Loneka Wilkinson Battiste, associate professor of music education at the University of Houston, is an international scholar with more than twenty years of teaching experience in school and community settings. Her work has been published in Choral Journal, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Journal of General Music Education, Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education, and Toward Equity in Music Teacher Education. She has been a featured clinician for the Texas Music Educators Association conference and was the featured mini-conference presenter for the Organization of American Kodály Educators national conference in 2022. She has given speeches and papers in Accra, Ghana and in the Brazilian states of Pernambuco, Paraiba, Ceára, and Bahia. Her work focuses on supporting both enriching and affirming experiences for all students. She received her PhD in music education from Louisiana State University.
The Black Music Aesthetic (BME) is heard in gospel choirs, New Orleans second lines, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop, and more. BMA encompasses structural characteristics and musical processes common to Black music and permeates the international musical landscape. In these sessions, participants will learn about BMA and explore practical ways to infuse it into their pedagogy through singing, playing instruments, line dancing, hand games, and stepping. These techniques will offer tools to create enriching, affirming, and joyful experiences for all students.
Erika Knapp is assistant professor of music education at Texas Woman’s University, specializing in elementary and choral music education. She received her doctorate at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, and taught elementary and secondary general music and middle school choir for thirteen years. Knapp has presented for many national and international venues, where she focuses on inclusive practice and empowering educators to create joyful musical experiences. She is an Orff pedagogy teacher-trainer for the American Orff Schulwerk Association and teaches level I and II courses across the United States. Her research interests include music for students with ability differences, teacher professional development, and equity in music education. She has published research in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Music Education Research, The International Journal of Music Education, Psychology of Music, Music Educators Journal, and The Orff Echo.
What happens when teachers trust the process and their students? These sessions will explore Orff Schulwerk-inspired approaches that are active and playful, and will focus on student voice and choice in the elementary music room. Through movement, singing, speech, and instrumental play, participants will experience and reflect on pedagogical strategies that build genuine student agency. Leave with renewed inspiration, practical tools, and a deeper understanding of what it means to let children truly lead their own musical learning.
Melissa Roth Young is a graduate of Baylor University and the University of North Texas. With more than thirty years of teaching experience, she is currently a PhD music education fellow at the University of North Texas. She previously served as the choir director at Haggard Middle School in Plano, Texas, and was co-director of the Plano Children's Chorale. Choirs under her direction have consistently received awards at concert and sight-reading contests, as well as distinctions at local choral festivals. She has served in regional, state, and national offices for numerous organizations related to music education and is also a part of the choral track faculty for the Southern Methodist University Kodály Certification program. She is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator and is published with Alliance Music Publications, Carl Fisher, and Melissa Roth Young Music. She lives in Richardson, Texas, and sings with the First United Methodist Church Richardson Chancel Choir and the Summer Women’s Chorus of Plano Civic Chorus.
This session will help educators deconstruct song literature of various genres to discover the musical building blocks of their classroom culture. Using examples from folk, classical, and pop music to examine building blocks of rhythm and pitch patterns, students can build bridges to new unexplored musical forms and genres. Participants will be creating unique song and choral arrangements appropriate for their student populations based on part-work development.
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David H. Knapp is assistant professor of music education at Florida State University, where he also earned his doctorate. His research and teaching focus on removing barriers to participation in music education. He teaches courses in digital music making and modern band, with a focus on diverse and accessible teaching practices. Knapp’s research has been published in the International Journal of Community Music, Music Education Research, Research Studies in Music Education, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. Prior to his teaching at Florida State University, he served on the music education faculty at Syracuse University. While there he began the Music in the Community program, a collaboration with community partners to establish lab spaces throughout the community. This work helped him to earn the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unsung Heroes Award in 2022, presented by Martin Luther King III.
This course is intended to help teachers implement a curriculum for digital music making in their classrooms. It does so by giving teachers the tools to create music digitally using the web-based platform Soundtrap. It also will give teachers the opportunity to imagine what their digital music lab might be. Participants will be asked to reflect on their experiences as a learner and make transfers to the classroom. An important thread throughout is the joy of music making. At the end of this course the presenter hopes that everyone has experienced this joy and will want to create the same experience for their students.
Scott Rush is the team lead for the Habits series published by GIA and currently serves as the conductor of the Charleston Wind Symphony. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of South Carolina and is the former director of bands at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Under his direction, the Wando Symphonic Band performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and were Grand National finalists. Rush is active as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada. He is the author or co-author of eighteen books, some of which include: Habits of a Successful Band Director, Habits of a Successful Musician, Habits of a Successful Middle School Band Director, Habits of a Significant Band Director. In 2010, Rush was elected to the American Bandmasters Association, and he currently serves as past president of the Servant Leadership Association for Music.
A strong pedagogical and musical foundation is essential to the artistic development of young musicians. While the goal is for students to develop a lasting love for music, achieving that outcome requires intentional structures, strategies, and systems. Academy sessions will explore approaches that cultivate artistry in the ensemble setting. Participants will examine the framework of rhythm vocabulary development, aural literacy, and the components of playing to strengthen music literacy and expressive performance. The sessions will also examine culture-building strategies that foster trust, engagement, and a shared commitment to excellence.
Thomas Rinn serves as assistant professor of choral music education at Texas State University and artistic director of the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus. He holds a PhD in music education from the University of North Texas, a master’s of music education from Florida State University, and a bachelor’s of music from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to his current appointment, he spent twenty years as a high school choral director. Rinn’s research focuses on music teacher education, social media in music education, teacher retention, and effective instructional strategies. His work has been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, and the Journal of Research in Music Education. A past president of the Texas Choral Directors Association, Rinn currently chairs the University Scholastic League Choral Sight-Reading committee and serves nationwide as a choral clinician, guest conductor, adjudicator, and presenter.
Traditional command-and-control conducting often limits singers’ musical growth and engagement. Drawing on Stephen Covey’s “Trust & Inspire” leadership model, participants will explore ways to transform a rehearsal into a space of collaborative music-making. Through introspection, collaboration, and hands-on practice, educators can develop essential facilitative leadership skills, including reflective questioning and guided problem-solving. The sessions will address student-centered rehearsal techniques, pathways to lasting musicianship, and strategies for building ensemble culture. Participants will leave empowered to shift from controlling performances to cultivating musical independence and ownership in the singers under their care.
