TN Musician Vol. 73, No. 3

The Official Publication of the Tennessee Music Education Association 

Choir During COVID-19 

by J.D. Frizzell, Alison Werner, and Tucker Biddlecombe 

p. 14 

Persevering Through 

the Pandemic 

by Robert Bryant 

p. 21 

Taking the Next Step: 

Considerations for Pursuing 

Graduate Studies in Music 

by Ryan Fisher 

p. 26 

Spotlight on 

Bobby Jean “B.J.” Frost 

p. 32 

Rethinking Middle Level 

General Music 

by Stephanie Cronenberg 

p. 42 

VOLUME 73, NO. 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS | 2021 | VOLUME 73, NO. 3 

PROGRAM NOTES 

02 

03 

07 

09 

TMEA Board and Council Directory 

2020-2021 

Tennessee Musician Advertiser Index 

Issue No. 3 

Prelude - A Message from the Editor 

Anna Laura Williams 

TMEA President’s Message 

Alexis Yatuzis-Derryberry 

BY THE NUMBERS/VERBATIM 

12 

14 

21 

26 

48 

The Institute for Composer Diversity 

Lisa Burden, Contributing Columnist 

TEACHING IN TENNESSEE 

Choir During COVID-19: 

Success Stories Across Tennessee 

J.D. Frizzell, Alison Werner, and Tucker Biddlecombe 

Persevering Through the Pandemic: 

Tips for Staying Hopeful in Times of Crisis 

Robert Bryant 

Taking the Next Step: Considerations for 

Pursuing Graduate Studies in Music 

Ryan Fisher 

TMEA Back Then 

March 1976 

32 

42 

Tennessee Musician is mailed to members four times each year at an annual 

subscription rate of $6.00 (included in dues). 

Non-member subscription rate (includes S&H): $30.00 per school year; 

single copies: $10.00 per issue. 

LEARNING FROM OUR LEGENDS 

Spotlight on Bobby Jean “B.J.” Frost 

TMEA Retired Teachers Chair 

GUEST FEATURE 

Rethinking Middle Level General Music: 

Five Democratic Principles to Enhance 

Student Engagement 

Stephanie Cronenberg 

Postmaster - Send address changes to: 

Tennessee Musician 

c/o Tennessee Music Education Association 

2441-Q Old Fort Pkwy, #635 

Murfreesboro, TN 37128-4162 

Published by Slate Group: 6024 45th Street, Lubbock, Texas 79407. 

Graphic Design: Matthew Mann. Account Executive: Ian Spector (800-794-5594). 

Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Organization. U.S. Postage Paid at Lubbock, Texas. 

ISSN Number 0400-3332; EIN number 20-3325550. 

Copyright © 2021 Tennessee Music Education Association. Reproduction in any form 

is illegal without the express permission of the editor: Anna Laura Williams, Managing 

Editor & Advertising Manager; anna.laura.williams@tnmea.org. 

Tennessee Music Education Assocation | www.tnmea.org | 1

TMEA BOARD AND COUNCIL 

n at i o n a l executive board - nat i o n a l associat i o n for music educat i o n 

Southern Division Immediate Past-President 

Dian Eddleman 

deddleman@usjbruins.org 

t m e a executive board 

TMEA Executive Director 

Michael W. Chester 

michael.chester@tnmea.org 

TMEA President 


alexis.yatuzisderryberry@tnmea.org 

TMEA President-Elect 

Ryan Fisher, Ph.D. 

rfisher3@memphis.edu 

TMEA Immediate Past-President 

Lafe Cook 

lcook@k12k.com 

TMEA Secretary 

Dian Eddleman 

deddleman@usjbruins.org 

b oard of directors 

TMEA State General Music Chair 

Franklin Willis 

franklin.willis@mnps.org 

TMEA State Choral Chair 

Jason Whitson 

whitsonj@btcs.org 

TMEA State Orchestra Chair 

Anna Maria Miller 

amamiller@bellsouth.net 

TMEA State Band Chair 

Jacob Campos 

jacob.campos@wcs.edu 

TMEA State Higher Education Chair 

Robert Bryant, Ph.D. 

rbryan14@tnstate.edu 

TMEA NAfME Collegiate Chair 

Jody Blake, Ph.D. 

jblake17@utm.edu 

TMEA Society for Music Teacher 

Education/Research Chair 

Loneka Wilkinson Battiste, Ph.D. 

lbattis2@utk.edu 

TMEA Advocacy and 

Government Relations Chair 

Christopher Dye, Ed.D. 

christopher.dye@mtsu.edu 

TMEA Publications Editor and 

Advertising Manager 


anna.laura.williams@tnmea.org 

t m e a council 

WTGMEA President 

Jennifer Proseus 

wtgmeamemphis@yahoo.com 

WTGMEA President-Elect 

Harrison Howle 

howle.harrison@hardingacademymemphis.org 

WTVMEA President 

Sharon Morris 

smorris@lced.net 

WTVMEA President-Elect 

Adrian Maclin 

maclinal@scsk12.org 

WTSBOA President 

Jennifer Cupples 

jennifer.cupples@wcsk12tn.net 

WTSBOA Past-President 

Ollie Liddell, Ph.D. 

ollie_liddell@hotmail.com 

MTGMEA President 

Rachel Lapinski 

lapinskir@rcschools.net 

MTGMEA President-Elect 

Corynn York 

corynn.york@cityschools.net 

MTVA President 

Gerald Patton 

pattong@rcschools.net 

MTVA President-Elect 

Lorna Pyka 

lornapyka@yahoo.com 

MTSBOA President 

Justin Scott 

justin.scott@tcsedu.net 

MTSBOA President-Elect 

J.R. Baker 

john.baker@rcstn.net 

ETGMEA President 

Amanda Bivens 

aabivens89@gmail.com 

ETGMEA President-Elect 

Bryant Adler 

badler@alcoaschools.net 

ETVA President 

Deborah Gouge 

debbie.gouge@ecschools.net 

ETVA President-Elect 

Kristen Wiram 

wiram_k@hcde.org 

ETSBOA President 

Donald Benton 

president@etsboa.org 

ETSBOA President-Elect 

Jim Burton 

presidentelect@etsboa.org 

p r oject chairs 

TMEA Guitar Education 

(Modern Band) Chair 

Ryan Payne 

payner@rcschools.net 

TMEA Jazz Education Policy Chair 

Ollie Liddell, Ph.D. 

ollie_liddell@hotmail.com 

TMEA Music in Our Schools Month Chair 

Tiffany Barton 

tntreblechoir@gmail.com 

TMEA Music Merchants Industry Chair 

Nick Averwater 

nick@amromusic.com 


Bobby Jean Frost 

bjfrost@aol.com 

TMEA Tri-M Chair 

Robbin Johnston, Ed.S. 

robbin.johnston@cmcss.net 

TMEA Webmaster 

John Womack 

john.womack@tnmea.org 

a l l-stat e management team 

TN All-State Choral Chair 

Brian Russell, D.M.A. 

brian.russell@tnmea.org 

TN All-State Instrumental Chair 

Carter Noblin 

noblinc@wcschools.com 

e n s e m b l e chairs 

TN Treble Honor Choir Chair 

Tiffany Barton 

tntreblechoir@gmail.com 

TN All-State Jazz Band Chair 

Cord Martin 

corderyl.martin@gmail.com 

c o n f e r e n c e management team 

TMEA Conference Co-Chair 

Brad Turner 

brad.turner@acsk-12.org 

TMEA Conference Co-Chair 

Paul Waters 

paulwaters.tmea@gmail.com 

TMEA Conference Exhibits Chair 

Jo Ann Hood 

jhood10105@aol.com 

TMEA Conference Registration Chair 

Mark Garey 

mgarey86@comcast.net 

TMEA Conference Performance 

Group Chair 

John Mears 

tmeaperformancechair@gmail.com 

2 | TENNESSEE MUSICIAN | 2021 | Volume 73, No. 3

TENNESSEE MUSICIAN ADVERTISER INDEX | VOLUME 73, No. 3 

Tennessee Musician 

The Official Publication of the 

Tennessee Music Education 

Association 

Inside Front Cover 

Amro Music Stores, Inc. 

Inside Back Cover 

Slate Group 

Back Cover 

Lee University 

The Tennessee Music Education 

Association (TMEA) was officially 

formed in 1945 as a voluntary, nonprofit 

organization representing 

all phases of music education at all 

school levels. The mission of TMEA 

is to promote the advancement of 

high-quality music education for all. 

Active TMEA membership is open to 

all persons currently teaching music 

and others with a special interest 

or involvement in music education. 

Collegiate memberships and 

retired memberships are available. 

Additional membership information 

is available on the TMEA website: 

www.tnmea.org. 

The Tennessee Musician was 

founded in 1948 with J. Clark Rhodes 

appointed by the TMEA Board of 

Control as inaugural editor. 

Tennessee Musician was preceded 

by an earlier publication, Tennessee 

Music Editors’ Downbeat, which was 

discontinued by the TMEA Board of 

Control at the spring board meeting, 

held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 

1948. 

04 | Tennessee Technological 

University 

05 | Peripole, Inc. 

08 | University of Tennessee 

at Martin 


at Knoxville School of Music 


at Knoxville Bands 

19 | East Tennessee 

State University 

20 | Middle Tennessee 


23 | Austin Peay 


24 | Union 

University 

30 | Yamaha Corporation 

of America 

40 | Maryville 

College 

46 | University 

of Memphis 

47 | Tennessee State 

University 

All advertising and editorial 

materials should be sent to 

Anna Laura Williams, Managing 

Editor and Advertising Manager; 

anna.laura.williams@tnmea.org; 

615-784-8632. 

Advertising information is available 

on the TMEA website: 

https://www.tnmea.org/advertising. 

html. Submit editorial materials by 

e-mail in Microsoft Word format. 

Non-member subscriptions and 

single copy orders can be placed via 

e-mail to the editor. 

Deadlines for advertisement orders 

and editorial materials: 

Issue No. 1 – Deadline: November 15 

(in home delivery: December); 

Issue No. 2 – Deadline: December 15 

(in home delivery: January/ 

February); 

Issue No. 3 – Deadline: February 15 

(in home delivery: March/April); 

Issue No. 4 – Deadline: April 15 

(in home delivery: May/June) 

The views and opinions expressed in 

the articles included in the Tennessee 

Musician are those of the authors and 

do not necessarily reflect the official 

policy or position of TMEA, the 

members, the staff, or the advertisers. 


School of Music 

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www.tntech.edu/music 

Tennessee Tech University 

School of Music 

Box 5045, Cookeville, TN 38505 

(931) 372–3161 

music@tntech.edu 

Tennessee Tech does not condone and will not tolerate discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, sex, age, national origin, genetic information, disability, veteran status, and any 

other basis protected by federal and state civil rights law. Tennessee Tech complies with Title IX and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities, admissions or employment. 

For inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies, contact equity@tntech.edu; for Title IX, Title IX@tntech.edu. The TTU policy on nondiscrimination can be found at www.tntech.edu/ideaa. CFAR009-OCV-21

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PERCUSSION

IN THIS ISSUE . . . 

BY THE NUMBERS/VERBATIM 

Ê 

“The Institute for Composer Diversity” by 

Lisa Burden highlights a practical, online 

repertoire resource for music educators and 

includes interesting data. 

TEACHING IN TENNESSEE 

Ê “Choir During COVID-19: Success Stories 

Across Tennessee,” by J.D. Frizzell, Alison 

Werner, and Tucker Biddlecombe demonstrates 

how choral educators at all levels of teaching and 

geographic areas of our state have created meaningful 

learning experiences during this unprecedented 

Ê 

Ê 

Ê 

time. 

“Persevering Through the Pandemic: Tips for 

Staying Hopeful in Times of Crisis,” by Robert 

Bryant provides encouraging reflections on ways 

music educators make a difference in the lives of 

students throughout this moment and the post- 

COVID-19 future ahead. 

“Taking the Next Step: Considerations for 

Pursuing Graduate Studies in Music,” by Ryan 

Fisher presents information regarding the graduate 

degree process that music teachers of all concentrations 

can contemplate. 

“TMEA Back Then: March 1976,” continues our 

previous issue as we learn about the 

sessions and events for the then-upcoming 

TMEA Convention in April 1976. 

