Using a blend of the Orff approach, the Kodaly method, and Dalcroze Eurhythmics, I teach PreK-5th grade core music, Chorus, Orff Ensemble, and Recorder Ensemble. I also teach guitar, ukulele, and keyboard classes for our afterschool program and manage our school partnerships with the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s, ACO, Carnegie Hall, as well as other arts organizations. I strive to create an active music-making experience centering my students and their voices through purposeful collaboration among the arts and other content areas within my school.

With an instrumental approach and partnerships with Music and the Brain, Carnegie Hall Link Up and Carnegie Hall Ensemble Connect, students at PS 200 learn piano in grades K-2, recorder in grade 3, and then have the opportunity to join a pull-out band program in grades 4-5 which consists of two concert bands, a jazz band and a marching band. Students strive toward a strong musical skill foundation while experiencing the power that music has to be reflective, expressive and amplifying of their voices while being ambassadors for our school in the community. My hope every year is that through the safety and creative nature of the band, my students will find and deepen their confidence, identity, and empathy with each other before continuing on in our world.

In our K-8 school, I teach K-3 General Music, Keyboard beginning in second grade, and Strings for select students beginning in second grade. In response to student interest, I also launched a grade five Modern Band in Spring of 2020. Utilizing key principles of Music Learning Theory, Carnegie Hall’s Musical Explorers program, as well as the Lang Lang International Music Foundation’s piano curriculum, students at my school work toward competency in core musical skills and concepts so that they are best equipped to create music at every stage of their development.

As the music teacher at PS 212 Midtown West School in Manhattan, I teach PK-5th General Music where I see classes once a week. Our focus in Kindergarten through Second Grade is on Keyboards using the Music and the Brain program. In grades 3rd-5th, our study centers around using the Orff and Kodaly approaches, folk song, and musical theatre. What makes Midtown West School special is our chorus program. Every student is in a chorus. There is a dedicated rehearsal every week where two grades combine with over 120 students in each of our 3 choruses. We perform three concerts a year and they are well attended by community members. Due to our location close to Times Square, our families and students are often connected to the Broadway community and we seek to capitalize on that by engaging students in field trips, performances, guest artists, and partnerships revolving around musical theatre.

The music program at PS2 strives to create an environment in which our students can explore, create, and experience music through a variety of repertoire and instruments. The music program consists of core music PK-5 and a chorus made up of fourth and fifth graders. We are partnered with Music and the Brain, which provides a piano curriculum that we use for grades K-3. Drawing from a variety of approaches like Orff, fourth and fifth graders begin to create and learn music through glockenspiels and recorders. We are also partnered with NYU Music Mentors, which is an afterschool program that pairs up students with a NYU student (mentor) who provides free one on one instrumental music lessons to our students.

I teach 3K-5 Music in Bushwick. As a singer, my primary focus is for my students to develop a love of singing while learning how to use their instrument for lifelong vocal health. Over our 8 years together, my students also learn how to play keyboard, recorder, ukulele, and guitar. We have partnerships with Music and the Brain, Little Kids Rock, Carnegie Hall, and Save the Music. I work to provide my students with a comprehensive music education that includes playing instruments, reading music, improvising, singing, movement, and speech while providing a context for the various uses of music throughout the world.

I have spent half of my NYCDOE career facilitating and learning with children from District 7 in the Bronx. My core music class emphasizes the cultivation of a child’s spirit and agency over how they see and construct their world. Through enduring partnerships with arts organizations such as Bronx Arts Ensemble, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Education and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, my learners engage in cultural, cognitive, and physical discourse in the name of building cultural competencies, rationale of process, and metabolization of media within their lived and shared experiences. From greeting each child at the music room door with a train song, weaving music literacy into everyday routines and thought, to learning an instrument through careful sequencing and reading a musical score, children engage in practices that connect life outside of the classroom and lay a strong foundation for artistic growth beyond elementary school.

I teach PreK-5th grade core music at PS 168X Success Express, a district 75 school. I use a student centered approach that blends Music Therapy and the Orff approach to make music and music making joyful, purposeful and accessible. As the Arts Liaison for my school I work with arts teachers, classroom teachers, and administration to expand our arts program through partnerships with cultural organizations such as Urban Arts and New Victory Theater. Volunteer work with the Arts for All Abilities Consortium helps me connect with arts professionals working in special education and provides a place where we can learn from each other.

I teach K- 5 Core Music, 4^th and 5^th Grade Chorus and Keyboard Classes at PS 59 in Manhattan East. Lower grade students experience music through Orff, Kodaly and Dalcroze based activities while upper graders pick up recorders and ukuleles to deepen their understanding of music making and music literacy. From our long-standing partnership with the New York Philharmonic Schools Program and the Very Young Composers Program, students benefit from the rich community resources of NYC. I strive to cultivate the joy of music and empower students by helping them find their voices through music.

As the Music Educator & Ensemble Director of P.S. 52K Sheepshead, I wanted to build a program that offered students limitless possibilities to explore their own creativity through the lens of music. Over the past 7 years, that program has grown to offer General Music as well as several choruses, orchestral ensembles, musical theatre, and modern band. This was made possible through partnerships and programming opportunities with various arts institutions such as Carnegie Hall, Little Kids Rock, Sing for Hope, Disney Musicals in Schools, and Midori & Friends. To further supplement the Music Program, I sought out and acquired over $200,000 in instruments, materials, and services through grants from arts organizations including the VH1 Save the Music Foundation and the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. These efforts have garnered city and nationwide attention through numerous awards and recognitions from NYSSMA, the Give a Note Foundation, NAMM, and more. Together we strive to build a program that provides students with whatever they may need to explore music in a way that is both collaborative as well as deeply personal. We aim to understand music from a technical and academic standpoint, while also valuing it for its cultural significance and impact on our daily lives.

Prior to becoming Director of Music, I spent many years teaching high school chorus, band, core music, and musicianship in addition to spending years as a school administrator. In all of my teaching contexts, I kept challenging myself to be a meticulous planner, and I always felt that my lessons and rehearsal plans were my personal road map to being the best music teacher I could become. I found that the more careful thought I put into planning, the “sharper” I felt as a teacher and the more my students experienced joy and success.

I have also spent a great deal of time contemplating the importance of ear building and what it means to be a literate musician. I have felt compelled to continue exploring the “360” of these topics from both philosophical and practical perspectives. This has meant seeking opportunities to make and experience music across multiple genres (e.g., gospel, jazz, funk, klezmer, concert band, brass quintet); it has also meant seeking gems of wisdom and insight from great thinkers in music education, e.g., getting to know more about Dr. Edwin E. Gordon’s lifelong dedication and writings on musical development, starting before birth (Music Learning Theory); earning my Kodály Level I certification and pondering adaptations specific to NYC as well as older beginners.

I’m inspired by all the perspectives that our K-5 music curriculum team brings to this work!