five years if individuals remain in high-need schools. The bill would also allow recipients of Federal Parent PLUS loans (whether held by an educator or their parent) and Grad PLUS loans to be eligible for loan forgiveness. Qualified candidates could also pursue ELF and still be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program after 10 years.

A summary of the bill can be found below:

VIEW THE FULL TEXT OF THE BILL

EDUCATORS FOR AMERICA ACT (S.3360) (H.R.6205)

Where ELF uses loan forgiveness as an incentive to attract prospective educators into the profession, the EDUCATORS for America Act seeks to rebuild and reform the educator pipeline to ensure state and local communities have the diverse and high-qualified teachers, principals, librarians, and other instructional support personnel they need to provide students with a robust and well-rounded education. This legislation was introduced by Senator Jack Reed (RI) and Representative Alma Adams (NC-12). If enacted, the EDUCATORS for America Act would do the following:

• Authorize $500 million annually for grants to a statewide strategy for the recruitment, preparation, and retention of underrepresented populations in the education field, such as teachers of color, first generation college students, and teachers with disabilities

• Authorize $500 million annually to support educator preparation programs and partnerships including:

- Updating and expanding the Teacher Quality Partnership to include residency programs, strengthen the principal and school leader prep programs and enable partnerships to address the need for early childhood educators, school librarians, school mental-health professionals, and other specialized support personnel.

- Reauthorizing the Honorable Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)

• Remove financial barriers to entering the educator workforce by:

- Doubling the TEACH grants to $8,000 per year - Including the costs of clinical experiences in the cost of attendance for awarding financial aid

- Allowing educators who work in high-need fields to receive credit toward loan repayment while they serve rather than receiving a lump sum after serving five to 10 years

A summary of the bill can be found here.

VIEW THE FULL TEXT OF THE BILL

If enacted, these two pieces of legislation have the potential to bolster the number of educators in America, while diversifying the profession and supporting our nation’s most underserved students. NAfME is proud to endorse the Loan Forgiveness for Educators Act and the EDUCATORS for America Act. We look forward to working with Senators Lujan and Reed as well as Representatives Adams and LegerFernandez and other members of Congress to pass these important pieces of legislation.

This link can be shared with your students.

Join ASO Musicians for a new virtual tutorial series! “Level Up” your students’ playing with these 3-5 minute videos. Topics for all strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Now available on ASO Education YouTube channel and aso.org.

Family concert performances are made possible through a generous grant from the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation, which is part of the family of foundations that also includes the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation.

Music enrollment by county

RESEARCH BY BOB MORRISON

VIEW GEORGIA'S DATA

in the power of great

Believe Teachers

By NAfME Immediate Past President Mackie V. Spradley

In the January 2022 issue of Teaching Music, a story about Historically Black Colleges and Universities featured several excellent teachers who are helping the next generation of music teachers gain the expertise they need to become great teachers themselves. In my career as a teacher and as a NAfME President, I’ve had the opportunity to see a number of superb teachers in action at local, state, regional, and national levels.

Here are some of the most outstanding attributes of these educators:

• Good teachers are good listeners. The ability to see others’ perspectives—whether those of students, colleagues, administrators, or community members— goes a long way toward making a person an effective teacher. The ability to focus on what others are saying is a skill to master!

• Organization reduces stress. Being ready to rock in the classroom, in meetings, or in everyday life can make things easier for educators. An excellent teacher is prepared for not only what is planned for the day but can be flexible. There are always unforeseen occurrences, and organization, patience, goal orientation, endurance, and compassion. In the business world, an hour-long presentation means five hours of preparation. Careful prep makes everything run more smoothly.

• Have high expectations. Being goal-oriented means that you achieve more personally and professionally, and your students will benefit by your belief in what they can achieve. Have hourly, daily, and monthly goals and let your students help with creating these objectives. Write your goals in visible places and ask for ideas in helping to attain them. Inspiration can sometimes come from surprising sources.

