N O R T H C A R O L I N A
MUSIC EDUCATOR
Volume 71 Number 2 Conference 2020
NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 1
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2 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 1
N O R T H C A R O L I N A
MUSIC EDUCATOR
History Making Law Passes
NCMEA Board Directory
NCMEA Executive Director’s Message
Pat Hall
3
4
6
A special thank you to all our advertisers who
support music educators and music education in
North Carolina.
History Making Law Passes
for the Future of NC Students
NC Arts High School Graduation Requirement
Signed into Law by Governor Cooper
NCMEA President’s Message
Carol Earnhardt
Connect, Rejuvenate, Energize from a Distance
Keynote Speakers
All-National Ensembles
General Music Interest Sessions
Art Education is Essential
Awards, Grants & Scholarships
NCMEA Past Presidents
Honorary Life Members
Band Section
Virtual Conference Info
Bandmasters 2020 Elections
Elementary Choral Section
High School Choral Section
Middle School Choral Section
Choral Sessions
Jazz
Jazz Ed & Racism
Todd Stoll
IVfME Webinars
Orchestra
Technology
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9
10
11
12
13
19
20
20
22
25
27
30
34
35
35
38
39
41
42
48
Brevard College
East Carolina University
Hayes School of Music
Messiah University
NAfME
NCACDA
UNC Chapel Hill
UNC Charlotte
UNC Greensboro
UNC Pembroke
UNC School of the Arts
UNC Wilmington
Western Carolina University
Yamaha
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Inside Back Cover
31, 41, Back Cover
36
23
21
33
7
45
17, 47
37
Inside Front Cover
Editorial: All editorial content should be sent to: Kimberly
Justen, Editor-in-Chief, at journal_editor@ncmea.net.
Advertising: Information requests and ad orders should
be directed to Kimberly Justen, Editor-in-Chief, at
journal_editor@ncmea.net.
North Carolina Music Educator is copyrighted. Reproduction
in any form is illegal without the express permission of the
editor.
Postmaster: Send address changes to: NC Music Educator, c/o
NCMEA, 883-C Washington Street, Raleigh, NC 27605.
Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Organization U.S. Postage Paid at Lubbock,
Texas. ISSN Number 0400-3332 EIN number
20-3325550
On July 2, 2020, Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 681
into law which, among other things, created an Arts High School
Graduation Requirement in North Carolina. Arts NC had worked
for this vital arts education legislation for over a decade and fully
supports this major breakthrough for equitable access to quality
arts instruction as part of a well-rounded education for every
North Carolina student. Now, according to NC State Law:
• A student must complete ONE arts credit (music, visual
art, theatre arts, dance) between grades 6 and 12 in order
to graduate from high school, beginning with those
students entering grade 6 in 2022.
• The NC State Board of Education will define the
standards of the arts credit and plan for its phased-in
implementation.
• The NC State Board of Education would report to the Joint
Legislative Oversight Committee on or before December
15, 2022 about the implementation of this high school
graduation requirement and of the three components
of Comprehensive Arts Education (arts education, arts
integration, and arts exposure)
It was June of 2010 when Rep. Becky
Carney and Rep. Linda Johnson first offered
an amendment to establish a Comprehensive
Arts Education plan, and both worked
tirelessly as champions for arts education
alongside former Arts NC Executive
Director Karen Wells to make the arts high
school graduation requirement a reality.
There have been half a dozen bills filed to
create this graduation requirement over the
last decade. Most recently H56 was filed in
2019 by Rep. Becky Carney and her fellow
Joint Caucus on Arts and Arts Education
House Chair, Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, who has
also been a champion for arts education
since his arrival at the NC General Assembly.
Senate Chairs of the Joint Caucus on Arts
and Arts Education, Sen. Deanna Ballard
and Sen. Mike Woodard, also filed an
identical bill (S238) in 2019, which additionally supported the
requirement’s inclusion in the 2019 state budget. Although it
passed both chambers of the legislature, the Governor’s veto
kept it from becoming law. This years-long effort and bipartisan
support enabled the language from those bills to be added to
S681 in committee on Thursday, June 25, and was approved by
both chambers of the NC General Assembly in the wee hours of
the morning. With Governor Cooper’s signature, the Arts High
School Graduation Requirement became law in North Carolina.
Arts NC Executive Director, Nate McGaha said, “We want to
express tremendous gratitude to all the legislators and advocates
that never gave up on this issue over these many years. This
victory for arts education is a testament to the value of advocacy
and perseverance.” This accomplishment is, of course, made
bittersweet by the fact that it cannot be shared with Rep. Johnson,
who passed away in February 2020. We are glad we can build on
the work that Rep. Johnson, Rep. Carney, and so many others
started, and together create a North Carolina where equitable
access to comprehensive arts education can be embraced by all as
indispensable.
2 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 3
Board of Directors
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
SECTION CHAIRS
COMMISSION & COMMITTEE CHAIRS
President: Carol Earnhardt*
Forsyth County
cearnhardt@ncmea.net
Immediate Past President:
Jazzmone Sutton*
Wake County
jsutton@ncmea.net
President-Elect: Johnathan Hamiel*
Forsyth County
jhamiel@ncmea.net
Recording Secretary:
Ruth Petersen*
Mecklenburg County
secretary@ncmea.net
Member-at-Large:
Lillie Allmond Harris*
Guilford County
member-at-large1@ncmea.net
Member-at-Large: Quincy Lundy*
Forsyth County
member-at-large2@ncmea.net
Band: Jason Barclift*
Guilford County
band_chair@ncmea.net
Band Section Delegate:
Alyssa Montgomery*
Wake County
band_delegate@ncmea.net
Collegiate NAfME: Molly Griffin*
Pitt County
collegiate_president@ncmea.net
Elementary: Dee Yoder*
Burke County
elementary_section@ncmea.net
High School Choral:
Bethany Jennings*
Gaston County
hschoral_chair@ncmea.net
Higher Education: Brett Nolker*
Guilford County
higher_education@ncmea.net
Jazz Education: Josh Cvijanovic*
Orange County
jazz_chair@ncmea.net
Jazz Section Delegate:
David Lail*
Mecklenburg County
jazz_delegate@ncmea.net
Middle School Choral:
Aaron Lafreniere*
Mecklenburg County
mschoral_chair@ncmea.net
Orchestra: Donald Walter*
Guilford County
orchestra_chair@ncmea.net
Orchestra Section Delegate:
Corrie Franklin*
Orange County
orchestra_delegate@ncmea.net
Exceptional Children & General
Music: Rue S. Lee-Holmes
Sampson County
exeptionalchildren_generalmusic@ncmea.net
Conference Chair: Barbara Geer
Forsyth County
conference_chair@ncmea.net
Asst. Conference Chair: Adam Joiner
Forsyth County
conference_assistant@ncmea.net
Mentoring: Windy Fullagar
Mecklenburg County
mentoring_program@ncmea.net
IVfME:
Jazzmone Sutton
Wake County
jsutton@ncmea.net
AWARDS, GRANTS
& SCHOLARSHIP CHAIRS
Music In Our Schools Month:
Angela Mangum
Granville County
miosm_chair@ncmea.net
Music Program Leaders:
Andrew Craft
Forsyth County
music_program_leader@ncmea.net
Research: Tim Nowak
Pitt County
research_chair@ncmea.net
Retired Membership: Libby Brown
Watauga County
retired_membership@ncmea.net
Student Activities:
Johnathan Hamiel
Forsyth County
jhamiel@ncmea.net
STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Teacher Education: Jose Rivera
Robeson County
teacher_education@ncmea.net
Technology Chair:
Howell “Howie” Ledford
Guilford County
technology_chair@ncmea.net
Tri-M: Jennifer Wells
Alamance County
tri-m@ncmea.net
Webmaster: Mark Healy
Wake County
mhealy@ncmea.net
Young Professionals: Lisa Qualls
Randolph County
young_professionals@ncmea.net
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS
DISTRICT PRESIDENTS
Awards: Lillie Allmond Harris
Guilford County
member-at-large1@ncmea.net
Mini Grant: Jazzmone Sutton
Wake County
jsutton@ncmea.net
Summer Professional
Development Grant: Jose Rivera
Robeson County
teacher_education@ncmea.net
Scholarships: Quincy Lundy
Mecklenburg County
member-at-large2@ncmea.net
Advocacy: James Daugherty
Davidson County
jdaugherty@ncmea.net
Constitution: Maribeth Yoder-White
Watauga County
constitution_committee@ncmea.net
Finance: Jazzmone Sutton
Wake County
jsutton@ncmea.net
Membership: Johnathan Hamiel
Forsyth County
jhamiel@ncmea.net
Publications: Kim Justen
journal_editor@ncmea.net
Collegiate NAfME Advisor:
Lisa Runner
Randolph County
collegiate_advisor@ncmea.net
Editor: Kim Justen
journal_editor@ncmea.net
Executive Director: Pat Hall
Wake County
pathall@ncmea.net
Historian: Dr. John Henry, Jr.
Guilford County
historian@ncmea.net
District 1: Dawn Rockwell*
Beaufort County
district1@ncmea.net
District 2: Jeffrey Danielson*
Carteret County
district2@ncmea.net
District 3: Tonya Suggs*
Wake County
district3@ncmea.net
District 4: Tyler Harper*
Robeson County
district4@ncmea.net
District 5: Tonya Allison*
Forsyth County
district5@ncmea.net
District 6: Alice Pounders*
Lincoln County
district6@ncmea.net
District 7: Jonathan Chesson*
Burke County
district7@ncmea.net
District 8: James Phillips*
Henderson County
district8@ncmea.net
* Voting Member
Counties listed reflect the county taught in
883-C Washington Street
Raleigh, NC 27605
919-424-7008
www.ncmea.net
Executive Director: Pat Hall
pathall@ncmea.net
NCMEA OFFICE
Communications Manager:
Mark Healy
Wake County
mhealy@ncmea.net
Music Industry Rep.: Adam Frank
Mecklenburg County
music_industry_rep@ncmea.net
Parlimentarian: Dave Albert
Wake County
parlimentarian@ncmea.net
NCDPI Rep.: Brandon Roeder
Granville County
brandon.roeder@dpi.nc.gov
advancing music education by promoting
the understanding and making of music by all
4 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 5
Notes from the Executive Director
Pat Hall
For better or worse, this pandemic has thrown all of us into
doing things differently than we have before. We were very
excited to be planning NCMEA’s 50th anniversary year
with special performances from Voctave, Airmen of Note and
Boston Brass. All the section chairs
were inviting renowned national
speakers. The Honors Orchestra
commissioned a 50th anniversary
piece from composer Brian Balamages.
And we were planning a very special
awards luncheon featuring directors
ensembles for the last day of the
Professional Development Conference.
The conference planning
committee made the decision in
early June to present the conference
virtually this year. I just sat back and
said to myself, how do I do that? The
first thing that came to mind was using the conference mobile
app. Hey, it’s paid for. It could be used the same way as in-person,
right? All we need to do is add the links for the Zoom sessions.
Fingers crossed.
The next challenge was figuring out many sessions we could
offer simultaneously. NCMEA only has one Zoom license. Yes,
we could purchase more Zoom licenses but with a staff of one
full-time and one half-time person, how would we run the
number of sessions already being planned?
We looked into several virtual event companies, including the
vendor who makes our app. The
cost was pretty high and we had
no way to gauge how many
of you would register and
pay for a virtual conference.
(We hope all of you will.)
The solution came from
board member and Teacher
Education chair, Jose Rivera.
We could use the Zoom
licenses at UNC Pembroke
and collegiate members could staff the computer lab. The more
than 50 LIVE sessions will be scheduled on three UNC Pembroke
Zoom licenses. NCMEA will increase our Zoom licenses from
one to three for meetings and networking sessions. We are also
offering more than 20 ON DEMAND
sessions that will link to NCMEA’s
YouTube Channel.
Last year, you brought your tech to Conference.
This year, your tech is bringing Conference to you!
Registration
You won’t want to miss the
Connect: Opening Session and
Energize: Closing Celebration that
NCMEA President Carol Earnhardt is
pulling together. They will be fun and
full of surprises!
Fingers crossed everything works
as planned!
We encourage you to register no later than
Nov 2 for early access to the App!
https://www.ncmea.net/ncmea-conference/conferenceregistration-info/
• Active Member $75
• Introductory Member $50
• Collegiate Member $35
• Non-Member $150
• Retired Member
FUTURE CONFERENCE DATES
November 6 – 9, 2021
November 5 – 8, 2022
November 4 – 7, 2023
November 8 – 12, 2024
No Fee
Faculty who do what they teach.
Our faculty are highly-credentialed scholars, educators,
and performers. We invite prospective students to take a
free lesson with a faculty member and learn more about
what it's like to be a student at UNCP.
NC Promise continues!
STUDY WHAT YOU LOVE
Study music...your way.
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6 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 7
President’s Message
Carol Earnhardt
Connect, Rejuvenate, Energize...
From a Distance
2020 NCMEA Virtual Conference General Sessions
From 1976 to 2009, Paul Harvey hosted a radio show called
“The Rest of the Story.” Harvey held many positions in
broadcasting, but it was this show that made him the most
popular radio personality in American history. In this show,
Paul Harvey presented the untold story behind some of history’s
strangest forgotten or little known facts. The tagline of the story
was held until the end, and included the name of the celebrity,
historical figure, or politician to whom the story was about. He
would always end with, “and now you know... the rest of the story.”
This week, most of us begin our fourth week of teaching. I have
never been more exhausted. After a summer spent digging for
resources I could use for online or hybrid teaching, I have spent
most of my time teaching kids how to use technology instead of
teaching them music. Don’t get me wrong. There have been some
great moments in the past three weeks. I’ve learned more about my
students than I ever would have had things been normal. We have
all been so isolated for so long, it has been wonderful to hear their
stories from the past summer and see their resiliency as we tread
through these unknown waters.
I would like to say my students and I have settled into a routine.
But, the truth is, the future is full of uncertainty and that makes
us all feel out of sorts. Will online learning be the year-long
classroom? Will my school system switch to a hybrid schedule?
Will I be in the chorus room with all of my students before
graduation? I’m trying very hard to stay positive and project energy
into the zoom classroom – but teaching remotely feels so odd.
We’ve all done things to adjust to this crazy time in which
we are living. I am most proud of the board members who have
worked tirelessly on our virtual conference. In a typical year,
conference planners receive session proposals in March and have
most things planned for the conference by the end of the summer.
But this year, on top of all the other duties of being a “firstyear”
virtual/hybrid teacher, the NCMEA board members shifted
gears in August and have put together what will be an incredible
conference. Like remote and hybrid teaching, the 2020 conference
will feel odd in some ways. But, I am sure it will be a conference
in which you will walk away feeling connected, energized, and
rejuvenated. Like all of you, I know I will miss the interaction with
my colleagues from across the state. That is why a major goal of all
conference planners has been to make time for social interactions
virtually. The great thing is you can wear pajama pants while
meeting new friends!
Your NCMEA leadership team has also been hard at work this
summer. We have continued our advocacy efforts throughout
the summer, working with the North Carolina American Choral
Directors Association and with the North Carolina Bandmasters
Association to draft statements in support of music teachers across
the state. We have emailed Dr. Mandy Cohen, the secretary of
the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
(NCDHHS), concerning the document Strong Schools NC; Public
Health Toolkit (K-12), authored by representatives at NCDHHS.
On three separate occasions, we have urged Dr. Cohen to
change the wording in the document concerning singing in groups
and playing woodwind and brass instruments (see p. 4). We will
continue to advocate for statements that offer mitigation strategies
for these activities instead of advice to exclude these activities as
the document is currently written.
In June, the leadership team met for two days to discuss future
initiatives and goals of NCMEA. One such initiative was to launch
the Inclusive Vision for Music Education (IVfME) committee,
formerly the multicultural committee. IVfME will hold several
webinars throughout the year focused on inclusion, diversity,
equity, and access in the music classroom. Board members met
via zoom in August, and while the state of the world is uncertain,
NCMEA is a healthy organization that will weather this storm.
Paul Harvey passed away in 2009, but I still get nostalgic every
time I hear his voice. I wish I could hear him tell the rest of our
story when COVID-19 is a memory. The resiliency I have seen in
my students, I have also seen in music teachers across the state. I
know our story would be one of his most popular broadcasts:
A pandemic threatened the world. Music teachers were told
singing and playing instruments increases the spread of the virus.
Music teachers grieved over having to teach their students in a
“zoom room” or in a room where students were distanced apart
from one another in the classroom that was once loud, active, and
full of energy. Music making stopped and performances ceased.
But... music teachers adapted.
Their students continued to create, respond and perform
music virtually. They enriched and rejuvenated their students by
using music for the development of social and emotional skills.
