Brought to by our friends at True Change Alliance, the D.A.R.E bonus series:

In this episode, choral educator and gospel music specialist, Dr. Frances Fonza Smith shares the power of Gospel Music and its ability to teach healthy singing, technique, tone building, and build community in our choirs. Dr. Smith also shares her personal experience as a Black Female Choral Conductor and how we can use our leadership as music educators to empower and impact our singers.

* Healthy singing and tone building in gospel music

* Teaching technique through singing gospel music

* Black females in choral music and our roles as educators

* Empowerment and how you can use gospel music

Dr. Frances Fonza Smith is the Director of Worship and Arts at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, Maryland and taught choir and sight singing at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in music education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master’s degree in music education and a Doctorate in music education/choral conducting at Florida State University.

Smith taught choral music at the middle school and high school levels in Kentucky for several years. Additionally, Dr. Smith served as Assistant Professor of Music Education and Director of Choral Activities at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Her responsibilities included teaching music education courses, aural skills, choral conducting, supervising music education interns, and directing the Wittenberg choirs. Choirs under her direction have participated in state, regional, and national music festivals. Dr. Smith is an active singer, clinician, and adjudicator. A frequent guest conductor, she has conducted several honor, public school, and church choirs. Her research interests are community partnerships, healthy singing in Gospel music, and tone building strategies used in the choral classroom.

Connect with Dr. Smith: [email protected]

Learn more about TCA: https://www.truechangealliance.org/

Let us know what you think! Connect with your host, Dr. Emily Williams Burch at EmilyBurch.org/contact or join the conversation on Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

Evan Powers is genuinely one of the most sincere, energetic, and passionate educators out there. While there are literally a million things we could all learn from him, today we focus on Incorporating service into your choral program. Evan shares how he fosters the heart of serving while building singers, students, and leaders who serve for life through a program called “Songbird.” Through the discussion, we talk about foundations, routines, impact and life-changing moments, more! This is one is inspiring….and you’ll walk away being able to implement so many of these ideas!

Read more about Evan Powers:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IgPvPaLYmG7XsyjvTz1uNymzMgSCKt21lsXEP85Ya7Q/edit

Watch this video about “Song Birds” - https://drive.google.com/file/d/16wY3cF2mHFfYRGXvl852z8VtAzlz63Y1/view

Link to Alive Inside Documentary: https://youtu.be/iVWh1sF9TFk

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mNEuy0VHkNs

Join us for the 2nd “Music (ed) Matters” Teacher PD Weekend July 23-25 - details at Patreon.com/musicedmatters

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you get the most out of your rehearsal time! They’ve created the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors and click the KCC logo to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

With your host, Dr. Emily Williams Burch, about to race a marathon, it’s a perfect time to answer all the music questions that come up during long runs with her Fleet Feet Savannah run club. Come along for the fun as a bunch of non-music folks ask all the questions they’ve always wanted to know about music - and get a glimpse into some of the random conversations we have while smiling for miles on the road together.

Listen to these Q&A Dr is In episodes to smile, to learn, and to reconnect with the magic that brought you to music in the first place — plus this one features BPM, the Beatles, Vanilla Ice and Tupac.

Thanks to my dear running friends for submitting their questions, but even more, thanks for letting me talk and sing your ears off during our runs. You make my world bright and my miles full of smiles!

This episode also features details for the second annual “Music (Ed) Matters” Teacher PD Weekend coming in July!

Have a question or idea for an episode? Join the “Music (ed) Matters” community at monthly meet-ups, bonus content, and summer PD events? Join the conversation on Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SDjOUHniC9E

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you get the most out of your rehearsal time! They’ve created the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors and click the KCC logo to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

Meet Elizabeth Moore - a fabulous concert pianist and educator who shares her story from stage to choir classroom and how creating her "own path" really ended up in a full-circle experience. This conversation is a great one to help reevaluating and rewriting those philosophies of education as we wrap up the year and look towards the future. Some key points:

* What is a spiral curriculum and why is it important?

* The power of process and its impact on product.

* Ideas for diving deeper with your students and ultimately, "changing the ruler"

Read Elizabeth Moore’s Bio: https://bit.ly/3bJlUE3

Want to join the “Music (ed) Matters” community at monthly meet-ups, bonus content, and summer PD events? Join the conversation on Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/68biRfZycGY

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you find more time for sight-reading by giving you the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

When planning for the “Music (ed) Matters” podcast, one of the big goals was to share teacher stories of dynamite educators out in the trenches doing great things. This is the first of that dream coming to life! These episodes are meant to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to keep doing the great things you’re doing while also taking a moment to celebrate the teacher guest and their incredible contributions to our profession and their students.

In this “Teacher Story,” Middle School Choir Director and 3rd-year teacher, Camille Lacey, shares how she found middle school, what it is like to build community, and how she is thriving after accepting a job and filling the shoes of a 30+ year veteran teacher. Ms Lacey’s stories will warm your heart, motivate you, and give you ideas! For those young teachers or pre-service teachers, this is an episode you’re going to love especially, as at the end, Ms. Lacey answers some questions from music education students about to student teach.