• Patience enhances progress. Many brilliant teachers want to move quickly toward success. Remember to be patient with yourself, with students, with colleagues, with families, and with your community. You’ll get there in small steps. Don’t try to eat an elephant in one sitting! Encourage others as you go and remind your students that things that are hard can be broken down into chunks that can be conquered in stages.

• Store up energy for endurance. If you’re going to go the distance, you need to take care of yourself. Enough sleep, a healthful diet, exercise, and taking time to recharge mentally and spiritually can make all the difference in your capacity to do your job well and enjoy the journey. A five-minute stretch break can help you go for another hour when you’re starting to feel drained.

Reprinted with permission from National Association for Music Education (NAfME). The original article was first published in the March 2022 issue of Music Educators Journal.

• A cheerful outlook makes a difference. You can decide that you will be happy and productive. You are capable of more than you might think. Don’t forget that what you project influences others. Every action matters. It doesn’t hurt to have a sense of humor in the face of inevitable obstacles and ordinary annoyances—it can help you stay buoyed up on rough seas.

• Recognize that each day offers opportunities. Great teachers don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future. They know that today is where we can make the world a little better. Make a list of what you hope to accomplish, and even if you only get three things done today, you’re that much farther down the road.

• Be an example of calm in the storm. Emotions like anger and frustration are clouds in your sky, but they will pass. Meditation, deep breathing, or a short walk can help you stay in control of many situations. Students look to you as a model of how to deal with life’s challenges—show them that they can be pros at being in charge of their own lives.

• Empathy gives you power. A compassionate teacher can make a difference in a few moments of conversation with a student or fellow educator. Use your heart and remember that everyone is fighting unseen battles and dealing with their own problems. Your kindness can make their path an easier one and can help make others stronger.

• An attitude of gratitude brightens your outlook. Look to those who have helped you and made your life a better one. Be prepared to pay back the gifts you have been given by sharing your knowledge and wisdom. Every morning or evening, remember the goodness in your world.

• Work hard but have fun, too! As you touch others’ lives, remember to enjoy your own.

Note: The teachers featured in the January 2022 Teaching Music article “HBCUs: Nurturing the Next Generation of Music Educators” are T. Marshall Jones, Albany State University, Albany, Georgia; Angelica Brooks, DMA candidate in Music Teaching and Learning, University of Southern California–Los Angeles; Uzee Brown, Jr., Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia; Taylor Whitehead, Warren County High School, Warrenton, North Carolina; and Shelby Chipman, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee. Two additional individuals contributed to this article: Johnathan Hamiel, Guilford High School, Gibsonville, North Carolina, and president of the North Carolina Music Educators Association, and Ted McDaniel, Ohio State University, Columbus.

About the author

Dr. Mackie V. Spradley is the Immediate Past President of the National Association for Music Education and serves as the Director of Curriculum Programs at the Texas Education Agency in Austin, TX. She received the B.M. in Voice from UNT and M.A. in Vocal Pedagogy from Texas Woman’s University, Denton. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Anthropology from UNT. Spradley has published in academic journals and books, such as the National Forum of Multicultural Issues Journal, Texas Music Educators Conference Connections, and a book chapter in Educational Leadership and Music. She is a national speaker on music education, culturally responsive pedagogy, and critical theory. Learn more about Mackie Spradley.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FROM THE GADOE FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT

Did you know that the Fine Arts Department at the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) offers a wide variety of opportunities for continued professional learning as a Fine Arts educator?

Our goal is to provide content-specific professional development for Fine Arts educators across the state of Georgia geared toward a whole-child education for our students. We provide a multitude of FREE, supplemental Fine Arts Instructional Resources (over 4,000+!) for Fine Arts teachers to use as supportive tools in their teaching practice. These resources include curriculum maps, unit plans, lesson plans, lesson materials, presentations, and even some student manipulatives! There are sample resources for remote, blended, and in person teaching and learning! These resources are housed in the Teacher Resource Link (TRL) which can be found in your school district’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) platform or directly on our GaDOE Fine Arts Website under Instructional Resources as you scroll down the webpage.

