Music Educator Showcases

Learn about innovative tools and services relevant to today’s music classroom, including resources that allow music to be purchased as digital notation files and programs that jump-start a group guitar program. Followed by 15 minute networking session with presenters.

Saturday, January 26

12:05 p.m.	20% of children learn to play music. 70% of adults wish they had: Now they can! Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Peter Luongo, Musical Director, Luongo Ukulele Experience The presentation will highlight the benefits of music instruction for adult learners and demonstrate the effectiveness and benefits of employing the ukulele to offer a complete music-literacy program to adult learners.
12:10 p.m.	Empowering Musicians through 360-Degree VR Camera Technology Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Tracy Christall, Marketing Director, KODAK PIXPRO KODAK PIXPRO’s line of 360⁰ VR cameras enable innovative music educators to empower their students through 360⁰ VR experiences. Learn how music educators can use content to supplement in-class curricula, promote programs to prospective students, and enhance resources for students for their ultimate success as budding musicians.
12:15 p.m.	The First Performance National Day of Celebration Kick-off! Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Marcia Neel, Education Advisor, Music Achievement Council The inaugural First Performance National Day of Celebration event was a huge success! Hear all about how this innovative program is helping to bring together students, teachers, parents and administrators to celebrate the accomplishments of our youngest performers!
12:20 p.m.	Stylophone - Back to the Future Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: John Simpson, Dubreq Ltd Learn how the Stylophone, a portable mini synthesizer produced in 1968 and made famous by David Bowie, is now being used in schools, universities and music education charities to teach children about melody , harmony, and basic synthesizer sound generation.
12:25 p.m.	Strum One Strum All (Expanding Guitar Programs In Our Schools) Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Bill Purse, Chair Emeritus Teaching Guitar Workshops - Chair Guitar & Music Technology, Duquesne University Do you have to be a virtuoso guitar player to teach a guitar class? The answer is, “NO!” But, to gain guitar classroom insights and basic guitar chops, help is available with Teaching Guitar Workshops. How can I become a successful classroom guitar teacher? Attend this session for the answer!
12:30 p.m.	Careers Through Music Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: David R. Sears, Executive Education Director, GRAMMY Museum Foundation GRAMMY Museum Foundation’s David R. Sears breaks down what music teachers can do to highlight the transferable career skills gained in a music education. Hear about the GMF's ew book of lesson plans “Careers Through Music”; a powerful advocacy tool for music teachers to leverage the career skills they already are teaching.
12:35 p.m.	Build Better Sight Readers with SmartMusic Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Suzanne Whitney, Social Media Manager, MakeMusic Inc, & Private Voice Instructor Developing strong sight readers requires a lot of practice and a limitless supply of sight-reading examples, specifically tailored to your students' needs. Allow your students to become the self-sufficient musicians and sight readers we know they can be with help from SmartMusic and the Sight Reading Builder.
12:40 p.m.	Comprehensive Online Ukulele Lessons Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Daniel Ho, Author, Romero Creations As a lifelong student of music, creating these lessons was a career milestone - the perfect way to share all that I love and learned about music in one place. Designed for someone who’s never touched a ukulele, the program starts from the very beginning and goes all the way through advanced melodic, harmonic and rhythmic playing and compositional techniques. My hope is that these lessons inspire you to fall in love with the ukulele as I have.
1:05 p.m.	Guitar Is Not Dead: How Fender is Revolutionizing Guitar Learning. Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Mary Keenan, Director, Product, Fender PLAY Students are demanding different ways to learn. Instructors are demanding different tools to teach. Generating awareness and excitement to keep guitar programs alive and thriving requires new thinking and technology. Fender PLAY is the complete learning app for guitar, bass and ukulele that answers the challenge.
1:10 p.m.	The International Academy of Young Conductors Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Abiram Brizuela, Artistic Director, The Harmony Project Learn about The Harmony Project's launch of the National Academy of Young Conductors; a unique opportunity for students 13 - 18 to get top-tier mentorship by some of the most important conductors in the United States.
1:15 p.m.	Technology isn’t a Replacement for Print Music, it’s an Enhancement. Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Alex Ordonez, Vice President, Marketing, Alfred Music Alfred Music is proud to announce Sound Innovations free in SmartMusic for all book 1 (band/orchestra) users. Come learn how we are combining expert instruction with online tracking and assessment.
1:20 p.m.	Drums, Drummers and Drumming: Three D's for Music Educators Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Dr. Craig Woodson, Director, Drum Set in the Classroom The Percussion Marketing Council's educational programs bring drums, drummers, and drumming together at nationwide events. One program, Drum Set in the Classroom, brings the joy of kit playing to thousands of young people and hundreds of teachers each year through student workshops, assemblies, and teacher in-service training around the United States.
