SongWorks Annual Conference

“From Our Roots We Continue to Grow”

2022 SongWorks Conference
March 31 – April 2, 2022
Dallas, TX

Save the dates!

We are delighted to announce that the SongWorks Educators Association Annual International Conference will return in person in the Spring of 2022. Join music educators from around the world for three days of learning, playing, and inspiration in Dallas, TX, March 31 – April 2, 2022.

Or attend virtually on Saturday, April 2nd and take advantage of live streamed presentations, asynchronous learning and an online meet and greet with SongWorks colleagues.

View more details below, or click the button to register now!

Access the Conference Platform for a
detailed schedule, handouts, Zoom links, and more!

“Playful Teaching, Vibrant Learning”

2024 SongWorks
Virtual Conference Series
April 2, 9, & 13, 2024

Every Spring, SongWorks educators from around the world gather to experience educational exchange, joy, and camaraderie.

In 2024, we will be holding our conference as a Virtual Conference Series on Tuesday evenings, April 2 & 9, and Saturday, April 13, 2024. Save the dates!

Conference registration has now closed.

If you have general questions about the conference, please contact Conference Chair Katie Herzberg (ktherzberg@gmail.com).

For questions about conference sessions and proposals, contact Conference Program Chairs Alice Nordquist (alice@songworkseducators.com) and Lisa Schoen (lisa@songworkseducators.com).

Registration Opens January 5!

Access the Conference Platform for a
detailed schedule, handouts, and more!

Deadline: March 5, 2023

Conference Details | Schedule At-A-Glance | Presenters | Visiting Scholar | Past Conferences

Presentation Proposals & Guidelines

Do you teach playfully so your students can learn vibrantly? Consider sharing those experiences in a conference session!

Download the Presentation Proposal Guidelines (PDF)

Submission Overview

Confirm your SWEA membership is up to date to be considered for a conference presentation. Email registrar@songworkseducators.com if you are uncertain of your membership status.
Review the Proposal Selection Factors below.
Submit your proposal(s) using this form by November 8, 2023.
Contact Conference Program Chairs Alice Nordquist (alice@songworkseducators.com) and Lisa Schoen (lisa@songworkseducators.com) if you want to discuss your thoughts.

Submit a Proposal

Selection Factors

Applicability / Value

Will attendees be able to immediately incorporate what they learn into their teaching? Will you share your process and intentions for learning so others can apply your ideas in their classrooms? Although our conference series will be virtual, please consider how your online presentation could be adapted by conference participants to be used with their
in-person students.

Repertoire

In addition to the core study songs of SongWorks, a variety of repertoire is welcome. Please research the history and meaning of any repertoire you are considering to ensure it is authentic and culturally affirming.

Variety

Overall range of conference topics and variety of activity types are considered in the selection process. Suggestions from past Conference feedback include:

Culturally responsive and inclusive music and movement
SongWorks activities to be used in a variety of teaching settings
Composing and arranging with students
Applying SongWorks strategies to a variety of musical genres, in addition to English-language folk songs

We look forward to receiving your proposal! You will be notified of the status of your proposal no later than November 30, 2023.

Conference Details

Dates & Times

The 2024 Virtual Conference will be held over two Tuesday evening sessions and one Saturday morning session. Session dates and times are as follows:

Evening Session 1: Tuesday, April 2, 2024, 7:00–8:30 PM CDT
Asynchronous Session Watch Party 1: Thursday, April 4, 2024, 7:00–8:30 PM CDT
Evening Session 2: Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 7:00–8:30 PM CDT
Asynchronous Session Watch Party 2: Thursday, April 11, 2024, 7:00–8:30 PM CDT
Daytime Session: Saturday, April 13, 2024, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM CDT

Registration Fees

Member rates require current or new SWEA membership. Attendees may register for all conference dates at a discounted rate, or select individual dates as needed.

Regular Member

All Days – $75
April 2 – $20
April 9 – $20
April 13 – $40

Non-Member

All Days – $135
April 2 – $35
April 9 – $35
April 13 – $70

Student Member

All Days – Free

Membership Dues

SWEA Membership can be purchased or renewed while registering for the conference. Membership offers many benefits including discounted conference registration rates and access to teaching resources including the Sturdy Songs Collection, materials from past conferences, and recordings of SongWorks in Practice (SIP) Sessions.

$45 – Regular Membership
$75 – Sustaining Membership
$100 – Patron Membership
$20 – Student Membership

Policies

Registration Deadline: For registrations submitted after April 1, we cannot guarantee access to the first live session before it takes place. However, the recording will be made available within 48 hours.

