From www.taylor.edu - Taylor University, integrating faith and learning

Taylor Hosts Indiana Music Teachers Association Fall Conference

10.07.2009

An anticipated 60 to 70 music educators from around the State of Indiana will converge at Taylor University for the Indiana Music Teachers Association's (IMTA) Fall Conference on October 9 and 10.

Dr. Leon Harshenin, one of the event organizers and an associate professor in Taylor's music department, said the goal of the conference is to challenge music teachers with new thoughts and ideas that will help them find new and innovative ways to communicate with their students.

"Sometimes we teachers can get in a rut - teaching pretty much the way we were taught, using the same repertoire year after year," Harshenin wrote in the Fall 2009 IMT magazine. "Without outside stimuli, it's easy to dry up and lose our passion. The theme behind this year's conference is ‘Enrichment through Integration' - incorporating elements from beyond standard private instruction to enhance our teaching. These elements can include improvisation, technology, collaborative music and other arts."

Conference breakout sessions include:
- "IMTA 2.0: Attracting and Engaging Today's Music Student"
- "The Building Blocks of Improvisation"
- "Enriching Musical Understanding through Integrated Arts"

The event will also include performances by Taylor music students and faculty as well as by Phillip Keveren, a nationally renowned composer, improviser and performer who will present two sessions on improvisation.

"The conference is a combination of networking with each other; but it is also about being inspired and refreshed creatively," said Harshenin. "Our themes have to do with bringing other things into our one-on-one teaching such as technology, improvisation, other arts and collaborative music or chamber music."

The event was last held on the Taylor campus in 2001.

 

About Taylor University: Founded in 1846, Taylor University is an interdenominational liberal arts university of evangelical faith located in Upland, Ind. The 2010 U.S. News and World Report survey America's Best Colleges ranked Taylor the number one Baccalaureate College in the Midwest. It marked Taylor's third straight top ranking following ten straight years of being ranked in the region's Top Three.
 
Taylor University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).