KMR - Kansas Music Review

Upcoming Workshops:

Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop (Feb. 27-March 1)
KMEK level III graduates (from WSU's summer 2013 program) will be presenting a tag-team lesson with meaningful, musical transitions! Jordan Northerns, Matt Hanne, and Mary Halsig will also be representing the KMEK chapter at the ISW with a focus on secondary application of the Kodály philosophy. Their session, Zoltan Grows Up: Kodály Teaching in the Secondary Vocal and Instrumental Settings, will include a brief overview of Kodály philosophy and applications that move students toward musical literacy. The instrumental portion will include a demonstration ensemble of 6th grade band students. KMEK is hosting the Thursday evening family folk dance and is sponsoring Andrew Ellingsen, one of the headliners in the elementary room.

Susan Tevis will be our spring presenter in conjunction with our levels preparation time for the Wichita State University Kodály program. Susan will be presenting a day-long workshop at Senseney Music in Wichita on April 12, 2014, at 9:00 AM. Her workshop will contain two main portions: teaching K-2 concepts, and successful use of octavos both in the general classroom and in the choral setting. Our workshops are open to everyone, not just our members, and are very reasonably priced. We hope to see you there.

Other News:

Our new website is up and running! Our web designer, Jordan Northerns, has done a FANTASTIC job. The website, www.kmek.org, features our Twitter feed, a Kodály-centered Pinterest board, an events calendar, lots of great photos, the history of our chapter, bios for all our board members, online registration, and more! Our members also have access to protected content, and we are developing a repository for short teaching videos so that members can quickly see how others teach a specific song, game, or concept

In September, approximately 45 teachers attended "A Musical Classroom Paves the Way to Choral Excellence," presented by Sandra Knudson. Participants experienced Sandy's creative approach to developing musical sensitivity in young learners, and many have commented that they were able to start applying her ideas and techniques right away. Some Level III graduate students (from WSU's Kodály program, summer 2013) also shared a seamless tag-team lesson. This will be demonstrated at the in-service workshop in February! Here are some impressions Sandra made on the participants:

"She re-opened my eyes to the importance of being MUSICAL, even in kindergarten. I now use her vocal warm-ups literally every day."
-Mia Nightingale

"I was reminded that taking a game or movement activity and stretching the steps over several class periods not only keeps students excited with anticipation, but it also sets them up to understand practicing larger works when they are older."
-Ben Rivers

"The students from my methods class at Bethany College were amazed at the choral musicianship skills that could begin even in kindergarten: singing with beautiful vowels, expression, etc."
-Lisa Simmelink

Sixty teachers had the opportunity to work with world-renowned Dalcroze specialist, Dr. David Frego at our January workshop. This workshop addressed the elements of music through movement. We experienced a variety of activities that focused on pulse, beat, meter, improvisation, and moving to music in order to generate feelings (which then lead to emotional response). The participants, most of whom are primarily experienced in movable do, were also challenged by many "fixed do" activities.

Wichita State University will be hosting levels I, II, and III of Kodály training starting on June 1, 2014. These graduate courses are two-week courses that result in 5 semester hours of graduate credit! The KMEK chapter provides a lending library of unique resources for the participants, holds an interest meeting to encourage chapter membership, offers mentoring support, and donates daily snacks.

Every year, the most recent level III graduates have the opportunity to present a tag-team lesson at one of our KMEK workshops. The chapter really enjoys the fresh stream of "home-grown" presenters, and we are proud to be sending the most recent graduates to represent KMEK at the 2014 In-Service Workshop. Please see our website for more information about levels training at WSU.

Kodály Music Educators of Kansas is approaching its 10-year anniversary in June of 2014! Our state chapter has 35 active members who have joined the Organization of American Kodály Educators and many more associate members who are active in our chapter but have not yet taken the step of joining the national organization.

Our Facebook page just hit 130 members in the past month (check out "Kodály Music Educators of Kansas" on Facebook to stay connected)!

Kodály Music Educators of Kansas" on Facebook

Please see our website for more information about KMEK: www.kmek.org