And, they remained a beacon of consistency, warmth, trust, and
confidence in the lives of their students – proving, yet again, that
music teachers are the most innovative, flexible, devoted, and
hard-working teachers in the education workforce. When the
threat of the virus disappeared, students returned
to music classrooms everywhere with a
renewed hunger to create, to perform,
to make music... together. Everywhere
choirs, bands, and orchestras gathered
together again. As the music teacher
signaled for the first note to sound,
students learned how hard it is to read
music with tears in your eyes. And
now you know… the rest of the story.
CONNECT
Don’t miss the opening session of the conference on Saturday, November 7, at 9 a.m., as we CONNECT with our past history and
with our parent organization, NAfME. We will be joined by keynote speakers Dr. Connie McKoy and Sonja Williams. Dr. McKoy is
one of the nation’s top experts on culturally responsive teaching in music education. She will share with us the “merger story” - an
interesting and engaging historical piece that tells the birth of NCMEA in 1970. Sonja Williams is no stranger to us, as she is a North
Carolina native and a past president of NCMEA. Sonja is currently the president of the Southern Division of NAfME. She will bring
greetings from the Southern Division and National office of our organization and share with us the vision and future initiatives of
NAfME.
REJUVINATE
Lesley Moffatt is a high school band director from Washington State. In addition to authoring two books, I Love My Job But It’s
Killing Me and Love the Job, Lose the Stress, she is an active teacher, clinician, and speaker advocating for the social and emotional
health of teachers. Join Lesley in a roundtable on Saturday, November 7, 12 – 1 p.m., as she REJUVINATES our spirit and our love for
teaching in a roundtable discussion about teachers’ social and emotional health in the time of COVID-19 and beyond.
ENERGIZE
Join us for the general session on Tuesday, November 10, at 7 p.m., as we are ENERGIZED by keynote speakers Dr. Scott Edgar and
Anne Fennell. Scott Edgar is the author of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: The Heart of Teaching Music. At the general
session, Dr. Edgar will talk to us about teacher social and emotional health during the pandemic. Don’t miss Dr. Edgar’s other sessions
– two sessions on the teaching of social and emotional skills through music education (Saturday, November 7, 1 – 2 p.m. and Sunday,
November 8, 9 – 10 a.m.). His final session on Sunday, November 8, 3 – 4 p.m., will offer a deeper dive into social and emotional
learning in the music education classroom. Anne Fennell, a music supervisor from California, will join us as the second keynote
speaker for Tuesday evening. Anne is a ball of ENERGY with a great heart for students and teachers. I am sure she and Dr. Edgar will
serve as a perfect closure to our conference!
A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA... from a distance!
Although the BIG celebration of our 50th anniversary is delayed until the November 2021 conference, there will still be some
exciting things happening at the general sessions to celebrate and congratulate you all on supporting music education for the past
50 years. Both the Saturday morning and Tuesday evening general sessions will include some surprise performances as well as guest
appearances by celebrities and advocates for music education. Several universities will perform for us... from a distance. Despite the
pandemic, there are many wonderful collegiate ensembles who are continuing rehearsals and performances with mitigation strategies.
The general sessions will be something you will not want to miss this year!
Register today
so you’ll be ready for Conference in November! Don’t forget your slippers!
https://www.ncmea.net/ncmea-conference/conferenceregistration-info/
8 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 9
Keynote Speakers
Scott Edgar
Dr. Scott N. Edgar is associate professor
of music, music education chair, and
director of bands at Lake Forest College.
He received his Doctorate of Philosophy
in music education from the University of
Michigan, his master’s in education from
the University of Dayton, and his Bachelor
of Music in music education degree from
Bowling Green State University.
His previous teaching experience in higher education includes
work at Adrian College and Concordia College Ann Arbor. Prior to
his work in higher education, he taught K – 12 instrumental music
in Ohio and Michigan. Edgar is the author of Music Education
and Social Emotional Learning: The Heart of Teaching Music and is
an internationally sought-after clinician on the topic. In addition
to clinics, he also teaches graduate courses on Musical Social
Emotional Learning at VanderCook College of Music.
He is an active clinician and adjudicator for both concert
band and marching band, and regularly presents at professional
development and research conferences. Edgar is a Music for All
educational consultant, a Conn-Selmer educational clinician and
VH1 Save the Music Foundation educational consultant. He is
a member of the National Association for Music Education, the
American Educational Research Association, the College Music
Society, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music fraternity and Kappa Kappa
Psi Band fraternity.
Anne Fennell
Anne Fennell is president elect for the
California Music Educators Association,
the music program manager for San Diego
Unified School District, and the immediate
past chair for the National Association for
Music Education’s innovation council. She
holds a bachelor’s in music education, a
master’s in educational leadership studies,
Orff-Schulwerk Levels: I-II-III, and over 90
additional graduate hours.
Her experiences include 32 years of teaching music
composition and steel drum ensembles (grades 9-12), K – Grade 8
music through Orff-Schulwerk, and leading vocal and instrumental
ensembles in civic, professional, and national performances. Anne
is a published author with Pearson, the GRAMMY Foundation,
Percussion Marketing Council, and Disney’s Little/Baby Einsteins.
She has received numerous state and national awards, including
the 2020 Technology in Music Education National Teacher of the
Year, 2017 Magnet Schools of America National Teacher of the
Year, top 10 GRAMMY Music Educator Finalist for 2016, and top 3
Music Educator award from Music and Arts in 2015.
Constance McKoy
A native of Fayetteville, Connie McKoy is Marion Stedman
Covington Distinguished Professor and director of undergraduate
studies in the UNC Greensboro school of
music, where she also teaches undergraduate
and graduate music education courses. She
holds a B.M. in music education from the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music and M.M.
and Ph.D. degrees from UNC Greensboro.
She has 19 years of public school teaching
experience as a general music teacher, choral
director, and band assistant.
Her research, which has been presented nationally and
internationally, has focused on music teachers’ cross-cultural
competence, and culturally responsive pedagogy in music. Her
work has been published in numerous publications, including
The Journal of Research in Music Education, and the International
Journal of Music Education.
McKoy is an active clinician for state, regional, and national
music education organizations, and has been the keynote speaker
for foour state music education association conferences. She has
presented workshops at colleges and universities throughout the
United States. She is certified through Level III of Orff Schulwerk
pedagogy, and has taught recorder for Levels I – III. She has served
as conductor/clinician for elementary, middle, and high school
All-County choruses across North Carolina, and in 2010, she
conducted the North Carolina All-State Middle School SSA Choir.
In 2017 and 2019, McKoy participated in the Yale Symposium
on Music in Schools and contributed to the 2017 symposium
document, Declaration on Equity in Music for City Students. She
is co-author of Culturally Responsive Teaching in Music Education:
From Understanding to Application, published by Routledge.
Lesley Moffat
Lesley Moffat has taught high school
band for over thirty years in the Pacific
Northwest. Her ensembles have performed
all over the United States and in Canada,
including multiple performances at
Carnegie Hall. She has written two #1
international bestselling books and raised
three daughters.
Following decades of chronic illness
and exhaustion the result of the stress that comes with running a
band program that included over 300 students, she revamped her
teaching strategies to support a healthier balance and lifestyle.
Her first book, I Love My Job but It’s Killing Me, became an
international bestseller as teachers all over the world recognized
their story in hers. Having applied the lessons she learned through
her own health challenges, she wrote her second book, Love the Job,
Lose the Stress as a lesson plan for music teachers in the process of
building music programs but who want to do it with the stamina it
takes to stay in it for the long haul.
Now on a mission to help other music teachers learn how to
navigate the responsibilities of teaching music in a post-pandemic
education system, she founded the mPowered Music Educator
Academy, where she runs Band Director Boot Camp, a program
that gives the passionate but overworked music teacher tools she
needs to build a successful program without burning out.
Sonja Williams
Sonja Zonetta McLean Williams, a
native of Jacksonville, N.C., received her
education in Onslow County. She continued
her studies at North Carolina School of the
Arts, where she received a Bachelor of Music
in vocal performance. After leaving NCSA,
Williams went to New York and received her
Master of Music in vocal performance from
Manhattan School of Music. While in New
York, she performed with the Opera Ensemble of New York in their
production of Four Saints in Three Acts.
She returned to North Carolina and began teaching at North
Carolina A&T State University. She married and went back to
Onslow County, where she taught K –5 general music at Richlands
Elementary School for two years. She received her K-12 Music
Certification from East Carolina University during that time.
Williams was also an adjunct instructor for Campbell University for
fourteen years.
She served the NCMEA Middle School Choral Section as
member-at-large, chair-elect, chair, solo/small ensemble/large choral
festival adjudicator. She served on the NCMEA board of directors
as member-at-large and scholarship chair. She is an NCMEA past
president, and is the NAfME Southern Division president.
In the community, she is the secretary of the local chapter
of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., a community-conscious, actionoriented
organization. She served as the minister of music at
St. Julia A.M.E. Zion Church for 15 years. She has presented
workshops on hymns of the church, entitled “The Church Sings
Again.” She continues to perform, adjudicate, and has conducted
All-County choruses throughout the state.
ALL-NATIONAL HONORS ENSEMBLES
Due to COVID-19, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person All-National Honor
Ensembles, originally scheduled to take place November 4-8 in Orlando.
NCMEA congratulates the following students and their music directors that were
selected for the 2020 All-National Honors Ensembles!
CONCERT BAND
Hylton Baker, Flute 1
Central Davidson High School
Wesley Allred
Zachary Bonham, Trumpet 2
Corinth Holders High Schooll
Olivia Spell
Anthony Dockett III, Euphonium
New Bern High School
Christopher Elbing
Leon Gu, Clarinet 2
Panther Creek High School
David Robinson
Alex Troutman, French Horn 3
Leesville Road High School
Alyssa Montgomery
Derek Yao, Trombone 2
Chapel Hill High School
John Carmichael
JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Marvin Koonce, Piano
Cary Academy
Lester Turner
MIXED CHOIR
El Bloom, Alto 1
Enloe Magnet High School
Lauren Hallihan
Ethan Bunch, Bass 1
Enloe Magnet High School
Lauren Hallihan
Madison Hunter, Alto 1
Corinth Holders High School
Sarah Fawn McLamb
Rebecca Korzelius, Soprano 1
Longleaf School of the Arts
Devon Shook
Ellie Schneider, Soprano 1
Enloe Magnet High School
Lauren Hallihan
Tyler Stewart, Bass 2
Bandys High School
Allison Keisler
Mateo Vargas, Bass 2
Enloe Magnet High School
Lauren Hallihan
MODERN BAND
Alston Harris, Drums
RJ Reynolds High School
Johnathan Hamiel
Tanya Qu, Piano
NC School of Science & Math
Scott Laird
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Luke Darney, Double Bass
Enloe Magnet High School
Elizabeth McCollum
Seungha Lee, Viola
Myers Park High School
Felicia Sink
Sophia Liu, Violin 1
Cary Academy
Yiying Qiao
Megan Talikoff, Clarinet 1
East Chapel Hill High School
Ryan Ellefsen
Evan Villani, Trombone 1
Green Hope High School
Creighton Flowers
10 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 11
Ukulele Jam
Session
You Make the
Music – Bring Your
Ukulele
This jam session is for
anyone who wants to learn
some new songs, or maybe just play them on the ukulele for the
first time. We will be playing music you can use for classrooms,
after-school groups, and community hum-n-strums. McFerrin,
Mars, Beatles, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, Lizzo – Show up for
the fun, and leave with new tunes.
Sandra Teglas
Sandra Teglas is a National Board Certified elementary
music specialist with Guilford County Schools. She holds B.M.,
M.M., and Ph.D. degrees from UNC Greensboro, and Level
3 teacher certification in the James Hill Ukulele Initiative,
“Ukulele in the Classroom.” Formerly at UNC Greensboro, she
has returned to public schools where she teaches K – 5 music,
and uses ukulele and modern band instruction with grades
K – 5. Her students perform regularly in the school, community,
and broader Greensboro area. In 2018, she was selected as the
NCMEA Elementary Music Teacher of the Year. She is published
in the Journal of Band Research, Music Performance Research,
Medical Problems of Performing Artists, and The International
Journal of Audiology. Her presentations include the International
Conference of Music Perception and Cognition (Bologna,
Italy), National Conference of Music Perception and Cognition,
Music Educator’s National Conference, NCMEA Professional
Development Conference, Virginia Music Educators State
Conference, North Carolina – American Choral Directors
Association, and Music in Lifelong Learning Symposium.
Recognizing, Recovering from, and
Preventing Burnout in Music Teachers
Preventing burnout is critical to maintaining a successful
career in teaching. This session, co-presented by a music educator
and a music therapist, will focus on strategies to address and
prevent burnout in music educators. Educators can benefit from
learning to recognize early signs of burnout and unhealthy coping
strategies. The presenters will offer a variety of research-based
personal and professional strategies for maintaining a long and
successful career. Job fit, professional development, maintaining
emotional boundaries, time management, finding rejuvenating
hobbies, engaging with music in new ways, and learning when to
seek professional assistance are the beginning of building your
individual self-care plan.
Jim Waddelow
Jim Waddelow, a native of Oklahoma, joined the faculty of
General Music Interest Sessions
Sessions in this Journal are listed as of press time. For up to date listings, visit the Conference App.
Meredith College as director of instrumental
activities in 2007. He conducts the
Meredith College Philharmonic, Meredith
Sinfonietta and college opera and musical
theater productions. He is music director
of the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. Other
artistic director appointments include
the Oklahoma Haydn Festival, White Iris
Light Opera, and the Next Generation Performing Arts Camp.
He has conducted over 80 musical and opera productions at
the professional and college level. A strong advocate of music
education, he has conducted over 250 guest appearances and
clinics in public schools across the country, and regularly
conducts all-state and all region orchestras.
Tips and Tricks for the Transient Teacher
This session is designed to assist teacher candidates who
are entering a multiple-school job or to expand ideas for those
who currently teach at multiple schools. This session will share
tips for how to increase the visibility of your programs, build
relationships with teachers and administration, set up a mobile
classroom cart, and avoid teacher burn-out. This session applies
to all content areas.
Corrie Franklin
Corrie Franklin is the orchestra
director at Chapel Hill High School and
Culbreth Middle School. She is a National
Board Certified Teacher and serves as
the current NCMEA’s Orchestra delegate.
Prior to Chapel Hill, she taught elementary
orchestra in Wake and Orange counties,
and was the orchestra director at Raleigh
Charter High School. Franklin’s ensembles have received superior
rankings at all-state performance and theme park adjudications.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from UNC
Greensboro. A passionate advocate for orchestra education,
she serves as a director for the Raspberry Ridge String Camp
in Durham, and worked as a camp counselor at the UNC
Greensboro Summer Music Camp. Franklin performs as a violist
in the Durham Symphony, where she previously served as the
Durham Symphony education representative. She believes all
students should have the opportunity to be in an orchestra, and
continues to serve and advocate for strings programs that are
accessible for all students.
Pathway to Success: Creating a Culture of
Excellence
In music programs across the country, student leadership
is often thought of in terms of titles, authority status, section
leader positions, and being in charge of others – a responsibility
Arts Education Is Essential
This statement of support for arts education has been reviewed and endorsed by the national organizations listed on pages two and three.
It is imperative that all students have access to an equitable delivery
of arts education that includes dance, media arts, music, theatre, and
visual arts that supports their educational, social, and emotional
well-being, taught by certified professional arts educators in
partnership with community arts providers.
Teaching and learning will never quite be the same in our post-COVID-19 world. However, our commitment to provide rich
and varied educational experiences remains unwavering. The arts have played an important role in these tumultuous times
and will continue to do so for all students, including the traditionally underrepresented, those with special needs, and from
low-income families. Here’s why:
Arts education supports the social and emotional well-being of students, whether
through distance learning or in person.
Self-awareness, self-efficacy, self-management and perseverance, social awareness and relationship skills
are central to any arts education activity, no matter the age and ability of the student or the environment
in which the learning takes place. The arts, with their strong emphasis on team-building and self-reflection
are supremely suited to re-ignite students’ interest in learning through collaboration, while simultaneously
fostering creativity, critical thinking, and communication.
Arts education nurtures the creation of a welcoming school environment where
students can express themselves in a safe and positive way.
Celebrating our ability to come together as educators and students is vital to creating a healthy and inclusive
school community. The arts, through a rich partnership among certified arts educators, teaching artists,
and community arts providers, play a valuable role in helping students and their families build and sustain
community and cultural connections.
Arts education is part of a well-rounded education for all students as understood and
supported by federal and state policymakers.
As defined in ESSA, “music and the arts” are part of a well-rounded education. Every state in the nation
recognizes the importance of the arts as reflected in rigorous PreK-12 state arts standards. Forty-six states
require an arts credit to receive a high school diploma, and 43 states have instructional requirements in the arts
for elementary and secondary schools. As noted in Arts Education for America’s Students: A Shared Endeavor: “An
education without the arts is inadequate.”
