Parenting Musically

This week’s episode features Sarah Sharp.  Sarah is an Austin Texas-based jazz singer and songwriter whose signature sound fuses jazz, vintage pop, folk, and cinematic storytelling.

She released her debut album, Deja Vü, on May 15 via Spaceflight Records. This luminous debut blends intimate, nocturnal arrangements with her incredible vocal prowess. For the podcast Sarah shares the story of her album’s development, how her career has been shaped by motherhood, and what’s on the creative horizon. Lisa makes connections to the importance of being role models for our kids in the areas of creativity and challenge as well as the centrality of community in musical pursuits.

Mid-episode music credit: "Sweet Lotus Blossom," performed by Sarah Sharp (vocals), Mitch Watkins (guitar), Masumi Jones (drums), John Fremgen (upright bass), Sean Giddings (piano). Written by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston, Blue Pie Publishing USA. From Sarah Sharp's album Deja Vü, Spaceflight Records. www.sarahsharp.com

Sarah Sharp’s Website 

Sarah’s Instagram

Sarah’s Facebook

Deja Vu album

Article: “A Home away from Home”: The World of the High School Music Classroom

Article: The Role of the Family Context in the Development of Emotion Regulation

Book: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Kicking off season 9, Lisa interviews Jane Timmons-Mitchell, Ph.D. Jane is a clinical child psychologist with 40 years of experience. With her son Stephen, a mechanical engineer, she wrote the book “Our Guide to Navigating ADHD, How to Embrace Challenges, Develop Grit, and Flourish,” published by Greenleaf Books.  Jane is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She launched a private practice called Junction Psychological Services Corporation in 2000. She has been awarded grants and contracts at the federal, state, and local levels and authored multiple publications. In this episode Jane reflects on the role of music in navigating raising her son Stephen. Lisa responds with reflections on music lessons with neurodivergent children and a celebration of recognizing children’s and families’ strengths.

Jane and Stephen’s new book, “Our Guide to Navigating ADHD, How to Embrace Challenges, Develop Grit, and Flourish”

Washington Post article about music and attention

Dr. Erin Hopkins’s blog about music practice strategies for neurodivergent kids

Episode 17 of Parenting Musically: Erin Hopkins on Neurodiversity in Family Musicking

Announcing Season 9 of Parenting Musically! Parenting Musically is supported by Case Western Reserve University. The podcast is hosted by Dr. Lisa Huisman Koops, professor of music education at Case Western Reserve University.

To recap season 8, Lisa talks with Lili Levinowitz, Ph.D., Director of Research at Music Together Worldwide and a Professor Emeritus of Music Education (Rowan University) and Susan Darrow, Music Together Worldwide CEO. Lili, an early childhood music researcher, educator, and teacher educator, coauthored the Music Together® curriculum. She spent years training teachers globally, and still regularly presents at national conferences and webinars. Susan Darrow started teaching Music Together in the early 1990s and became CEO of Music Together Worldwide in 2015. She continues to lead the organization with vision, creativity, and a deep commitment to connection. Lily and Susan reflect with Lisa on the many guests and stories shared in Season 8, discuss culturally responsive curriculum, and share insights into engagement through musicking and their experiences with teaching and parenting musically.

Episode 58 Show Notes

Music Together Website

Research studies on Music Together classes

Music Together Blog

Instagram: @musictogetherworldwide

YouTube: @musictogether

Facebook: @musictogether

Article by music teacher Carey Crows describing the process of re-evaluating songs with a troubled past - contains many additional links to resources and articles on this topic

In this week’s episode, guest host Erin Meissner interviews fellow doctoral student, Natalia Moreno Buitrago. Erin talks with Natalia about the focus of her doctoral work, Desde el Principio, a class Natalia co-founded with her advisor, Dr. Eugenia Costa-Giomi, at Ohio State University. Desde el Principio is a community-based music program for infants and caregivers that integrates Latin American repertoire and bilingual approaches. Through this work, Natalia studies how everyday musical experiences, such as singing, movement, and shared listening, can strengthen family relationships, support emotional development, and foster cultural connection.

Description of Natalia’s music program, Desde el Principio

Overview of offerings at The Ohio State University’s Community Music School

Article, “Global Arts + Humanities grant to support Latinx families engagement in music learning” about Natalia and Dr. Costa-Giomi’s work

Natalia’s Advisor, Dr. Eugenia Costa-Giomi 

The Center for Latin American Studies at The Ohio State University 

In this week’s episode, Lisa interviews Florence K, award-winning musician, author, and mental health advocate. Florence talks with Lisa about her experience growing up in a musical household and the bond of touring musicians. She also addresses the challenges of being a professional musician. In her current work as a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Quebec in Montréal, she explores the complex link between mood, creativity, and well-being in the performing arts. Joining in the conversation is Dr. Aimée Gaudette-Leblanc. Aimée is a professor and researcher whose work focuses on early childhood development, parent-child relationships, and the role of arts and culture in family well-being. Aimée shares insight into the family ensemble, sensitive and responsive parenting, and the joy of observing your children musicking.

Florence K’s artist page

Florence K shares “My Story” in The Catalyst, publication of The Mental Health Commission of Canada. 

