DIRECTOR'S CONFERENCES

Judy Bowers, Professor Emerita in the College of Music at Florida State University, retired and then held the Biedenharn Endowed Chair in Music at the University of Louisiana, Monroe for four years.Throughout her career in music teacher preparation, Bowers has taught undergraduate and graduate classes for music education, and she conducted the Women’s Glee Club at FSU, and conducted the newly formed Bayou La Belle at ULM. A unifying principal across her work in all settings is Developmental Teaching, an approach that allows singers of varied skill levels to successfully rehearse and perform together in music ensembles.

 

A belief that the teaching/learning process is a collaborative act has led Bowers to create multiple partnerships that enrich learning opportunities for university students while also providing positive changes for the school and community partners: Adopt-A-Choir, a high school/university connection for one concert during one semester; Raa Singers, part of a before-school program pairing university students with urban middle school students for multiple choral and instrumental classes, and, MTC Glee, a choir pairing FSU students with women housed in a correctional facility. Bowers contributes to music teacher professional growth through presentations, publications, interest sessions, and school in-service; she models the choral pedagogy she teaches when conducting all-state and honor choirs in the US, Canada, and Africa. In June 2014, Bowers was named a Lowell Mason National Music Education Fellow and was inducted into this society by the National Association for Music Education in Washington D.C.

 

SDACDA Summer Conference: Thur. August 3 & Fri. August 4 Judy Bowers, Professor Emerita, Florida State University

1. Teach Differently: Singers with Diverse Training and Ability Strategies for teaching “unbalanced” and/or mixed ability ensembles can help create a positive environment while maintaining high performance standards. Teacher decisions about how the music is rehearsed can dramatically increase success of novice choral singers

2. Group Voicing for Quick Pitch Matching Success for Adolescent Singers Techniques for identifying available pitches for developing singers will be demonstrated, with special emphasis on changing voice issues.

3. Repertoire Challenges for Developing Singers A music selection process to support Developmental Teaching will be introduced through use of a Literature Hierarchy.

4. Rules for Expressive Singing In this session, Rules for Expressive Singing will be used to support student independence in performing musically. With guidance, even beginners can view the score and see some/many things the teacher sees and then transfer this knowledge to other music.

5. The Power of Teaching Patterns This session will explore teaching patterns that can contribute to effective pacing and serve to prevent classroom management challenges in rehearsals.

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