Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic 2024 Recap
As 2024 draws to a close, I always know where I will be the week before Christmas - the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL. It is one of those events that I look forward to each year, as I get to catch up with so many colleagues, industry partners, former students, and my fellow MusicFirst staff members. While I didn’t present any sessions this year, I did have the pleasure of sitting in on Leah Elaine Hanley’s session titled Assessment Strategies for Ensembles, where she highlighted the incredible ways that she uses her MusicFirst Classroom implementation. She shared many wonderful examples, including how she uses PracticeFirst and Auralia. It was an absolutely PACKED house and I know that everyone appreciated her incredible energy and passion for teaching. She is a ROCKSTAR and I was so thrilled to see how she uses our tools in her classroom. I also got to hang out with two of our MusicFirst Education Managers, Mike Olander and Matt Ferry. I love watching them interact with current and prospective customers. Our booth was constantly busy through the show and I look forward to working with some new school districts in 2025.
On Thursday morning, I had the honor of attending the Teach Music Coalition annual meeting. The attendees in the room literally represent the Who’s Who in music education - specifically organizations that work tirelessly to further the mission of providing EVERY child in the US with a high quality music education. I was extremely impressed with the efforts of this group and I am happy to become a new member. Under the leadership of Bob Morrison, the future looks very bright. I will be blogging about their website in an upcoming post.
I head home from my last business trip of the year with renewed enthusiasm for what we do at MusicFirst and the impact that we are making on music education. 2025 looks to be a VERY exciting year for us, but until then, I am going to enjoy some much needed vacation time!
