Professor May celebrates with Trae Blanco, graduate coordinator of Young Winds

The Department of Music Education recently recognized Professor Lissa May’s leadership of the school’s Young Winds program with a commissioned work “Young Hoosiers March” by Brett Kroening, which was premiered April 20. At the performance, she accepted a gift of a copy of the new piece for her library to a room full of applause in her recognition. May stepped down as coordinator of the program following 12 years of service.

May was recently appointed director of undergraduate studies for the Jacobs School. Recognized for her unending service to music education in Indiana and around the U.S., she was also recently awarded a Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.

The Jacobs School’s pre-college Young Winds program serves middle school band students from around Monroe County including; Tri-North, Jackson Creek, Batchelor, Brown County, Ellettsville, St. Charles, and Bedford Middle Schools. Students rehearse for two hours each Saturday morning and receive instruction from instrumental music education majors. The community collaboration provides a unique learning experience for area students as they develop as players. The program also gives music education students a real-life teaching experience, prior to student teaching activity in their last year of the program.

Professor Patrice Madura’s sixth book, Contemporary Music Education, 4^th edition, co-authored with Michael Mark, was recently released by Cengage Publishing.

The book explores the theory and practice of teaching music by placing it in the broader context of culture and history. This core text offers music education students a practical and rigorous overview of the profession, covering curriculum development, assessment, and advocacy, while examining the changes brought about by technology, social justice movements, and a half-century of educational reforms.

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Professor of Music Education Patrice Madura has been appointed the National Chairperson for Vocal Jazz Repertoire and Standards for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).

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Katherine Strand was appointed to the editorial board of the Music Educators Journal for a term beginning in June 2012 and ending in June 2016.

Published quarterly, the Music Educators Journal offers peer-reviewed scholarly and practical articles on music-teaching approaches and philosophies, instructional techniques, current trends and issues in music education in schools and communities, and the latest in products and services.

In a conferment ceremony held just once every five years by the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki, Jacobs School of Music Professor Estelle Jorgensen was awarded an honorary doctorate. The ceremony includes electric blue top hats for all doctoral degrees and protocols of a particular kind.

 “I was to approach the podium, where stood a very tall man who placed the top hat firmly on my head,” wrote Jorgensen. “I was required to bow to him, and then turn and bow to the audience. No shaking hands! You can see me clad in regulation academic regalia, with a sash from Sibelius and the electric blue top hat!”

 Jorgensen’s description continues:

 “Following the conferment, a ball at the Helsinki Opera House was conducted in full evening attire, with all those receiving doctorates wearing the top hats. Here, I responded to a speaker on behalf of the honorary doctors. Masters degree women wore white full length gowns, doctoral degree women wore black full length gowns, and men wore full evening attire with tails. It was quite the event lasting three days: a concert on June 1 at the Helsinki Music Center, the conferment ceremony on June 2 that lasted four hours (including a half hour intermission) followed by a parade through the streets of Helsinki (with traffic stopped for the procession) to the Temppeliaukio Church for a festive religious ceremony, followed by a banquet and ball at night, and a picnic to the countryside on June 3.“

Enjoy pictures from the event:

Peter Miksza, IU music education faculty member, was recently appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education (JRME). The JRME is recognized internationally as one of the most often-cited, prestigious, and highly regarded research journals in the field. Board members are chosen from among a number of well-qualified candidates by peers on the JRME Editorial Committee, the Music Education Research Council (MERC), and the National Association for Music Education National Executive Board.

Miksza’s primary research interests lie in the investigation of music practicing, music teacher preparation, and policy analyses with large-scale data sets. He regularly presents papers at regional, national, and international research conferences and has articles and book chapters published in many prominent peer-reviewed publications, such as the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, Contributions to Music Education, Music Education Research International, and the Journal of Music Teacher Education.

Miksza also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, is an active participant in the Society for Music Teacher Education, and has served as a reviewer for the American Educational Research Association Music Education Special Interest Group. Miksza was also a recipient of the Outstanding Emerging Researcher Award issued by the Center for Music Education Research at the University of South Florida.