LEARNING FROM OUR LEGENDS 

Ê 

“Spotlight on B.J. Frost” profiles her career and 

offers her insights for both current and retired music 

educators. 

GUEST FEATURE 

Ê “Rethinking Middle Level General Music: 

Five Democratic Principles to Enhance Student 

Engagement,” by Stephanie Cronenberg 

details concepts about student engagement that 

can be applicable to all areas of music education. 


PRELUDE - A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR 


Siegel Middle School 

THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW WE CAN LEARN, 

AND IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE FROM SOMEONE WHO 

TEACHES OUR SPECIFIC CONTENT AREA OF MUSIC. 

By the time you receive this publication, in a “normal” year (one 

unaffected by “COVID-19”), we would likely be preparing for, 

currently attending, or reflecting on an excellent annual TMEA 

Conference. Although we do not have the opportunity to attend 

this event during the present moment, there are still ways in 

which music educators can enjoy some of the aspects we typically 

appreciate during this season. 

Every year, I look forward to previewing all of our TMEA 

Conference session offerings. Attending sessions from other 

“tracks” outside of my specialization enables me to discover 

creative, interesting ways to enhance my own teaching. Band, 

Choir, General Music, Orchestra, Higher Education, Technology, 

Research—we have distinct approaches to music education, 

yet we can all gain knowledge and teaching techniques 

from one another. There is always something new we can 

learn, and it does not have to be from someone who teaches 

our specific content area of music. 

This issue of the Tennessee Musician features various perspectives 

from music educators representing unique backgrounds 

and skillsets. Discovering more about the history of the Tennessee 

Music Education Association and our legendary teachers is 

inspirational. As we develop our understanding about all components 

of music education, we build upon our connectedness 

as colleagues and the impact we make through music. While every 

article in this publication focuses on different elements of 

music teaching, each serves as a reminder that music education 

is making a positive difference in the lives of countless people. 

While preparing this publication, I have greatly enjoyed hearing 

from educators statewide and learning from their exceptional 

classrooms, ensembles, and viewpoints. 

It is my sincerest desire that you find the materials in this publication 

helpful as we continue to share our musical knowledge 

and exchange ideas with one another. 


17th Editor, Tennessee Musician 


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The University of Tennessee is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/ Section 504/ADA/ADEA institution in the provision of its education and employment programs and services. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, 

age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status. Inquiries should be directed to the Office of Equity and Diversity (OED), 303 Administration Building, Martin, TN 38238, (731) 881-3505 Office, (731) 881-4889 TTY, Hearing Impaired, (731) 881-3507 Fax, equityanddiversity@utm.edu, http://www.utm.edu/departments/equalopp/. In compliance with the 

Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (The Clery Act), UTM’s annual security report includes statistics for the previous three years concerning reported crimes that occurred on or around the campus and UTM’s emergency response and evacuation procedures. You can view the report at http://www.utm.edu/departments/ 

publicsafety/_pdfs/annual security report 2014 adobe.pdf or you may obtain a paper copy of the report by contacting the Office of Public Safety, 215 Hurt Street, Martin, TN 38238 or calling (731) 881-7777. Data on intercollegiate athletics program participation rates and financial support may be found at http://www.utm.edu/about/consumer.php#3g and printed 

copies may be obtained through the Office of Intercollegiate Athletics, 1022 Elam Center, Martin, TN 38238 or by calling (731) 881-7660. E05-5220-00-022-21

TMEA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 


Lascassas Elementary School 

TMEA LAUNCHES VIRTUAL ALL-STATE 

APRIL 10, 2021 

TMEA will honor and celebrate the accomplishments 

of our Tennessee All-State students with 

a Virtual All-State clinic experience on April 10, 

2021. With a slate of outstanding artists who have 

come together for these elite student musicians, 

our celebration will take place live over Zoom with 

opening remarks from Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser 

(renowned music educator, clinician, and student 

leadership expert). 

Following his remarks, students will move into 

break-out rooms for a live clinic experience. 

Choral All-State students will join Dr. Tucker 

Biddlecombe (Director of the Nashville Symphony 

Chorus and Director of Choral Activities at 

Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music), Dr. 

Julie Yu (Professor of Music and Co-Director of 

Choral Studies at Kansas State University), and 

Daniel Mertzluft (TikTok musical celebrity and 

New York City based composer and arranger). 

Orchestra and Concert Band All-State students 

will join musicians from the Nashville 

Symphony for instrument specific clinics, while 

the Jazz Band All-State students will join Dr. 

Ryan Middagh (Chair of the Department of Jazz 

at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music), 

Jeff Coffin (saxophonist and member of the Dave 

Matthews Band), Jose Sibaja (Associate Professor 

of Trumpet at Vanderbilt Blair School of 

Music), and Bethany Merritt (DownBeat award 

winning jazz vocalist). 

Closing our event will be a message from country 

music artists Maddie & Tae. 

An undertaking of this magnitude could not be 

done without generous support from the Country 

Music Association Foundation, The Nashville 

Symphony, and Vanderbilt University Blair 

School of Music. 

A year ago, the world stopped. 

March 2020 was uncharted 

territory. We ordered groceries 

online, had Zoom ‘Happy 

Hours,’ and did the best we 

could to teach music virtually. 

March 2021 found the world in a 

much different place. Vaccines 

for COVID-19 are starting to 

roll out, the majority of schools are back to in-person instruction, but 

one thing hasn’t changed—your dedication to your students. I’ve proudly 

watched as you shared learning resources, put in countless hours to ensure 

your region could offer student auditions, prepared those students, and 

created breathtaking virtual performances. Your dedication and sacrifices 

have not gone unnoticed. Please know you have made a difference 

in your students’ lives and in your communities. 

March also brought Music in Our Schools Month! The theme for 2021 

was “Music: The Sound of My Heart.” Music in Our Schools Month began 

in 1973 as a single statewide advocacy day in New York. This effort 

grew through the decades and in 1985 became a month-long celebration 

of school music. The Music in Our Schools month webpage, (https:// 

nafme.org/programs/miosm/), offers many ideas to help celebrate music 

in your school. There are lesson plans, lesson launching points, suggested 

repertoire list, and even information on how to hold an “informance.” If 

you participated in Music In Our Schools Month, don’t forget to use the 

tag #MIOSM on your social media. This time of year is always a great 

opportunity to advocate and promote your programs to administration, 

community, and other stakeholders. The TMEA Executive Committee 

attended a virtual Hill Day in March to advocate for school music. We 

enjoyed sharing your stories with elected officials and other key decision 

makers about the impact and importance of music education programs. 

We have many things to look forward to in the coming months. As winter 

retreats and spring breathes it’s thawing breath into Tennessee, we can 

celebrate being a part of the best profession in the world, celebrate as 

things slowly begin to return to normal (even though it may be somewhat 

different), and celebrate the successes and positive moments YOU have 

brought to your students and your community. 

Musically, 


38th TMEA President 


Whatever your musical passion may be, 

the University of Tennessee School of 

Music is here to help you achieve your 

dreams. Pursue your aspirations with 

confidence by joining the Volunteer family.

TMEA BY THE NUMBERS / VERBATIM 

by Lisa Burden 

The Institute for 

Composer Diversity 

LAST YEAR, I realized that there 

were two main ways that I listened to 

new music: at conferences (such as 

TMEA and Midwest) and online via the 

same three large publishing companies. 

All are excellent resources, but it made 

me wonder: “What else is out there?” A 

quick search revealed some resources I 

had never tapped into that I 

immediately became interested in. 

Then, this summer, I was introduced to 

The Institute for Composer Diversity. 

Their website (composerdiversity.com) 

offers a composer and works database 

that can be searched by Gender 

Identity, Demographic, Genre, Medium 

or Subgenre, and even Location! It 

gives access to state lists for pieces 

that can be used for CPA and other 

assessments as well as an analysis of 

how frequently works are performed in 

an orchestra season. Further, it allows 

for the public to submit submissions of 

works that can be added to their 

database. I view this as another source 

of finding quality music by composers 

that are sometimes difficult to find if 

limited to the major publishing house 

catalogs. What a great opportunity to 

do more listening and add to the list of 

possible works we want to expose our 

students to! 

I think we all want our 

students to perform and 

study the best music 

available. The problem has 

been many of us were 

trained in a very narrow 

way. It's part of our job as 

teachers to grow and to 

expand our repertoire so 

our students can have a 

more complete music 

education. The ICD 

databases are helpful tools 

to discover new music and 

composers. 

- Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, 

Associate Director of Bands 

Abilene Christian University 

(University of Tennessee graduate and 

Maryville, Tennessee, native) 


My co-worker, Atticus Hensley, has been very interested in looking for a wide range of new compositions from a 

diverse set of composers. I remember last year the level of interest our students took when they were introduced 

to Force Field by Adrian Sims. Mr. Sims is a twenty-two-year-old African American composer who writes 

incredible music! The students loved that a young man so close to them in age composed a piece of literature 

that they got to work on. Much like when I get to hear orchestral and wind band music composed by women, I 

can’t help but think that there were students who especially had a sense of connection and pride in the fact that 

this was an African America composer. I used to think that these opportunities for my students to connect with 

composers who share their gender, demographic, etc. were limited at best. Thanks to this incredible resource, I 

now know that there are so many more offerings than I could ever imagine! 

Based on the 2019/2020 season of 

120 orchestras nationwide, here 

are some interesting statistics 

of the programming of 

the orchestras 

combined. 

28 | 23% 

12 | 10% 

orchestras performed three or more 

works by Tchaikovsky 


works by Mozart 

Source: Institute for Composer Diversity, 

www.composerdiversity.com/. 

12 | 10% 


works by Johannes Brahms 

4,047 

TOTAL PERFORMANCES 

OF ORCHESTRAL WORKS 

634 | 16% 

of those works composed by all living composers 

458 | 11% 

of those works composed by underrepresented composers 

56 | 46% 


works by Beethoven 

434 | 10.5% 

of those works composed by Ludwig van Beethoven 

309 | 8% 

of those works composed by women 

210 | 5% 

of those works composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 

60 | 1.5% 

of those works composed by deceased women 


TMEA TEACHING IN TENNESSEE 

CHOIR DURING COVID-19: 

SUCCESS STORIES ACROSS TENNESSEE 

by J.D. Frizzell, Ph.D., 

Allison Werner, and 

Tucker Biddlecombe, Ph.D. 


WEST TENNESSEE 

J.D. Frizzell, Ph.D. 

High School Choir 

Briarcrest Christian School (Memphis, TN) 

video of a great professional choir performing that piece. This 

helped them get excited about the piece and better understand the 

stylistic norms of the musical period. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, I (like many of us) was thrust into 

online teaching without any preparation or resources. Hoping that 

we would eventually go back to school, I plowed ahead with teaching 

music and having students record small sections of music for 

us to review. We taught our entire pops concert this way over the 

course of a few months. 

It. Was. Exhausting. 

And if we are being honest, online rehearsals were pretty boring 

both for us and the kids. That summer, I started planning for the 

reality of remote or hybrid learning in a completely new manner. 

Instead of focusing only on music and performance, I started thinking 

outside of the box on how we could incorporate music history, 

music theory, cultural connections, and more. 

The result was a series of week-long web-based lessons that I then 

adapted for Google Slides, PowerPoint, and PDF. I shared my idea 

for these resources on Facebook and had literally thousands of comments 

from interested choir directors. Within a week, I launched an 

online marketplace for choir lessons for hybrid and remote learning. 

Of course, my first project was a free lesson to help as many people 

as possible. 

So what do these lessons look like? I’ll show you. 

1. BACKGROUND - INCLUDING COMPOSER, GEOGRAPHY, STYLISTIC 

PERIOD, AND COMPOSITION INFORMATION 

I also realized most students have no grasp on how music fits into 

history, so I showed how each piece fit into the western musical 

timeline. 

2. MUSIC THEORY 

For music theory, I would first introduce and explain a concept and 

then ask students to use that concept with the current piece of literature. 

For example, for Mozart’s Lacrimosa, I talked about texture 

and then asked students to identify the types of texture found in the 

piece. The music theory portions are typically the longest sections 

since there is so much that is easy to teach online in this area. 

I believe it is important to humanize “old” music and historical 

figures, so I made this section interesting and personal. 

