2025 Maine Music Educators Association Conference

The bassoon is one of the most versatile instruments of the band and orchestra, yet it can be intimidating to directors and beginning students. The goal of this session is to provide band directors with the foundational knowledge needed to guide beginning bassoonists and encourage them to start students on the instrument or how to make the switch from another instrument. USM Osher School of Music artist-faculty Wren Saunders will provide a roadmap for success and demonstrate what every bassoonist and band director needs to know. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to bring their bassoons (BYOB) and reeds and engage in a hands-on demonstration.

Performance development and repertoire mastery are central aims within instrumental ensemble learning experiences. Although performing is a primary artistic process students engage with in instrumental ensembles, the National Core Arts Standards call on ensemble educators to also foster the artistic processes of creating, responding, and connecting to support comprehensive music learning experiences in ensemble rehearsal spaces. The challenge for ensemble teacher/directors is to carve out time and space for all the artistic processes while fulfilling the important obligation of meaningful performance development. This presentation will explore practical strategies that attend to each of the artistic processes in performance ensemble learning environments. Please join this session on comprehensive musicianship in instrumental ensembles to learn more about how this approach can have a positive impact on both individual and collective performance achievement.

This session presents a thoughtfully designed approach to Beginning Bands & Strings utilizing the educational philosophies of Gordon, Kodály, Feierabend, Orff, and Suzuki. By emphasizing the importance of auditory preparation, this approach builds a strong foundation in music-making, supporting the success of all students across diverse settings.
Students are encouraged to learn songs first with lyrics and then with solfege, progressing naturally to notation. From there, they expand their creativity through improvisation and composition, using the melodic material of the songs they’ve learned. Finally, authentic playing experiences and auditory assessments showcase student growth while fostering excitement and enthusiasm for continued learning.

Discussion around all things strings in Maine; from All-State auditions to programs.

Bring your string instruments and play through orchestral repertoire for elementary, middle, and high school orchestras.

Learn useful melodies and chords in a variety of folk styles, as well as the how and why you would want to add them into your existing classical repertoire and curriculum. We’ll cover the nuts and bolts of leading fiddle tunes and ear training in a large mixed instrument/level ensemble, touch upon gentle ways to start improvising, and even arranging tunes for performances. Bring your instruments for learning and jamming, leave feeling empowered with repertoire and resources. Session 1 will cover 2-3 tunes, Session 2 will cover an additional 2-3 tunes. Tunes will vary in key, time signatures, styles and difficulty so you have a tune for every occasion. All instruments welcome!

Learn useful melodies and chords in a variety of folk styles, as well as the how and why you would want to add them into your existing classical repertoire and curriculum. We’ll cover the nuts and bolts of leading fiddle tunes and ear training in a large mixed instrument/level ensemble, touch upon gentle ways to start improvising, and even arranging tunes for performances. Bring your instruments for learning and jamming, leave feeling empowered with repertoire and resources. Session 1 will cover 2-3 tunes, Session 2 will cover an additional 2-3 tunes. Tunes will vary in key, time signatures, styles and difficulty so you have a tune for every occasion. All instruments welcome!