We offer FREE, content-specific, statewide professional development opportunities through live and pre-recorded webinars, self-paced online courses for music teachers, and an informative infographic on Digital Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Check out our GaDOE Fine Arts Website to register for these webinars. Some topics discussed in these webinars include:

• Differentiation in the Music Classroom

• Behavior Basics: De-Escalation Strategies for the Music Educator

• The Balancing Act: Rebalancing Technology vs. Traditional Music Teaching Methods

• Making Music Magic on a Shoestring Budget

• Assessment in the Music Classroom

• TKES in the Music Classroom

• Ukulele 101 for the K-5 General Music Teacher

• Instructional Planning for the Music Educator

• Exceptional Children in the Music Classroom

• Bravo Behavior!

• It's A Mystery! Making Mysterious Lessons for the Elementary Music Classroom!

FROM THE FINE ARTS TEAM AT THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

VIRTUAL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES ON GADOE COMMUNITY

Do you often times feel lonely in your school building or district as a music educator? Do you find it hard to feel supported as a music teacher or have administrators who don’t fully understand our specialized content areas? Do you wish there was a way to seek support, encouragement, and guidance from other music teachers and administrators across the state of Georgia? Do you crave collaboration and connection with other like-minded music teachers? Then we have the perfect place for you!

In addition to all of these great opportunities, the Georgia Department of Education has launched a new, innovative platform called GaDOE Community! The goal of this platform is to provide content-specific, virtual professional learning communities (PLCs) for GMEA Fine Arts teachers, administrators, and GaDOE staff the opportunity to collaborate, connect, and share thoughts, strategies, resources, and encouragement all on a virtual platform. Georgia music teachers can join PLC groups such as Band, Chorus, General Music, Orchestra, and Music Technology. Be sure to check out our introductory video about this new, collaborative platform: GaDOE Community Commercial. Georgia music teachers can join today for FREE by creating an account using your school district email account. We can’t wait to connect and collaborate with you in the future!

THE ARTS DATA DASHBOARD IS NOW LIVE!

Recently, the GaDOE Fine Arts Department has partnered with the Arts Education Data Project to provide an in-depth look at access to Arts Education in the state of Georgia over the past several years. Through this partnership, important questions like the following have been asked:

• Which schools provide access to arts education and in what disciplines (Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Media Arts)?

• How many students are actually participating?

• How many arts teachers are providing instruction?

• Who has access to arts instruction?

• Most importantly, who does not?

• How have the answers to these questions changed over time?

This initiative is accomplished by taking data gathered by school districts and the GaDOE, standardizing the data, and then transforming it into a publicly available interactive dashboard, updated annually to reflect the true status of arts education in every school, at every grade level for every student. You can take a look newly published Arts Data Dashboard today!

GADOE FINE ARTS WEBSITE

FOLLOW GADOE FINE ARTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

Do you follow GaDOE Fine Arts on Social Media? Stay up to date on all things happening with the Fine Arts from all across the state of Georgia by following and using the tag #ArtsEdGa! Be sure to follow GaDOE Fine Arts on all major platforms:

Reprinted with permission from National Association for Music Education (NAfME). The original article published on October 25, 2022, can be found here (https://nafme.org/using-trauma-informed-care-to-re-frame-puzzling-studentbehaviors-in-the-music-classroom/).

TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE TO RE-FRAME TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE TO RE-FRAME TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE TO RE-FRAME

STUDENT BEHAVIORS IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM STUDENT BEHAVIORS IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM STUDENT BEHAVIORS IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM

BY NAFME MEMBERS ERIN PRICE AND SHANNAN HIBBARD

Quick! Grab something to write with and on. Think of an incident that occurred in your classroom. Can you write about it? What factors were at play in the situation?

Today, we challenge you to engage in a self-guided active journaling process aimed to help you reframe puzzling and challenging student behaviors through a trauma-informed lens.