I included YouTube videos of the cities in which each of the pieces 

was composed so students could take a deep dive into what life 

may have looked like for that composer. I also included a YouTube 


I ALSO REALIZED MOST STUDENTS HAVE NO 

GRASP ON HOW MUSIC FITS INTO HISTORY, 

SO I SHOWED HOW EACH PIECE FIT INTO THE 

WESTERN MUSICAL TIMELINE. 

3. VOCAL TECHNIQUE 

In the third section, I gave the students an opportunity to sing some 

of the piece of music, just not with the idea of a performance as the 

goal. I included keys to success for that portion of the piece. 

4. LISTENING AND EVALUATING 

In this section, I use recordings of the piece we are studying and/ 

or other pieces of the same genre. For Lacrimosa, I included the 

Ockeghem Requiem, Verdi Requiem, and Brahms German Requiem 

excerpts. After brief videos of each, I ask students to state which 

one they enjoyed the most and to list musical reasons for that. 

These lessons address two of the three main National Core Arts 

Standards in depth. They still have students sing. They can be 

adapted for hybrid, remote, or even in-person learning. Hundreds 

of choir directors around the country are using them as they have 

embraced the idea that a different kind of classroom requires a different 

approach to our craft. 

For practicing remotely, I included sung practice tracks from ChoralTracks. 

These tracks are accurately sung with dynamics, articulations, 

etc. They are immensely helpful for student success in 

learning parts on their own. 

DR. J.D. FRIZZELL is the Director of Fine Arts 

and Director of Vocal Music at Briarcrest 

Christian School in Memphis, TN, where he is 

responsible for coordinating all Fine Arts programs 

(K2-12th grade). As the Director of Vocal 

Music, he teaches the Concert Choir, Advanced 

Women’s Choir, Men’s A Cappella, and 

internationally acclaimed a cappella group 

OneVoice. His ensembles have performed at 

regional, national, and international conventions. Their music has 

been streamed and downloaded over 100 million times. Winner 

of the Integrales Composition Contest, Dr. Frizzell has had many 

best-selling compositions and arrangements. He also co-authored 

A Cappella Warm-Ups and Teaching Music Through Performance 

In Contemporary A Cappella. 


EAST TENNESSEE 

Alison Werner 

Middle School Choir 

Gibbs Middle School (Knox County Schools) 

First of all, I would like to say that there are so many teachers across 

our state doing fabulous things in the classroom and virtually, so 

I am honored to share a portion of what I have happened upon as 

successful. Regardless if you are creating a phenomenal virtual concert 

that received many accolades or if you are barely deciding on 

yet another engaging activity fifteen minutes before meeting with 

your students on Zoom again, YOU are one of the reasons that 

many students even come to school or sign-on. Having that human 

connection through music is unlike any other subject (you know 

this already), but sometimes a reminder helps that right now it is 

NOT the performance we are working towards: it’s the survival of 

that musical connection. 

In Spring of 2020, we were thirty minutes before opening night of 

our Wizard of Oz production when we found out we would have to 

cancel the rest of our run. Students and parents were devastated, 

but the show went on that night flawlessly. Once the gravity of the 

situation sank in, I began looking into all types of online learning 

platforms, maybe a little too much—I was overwhelmed. Once our 

school decided to be in-person in the Fall of 2020, I prepared for as 

many scenarios as possible. I taped off my classroom, marked spaces 

in an outdoor area for singing, set up online accounts, made a virtual 

classroom, attended virtual workshops, did everything I thought I 

should so that I could be ready. Little did I know how these past few 

months would change me as a teacher (and some days question if I 

should even stay in this career). 

For several weeks, I prepared my students technologically, but it 

became crystal clear that they just wanted to sing, be together with 

their friends, and do things physically instead of staring at a screen. 

So, we shifted gears. Without a performance looming, we learned 

fun songs, made up motions, acted silly at times, and still learned 

about music along the way. We did our daily stretches to student 

song requests (clean and preselected from a Google form of course) 

and decided we wanted to create a video to capture our singing at 

this time. I had preselected the song “I Believe,” arranged by Mark 

Miller, not because we are comparing our lives to the lives of a Jew 

in the Holocaust, but the students could relate their current situation 

to the text: 

I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shining. 

I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it. 

I believe in God, even when God is silent. 

I taught the melody to all grade levels and taught the harmony to 

the upper-level classes, as well as the descant. By prerecording 

the accompaniment, it was fairly easy to line up all the tracks 

of each choir so that all choirs could “perform” together. As an 

afterthought, I also asked our school’s art teacher for pictures 

of some of their recent projects to include in the video. My goal 

was to just get a snapshot of our departments. 

I FEEL LIKE I KNOW MY STUDENTS BETTER 

NOW THAN WHEN WE WOULD ALL BE SINGING 

TOGETHER BECAUSE OF HAVING TO RE- 

CREATE HOW WE TEACH AND LEARN MUSIC. 

VIEW OUR FINAL PRODUCT BY SCANNING THE QR CODE BELOW 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H0uGpO5wyw 

Soon after we recorded our video, our school went virtual. I was 

hoping we could do a similar video with our winter music, but instead, 

I was able to connect more individually with students as they 

sent in videos and audio recordings of sight-singing and virtual 

rehearsal recordings since we were not able to be in-person. I had 

supplied them with kazoos before we went virtual so that if they 

felt uncomfortable singing, they could at least get the pitches with 

the kazoo. I feel like I know my students better now than when we 

would all be singing together because of having to re-create how we 

teach and learn music. 

I do not wish for teachers in any discipline or level to endure the 

hardships of teaching during a pandemic, but I am grateful for the 

opportunities it has provided and the necessity for change. 

ALISON WERNER is a middle school choral 

director and has been teaching for 18 years 

in Knox County, Tennessee. She is currently 

at one of the newest schools in the county, 

Gibbs Middle School, where she is building a 

program that encompasses one-third of the 

student body in three choirs, an after-school 

auditioned ensemble, and a musical theatre 

club. She is also the Knox County Professional 

Development Specialist for Secondary Choral Teachers and has 

held several officer and chair positions for the East Tennessee Vocal 

Association.. 


MIDDLE TENNESSEE 

Tucker Biddlecomb, Ph.D. 

Collegiate Choir 

Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) 

One of the most difficult aspects about the pandemic is that 

even when you’re back in person together in rehearsal, it creates 

a set of new challenges. You’re trying to take a singing 

breath through a mask. That makes it difficult to maintain 

any sense of consistent timing in singing, as you have to spend more 

time inhaling. As we all know, time waits for no singer. In addition, 

it becomes more difficult to hear anything except your own voice. 

Choral music’s greatest gift to us is the way our scores are laid 

out—we get to see ALL the parts at once along with every musical 

direction in real time. However, because we can see the other 

parts, we are now responsible to listen for them. I rehearse my 

top ensemble, the Vanderbilt Chorale, in our modern concert hall 

with the shell out for quicker aerosol clearance. It’s quiet, controlled, 

and mildly reverberant. Despite an ideal environment, my 

students simply can’t hear one another—they’re overwhelmed 

with their own sound reflecting back at them through the mask 

they’re wearing. 

I feel strongly that we will one day look on virtual projects 

as the lifeline that saved choral music, but I have a hard time 

watching them at this point. It takes an emotional toll to know how 

much work went into producing it, and how little satisfaction the 

performers had when they filmed in their bedroom at home. Virtual 

singing has been a game-changer for me, however, in learning about 

my singers’ voices. It’s embarrassing to think how much guessing I 

was doing about their vocal development. 

Just recently, I wanted to learn more about the state of the changing 

voices in my Young Men’s Chorus, a group I direct as part of 

the Blair Children’s Chorus at Vanderbilt. It took me about twenty 

minutes to sequence a piano accompaniment to Britten’s The Salley 

Gardens, and I put the recorded mp3 accompaniment and my voice 

singing it in three keys. After a little screen sharing during rehearsal 

and having them record with a second device, by the end of that 

rehearsal I had thirty individual recordings of their voices singing 

the same art song in an appropriate key for them. Now I can email 

them specifics about what I’m hearing, make better decisions about 

voicing, and find out how they are doing with things like musical independence 

and literacy. If we were in person, I’d still be guessing. 

We will be back, and right soon. Our transition to normal will not 

be overnight, however, and we should be prepared for the new challenges 

a post-pandemic choral ensemble will face. What gives me 

hope? The resilience of our singers, and the ingenuity of you—my 

choral colleagues. 

VIRTUAL SINGING HAS 

BEEN A GAME-CHANGER 

FOR ME, HOWEVER, IN 

LEARNING ABOUT MY 

SINGERS’ VOICES. 

DR. TUCKER BIDDLECOMBE is Director of 

Choral Activities at Vanderbilt University’s 

Blair School of Music, where he conducts the 

Vanderbilt Chorale and Glee Club, and serves 

as Coordinator of Music Teacher Education. 

He also serves as Director of the Nashville 

Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Dr. Biddlecombe 

is a veteran teacher and a passionate advocate 

for music education. Ensembles under his direction 

have toured nationally and internationally and have performed 

to acclaim at state and division conventions of ACDA. He is 

in demand as a conductor and clinician having served as a clinician 

to choirs in 25 states and was a recent guest lecturer and clinician 

at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. A native of Buffalo, 

New York, Biddlecombe is a graduate of SUNY Potsdam and Florida 

State University, where he completed doctoral studies in choral 

conducting and music education with André Thomas. He resides in 

Nashville with his wife Mary Biddlecombe, Artistic Director of the 

Blair Children’s Chorus. 


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SHOWING 

COMPASSION 

RADIATING 

GRATITUDE 

MANAGING 

EXPECTATIONS 

PERSEVERING 

THROUGH 

THE 

PANDEMIC: 

TIPS FOR 

STAYING 

HOPEFUL 

IN TIMES 

OF CRISIS 

by Robert Bryant, Ph.D. 

CULTIVATING 

CREATIVITY 

FOSTERING 

COMMUNITY 

Welcome to our new reality. When 

COVID-19 required us to shelter 

in place last spring, many believed 

this was an overreaction and that 

things would return to normal sooner rather 

than later. But when major national and international 

athletic events were postponed 

and cancelled, we suddenly knew that this 

outbreak was different. Next came daily 

news updates of viral community spread 

and tragic loss of life. While we seek to understand 

and cope with the numerous ways 

in which the coronavirus pandemic has altered 

our way of life, we in the teaching profession 

are committed to maintaining continuity 

of instruction for our students. 


...WE CAN STILL FIND NEW WAYS TO HELP 

OUR STUDENTS PERSEVERE AND SUCCEED 

UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES. 

COVID-19 has completely changed how we work, communicate, 

and live our daily lives. Because we were thrust into emergency remote 

teaching without much notice, many of us did not have adequate 

time to prepare for delivering high-quality online music instruction. 

But now that we have had some time to learn more about 

virtual music learning and try different approaches with varying 

degrees of success, many of us can attest to how we have grown as 

professionals. With that being said, we can still find new ways to 

help our students persevere and succeed under these circumstances. 

Music educators are essential to help students communicate 

thoughts and feelings that they often cannot put into words. This 

speaks to music’s intrinsic value and importance as a necessary 

part of a comprehensive education. These past months of instability 

have given us time to create unique and significant learning experiences 

for our students. We have participated in numerous virtual 

performances and online gatherings that may not have happened 

otherwise. Many music education organizations, including TMEA, 

continue to offer resources and professional development during 

these times. This is vital to our profession as we prepare for teaching 

in a post-pandemic world. 

While I believe that it is important to acknowledge the silver lining 

during COVID-19, we must also recognize the setbacks this pandemic 

has caused. Some of us are dealing with grief from the loss 

of loved ones due to the virus. Others are caring for family members 

who have contracted the virus and are still recovering. Some of us 

have tested positive, and our profession continues to reel from the 

loss of colleagues. We have witnessed the postponement of major 

life events and have had to manage the economic impact of the pandemic 

on our communities. But even through all our sorrow and 

disappointment, we have continued to bring the joy and wonder of 

music to our students. It is with those fleeting but profound glimmers 

of hope in mind that I offer some suggestions to help us navigate 

this moment. 

SHOWING COMPASSION 

Now that we have had more than a year to adjust to teaching online, 

it can be easy for us to affix our old ideals onto the current situation. 

We may feel as if we are not doing enough to serve our students and 

reach our professional goals. We may overlook the fact that many 

of our students are still adjusting to this new approach to school. 