Contact SWEA Registrar Alice Nordquist (registrar@songworkseducators.com) if you have questions about your registration.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Continuing Education Units (9 clock hours) will be available for attending three days of live sessions (April 2, 9, and 13) and two days of discussion sessions (April 4 & 11) of the Virtual Conference Series. If you have questions, please contact SWEA Academic Coordinator Taryn Raschdorf (taryn@songworkseducators.com).

Session Recordings

All three days of conference sessions will be recorded and posted on the Conference Platform page within 48 hours. These recordings will be available to registrants according to the day(s) for which they register.

Schedule At-A-Glance

As you plan your travel arrangements to and from the Conference, take note of the following times of events. Remember, lunches and Saturday evening’s banquet are included with registration. If you are traveling from out-of-state, we recommend you arrive Thursday and visit with other attendees in our complimentary hospitality room, and depart Sunday morning, so you can enjoy our formal Saturday evening Banquet.

Thursday, March 16

6:30 – 9:30pm – Hospitality Room Open

Friday, March 17

8:00 – 9:00am – Registration

9:00am – 12:15pm – Sessions

12:15 – 1:15pm – Lunch

1:15 – 5:00pm – Sessions

7:00 – 9:30pm – Hospitality Room Open

Saturday, March 18

8:00am – 12:15pm – Sessions

12:15 – 1:15pm – Lunch

1:15 – 5:00pm – Sessions

5:30 – 6:30pm – Happy Hour

7:00pm – Conference Banquet (included with Registration)

Presenters

Download Sessions & Presenters (pdf)

Conference Chair

Katie Herzberg

Charleston, IL

Conference Program Co-Chairs

Alice Nordquist and Lisa Schoen

Baltimore, MD and Farmington, MN

Click on each presenter to view the session description.

Tuesday, April 2

What Is Really Going on in this
Music Lesson?

Sandy Murray

Abbotsford, BC

Session Description

We will take a close look at the rich potential a song game or a music study lesson holds for the learner. Yes, our students are engaged in music making and learning, but we recognize that they are also significantly involved in many other ways. In this session we will sing and play a song game and then use it to reflect on how music, social/emotional, language, sensory motor, cognitive, and aesthetic engagement can each contribute to an impactful learning experience. Dr. Fleurette Sweeney’s six-pointed star will help us organize our thoughts and considerations.

Rise Up Singing:

The Use of Music In Social Justice Movements

Nan Fitzpatrick

Sacramento, CA

Session Description

Throughout the world, music has played a role in propelling social justice and freedom movements forward—the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, the “Singing Revolution” that ended Soviet Rule over the Baltic nations in the 1990s, and current day Climate Justice singers are just a few examples. This session teaches the context for this type of music, offers a sample of repertoire to share with students, and models ways for students to personalize the songs for their own causes.

Playing with Palo Bonito!

Danielle Solan

Hong Kong

Session Description

Let’s activate our musical global mindedness with the playful song, “Palo Bonito,” from the Dominican Republic! Participants will come away from the session with generalizable strategies for teaching songs in Spanish and other world languages using movement, mapping, and opportunities for creativity and collaboration.

Tuesday, April 9

We Are Going to the Grocery Store

Betty Phillips

Corvallis, OR

Session Description

Need a dynamite song game for your primary students? “We Are Going to the Grocery Store” might just be what you’re looking for! This versatile song game, found in Let’s Do It Again!: The Songs of ETM, compiled by Mary Helen Richards, offers rich opportunities for language study. The game inspires imagination, critical thinking, and social skills for children. Is the grocery store the only place you can go? What else might you buy, see, or hear?

Making Music Study Musical:

The Whys and Hows

Vicky Suárez

Richardson, TX

Session Description

A key feature of SongWorks is that musicality is important and worth keeping at the forefront. But what does musicality in an elementary music setting look like, and WHY is it important? Vicky Suárez will offer some practical ways to make music study meaningful and musical across different kinds of activities, songs, and ages.

Good Dog Ukulele–Let’s Play!

Judy Fjell

Bozeman, MT

Session Description

Judy will share memorable folk songs and her Good Dog colored sticker system, which helps students play chords, identify notes, read treble clef and tablature, change chords with ease, and understand music theory. She will also show how the ukulele can help students match pitches with their singing voices. She will demonstrate good posture and playing habits for ukulele and how to play melodies using the thumb-finger “Reno picking” style.

Saturday, April 13

An Uncommon Path to Ensemble Skills

Anna Shelow

Cleveland, OH

Session Description

Ideographs aren’t just for the youngest students! Using Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, participants will experience active listening following an ideograph, and see how students can use the map to perform on percussion instruments.

