OMEA Reflections

One of my favorite professional developement opportunities is the annual Ohio Music Educators Conference, mostly due to the diversity of informative sessions to attend. One of the greatest sessions I attended at OMEA this year was one titled, "Building Artistry Through Repertoire and Programming" by Dr. Joe Miller of Westminster College.

His sessions focused on the importance of programming interesting, exciting, and well-balanced repertoire. One of his key points was to find your personal inspiration through live performance, reading, visual art, conversations, and/or family. Discovering what people,including ourselves, "feel" and how this translates into the music we are selecting for our ensembles serves as a vehicle for the artist to serve their fellow man through music and "elevate the human condition".

More broadly speaking, Dr. Miller discussed how choosing repertoire is simply the key to building a successful ensemble. Learning to balance student learning objectives, community awareness, personal treats and building music literacy is a challenge that faces all music educators. First, we need to identify the needs of our students, including literacy and vocal needs, texts, historical perspectives, and culture. Further, consider your unique community. What are its values? What role should music hold in shaping it? What brings everyone together?

Lastly, thematic programming can be a great tool to allow you and your ensemble to explore new repertoire. More importantly, it can also allow you to form a "mission to market" to your students and the community and open a world of collaboration while focusing a deeper discussion on the role of art. Collaborations can be with other arts groups or with charitable organizations. Matching your goals with theirs will only further improve the musical experience for you, your students, and your audience.