As teachers, we have worked in settings in which student behaviors were frequently confusing, frustrating, and, at times felt like threats to safety. Shannan began her career teaching K-6 music in the Detroit Public Schools; she was puzzled by why students did not trust her and tested her “authority.” Erin worked in schools affiliated with residential psychiatric treatment facilities, serving students with advanced behavioral health needs. In our jobs, we have seen behaviors come seemingly out of nowhere, and we are pretty sure you have, too.

CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS

When a behavior arises that seems disproportionate to the situation at hand, does not appear to be triggered by external stimuli, or escalates rapidly, it is possible that the student is exhibiting a trauma response.

Often, these responses, or reactions occurring due to a known or unknown, internal, or external trigger, appear to “come out of nowhere” for music educators. Trauma responses may look like explosive reactions to benign interactions, physical and verbal aggression, fleeing behaviors, shut-down behaviors, or dissociative behaviors, where the student engages in a mental process to disconnect themselves from their thoughts, body, or the experience at hand (Herman, 1997). These reactions are hallmarks of a child that is stuck in an escalated state of response, oftentimes functioning in a pervasive fight or flight state.

In our role as teachers, these interactions can be frustrating or bewildering. We may resent the child as we usher them from circle time to the time away corner, thinking silently about how they are taking away class time from other students. We may feel frustrated when it seems that no amount of reward or consequence is helping the child function in the role we assign them—as a properly “managed” student. We may find ourselves telling our colleagues that the “incident came out of nowhere” or crying at our desks, labeling ourselves “bad” teachers. Maybe we rage against the machine, wishing there were more relevant pre-service/ in-service training surrounding student violence. We might feel shame, inadequacy, and regret. Worse still, we might

leave school traumatized by our students themselves, reminded of our past trauma, becoming traumatized through our students’ stories, or developing secondary traumatic stress from the painful interactions occurring in our building or classroom. Through a deeper understanding of the nuances of these challenging situations, we might move from states of anger, shame, or blame, to ones of empowerment.

IMPACT OF TRAUMA

Data indicate high levels of exposure to potentially traumatic events in the United States, with more than half of children experiencing a traumatic event before reaching adulthood (Finkelhor et al., 2005). Following trauma, there is a significant negative impact on the lives of children, even those who do not meet diagnostic criteria for trauma-related disorders (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2014). Trauma is documented to lead to behavioral health problems (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2014; Walrath et al., 2006; Whitson et al., 2012) and emotional difficulties (Burns et al., 2004; Shonk & Cicchetti, 2001). Students who are traumatized have higher rates of special education placement (Cole et al., 2005; Shonk & Cicchetti, 2001), and may require specialized intervention. Similarities between posttraumatic stress disorder and emotional/behavioral disorder diagnostic criteria, paired with a lack of relevant diagnostic codes (van der Kolk, 2005; 2014) may lead to the misdiagnosis of music students with behavioral difficulties (Price, 2022).

Following trauma, students may develop maladaptive behaviors that pose difficulties to functioning within the expectations of the typical classroom. Chronic states of hypervigilance, or hyperaroused autonomic functioning, may leave to angry outbursts, overreactions, or avoidant/fleeing behaviors. Dysregulated states may cause children to encounter difficulty sustaining their attention and vacillating moods that impair relationship building. Neurological changes, occurring post-trauma and entirely out of the student’s control, might lead to reduced self-regulation, deficits in social skills, noncompliance, disruption, violence, withdrawal, isolation, sexually inappropriate behavior, and regression. Hostile attributional biases, or the tendency to assume hostile intent or mislabel facial signaling, documented in children surviving trauma, may cause benign interactions to be viewed as threatening (Dodge et al., 1990; Pollak et al.,

2000). During these trauma reactions, we as educators might personalize the behaviors, which are beyond the student’s control.

TRAUMA-INFORMED LENS

So, what is a music teacher to do? Given trauma’s devastating impact, it may seem logical to parse out students we believe are exhibiting trauma responses or go deeper into students’ backgrounds to see who might be affected. Venet (2021) posits this process of being a “trauma detective” is harmful to students, and rather suggests employing a trauma lens. Seeing through a trauma lens acknowledges that trauma is pervasive throughout society and in schools, and most often stems from various forms of oppression like poverty and racism. This way of seeing acknowledges that any child can live with the lasting effects of trauma, and that assuming certain students as traumatized often implicates our biases and prejudices. A trauma lens recognizes that pinpointing “trauma students” encourages further marginalization and harm to students who are often most vulnerable in schools. A trauma lens requires us to offer compassion to all students with a chance to express themselves, and to be seen and heard.

