Teaching Artist Residencies



   Introduction
   Sample Residencies
   Provided Materials
   Student Assessment
   Examples


Introduction

I am a composer and a sometime performer, conductor, and recording engineer. I also teach private lessons and work as a resident “teaching artist.” As a teaching artist, I provide multiple-visit residencies in schools where I help students learn music through creative projects. As opposed to a general music teacher, I work primarily as a musician and spend part of my time teaching.

I believe that my role is important for students, for I can provide a model of a professional working artist for the students, and I can guide their musical experience in ways not usually covered in the general music class. For schools that have no general music class, this function is even more essential, as my residencies can be the only musical experience some children will have. I strongly believe that artists of all fields must engage their communities (especially children and youth) to promote a knowledge and appreciation for art and to encourage other talented people to explore their creativity.

My residencies typically involve composing music. I believe that music should be taught the same way that we teach English or Art – by creating it. Rather than relying on traditional music notation (which can be tricky to learn), I use recording gear to capture and reproduce our compositions. This is perhaps the most simple and direct way to create music, and it is the method of creation for most popular music, which students are usually more familiar with than classical music. My residencies are unique because I have no genre-specific agenda; students may create music in whatever style or genre they please.

My residencies are designed to supplement the both the music classroom and the general classroom. The music classroom typically features more “traditional” learning about music, through listening and singing, whereas my residencies feature learning about music by creating it from scratch. My hope is that through creating their own music, students will be even more excited about learning music.

I work with classroom teachers to create projects that will relate and reinforce learning in another subject area, such as science or social studies. This cross-disciplinary approach helps students become more excited about learning in general, and helps them form connections between seemingly disparate subject matter.