the music educator blog

You know I like a bit of controversy, right? It’s time to either get uncomfortable, or pull out your pom poms!

Though my heart is full of song, and I’ve often fantasized about being able to translate my thoughts and feelings into music that I can sing and share, the fear of exposure always gets to  me—songwriting is a visceral fear.

I have a bit of a disclaimer to start us out: This episode talks about social justice—issues with race, repertoire challenges, and more.

As most of us in the U.S. are headed into a new school year, I want to be sure to give you some of the information you may not be getting anywhere else, and this episode is no exception!

Today we’re pulling another pre-pandemic recording out from the archives for you to enjoy. With in-person classes imminent, I want to share with you this discussion I had with my dear friend, Lori Schwartz Reichl.

I hope that you’re in a good place to sit, relax, and enjoy this episode because this discussion with Alex Shapiro is one that I will never forget!

This episode is focused on some of the after-effects of this last pandemic year in teaching, and what we can do next to ensure that we come back strong when we get our students back in the classroom—whenever that happens to be.

I’m sure you’ve heard that there’s a lot of government funding out there for schools! In this episode, I bring in my friend Mike Kamphuis, Managing Director of the Division of Education at Conn Selmer, who has been working for more than a decade to help schools get more funding.

Before schools shut down, I had pre-recorded several episodes that had to do with in-person, in-classroom learning. I tabled them at the time so that I could bring more relevant, applicable, and timely content over the last year.