“Seeing through a trauma lens acknowledges that trauma is pervasive throughout society and in schools, and most often stems from various forms of oppression like poverty and racism.”

Compassionate responses, however, can also be confused for pity, or looking down on another from above (Hendricks, 2018). Pity contributes to deficit lenses of students by placing the focus on all they lack. Pity also contributes to a salvationist narrative, or the idea that students need us to save them. Salvationist narratives are implicated in the need to control and have power over students. The power of a teacher can be very threatening to students who live with the lasting effects of trauma.

Therefore, the learning environment must be set up for students and teachers to share power. To be on equal footing requires us to form mutual relationships with students. Strong teacher-student relationships create a sense of belonging and can buffer trauma responses in students (Hibbard, 2021). Mutuality can be most

challenging when teachers are triggered by students’ trauma responses, and might act in ways fueled by anger, blame, or a desire to punish. When a child’s behavior is deemed to be out-of-control, strategies associated with “good classroom management” can lead to isolation, exclusion, and other types of humiliation for the child. Unfortunately, teachers’ attempts to gain control often exacerbate students’ stress responses and create a tension in the relationship that breaches trust. Therefore, the foundation of a trauma lens is a music teacher’s constant commitment to building, maintaining, and mending relationships with students, which may create a sense of belonging and stand as the foundation for music learning. Equitable relationships can disrupt triggering trauma response cycles (for both students and teachers), but more importantly, can offer a buffer from trauma through moments of shared joy, and musical expression (Hibbard & Price, in press). As music educators, we must find ways, musical and otherwise, that encourage us to know and see students beyond their trauma (Ginright, 2015; Love, 2019), and beyond the types of behaviors that we may be tempted

to pathologize. For this, there is no formula. Seeing with a trauma lens requires teachers to continually ask “Are my actions grounded in cultivating safety or control?” (Education for Literation Network & Critical Resistance Editorial Collective, 2021). Do I structure musical learning in a manner that opens avenues for authentic engagement with music curriculum and facilitates opportunities for musical expression? Do I share decision-making and power with students? Do I allow a space for students to be themselves? Do I allow a space for students to feel and express joy?

PROACTIVE

Music teachers might receive further guidance with a trauma lens by applying principles of Trauma-Informed Care (Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care, 2015) to their classroom environment. Trauma-Informed Care principles include safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment.

SAFETY CHOICE COLLABORATION TRUSTWORTHINESS EMPOWERMENT

Ensuring physical and emotional safety

Placing students in a circular or horseshoe seating arrangement, stating safety goals and expectations, monitoring the environment, evaluating physical positioning

Individual has choice and control

Decisions are made collaboratively; power is shared

Task clarity, consistency, honoring interpersonal boundaries

Engaging in planning that includes opportunities for students to choose stations, assessment, mediums, repertoire, etc., allowing students to enter the activity when they are ready

Co-creating musical pieces, forms, arrangement, art displays, games, movements, and class expectations

Asking permission, establishing a routine, choosing unveiled language, giving students notice

Prioritizing empowerment and skill building

REACTIVE

Moving objects away from a student in crisis, utilizing “stop, do” language

Reminding a student who is cursing at a peer that they have the opportunity to choose different words

Working with an overwhelmed student to find a solution

Apologizing when you inevitably forget to do something, taking ownership for misunderstandings

Prioritizing student ideas, proactive verbal affirmation

Responding with praise when students display target skills or turn their behaviors around

“Trauma-Informed Care principles include safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment.”

