This page updates consistently as new information is added. Changes are frequent and will be unannounced. The final schedule will be set in early October, 2018. Thank you for understanding and be sure to check back often.
Saturday, October 20 - 2018
Session 4: 8:30am - 9:30am
Whistler A: Dr. Daniel Tones - Presented in partnership with Yamaha Canada Music and Long & McQuade Demystifying The Closed Roll - A Continuation Daniel Tones is pleased to re-present this workshop that was so well received at the 2017 BCMEA Conference. The closed roll is a fundamental snare drum technique with which young percussionists often struggle, and this interactive workshop presents essential concepts and exercises for building a successful closed roll on the snare drum. Connections will be drawn between hand position, finger position, instrument height, and body mechanics to demonstrate how a blended, effective roll can be created. Questions from the audience are encouraged, and selected participants will have the opportunity to practice the techniques and exercises presented.
Whistler B: Mark Reid - Presented in partnership with Conn-Selmer Speak Their Language: Using Policy for Advocacy In the era of redesigned curriculum, heightened accountability, and increased flexibility, teachers are faced with a new challenge to maintain the position and relevance of music education. This workshop will guide teachers (and parents) in locating and understanding the legislation and policy that enshrines music education as part of a comprehensive educational experience for all BC students. Follow @mmgreid on Twitter for links to the reference documents.
Whistler C: Dr. Elroy Friesen Getting Music Into The Body This session will focus on embodying choral scores as conductors creating effective and healthy gesture, as well as using movement in rehearsal to teach great choral tone, musicality, and communication.
Fraser: Doug Goodkin Now's The Time: Jazz For All Ages One of our greatest cultural inheritances remains neglected in the world of general music because we haven't considered how to make the complexities of jazz accessible to young children. Combining the Orff approach with a toes-up sequential development, we will learn simple jazz arrangements, with an emphasis on improvisation. Those who play band instruments should bring them to add to the ensemble.
Birkenhead/Capilano: Jodi Proznick Time, Harmony, and Sound: The Fundamentals of Bass Playing The bass is an integral part of any contemporary ensemble. It provides the harmonic, rhythmic and sonic foundation. Playing it well requires stamina, sensitivity, a rooted sense of time, harmonic knowledge and the ability to cooperate with, listen to and support others. If a bassist is functioning well any ensemble will immediately rise to another musical level. There are three fundamentals that a bassist must address in a jazz or contemporary music setting: time, harmonic concept and sound. In the clinic, Jodi will provide strategies to help teachers address these principles by discussing a variety of topics including a cohesive physical approach to the instrument, rhythmic and active listening exercises, simple harmonic concepts for constructing bass lines and common equipment issues.
Thompson: Jake Autio How Do We Feel Music? Inquiry is nothing but a question, in fact, many questions evolving and leading to other questions and curiosities. This session we will explore several questions, activities, units, and a framework to help us discover and design our own year-long inquiry to the question: how do we feel music? What is music? What is music you love to listen to? Sing? Play? What’s a song you love to sing? What gives things meaning? What makes it ‘good’? What are different feelings? When is a time you have you noticed your feelings? When do we hear music? How does it affect us? How do performers affect the audience’s mood? Do performers always feel what they sing about/play? How do we really know we like a song vs. are we told we like a song by the media? How do we react to music by ourselves and with others? How do musicians use/manipulate the elements of music to manipulate an audience’s feelings?
Lillooet: Dr. Valerie Whitney Speaking "Horn": How Teaching Natural Horn Can Boost Your Horn Section's Performance Horn players often hear the exclamation that the horn is “the hardest instrument to play.” With its penchant for burbles and sounding every pitch but the correct one (and what on earth is the hand doing inside the instrument?), it is no wonder that the horn is a mystery to most non-horn playing music educators. Much of this mystery can be illuminated when the horn is understood as the instrument for which Mozart and Beethoven wrote – a non-valved instrument built upon the natural harmonic series and their resulting partials. Most horn and band methods introduce the horn as a chromatic instrument, introducing pitches individually by associating them with fingerings. This workshop will introduce the horn as a harmonic series instrument, and will give you tools to help you and your students understand how the horn works in terms that are native to the instrument. Learning to speak “horn” will help students gain consistency and autonomy, and develop a stronger section in your band and orchestras.