Exploring with Sally and her Friends

Rebecca Hahn

Apple Valley, MN

Session Description

In this session, we will explore the creation of a concert piece which incorporates “Sally Go ‘Round the Sun” and “Looby Loo.” Using canon, ostinato, and partner song techniques, participants will discover how elementary string students created a concert piece from these two favorite sturdy songs. This session will outline how to go from singing to playing these sturdy songs on instruments.

Sonny Rollins and St. Thomas:

Opportunities to Listen, Move, and Read

Dr. Doug Bartholomew

Bozeman, MT

Session Description

Using the melodic and rhythmic material of Sonny Rollins’ recording of St. Thomas, this session will explore the use of movement, hand signs and solfa, as well as the use of blended notation (mixing various notational stratagems) to become acquainted with this tune. An advanced strategy of using the map to provide a counterpoint to Rollins’ improvisation will also be explored.

Kids’ Brains Now:

Developing Empathy
& Executive Functioning in Music

Molly Feigal

Minneapolis, MN

Session Description

We all know that children are different post-pandemic. Behaviors are bigger. Attention is more difficult to capture. Everything feels harder! Molly will illuminate what we as music teachers already do to support children’s brains post-pandemic, and provide a few extra strategies that can be inserted into the music room to help students develop empathy, grow critical thinking skills, and stretch executive functioning.

What a Wonderful, JAZZY World!

Emille Knell

Provo, UT

Session Description

We will explore the world of early jazz through singing, moving, listening, and children’s biographies, using ideas adaptable for a range of ages. Oh how you’ll want to be in this number!

Roly Poly:

A Joyous and Nonsensical Celebration

Max Mellman

Jersey City, NJ

Session Description

What is the value of nonsense words, and why are they so common in children’s folk songs? In this session, we will enjoy participating in a staple of the SongWorks canon, and find out how to highlight all of its elements in meaningful encoding-based assessment.

Asynchronous Sessions

Lullabies:

Not Just for Babies

Rachel Gunderson

Mesa, AZ

Session Description

How does engaging with lullabies in the music classroom align with our SongWorks principles to develop musical responsiveness in our students? We will dive into the benefits of singing lullabies, and how teaching children to sing them now might benefit not just them, but their future families and communities.

Observation Class

Jake Harkins

Arlington, VA

Session Description

Have you ever wished you could be a fly on the wall in someone else’s classroom? In this session, participants have the opportunity to observe a SongWorks Certified Educator working with his fourth grade music students.

Every Child Matters:

A Journey of Truth and Reconciliation
Through First Nations Songs

Kate Smith

Port Coquitlam, BC

Session Description

Each year since 2013 in Canada, September 30th marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also called Orange Shirt Day. “Every Child Matters” is the slogan and message to honour innocent lives of First Nations, Inuit and Metis children lost as a result of residential school neglect and abuse. It symbolizes that every child is important, including both the children who have lost their lives and the adults who are still healing from their difficult times separated from their land, language, family and culture. Using songs written by and with permission of First Nations singer/songwriters, Kate will offer participants an opportunity to start a journey of truth and reconciliation through song and music.

Visiting Scholar

Since 2015, select scholars have been invited to the SongWorks Conference for the purpose of exposing them to the principles, practices, and activities of our organization. Visiting Scholars are chosen based on their leadership in and contributions to music education, as well as their commitment to excellence in learning and teaching. Throughout the conference, Visiting Scholars observe presentations and interact with attendees. We are thrilled to announce Alison Reynolds of Temple University as our 2023 Visiting Scholar!

Alison Reynolds, PhD

Chair of Music Education and Music Therapy

Temple University

Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Alison Reynolds focuses her research and teaching interests on expressive and creative music development, early childhood and general music teacher preparation, and developing curriculum materials for children 12 years old and younger. Reynolds has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, Arts Education Policy Review, Research Studies in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Perspectives, and several state music educators’ journals.

Reynolds is co-author of Jump Right In: The Music Curriculum (Revised Edition) and Music Play: The Early Childhood Music Curriculum Guide for Parents, Teachers and Caregivers, which has been translated into Korean, Lithuanian, and Chinese; and is co-editor and contributing author for Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Elementary General Music. She is a frequent presenter of research and practice in international, national, regional, state, and local venues.

Past Conferences

Conference materials from past conferences, including handouts, videos, and presentation slides are available in the Members Access section of the website. Not a member? You can join or renew your membership here.

Presentation Proposals & Guidelines

This year’s conference theme is “Playful Teaching, Vibrant Learning.” What session might you share to invite us into the playfulness and vibrancy in your classroom? We want to know about it! See details below for more information.

Download the Presentation Proposal Guidelines (PDF)