The healing and unifying power of the arts has been evident as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country. We have
seen and heard it play out through works of art on sidewalks, shared musical moments from porches, in plays and dance
performances, and every other imaginable iteration of art making. As states and schools work through multiple challenges
in the years ahead, arts education must remain central to a well-rounded education and fully funded to support the wellbeing
of all students and the entire school community.
Arts Education Is Essential
12 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 13
© 2020, SEADAE
assumed by only a select few. But what if we reframed and
broadened the idea of leadership to include all students as leaders
of their own pathway in life? Topics include key qualities of any
effective leader: communication, attitude, honesty, trust, integrity,
self-discipline, emotional health, goal setting, relationships,
cooperation, loyalty, selflessness. Students are challenged to
create a “moonshot” – to set a goal and achieve something that
has never been done before! All students can benefit when they
see themselves as their own best leaders, and therein lies the
foundation of creating a culture of excellence.
Habits of a SIGNIFICANT Music Educator
This clinic focuses on how knowledge, communication,
phys-ical energy, musicianship and effectiveness create synergy
to produce a successful music educator. “Who you are” as an
educator is explored in a meaningful way. We are in the music
and people business, and every student has a nugget of gold to be
found and cultivated. You can be both successful and significant
as a music educator. Success stops at retirement, but musical and
personal significance lasts for generations to come.
Scott Rush
Scott Rush is the director of fine and
performing arts in Dorchester School
District Two in South Carolina, and is the
former director of bands at Wando High
School in Mount Pleasant, S.C. He is a
graduate of the New England Conservatory
of Music in Boston, and the University
of South Carolina. He currently serves as
conductor of the Charleston Wind
Symphony, a semi-professional ensemble in Charleston.
Under his direction, the Wando symphonic band performed
at the 2007 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and
were recipients of the 2007 Sudler Flag of Honor administered by
the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His marching bands were twotime
BOA Grand National finalists and won the South Carolina
State 5A Marching Band Championships nine consecutive years.
Rush is active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator
throughout the United States and Canada. He is lead writer for
the Habits series and has authored or co-authored ten highly
touted books for GIA Publications.
Rush served as president of the South Carolina Band Directors
Association and is a former member of the board of directors for
the National Band Association. In 2010, he was elected into the
prestigious American Bandmasters Association and in 2011 was
awarded the Bandworld Legion of Honor. In 2015, he was elected
into the South Carolina Band Directors Association Hall of Fame
and in 2016 was awarded the Edwin Franko Goldman Award by
the ASBDA for contributions to music education.
Positively Affirming and Representing
Student Identities in the Music Classroom
The purpose of this session is to discuss approaches music
educators can implement in their music classrooms to positively
affirm and represent the identities of students who represent
marginalized populations.
Dr. Jacqueline C. Henninger
Dr. Jacqueline C. Henninger (PhD, Music Education, MM,
Music Education, and BM Music Studies, The University of Texas
at Austin) began her position as an assistant professor of music
education at Texas Tech University (TTU) in August 2014. In
2018, she was inducted into the TTU Teaching Academy and
was also named a recipient of the TTU Alumni Association
New Faculty Award. Prior to joining the faculty at TTU, she was
a Fulbright Scholar in Sub-Saharan Africa, which enabled her
to teach and research at Tumaini University Makumira in Usa
River, Tanzania, East Africa from 2012 – 2014. From 2005 –
2013, Henninger was an assistant professor of music and human
learning at The University of Texas at Austin. Her teaching
responsibilities have included undergraduate and graduate
courses in music education, coordinating and supervising student
teachers, and advising master and doctoral level examinations,
projects, theses, and dissertations.
Her research, which has been presented at state, national, and
international conferences, is focused on two areas: teacher
preparation and multicultural music education. Henninger is
active in state, national, and international organizations. She
is currently the President of NAfME-Texas, which is the state
affiliate of the national organization. Prior to being elected into
the position of President, she served as President-Elect, Memberat-Large,
and was on the Council of Chairs for NAfME-Texas.
She has also served as the Chair for the Special Research Interest
Group (SRIG): Instructional Strategies with NAfME.
EdTPA 1, 2 3’s For Music Teachers & Student
Teachers
This session will provide an overview of the EdTPA
(Education Teacher Preparation Assessment) and provide handson
activities for music teachers and music education majors.
This session will synthesize EdTPA components, specifically
addressing:
• What is EdTPA?
• What are the expectations of music/clinical teachers?
• What can teachers do to facilitate and support student
teachers?
• EdTPA and Performing Ensembles or General Music
Classrooms?
• Task 1, 2, 3 and Assessment Rubrics
Dr. José Rivera
Dr. José Rivera is coordinator of music education, conducts the
University Chorale, and is an associate professor of choral music
education at UNC Pembroke. His prior appointments include
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, choral director at Lawton
Chiles High School and J.S. Rickards High School in Tallahassee.
MUSIC EDUCATION MUSIC INDUSTRY STUDIES MUSIC PERFORMANCE
MUSIC EDUCATION MUSIC INDUSTRY STUDIES MUSIC PERFORMANCE
WELCOMES NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
MUSIC EDUCATION MUSIC INDUSTRY STUDIES MUSIC PERFORMANCE
MUSIC EDUCATION MUSIC INDUSTRY STUDIES MUSIC PERFORMANCE
MUSIC THERAPY SACRED MUSIC THEORY & COMPOSITION
music.appstate.edu | 828.262.3020
Laura Brown, PhD, MT-BC
Joseph Brown, DMA
MUSIC THERAPY MUSIC THERAPY SACRED
Lecturer in Music Therapy
SACRED MUSIC MUSIC THEORY
Assistant Professor
THEORY & COMPOSITION
of Trombone
& COMPOSITION
music.appstate.edu music.appstate.edu | 828.262.3020 | 828.262.3020
MUSIC THERAPY SACRED MUSIC THEORY & COMPOSITION
14 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 15
music.appstate.edu | 828.262.3020
Rivera has served as clinician for numerous workshops,
honor choirs, and choral adjudications across the country.
He has conducted senior and junior high honor choirs at the
district, state, and regional levels and presented sessions at state,
divisional, and national music conferences of the American
Choral Director Association and NAfME.
He has guest conducted and presented sessions at the
Universidad National Autónoma de Mexico, Universidad de Las
Americas in Puebla, Instituto Superior de las Artes in Havana,
Cuba, and Universidad de Mendoza, Argentina. This year, Rivera
will be conducting a Latin-American Honor Choir at the ACDA
Southern Region Conference. He received his Ph.D., M.M.E.,
and Bachelor’s in music education and conducting from Florida
State University. During his tenure in Florida, he was a successful
public music teacher at the elementary, middle, and high school
levels, where his advanced choirs received various regional and
national awards. Rivera just completed serving a six-year term as
ACDA national chair for ethnic music and currently serves on
the NCMEA board as Teacher Education chair.
Setting Yourself Up for Success – The Early
Years!
It is essential to begin your career with skills that provide a
successful transition into the profession. This session offers a
plan for pre-service teachers and those in their first few years
of the job to better prepare for the demands of teaching music.
With limited time to teach everything in the undergraduate
curriculum, this session helps to provide ideas on what you
should be doing now outside of your course work. This session
will deliver insights on how to begin developing the leadership
and professional skills necessary for successful teaching and steps
to continue to enhance your effectiveness as a teacher.
Dr. Tim Heath
Dr. Tim Heath is currently the director of athletic bands
and assistant teaching professor at Wake Forest University
in Winston-Salem, where he also serves as a member of the
conducting faculty. Previously, he was the director of athletic
bands and assistant professor of music education at Samford
University in Birmingham, Ala. Heath also served as assistant
director of the wind ensemble and was a member of the
conducting faculty during his tenure at Samford. Prior to
teaching there, he was a graduate teaching assistant with The
University of Alabama Bands.
Heath is an active clinician and adjudicator for both concert
band and marching band. As a music educator, Heath has
presented sessions and research at both the state and national
levels and is published in Percussive Notes, The Instrumentalist
and The National Band Association Journal. He holds a bachelor’s
degree from UNC Greensboro, a master’s degree from UNC
Pembroke, and a doctorate from University of Alabama. He
is an active member of the National Association for Music
Education, College Band Directors National Association,
National Band Association, College Music Society, Kappa Delta
Epsilon Education Fraternity, Mu Phi Epsilon, the Percussive
Arts Society’s Scholarly Research Committee, and is an honorary
member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
at University of Alabama and Wake Forest University.
Mind the Gap! Filling in the Blanks Between
College and the Reality of Teaching
The truth is that college does not teach you everything! This
session is geared specifically for college undergraduates and new
teachers and is meant to serve as the bridge between the textbook
knowledge they received during their undergraduate education
and the reality of being a music teacher in today’s society. Topics
of discussion will include how to survive on a teaching salary, job
hunting tips, first week of school tips and much more.
Brandon Meeks
Brandon Meeks is from Charlotte, and received a Bachelor of
Science in music education from Western Carolina University.
While there, he was also a recipient of the North Carolina
Teaching Fellows scholarship program. In 2018, he received a
master’s in music education from Florida State University.
From 2009 – 2016 he served as the director of bands at
East Lincoln Middle School in Iron Station, N.C. While there,
he grew the band program to over 180 students and changed
the face of the band program by placing high expectations on
musical excellence, responsibility, discipline, teamwork, and
respect. Under his leadership, the Falcon Band consistently
received superior and excellent ratings at state festivals,and was
undefeated in the Music in the Parks competitions at Six Flags
Over Georgia, Universal Studios, and Dollywood. In 2013,
Meeks was named the East Lincoln Middle School Teacher of the
Year and was a finalist for the Lincoln County Schools Teacher
of the Year. In 2014, he received National Board Certification.
In 2016, he received the N.C. South-Central District Young
Director Award of Excellence, an award which was voted on by
his colleagues in the South-Central District. Meeks is currently
pursuing a doctoral degree in music education from Florida State
University, where he studies conducting and engages in research
in the music education profession.
What do You Really Care About? –
Assessment in the Music Classroom
This session is meant to provide practitioners with methods
and strategies to assess in their classroom, both formally and
informally. However, the purpose of the session is not assessment
for assessment’s sake, it is for the practitioner to choose and
design assessments thoughtfully around what it is they really
care about. Many early career professionals struggle to determine
what it is they should be assessing and how. Design of activities,
connection to rubrics, and the N.C. Essential Standards for Music
will be discussed. This session is designed to help young and
experienced professionals alike make those decisions and put
them in practice in their classrooms.
UNC WILMINGTON
SUMMER JAZZ WORKSHOP
July 11-16, 2021
Celebrating 24 years
of UNCW summer jazz
for middle and
high school students
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Dr. Frank Bongiorno
chair, department of music
bongiornof@uncw.edu
www.uncw.edu/music
UNCW is an EEO/AA Institution. Accommodations for disabilities may be requested
16 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR
by contacting the Department of Music at 910.962.3415 at least NORTH 10 days CAROLINA prior to the event. MUSIC EDUCATOR | 17
edTPA - A Scorer’s Perspective
As an edTPA scorer, I have read and scored the work of
many pre-service music teachers seeking licensure. Through
scoring, I have learned how to help students plan, carry out
their instruction, and reflect on their teaching while making
salient connections to research-informed teaching practice. This
session is meant to provide pre-service music educators, music
teacher mentors, and/or music teacher educators with strategies,
clarification, and best practices for completing the edTPA.
Morgan C. Soja
Morgan C. Soja is the coordinator of music education at
Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs. She supervises
student teachers, teaches methods courses in music education,
and directs the University Chorale. In addition to staying active
as a vocal, string, and woodwind performer, she also participates
in research with the Supporting Beginning Music Teachers Area
of Strategic Planning and Action. She was recently honored
with the Alfred and Shirley Wampler Caudill Rising Star Award
for teaching, service, scholarship, mentorship, and advising
excellence. Soja holds doctorate and master’s degrees in music
education from UNC Greensboro, and a bachelor’s degree in
music education from Bowling Green State University.
Rural Music Educators: Panel Discussion
In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau classified approximately
one third of North Carolina’s population as living in rural areas,
and nearly two-thirds of North Carolina counties as having a
majority-rural population. The music education profession has,
however, given proportionately less attention to the experiences
of rural teachers and students compared to those of urban and
suburban teachers and students. The existing research suggests
teachers in rural schools may feel professionally isolated, a
condition that might be exacerbated in music by a lack of
attention to their unique situations.
This session will provide rural music teachers in North
Carolina a chance to build professional support networks as we
explore the unique opportunities and challenges of teaching
music in rural areas. A panel of rural-area music teachers will
begin by sharing their experiences, and we will invite attendees
to share experiences of their own. We will then place those
stories in dialogue with current education policy and selected
research findings to examine ways in which rural music teachers
might build upon the unique strengths of their programs while
addressing the significant challenges they face.
This session is intended to be the first of many that will foster
stronger connections between music teachers in rural areas,
develop a vision to strengthen and advocate for rural music
programs, and build a working group to concentrate on the
concerns of music teachers and students in North Carolina’s rural
areas as we move into the next 50 years of NCMEA.
Dr. Tim Nowak
Dr. Tim Nowak is assistant professor of string music
education at East Carolina University, where he teaches string
methods, large ensemble methods and supervises student
teachers. Prior to his work at ECU, Nowak was a faculty associate
at Arizona State University where he taught string methods,
general music electives and advised the collegiate NAfME
chapter. He was the director of orchestras at Victor Junior and
Senior High Schools in Victor, N.Y., for eight years, and directed
the high school orchestras, taught cello and bass lessons, and
advised the Tri-M Music Honor Society.
Nowak actively performs as a cellist and has performed with
various groups including the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Alethia
String Quartet, Penfield Symphony Orchestra, Finger Lakes
Symphony Orchestra and the Blackfriar’s Theatre. Nowak earned
a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College, a Master of Arts from
the Eastman School of Music and a Doctor of Philosophy from
Arizona State University.
Earning a Masters: Is Online Learning
for You?
Online learning is ubiquitous and the Master of Music in
music education is a two-year degree that can be completed 100%
online. East Carlina University music education faculty teach
and mentor master students, with full access to the university
resources. Explore the variety of options available and speak with
faculty about how online learning is structured.
Dr. Cynthia Wagoner
Dr. Cindy Wagoner is an associate
professor and department chair of music
education at East Carolina University,
specializing in instrumental music
instruction and pre-service music teacher
education. Her regional and international
research presentations focus on music
teacher identity, mentoring new teachers,
and teacher pedagogy. Her publications appear
in Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz, Teaching Music,
Psychology of Music, Research Issues in Music Education, Journal
of Music Teacher Education, and several book chapters. Her
heart still lies in the teaching of music through instrumental
performance, and she is dedicated to serving the music
education community in her current position at ECU. She
travels extensively, providing clinics for bands, conducting, and
presenting research.
Wagoner holds a B.S. and M.S. from Indiana State University
and spent 27 years in Indiana, teaching middle and high school
instrumental music, and had a large and successful program
across marching, concert, small ensemble, and jazz events.
Graduating from UNC Greensboro with a Ph.D. in music
education, she was honored with the Graduate Teaching Assistant
Award in 2009. Moving to East Carolina in 2011, she has been
nominated for several university honors and was awarded the
ECU Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2019.
NCMEA MINI-GRANT PROGRAM
The NCMEA Mini-Grant Program provides teachers an
opportunity to develop special projects to increase the existing
potential for a quality music education program and meets the
requirements outlined in the North Carolina Standard Course of
Study.
The NCMEA Board of Directors, with recommendations from
the Mini-Grant Committee, awarded five grants for the 2020 –
2021 school year for a total of $4,736.
Evelyn Snyder: The Bonnie Springer School at the
Murdoch Developmental Center
The Winds for All Project will provide Nuvo Instruments to
students in a statewide program where they live on the campus of
the North Carolina Development Center. These instruments will
include Toots, Doods, jFlutes, jSaxes and jHorns.
Melanie Watson: East Alexander Middle School
The commission of a new Grade I work from Mekel Rogers.
Students will work closely with a local composer collaboratively,
with the end result being a new musical composition available to
the public. Students will collaborate with the composer beginning
in August and present the new work in December.
Emily Casey: Hunter GT/AIG Magnet Elementary
School
Funds will be used to purchase tubanos, djembes and timbuas
which reflect the diverse population of students at Hunter GT/
AIG Magnet. Emily plans to incorporate the learning she gained
from NCMEA’s conferences to integrate African drumming in
her classroom as well as school assemblies and interactive family
experiences.
Casey Johnson: Shady Grove Elementary School
Funds will be used to purchase ukuleles to be integrated
into the music classroom. These funds will support a class set of
ukuleles.
