2023 LMEA Conference Schedule

1. Solfège (they may have always sung on words)
2. Sheet music (they may have always been taught by rote without a score)
3. Sight-reading (May be completely foreign)
4. Maintaining an arched soft palate (It feels weird to sing like this)
5. Tongue placement (what is this?!)
6. Classical literature (unfamiliar with the style overall).
 
These are not indicative of all urban chorus spaces and may apply to some who teach outside the urban space. Notably, I want to share a few suggestions that will bring success to teaching in this setting. The first part of the project will be a PowerPoint presentation & the second part of the presentation will be application-based. I am passionate about introducing this approach to the novice choral director entering the urban secondary choral setting. The goal is that this approach SHOULD NOT replace the traditional way of teaching chorus but act solely as a jumpstart.

Our “hoofbeats” might include intonation, the balancing of harmonies, sections, and individual voices, vowel formations, vocalism techniques, and a list of myriad options that can easily feel overwhelming when the sound we hear does not match our desired outcome.

This interest session will explore a practical, sequence-based approach to choral pedagogy that is appropriate to both beginning and more advanced conductor-teachers. Davis and González will discuss fundamental components of healthy singing, outline physiological “horses” that can be easily treated with engaging, singer-empowered solutions for each, and present choral warm-up methodologies that further reinforce these voice building concepts.

It all starts with one note to make the melody grow. Musical literacy is an essential building block skill for students as they learn how to read, write and beyond. Through activities like responding, singing, storytelling, and reading music, we build these skills. We will explore how to use digital resources and activities to enhance literacy skills and connect with today’s learners.

Recruitment and retention has always been an issue for most choral programs, but especially after covid.  While all music was heavily restricted, it hit our middle school and junior high programs the worst.  In response to that, and to give a shot of adrenaline to my feeder school programs, we started a new event called the learning community concert.  This event was a joint concert where we invited all of my feeder school programs to work together to have a fun event, learn some music, and create a community with choral music within our feeder schools.  Thankfully, we have now had two successful learning community concerts.  Our first event had about 230 singers and our second one had 246.  The programs in our feeder community are growing and we would love to share this idea.  This is a field trip for younger singers to come to the high school, have a great time, meet some other singers, and build excitement for continuing choir from 5th grade to 12th grade.  This has also created a much needed support network with our music teachers.  This event has worked to grow our programs, increase administrative support, boost our school performance score (Slidell High received the maximum number of points for community outreach because of this event), and let parents and families know that students have opportunities to continue singing all through their time in our learning community.  We will be sharing how we have made this work, sample schedules, concert programs, videos from past events, and answer questions about how teachers can use this to help grow and sustain programs.  Since LMEA is expanding soon to include younger singers in all state ensembles, this could help younger singers and middle and junior high teachers to build a network to increase participation in our expanded LMEA events as well.

The amount of repertoire available to conductors is a limitless banquet- which, though exciting, can be daunting. How do we choose repertoire for our choirs in a way that presents a balanced meal? We are called upon to select music that is rich in content, whether that content be artistic merit, historical and cultural significance, relationship to our community, representation of diverse or underrepresented voices, or powerful message. Making intentional choices can be challenging given the depth and breadth of choral music waiting to be sampled at the musical banquet.
This session will explore recommendations for using intentionality when selecting literature for every level and type of choir, from developing to professional. Participants will participate in activities to assess how a piece of repertoire will function in their overall program using pedagogical criteria and create a balanced “meal” of diverse literature for their choir. The use of theming to give direction to the repertoire search and create opportunities for expanding the musical palate of the choir and the audience will be addressed. Intentional repertoire selection over a season or multiple seasons in a purposeful sequence can allow a choir to build skills to perform increasingly challenging selections or move towards a goal of performing multi-movement works or masterworks.
Choosing repertoire is a task that must be approached with care and thought. By choosing repertoire with intention, choral conductors will unlock their ensemble’s limitless potential for successful performance and meaningful connection. Participants will receive a printed resource sheet and a link to a digital resource site.

The session aims to provide insight and practical applications to help choral conductors engage in culturally-relevant leadership in choral spaces. Culturally-relevant choral conductor-leaders amplify the voices of ensemble members and understand the different frames of knowledge that each individual brings to the choral space. Choral conductors at all levels must remember the people, our students, our stakeholders as we are in the people business. In this session, I will share my research, experiences as a culturally-relevant choral leader, the approaches I have developed through connecting leadership, choral conducting, and high-impact practices. Attendees will leave with tools, resources, and insights to support culturally-relevant leadership, diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging.

In this session, participants will experience ways to use technology in the elementary music classroom while maintaining an active classroom environment—singing, moving, performing on instruments, and, most importantly, being playful. We will explore app and software options accessible on various student devices and individual, small-group, and whole-class tech-based activities.

Music, including popular music, serves as a foundation for our everyday lives. As music educators, we have seen firsthand the benefits of utilizing music our students enjoy, providing opportunities for them to play, perform, and improvise. However, how do we support our students beyond active music-making?