Upper Theatre Lobby 1: Margaret Inglis Cancelled: Using Music As A Stimulus For Movement We apologize as this session has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Come and explore how various types of music can be a stimulus for movement activities in the classroom.
Upper Theatre Lobby 2: Dr. Richard Cangro Fostering Independent Musicians Through Cooperative Learning Open to all levels and areas of music learning and teaching, this session will introduce participants to student collaboration and cooperative interaction that foster independent learning in music education. Effective strategies and specific music education applications for peer coaching, group work, collaborative learning, and cooperative learning will be discussed, modeled, and experienced.
Session 5: 9:45am - 10:45am
Whistler A: Steve Smith - Presented in partnership with Hal Leonard Using Technology in the Instrumental Classroom to Teach Essential Music Skills Incorporating technology in the instrumental classroom can be exciting for some, and daunting for others; but in today’s schools, the demand and need for that technology is ever-present. While sound instrumental pedagogy, thorough preparation, and excellent teaching practices are essential to great teaching, the proper incorporation of the right technology in the right manner can enhance each of these areas. The result is a more engaging teaching environment and a more effective method of helping students discover their love and enjoyment of music. This clinic will provide real world examples on the incorporation of technology in teaching instrumental pedagogy, music theory, ear-training, intonation, and much more. Whether you are a tech guru or novice, this clinic will demonstrate some simple ways to let technology work for teachers and students. Whistler B: Michael Beauclerc - Presented in partnership with Yamaha Canada Music Drumline Show Design And Music Arrangement Composer Michael Beauclerc will pull back the curtain on successful drumline show design and arrangement techniques. Let him share with you his design process, which has led to 15 provincial championships across 3 different classifications for his ensembles.
Whistler C: Gracenote Building Community in a Community Ensemble Join a cappella treble choir, Gracenote, lead by Malaika Horswill and Gillian Lippert, for an hour of community building, idea sharing, and music making. In this session, Gracenote will share their toolkit of practices and activities to help bring singers closer together, and to foster a community that encourages trust and vulnerability. In the second half of the session, there will be an opportunity for participants to share their own ideas and to ask questions of the the directors and singers of Gracenote. If time permits, the session will finish with a short performance by Gracenote.
Fraser: Doug Goodkin Orff Schulwerk in the Preschool This workshop will reveal the kinds of activities suited for the bodies, hearts and minds of the preschool child. Chants, songs, rhymes and games will be emphasized, with ideas of how to artfully connect them.
Birkenhead/Capilano: Jodi Proznick Music and the Body: Philosophical, Psychological, and Pedagogical Perspectives The body is the source of all engagement with music. Ears hear, eyes see and whole bodies feel musical vibrations. Singing, playing instruments and listening to music are corporal experiences. The realization of rhythm, pitch, timbre, tempo and phrasing, starts in the body. The partnership of music and movement is logical given that each of these art forms moves through time. In addition, music can, and often does, provoke a movement impulse. In my experience as both a jazz and early childhood music educator, I have found that people often translate their aesthetic pleasure and enjoyment of music into movement. These movement and emotion responses are valid, powerful and a fundamental part of experiencing music. They are a means of ‘knowing music’ which requires an embodied understanding - a knowing-in-action. Therefore, from the very beginning, movement and emotion impulses should be nurtured and accepted as an important part of the experience and engagement with music. When I encourage and respond positively to these bodily reactions in my students (and, just as importantly, in myself), I can, in turn, create an environment that fosters a deep, embodied understanding. The language of emotion and movement offers us pathways to tap into the "body knowledge" that deeply informs our musicianship and music creation. Music is the art of feeling in time. In my clinic, we will explore strategies to engage the sensual body in the music classroom though listening activities, the exploration of the language of emotion and movement. Tapping into this innate "body knowing" can lead to a creative, connected and imaginative music classroom. Please bring your instrument of choice to the workshop.
Thompson: Paul Luongo - Presented in partnership with Tapestry Music A Ukulele A Day Keeps The Doctor Away Learn to love practice and you’ve got it made! In this workshop Paul will help you develop a fun, engaging practise routine that you’ll look forward to doing EVERY DAY!
Lillooet: Kevin Hamlin - Presented in partnership with Yamaha Canada Music What Your Festival Adjudicator is Looking For As Your Band Performs Preparing your concert band for Festival competition is hard work! Here's an inside look from a National level adjudicator of what we're looking for from your band. Cover these elements in your rehearsal as you prepare, and you're sure to improve your standing at the Festival!