Some of our students are struggling just to have their basic needs 

met. It is difficult for a student to be fully engaged in learning when 

they are dealing with health, housing, or food insecurity. Now more 

than ever we need to show ourselves and our students as much compassion 

as possible. When appropriate, we may even want to share 

some of the challenges we face as teachers with our students, as 

well as what we are doing to overcome these challenges. I guarantee 

that they will empathize and work even harder for us. 

RADIATING GRATITUDE 

At the end of each workday, I reflect and try to find at least one moment 

to be grateful for. Some days take longer than others to think of 

something, but I can always find at least one moment that made me 

smile and remind me why I got into the teaching profession. While 

I could lament the many performances and presentations on my 

calendar that were cancelled due to the pandemic, I choose to focus 

on the opportunities that my students and I have had that may not 

have happened otherwise. Searching for just one or two things to 

be grateful for each day can help us persevere during this time with 

more hope. When we share our gratitude with our students and colleagues, 

we could be helping someone who desperately needs it. 

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS 

While we would all like to maintain the same high expectations for 

musical excellence that we had pre-COVID, we should first take 

a step back and reassess. Performance expectations are a major 

source of stress for music educators even under normal circumstances. 

Now that many of our most important performing opportunities 

are on hold, we simply have no clarity as to when, how, or even 

if they will happen. Let’s take this time to consider adjusting our 

performance expectations and think of ways that we can still provide 

our students with an exceptional music education that focuses 

on the artistic processes of creating, responding, and connecting. 

CULTIVATING CREATIVITY 

Our profession has quickly evolved through the expansion of the 

many virtual concerts and conferences during the pandemic. Now 

is a great time to discover new ways to create by fulling leveraging 

technology and empowering our students to build their capacity 

and independence as musicians. I have learned, through much 

trial and error, more about optimizing my teaching for online and 

hybrid delivery than ever before. I also feel like I am just beginning 

to scratch the surface of capabilities of my institution’s video conferencing 

and content management systems. Let’s continue to find 

new approaches to those tried-and-true lessons and involve our 

students in this process. 

FOSTERING COMMUNITY 

This can be a very isolating time for many of us, both professionally 

and socially. It is critical that we continue to connect, even if just 

virtually, on a frequent basis. A quick phone call, text, or email to 

check-in with a colleague can be just what we need to keep us motivated 

to bring our best to our classes each day. Sharing our successes 

and setbacks with trusted colleagues who understand what we 


are going through is also important to decrease stress and fatigue. 

We should take time each week to reach out to a co-worker or mentor 

and discuss what is working and what is not. One practice that I 

have adopted since the pandemic began is writing a lesson journal. 

After each class, I write a few pros and cons and later share those 

with trusted colleagues who can lend their support and expertise. 

I have also relied on my tech savvy colleagues for virtual teaching 

solutions, and this has made a profound impact on how I approach 

online instruction. 

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC 

CONCLUSION 

When COVID-19 suddenly upended our way of life, it also shifted 

how we will teach music forever. The physical, intellectual, and 

emotional toll of the coronavirus pandemic will be felt for generations. 

Nevertheless, some of the greatest innovations in music education 

are unfolding before our eyes. I urge that we continue to 

show ourselves and our students much compassion, give thanks for 

the opportunities we have, adjust our expectations to fit our current 

situation, seek new approaches to our teaching, and build a community 

of colleagues we can count on for support. While the future is 

still uncertain and we do not know what a post-pandemic world will 

look like, what we do know is that our world will never be the same. 

Let’s use this opportunity to fulfill the promise of providing an accessible 

and equitable music education for all students. 

DR. ROBERT L. BRYANT III currently serves as 

Music Education Coordinator at Tennessee 

State University. He earned degrees from Florida 

A&M University (B.S.), Florida State University 

(M.M.E.), Georgia Southern University 

(M.Ed.), and Mercer University (Ph.D.). Prior 

to his current role, Dr. Bryant taught as a middle 

and high school band director while also 

working in various roles in higher education 

for colleges and universities in Georgia and Alabama. 

As a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association, Dr. Bryant 

held the office of District IV Band Division Chairman in his 

second year of teaching. As a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music 

(NCTM) on euphonium, Dr. Bryant has performed at the Georgia 

Music Educators In-Service Conference, International Tuba Euphonium 

Conference, College Band Directors National Association 

Southern Division Conference, and the prestigious Midwest Clinic: 

An International Band and Orchestra Conference. 

Dr. Bryant is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, 

College Music Society, International Tuba Euphonium 

Association, Music Teachers National Association, National Association 

for Music Education, and is the advisor for the NAfME Collegiate 

Chapter at Tennessee State University. 

Dr. Bryant is the 2020-2022 TMEA Higher Education Chair. 

http://www.tnstate.edu/music/rbryant.aspx 

BACHELOR OF MUSIC 

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Graduate assistantships are 

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Audition dates are available at 

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BE A OV! 

(students may pursue licensure) 

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT: 

Department of Music 

P: 931-221-7818 • music@apsu.edu or 

visit www.apsu.edu/music 

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gender identity/expression, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or any other legally protected class 

with respect to all employment, programs and activities sponsored by APSU. http://www.apsu.edu/policy. Policy 6:003 

AP37/9-20/5

BE EXCELLENT. BE CHRIST-CENTERED. 

BE TRANSFORMED. 

At Union University, you will develop your musical craft under the training of highly 

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BE TRANSFORMED

What is Social Emotional Learning? 

Why is it important for students? 

How does music education make a difference? 

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This brochure includes key talking points for music education advocates to use as 

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• How can public policy support music education and Social Emotional Learning? 

Download your brochure at bit.ly/MusicEduSEL 

Questions? Email advocacy@nafme.org 

nafme.org


Taking the 

Next Step: 

Considerations for 

Pursuing Graduate 

Studies in Music 

by Ryan Fisher, Ph.D. 

For many, earning a bachelor’s degree 

in music was a monumental achievement 

that required tremendous sacrifice, 

hard work, and perseverance. 

For some graduates, achieving a bachelor’s 

degree satisfied their academic ambitions, 

but many know graduate studies 

in music will be essential for them to 

advance their knowledge and skills, earn 

more money in their current position, or 

achieve their ultimate goal of teaching in 

higher education. The purpose of this 

article is to offer considerations for 

future and current music educators 

considering graduate 

studies in music. 


For those contemplating graduate studies 

in music, there are several considerations 

to reflect on before taking the next steps. 

First, consider what you want to be when 

you “grow up.” Where do you envision yourself 

in five to ten years within the music profession? 

Next, consider what skills and/or 

knowledge you will need to achieve your vision. 

Depending on how you respond to this 

task, you may find attending specific professional 

development workshops or symposia 

may suffice in refining or enhancing the 

skills and knowledge you desire. Some may 

seek out summer professional development 

opportunities like conducting symposia or 

Orff training. These educational opportunities 

may be a good “trial run” to see if you feel 

more intensive study in these areas may be 

needed and/or desired. For some, attending 

annual professional development at music 

conferences and participating in a summer 

pedagogy workshop may meet your educational 

needs. Graduate school is not for everyone, 

but, ideally, lifelong education is a 

common objective all music teachers share. 

For those who feel like you need and/or 

strongly desire more intensive study in a 

specific area in the field of music, graduate 

studies may help you achieve your professional 

goals. Your next consideration may be 

quite practical—will you be able to continue 

teaching full-time while pursuing your 

graduate degree? While many graduate programs 

in music education offer online and/ 

or summer delivery options, graduate studies 

in areas like performance, conducting, 

music therapy, and musicology still mainly 

rely on traditional, in-person coursework 

that may require you to suspend your music 

teaching career in order to complete 

the graduate degree requirements. Though 

most graduate music programs offer competitive 

graduate assistantship opportunities, 

this financial sacrifice will be something 

you will want to consider since no 

graduate assistantship will be able to match 

an annual teaching salary. For those who 

have families or certain responsibilities in 

your community, geographic location will 

be another important consideration when 

deciding where you might wish to study. For 

those in more rural areas, you might find an 

online delivery option may allow you more 

flexibility in meeting your family or community 

obligations. 

IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY 

DECIDING WHICH AREA TO 

FOCUS ON IN A GRADUATE MUSIC 

PROGRAM, REFLECT ON AN AREA 

YOU ARE MOST INTRIGUED BY OR 

MOST EXCITED ABOUT. 

If you are having difficulty deciding which 

area to focus on in a graduate music program, 

reflect on an area you are most intrigued 

by or most excited about. If you love 

exploring ensemble repertory and enjoy 

refining your nonverbal communication 

through conducting, you might find graduate 

studies in conducting pairs nicely with 

your passion. For those who are constantly 

looking for effective teaching methods to 

enhance your students’ music skill acquisition, 

then studies in music education may 

satisfy your intrigue. Perhaps you want 

to focus more on your own performance 

ability in hopes of achieving your dream 

of performing alone or with a professional 

ensemble. If so, a master’s degree in music 

performance or an artist diploma may be 

the best fit. 

Understanding the areas within the field 

of music that truly excite you is essential 

to discovering a major or focus area within 

the graduate music degree. Next, an honest 

self-reflection of your strengths and weaknesses 

will be essential. If you struggled to 

make “C’s” in all of your undergraduate music 

theory classes, applying for a master’s 

degree in music theory might not be the 

best idea (unless, of course, you have grown 

exponentially in this area over the past few 

years). Similarly, if you despise courses 

with intensive reading and writing requirements, 

you might want to avoid graduate 

degrees in music education and musicology. 

That being said, no graduate studies in 

music will exempt you from taking some 

coursework that requires graduate-level 

writing and intensive reading assignments. 

If you have strong writing skills and an inquisitive 

mind, music degrees with more of 

a theoretical, philosophical, or research-focused 

emphasis like music education or 

music history may couple well with your 

skills and passion. Knowing which focus 

areas in graduate music degree offerings 

are more practice-based and those that are 

more research-based may be helpful when 

reaching your final decision. 

Once you have an idea of which major or 

concentration within the graduate music 

program you wish to pursue, you will 

want to more deeply explore the degree requirements. 

Though some music programs 

clearly outline the degree requirements on 

their websites, most do not. To explore the 

specific degree outline, including required 

courses, always review the most recent online 

graduate catalog. The catalog will typically 

allow you to click on certain courses in 

order to see a course description. This level 

of review gives you a better idea of areas of 

study the degree program requires and may 

show you the sequence of coursework for 

the program. Check to see if the degree program 

requires a thesis or if a project or recital(s) 

are accepted in lieu of a thesis. Explore 

if comprehensive exams are required near 

the end of the program and if they are oral 


or written exams. Though exploring these 

specific details may seem arduous, knowing 

this information before committing to 

a program may save you consternation and 

hardship in the future. 

After you feel you have a firm understanding 

of the required coursework, degree requirements, 

and sequence of coursework, you will 

next want to research with whom you will be 

primarily studying. If you will be applying for 

the graduate conducting program, become 

familiar with the educational background 

and professional experience and expertise of 

the conducting faculty member(s). For graduate 

music performance programs where 

you spend extensive time studying with one 

person, you may wish to schedule a sample 

lesson with that faculty member in order 

to see how they approach applied lessons 

and their pedagogical philosophy. You may 

not have had a choice in who your applied 

lessons professor was at the undergraduate 

level, but you DO have a choice at the graduate 

level. Do not make that decision without 

doing your homework and making sure you 

see potential for a compatible and symbiotic 

relationship. For those wishing to pursue 

graduate studies in music education, you 

will more than likely take coursework with 

several different music education scholars. 

Research their areas of expertise, their 

K-12 teaching experience, and, if accessible, 

read some of their published writings. This 

knowledge will give you a better idea of the 

diversity of experiences and expertise that 

faculty has to offer you. 

After you have researched the degree requirements 

and explored the faculty that 

you will be primarily studying with, you 

will next want to research the admissions 

requirements. The more performance focused 

graduate music degrees will more 

than likely require auditions. The larger 

graduate music programs may have two or 

more rounds of auditions where the first 

round simply requires a video-recording. 

These auditions typically have specific requirements 

regarding the repertory that 

must be presented. Carefully review those 

requirements and do not hesitate to correspond 

with the faculty area coordinator 

or music admissions coordinator if you 

have questions regarding the requirements. 