In this interactive workshop, Ashley Shabankareh, Professor of Music Therapy and Music Education at Loyola University New Orleans and Professor of Music Education at Xavier University, will guide participants in ways to incorporate music therapy interventions into their popular music education practices. Music Therapy intersects with music education in many ways, and by incorporating music therapy, educators can support the development of functional, non-musical skills. Educators will be provided with techniques and ideas they can incorporate into their classrooms to support a variety of learners.

By learning how to structure team-building activities in choral rehearsals and retreats, choral conductors can create the ideal opportunities for singers to develop skills that directly correlate with the National Core Arts Standards and National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) Rubric while growing in comfort and confidence among their peers.

Team building in retreats as well as during class will help students to celebrate their differences and rejoice in their commonality. While these activities are fun, they are pivotal to instructional needs as well because of their correlation to the National Core Arts Standards and NIET Rubric.

This session can help choir directors of all levels to rejuvenate the energy within their ensembles. Application to middle school, high school, college/university, and community/adult choirs will be specifically addressed. Participants will receive a handout featuring several team building examples, including instructions, purpose/goal, instructional use, length, group size, age group, and materials needed, as well as a correlation to the national standards and NIET rubric. Participants will also receive a template that helps them to create additional activities to apply to their own classroom culture and specific instructional needs.

Learning Outcomes:
Engage in team building activities designed to build community, create a healthy environment and respectful culture, and pave the way for student ownership in the choral ensemble
Learn how to plan effective retreats and in-class activities to establish a healthy learning environment
Explore the correlations between team-building activities and the National Standards and NIET Rubric.

Participants will use Orff instruments to play in the jazz style. Join us as we explore the world of jazz in the general music classroom. Be prepared to scat, swing, move and grove as we mesh the Schulwerk with America’s music – Jazz! You will experience all aspects of the Schulwerk from speech and song to rhythm and movement. Student success guaranteed.

Join Dr. Molly Redfield, Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at LSU, for a presentation on incorporating jazz warm-ups into your rehearsals. Learn how to develop a fundamental routine using established jazz vocabulary, jazz chorales, rhythm and articulation workouts, and improvisation techniques all following the jazz mantra hear, sing, play. Utilizing these techniques will elevate your ensemble’s performance and help transition classical musicians to the jazz idiom.

This reading session will explore an array of literature representing works of diverse cultures.  Music to meet today’s singers for mixed and treble choirs.  Works of both published as well as the lesser-known, self-published composers will be presented.

Often scheduling demands of our schools place students in our ensembles who have diverging amounts of experience on their instruments, resulting in a hotshot who’s’ been in private lessons for years sharing a stand with a rank beginner, even if they’re the same age. Programming music and sequencing instruction can be difficult for these types of class in a climate where we want to provide individualized instruction for all of our students every day. This session will discuss curricular and repertoire options for these types of classes, including score marking and study strategies, music for “flex” ensembles, and specific repertoire written with this issue in mind.

Participants will experience different types of creative movement. Looking for ideas for creative movement? Help us tell a story without words. Join us as we explore the world of movement in the Orff-Schulwerk classroom. Come play, come move, come share your creativity!

Topic 1: Strategies
· Improvise early & often
o Drones are within reach right away
· Prioritize this work
· Set time aside on a regular basis (you might need to cancel other things)
· Bring in clinicians to shift the power dynamic
o Put the community to work & make sure guests reflect school
· Book a gig
o Build community through music

Topic 2: How To (especially if you don’t have funds for clinicians)
· Circle up
o Around or facing rhythm section
· Learn melody BY EAR
· Sheet music does not enter this space
o Rhythm section too
· Theory free zone
o Use melody notes as improvisation notes
· Mandatory activity
o Opting out is not on the menu
· Drones are your friend!
· Explore intervals

· Build small groups (combos)

Topic 3: Why
· Students develop independent, entrepreneurial thinking
· Spreading the wealth — kids will take this outside the confines of the classroom walls and into adulthood
· Ear training: intervals, chord qualities, form, etc
· Stylistic awareness
· IT’S FUN!

This interactive workshop will examine wind literature for secondary schools by underrepresented minority composers within the wind band medium (e.g. people of color, women, LGBTQ+). Topics discussed will include the value of incorporating these works within the secondary school band curriculum, resources for acquisition, programming literature for cultural and societal awareness, and the process for adding these works to various state music lists for evaluative performances.

Recent studies show that the average career span of a teacher in today’s educational environment is only 5 years and the average career span of a band director is only 4½ years. Why do so many promising teachers leave our field after only a few short years? This clinic is designed to help Band Directors, both young and old, avoid many of the common challenges encountered during their career. Clinic attendees will gain a “real-world” working knowledge of skills and strategies that will assist them in meeting those challenges while developing a high quality program and avoiding burn-out.

This session will take you on a journey to the world of Music Education Grammy Quarterfinalist, Keith Hart. As he brings his students to a place where their hearts, minds, and hands work together in tandem with each other to bring a piece of music to life. Through the Hart Method, students learn to read music for meaning with literacy terminology and connections. We take the lost tools of learning: grammar, dialect, and rhetoric and engage students in the art and science of expression in the universal language of music: beauty, truth, and virtue.

