thoughts on music education

After attending the Ohio Music Educator's Association conference last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I have a renewed purpose in what God has called me to do with my life and what a gift and a blessing my job really is. At the conference, I attended 13 seminars and about 6 concerts and loved every minute of it. Before the conference officially started, my friend Kristy and I attended the Highly Qualified Professional Development Pre-Conference session and spent the rest of the weekend attending sessions towards a certificate (which makes both myself and my school district happy).

Some of the highlights within the conference include:
1. Learning more about the Alexander Technique and how living by this methodology could improve not only your posture but also your performance and speaking voice (more on this later).
2. Attending a session about tracking the male changing voice (I loved this professor's ideas and am hoping to attend University of Akron under her direction for my Master's degree).
3. Hearing the US Army Herald Trumpets and the USAF Band of Flight (they perform regularly for diplomatic events across the country and around the world).
4. Listening to Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser speak and inspire and encourage us as music educators (his books seem very insightful for anyone in this profession).
5. Seeing the Kentucky Christian University Choir sing (they are from my family's hometown of Grayson, KY).
6. Learning about new music theory books and software (by Alfred) to enhance my teaching.
7. Dr. James Jordan's keynote address: The Musician's Walk (very insightful and his books look equally amazing).
8. Learning new breath support techniques and this cool but wierd contraption called PowerLung (more on this later too).
9. Most importantly of all....Running into my friend Derek Brown from Hope and getting to have dinner with him and his family. The coolest part about this is that I didn't even know he would be there and haven't been able to find his address since he got married. By far, this made my entire experience wonderful (I included one of our junior recital poster pictures...how I miss Derek and Lisa)! Friends from Hope will always be there and it was so cool to get to catch up and watch him perform (most amazing performer I know).
10. Learning a TON about microphone set-up, use and choosing appropriate mic technology for your ensemble (this one was a bit overwhelming).
11. Seeing one of our high school students perform in the All-State Jazz Band.
12. Getting to hear the Columbus Children's Choir perform (so many happy memories).

Overall, this was great because I got to know the other 2 music teachers in my district more, I got to reconnect with friends from Hope, and I am now inspired to start a small auditioned choir in my school. Teaching is one of the most influential jobs out there, and I feel very honored and blessed to get to do this everyday.