Always be professional in all communications 

with faculty members since first impressions 

are being formed with each email 

received. It is also highly recommended 

that you consult with your current or past 

applied music instructor regarding repertory 

selections that highlight your musical 

abilities and demonstrate your diversity as 

an artist. 

The more “academic” graduate degrees 

(music education, musicology, music theory, 

etc.) do not typically require performance 

auditions, but some may require an 

interview with faculty members from the 

relevant areas. Most of these programs are 

usually more interested in your past academic 

performance and your writing ability. 

As an example, most master’s degrees 

in music education require a philosophy 

of music education statement. Since most 

graduates from a bachelor’s degree program 

in music education already have some draft 

of a philosophy statement, that is often a 

good place to start since it would have already 

received feedback and editing from a 

past professor. Be sure the philosophy statement 

reflects your best writing and is truly 

indicative of the music teacher you ARE 

and not the teacher you wish you were. Doctoral 

music education programs will more 

than likely require a writing sample from a 

research proposal or project you may have 

composed during your master’s program. 

For these reasons, it is always advisable to 


save all of your written submissions from 

past coursework. These writing samples 

are essential to reviewers when deciding 

which applicants will have the higher probability 

of being successful in their graduate 

program. Though some graduate music programs 

may require a minimum score on the 

GRE or MAT standardized tests, most graduate 

programs across the U.S. are removing 

these requirements as past academic performance 

is more predictive of success in 

graduate degree programs than scores on a 

standardized test. Graduate music education 

programs may also require evidence 

of your music teaching credentials and 

some require a minimum number of years 

of teaching experience to be eligible for 

their program. 

The final step after you have been successfully 

accepted into a graduate music program 

is to take every measure necessary to 

thrive in your program. There will be a time 

(or many times) when you feel unworthy to 

be in the program. You will sometimes feel 

as though your peers are more talented or 

more intelligent than you. You may feel the 

demands your professors are placing on you 

are overwhelming and unrealistic. In those 

times, remind yourself of the vision you had 

when you set out on your graduate adventure. 

Remind yourself of your strengths and 

weaknesses and understand that you are 

not alone. One of the greatest attributes of 

a successful graduate student is perseverance. 

Be engaged, be prepared, and do your 

best. Do not be afraid to communicate your 

concerns or questions to your professors 

and take the initiative to develop relationships 

with your peers. Those relationships 

will last throughout your music career and 

may prove essential in your success in completing 

the degree. 

DR. RYAN FISHER, 

Associate Professor 

of Music 

Education, is in 

his eighth year at 

the University of 

Memphis where 

he served as the 

Music Education Coordinator in the Rudi 

E. Scheidt School of Music before becoming 

the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs 

of the College of Communication and Fine 

Arts in 2018. Choirs under his direction have 

been featured at the Arkansas Music Educators 

Association conference (2010), Tennessee 

Music Education Association conference 

(2015), and ACDA Southern region 

conference (2020) and made frequent guest 

appearances with the Arkansas Symphony 

Orchestra, Conway Symphony Orchestra, 

and Germantown Symphony Orchestra. He 

currently directs the University of Memphis 

Chamber Choir and serves as artistic 

director of Memphis ChoralArts, a nonprofit, 

community choral organization that provides 

choral experiences for ages 8 – 80+. 

Dr. Fisher is an active choral clinician and 

researcher. He earned a B.M.E. from Lee 

University, a M.M. in choral conducting and 

a Ph.D. in music education from the University 

of North Texas. In 2016, he was named 

the Lee University School of Music Distinguished 

Alumnus of the Year. His research 

interests involve the male voice change, 

assessment in music education, and self-efficacy. 

His writings have been published in 

Oxford Press and various prestigious journals 

including the Journal of Research in 

Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for 

Research in Music Education, and Update: 

Applications of Research in Music Education. 

Dr. Fisher has served as the Vice President of 

the Choral Division of the Texas Private Music 

Educators Association, President-Elect 

of the Arkansas Music Educators Association, 

Higher Education Chair of the West 

Tennessee Vocal Music Educators Association, 

member of the National Association for 

Music Education Choral Council, member of 

the editorial board for Update: Applications 

of Research in Music Education, and Higher 

Education Chair of the Tennessee Music Education 

Association. He currently serves as 

President-Elect of TMEA. 


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TMEA LEARNING FROM OUR LEGENDS 

SPOTLIGHT ON 

BOBBY JEAN “B.J.” FROST 



Brandon Heath 

Five-Time Grammy nominee, 

Contemporary Christian Artist 

Alumni - Hillsboro High School 

I wasn’t an ‘A’ or even a ‘B’ student in school. Socially, I 

loved it, but academically I was always a little bewildered 

about what I was learning. I loved music, but it never 

occurred to me that it could be my career. B.J. Frost 

showed me otherwise. She was a working composer and 

director in music along with being a full-time high school 

teacher. She was excellent at what she did and expected 

excellence out of us. I was a freshman and she encouraged 

me to audition for a national competition, which somehow 

I won, and found myself at the Grammy’s as a 15 year 

old. That was a defining opportunity in my life where I 

not only realized my talent, but that I should chase it for 

the rest of my life. I owe my work ethic and tenacity to 

her. 

Chris Brooks 

Vice-President, Row-Loff Productions 

Alumni - McGavock High School 

Chris Crockarell 

President, Row-Loff Productions 

Alumni - McGavock High School 

When you have a lifetime relationship with a 

teacher as I have with B.J., guess it goes 

without saying that she had a profound 

influence on me. B.J. told me several years 

back, “My real job was to always let you kids 

know that you didn’t know everything.” She 

had an amazing gift for doing just that, just 

at the right time, with the net result being 

that you wanted to learn more, and she 

always had more to knowledge give. I was a 

blessed young man to have her as a teacher 

and a mentor. 

Bobby Jean was such a huge musical influence 

on my life and career. Thanks to B.J., I 

was exempt from my college freshman theory 

class and slept through my sophomore year! 

:-) A tremendous, musician, educator, and 

friend. 


MUSIC BACKGROUND 

Tell us about your music 

teaching experience. 

I graduated college in 1953 and started my 

first teaching job at Glenn School in Nashville 

City Schools (now Metro Nashville 

Public Schools) where I taught the 5th 

grade music classes. I didn’t just teach them 

music—my classes were the ones that made 

the weekly Nashville City Schools’ music 

lesson radio broadcasts every week for 

classroom teachers, called “Let’s Learn Music.” 

At that time in Nashville City Schools, 

the schools would use these broadcasts to 

teach the students what they were supposed 

to learn for that week in their music classes. 

The Nashville City Schools music supervisor 

would talk about the lessons and then 

we would perform them for the live audio 

sessions. 

The audio equipment was brought to our 

school every Friday or close to the end of the 

week, so I had all week to make sure we got 

everything down during rehearsals before 

our weekly broadcast day. I travelled to each 

of the 5th grade classrooms at Glenn every 

day to teach and practice their music with 

them—I actually moved a big upright piano 

from classroom to classroom to teach them 

their music parts! 

During the broadcast sessions, the music 

supervisor for Nashville Public Schools 

would talk about the music, talk about the 

composers, and teach information about 

the songs. I played the piano for my students 

live while leading them during these 

sessions. 

I got married during my first year of teaching 

on December 18, 1953 – and a lot of my 

5th grade students came to my wedding! 

(It’s a good thing the church I got married 

in was a large church—they had plenty of 

room to come!) At my wedding, one of my 

music supervisors played the cello and my 

piano teacher played the organ. After that 

school year, I had two kids, so then I stopped 

teaching for a while because I wanted to be 

at home to raise them until they could enter 

school. People in Nashville City Schools 

asked me for years if I would come back to 

teaching. In 1965, I was approached again 

to see if I would come teach at Pearl High 

School. It was the right timing, so I said yes. 

Education & Employment 

Education 

George Peabody College 

Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance 

(Certified in School Music 1-12) 

Employment 

Nashville City Schools 

(now Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools) 

1953-1954 

Glenn School – Special Music Teacher 

1959-1960 

George Peabody College – Piano 

1965-1969 

Pearl High School – Title I Choral Assistant 

1969-1971 

Pearl High School – Choral Music 

1971-1982 

McGavock High School – Music Theory, 

Piano, Jazz-Rock Ensemble, Dept. Chair 

(1975-1982) 

1982-2002 

Hillsboro High School – Choral Music, Class 

Piano, SophistiCats, Fine Arts Chair 

Opryland – Music Director for 21 Years 

(Conductor, Pianist for Opryland 

Shows and Auditions) 

• I Hear America Singing (also wrote the 

choral charts and some instrumental 

arrangements) 

• For Me and My Gal 

• A Dixie Melody 

• Way Out West 

• I Hear America Singing 

Touring Production: 1975-1979 

• For Me and My Gal 

Touring Production: 1980-1986 

• AMOCO Network TV Special 

• AMOCO Convention in Hawaii 

Miscellaneous: Church Organist & Choir 

Director; Pianist for Dance Bands, 

Orchestras, Studio Recordings, Concerts; 

Soloist; Accompanist; Clinician; 

Adjudicator 

I started teaching at Pearl High School in 

1965, so I was teaching there during the 

time when Martin Luther King, Jr., was 

killed. I was asked to come to integrate the 

faculty—I was the only white teacher in the 

building until they integrated the faculty in 

1969. I will tell you that I was totally accepted 

and treated marvelously at Pearl High 

School. At that time, we had about 1,800 

students and a very large faculty—probably 

one of the best faculties I have ever worked 

with. They integrated the faculty at Pearl 

while I was there, and they began integrating 

the student body about two years before 

I left Pearl High School to begin teaching at 

McGavock High School in 1971. I taught at 

McGavock until 1982 when I began teaching 

at Hillsboro High School. I retired from 

Hillsboro in 2002. While I was teaching at 

McGavock and at Hillsboro High School, I 

also worked as a music director at Opryland 

for twenty-one years. 

What were some of your earliest music 

experiences? 

I started by taking piano lessons. Every lesson 

that I went to, I had to transpose pieces 

into all keys, sight-read, complete a theory 

lesson, and then play the usual scales. So, by 

the time I got to college, I was in really good 

shape on piano, and I accompanied all the 

groups I was in except for the band where I 

played percussion and marimba. 

Tennessee Musician, Vol. 24, No. 2 

December 1971 

Announcement of Mrs. Bobby Jean Frost as 

new TMEA Executive Secretary -Treasurer 


Ensembles 

Pearl High School: 1969-1971 

Chorus (1970-1971) and Madrigal Singers (1971) 

MTVA Choral Festivals – I Ratings 

U.T. Martin Invitational Festival – I Ratings 

U.T. Invitational Festival – I Rating 

Performances 

Fisk University: Two Concerts 

Metro. Nashville Board of Education 

McGavock High School – Jazz-Rock: 1971-1982 

 

International Music Festivals 

Music Maestro Please 

• Chicago, IL: 1982 – Gold Medal 

• New York, NY: 1981 – Gold Medal 

• Philadelphia, PA: 1980 – Silver Medal 

Performing Arts Abroad 


Feature Shows 

• WDCN-TV (Two Shows) 

• WSM-TV (Noon Show) 

Special Performances 

• Music Educators National Conference Southern Division 

Convention Concert: Norfolk, VA 

• Tennessee Music Education Association Convention 

Concerts: Knoxville; Nashville 

• SESAC Awards Banquet, Country Music Festival 

• Opryland (Two shows) 

• Underground Atlanta 

• Belmont Arts Festival 

Concert Tours 

• Mexico City, Mexico 

• Washington, D.C. 