Higher-order thinking (HOT) through structured questioning, repetition of key ideas, and awareness of the differing musical identities among students are important strategies for successful teaching. In this sessions, pre-service teachers will practice skills and strategies related to priming student attention through HOT questioning, varied repetition of key ideas and concepts, and sincere interest in student musical interests that propagates belonging, agency, and independence in the music classroom and rehearsal. Musical scores and scenarios will be used to create hypothetical scenarios for practice and application.This session is intended for pre-service teachers, but the tenets and principles of the session are applicable to all music teachers/directors.

This session is geared for beginning teachers and undergraduate. A concern for new teachers is how to hold high expectations while still keeping students excited. This session will explore ways on how music teachers can establish a culture that promotes discipline and responsibility while still being fun and productive for students. Ideas discussed in the session are meant to serve as a guide for new and future teachers to use once they return or enter the classroom.

The main challenge in flute sections of all ages is control of tone and intonation. This session will address the subtleties of proper flute embouchure and air control or achieving a mature tone and artistry. The clinic will show proper angles, aperture, and air speed for mature flute playing, as well as dispelling some common myths about the flute embouchure. Other areas, such as vibrato and articulation may also be addressed as attendees desire and time allows.

Many music education majors dream of working as a high school choir, band, or orchestra director. However, there is a great need for qualified elementary general music teachers as well. Elementary general music teachers play a vital role in providing young children with a strong musical foundation. Additionally, it is very possible that many graduates may not be hired for their “dream” job immediately following undergrad. In this session, we will discuss the importance of elementary general music, the need to absorb all information provided in elementary music methods courses, the skills and knowledge needed to be an effective elementary general music teacher, and how to connect with local organizations that provide professional development for elementary general music.

The latest revision of the Large Ensemble Assessment rubric has removed “Other Factors” as a scored category. However, the way you approach choice of music has one of the greatest impacts on your preparation and outcome at assessment. Taken from many years a judge, trainer, teacher, and listener, we will explore how music selection ultimately drives your ensemble’s successes and failures.

Copyright is not a topic we as educators want to deal with, but it is necessary to understand in order to protect ourselves, schools, boosters, and organizations that we participate in. This session will give a brief overview of U.S. Copyright laws and how they affect us as educators.  Discussions will include compliance, Fair Use, infringement penalties, obtaining licenses/rights, and more. As the focus will tend to be on the marching arts (marching band, indoor percussion/winds, and winterguard) most of the session will also be somewhat general in nature.

Join us for an enriching band director clinic focused on the power of mentorship in the field of music education. Designed for both band director mentees and mentors, this professional development session is dedicated to cultivating strong mentorship relationships and fostering growth and success within the band director community.

During this clinic, participants will have the unique opportunity to learn from both mentored teachers and experienced mentor band directors, who will share their invaluable insights, strategies, and personal experiences in mentorship. Whether you are a mentee looking to enhance your leadership skills or a mentor seeking to guide and inspire the next generation of band directors, this clinic is tailored to meet your needs. Topics will range from establishing effective mentorship relationships, communication and feedback strategies, goal setting and career development, to addressing common challenges and building a supportive and encouraging network of mentors within the band director community.

Join us for this transformative band director clinic and discover how mentorship can enhance your career, enrich your teaching, and create a lasting impact in the lives of your students. Don’t miss this chance to elevate your abilities as a mentee or mentor in the band director world!

Honor Bands, Assessments, Contests, Band trips, Marching Events, Solo/Ensemble, Parades…..So much stuff.  It can be overwhelming. Which should we do?  How much do they matter?  How do I keep it in balance?  The reality is that none of things means everything, but they don’t have to mean nothing. Each can be used to serve your students, and be a part of fulfilling music education for students and directors alike.  It’s not a once size fits all approach, but sharing from 21 years expereince how to formulate your own guiding principles that can allow you to make decisions that serve your students and program well.  The goal is to spur thinking on the activities we do with our bands, and how to keep them in line with why we do what we do.

The trombone can often seem intimidating. Its nature as a slide instrument can make grasping it a challenge for younger trombonists who may feel inadequate compared to their brass counterparts. That said, building musical confidence in your trombonists isn’t as daunting as it may seem, but it does require attention to detail.

This presentation will outline methods designed to help middle and high school students build habits focusing on trombone performance’s finer details. Topics discussed will include the proper technique of holding/moving the slide, embouchure placement, partials in the overtone series and their tendencies, the f-attachment and its corresponding slide positions, tonguing styles, and clef studies.

Instead of concerts that are predictable and attended primarily by parents, learn how to present presentations that draw not only parents but are looked forward to by the entire community as well. Topics include 
*music selection
*programing balance
*enhancements such as videos
*guest conductors and/or guest performers
*programs
*emcees
*inspirational concerts
This clinic was inspired by Dr. Quincy Hilliard composer and professor at the University of Louisiana Lafayette.