Meadows Summer Workshops Enrich Music Education Community

Continuing education is a necessity in any career, including those pursuing careers in music. Music educators must constantly sharpen and update their teaching skills and stay up to date with the latest research and pedagogical techniques. SMU Meadows assists the greater Dallas music education community by offering various continuing education workshops every summer. Most of the workshops are held on the SMU campus and can be taken for either continuing education or graduate credit.

Ensemble Conducting

Ensemble leadership is the core of many school music programs. Texas is particularly well known for its marching/performance bands, choirs and orchestras. Meadows offers summer workshops in band and orchestra conducting, which focus on improving conducting skills, instrument pedagogy, and rehearsal techniques, along with an all-state choir course for students preparing for upcoming auditions. Attendees get coached in sight-reading and audition strategies.

Instrument Repair

The instrument repair workshop is essential to the developing music band director. This popular course focuses on learning how to make minor repairs for brass and woodwind instruments that can be done in the school without having to take instruments to a shop or repair tech. The workshop also covers general maintenance and instrument cleaning.

Elementary Music

Music education encompasses more than just band and orchestra; elementary-level music is also an integral part of fine arts programs and serves as a primer for secondary-level music. Meadows offers several summer workshops aimed at elementary-level music including Orff Schulwerk, Kodály and early childhood music.

Orff Schulwerk

Orff Schulwerk is based on the work of German composer Carl Orff. In this approach to music education, attendees explore music through singing, moving, playing unpitched and pitched percussion instruments, recorder, and improvising. There are three levels of the workshop that can be taken and includes Orff certification.

Kodály

The Kodály approach to music education is based on the work of Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. The Kodály method uses traditional folk music to engage students in sequential, child-focused instruction. Students are guided to discover, articulate, read, write, improvise, and create with the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and form in unison singing. Meadows offers three levels of this workshop. 

Early Childhood Music

In addition to Orff and Kodály, Meadows offers a workshop in early childhood music. This workshop focuses on stories, props, singing, dance and movement, and basic instruments (recorder) to introduce children to basic music principles. This course is ideal for teachers new to elementary level music.

Piano Preparatory

The SMU Piano Preparatory Department offers individual and group classes to both pre-college level students and beginner pianists. Students receive weekly lessons, monthly masterclasses and study with master’s-level students majoring in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. This year the program boasts nearly 60 students.

Faculty

The summer workshops offered at Meadows are led by world-class performers and educators, with decades of experience in their respective fields. Many of the teaching faculty have completed terminal degrees in Music Education. Attendees can be sure they’re learning from experienced pedagogues when attending these workshops.