• Atlanta, GA 

• Chattanooga, TN 

Clinics/Concerts 

• University of Tennessee Knoxville 

• Paine College (Augusta, GA) 

• Murray State University (Murray, KY) 

• Middle Tennessee Vocal Association 

Hillsboro High School – Madrigals/SophistiCats: 1982-2002 

 

International Music Festivals 

• Gateway- Nassau, Bahamas: 1993 – Gold Medal 

Music Maestro Please (Madrigals) 

• New York, NY: 1992 – Silver Medal 

• Toronto, Canada: 1991 – Silver Medal 

• Chicago, IL: 1990 – Silver Medal 


• Toronto, Canada: 1988 – Silver Medal 

• Chicago, IL: 1987 – Gold Medal 

• Philadelphia, PA: 1986 – Silver Medal 

• New York, NY: 1986 – Silver Medal 

• Orlando, FL: 1983 – Silver Medal 

 

Young Americans Invitational Festival 

Hollywood, CA: 1985 

Feature Shows: 

• WDCN-TV (Fillers, Sign On/Off) 

• WSMV-TV (Channel 4 Magazine, Noon Show, 5 o’clock) 

• WTVF-TV (Talk of the Town) 

Special Performances (SophistiCats) 

• American Association of School Personnel Administration 

National Conference 

• MNEA 20th Anniversary 

• Grammy in the Schools 

• Altrusa National Convention 

• Walt Disney World 

• Leonard Bernstein Center Inaugural Conference 

• IAPPW Convention 

• Elementary Principals Association Convention 

• Great American Smokeout 

• Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board of Education 

• London, England 

• Performance at Sea (Two concerts at ship captain’s request) 

• Euro Disney – Paris, France 

• Hollywood, CA 

Regional Festivals 

• University of Tennessee Martin Invitational – Superior 

Ratings (3) 

• Middle Tennessee Vocal Association – Superior Ratings (2) 

Regional Festivals 

• Tennessee Arts Commission – Superior Ratings (3) 

• Middle Tennessee Vocal Association – Superior Ratings (2) 


What inspired you to become a music educator? 

Having two children! When I was in my late 

teens, I was on a good track towards doing 

commercial recordings. I had worked on a 

number of recordings at the Quonset Hut 

in downtown Nashville [part of Nashville’s 

Music Row], which was the famous place to 

go at the time. I did recordings down there 

and I was playing gigs everywhere, but 

when I had two children, I couldn’t make 

the call to go anymore, so I had to give that 

up. But other than the one year of teaching 

at Glenn School when I first graduated college, 

I didn’t start teaching until after I was 

already married and had children. 

INNOVATIVE MUSIC ENSEMBLES: 

JAZZ-ROCK AND THE SOPHISTICATS 

Can you tell us more about what classes and 

ensembles you have taught? 

I always tell everyone that I am an instrumentalist, 

but I taught choral music, music 

theory, I had my Jazz-Rock group . . . so 

I never taught the exact same things more 

than one year! At Pearl High School, I had 

choral music, I had general music, and some 

Level I theory. When I taught at McGavock, 

I had three levels of music theory, class piano, 

and Jazz-Rock. At Hillsboro, I taught 

theory, chorus, three levels of piano, and the 

SophistiCats. I had so many different things 

that I taught. 

When I started teaching at Pearl High 

School, I basically “roamed” the music 

department. I worked with the choral director 

and the instrumental director (he 

did band and orchestra). They also had a 

string teacher that came to teach some 

string classes. I also worked with the drama 

teacher, and we put on the plays and the 

shows. For all of them, it was like having a 

well-rounded assistant because I could do 

the class work, choral work, and the instrumental 

work since I had the credits for all of 

them. I thoroughly enjoyed that experience. 

The choral director left after a few years, so 

during my last two years at Pearl, I took over 

the choral program. When I was at McGavock 

and Hillsboro, I created two unique performance 

groups: Jazz-Rock and the 

SophistiCats. 

You created two innovative, highly acclaimed, 

award-winning ensembles: Jazz- 

Rock and the SophistiCats. Can you tell us 

more about these groups? 

During my first year of teaching at McGavock, 

I started the Jazz-Rock group. The 

way Jazz-Rock was formed is . . . I just did 

it! I thought it would be fun! Jazz-Rock was 

made up of sixteen instrumentalists and sixteen 

vocalists. So, the first year I was there 

at McGavock, I created this group. I called 

the supervisor at the state Department of 

Education, he came and saw the group, and 

he cleared it for course credit. Since I was 

doing my own arranging, I had freedom to 

utilize what I was arranging based on what 

I had and what I needed in the group. For example, 

if we had great French Horn players 

one year, we’d incorporate them; if not, we 

didn’t! 

When I went to Hillsboro, I continued some 

form of that group when I created the SophistiCats 

because I liked to arrange that 

kind of music for my groups. I enjoyed the 

classical music equally well, but I also enjoyed 

the spontaneity of arranging things 

that were not available. I had been used to 

arranging for my Pearl High School chorus 

and for Jazz-Rock, and I found I had really 

enjoyed teaching popular music, too—that’s 


what helped me figure out I wanted to create 

the SophistiCats. The SophistiCats was 

made up of about sixteen students, and this 

was a “double” group—it was a Madrigal 

group that sang classical music during the 

day, and it was also a popular music group 

that met after school. During class, we 

taught classical music where we did what 

you’d expect—we worked on tuning, we had 

section leaders to help rehearse the music—all 

the usual things. After school, the 

SophistiCats rehearsed pop music and choreography. 

I also was the one that recorded 

myself playing the accompaniment for this 

group. We had a recording studio at Hillsboro. 

Vic Gabany, who was the recording 

teacher and also worked for the Opry, was 

our recording technician. I laid the piano 

track at the recording studio, and I would 

call on some of my professional friends to 

come lay the rhythm tracks (drum and bass) 

because you can’t do pop music without 

some kind of a beat! 

ADVICE FOR MUSIC EDUCATORS 

What are essential qualities of effective 

music educators? 

Know your craft and know what you’re doing. 

Go in prepared every day. Make sure 

every kid gets an equal treatment—you cannot 

play favorites. Work like a dog yourself 

so you work harder than your students do— 

then, they are perfectly willing to take the 

work you give them because they know you 

Fun Facts 

AT 15 YEARS OLD - WON THE 

EUGENIA BORTON CUP IN 

NATIONAL PIANO PERFORMANCE 

COMPETITION (1970’S) AS THE 

REPRESENTATIVE OF THE JUNIOR 

MUSIC DIVISION OF THE WOMAN’S 

CLUB OF NASHVILLE 

IN 1948: WON THE HORACE HEIDT 

TALENT CONTEST WITH DOUGLAS 

WILLIAMS (MARIMBA DUO) 

 

IN COLLEGE: STUDIED 

COMPOSITION WITH RAY HARRIS 

AND PIANO WITH JAHNA HARRIS 

 

WROTE THE PUBLICATION “JAZZ- 

ROCK VOCAL/INSTRUMENTAL 

SERIES” (ALFRED PUBLISHING 

COMPANY) 

 

SESSION DIRECTOR AND 

PIANIST FOR THE WELL-KNOWN 

PBS EDUCATIONAL TV SHOWS 

“JELLYBEAN JUNCTION,” “MRS. 

CABOBBLE’S CABOOSE,” AND 

“ACTION AUCTION” 

 

ATTENDED THE 2012 GRAMMY 

AWARDS IN L.A. AS HER 1994- 

1997 STUDENT BRANDON HEATH’S 

DATE (BRANDON WAS NOMINATED 

FOR THREE AWARDS) 

 

THE SOPHISTICATS (HILLSBORO 

HIGH SCHOOL GROUP) WAS 

NAMED AS ONE OF THE TOP 100 

PERFORMANCE CHOIRS IN THE 

UNITED STATES (14,588 HIGH 

SCHOOLS WERE CONSIDERED) 


Professional Organizations 

Other Organizations 

TENNESSEE MUSIC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION** 

Executive Secretary-Treasurer: 1971-1977 

Convention Program Chairman: 1978 

Convention General Chairman: 1980 

Convention Program Chairman: 1981 

Conference Chairman: 2002-2011 

Retired Teachers Chairman: 2013-Present** 

TENNESSEE ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION** 

Treasurer: 2011-Present** 

PHI BETA MU** 

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS, LOCAL 257** 

SIGMA ALPHA IOTA INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FRATERNITY** 

Province Vice-President: 1963-1968 

Province President: 1968-1971 

National Vice Chairman Bold Note 1971-1974 

National Chairman Bold Note Scholarship: 1974-1976 

DELTA KAPPA GAMMA** 

MUSIC EDUCATORS NATIONAL CONFERENCE (NOW NAFME) 

Council of State Secretaries: 1976-1977 

Senior High General Music Committee: 1978 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE VOCAL ASSOCIATION 

Vice President: 1970-1972 

President: 1972-1974 

Vice-President: 1974-1976 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE BAND AND ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION 

AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JAZZ EDUCATORS 

Vice-President: 1975-1976 

TENNESSEE JAZZ AND BLUES SOCIETY 

Secretary: 1975-1976 

NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 

TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 

INTERNATIONAL PLATFORM ASSOCIATION 

METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 

WOMAN’S CLUB OF NASHVILLE** 

Board of Directors and Executive Committee: 

2021-2015; 2017-2019 

Five-Year Planning Committee: 2019-Present** 

J.B. DANIELS HOUSE FOUNDATION** 

Board of Directors: 2010-Present** 

TENNESSEE MUSEUM LADIES AND GENTS COMMITTEE 

Awards 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RECORDING ARTS AND SCIENCES 

“Music of the Heart” Educator (1 of 22 selected): 1999 

SIGMA ALPHA IOTA: COMMENDATION TO MUSIC THROUGH 

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE BLIND; SWORD OF HONOR; ROSE 

OF HONOR 

TMEA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: 2012 

TMEA HALL OF FAME: 2007 

TENNESSEE ARTS ACADEMY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: 2004 

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC PROJECT YEARLONG EVALUATION OF 

COMPREHENSIVE MUSICIANSHIP (FORD FOUNDATION GRANT; 12 

SELECTED NATIONALLY): 1972 

GEORGE PEABODY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OUTSTANDING WOMEN 

GRADUATES (1 OF 3): 1976 

MIDDLE TENNESSEE HONORS CHORUS BOARD MIDDLE TENNESSEE 

HONOR TEACHER OF THE YEAR (FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE THIS 

AWARD): 1984 

METROPOLITAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION DISTINGUISHED 

CLASSROOM TEACHER: 1999 

HILLSBORO HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER OF THE YEAR: 1999 

ADOLESCENT SERVICE NETWORK CERTIFICATES FOR DEDICATION 

AND SERVICE TO ADOLESCENTS: 1983, 1987, 1988 

GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE WHO’S WHO IN AMERICAN COLLEGES 

AND UNIVERSITIES: 1953 

** Denotes current membership / active participation 


to say to other neighbors “I saw your child 

perform!” You want your group to be successful, 

and you want your parents and your 

community to think it is, too. My groups 

have performed at so many places in the 

community. They’ve performed at Rotary 

Clubs, at the mall, at Belle Meade Country 

Club. . . they’ve performed at an Episcopal 

church that wanted us to do a concert, and 

they’ve performed at a Baptist church. They 

even performed for Governor Alexander. 

We just did different performances everywhere 

we could. 

Do you have any other advice for current 

music teachers? 

work harder than they do! Create a sense of 

pride in your students in what they are doing—when 

they have pride in their group, 

they will tell you if something is going on 

in the group that shouldn’t be going on. Pay 

attention to other successful people and imitate 

them! Anything effective that you see— 

try to replicate it. 

What advice do you have for music teachers? 

Try to impress your students’ parents 

right off the bat at the very beginning of 

the school year. You can do this in a very 

simple way. When I left McGavock to start 

teaching at Hillsboro, I used the first week 

of school to prepare a classical and a pop 

tune for the Madrigal/SophistiCat group 

to perform. At the beginning of the second 

week of school, I had an Open House for the 

parents—I put out some punch and cookies. 

. . not much—and then I let those students 

perform for the parents. So, very quickly, 

before they were even expected to be able 

to perform, the students started off on the 

Tennessee Musician, Vol. 25 No. 3 

March 1973 

right foot with the mentality of “We did 

well!” This helped me get to know the parents 

to begin with, too. 

It is very important to get to know the 

parents of your students. When you do 

this, it can help you find who will be great 

chaperones, booster officers, and volunteers. 

Learn how to handle the school 

finances (know all of the school rules 

about this) and how to make solid trip 

preparations that protect you, your 

students, and your school. If you don’t 

know how to do this, talk to someone who 

has done this a lot to find out what to do! 

Everyone knows someone who has done a 

lot of travel with groups. You need to know 

what to do before something happens, so 

then you know how to handle it. 

