This weekend, I’ve been attending our annual state music teachers conference. We’ve had a slate of wonderful musicians and presenters. Here are some pictures with a few notes:
The conference began with Brenda Dillon sharing about the Recreational Music Making program that has been developed in the last several years.
Dr. Robert Weirich gave a masterclass yesterday. My student, Luke, was one of four that played for Dr. Weirich. It was a wonderful experience! I always love attending masterclasses and learning from other teachers – watching their interaction with the students, and their approach for dealing with the problems that they observe.
In the evening, Dr. Weirich gave a lecture recital called “Aaron Copland’s America: Cultural Identity Explored through his Piano Music.”
I’m more familiar with Copland’s orchestral music than his piano music. And for the most part, I prefer his orchestral music, although Dr. Weirich introduced me to some nice piano selections as well.
This morning, Wendy Stevens gave a session on teaching composition to our students. You can find a lot of great material and tips on her new website.
Tony Caramia spent the day with us yesterday and then presented two workshops today. It was fun to meet him in person and find out that he is a Music Matters Blog fan! 🙂 He’s got a great sense of humor, and of course is a wonderful Jazz musician.
There were numerous other aspects of the weekend, but these are some of the highlights. I love attending our state conference each year! It’s been a great way to connect with teachers from across the state, meet and learn from wonderful presenters, and pick up lots of great teaching ideas! Do any of you attend your state conference? Have you been to any particularly interesting sessions? Or heard any particularly great presenters?
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