Do you know a teacher who should be featured in an upcoming “Teacher Story?” Jump over to EmilyBurch.org/contact and let us know!

Want to join the “Music (ed) Matters” community at monthly meet-ups, bonus content, and summer PD events? Join the conversation on Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/h3EBv-22osY.

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you find more time for sight-reading by giving you the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

Join composer and educator Matt Carlson, choral educator and collaborator Karen Bruno, and host Dr. Emily Williams Burch as they share the experience of their year-long collaborative project (first shared in episodes 7 and 20).

Choosing to do a collaboration takes time, trust, flexibility, and imagination. In sharing this collaboration story, we hope it inspires you, too!

* Where did the idea come from?

* How did the collaboration happen?

* What elements of this story can listeners borrow and use in their own imaginations and projects?

Link to Mid-Collaboration Song “Begin” by Matt Carlson https://youtu.be/XEKZbT0oYr0.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2D13E4kIjA4

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you find more time for sight-reading by giving you the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

Brought to by our friends at True Change Alliance, the D.A.R.E bonus series:

In this episode, Dr. Yi and your host, Dr. Emily Williams Burch explore how to be a critical conscious music educators and implement social justice practices in our ensembles.

* What does it mean to have a democratic classroom?

* How can we learn to be critical conscious music educators?

* When and how do we implement social justice practices in our spaces?

Dr. Tammy S. Yi is a violinist, strings pedagogy specialist, and orchestral conductor from Los Angeles. She holds a doctorate in music and music education from Columbia University and currently teaches at Chapman University. Dr. Yi has taught in both public and private schools for more than ten years and her research on diversity, equity, and inclusion is recognized worldwide. At Chapman University, she currently teaches courses in democratic classrooms, creativity, anti-racism, and social justice. She founded the First Children’s Orchestra of Harlem, HOPE Children’s Orchestra of Orange County, and the first collegiate mariachi ensemble in Orange County, Mariachi Panteras.

Connect with Dr. Yi: https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/tammy-yi

Learn more about TCA: https://www.truechangealliance.org/

Let us know what you think! Connect with your host, Dr. Emily Williams Burch at EmilyBurch.org/contact or join the conversation on Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

These are some of my favorite episodes to curate for you! They always get me thinking, researching, and tuning back into what it is like to be on the “outside” of the music making process. Listen to these Q&A Dr is In episodes to smile, to learn, and to reconnect with the magic that brought you to music in the first place — plus this one features a clip on Dolly Parton, The Spice Girls, and so much more - what’s not to love :)

As always, thanks to the fabulous students who submitted their questions for bonus points! It is an honor to be your professor.

Have a question or episode idea? Jump over to Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters to weigh in.

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you find more time for sight-reading by giving you the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

Raising the Bar. Getting the most out of your singers by setting the bar high, giving them the right tools, and leading with empathy.

Dr. Adam Luebke was appointed Music Director of Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus in 2015. Since that time, the chorus has been hailed as “splendid,” “articulate,” “soaring,” and “virtuosic.” He and the chorus were awarded a 2021 GRAMMY for Best Choral Performance for their recording Richard Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta. In this episode, Dr. Luebke shares how we can all “raise the bar” like he raised his amateur choir to attain a GRAMMY nomination and then the GRAMMY.

What are your dreams and how can “raising the bar” help you get there? We want to hear! Join the convo at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatter. Want to be a part of a dynamite community and gain some fabulous PD? Details for Teacher PD Weekend 2021 available at Patreon as well, or reach out to your host, EmilyBurch.org/contact.

Read more about Dr. Luebke: www.adamluebke.com

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/WpANEM7UO1s.

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you find more time for sight-reading by giving you the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff

There is power in music - we all know that! This episode taps into the positive and impactful power of motivation in music through intentional time, sharing stories, and connecting to a purpose.

* What is the motivator in music?

* Why is motivation in music important?

* Are you using motivation effectively?

* How can we find, share, and develop motivation?

* Tips we can use to motivate and be motivated effectively

An absolutely perfect episode to celebrate 1-year of weekly releases on the "Music (ed) Matters" Podcast as well as the encouragement you need to get through the spring break slump - especially if you’re not getting a spring break this year!

Find Riter St. Luc on Instagram for additional motivation and ideas: @thebookofluc_

Join the conversation! Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters

Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/YfU4VMq-dnQ

**Our show sponsor, Kinnison Choral Company wants to help you find more time for sight-reading by giving you the tools you need to make your rehearsal space productive, fun, and inspiring! Head to EmilyBurch.org/Sponsors to grab the free calculator today!

**Show music originally written by Mr. Todd Monsell

**Show photography provided by Dr. Dan Biggerstaff