Get your students out to perform in 

your general neighborhood. If you show 

off your students in your local area, it raises 

awareness of your group and your school, 

and this will pay back. Neighbors will start 

In music, I think it’s all about creating an 

exciting atmosphere for your students. You 

may be funny, you may be good at demonstrating, 

or you may be good at something 

else. For example, my students always found 

it funny that I “never knew the words”—because 

I was the one accompanying them, 

I always told them I had to focus on the 

chords . . . so I would make up the words 

sometimes for fun! I’ve always been one of 

those people that try to look for the laugh or 

look for the funny. I think some humor is always 

good in the classroom. Lighten up, and 

try to have some fun occasionally! 

TMEA AND RETIRED TEACHERS 

When you were a teacher, what did TMEA 

mean to you? 

TMEA gave my students wonderful opportunities 

to compete, great opportunities to 

be part of the All-State groups, great performance 

opportunities at the conference, and 

some very good sessions for both younger 

and older teachers. I still find these to be 

true today. 

I was TMEA Executive Secretary-Treasurer 

from 1971-1977 while I was also a 

full-time teacher. I held almost every role in 

TMEA at the conference—I’ve been equipment 

chair, conference manager, auditions 

chair. . . you name it! When I was TMEA Executive 

Secretary-Treasurer, part of what I 

did was write TMEA correspondence, keep 

up with the TMEA officers’ expenses, and 

attend the National Conference (now the 

NAfME National Hill Day Conference). 


When I was TMEA Executive Secretary-Treasurer, 

I also had a few physical 

aspects to the job – one of the things I had 

to do was take the big sacks of the Tennessee 

Tennessee Musician, Vol. 27 No. 3 

March 1975 

Musician magazines to the post office every 

time a publication was ready to be mailed 

out. These were big, heavy postal sacks full 

of Tennessee Musician magazines. When 

you think of all of the people that belong to 

TMEA statewide, that’s a lot of magazines 

that need to be mailed! Sometimes my husband 

would help me get them loaded into 

my car, but he travelled for his job a lot, so 

sometimes he couldn’t be there. Sometimes 

I had to grab anyone I could get to help me 

load the magazine into my car. It was always 

funny when the post office workers saw me 

coming! 

You are still actively involved in TMEA as 

the TMEA Retired Teachers Chair. What 

would you like current teachers and retired 

teachers to know about the role of retired 

music teachers across Tennessee? 

I want everyone to know that there is so 

much good we retired teachers can do. We 

are a large pool of knowledge, and I don’t 

want us to be wasted. To our retired music 

teachers: I think it’s up to us to give back to 

the new teachers. To current teachers: you 

can always learn some new things from us. 

We just want to tell you that we’re available 

and we want to answer any questions you 

want to ask. 


CIVIC ACTION FIELD GUIDE 

FOR MUSIC EDUCATION 

Representing music educators, students, and advocates, NAfME is 

dedicated to ensuring the accessibility, presence, and perseverance of 

quality music programs taught by certified music educators, for all students 

across the nation, regardless of circumstance. Through active advocacy 

and collaboration, we are changing the national conversation about 

music’s role in delivering a well-rounded education to all students. 

NAfME designed the Civic Action Field Guide to help music educators 

and education stakeholders better understand the processes behind how 

public education is governed and funded, with an eye toward supporting 

high-quality music education in districts and at the state level across the 

nation. With this Guide, you will be able to: 

• Understand how public education is governed and funded 

• Identify key elected officials in public education and their election 

cycles 

• Identify candidates and their stances on education issues 

• Register to vote 

• Understand the well-rounded education programs found in Title I, Title 

II, and Title IV, and learn how to advocate for the availability of these 

funding streams to your music program under ESSA (the Every Student 

Succeeds Act) 

• Contact your elected officials and advocate for music education 

Download your copy today at bit.ly/NAfMECivicActionFieldGuide. 

Questions? Email advocacy@nafme.org or call 1-800-336-3768.

TMEA GUEST FEATURE 

by Stephanie Cronenberg, Ph.D. 

The present moment in education in 

the United States, with its focus on 

standardized learning and testing, 

challenges educators who desire 

to cultivate democratic 

learning communities (Elliott, 

2016; Michelli & Jacobowitz, 

2016; Wall & Wall, 

2016). While the idea of integrating 

democratic principles 

into music education is not 

new (see Allsup, 2016; DeLorenzo, 

2016; Woodford, 2005), 

specific democratic principles 

may help to reshape middle 

level general music. Randall 

Allsup (2016) argues that “music 

teachers in public schools 

are endowed with an obligation 

to alter—to (re)form, to 

(re)musik—the quality and 

character of their music forms 

to ensure that student life and 

learning is enlarged, deepened, 

and enriched” (p. 23). In what 

follows, I put forward five democratic 

principles that, if employed, could help 

remusik middle level general music, increase 

student engagement, and potentially create a positive 

musical space for all students and teachers involved. 

MIDDLE LEVEL 

If you teach general music to fifth, sixth, seventh, or 

eighth grade students, it is likely that you have wondered 

something like, “What on earth went wrong 

during that lesson?” Hopefully, you have also had 

the opportunity to think, “That was great, how can 

I do the same thing next class?” I purposefully use 

the phrase “middle level” here because this term is 

inclusive of all students and teachers, fifth through 

eighth grade, regardless of school context. Students 

at this age—variously referred to as middle schoolers, 

young adolescents, or middle level learners—face a 

time of significant change, cognitively, physically, emotionally, 

and socially, as they mature into full adolescence. 

As a result, they can be unpredictable to their teachers, 

parents, and even to themselves. 

Educators and researchers who examine middle level education 

from all academic disciplines share a common goal 

of improving education for young adolescents. Their focus 

puts young adolescent developmental needs at the center 

of all educational decision-making (see NSMA, 2010). So, 

what would a general music classroom in this vein look or 

sound like? How might democratic principles influence 

classroom experiences and provide new energy to 

classroom curricula? 


FIVE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES FOR 

MIDDLE LEVEL GENERAL MUSIC 

I define middle level general music as developmentally appropriate 

musical learning for all young adolescents, music 

learning that inspires students to continue learning formally 

or informally in music. Importantly, developmentally appropriate 

musical learning is key to fostering student engagement both 

within and beyond the classroom. The ability to cultivate young 

adolescent engagement rests upon a foundation of five democratic 

principles drawn from middle level education or music 

education. They are: 

1. Educating the Whole Student 

2. Making Connections 

3. Integrating Students’ Perspectives 

4. Including All Musical Forms 

5. Teaching All Students 

When combined together, these five democratic principles can 

guide general music teaching-and-learning. Briefly, I describe 

each democratic principle and provide a tip for teacher 

development or classroom application. 

MIDDLE LEVEL GENERAL MUSIC EDUCATES 

THE WHOLE STUDENT 

Developmentally appropriate music 

learning begins with the inescapable 

realities of puberty. For middle level 

students, the onset of puberty and its 

subsequent developmental evolution 

impacts every area of their lives. Young 

adolescents’ cognitive abilities are deeply 

intertwined with their physical development, 

their social and emotional needs, 

and their evolving identity development. 

Michael Nakkula and Eric Toshalis (2006) 

argue that as adolescents develop, they 

are constructing their understanding 

of themselves and the world around 

them through daily experiences and 

the positive and negative lessons 

they learn when they try something 

new. Accordingly, our job 

is to serve as co-constructors 

of young adolescents’ identities 

by providing support, 

guidance, and correction as 

they explore their emerging 

physical, cognitive, social, 

and emotional potentials and 

construct their emerging individual 

identity. Therefore, it is 

critical that middle level general 

music educates the whole student, 

not just his/her cognitive abilities. 

TIP 1 

Develop or enhance an understanding of young adolescent 

development beyond stereotypes associated with 

puberty and middle schoolers. These developmental 

needs are well-outlined in several music education resources, 

for example: Growing Musicians: Teaching Music 

in Middle School & Beyond by Bridget Sweet (2016) 

or Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Middle 

School General Music edited by Suzanne L. Burton 

(2012). Another great resource is the third edition of 

What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know by Dave 

F. Brown and Trudy Knowles (2014). 

MIDDLE LEVEL GENERAL MUSIC HELPS 

STUDENTS MAKE CONNECTIONS 

Young adolescents vacillate between concrete and abstract thought; 

it is critical that middle level general music helps students make 

connections. Middle level students’ growing facility with abstract 

thought (Mee & Haverback, 2016; Roney, 2005; Stevenson, 2002), 

along with their identity development, primes students to question 

what they experience in their lives. Although students are developing 

abstract thought, they are not always able to make connections 

between musical learning and other subjects, current events, or the 

community without help. Music teachers can make musical learning 

more democratic by explicitly exploring connections for those 

who have not yet developed abstract thought or who have not fully 

developed the ability to apply abstract thought across contexts. 

Music teachers can excite and engage middle level students in any 

form of musical learning if they help students see the connections 

to their own lives. These connections are the purpose of the “connecting” 

strand of the National Core Arts Standards. Doing so does 

not sacrifice or water-down musical learning, but rather enhances 

it. Taking five minutes to help students see the relevance of what 

they are learning can make the music classroom come alive. The 

music educator who helps students connect musical content to 

their own lives and to what they are learning in other subjects will 

find that students become more interested and engaged in musical 

learning, further inspiring them to persist musically. 

TIP 2 

Connect with your colleagues in other subjects to find out 

what your students learn at various times of the year. For 

example, perhaps the science curriculum includes a unit 

on acoustics and sound production. You might choose to 

develop a parallel music unit in which students explore 

sound production through the creation of invented instruments 

or explore acoustics using classroom instruments 

in various physical spaces. 


MIDDLE LEVEL GENERAL MUSIC INTEGRATES 

THE STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES 

As young adolescents mature, they begin to develop a sense of their 

place in the world. It is through this important identity development 

that young adolescents desire autonomy, independence, and 

the opportunity to articulate their own perspectives (Mee & Haverback, 

2016; Nakkula & Toshalis, 2006). Consequently, most middle 

level students seek teachers who listen to their ideas and views on 

almost any topic including the curriculum. 

Thus, music teachers might develop curriculum and pedagogy 

based on student interests and needs. This does not mean that a 

teacher allows students to choose every aspect of learning. However, 

it does mean that a music teacher should be attuned to his/her 

students and how students’ interests and needs change over time, 

both within one school year and with each new group of students. 

Accordingly, a democratic curriculum “includes not only what 

adults think is important [such as discipline specific knowledge], 

but also the questions and concerns that young people have about 

themselves and their world” (Beane & Apple, 2007, p. 17). When 

young adolescents are given opportunities to direct, co-construct, 

or choose learning activities, the outcome is typically a classroom of 

students highly engaged in a learning process they helped develop. 

evaluation of recorded and live performances, create music through 

play, improvisation, and composition, and connect their musical 

learning to other areas of their lives (Barrett, 2016). The National 

Standards support this notion of comprehensive musical content 

in general music (MENC, 1994; SEADAE, 2014). Whether a general 

music course explores American rock, Caribbean drumming, Cantonese 

opera, and/or Western classical music are decisions best left 

to teachers who know their students best. Regardless of the genre(s) 

selected, the musical content should allow students to experience 

the performing, responding, creating, and connecting components 

of music education that form a solid foundation for any future musical 

development, whether this future music learning occurs within 

or beyond the school walls. 

TIP 4 

Find out what students already know or what genres 

they prefer through a quick survey at the beginning of 

the quarter, semester, or year. Ask students about their 

musical experiences at home, place of worship, community 

center, etc. Then, select from familiar and unfamiliar 

musical forms to deepen their musical experiences and 

provide them with opportunities to meet the standards. 

TIP 3 

Ask students to share their own questions about music or 

a particular musical topic. Then, work with students to 

develop these questions into a unit of study that seeks to 

answer these questions. Additionally, have students suggest 

ways they might demonstrate their knowledge and 

understanding on a particular topic and then allow them 

to choose from among the suggestions for the summative 

assessment they will complete. 

MIDDLE LEVEL GENERAL MUSIC INCLUDES ALL MUSICAL FORMS 

Musical skills, genres, and topics covered in middle level general 

music should be inclusive and wide-ranging. Carlos Abril (2016) 

argues that “if the musical experiences in school music are singular 

and rigid, they fall outside of the concept of general music” because 

a defining characteristic of general music is the comprehensive 

nature of the musical content (p. 15). A middle level general music 

curriculum should provide students with an opportunity to engage 

with multiple musical forms. Of course, not all musical forms can 

be included in a single quarter, semester, or year of study. Teachers 

must make judicious choices. 

