Two dissertation recitals and a piano pedagogy workshop were given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctoral of Musical Arts in Piano Pedagogy and Performance at the University of Michigan. The first dissertation lecture recital, "Afro-Cuban and Brazilian Dances," was presented in McIntosh Theatre on…

In this article, we situate songwriting in elementary spaces as a vehicle for personal and musical expression and informed by popular music practices. We offer insights for how educators can anchor students' work by encouraging them to create songs for a specific purpose like shedding light on social issues relevant to their lives. This article…

Band repertoire lists evolved from a desire to make the school band experience "more educational" when school bands themselves were relatively new. The first national band repertoire list was created for the National Band Contest in 1924, with new lists published annually through 1943. These lists gave prominence to the literature they…

Within the scope of this presented study, the authors aimed to investigate the peculiarities of intercultural communication and cultural exchange based on musical knowledge, considering the exploration of the Chinese music education experience in other countries. The scholars find that the strongest relationships of Chinese musical education are…

It can be difficult to navigate the tasks of repertoire selection and part assignments in a way that produces a successful performance product while also being educationally beneficial to all students. However, researchers have explored methods of ensuring these goals through repertoire selection. In this article, I present ideas for how educators…

William Frederick ("Fred") Cardin served as a director of instrumental music in the Reading, Pennsylvania, School District from 1930 until his retirement in June 1960. An accomplished performer and composer, Cardin studied at the Curtis School of Music and the Conservatoire Américaine in Paris, France. He is remembered as an outstanding…

Much like an effective speaker, a flexible musician is competent across multiple settings. The sociolinguistic theory of code-switching can be a useful tool to better understand how musicians acquire a set of skills and knowledge to support music-making in a range of activities in and outside of school and throughout society. In this article,…

The purpose of this study was to examine participating orchestras and performed repertoire at the American String Teachers Association's (ASTA) National Orchestra Festival from 2004 through 2020. Participating orchestras (N = 309) primarily consisted of string orchestras and high school-level orchestras with a majority originating from the…

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine how four elementary music teachers (from different U.S. regions) integrated modern band into their curricula. Data included semi-structured interviews, videos, emails, and a researcher journal. Teachers integrated modern band to improve student "buy-in" and to gain instruments. All…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate engagement in the collegiate concert band setting. Research questions were: (1) How do collegiate band students describe their engagement in large ensemble rehearsals? (2) How do collegiate band directors describe engagement in large ensemble rehearsals? and (3) What does rehearsal…

Composition is a natural human activity that can both support other music instruction and help students develop creativity that is applicable to their extramusical endeavors. It also constitutes a major strand within national and state music standards. However, it is not consistently taught in ensemble classrooms, which are often students' only…

This article describes a project in which contemporary music is studied and created in primary-school classrooms in the presence of a composer. Listening to and analyzing a composer's works fosters musical creation processes in students, who subsequently present and discuss their works in a meeting with the composer. Finally, the students' works…

As the U.S. population has become significantly more culturally diverse, many music educators have acknowledged the necessity to implement culturally diverse musics in music curricula. One of the challenges in teaching culturally diverse musics is designing a balance between performing-based activities and other activities such as listening,…

In Western countries, music educators have made efforts to revitalise enthusiasm for music education by integrating more mainstream and culturally-relevant genres into their curriculum. Conversely, current research indicates that popular music pedagogy in mainland China is not encouraged and faces many obstacles, as school music education is used…

The aim of this study is to compare the activities of Kabalevsky and Bernstein--two musicians who made a significant contribution to the musical education of the younger generation, reveals the principles, methods, forms of educational work and covers the subject of television programmes. In particular, the pedagogical and musical-enlightenment…