Mary Ludwig: Carolina Forest International
Elementary
This project will add three Remo Tubano World Drums to the
classroom. The drums will be used throughout the school year in
various lessons in multiple sessions.
NCMEA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
NCMEA awards three $2,000 scholarships annually to
music education majors attending North Carolina Colleges and
Universities.
Awards, Grants & Scholarships
Barbara Bair Scholarship
A 2020 Barbara Bair Scholarship was
awarded to Malcolm Vaughn, a graduate of
Enloe High School in Raleigh. Vaughn will
be attending Appalachain State University
Hayes School of Music. In his essay he
states, “I will never forget the moment
I realized I would pursue a career as a music
educator in North Carolina. It was two years ago when I had my
first opportunity to attend NCMEA’s North Carolina Honors
Chorus.”
Vaughn seeks out every opportunity to grow and learn how to
become a better musician and teacher. His ability to connect with
students and his talent at teaching makes him a promising choral
music educator.
Bill McCloud Scholarship
The 2020 Bill McCloud Scholarship
was awarded to Holly Shrosphire, a music
education major at Wingate University.
Shropshire states in her application,
“Music is a passion I have and I strive
to be successful in a wide scope of areas
in my collegiate musical experience,
distinguishing myself in scholarship,
performance, leadership, and service.” She maintains a very
good academic standing and has been called on as a mentor and
tutor for various subjects. She tutored in ear training, theory,
and music history in order to maximally cater to students who
struggle. She sings in both University Singers and Viva Voce.
Shropshire is a member of the Wingate CNAfME chapter and
served as president of the Wingate student chapter of ACDA.
Ruth Jewell Scholarship
The 2020 Ruth Jewell Scholarship was
awarded to Abigail Kolb.
She attends Campbell University’s and is
president of the NAfME collegiate chapter.
She is a member of the Campbell University
Voices, the University Choir and Campbell
University’s Opera Theater. In her essay
Kolb states, “Being a member of a chorus has
benefited me in countless ways since high school. I developed a
passion for music that I had not previously known. I learned how
to work as an ensemble and come together with my peers towards
a common goal. I made lifelong friendships and acquired a refuge
from the stressors of classes.”
18 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 19
these days of separation, we affirm music’s power to bring us together.
In
these days of anxiety, we affirm music’s power to lift our spirits.
In
PAST PRESIDENTS OF NCMEA
NCMEA resulted from a merger that occurred in 1970 between two professional organizations: the North Carolina Music Educators
Conference (NCMEC) and the North Carolina State Music Teachers Association (NCSMTA). The list of presidents which follows
represents those who have served since the inception of NCMEA.
1970 – 1971 James R. Hall
1971 – 1973 Hortense N. Reid
1973 – 1975 Homer Haworth
1975 – 1977 William G. Spencer
1977 – 1979 Robert B. Gaskins
1979 – 1981 Billiegene Garner
1981 – 1983 Mary Jane Crawford
1983 – 1985 Ralph B. Shumaker
1985 – 1987 Reta R. Phifer
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS OF NCMEA
David S. Albert
Bob Alexander
Teresa Allred
Katherine Almond
Renee Anders
*Barbara B. Blair
*Louis V. Bean
Treda Berry
Chrystal Bachtel
Lucy M. Banner
*Earl E. Beach
*Julius A. (Sandy) Beam
Edward D. Benson
*Mary Earl Berger
Duane Best
*Maxine Blackwell
Diane Brooks
*Rebecca B. Carnes
*Herbert L. Carter
Elizabeth Chance
Richard G. Cox
Mary Jane Crawford
Jerry Cribbs
Carol Crocker
*Carl Cronstedt
William S. (Bill) Crowder
James Daugherty
*Joe DiNardo
*Katherine Detmold
*James A. Dillard
James E. Dooley
*Joe Fields
*Bernard Foy
*Judith Freeman
*Paul B. Fry
Billiegene Garner
Patricia Garren
*Robert B. Gaskins
Barbara Geer
1987 – 1989 Charles H. Gilchrist
1989 – 1991 Barbara B. Bair
1991 – 1993 John R. Locke
1993 – 1995 Frank E. Williams
1995 – 1997 Barbara L. Geer
1997 – 1999 Fran Page
1999 – 2001 William Crowder
2001 – 2003 Earl Taylor
*Charles Gilchrist
*James R. Hall
Dorothy Hampton
*Captain James Harper
*J. Kimball Harriman
Lawrence Hart
Homer Haworth
*Herbert Hazelman
*Samuel Hill
*Bernard Hirsch
*Arnold E. Hoffman
*Lara Hoggard
*Birdie Holloway
Richard Holmes
Karen Huey
*Charles Isley
*Ruth Jewel
Evelyn Johnson
*Thor Johnson
*Mrs. Eugene Johnston
*Richard E. Keasler
Genevra Kelly
*Doris Kimel
*Robert Klepfer
Barbara Koesjan
John Locke
*C.D. Kutchinski
*Adeline McCall
*L.O. McCollum
*Thane McDonald
Constance L. McKoy
*Harold McNeely
*Florine W. Marren
*Margaret Marsh
Nollie Mitchell
James D. Morgan
*Madeline H. Mullis
*Gordon Nash
*Josephine Osborne
2003 – 2005 Maribeth Yoder-White
2005 – 2007 Constance L. McKoy
2007 – 2009 Jerry Cribbs
2009 – 2011 David S. Albert
2011 – 2013 Sonja Z.M.Williams
2013 – 2015 Richard Holmes
2015 – 2017 James Daugherty
2017 – 2019 Jazzmone Sutton
Fran Page
*Paul Peterson
Reta R. Phifer
Mary E. Phillips
Walter E. Phillips
Walter Plemmer
*Bessie Ray
*Hortense N. Reid
*Blonza Rich
Lee Rigsby
*Edgar Q. Rooker
Tammy Shook
Ralph B. Shumaker
Elaine Sills
*Katherine Siphers
*Earl Slocum
*Richard Southwick
*Zelma G. Spears
*William G. Spencer
*Glen Starnes
Earl Taylor
Lue Taylor
Marie Teague
Martha Thomasson
Virginia Tull
*Eula Tuttle
*Walter L. Wehner
Frank E. Williams
Sonja Z.M. Williams
Susan Williams
*Margaret Wilson
*Louise Winstead
*Eva Wiseman
Ruby Woolf
Maribeth
Yoder-White
*Deceased
UNC CHARLOTTE
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
CREATE YOUR FUTURE WITH THE UNC CHARLOTTE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC!
In these days of uncertainty, we affirm music’s power to point us to a better future.
20 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 21
music.uncc.edu
Band
Jason Barclift, Chair
Tradition.
Innovation.
Collaboration.
I
am very excited about this year’s NCMEA Professional
Development Conference. I know it will be different, but we
have worked hard to provide sessions that are second to none!
I know you have been in so many Zoom meetings and Google
Meets in the past several months, but please make plans to attend
this year as the Band Section continues to include some of the best
educators in the country at our conference. Scott Rush and Bruce
Pearson are both known around the world as first class educators
and will be sharing their vast experience with us.
Habits of a Successful Band Director
This clinic focuses on the journey from the “components of
playing” to music making. Teaching strategies are the cornerstone
of the presentation, and they logically progress from being effective
with non-pedagogical issues to going beyond the notes. Nontraditional
means of assessment are also explored.
Creating Habits of a Success in the Young
Band Musician
This session provides solutions for all things beginner band
musicians face. Topics include the first days of instruction, initial
fundamentals on the mouthpiece, mouthpiece and barrel, reed,
bocal and reed, or headjoint prior to playing, sequential rhythm
vocabulary, first-time challenges for beginners, and teaching
strategies that address both technique and musicianship. The latest
breakthroughs in music technology in the classroom will also be
explored.
Scott Rush
Scott Rush is the director of fine and
performing arts in Dorchester School
District Two in South Carolina, and is the
former director of bands at Wando High
School in Mount Pleasant, S.C. He is a
graduate of the New England Conservatory
of Music in Boston, and the University
of South Carolina. He currently serves as
conductor of the Charleston Wind
Symphony, a semi-professional ensemble in Charleston.
Under his direction, the Wando symphonic band performed
at the 2007 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and
were recipients of the 2007 Sudler Flag of Honor administered by
the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His marching bands were twotime
BOA Grand National finalists and won the South Carolina
State 5A Marching Band Championships nine consecutive years.
Rush is active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator
throughout the United States and Canada. He is lead writer for the
Habits series and has authored or co-authored ten highly touted
books for GIA Publications.
Rush served as president of the South Carolina Band Directors
Association and is a former member of the board of directors for
the National Band Association. In 2010, he was elected into the
prestigious American Bandmasters Association and in 2011 was
awarded the Bandworld Legion of Honor. In 2015, he was elected
into the South Carolina Band Directors Association Hall of Fame
and in 2016 was awarded the Edwin Franko Goldman Award by
the ASBDA for contributions to music education.
Band Talk with Dr. Charles Menghini
Host of the popular podcast, Band Talk, Dr. Charles
Menghini is planning a special conversation just for the North
Carolina Bandmasters Association. He will provide motivation
and encouragement for all of us during these crazy times. His
podcast features weekly guests who are big names in the world
of band from across the country. Charlie Menghini is putting
together a special conversation just for us that will include Dr.
Tim Lautzenheiser and Dr. Paula Crider, professor emerita of the
The University of Texas. You won’t want to miss this outstanding
presentation.
Dr. Charles T. Menghini
Dr. Charles T. Menghini is president emeritus of VanderCook
College of Music in Chicago. Menghini served as professor
of music and director of bands from 1994 – 2017. Prior to his
appointment at VanderCook, he spent 18 years as a high school
band director in Missouri and Kansas where his bands earned
national acclaim.
Our premiere award for music majors includes
full tuition, room, board, plus additional
study funds.
Other scholarships available in brass, composition,
jazz, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds
October 17 | November 21
December 12 | January 23
*Bachelorof Arts
*Bachelorof Music
(withoptionfor musiceducation)
919.962.1039 | music.unc.edu
22 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 23
Menghini currently hosts two podcasts:
“Band Talk with Charlie Menghini and
Friends,” available on Apple podcasts, and
“Essential Elements Band Talk” with Dr. Tim
Lautzenheiser and Paul Lavender and it is
available on the EEiblog.com website.
Menghini is a co-author of the Essential
Elements Band Method published by Hal
Leonard and is an educational member of the
Music Achievement Council for NAMM.
He is active as a speaker, clinician and conductor around
the nation. He frequently presents at state and national music
education conferences, works with teachers and school districts
in a variety of forums and continues to write for professional
magazines and journals. In 2019, Menghini was awarded the Medal
of Honor from the Midwest Clinic for his life’s work as a band
director, teacher and educator. With degrees in music education,
administration and conducting, he is able to provide advice and
counsel on a variety of topics and issues.
Inspire Excellence in Your Young Band:
Achieve the Most in Every Lesson
Teaching beginning and middle school band can be exciting,
rewarding, and... challenging. This practical clinic will assist
band directors by demonstrating best practices for the critical
components of beginning and middle school band instruction,
ensuring motivated students and high achievement.
In this clinic Dr. Bruce Pearson will demonstrate effective
and time-tested strategies for teaching embouchure, good tonal
development, proper breathing technique, and characteristic tone
to beginning and middle school band students. He will show how
to develop rhythmic understanding along with audiation and
music reading skills, and will discuss a step-by-step process to
teach music reading using the effective “Sound Before Symbol”
music reading strategy.
Dr. Bruce Pearson
Bruce Pearson is a world-renowned
music educator, author, composer, and
clinician. He is the author of the Standard
of Excellence Comprehensive Band Method,
which has been regarded as the most
important contribution to the band music
field in the last three decades since for his
first contribution, Best In Class.
His newer method, Tradition of
Excellence, is co-authored with Ryan Nowlin. It is a performancecentered
curriculum that seamlessly blends time-tested and
innovative pedagogy with cutting-edge technology. Dr. Pearson’s
Excellence in Chamber Music books are correlated with Tradition of
Excellence Comprehensive Band Method.
He also co-authored the Standard of Excellence Jazz Ensemble
Method and the Standard of Excellence Advanced Jazz Ensemble
Method with Dean Sorenson.
He has taught at the elementary, junior high, high school,
and college levels for over forty years. Twice nominated for the
prestigious Excellence in Education Award, he was recognized as
“most outstanding in the field of music” for the state of Minnesota.
In December, 1998, Pearson was awarded the prestigious Midwest
International Clinic Band and Orchestra Conference Medal of
Honor. In 2001, he was awarded St. Cloud State University’s
Distinguished Service to Music Award. In 2007, he received St.
Cloud State University’s Distinguished Alumni Award; and was
recognized as the first Patron for the Maryborough Conference in
Queensland, Australia. Additionally, he has been recognized as a
University of Northern Colorado 2017 Honored Alumni.
Women Band Directors PLC
In 2020, female band directors are still rare finds on high school
and college band podiums. It is not impossible to find them, but
the experiences women have had navigating a career in the band
field have not been easy. Women musicians, like all women, pay a
likeability tax when we are assertive and successful. Women are less
likely to take professional risks or think of ourselves as leaders. We
underestimate our own abilities or talents. For example, researchers
found that when male and female surgeons perform equally well,
the women are likely to believe they have performed worse than
the men.
Men are more likely to mentor young men than young women.
This makes sense, as we often mentor those we “see” ourselves in.
But we also live in a time with a heightened perception of fear that
the relationship will be viewed as romantic or sexual. Therefore, in
social settings where mentoring might best occur, young women
are less comfortable seeking out mentorship from those in the
field who could help most. Having an opportunity for women to
discuss our experiences, and find mentors, becomes even more
meaningful.
The focus of this year’s PLC will be to create a space for
meaningful conversation and mentorship and explore the future
for the idea of a PLC for Women Band Directors in N.C. We will
examine how women, as musicians, teachers, and performers, can
nurture and create strong networks for ourselves and others in our
field.
Dr. Cynthia Wagoner
Dr. Cindy Wagoner is an associate
professor and department chair of music
education at East Carolina University,
specializing in instrumental music instruction
and pre-service music teacher education.
Her regional and international research
presentations focus on music teacher
identity, mentoring new teachers, and teacher
pedagogy. Her publications appear in Teaching
Music Through Performance in Jazz, Teaching Music, Psychology
of Music, Research Issues in Music Education, Journal of Music
Teacher Education, and several book chapters. Her heart still lies
in the teaching of music through instrumental performance, and
she is dedicated to serving the music education community in her
current position at ECU. She travels extensively, providing clinics
for bands, conducting, and presenting research.
Wagoner holds a B.S. and M.S. from Indiana State University
and spent 27 years in Indiana, teaching middle and high school
instrumental music, known for having a large and successful
program across marching, concert, small ensemble, and jazz
events. Graduating from UNC Greensboro with a Ph.D. in music
Virtual Conference
Information
November 7,8 & 10, 2020
Registration & Mobile App
Info
We encourage you to register no later than Nov 2 for
early access to the Conference Mobile App, which has the
most up-to-date schedule, speaker listings, and exhibitor
listings. And yes, you will still be able to track your CEU
credits.
https://www.ncmea.net/ncmea-conference/conferenceregistration-info/
Registration Rate
• Active Member $75
• Introductory Member $50
• Collegiate Member $35
• Non-Member $150
• Retired Member
24 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 25
No Fee
All registered attendees will have access to the NCMEA
Conference Mobile App. The NCMEA Conference Mobile
App will have the most up-to-date schedule and location
information.
Attendees will be able to track CEU Credits on the Mobile
App. Pending approval from your school district or LEA,
Conference attendance hours may be used for credit toward
your license renewal. Session length 50 min = 1 hr.; 80 min = 1
½ hrs.
Make sure your NCMEA/NAfME membership is up-to-date.
We will ask for your membership expiration date at the time
you register. JOIN or RENEW online through the NAfME
website, www.nafme.org.
Conference Mobile App
• Search NCMEA Events in the Apple Store or Google
Play. As soon as your registration is paid you will provide
the password to the Conference Mobile App.
• You may edit your attendee profile. Add a headshot or
avatar!
• Use the Message Feature to communicate with your
colleagues.
• Be sure to take time to look through the Exhibitor Listing
and connect with vendor representatives through the app.
Thank them for their support of this conference.
Live & On Demand Sessions
• You will find the links to all the sessions on the Schedule
listing.
• Live Sessions are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday from
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• On Demand Sessions can be accessed anytime during,
or after, conference as long as you have the conference
mobile app.
• Many of the Live Session recordings will be available On
Demand after conference.
MORE CONFERENCE INFORMATION CAN BE
FOUND ON THE NCMEA WEBSITE
Connect, Rejuvenate, Energize... from a distance
education, she was honored for her teaching with the Graduate
Teaching Assistant Award in 2009. Moving to East Carolina in
2011, she has been nominated for several university honors and
was awarded the ECU Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching in
2019.