There is a (mis)perception expressed by some music teachers that 

general music is focused on singing. While singing is one component 

of comprehensive musical content, students should also perform 

on body percussion and instruments (whether existing or created 

from found objects), respond to music through listening and 

ASK YOURSELF: WHAT 

ARE YOU DOING 

WELL? WHERE ARE 

PLACES THAT YOU 

MIGHT MAKE SMALL 

OR LARGE CHANGES 

THAT COULD 

SIGNIFICANTLY 

IMPACT YOUR 

STUDENTS’ 

ENGAGEMENT? 


MIDDLE LEVEL GENERAL MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE 

One of the most fundamental democratic principles of general music 

is that it is designed as music learning for all. Perhaps you have 

heard the often-used phrase from Karl Gerhkens “Music for Every 

Child, Every Child for Music” (Munkittrick, 2013). If musical learning 

is for every student, then middle level general music should also 

include all students. In fact, the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act 

specifically states that music is an important part of a well-rounded 

education for all K-12 students (GovTrack.us, 2015). If all students 

are entitled to a well-rounded education, then general music learning 

should be available as an option for all students. 

Adherence to this democratic principle challenges music educators 

because it means teaching those students with no expressed desire 

to enroll in music alongside those with longstanding interest 

in music. Often, students enrolled in general music are not given 

a choice, but rather required to enroll. While music teachers often 

have no control over their schedule or course enrollments, all music 

teachers can decide how students are included in their classroom 

community. The creation of an inclusive classroom community is 

critical to cultivating student engagement in musical learning. 

TIP 5 

Develop a classroom community in which all students 

feel comfortable and supported to take risks and try new 

things. Differentiation is key in a heterogenous classroom. 

Consider how you might group students during an 

activity so that strong students can help those who need 

support. Perhaps rethink a beloved assignment in order 

to provide differentiation to challenge or support those 

who need it. 

CONCLUSION 

Building a middle level general music curriculum with the developmental 

needs of young adolescents at the center begins with the 

five democratic principles discussed above. Relatedly, ask yourself: 

What are you doing well? Where are places that you might make 

small or large changes that could significantly impact your students’ 

engagement? Make at least one thoughtful change in the next 

school year. As student engagement increases, I hope that you find 

yourself looking forward to your middle level general music classes 

and to the invigorating potential of guiding students along their individual 

musical journeys. 

Reprinted from the April 2020 issue (Vol. 74, No. 3) of the TEMPO 

Magazine with permission from the New Jersey Music Educators 

Association. 

DR. STEPHANIE CRONENBERG, Assistant Professor 

of Music, was appointed to the Mason 

Gross School of the Arts faculty at Rutgers, 

The State University of New Jersey, in 

2016. She teaches undergraduate courses in 

music education with an emphasis on general 

music methods and graduate courses 

in research and pedagogy. As the Director 

of Clinical Experience and Practice, Dr. Cronenberg oversees all 

aspects of the undergraduate music education certification process. 

Dr. Cronenberg specializes in narrative and mixed methods 

approaches to social inquiry. Her research interests emerge from 

her teaching practice and currently focus on three primary strands: 

middle level general music, mixed methods research practices, and 

current teacher education practices. Her 2016 mixed methods dissertation, 

Music at the Middle: Principles that Guide Middle Level 

General Music Teachers, received third place in the 2017 Outstanding 

Dissertation Award Competition hosted by the AERA Mixed 

Methods Special Interest Group. Her specific research projects 

focus on the teaching of general music at the middle level (grades 

5-8) and methodological implementation of the dialectic stance in 

mixed methods inquiry. Her work on middle level general music 

has been published in several journals including the Bulletin for 

the Council on Research in Music Education and the International 

Journal of Music Education. Her work in mixed methods has been 

published in the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and the International 

Journal of Research and Method in Education. Dr. Cronenberg 

is currently working on a book for music teachers focused on 

middle level general music. 

Prior to her appointment at Rutgers University, Dr. Cronenberg 

taught 7th and 8th grade general music at Campus Middle School 

for Girls as well as undergraduate and graduate courses at the College 

of Education and School of Music at the University of Illinois 

at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to 2011, she served as Director of Education 

and Community Programs at The Choral Arts Society of 

Washington (D.C.) and taught 4th through 7th grade general music 

at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD. 

REFERENCES 

Abril, C. R. (2016). Untangling general music education: Concept, 

aims, and practice. In C. R. Abril & B. M. Gault (Eds.), Teaching 

general music: Approaches, issues, and viewpoints (pp. 5–22). 

New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Allsup, R. E. (2016). Remixing the classroom: Toward an open philosophy 

of music education. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University 

Press. 

Barrett, J. R. (2016). Adopting an interdisciplinary approach to general 

music. In C. R. Abril & B. M. Gault (Eds.), Teaching general 

music: Approaches, issues, and viewpoints (pp. 168–182). New 

York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Beane, J. A., & Apple, M. W. (2007). The case for democratic schools. 

In M. W. Apple & J. A. Beane (Eds.), Democratic schools: Lessons 

in powerful education (2nd ed., pp. 1–29). Portsmouth, NH: 

Heinemann. 

Brown, D. F., & Knowles, T. (2014). What every middle school teacher 

should know (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 


Burton, S. L. (Ed.) (2012). Engaging musical practices: A sourcebook 

for middle school general music. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield 

Education. 

DeLorenzo, L. C. (2016). Introduction. In L. S. DeLorenzo (Ed.), Giving 

voice to democracy in music education: Diversity and social 

justice (pp. 1–9). New York, NY: Routledge. 

Elliott, D. J. (2016). Artistic citizenship, personhood, and music education. 

In L. C. DeLorenzo (Ed.), Giving voice to democracy in 

music education: Diversity and social justice (pp. 13–35). New 

York, NY: Routledge. 

GovTrack.us. (2015). S. 1177 — 114th Congress: Every Student Succeeds 

Act. Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/ 

bills/114/s1177 

Mee, M., & Haverback, H. R. (2016). Young adolescent development. 

In S. B. Mertens, M. M. Caskey, & N. Flowers (Eds.), The 

encyclopedia of middle grades education (2nd ed., pp. 437–440). 

Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. 

MENC. (1994). National standards for arts education: What every 

young American should know and be able to do in the arts. Lanham, 

MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. 

Michelli, N. M., & Jacobowitz, T. (2016). Why do we educate in a democracy?: 

Implications for music education. In L. C. DeLorenzo 

(Ed.), Giving voice to democracy in music education: Diversity 

and social justice (pp. 36–50). New York, NY: Routledge. 

Munkittrick, D. (2013). Music for living: The thought and philosophy 

of Karl. W. Gehrkens. Journal of Historical Research in Music 

Education, 35(1), 21–34. 

Nakkula, M. J., & Toshalis, E. (2006). Understanding youth: Adolescent 

development for educators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education 

Press. 

National Middle School Association (NMSA). (2010). This we believe: 

Keys to educating young adolescents. Westerville, OH: Author. 

Roney, K. (2005). Young adolescent development. In V. A. Anfara, 

Jr., G. Andrews, & S. B. Mertens (Eds.) The encyclopedia of middle 

grades education (pp. 397–401). Westerville, OH: National 

Middle School Association. 

State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE). 

(2014). National Core Arts Standards. Dover, DE: Author. 

Stevenson, C. (2002). Teaching ten to fourteen year olds (3rd ed.). 

Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. 

Sweet, B. (2016). Growing musicians: Teaching music in middle 

school & beyond. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Wall, M. P., & Wall, J. K. (2016). Artistic citizenship, personhood, 

and music education. In L. S. DeLorenzo (Ed.), Giving voice to 

democracy in music education: Diversity and social justice (pp. 

123–137). New York, NY: Routledge. 

Woodford, P. G. (2005). Democracy and music education: Liberalism, 

ethics, and the politics of practice. Bloomington, IN: Indiana 

University Press. 


TMEA BACK THEN 

➣ In W. J. Julian’s opening presidential letter for the March 1976 

Tennessee Musician, Dr. Julian summarized pertinent updates 

from MENC (now NAfME). In the latter portion of his message, 

Dr. Julian conveyed TMEA’s sympathy regarding the thenrecent 

death (December 9, 1975) of historic TMEA music leader 

Dr. J. Clark Rhodes. 

➣ 

NOTEWORTHY 

A section titled “In Memoriam: Dr. J. Clark Rhodes” 

summarized the legacy of Dr. Rhodes and outlined his 

contributions to the music profession at large. In addition 

to his profound impact in TMEA as the inaugural editor of 

the Tennessee Musician (1948-1950), Dr. Rhodes served as 

a leader for multiple national organizations (such as ACDA 

President, 1964-1966) and state-wide organizations (such 

as Tennessee State Arts Advisory Committee chairman, 

1955-1958) during his lifetime. As eloquently expressed 

at the close of this column, “Dr. Rhodes bequeathed an 

amazing legacy to all music educators in Tennessee; 

it will be an awesome responsibility to sustain and 

nurture this charge.” 

The TMEA Performing Groups were announced for the thenupcoming 

TMEA Convention on April 8-10, 1976: 

◆ Tennessee Tech. Tuba Ensemble – R. Winston Morris, 

Director. 

THE TENNESSEE MUSICIAN (MARCH 1976) 

Volume 28, No. 3 – 36 pgs. 

W. J. Julian, TMEA President | Lawrence “Pat” Cooney, Editor 

➣ 

➣ 

◆ 

◆ 

◆ 

◆ 

◆ 

◆ 

Doyle High School Mixed Chorus – John P. Ribble, 

Director. 

Science Hill High School Band – Jerry Cole, Director. 

Carson-Newman College Choir – Charles H. Jones, 

Director. 

Tennessee Tech. Symphony Band – Dr. Wayne Pegram, 

Conductor. 

West Hills Elementary Chorus – Hannah McDaniel, 

Director. 

The University of Tennessee Knoxville Brass Quintet. 

The members of this ensemble at the time of the 1976 TMEA 

Conference were Edgar Niedens (Trumpet), Steven 

Squires (Trumpet), William Bommelje (French Horn), 

Don Hough (Trombone), and Sande MacMorran (Tuba). 

Clinicians (session presenters) for the 1976 TMEA Convention 

were highlighted in this pre-conference publication: 

◆ Band – Dr. James Neilson (then-Director of the 

Educational Department of the G. Leblanc Corporation) 

◆ Choral – Donald Neuen (then-Director of Choral Activities 

and Professor of Music at the University of Tennessee 

Knoxville) and Charles H. Jones (then-Professor of Music 

and Director of Choral Activities at Carson-Newman College) 

◆ Elementary – Jeanette Crosswhite (then-Associate 

Professor of Music at Milligan College); Nancy Ferguson 

(then-Area Music Specialist/Supervisory of the Elementary 

Orff Music and String Programs in Memphis City Schools); 

Mary Ann Lowe (then-Music Resource Teacher for 

Chattanooga Public Schools) 

◆ String – William Starr (then-Professor of Music at the 

University of Tennessee Knoxville) 

◆ Middle School Junior High – Dr. Lawrence Eisman 

(then-chairman of the music department at Queens College 

in New York City) 

A variety of remarkable articles were featured in this issue, 

including the following: 

◆ “An All-State Jazz Band For Your Students,” by Dr. 

Tom Ferguson (then-Director of Bands at Memphis State 

University and President-Elect of the National Association 

for Jazz Educators) 

◆ “Selecting Literature for a Specific Choral Group,” by 

James Mintz (then-Assistant Music Education Professor, 

University of Tennessee Knoxville) 

◆ “A Bicentennial Feature Article: Sacred Harp Singing 

in Tennessee,” by Irving Wolfe (then-Emeritus Professor 

of Music, Peabody College) 

◆ “Four Events Mark March As ‘Music Education 

Month’: Music In Our Schools Day; MENC Biennial 

Convention; 1976 Youth Music Festival; Showcase of 

American Music Education,” included information that 

Dr. William D. Revelli (then-Director Emeritus of the 

University of Michigan Band) was selected to conduct the 

108-Member Honors Band slated to perform on March 13, 

1976, at the MENC (now NAfME) National Convention in 

Atlantic City, New Jersey. 


you work hard at 

sounding good 

we work hard at 

looking 

good 

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TN Musician Vol. 73, No. 3

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