1:25 p.m.	JUNO Reeds by Vandoren Makes Everyone's Life Better Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Michael Skinner, President, DANSR, Inc. It's easy to look past a simple student reed, but when you get into the weeds a bit, you'll see how JUNO Reeds by Vandoren can be a game-changer for Music Educators and Students alike.
1:30 p.m.	WindStars by Nuvo: An Exciting New Pre-Band Approach Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Brittany Bauman, Director of Music Education, Nuvo Instrumental LLC Nuvo instruments were designed to help bridge the gap between recorder and band/orchestral instruments. However, the concept of “pre-band” is new and often teachers are not quite sure how to approach it. Come learn how to incorporate early instrumental skills into a general music classroom through the WindStars curriculum.
1:35 p.m.	Using Music Technology to Empower and Engage your Students Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Lauren Hendry Parsons, Associate Vice President, Communications; John Ivers, Sound Team Lead, BandLab How can we ensure our approach to using music technology is meaningful to students and not just a gimmick? This session aims to share practical and scalable techniques for using music technology in your class. We will show how it’s possible for online music technology to support traditional music pedagogy, empowering students to create regardless of resource or instrument availability constraints.
1:40 p.m.	Grant Writing Tips and Resources Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Mike Kamphuis, Managing Director, Division of Education, Conn-Selmer This will be a brief introduction to tools and resources offered by the Conn-Selmer Division of Education to help assist instrumental music programs in grant writing.
2:05 p.m.	Noteflight Marketplace- Buy and Sell Music Online Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: John Mlynczak, Managing Director, Noteflight Noteflight Marketplace allows you to buy and sell music all as digital notation files. This is revolutionary for the industry.
2:10 p.m.	Finally - a Keyboard Lab I Can Afford! Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Tiffany Stalker, Sr. Manager Education, KORG KORG Education is excited to announce the KORG EK-50 and the new SoundKEY 61-note keyboard that seamlessly integrates with the KORG GEC Lab System making it the only low-cost, high-tech lab solution available. Come see how!
2:15 p.m.	Microphones for Live and Studio Recordings from Austria Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Roman Perschon, CEO, Lewitt GmbH Lewitt offers an innovative range of highly versatile, state-of-the-art live and recording microphones. Characterized by premium audio and build quality, our microphones offer great value from entry to pro-level. We will highlight our multi-faceted LCT 640 TS which delivers brilliant results for orchestras and choirs, vocal and instrument recordings.
2:20 p.m.	Inspiring Creativity In Kids Through Songwriting In The Classroom Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Ryan Benyo, Director, Licensing & Creative, Kid Pan Alley Just imagine that you are a child and your class writes a song with a professional songwriter and then a world-class recording artist records that song! Learn how Kid Pan Alley has inspired over 60,000 children to be creators of their own culture through the group songwriting process.
2:25 p.m.	Research and Resources for Arts Education Support Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Steve Venz, VAPA Coordinator, Orange County Dept. of Education After years of budget cuts and a narrow focus on test results, California public schools are undergoing an unprecedented process of re-evaluation and re-investment. Learn about how your district can utilize the California Alliance for Arts Education’s research and resources to support increased investment in arts education toward improving schoolwide outcomes The California Alliance for Arts Education.
2:30 p.m.	Streaming Solutions for Music Education Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Corey Fournier, Product Manager, Roland Corp. US With an HD video camera in nearly every pocket or purse, capturing and streaming video has become commonplace. However, audio quality is limited by the microphone on a mobile device. As music educators, we can ensure that our videos, and those of our students, sound as good as they look with some simple and affordable tools that are as portable as our favorite mobile device.
2:35 p.m.	Smart Guitars: Guitar Instruction for a Connected Music Classroom Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Christopher Heille, Director of Product Innovation, Music, Zivix LLC Facilitating traditional guitar instruction to a class of multiple students is a challenge many music educators would rather not attempt. The Jamstik excels at introducing guitar instruction into curriculum without the hassles of traditional guitar while training so students can transition to traditional guitar with confidence.
2:40 p.m.	Educational Resources, Clinicians and Performance Possibilities Moderator: Mark Despotakis. Speaker: Jalissa Gascho, Yamaha Corp. Get a quick tour of the resources, Performing Artists, Master Educators and programs Yamaha offers Music Educators. Yamaha remains committed to inspiring, empowering and equipping educators and students through finely crafted instruments, access to life changing musical events and the sharing of gifted artists!