Tools Versus Goals: Strategies for Better
Sequencing/Communication in Rehearsal
A teacher’s talent to clearly communicate expectations is
vital to our students' ability to grow and succeed. This clinic will
focus on the ways we translate our expectations into sequenced
action through the planning and rehearsal process. Using active
participation, we will enter into a discussion of common situations
and difficulties encountered in the ensemble rehearsal and how we
tackle those challenges.
This session focuses on the idea of musical tools versus goals
and how we must identify and utilize both in an effective and
productive rehearsal. Some questions will be addressed: Am I
setting a goal without context or the necessary tools to achieve the
goal? Am I unintentionally asking for students to utilize tools but
forgetting to identify the goal? Session attendees will collaborate
to identify common rehearsal and musical opportunities in the
ensemble rehearsal. Following identification, we will discuss ideas
to make our rehearsal more productive and music-making more
mature.
This inclusive clinic will have application to band teachers of all
levels in all educational settings.
Dominic Talanca
Dominic Talanca is director of bands
and assistant professor of music at the UNC
Wilmington. He conducts the symphonic
band and pep band, teaches courses in
conducting and woodwind techniques,
and administers all aspects of the band
program. In addition to his responsibilities
there, he is the conductor of the Wilmington
Symphonic Winds and the OLLI New
Horizons Band.
Talanca received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of
Music in wind conducting from the University of North Texas. He
is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in wind conducting
at Northwestern University.
He taught for ten years in the Lewisville Independent School
District in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. He served as associate
director of bands at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas,
from 2006 – 2013, during which time the student musicians
were recognized for their performances in concert and marching
activities, earning numerous placements in the All-Region and All-
State ensembles as well as four consecutive biannual Texas 5A State
Marching Championship Awards.
Talanca was an assistant director at Durham Middle School
from 2002 – 2006, and during that time he began collaborating
with a few colleagues on the most effective approaches to teaching
beginning band students. This partnership has resulted in the
publication of a beginning band method entitled Musical Mastery,
published by MRNS Music.
The ART of the Rehearsal — It’s Where the
ACTION is!
This clinic will present successful practical approaches to
making music in every rehearsal and practice session, regardless of
the age or ability of the student, or the medium.
Being a music educator is both an honor and a privilege.
Molding future musicians at every level of their musical learning
directly affects who they become as people. This undeniable truth
makes our profession meaningful, challenging and extremely
important.
Each and every rehearsal presents opportunities for great music
making to occur. Several topics to be addressed will include:
• Re...HEAR...sal – Opportunities, Strategies and Possibilities
• Solving technical issues through musical means
• The psychology behind each gesture and word used
• When is music truly made?...PERSPECTIVE
• Perception versus reality versus ACTUALITY
• The ART of the rehearsal – gesture – word – feeling – response
• Motivational techniques to inspire full potential
• Effective and meaningful personal practice techniques
The clinic will conclude collaboratively as the audience
members are welcomed to share their effective ideas and
techniques.
Dr. John Stanley Ross
Dr. John Stanley Ross is director of bands
in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian
State University where he serves on the
graduate faculty, conducts the Appalachian
Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds and
Concert Band, teaches courses in graduate
and undergraduate conducting, supervises
student teachers, serves as the advisor for
Kappa Kappa Psi and the Collegiate National
Band Association, and guides all aspects of the ASU BANDS
program. He is also the artistic director of the Charlotte Pride Band
and serves as a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician.
Ross is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician
throughout the United States and has also conducted in China,
Romania, and South Korea. Recent and future guest conducting
engagements include the 2019 North Carolina 11 – 12 All-State
Band and numerous regional and district honor bands throughout
the country. Ensembles under his direction have performed at state
conferences in Michigan, Minnesota, and North Carolina, and at
the ASBDA National Convention and the Mid-West International
Band and Orchestra Clinic.
His performances have been heard on National Public Radio’s
“Performance Today” and have won the praise and admiration of
composers such as John Mackey, Karel Husa, Michael Daugherty,
Samuel Adler, David Gillingham, William Harbinson, and David
Maslanka.
The Tiered Band Student
This session will focus on creating a multi-tiered assessment
system to be sure the success of every student is accomplished. We
will focus on meeting students at their current needs within our
programs while establishing a culture of growth and rigor.
Daniel Scott
Daniel Scott is a graduate of Western
Carolina University where he received a B.M.
in trombone performance and a minor in
bassoon, as well as a B.S. Ed with a minor
in psychology, concentrating on adolescent
development. He is currently the director of
bands at Swansboro High School. In a little
under four years, Scott has increased the size
of the program by 150% and created a culture of
excellence.
Bandmasters 2020 Election
President
Jim Kirkpatrick
Jim Kirkpatrick is in his twenty-third year
of teaching and sixth year as director of
bands at T.C. Roberson High School in
Asheville. He previously taught at North
Forsyth High School and West Forsyth
High School in the Winston-Salem Forsyth
County Schools. He earned his Bachelor of
Music and Master of Music degrees from
UNC Greensboro.
Bands under his direction have consistently earned superior
ratings at North Carolina Music Performance Adjudication
events while performing Grade IV through Masterworks
programs. During his tenure at West Forsyth High School, the
wind ensemble was featured at the 2011 NCMEA Professional
Development Conference, and again in 2014 with the jazz
ensemble.
Kirkpatrick currently serves as secretary of the North
Carolina Bandmasters Association and has held that position for
two terms. He has twice served on the board of directors for the
Northwest District North Carolina Bandmasters Association. He
served on the N.C. Bandmasters Association state marching band
committee and was the Middle School All-District Honors Band
auditions co-chair for the Northwest District.
He has regularly conducted bands at the UNCG Summer
Music Camp since 2002, and is honored to have served as guest
conductor, adjudicator and consultant for concert and marching
band events across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
He is also a past director of the Asheville Community Band.
Kirkpatrick was selected by his colleagues for several
recognitions, including the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Band
Director of the Year in 2006 and the Northwest District “Award of
Excellence” in 2011. He was inducted into the American School
Band Directors Association in June 2012. He is a National Board
Under his direction, the Swansboro concert and jazz programs
have received consistent superior ratings at music performance
adjudications. Students within the program have shattered school
records by increasing the number of students to make District
and Regional honor bands by 400% and the number of students to
make the North Carolina All State Band by 200%.
In 2019, he was named the Swansboro High School Teacher of
the Year and most recently was named the 2019 – 2020 Onslow
County Teacher of the Year for his school district, and the 2020
Burroughs Wellcome Fund Southeast Regional Teacher of the Year.
Scott has worked with numerous award-winning programs
across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. In the
summer of 2014, he was a member of The Cavaliers Drum and
Bugle Corps. He has been a member of the Spirit of Atlanta Drum
and Bugle Corps brass staff for five years and in 2019 was named as
the Brass Caption Head for the 2020 season.
Certified Teacher and has served on the
National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards assessor panel and as a mentor
for candidates pursuing certification.
Chris White
Chris White has been
the director of bands at
Hickory Ridge High School in Harrisburg
since the school opened in the fall of
2007. His duties at Hickory Ridge include
overseeing a comprehensive band program
which consists of concert band, symphonic
band, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble,
marching band, musical pit orchestra,
several small ensembles, and AP music theory. The Hickory
Ridge Blue Regiment has twice performed in the prestigious
London New Year’s Day Parade, in 2009 and 2016, and in the
2020 Rome New Year’s Day Parade. In 2018, the Hickory Ridge
wind ensemble gave a 10-day performance tour in China at the
invitation of the US-China Cultural and Educational Foundation,
giving four concerts in Shaoxin, Jiaxin, Shanghai, and Beijing.
In addition, over the past ten years, White’s concert ensembles
have also performed in Washington, D.C., New York, Orlando,
and New Orleans. His students consistently participate in county,
district, state, and collegiate honor band clinics. Prior to White’s
appointment at Hickory Ridge, he taught for six years in the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system.
White was selected as Hickory Ridge High School Teacher of
the Year in 2015 and was a top five finalist for Cabarrus County
Schools Teacher of the Year. He previously received recognition
as Charlotte-Mecklenburg New Band Director of the Year in
1999, the 2001 E.E. Waddell High School Teacher of the Year, and
received the Horace Mann Crystal Apple Award for outstanding
teaching. He has served as clinician, adjudicator, and guest
conductor for many marching and concert events.
26 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 27
He served as chair of the South Central District and member
of the NCBA Board of Directors from 2018 – 2020, and
previously served as High School At-Large member, SCDBA
MPA site host, and SCDBA representative to the NCBA MPA
Committee.
His professional memberships include the American School
Band Directors Association, North Carolina Bandmasters
Association, North Carolina Music Educators Association,
National Association for Music Education, and the International
Trumpet Guild. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Kappa
Lambda, and Omicron Delta Kappa fraternities. He holds degrees
from Bridgewater College, Va., and Winthrop University. He is a
National Board Certified teacher.
Band Delegate
Drew Carter
Drew Carter is in his fifth year as band
director at Jay M. Robinson High School in
Concord, where he directs the symphonic
band, concert band, marching band, jazz
band, and percussion ensemble. He has
taught in public middle and high schools in
the South-Central, Central, and Northwest
Districts for eighteen years, earning many
accolades, including consistent Concert
Band MPA superior ratings in Grades
II – VI. His Jay M. Robinson Symphonic Band was selected to
play as a clinic band for Prof. Dennis Fisher at the 2019 NCMEA
Professional Development Conference and as part of 2019
President’s Cup through the U.S. Army Band, “The Pershing’s
Own.”
Carter also conducts the Charlotte Concert Band, a band of
professional and dedicated amateur musicians which performs
regularly throughout the year at various locations in and around
Charlotte (www.charlotteconcertband.org). The band performed
at the NCMEA Professional Development Conference in 2008
and for its 50th Anniversary in 2015.
Carter earned his National Board Certification in Early
Adolescence through Young Adulthood in November of 2010,
and admittance into the American School Band Directors
Association in 2016. He received his Bachelor of Arts in music
(horn performance) in 2000 and his Master of Arts in teaching
in 2001, both from UNC Chapel Hill. He has received further
instruction in conducting from Prof. Daniel Cook, Prof. Eugene
Corporon, Dr. Donald Hunsberger, Dr. Mark Scatterday, Dr.
Mallory Thompson, Dr. Andrew Trachsel, and Dr. Eric Wilson.
He is married to his wonderful and supportive wife of fourteen
years, Mandy. They live in Cabarrus County with their two sons,
Van and Levi.
David Deese
David Deese graduated from Page High
School in Greensboro, and is thankful
to have had Charles Murph as his band
director. He attended Appalachian State
University and earned his bachelor’s degree.
He also served two years as percussion
instructor and arranger for the Marching
Mountaineers. His student teaching was supervised by Jon Patton
at Wilkes Central High School.
In February 1993, Deese became director of bands at E.L.
Brown Middle School and assistant director to Ed Kiefer at East
Davidson High School. In the following 12 year period, the
Brown Middle School Concert Band earned superior ratings at
MPA in grade IV and one in grade V.
Upon Ed Kiefer’s retirement, Deese became the director of
the East Davidson Bands. This year marks his 29th year with
the Brown Middle and East Davidson Bands. The program
continues to prosper and has two concert bands participate in
MPA each year. He also conducts two full jazz bands, both of
which participate in numerous Jazz Festivals. The Golden Eagle
Marching Band has also enjoyed great success and continues to
earn top honors each year.
Deese has been named Teacher of the Year twice. He was
Band Director of the Year in the Central District and received
the Award of Excellence in the Northwest District. He has
served as the clinician for both the Central and Northwest All-
District Bands and has taught numerous All-County Clinics. He
frequently adjudicates jazz, concert, and marching festivals. He
became a Nationally Board Certified teacher in 2002, and earned
re-certification in 2012. Also in 2012, he was honored by the
North Carolina Symphony as the winner of the Jackson Parkhurst
award for outstanding music educator.
Deese resides in Thomasville, with his wife, Ellen-Nora, and
five sons: Elijah, Alex, Payton, Levi, and Walker.
Olivia Spell
Olivia D. Spell is currently the director
of bands and ensembles at Corinth Holders
High School in Wendell. A 2009 graduate
of East Carolina University, she received the
Outstanding Senior Music Education Award.
After graduation, Spell landed in Franklin
County and served as director of bands at
Cedar Creek Middle School and Franklinton
High School. During her two-year tenure at
CCMS and FHS, she experienced exponential growth in both
programs, nearly tripling enrollment. Immersing the students in a
total music education, she restarted the marching band program,
began a winterguard program, participated in MPA and other
festivals around the state.
Entering her tenth year at Corinth Holders, Spell oversees
the marching band, fall concert band, spring concert band, wind
ensemble, basketball pep band, jazz band, winds, winterguard
and winter percussion ensembles. Growing this program from
the ground up has been one of the most rewarding parts of her
career! Not only has the program experienced growth under her
tenure, but the students and the program have seen a tremendous
amount of success.
The marching band has seen many caption and class awards
at NCBA shows across the state. The concert band and wind
ensemble have attended the NCMPA and received many excellent
and superior ratings. The winter ensembles have been highly
successful locally, regionally and nationally. The students of
the Corinth Holders band program are also actively selected
to participate in the JCPS All-County Honors Band, SEDBA
All-District Honors Band and NCBA All-State Honors Band as
well as the Macy’s Great American Marching Band, Army All-
American Marching Band and the NAfME All-National Concert
Band.
In addition to her role as director of bands, Spell has
served as fine arts department chair and school improvement
team member at Corinth Holders. She currently serves as the
JCPS High School band liaison and the Southeastern District
Bandmaster Association chairperson. In her spare time, she
enjoys traveling, shopping and cooking. She also enjoys spending
time with her husband Ryan, and their children, Robbie and
Addie Jo. It is a busy life, but she would not have it any other way!
Secretary
Karen Williams Lanning
Karen Williams Lanning serves as the
band director for Swain High School in
Bryson City. She is a 2002 graduate of
Western Carolina University, earning a
Bachelor of Music Education as both a
saxophone major and piano minor. During
her tenure as director, Swain County band
students have participated in: District, State
and Honor Band Clinics, Solo and Ensemble,
Asheville Youth Orchestra, All-American Army Band, Honors
Performance Series at Carnegie Hall, International Tuba &
Audition Dates: www.brevard.edu/music
Information: musicinfo@brevard.edu
Euphonium Conference and NC Governor’s School for Music.
Swain High ensembles participate annually in MPA events where
Swain High has received consistent superior ratings. Swain
County concert and marching band students have performed in
New York, Washington, D.C. and Hawaii.
Lanning is an active member of Women Band Directors
International, where she has served as scholarship chair,
recording secretary and conference presenter. Her presentation,
“Literacy within the Band Room” was presented during the
2016 summer conference held in Indiana. At the 2013 Chicago
Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Swain High School was
awarded the Summa Cum Laude Award from WBDI, which
recognizes outstanding achievements in music education,
specifically within small high schools. She is actively involved
with NCBDA and is currently serving her second year as
president for the Western district.
Within the Swain County School System, Karen has served
on the Arts Center advisory board, serves as certified mentor for
beginning teachers, member of the Covey High School leadership
team, and school improvement team chair for Swain High. She
was named Swain County Schools Employee of the Year in 2008,
and Teacher of the Year in 2013. She is currently in the process of
pursuing National Board Certification.
Music Matters
28 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 29
Elementary
Dee Yoder, Chair
Combining Music and English-as-Second
Language for Cross-Curricular Learning
Connections
This workshop is for anyone who teaches learners with
exceptionalities or English language learners in your music
classes. In this hands-on session, we will explore strategies for
incorporating language learning in general music classes. We
will discover the connections between ESL and music teaching
and practice several activities designed to accomplish musical
learning, focusing on musical and language literacies. Each of the
activities will give teachers fresh ideas to help students develop
musical knowledge, creative thinking, and skills, and to explore
the intersections between music and language.
Katherine Strand
Katherine Strand is the Dottie Sink Sykes Distinguished
Endowed Professor of Music Education. She taught K – 12 choral
and general music in rural and urban settings in Virginia and
Chicago Public Schools. She also served as the vocal/choir faculty
for the Virginia Governor’s School for the Humanities and Visual
and Performing Arts for several summers. She co-developed and
taught a guitar program for first and second grade students in
partnership with the general music teacher, elementary school,
and the guitar department at Indiana University. This program
combines active music-making and theory-informed general
music learning practices with beginning guitar pedagogy. Her
interests include teaching for musical creativity, curriculum
analysis and critique, and musical identity. In addition to
authoring several pedagogical and research-based book chapters,
co-editing and writing chapters for Musicianship: Composing
in Choir, Strand has teaching articles in the Music Educators
Journal, Teaching Music, General Music Today, and research
articles in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin
of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music
Teacher Education, Philosophy of Music Education Review, and
Music Education Researcher.