Upper Theatre Lobby 1: Reserved for Conference Organizers
Upper Theatre Lobby 2: Carmen McDowell and Kimberly Gorman Music For Life: Advocating For Developmentally Appropriate Music Instruction In Public Schools A compilation of research supporting music at different stages in a child's development to help teachers when advocating for public music programs.
Session 6: 1:45pm - 2:45pm
Whistler A: Scott Jones In Favour of a Collective Approach: Re-thinking the Traditional Choral Structure This session will explore a collective approach to choral music-making, developed by the Halifax-based ensemble VOX: A Choir for Social Change. In particular, the session will summarize how VOX attempted to deconstruct the traditional, hierarchical choral structure and foster a collective, non-hierarchical approach to music-making, theme discussions, contextualizing topics with their music, and event planning. The session will pull together the evolutions of music-making in a social justice choir context over a three year period and will explore an alternative approach to organizing choral communities in a collective way. Applications of this approach, beyond the choral context, will also be discussed through conversation, following the session
Whistler B: Jamie Davis Developing Your School's Marching Band Have you ever wanted to start a marching program for your school? The Canadian marching band is a wonderful performance opportunity for your students and public relations tool for your school and music program AND it’s easier to run than you think! Join Jamie Davis as he overviews how to start, develop, run, and budget for a high school marching band program.
Whistler C: Dr. Adam Con - Presented in partnership with the University of Victoria and Tapestry Music Voicing your Singers! Addressing intonation, choir tone, balance and blend in each section of your choir through the technique of voicing each singer. Placing a singer beside the right singer in any given section can make a world of difference addressing issues such as intonation, balance, blend and tone. It’s a matter of physics and learning to listen to essential elements of sound. Windermere Secondary Chamber Choir will be the demonstration choir.
Fraser: Murray Creed - Presented in partnership with Yamaha Canada Music Drumming Dynamics Now that you have your drummers playing the correct rhythms, how do you make them sound great? It's all about dynamics! The coordination involved in playing the drum set is a great challenge and adding dynamics makes it even trickier. We'll figure out the best way to tackle this by tearing apart some essential drum beats and adding dynamics to the right parts!
Birkenhead/Capilano: Steve Maddock Vocal Jazz Improv and "Lifting" Improvised Solos Jazz is an art form which has been preserved, documented, and passed on through the generations by way of sound recordings. As students of jazz, we are drawn to recordings of our predecessors, who greatly influence us as we work to develop our own style. For example, one could argue that Wynton Marsalis was influenced by Freddie Hubbard, who was influenced by Clifford Brown, who was influenced by Fats Navarro, who was influenced by Louis Armstrong. The act of transcription - both aural and written - is of vital importance. It enables us to assimilate elements used by other players: groove, phrasing, articulation, common devices, licks, etc. Also, in the case of written transcription, we are able then to analyze what we’ve heard. This clinic will focus mostly on the aural transcription process, a.k.a. the “jazz lift”, where a recorded solo is “lifted” by ear, and eventually sung, first with the original recording, then without. Along the way, the following items will also be addressed: Finding appropriate recordings to lift Using technology as a learning aid (i.e. transcription software) Using the lift (or elements thereof) to inform our own improvisations
Thompson: Jennica Alpaugh Intermediate Step Pattern Tapping In this session we will explore how to teach students to read rhythmic notation more fluently using Dalcroze inspired ‘step patterns’. We will then apply these step patterns to a tap dance inspired choreography sequencing/performance piece.
Lillooet: Mark Reid - Presented in partnership with Conn-Selmer Efficiency Training: GSuite for Education and Communication Apps Communication is everything in education and it is crucial for teachers to manage it efficiently. This workshop will explore strategies for using GSuite for Education tools and several other free/inexpensive apps that streamline communication. The presentation you’ll see will be entirely designed on, and projected from, an iPhone. Follow @mmgreid on Twitter for links to apps, resources, and samples referenced during the workshop.
Upper Theatre Lobby 1: Reserved For Conference Organizers Upper Theatre Lobby 2: Jeff Saunders Integrating Meaningful Technology Into Rehearsals and More With the increased accessibility to smart phones and cloud-based software, teachers and students have never been in a better position to utilize these tools in all facets of their music education. This session will provide useful apps, websites and cloud-based software that supplement your teaching practice, and engage students using technology readily available to them.