Florence K’s co-authored article, “Exploring the well-being of professional female musicians: a self-determination theory perspective” in Frontiers in Psychology

Aimée’s co-authored article, “The implications of participating in a Music Early Learning Program for parental sensitivity and socioemotional functioning in children aged 2–5 years: A randomized control trial” in Psychology of Music

Aimée’s faculty homepage

Sesame Street song “Put Down the Duckie” discussed in episode

Joining Lisa in episode 55 is Dr. Helena Rodrigues, Artistic Director of Companhia de Musica Teatral (CMT), an organization championing musical experience and the arts for social and human development. Dr. Rodrigues founded the Laboratory of Music and Communication in Childhood and is a professor in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the University of Lisbon. She talks with Lisa about CMT, community engagement, and the influences of Gordon’s Music Learning Theory and Trevarthen’s Communicative Musicality on her work in Portugal.

Joining in the conversation are Vivian and Tiago Madalozzo. Vivian Madalozzo is a PhD candidate in Childhood Studies at the University of Minho and Dr. Tiago Madalozzo is Assistant Invited Professor at the Department of Arts, School of Education, at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança and at the Department of Education, at the Douro Higher Institute of Educational Sciences. Both are researchers and educators focusing on early childhood music and teacher training. The Madalozzos discuss their experience engaging their community through early childhood music education in Brazil. They also reflect on Helena’s work with CMT and share personal insights about parenting musically in Portugal.

Episode 55 shownotes:

Companhia de Musica Teatral (CMT) webpage

Companhia de Música Teatral - BebéBabá video (Youtube)

Companhia de Música Teatral Bebé-Plim-Plim video (Youtube)

Helena’s co-authored article, “Music for mothers and babies living in a prison: A report on a special production of ‘BebéBabá’”

Further articles and books about Helena’s work and the work of CMT

Tiago’s article, Childhood cultures and early childhood music education: A driving axis for creActive music listening

Vivian’s co-authored article, Intersections between music education and the sociology of childhood in Brazil: Searching for children’s agency and musical protagonism

Joining Lisa in episode 54 is Josiah Birai, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Cheza Music School, a Nairobi-based in-home music school dedicated to helping children and families experience music in a joyful, structured, and confidence-building way. Josiah speaks about the way he and his colleagues support their students’ musicking and performing. Kenyatta University Senior Lecturer Dr. Elizabeth A. Andang’o responds with insights on music education in Kenya, emphasizing the importance of considering how music supports children’s identity and self-knowledge. Elizabeth also shares her research working with grandmothers in Kenya, highlighting the grandmothers’ deliberate use of music to cultivate relationships with their grandchildren as well as to pass along religious values.

Episode 54 shownotes:

Cheza Music School, Nairobi Web Page

Josiah Birai’s faculty page

Cheza Music School Facebook

Cheza Music School Instagram

Elizabeth A. Andang’o’s faculty page

Elizabeth A. Andang’o’s article, “The role of music in shaping children’s self-knowledge and identity: Perspectives from an African setting” 

In Episode 53, Lisa interviews pianist, cross media artist, and music educator, Dr. Fang Ting Huang. Fang Ting creates immersive new-media installations and interactive musical experiences that integrate technology, arts, and music. Fang Ting reflects on her musical childhood in Taiwan, her studies in Europe, and her career as a cross media artist and musical collaborator. Responding to Fang-Ting’s interview is Dr. Melody Liao, a professor of early childhood education, practitioner of Dalcroze Eurythmics, and advocate for early childhood music education. Melody shares insight from her exploratory music-making as a child in rural Taiwan and her current research on the use of loose parts in early childhood music spaces.

Episode 53 Shownotes:

Fang Ting Huang’s YouTube channel 

Fang Ting’s new video performance, Coco’s Piano Diary Ep. 1

Fang Ting Huang’s new media performance of "On My Way”

Fang Ting Huang’s performance of Debussy’s “L’isle Joyeuse” on location by the sea

Behind-the-scenes video of filming “L’isle Joyeuse” on location

Melody Liao’s webpage with more information on her research

Penn State Research-to-Practice Tip Page on Loose Parts & Early Childhood Play

Research videos from Melody’s research on loose parts: (1) Loose parts in in-between spaces, (2) loose parts musical play on a playground fence

Melody Liao’s research on loose parts in early childhood education, “The Possibilities of the In-Between Space: A Case Study on Creating a Music Environment in a Preschool Setting”

In our first episode of season 8, Lisa interviews Margaret Fagan. Margaret Fagan is a folk musician and former early childhood Montessori music teacher. Margaret and her husband, folk guitarist Bob Fagan, are the founding members of Australia’s pre-eminent folk music family, “The Fagans.” Margaret reflects on her own musical childhood and describes ways children in Australia are included in community musicmaking. Drawing from her experience as an early childhood teacher, music educator and children’s author, Dr. Amanda Niland responds to Margaret’s interview with insight from her long career in early childhood education.  Amanda joined the Early Childhood team at the University of Sydney in 2016 where she currently serves as Senior Lecturer and Program Director of the Master of Teaching Early Childhood.

Episode 52 Shownotes

Margaret & Bob Fagan “Landmarks on the Journey” album

Margaret & Bob Fagan join son James Fagan, host, on “Sheffield Live TGIF” radio show (2024)

Youtube Recording, Margaret & Bob Fagan at 2022 National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia

Youtube Recording, The Fagans, “The World Turned Upside Down”

Amanda Niland’s research article on children’s literature: “Picture Books, Imagination and Play: Pathways to Positive Reading Identities for Young Children”

Amanda Niland’s research article on children’s musical play: “Singing and playing together: A community music group in an early intervention setting”

Amanda Niland children’s books