Orff Meets Kodaly
The Orff approach and Kodaly’s method are the most
widely-practiced approaches in teaching elementary general
music education in the United States. Often, teachers see two
approaches as opposing teaching styles. While each uses different
activities, they both champion active music-making for the
elementary-aged learner.
This session offers an exploration of the Orff and Kodaly
pedagogies through hands-on activities. The presenters will
lead vocal, instrumental, and movement-based activities
to demonstrate each approach. They will then explain the
philosophical commonalities as well as differences to encourage
understanding, collaboration, and sharing of effective teaching
strategies.
Although each pedagogy has its own unique identity, the Orff
approach and Kodaly’s method have more in common than many
music teachers might think. Ultimately, both teaching styles
seek to promote quality music education through active musicmaking.
Come make music with us!
Daniel Johnson
Daniel Johnson is professor of music and music education
at UNC Wilmington. A Fulbright Scholar with over twenty-five
years of teaching experience spanning the PreK – University
gamut, he is an international authority on general music
education and music teacher education. Focusing on classroom
music instruction, music listening, and integrated arts education,
Johnson regularly offers teacher education courses and
workshops throughout the world, where his work often bridges
theory and practice. He has published in numerous eminent
journals including: The Journal of Research in Music Education,
The Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, The
International Journal of Music Education, and Arts Education
Policy Review. In addition, he also has a long record of service
to NCMEA as chair of the Research and Higher Education
committees.
Professional Development Solutions for
Rural General Music Teachers
Elementary general music teachers have a unique set
of challenges and rewards. In particular, teachers in rural
schools face distinct obstacles and situations, different from
those in urban and suburban settings. To acknowledge and
address this form of geographic diversity, this session offers
an interactive, positive discussion about rural general music
NAfME
GRASSROOTS
ACTION CENTER
Add Your Voice to the Legislative Process
On the NAfME Grassroots Action Center page, you can:
• Support music education in federal education policy
• Get involved with the legislative process
• Engage your members of Congress
NAfME Public Policy staff regularly provide updates to the education
funding process and legislation that directly impacts music education
funding and access. On this page you can find ready-to-send letters
that you can customize and submit to your members of Congress to
take action on issues that affect music education.
Go to bit.ly/NAfMEgrassroots (case-sensitive) and take action today.
30 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 31
implementing musical activities that use these props as a hook for
student engagement and a means of formative assessment.
Active Games for Practicing Active Music
Concepts
Active bodies activate learning in music class. Come learn
games that practice music concepts like steady beat, pitch
identification, rhythm and note values and more. Be inspired to
use games in your classroom to improve student engagement,
review concepts and assess learning.
teachers’ challenges and provides numerous coping strategies.
The discussion topics come from the real-life experiences and
dilemmas shared by teachers who participated in an online,
professional development community representing remote and
rural elementary general music teachers in North Carolina,
Louisiana, and Texas (as facilitated by the presenters). To
demonstrate their commitment to reach all students, the teachers
engaged with topics including:
1) accessing quality resources and cultural events in rural
locations
2) creating ways for general music programs to positively
impact the musical life of a rural community
3) coping with budgetary and classroom resource limitations
4) dealing with feelings of professional and musical isolation
or “invisibility” as a teacher in a rural area
5) finding ways for meaningful collaboration with colleagues
who are geographically dispersed
6) using best practices for teaching transient, lower
socioeconomic student populations; and
7) advocating for a quality, high-impact, updated, and
relevant elementary general music curriculum.
Sing Me a Story, Read Me a Song
New ideas for using children’s literature in the music
classroom will be shared in this fun session that will be sure to
make you smile. Harold the Farting Dog, Chalk and Grandma’s
Feather Bed are just a few of the titles that will be utilized. Come
and sing, dance and laugh as we open books your K – 5 students
will want to hear again and again.
Fresh Ideas for Teaching Instrument
Families
Can you teach the basics of instruments families with an
empty water bottle? How can you teach instrument families
without any instruments to demo? This session will answer those
questions and more. Hands-on activities for crafting instruments,
using technology and implementing instrument workstations in
2nd – 5th grade classes will be shared.
Flashlights, Pool Noodles and Tennis Balls
Learn how to use flashlights to teach form and improve aural
skills, tennis balls to practice rhythm and pool noodles for almost
anything in this unique session. You will learn practical tips for
Tracy King
Tracy King is in her 25th year of sharing her love of music
with students and colleagues. Currently she teaches elementary
music and choir at Fredericktown Intermediate School in
Fredericktown, Missouri. In her career, she has experienced
teaching all grade levels, band and choir. In addition to her work
in her district, King has presented workshops on incorporating
music into regular classrooms using children’s literature at the
Missouri State Teachers Association state convention and to
future teachers at College of the Ozarks. She travels across the
states presenting workshops for music educators. She served
on the committee that created the Missouri Music Grade Level
Expectations and has been featured in Teaching Music magazine,
as well as MSTA’s School and Community Magazine. She is the
author of Bulletin Boards for the Music Classroom, a website for
music educators and can be found on Teachers Pay Teachers as
The Bulletin Board Lady. Her popular blog, Mrs. King’s Music
Class, provides a way for her to share her teaching ideas and
inspire others. Her professional affiliations include MMEA,
NAfME, AOSA and MSTA.
Engage the Special Needs Students
in Your Room!
Learn effective and simple strategies to reach the students in
your classroom that need extra attention. Make music reading,
writing and playing fun and more accessible by using the
Concrete–Representational–Abstract Instructional Approach. We
will go through this methodology step by step to help all of your
students excel while still meeting the state standards. Walk away
with lessons that can be used immediately and throughout the
year.
Kristin M. Pugliese
Kristin M. Pugliese has been an educator for more than
15 years. She began her career in early childhood education
and soon moved into the music classroom. She has worked
almost exclusively in Title I schools in various states including
Rhode Island, Georgia and Massachusetts. As part of the music
department leadership committee, she helped create music
standards for the Cambridge Public Schools System. In 2009,
Pugliese founded Note Knacks Music, LLC. Following the 2009 –
2010 school year with Fulton County Schools (Ga.),she decided
to focus full-time on the company. She is passionate about how
knowledge is acquired and believes it impacts how children will
view learning later in their lives. Following her beliefs, Note
Knacks is dedicated to providing music educators with the tools
needed to make music more accessible for young children.
student
population
DEGREE PROGRAMS
Bachelor of Music
Music Education
Performance
Bachelor of Arts
Music
Arts Administration
Minors
Arts Administration
Music
Musical Theatre
Master of Music
Composition
Music Education
Music Theory
Performance
faculty
student to
faculty ratio
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
Composition
Ethnomusicology
Historical Keyboard Performance
Jazz Studies
Musicology
Music Education
Music Theory
Performance Studies
Post-Masters Certificate
Music Theory Pedagogy
Doctor of Musical Arts
Doctor of Philosophy
Music Education
graduate
assistants
ensemble
opportunities
32 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 33
High School Choral
Bethany Jennings, Chair
Middle School Choral
Aaron Lafreniere, Chair
Do you ever hear a choir in your mind? I don’t mean during
a rehearsal or while studying a score. I mean, do you ever
find a particular song or soundtrack occasionally plays in
the background of your mind? Maybe it’s just me.
Is it the entire song or is it just a snippet? For me, it’s usually
one phrase, maybe two that repeat ad nauseam. It happens
unconsciously and is usually prompted by words I hear or
situations I find myself in. For me, this earworm can make itself at
home in my mind for days, weeks, and recently, months.
No surprise that this spring, the High School Musical hit, “We’re
All in This Together” played like a broken record. The chorus
underscored any thought I had while trying to make sense of the
world around me. For a while the thought of being ‘all in this
together’ was one of comfort and security. But, as July faded into
August and school began, this track stopped abruptly with the
realization, we are not, in fact, all in this together. Not even close.
We are not all in the same boat. Perhaps we can claim the same
storm, but not the same boat, and we are certainly not together.
Today concluded my sixth day of class of the 2020 – 2021
school year. My momma always said if I didn’t have anything nice
to say, to not say it at all. Period. So, this is where I’d like to end my
article submission for this issue.
Seriously… It’s not that I don’t have anything nice to say. I
have witnessed a few silver linings the past six days. My county is
currently serving our students in the Plan-B-Hybrid-Cohort-Split-
Face-To-Face-Remote-At-The-Same-Time model. #impossible.
By the time you recieve this, many of you will be transitioning
from the all-virtual Plan C (equally as impossible) to a Plan B
hybrid model, if you haven’t already. Some of you are teaching
completely virtually and will continue to for the unforeseeable
future. As we have seen, school officials and administrators are all
handling, mandating, and allowing (or not allowing) a myriad of:
methods of instruction, protocols and procedures, and changing
every other minute how we should take attendance.
As a result, my usual go-to music educator friends are of little
help trying to help me strategize what may work in my context and
I am little help to them trying to suggest improvements in theirs.
The resources and mentors I usually lean on are without advice
because they lack my specific perspective. Our individual teaching
contexts are simply so complex and varied that the past couple of
weeks have been, without question, some of the loneliest, most
humbling weeks of my teaching career. I don’t think I’m the only
one who feels this way.
Our annual Professional Development Conference is virtual
this year. This will not be just another virtual presentation! Aaron
Lafreniere, Middle School Section chair, and I put our heads
together to curate a conference track specifically designed to
address the fact that we are all teaching in incredibly diverse
contexts, we might feel lonely and overwhelmed, and by November,
we will definitely be in need of some new and innovative ideas, as
well as some inspiration.
Dr. Derrick Fox from the University of Omaha is our
headlining guest clinician and will bring inspiration in two sessions
for middle and high school choral educators. You may know Fox,
as he spearheaded a project through ACDA this past summer to
collect lesson plans from teachers across the country and has them
available for free!
Three incredible high school choral teachers from North
Carolina will offer sessions that propose strategies for working
smarter not harder, reimagine the delivery of content that fosters
and scaffolds musical skill building (even remotely), and challenge
us with innovative ideas to build community within our ensembles.
Exhibitors are scheduled to bring us new products and ideas, and,
just for fun, we will host a social hour to informally gather together
to say hello. Rest assured, there will be something for every teacher
in every context and don’t forget about our Membership Meeting.
We will recognize our annual award winners, welcome new board
members, and vote for the upcoming election cycle positions. You
can read more on that on our webpage.
I’ve spent the majority of my career up to this school year
wondering day in and day out how I can be better at this job.
The past three weeks I’ve woken up every morning wondering
how I can be any good at this job given the circumstances. As I
mentioned above, “We’re all in this together” ran its course in my
mind’s soundtrack a while ago, but it was instantaneously replaced
by another song. The choir in my head now sings Stacey Gibbs’
arrangement of Hold On. In it, the lyricist charges us over and
over to, “Keep yo han’ on the plow. Hold On, Hold On.” This is
just what we have to do now. Regardless of your teaching context,
professional challenges, and personal circumstances, we must find
ways to keep our hands on the plow and hold on – just hold on.
Here’s to the start of another school year… unlike any other.
So many of us are encountering different situations in our
“classrooms” this year. Some of us are teaching entirely
remotely and some of us are teaching in a hybrid setting. Whatever
our teaching situation looks like currently, things are bound to
change as the year progresses. This is not what any of us signed
on for, but we continue to persist through the challenges facing us
every single day. We’re all in this together.
This year’s Professional Development Conference will be unlike
any other. Bethany Jennings, the High School Choral section chair,
and I have been planning for this virtual conference. We hope you
are able to take away some useful information from the sessions we
have planned for you.
Over the course of conference weekend, you will be able to
attend sessions from Scott Rush, author and educator, on The
Pathway to Success and The Habits of a SIGNIFICANT
Music Educator; Andy Beck with Alfred Music Publishing on
Remote Resources for Middle School and High School
Choral Sessions
Simplifying Life with Google Sheets and
Mail Merge
From audition results, to online performance video evaluations,
to tracking student payments and event registrations, learn how
to simplify data storage and communications to your stakeholders
and make the most optimal use of your time.
Sarah Fawn McLamb
Sarah Fawn McLamb has been a music educator since 2001
and has been the choral director at Corinth Holders High School
since the 2011 – 2012 school year. She graduated from Meredith
College in 2001 with a Bachelor of Music in choral music
education. Previously, she was the director of choral programs at
Daniels Middle School in Raleigh, and the choral/music teacher at
Chesterbrook Academy in Cary. She has also been a private voice
and piano instructor. McLamb is currently serving as the co-chair
of the North Carolina All-State Choral Festival and as a member of
the NCMEA High School Choral executive board.
Choirs; Dr. Andrea VanDeusen from East Carolina University on
Engaging Student Leadership in the Choral Ensemble
Classroom; Michaela Kelly on Best Practices for Practice,
and much more. We have some other sessions planned for you
as well, and hope this preview gets you excited about “attending”
Conference.
Please remember to attend the General Membership Meeting
that will be scheduled during the weekend. There is a lot of new
information to be shared along with nominations, voting, and
elections that will take place during this meeting.
In closing, this is my last journal article as Middle School
Choral section chair. Thank you so much for allowing me to serve
in this capacity. I know we will be in good hands with Carla Reid,
who will be stepping up into the position. I wish I could end my
service to you under different circumstances, however, it has truly
been a privilege.
I look forward to seeing you at conference! Thank you for the
music! Excelsior!
If It Is To Be, It Is Up To Me!
In these ten powerful two letter words lives the key to protecting
our passion for music education during these trying times. This
session offers strategies for the P.A.S.S.I.O.N.A.T.E. music educator
looking to refocus their purpose and practice in the classroom.
Future Teaching Practices from the
Professional Choral Collective
The Professional Choral Collective was created by Dr. Derrick
Fox to provide a place for our choral community to share ideas
about how we can move forward in planning for the immediate
future of choral music. Through the collection of Future Teaching
Practices, we can share ideas and connect virtually to brainstorm.
Future Teaching Practices are meant to help the choral community
pivot instruction/rehearsing/performing to meet the musical needs
of their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing
can replace in-person choral singing, but through collaboration
and positivity, we can keep our community in tact until we can sing
together again.
34 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 35
Dr. Derrick Fox
Dr. Derrick Fox is the director of choral activities and associate
professor of music at the University of Nebraska – Omaha. He
earned degrees from Arkansas State University, the University
of Missouri – Columbia and Michigan State University. Fox has
conducted, presented and held residencies throughout the U.S. and
internationally. He conducted the 2019 National ACDA MS/JH
Honor Choir and traveled to South Africa with the ACDA-ICEP.
He is a published author and contributed to the Hal Leonard/
McGraw Hill Voices in Concert textbook. His compositions/
arrangements are published by Hal Leonard and Brilee Music
and his book, Yes You Can: A Band Director’s Guide to Teaching
Choirs is published by Carl Fischer. He launched The Derrick Fox
Choral Series with Music Spoke to highlight works by, and about,
marginalized/underrepresented people.
Fox created the Professional Choral Collective during the
summer of 2020 to provide an online platform for choral directors
to create and share Future Teaching Practices for teaching choral
music during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. He hosts
online brainstorming work sessions that have been attended by
teachers from around the U.S. and Canada. He recently partnered
with the Country Music Association Foundation to use his
Professional Choral Collective model to create the National Unified
Voice for Music Education (UVME) platform for instrumental and
general music educators.
Create a Choral Program with Staying
Power: Part 1
This session will explore the hierarchy and structures needed
to build and maintain a high quality choral program. Specific
emphasis will be given to activities and organizations that can be
used and implemented in an all-virtual or semi-virtual learning
environment. Lastly, the session will touch upon retention and
directions for moving forward in the current choral music
education climate.
Kirby Treadaway
Kirby Treadaway is a seventh-year teacher who began teaching
at Northern Vance High School in Henderson. She is currently
the director of choral activities at Fuquay-Varina High School in
Wake County. She directs three ensembles, including the pride
of “the Quay” community, the FVHS Advanced Vocal Ensemble.
Most recently and notably, the Hickory Ridge High School choral
program under her direction received and accepted an invitation to
perform in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy in December, 2019.
Kirby loves to travel and has hoped to inspire the same passion
within her students, so it is only natural that a trip to Vienna,
Austria and Prague, Czech Republic is planned for April, 2022.
The program also participates annually in NC Honors Chorus,
9 – 10 All-Carolina Select Choir, Mars Hill University Choral
Festival, and N.C. All-State Choral Festival, for which Treadaway
has hosted the Western Region #1 Zone Rehearsal the past three
years. All three Fuquay-Varina ensembles participate annually
in Music Performance Adjudication, receiving superiors in both
performance and sight reading. She holds a Bachelors of Music
in choral music education and a Bachelors of Music in vocal
performance from UNC Greensboro.
