Music Ed Musings

Today’s episode of Music Ed Musings features Dr. Deb Confredo, President of NAfME (the National Association for Music Education). We met a few weeks ago at NAfME’s annual National Assembly, and I was struck by Dr. Confredo’s passion, candor, and optimism for the future of music education. She really made all the collegiates in the audience feel welcome and appreciated, and I was so honored when she accepted my invitation to appear on the podcast.   In this interview, we discuss her beginnings in music education, her passion for moving the profession forward, her plans for the direction of NAfME under her leadership, artificial intelligence in the music classroom, and more. She is a wealth of wisdom with over 40 years of teaching experience, and her personality is bright enough to light up a room. I’m sure you will enjoy this incredibly special interview with Dr. Deb Confredo!   If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share with a friend! If you’d like to learn more about me or this week’s guest, please visit the links below:   My Website: https://www.connorprim.com/ Dr. Confredo’s Website: https://www.debconfredo.com/

This episode is with Dr. Jamila McWhirter, Professor of Music Education at MTSU. She teaches all kinds of Music Ed and Choral classes in the School of Music, but she is probably best known for her infamous MUED 2000 course, which serves as an introduction to music education for all incoming music ed majors. She has had an incredible career both in education and as a conductor, and her story is both inspirational and educational. She is a wealth of wisdom on all things music, but her philosophy is undeniably centered around her students first.   You can read Dr. McWhirter’s full bio here and check out her book A Creative Duet: Mentoring Success for Emerging Music Educators here.   As always, I hope you enjoy this episode of Music Ed Musings, and please subscribe for more episodes! I’ve got some truly incredible guests coming on in these summer months, so stay tuned for more!

This episode is with jazz vocalist extraordinaire, Julia Rich! Ms. Rich teaches Jazz Voice at MTSU, but her career goes far beyond that. She toured for 25 years with the world-famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, released multiple albums, and has taught in various capacities around the world. She has a very fresh take on music education as someone who started out down the public school teacher path but later transitioned into full-time gigging. She also shares incredible nuggets of wisdom about how to teach jazz in elementary school and how we can make our music accessible for all. To vist her website, click here. To visit my website, click here. This was recorded in mid-December, but I just now got around to editing it, so please apologize for the delay! I hope you enjoy my interview with the one and only Julia Rich!

In this episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Dr. Jennifer Vanatta-Hall, affectionately known by her students as Dr. V. She is the Associate Director for the MTSU's School of Music and Professor of Music Education, with a concentration in vocal/general music ed. I have had the privilege of being in her Elementary Music Methods class this semester, and it was a joyous, enriching, and thoroughly educational time. She possesses a wealth of knowledge from her years both in public school music ed and teacher education. I hope you enjoy this special episode with Dr. V! Website: connorprim.com

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Michelle Folta, assistant professor of general/vocal music education at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. She was kind enough to join me virtually for this interview after meeting at the Tennessee C-NAfME Kickoff at MTSU a few weeks ago. We discuss all things music education related, from solfége to the traits of her best students at CSU. She is a wealth of knowledge, and you are sure to take a ton away from this interview! Voices of the Valley: http://www.voicesofthevalleychorus.org/ Website: https://www.connorprim.com/

Dr. Joshua Bedford is Assistant Professor of Musicology at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. He has a Bachelors Degree in Music Education (Indiana State, 2011), a Masters of Arts in Music Musicology (University of Georgia, 2013), and a Ph.D. in Musicology (University of Georgia, 2020). His dissertation was entitled "Soviet Opera: Styles and Aesthetics under Stalin, 1929–1939," and he is an expert on Soviet opera and all things related to Russian music. Furthermore, he is an impassioned music educator and an incredible teacher of music history. In this episode, we talk about how to find a love of music again, how to study for music history exams, advice for graduate school, and much, much more! I hope you enjoy this episode with Dr. Joshua Bedford!

This week’s episode of the podcast is with Lauren Taylor Arnold, band director of Cascade Middle School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Mrs. Arnold is entering her 4th year of education and her 3rd with Cascade, my alma mater. She has a bachelor's degree in music education from Austin Peay State University and has been a major influence in my life and pursuit of music education. In this wide-ranging episode, we talk about the importance of simply trying, advice for students in music school, the impact of academic scheduling on school music programs, and much more. Mrs. Arnold also mentioned a brand of lotion in the interview which you can find here. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please subscribed and share with a friend!

The first episode of this podcast is with David Lucich, longtime director of my alma mater, Cascade High School! In this episode, we discuss his beginnings in music, what makes a successful band program, and ways to start a music program from the ground up and build it into a state champion. He has been a wealth of wisdom for me throughout my musical journey, and you're sure to enjoy his insights and take something away!