Workshops and Clinicians
We have 4 amazing clinicians lined up for our 2023-2024 season.
Learn more about each one below.
Thomas Pierre
Workshop Topic:
Orff in the Urban Classroom
Saturday, September 16, 2023
9am-1pm
Old Dominion University
Diehn School of Music
Every learner has creative potential. Through singing, saying, moving, playing, and creating, participants will experience ways of tapping into the creative potential of learners in the urban classroom to provide meaningful musical experiences that are multicultural, arts integrated and address varied learning modalities.
Clinician Bio:
Thomas Pierre is a National Board-Certified Music Teacher, certified Orff educator, and an approved Movement Teacher Educator for the American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA). Mr. Pierre is also a 2020 CMA National Music Teachers of Excellence National Award recipient and Maryland Music Educators Outstanding Music Teacher. He has earned the Certificate of Study from the Changing Education Through the Arts program, Kennedy Center. A native of the Bronx, New York, he attended the famous Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and the Performing Arts (the school featured in the motion picture “FAME”). Mr. Pierre often reflects on how he sat in his classroom, a bewildered, uninterested, misdirected 12-year-old from the housing projects, when a remarkable teacher formally introduced him to music. Since that time, Mr. Pierre has been committed to the study of music and introducing young people to all genres of music. Mr. Pierre has furthered his study in music and movement at the International Music Village in Finland (2023) and Estonia (2019), Summer Dance Institute for Teachers at the Creative Dance Center in Seattle, Washington, International Summer Course at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria, and the Music, Dance and Orff Schulwerk International Master Class in Ghana, West Africa (2018 & 2016). Mr. Pierre has also taught in the Orff España Summer Course in Madrid, Spain. He has taught vocal, general, and choral music at all grade levels. Mr. Pierre is the president of the Middle Atlantic Chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA) and served on the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee and Restructuring Ad Hoc Committee of AOSA. Mr. Pierre teaches in Prince George’s County, MD, and throughout the years has led workshops around the US and internationally providing support to children and adults that aid in closing the achievement gap in urban education through arts education and arts integration.
Mini Workshop Part 1
Juan Carlos Tavarez
Saturday, October 14, 2023
9am-11am
Old Dominion University
Diehn School of Music
Topic:
¡Wepa! Songs, Dances, and Games from the Dominican Republic
Música es Vida! Music and dance play an active role in the Dominican Republic, from education to social gatherings to celebrations. Teachers have the responsibility to help bridge cultural gaps between students and their educational experiences, embedding social-emotional learning and culturally responsive-sustaining music teaching and learning. This session will provide music teachers with brief, engaging activities they can integrate into their music classroom that is meaningful, responsive, and respectful. Bring your WEPA and get caught up in the rhythms, melodies, and flavors of the rich and diverse island of the Dominican Republic.
Clinician Bio:
Juan Carlos Tavarez is in his tenth year as a music educator. He currently teaches elemental music for grades K-5 at Walnut Street School in the Uniondale School District in Uniondale, NY. Dr. Tavarez leads the fourth and fifth-grade chorus and is the director of the All-District Elementary Chorus. In addition, he has been serving as the Male Rites of Passage mentor, facilitating conversations and activities to develop character education in young males. Before joining the Uniondale faculty, Dr. Tavarez taught as the founding music teacher and school culture coordinator for the NYC Public Schools. He received his BM in Music Education from Five Towns College and his MM in Music Education from New York University with a certification in Kodály. He completed his Orff-Schulwerk training at George Mason University in 2018. After a few years of practicing music teaching and learning, Dr. Tavarez pursued his doctoral degree from Long Island University in transformational leadership in 2023. His research explored how music and music education develop agency, identity, and personhood in Black and Latinx males in the elementary choral and general music classroom. How can music guide us to better understand human action and experience? His approach demonstrates community, character, choice, confidence, and curiosity as educational values for musicing that allow for meaningful experiences, social connections and empathy, and positive multifaceted relationships. His charge as a music educator is to bring all his students into a life-long love for music with practical skills and true musicianship in his teaching and learning.
Mini Workshop Part 2
Mitzi Emblidge, Local Presenter
Topic:
Drum Circle and Classroom Percussion Refresher
Saturday, January 20, 2024
9am-11am
Old Dominion University
Diehn School of Music
She believes that “Drumming gets people out of their heads and into their hearts; out of the past or future and into the present moment.” (Christine Stevens) It is a time to not worry about being perfect or making mistakes. Just be in the moment, have fun and become part of the group.
Clinician Bio:
Mitzi Emblidge is in her 9th year as a Music Teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Newport News, VA where she teaches general music for grades K-5. She is also the founder and instructor for the Riverside Elementary Boomin’ Bears Drumline and is a front ensemble instructor for the Menchville High School Marching Monarch Band. She has been teaching in Newport News Public Schools for 23 years, is the Lead Music Teacher for all Newport News Elementary Schools and was recognized as the District Teacher of the Year in 2022.
Mitzi received her BA in Psychology and Music Education Minor from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She continued her education at Virginia Peninsula Community College and Christopher Newport University where she completed her Pre K – 6 teaching credentials. Mitzi began her music experiences at age 10 when she had her first percussion lesson. She has spent many years in marching band, percussion ensemble, concert band, jazz band, and began her love of drum circles at a weekend retreat in 1993 when she worked with at-risk youth.
Matthew Stensrud
Topic:
Effortless Play: Using the Schulwerk to Enhance Creativity
Saturday, February 10, 2024
9am-1pm
Old Dominion University
Diehn School of Music
Clinician Bio:
Matthew Stensrud is an internationally-acclaimed and award-winning Elementary Music and Movement Teacher and currently teaches PK-4 music and movement at Sidwell Friends Lower School in Washington, DC. He received his Master of Music Education from George Mason University and Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, is an Orff Schulwerk approved Teacher Educator of Movement, and teaches Movement Levels in New Jersey and Oregon. Matthew is also on AOSA National Board of Trustees as a representative for region 5 and was a key content contributor to the book Responsive Classroom for Music, Art, PE and Other Special Areas. He is also well-known on social media as @MisterSOrff and offers newsletters through his website www.mistersorff.com and mentoring, lesson plans, and more on his Patreon page, www.patreon.com/mistersorff.