Commercial
Music and
Audio
Production
arts.wcu.edu/cmap
2021 AUDITION DATES The School of Music has scheduled
two on-site audition days: January 16
January 16 and January 23, 2021. However, the
university’s calendar may change at
January 23 any time. Please contact our individual
studio faculty members about
scheduling an on-campus or video audition. Requirements for each
instrument and voice can be found on the School of Music website. Please
contact Dr. Andrew Adams (aadams@wcu.edu) or Mrs. Whitney McCall
(wmmccall@wcu.edu) with any questions. You may also call the School of
Music office at (828) 227-7242. For information on scholarships please
visit https://www.wcu.edu/apply/scholarships.
For more information contact:
JIM ELENTENY | jelenteny@wcu.edu | 828-227-2733
JON HENSON | jhenson@wcu.edu | 828-227-2711
36 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 37
Jazz
Josh Cvijanovic, Chair
Jazz Ed
and Racism
By the time you read this journal, you've been back teaching
for at least a few weeks now. And yet, I am certain each
day greets you with new challenges and opportunities.
As music educators, we are all navigating a landscape we could
never have prepared ourselves for, and yet day in and day out, we
teach. With all of that in mind, I am so excited to be working on
the first virtual NCMEA Professional Development Conference,
and am honored to have the opportunity to bring you sessions
that will hopefully provide you with some tangible ideas for daily
instruction, but also leave you energized and excited to continue
working for every student every day.
As you begin planning your weekend, I want to make note
of a few of the sessions provided in the Jazz track. As I approach
the end of my tenure serving as Jazz section chair, it remains my
primary drive that our section can help more directors across our
state realize there is a place in their classrooms for jazz.
In the spirit of that goal, we are excited to welcome many
clinics geared towards teaching young musicians how to speak
the language of jazz. Ocie Davis and Sean Higgins, from Jazz
Arts Charlotte, will be giving clinics on Teaching Beginning/
Intermediate Jazz Pianists and Jazz Drum Set Players.
For directors with little personal jazz experience suddenly thrust
into a program with the expectation of a jazz curriculum, Vince
DiMartino will be presenting Yikes! I Have to Teach a Jazz
Band! Or maybe you are interested in adding a jazz component
to your overall program, but there is simply no time in the class
schedule? I encourage you to attend Mark Cashin’s clinic Jazz
Club – Incorporating Jazz without the Stress!
In addition to the other wonderful clinics presented by
some of our incredible colleagues from North Carolina, and the
Airmen of Note, I am excited to have Todd Stoll, vice president
of education for Jazz at Lincoln Center and immediate past
president of JEN, joining our virtual conference. After hosting
the 25th Essentially Ellington Festival virtually this summer, he
will be sharing his first hand experience on preparing students for
virtual honors ensembles and how to make these opportunities
successful. I am grateful to all of our presenters for being willing
to pivot and adapt their plans in order to bring us purpose driven
sessions this November, and I hope you will take advantage of all
these remarkable sessions.
Interpreting the Music of Duke Ellington
A discussion on ideas about introducing Ellington to high
school bands with some tangible ideas about teaching it.
Gregg Gelb
Gregg Gelb, D.M.A., is a saxophonist, clarinetist, band leader,
arranger, composer and educator. He is director of the Triangle
Youth Jazz Ensemble, founder and director of the Heart of
Carolina Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Society, and co-founder and
player with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra. He has
many jazz groups that he founded and performs with regularly;
his Jazz Trio or Quartet, La Fiesta Latin Jazz Band, the Second
Line Stompers, and Gregg Gelb Swing Band. He plays often with
the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. Besides always staying
busy performing, Gelb has always been a dedicated teacher who
has constantly brought jazz and music education to people in
North Carolina since arriving here in 1979.
Gelb is a recipient of a Jazz Composers Award from the North
Carolina Arts Council and four Regional Artist grants from the
Fayetteville/Cumberland County Arts Council.
38 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 39
by Todd Stoll
Editor’s Note: The opinion of the author is not necessarily endorsed by NCMEA. However, we believe articles relating to music education that
cause us to pause and reflect are worthy of publication.
This essay was written in June, 2020, as streets in cities
around the world were filled with protests. My thoughts
at that time were not much different than they are now;
we are a nation divided, and as our educators return to the
classroom, they now occupy the frontlines in the struggle for our
nation's collective soul. Many of these ideas were formed early on
in my nearly 25 years of actively teaching and promoting jazz in a
public-school setting. They are even more relevant and true today.
As I write this (and not worrying about the well-being of my
white children), I hear police and news helicopters circling my
Harlem apartment as people take to the streets. Our nation is in
a state of chaos, and frankly, discussing music education, jazz
education, one’s upcoming livestream, and new online challenges
feels petty, insignificant, and tone deaf. We are a broken, hurt,
and rightfully angry nation. One that, prior to this last brutal act
of injustice, was on the cusp of the worst social, economic, and
political turmoil for more than a century.
With all of that in mind, I do not apologize to those of you
who may be offended by my words – this is too important a
moment for us to ignore. We must act. And whatever actions
you choose, whether it’s protesting, voting, marching, speaking
out, checking our white friends and colleagues, speaking truth
to power, taking the risk that someone may unfriend you, not
hire you, not give you a donation, or fire you, they all pale in
comparison to losing your life.
In previous articles, I have raised issues that I believe are
of importance to the jazz community and the music education
community in general. I have covered topics ranging from the
ongoing “hustle,” the dearth of early jazz, self-aggrandizing in
the name of competition, excellence in the classroom, quality
literature, and a column that was published twice about the lack
of diversity in our community. That last topic is something I have
felt strongly about for more than 25 years, and to be perfectly
honest, the lack of response from the jazz community was
deafening.
I generally receive several responses to any given column,
both supportive and opposing, but in response to those two
diversity columns? Nearly zero. There were a few private messages
from colleagues of color, but that was it. It was a microcosm
of what we have seen in our country for generations – people
of privilege staying silent in the face of the reality of systemic
oppression and racism. And, my friends, the jazz education
community is just as complicit as the rest of America.
I have stated this implicitly in my previous columns, and now
we need to fully embrace this basic truth – jazz education has the
power to be a force for racial understanding, healing, and justice.
To succeed, we must be cognizant of the way we program, teach,
and lead our respective programs, thinking deeply and honestly
about how we can confront these issues with the content we
teach.
When done in a manner that exposes our students to the
excellence of our black artists, the achievements of our black
elders, the triumphs of the ancestors, and the sheer statements of
artistic profundity made over nearly a century, our students can
be led down a path of enlightenment. It’s not just about technique
– scales, arpeggios, ii-V licks, play-alongs, transcriptions, or your
new improv method. It’s deeper than notes.
This music that comes from the literal blood of a marginalized
and oppressed people can educate all of us historically, culturally,
socially, and in so many other ways that make us human. It
demands to be taught better, more deeply, more thoughtfully,
more consciously, and with so much more care and attention that
we can’t help but become a movement towards justice, equality,
and the end of oppression. We need to teach as if our students’
lives are at stake, because frankly, they are.
Let’s face it, the beginnings of institutionalized jazz education
were not about black music. Some of our largest and most
lauded jazz institutions still do little to engage black students,
black faculty, black audiences, and black music. It’s actually
tragic. I know white liberal educators who actively work against
black music and its larger meanings. There are high school and
collegiate jazz programs right now whose jazz music libraries
consist predominantly of white-composed and -arranged
music. Their bands’ current folders contain charts by only white
composers. (Trust me, your students send me pictures of this all
the time, especially around all-state season).
Our business is corrupt, racist, and part of the systemic
nature of this problem. How we train teachers and recruit
students, program concerts, and the entire pedagogy, is playing
into the continued devaluation of black contributions and black
achievement, and the perpetuation of a racist viewpoint. Some
institutions go out of their way to ignore or even denigrate the
music of black elders like Louis Armstrong, not understanding
that his music was the highest form of protest of its kind. What
he represents – black excellence, black expression, freedom, and
dignity in the face of inhumanity – is larger than a style, current
trend, or slogan. If you can’t understand that this is so much
larger and more profound than the ii-V’s you have taught for 30
years, that this music is deeper than notes, you are part of the
system that supports racism.
Here are some ways you can check your privilege in the
classroom:
• Your programming is your integrity. Do you only
perform the music of white composers and arrangers?
• Who make up your guest artists and clinicians? Do you
only have white clinicians and guest artists?
• When you present workshops or appear as a clinician,
who do you reference? Is it only white artists like Woody
Herman, Stan Kenton, and Don Ellis?
• In rehearsals, do you only address the technical aspects
of your students’ performances? Do you discuss the
artists, history, and culture surrounding the creation of
the works?
• In your classroom, address the cultural prerogatives
around the creation, performance, and subsequent
triumph of this music by referencing books and
recordings, and discuss black artists.
• Create a mechanism by which you recruit, retain,
support, and engage black students, black faculty, black
audiences, and your local black community.
Please note, these are all personal
experiences I have had with
colleagues, many of whom I love
and respect, but this is an important
inflection moment in our nation,
and one that we cannot let pass. We
must do better!
I close with the words of Duke
Ellington, one of the most eloquent
and prolific creative black voices
in our nation’s history. A black
pastor invited Duke Ellington to speak at a Lincoln’s Birthday
service at his Los Angeles church on February, 9, 1941. The
subject of Duke’s sermon was “We, Too, Sing America,” a riff on
the renowned poem “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes
and an epilogue to Duke’s “Weary Blues” from 1926. Ellington’s
remarks were reprinted in the California Eagle on February 13,
1941 as the speech of the week.
As America was not yet in the war in Europe, and the attack
on Pearl Harbor was still 10 months away, the reference to “an eye
overseas...” is most likely related to the current moment they were
in – Europe was in turmoil and the drums of war were sounding.
I believe these words ring especially true in this moment.
We [Negroes] play more than a minority role,
in singing “America.” Although numerically but 10
percent of the mammoth chorus that today, with
an eye overseas, sings “America” with fervor and
thanksgiving, I say our 10 percent is the very heart
of the chorus: the sopranos, so to speak, carrying the
melody, the rhythm section of the band, the violins,
pointing the way.
I contend that the Negro is the creative voice of
America, is creative America, and it was a happy day
in America, when the first unhappy slave was landed
on its shores.
There, in our tortured induction into this “land
of liberty,” we built its most graceful civilization. Its
wealth, its flowering fields and handsome homes, its
pretty traditions; its guarded leisure and its music,
were all our creations.
We stirred in our shackles and our unrest
awakened Justice in the hearts of a courageous few,
and we recreated in America the desire for true
democracy, freedom for all, the brotherhood of man,
principles on which the country had been founded.
We were freed and as before, we fought America’s
wars, provided for her labor, gave her music, kept alive
her flickering conscience, prodded her on toward the
yet unachieved goal, democracy – until we became
more than a part of America! We – this kicking,
yelling, touchy, sensitive, scrupulously-demanding
minority – are the personification of the ideal begun
by the Pilgrims, almost 350 years ago.
It is our voice that sang “America” when America
grew too lazy, satisfied and confident to sing… before
the dark threats and fire-lined clouds of destruction
frightened it into a thin, panicky quaver.
We are more than a few isolated instances of
courage, valor, achievement. We’re the injection,
the shot in the arm, that has kept America and its
forgotten principles alive in the fat and corrupt years
intervening between our divine conception and our
near tragic present.
It’s deeper than notes. And it’s time to do better.
IVfME (Inclusion Vision for Music Education)
The IVfME Committee (formerly the Multicultural Committee) has planned a series of
online webinars and Zoom meetings as a resource for music educators to implement
diverse and inclusive curriculum starting in October 2020.
Culturally Responsive Teaching: What it is and Why it’s important in Music Education
Dr. Connie McKoy
October 17, 11 a.m.
The History of Hip-Hop and its place in the Music Education Classroom
Thomas Taylor
December (tentative) 11 a.m.
Gospel Pedagogy and it Use in the Music Classroom
Dr. Jason Thompson
February 20, 11 a.m.
Evolution of Contemporary Gospel Drumming
Dr. Lamon Lawhorn
April 3, 2021
40 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 41
O
rchestra
I
hope this issue of the North Carolina Music Educator finds
you well. By now, you have begun the school year in a much
different manner than in previous years. Hopefully, you have all
been able to establish a rhythm working with your students during
our new normal. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have been
trying to drink from a firehose with all the technology and video
conferencing I have had the “opportunity” to learn!
NC All-State Honors Orchestra Update
Due to the pandemic, the NCHO is going to be virtual this year.
Kudos to Ryan Ellefsen for the amazing job he has done pivoting
from our traditional in-person event to a virtual one. With the
approval of the NCMEA Orchestra section executive board, the
2020 edition of NCHO has become a string orchestra that is going
to premiere a strings-only work by Brian Balmages.
The students will meet virtually with
Balmages so he can provide insight into the
composition process and highlight important
elements of the new composition. The
students will video their parts independently
and send them to Nathaniel Yaffe, the video
producer for the NC Symphony. He will
“stitch” the students’ videos together to create
a virtual orchestra like you may have seen
recently on YouTube and television.
Brian Balmages
Expect the virtual premiere sometime this winter. For those
of you who are wondering, Balmages is also composing a fullorchestra
work to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of NCMEA. That
work will now premiere at the 2021 NC All-State Honors Orchestra
concert.
NCMEA Professional Development
Conference
Conference is going to look very different this year, but I
believe it will still provide many wonderful opportunities to enrich
our teaching practice. Our outside presenters this year are Dr.
Christopher Selby and James Palmer.
Selby is the orchestra director of South Carolina’s Charleston
County School of the Arts, author of Habits of a Successful
Orchestra Director, and co-author of Habits of a Successful String
Musician and Habits of a Successful Middle Level String Musician.
Palmer is the orchestra director at Allatoona High School in
Donald Walter, Chair
Acworth, Georgia; the music director for the Youth Orchestras
of Greater Columbus in Columbus, Georgia; and the senior
conductor at the Florida State University Summer Music Camps.
He is also an editor, arranger, and featured clinician for Alfred
Music. They will present sessions on meaningful and useful
planning, teaching and rehearsing with artistry, and achieving
excellence in reherasals and performance.
Additionally, we have a wonderful slate of presenters from
within NCMEA this year. Presenters from our North Carolina
colleges and universities include Rebecca MacLeod and Heather
Lofdahl (UNC Greensboro), Mira Frisch (UNC Charlotte), Ellie
Wee (Appalachian State University), and Jim Waddelow (Meredith
College). Their topics include creativity in the beginning strings
class, teaching in an online environment, string pedagogy at
multiple levels, basics of cello playing, and dealing with (or
preventing) teacher burnout.
Presenters from our high school and middle school ranks
include Corrie Franklin, Christen Blanton Mack, and Scott Laird.
Franklin, our orchestra section delegate, will present Tips and
Tricks for the Transient Teacher, a session on how to
manage the juggling act of being between multiple schools.
Blanton Mack, and members
of her band, The Zinc Kings, will
discuss old time sting bands and how
that music can enrich our teaching
practice.
Finally, Rebecca MacLeod
will moderate a panel discussion
The Zinc Kings
presented by NC ASTA called,
Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Literature. I am very
excited for a conversation on this timely topic.
As well as our educational sessions, we will have the annual
NCMEA Orchestra section business meeting. At this meeting
we will discuss changing the audition requirements for high
school bass scales, modifications to student events for this year,
and other topics that arose during our September regional
meetings. In addition, I will transition to the past-chair position
and Ryan Ellefsen will become our new Orchestra chair. That
means we need to elect an Orchestra section chair-elect. Also,
we will elect an Orchestra section secretary. Further, Joey Walker
will lead the Music Performance Adjudication Graded Music
List approval meeting. If you have music you would like to
have considered added to the MPA list, please contact him at
joseph.walter@dpsnc.net.
I am looking forward to “seeing” you at conference this year. It
has been an honor to serve as the NCMEA Orchestra section chair.
Please feel free to contact me at orchestra_chair@ncmea.net with
any questions or concerns.
Creativity in the Beginning Strings Class
Children are inherently creative and musical, but we
sometimes inadvertently discourage creative thinking and
problem solving when teaching students to play an instrument.
How can we, as teachers, support our students’ creative musical
voices? In this session, we will demonstrate how creative
activities can be incorporated into the beginning strings class by
focusing on students’ musicianship skills, increasing exposure
to a wide variety of music, and offering opportunities for group
collaborations. Elementary, middle, and high school string
students from the Peck Alumni Leadership Program will serve as
the demonstration group for this session. Teachers are encouraged
to bring their instruments and participate in the creative process,
as well.
Creativity through Technology
Children are inherently creative and musical, but we
sometimes inadvertently discourage creative thinking and
problem solving when teaching students to play an instrument.