Session 7: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Whistler A: Paul Beauchesne Deep Dive Into Low Brass Paul has been teaching brass players for over 30 years and will share his knowledge of playing and teaching the baritone, euphonium, and tuba. You will be provided with materials aimed at helping your low brass players develop and maintain an open and resonant tone on their instrument. He will also explain how to avoid some of the major pitfalls he has witnessed over the years. Regardless of which method book you are using, generating interest in these instruments and maintaining it into the upper grades and beyond is a challenge that requires strategy, planning, and an approach that can be tailored to the needs of your ensemble and your students. Whistler B: Dr. Daniel Tones - Presented in partnership with Yamaha Canada Music and Long & McQuade The Closed Roll In Context This interactive workshop builds upon concepts presented in "Demystifying the Closed Roll," and demonstrates how the closed roll can be used in a variety of musical contexts. Participants will be introduced to common tools used by professional percussionists, such as measured and non-measured rolls, roll base, and overlap, and will have the opportunity to apply them in a simulated performance setting.
Whistler C: Dr. Mary Kennedy Voices In Motion: The UVic Intergenerational Choir Project In this session, participants will learn about a cutting-edge interdisciplinary research project at UVIC which involves studying the effects of singing in an intergenerational choir on persons with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, their family caregivers, and high school students. The presenter, Dr. Mary Kennedy, is part of the UVIC research team and her research focus is the high school students: What have they learned, and how have they been changed as a result of being a part of this intergenerational choir? Eighteen students, the music director, and a staff member from St. Andrew’s Regional High School in Victoria formed the high school component of the Voices in Motion choir, attending 10 rehearsals and performing in a public concert last May. Dr. Kennedy also sang in the choir and was able to observe students throughout the process. After the performance, she and two research assistants interviewed the students in small groups to determine how the choir project impacted them. She will share some of the results of these observations and interviews as well as describing the process for beginning an intergenerational choir in your home town! Participants will sing some of the repertoire, and learn about the benefits of this project to the participants and also to the community at large.
Fraser: Doug Goodkin Play, Sing, And Dance This session will model how to take on rhyme and expand it with speech, song, drama, body percussion, movement and Orff instrument ensemble.
Birkenhead/Capilano: Cindy Romphf Middle School Jazz Band From A Classical Perspective This session is catered to the classical musician who is uncomfortable teaching Jazz Band and will focus on the beginning/intermediate jazz ensemble. We will compare the similarities and differences between teaching a concert band and jazz band, cover teaching strategies, and give repertoire suggestions and teaching resources.
Thompson: Paul Luongo - Presented in partnership with Tapestry Music Fretboard Constellations: Making Order From Chaos If the fretboard were the night sky, this workshop would be your star map! Take a dizzying array of notes and chords and make sense of them. Group chords using inversions and align scale patterns into useful master patterns that work anywhere on the fretboard. Play among the stars! (D6 handouts adaptable to C6).
Lillooet: Katia Makdissi-Warren - Presented in partnership with the Contemporary Music Society of Quebec Inspired By Canadian Composers To Explore Music Creativity Canadian composers have a fascinating view of our world and can be a rich source of inspiration. Based on extensive experience with teachers, children and composers, we will share in this workshop original, practical and fun educational activities to discover musical creativity and present-day Canadian composers in schools. Composer Katia Makdissi-Warren will be presenting her new musical tale for children, inspired by her collaborations with Inuit communities. This work, designed to be sung and played by children, offers an extraordinary opportunity to explore cultural heritages of Northern communities.
Upper Theatre Lobby 1: Reserved For Conference Organizers
Upper Theatre Lobby 2: Michael Dirk Debut/launch of the OrgelkidsCAN program The Orgelkids program was started 2009 in Holland to give children an opportunity to learn about, build, and play, a miniature two-rank pipe organ. This program has since spread to Belgium, the United States and now the RCCO is bringing it to Canada. The Orgelkids organ is a complete, craftsman-built organ. It arrives in a box that contains all the required parts along with assembly instructions and a complete set of educational materials. During the building phase (which takes about an hour) children learn about the technical aspects of the mechanics of a pipe organ and discover how the sound is created. And, of course, when the organ is built, they play it! When they are done, the kit is disassembled and put back in the box for the next group of children. (Watch how it’s done here https://vimeo.com/166271700).