Now, we invite you to return to the puzzling scenario you wrote about at the beginning of this article. Within a trauma lens, refer directly above to the principles and examples of trauma-informed care. What issues, in terms of the principles above, could have been compromised prior to this incident? What principles did/could you employ to repair the situation with the student (reactive)? Can you refer to these principles to see how this situation could be prevented in the future (proactive)? Do you know what the student is passionate about? Do you know what brings the student joy?

Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., Turner, H., & Hamby, S. L. (2005). The victimization of children and youth: A comprehensive national survey. Child Maltreatment, 10(1), 5–25.

Ginwright, S. (2015). Hope and healing in urban education: How urban activists and teachers are reclaiming matters of the heart. Routledge.

Hendricks, K. S. (2018). Compassionate music teaching: A framework for motivation and engagement in the 21st Century. Rowman & Littlefield.

Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violencefrom domestic abuse to political terror (2nd ed.). Basic Books.

Hibbard, S. L., & Price, E. (in press). Trauma: A compassionate lens for music teaching. In K. S. Hendricks (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education (pp. xx-xx). Oxford University Press.

Hibbard, S. L. (2021). Disrupting “What we know too well:” A relational frame for considering trauma in music education. In D. Bradley & J. Hess (Eds.), Trauma and resilience in music education: Haunted melodies (pp. 35–48). Routledge Publications.

Love, B. L. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.

We hope you are encouraged. You are not alone—this work is challenging and requires we use our imagination to find solutions alongside students. Seeing with a trauma lens asks us to do the hard work of seeing our even our most challenging students as humans and musicians with unlimited potential, and that we will work it out together.

REFERENCES

Burns, B.J., Phillips, S.D., Wagner, H.R., Barth, R.P., Kolko, D.J., Campbell, Y., & Landsverk, (2004). Mental health need and access to mental health services by youths involved with child welfare: A national survey. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 43(8), 960–970.

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2014). Trauma-informed care in behavioral health services (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US).

Cole, P. M., Usher, B. A., & Cargo, A. P. (1993). Cognitive risk and its association with risk for disruptive behavior disorder in preschoolers. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22(2), 154–164.

Dodge, K. A., Price, J. M., Bachorowski, J., & Newman, J. P. (1990). Hostile attributional biases in severely aggressive adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99(4), 385–392.

Education for Literation Network & Critical Resistance Editorial Collective (2021). Lessons in liberation: An abolitionist toolkit for educators. AK Press.

Pollak, S. D., Cicchetti, D., Hornung, K., & Reed, A. (2000). Recognizing emotion in faces: Developmental effects of child abuse and neglect. Developmental Psychology, 36(5), 679–688.

Price, E. E. (2022). Behavioral strategies for trauma-informed elementary general music education for students with emotional/ behavioral disorders: A review of the literature. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. Advance online publication.

Shonk, S. M., & Cicchetti, D. (2001). Maltreatment, competency deficits, and risk for academic and behavioral maladjustment. Developmental Psychology, 37(1), 3–17.

Walrath, C. M., Ybarra, M. L., Sheehan, A. K., Holden, E. W., & Burns, B. J. (2006). Impact of maltreatment on children served in community mental health programs. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 14(3), 143–156.

Whitson, M. L., Connell, C. M., Bernard, S., & Kaufman, J. S. (2012). An examination of exposure to traumatic events and symptoms and strengths for children served in a behavioral health system of care. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 20(3), 193–207.

van der Kolk, B. A. (2005). Developmental trauma disorder: Toward a rational diagnosis for children with complex trauma histories. Psychiatric Annals, 35(5), 401–408.

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Publishing Group.

Venet, A. S. (2021). Equity-centered trauma-informed education. W. W. Norton and Company.

“Seeing with a trauma lens asks us to do the hard work of seeing our even our most challenging students as humans and musicians with unlimited potential, and that we will work it out together.”

NAfME member Erin Price, M.M. is a special education music teacher and researcher in the Greater Harrisburg area. Prior to teaching general music and elementary special education music for Commonwealth Charter Academy, Ms. Price worked in multiple Pennsylvania Approved Private Schools for students with Emotional Disturbance, where she served K-21 students with advanced

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