How can we as teachers support our students’ creative musical
voices through the use of technology? In our proposed session, we
will demonstrate how creative activities can be incorporated into
the beginning strings class by focusing on students’ musicianship
skills, increasing exposure to a wide variety of music, and offering
opportunities for group collaborations. Teachers are encouraged
to bring their instruments and participate in the creative process,
as well.
Heather Lofdahl
Heather Lofdahl is a string teacher,
conductor, and violist who is pursuing
a Ph.D. in Music Education at UNC
Greensboro. She teaches orchestra classes
through the Lillian Rauch Beginning Strings
Program and at Guilford Preparatory
Academy. She is the conductor of the
Greensboro Symphony Youth Strings and
also has a private violin and viola studio at The
Music Academy of North Carolina, where she was awarded the
Mary Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award in 2014.
Prior to moving to Greensboro, Lofdahl taught orchestra
in Cobb County, Georgia. She also taught elementary through
university orchestra students in Illinois and North Carolina.
She serves on the faculty of the Florida State University String
Orchestra Camp every summer. Lofdahl is published in the String
Research Journal and American String Teachers (AST) Journal.
She is an active member of the American String Teachers
Association and the National Association for Music Education,
and serves on the AST editorial committee. Through these
organizations as well as the Suzuki Association of the Americas
and the International Society for Music Education, she has
presented research at the Symposium for Music Teacher
Education, International Society for Music Education Conference,
American String Teachers Association National Conference, and
various state conferences.
Lofdahl holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in music education and
viola performance from Augustana College and Master of Music
degrees in music education and viola performance from UNC
Greensboro.
Habits of a Successful Orchestra – Teaching
Concert Music and Achieving Musical
Artistry
We know there is more to making music than learning notes
and rhythms. So, how do we keep the joyful parts of music making
and artistic expression at the center of our concert music while we
teach all the notes, rhythms and technique our students need to
play well?
By rethinking how we teach concert music, we can get through
the note learning part of rehearsal much faster and attain higher
levels of artistry and musical expression in student performance.
In this session, attendees will learn:
1. The most common concert music mistakes orchestra
teachers make, and how to avoid them.
2. The “real objectives” of concert music – that is, what
students should be learning after they can play the
notes, rhythms, bowings and dynamics.
3. Effective strategies for improving the ensemble skills in
your ensemble; learn how to get students to listen and
pay better attention to each other.
4. How to select music, and know if a piece is too hard or
easy for your students.
5. Concert Festival Do’s and Don’ts; learn important rules
and tips for improving your ratings, as well as student
musicianship.
Come learn valuable lessons that will reshape how you teach
concert music and improve student accuracy and artistry in
concert performances.
Creating Meaningful and Useful Long-Range
Plans in Orchestra
You want your orchestra to play harder repertoire; here’s how
to plan and teach the skills they will need to play challenging
music well. We know what we want to rehearse, but what skills
are we supposed to teach? When and how do we teach them? In
this session, attendees will learn to identify what they want their
students to learn by the end of each year and how to create a plan
for achieving their year-end goals. Attendees will also:
1. Learn to identify the objectives they plan to teach in
each level of string orchestra class.
2. Identify exercises and strategies for teaching these
skills and objectives.
3. Learn how to incorporate assessment into the lesson
to give students a clearer goal for rehearsal and home
42 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 43
practice.
4. Organize these lessons into units – tone, intonation,
rhythm, literacy – that are structured very differently
than the academic units other classes typically use.
5. Arrange these units into a meaningful and helpful
long-range plan that will organize what you want to
teach and when to teach it.
Instead of just giving out more music, teachers will learn to
plan and teach the technique their students need to make them
more skilled musicians. Come learn how to incorporate sequential
technique-building strategies into your orchestra rehearsals and
teach your students the skills they need to perform the great
orchestral music they deserve to play.
Christopher Selby
Dr. Christopher Selby is the author of
Habits of a Successful Orchestra Director,
Music Theory for the Successful String
Musician, and co-author of the Habits
of a Successful String Musician series, a
collection of string method books for
middle and upper level orchestras published
by GIA. He is an active clinician and has
presented sessions at two Midwest Clinics,
five ASTA National Conferences, and numerous state conferences
across America. Selby regularly guest conducts regional and All-
State Orchestras, and currently directs the high school orchestras
at the School of the Arts in Charleston.
Under his direction, the School of the Arts orchestras
performed at the 2019 Midwest Clinic, and they won the 2016
ASTA National Orchestra Festival’s top award of Grand Champion
in the competitive public school division. He earned a music
education degree from the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut,
and a Master’s and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees in orchestral
conducting from the University of South Carolina.
He began teaching orchestra in 1992, and from 2001 – 2012,
where he was the orchestra coordinator in Richland School
District Two, where he taught high school and supervised the
district’s orchestra curriculum and instruction. He was the
president of the South Carolina Music Educators Association from
2011 – 2013, and he served two separate terms as the president of
the state’s Orchestra Division.
String Pedagogy for Orchestra from
Multiple Perspectives
The UNC Charlotte string faculty will partner with our new
director of orchestras and music education colleagues to present a
session on string pedagogy specific to the orchestra classroom. We
will use a demonstration ensemble composed of our own college
students and we will also invite any interested string teachers to
play along within the ensemble for an extra immersive learning
experience! We will give specific tips for improving the following
skills in an orchestral setting from the perspectives of the string
pedagogue, the conductor, and the music education specialist:
intonation, tone production, improving group pulse and a sense
of ensemble, left hand technique, and varied bow strokes (such
as which one to use, how students can better match their strokes,
where in the bow to play each stroke, and how to teach them). Our
team will offer tips for teaching these skills, as well as suggestions
for conducting gestures that will lead students to the desired
musical goal. We will use music of varied styles and levels in our
presentation in order to be inclusive of all students.
We will end with a Q&A session.
Mira Frisch
Mira Frisch is professor of cello and the
director of string chamber music at UNC
Charlotte. Her cello students have performed
as soloists with the Charlotte Symphony,
the Salisbury Symphony, the University of
Tennessee Symphony, and the Greensboro
Symphony Youth Orchestra, most often
after winning first place in a competition.
They have also served as principal cellists
with both the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra and the
Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra, and they have performed
professionally in the cello sections of several orchestras including
the Charlotte Symphony and the Salisbury Symphony.
Graduates of her collegiate studio are attending graduate
school, performing cello, teaching music, or enjoying cello
while pursuing careers outside of music. Frisch has performed
throughout the United States and in the Netherlands, Bermuda,
Italy, and France. In the Carolinas, she has performed as guest
principal cellist with the Charleston Symphony, as a section cellist
with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and with the Madison
Park String Quartet. Her chamber music recordings as a member
of Duo XXI, released on the Albany Records label, were called
“beautifully played” by American Record Guide and her ensemble’s
“precise ensemble playing” was noted by Fanfare Magazine. Frisch
can also be heard on additional recordings produced by Albany
Records and Cantus Recordings. She has presented at national
conferences of the American String Teachers Association, College
Music Society, Music Teachers National Association, and the
Society of Composers.
Teaching Strings Online
This session will focus on strategies teachers can use to
increase student engagement online. We will present solutions
and alternatives to some of the common problems inherent
in virtual music instruction such as: teaching technique,
performing simultaneously, and offering opportunities for
students to collaborate. Bring your instrument and get ready to
engage in music making online.
Dr. Rebecca MacLeod
Dr. Rebecca MacLeod is professor of
music education at UNC Greensboro,
where she directs the string education
program and conducts the UNC
Greensboro Sinfonia. She is the author
of Teaching Strings in Today’s Classroom
and is published in Journal of Research in
Music Education, International Journal of
Music Education, Bulletin for the Council
of Research in Music Education, Update: Applications of Research
in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, String
Research Journal, Psychology of Music, The Strad, American String
“At UNCSA, my professors believe in
me and push me harder than anyone
before. They let me prove to myself
that I can be the artist I want to be.”
— Brianna Cantwell, ’23
Dance
Design & Production
Drama
Filmmaking
Music
Powering
Creativity
Music
44 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA UNCSA.EDU/MUSIC
EDUCATOR | 45
Teachers Journal, and various state music education journals. A
passionate advocate for increasing access to string education to all
students, MacLeod directs two community partnership programs
that provide string instruction to underserved students: the
Lillian Rauch Beginning Strings Program and the Peck Alumni
Leadership Program.
North Carolina Symphony Online Resources
Join the North Carolina Symphony and a panel of teachers
for a session focusing on online resources, lessons, and
activities to pair with the NC Symphony Education Concert
video. Presenters will share curriculum-aligned lessons
that integrate STEM and ELA standards, as well as provide
accountability questions for this time of virtual learning.
Attendees will have an opportunity to participate, engage, ask
questions, and share ideas for integrating Symphony resources
into their classroom.
Jason Spencer
Jason Spencer is director of education for the North
Carolina Symphony, which conducts one of the most extensive
education programs of any U.S. orchestra. In this role, he
oversees the planning and administration of more than 120
education programs and activities around the state each year.
Additionally, he works closely with music teachers and arts
leaders across the state to ensure programming and lessons
align with the N.C. standard course of study. Prior to joining
the North Carolina Symphony, he served as general manager of
the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras in Washington,
D.C. A native of North Carolina, he holds degrees in clarinet
performance from UNC Greensboro and the University of
Michigan.
Cello Playing 101
This presentation will include fundamentals of cello playing,
common errors and how to fix them. This will be a useful
review session for orchestra teachers who are interested in
expanding their knowledge in cello playing.
Ellie Wee
Cellist Ellie Wee, D.M.A., has performed
as a soloist, chamber musician, and an
orchestra player in the United States,
France, Italy, Turkey, Japan and Korea with
such groups as Handel and Haydn Society,
Boston Baroque, Menotti Lyric Opera and
Arizona Opera. She has received numerous
awards and scholarships including the Anna
Rosenzweig String Award, the Regent Full
Scholarship Award, the Boston University Full Scholarship Award,
The American Conservatory Full Scholarship Award, to name a
few.
give recitals and master classes at Adnan Menderes University
State Conservatory, Aydin, Turkey. She has been invited to be
an adjudicator at such competitions including Tufts symphony
Concerto Competition and Tufts Youth Philharmonic Youth
Symphony Orchestra.Wee has taught at Arizona State University,
Northeastern University in Boston, and Stonehill College, Mass.
She has been a serving as an assistant professor at Appalachian
State University since 2017.
Artistry, Engagement, and Reinforcement:
Three Ingredients of Artistic Rehearsals
This session will present rehearsal strategies that will engage
the students and help ensembles of all levels achieve superior
results. Topics will include selecting repertoire, preparing your
score, rehearsal strategies, use of technology, and educational
resources.
Warm Up to Wrap Up: A Complete Creative
Approach to Achieving Excellence in The
Orchestra Classroom
Using a demonstration group, this session will present
creative warm ups, targeted application, rehearsal techniques and
pacing to prepare outstanding performances. The presenter will
demonstrate a variety of warm ups that directly transfer to the
repertoire. The presenter will also share ideas on creating warm
ups, resources and materials that contain warm ups, and lead the
audience through rehearsal techniques that transfer the warm ups
into technique studies and rehearsal pedagogy.
James Palmer
Recipient of the ASTA Elizabeth A. H.
Green Award for a distinguished career in
string teaching, James Palmer is an editor,
arranger, and featured clinician for Alfred
Music. He is also the Orchestra Director
and Fine Arts Department Chairman
at Allatoona High School in Acworth,
Georgia; the Music Director for the Youth
Orchestras of Greater Columbus in Columbus,
Georgia; and the Senior Conductor at the Florida State University
Summer Music Camps, a post he has held since 1996. Mr. Palmer’s
orchestras have performed at several conferences including the
National ASTA Conference and Midwest Clinic.Jim Palmer
has received the Teacher of the Year Award in three separate
high schools and has been inducted into the Florida Collegiate
Music Educators Hall of Fame. He is a frequent clinician having
conducted All State and honors orchestras throughout the U.S.
Mr. Palmer has also maintained a career as a professional violist,
including serving as Principal Violist for the Sarasota Pops
Orchestra. Mr. Palmer is a member of GMEA, Past President of
Georgia ASTA, Past Chairman of the ASTA National Orchestra
Festival, and is a graduate of Florida State University.
MAKING MUSIC. MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
UNC WILMINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
UNDERGRADUATE STUDY
BACHELOR OF MUSIC IN MUSIC EDUCATION
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MUSIC
PERFORMANCE:
instrumental · piano · vocal
JAZZ STUDIES
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY
GENERAL MUSIC
A dedicated teacher as well, her students were winners of
the Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition
and state and national-level honors orchestras. As an active
performer, lecturer, and adjudicator, Wee has presented master
classes and concerts at some of the most prestigious performing
arts institutions and universities in the United States and
internationally. She also appears as a regular guest artist to
AN EEO/AA INSTITUTION.
Questions regarding UNCW’s Title IX compliance
uncw.edu/music
46 | NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC EDUCATOR | 47
should be directed to TitleIX@uncw.edu.
MINORS
choral music · general music
jazz studies
2020 -21 “LIVE”
VIRTUAL AUDITIONS
Saturday, Dec. 5
Friday, Jan. 8
Saturday, Jan. 16
Saturday, Feb. 13
Saturday, Feb. 27
Saturday, March 20
Technology
Howie Ledford, Chair
I
hope this article finds you well. First, I want to thank you for
all the kind words you have given the committee regarding
the summer technology webinars. The webinar topics were
originally planned as our Professional Development Conference
sessions, but we offered them during the summer knowing teachers
would need the information before they started the school year and
dove into the world of remote and hybrid learning.
We offered the summer webinars at no charge to all teachers –
NCMEA members and non-members. We knew that in this time
of the “unknown,” all teachers would need the support of NCMEA,
especially of the NCMEA technology section. If you did not attend
the technology webinars in the summer, many of them will be on
demand at our virtual conference in November. There was a lot of
good information given during those webinars. I would suggest you
take the time to look at them. They range from lesson planning to
what to buy to make you sound better in your conferences.
We have three to four presentations that will be done live, and
six to eight which will be on demand from our summer series. The
first live presenter will be Katie Lesko-Copeland and her ideas on
virtual recruitment. I am super excited to see this. In this day and
time, I think recruitment is going to be a big deal for programs.
Second, will be Kim Wangler from Appalachian State University.
She will be talking about careers in the music industry. This is a
topic I think we all need to hear something about. There are more
careers in the music industry than just performing. This is especially
true in this world we are living in now. The majority of them all
involve some type of technology.
Finally, I am also pleased to welcome back to the technology
platform, Barb Vinal. She has served as the music technology
chair and speaks nationally. She presently works for Wake County
as a digital learning coordinator. I am looking forward to her
presentation on Capturing Student Learning.
I believe we will have a fourth presentation, but as of press time,
I am still finalizing it. Please look at your conference app.
Over the Hills is Home. The lyrics are, “On the other side of night
there comes a day that shines so bright.”
I want you to take two minutes out of your life. Take the time
to think about what you are doing now. Look at the tools you have
developed. Now imagine getting back to “normal” and what you
will do differently for students coming from this experience. I am
not a betting man, but I will say this: I will bet the house we will be
better teachers – and people – at the end of this. On those words, I
look forward to seeing you in November. Stay safe and sane.
Career Opportunities in the Music Industry
for Musicians
Many (if not most) of our young people today are avid
consumers of music, but few are aware of the career opportunities
the creation of that music affords. This presentation will introduce
some of the many professional aspects of the music industry that
may be of interest to young people with a love for music. With
the “coming of age” of streaming services (and the revenues
they create), the music industry has been revitalized and new
opportunities are developing. From arts administration to musical
instrument manufacturing to recording and studio management,
there are many avenues for being involved in the creative process.
Change is happening so rapidly that companies are actively seeking
bright young talent to stay abreast of current trends. Attendees will
leave with resources to help students discover the many paths they
could follow to pursue a career in this field.
Kim L. Wangler
Kim L. Wangler, M.M, M.B.A., joined Appalachian State
University in 2005 as the director of the music industry studies
program. She teaches music management, marketing and
entrepreneurship. She has served in the industry as president of the
board of directors for the Orchestra of Northern New York, house
manager for the Community Performance Series, and as CEO
of Bel Canto Reeds. Wangler currently serves as an independent
consultant for entrepreneurial musicians and holds positions as vice
chairman for the cultural resources board for Boone, and on the
board of the College Music Society in the first Music Business chair
and on the Music and Entertainment Industry national board of
directors. She is published through Hal Leonard, Sage Publishing,
and the MEIEA and NACWPI journals. Along with her academic
work, she enjoys performing on her bassoon with the Watauga
Community Band, Northern Symphonic Winds, and in solo and
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Lastly, I want to take the time to say there are many different
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