NDMEA Conference Descriptions
Thursday, March 26, 2026
2:30 - 3:20pm Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
Dr. Cassie Keogh
Tone it up! Tips to Instantly Improve the Sound of Your Clarinet Section. Does your clarinet section struggle to project? Do your students battle with high notes or clamber clumsily over the break? Do they sound shrill, bright, or edgy? Or are they persistently flat in the upper register? This session presents and demonstrates a few quick tricks that students can quickly incorporate into their playing to reduce or eliminate these issues, and in the process you can radically improve the sound of your clarinet section. We will delve into both basics for new teachers and nuance for experienced teachers to get your students to the next level.
Prairie Rose 104
Dr. William Sutton
Fundamentals First: Developmental Warm-Ups for Low Brass Students. This session provides a practical and pedagogically grounded approach to group warm-ups for low brass students, from first-year players to premier high school ensembles. Attendees will receive adaptable warm-up routines that address tone, technique, and ensemble fundamentals—designed to be both efficient and musical. Topics include sound building, articulation, dynamics, flexibility, range, scales, intervals, intonation, and ear training.
Maple Linden
Orchestra Reading Session
Orchestra Reading Session I: Come sight-read new string literature, tried-and-true favorites, Editor’s Choice, and more for your ensembles – bring your instruments!
Pine Spruce
Taylor Heinzen
Creating a Culture of Movement in Your Music Classroom. In this session, we will focus on the basics of incorporating movement into your classroom in an intentional way. Through eurhythmics, students can embody a variety of elemental music concepts, strengthening their understanding and leading to musical nuance that can only be achieved through movement.
Hall B
Dr. Rebecca Raber
Oh, Get Your Ticket Ready: Directing Spirituals with Confidence. Dr. Rebecca Raber will present a session on singing Spirituals, including coded messages, singing "off the page," and the transformative power of Spirituals in building community. Demonstration choir: Cappella (University of Mary).
3:30 - 4:20pm Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
NDBDA Meeting
Prairie Rose 104
ND Choral Directors
North Dakota Band Directors Association Meeting
Choral Gems for Growing Voices: A Reading Session for Middle School – Collegiate Choirs. This reading session will feature choral music suitable for ensembles from 6th grade through collegiate levels. Participants will explore a variety of genres and voicings, including 2-part, 3-part mixed, SAB, and SATB selections. Repertoire will include accessible pieces for developing choirs as well as more advanced works for older singers. Directors will leave with practical, high-quality literature ideas that can be used in concerts throughout the year. Come ready to read and discover new music for a wide range of choral settings.
Maple Linden
Eli Zerr
How Innovation & Collaboration Can Support a New Approach to Music Advocacy. This session will tell the story of a novel approach to advocacy which began right here in North Dakota. A student’s idea evolved and was implemented through collaboration with administration, music staff, and fellow music students at Grand Forks Public Schools, resulting in a software system which acts as a centralized hub for an individual music lesson program. By replacing teacher-managed scheduling methods with an optimization engine that generates and analyzes program-wide data, the system aligns resources more effectively, enables analysis of patterns which previously went unseen, all while reducing teacher and student workload.
Pine Spruce
Gwen Hall
Instruments? No Problem! Finding yourself at a loss for ideas in upper elementary music? This session of tried and true lessons will engage older students, while tapping their creativity. You will move through standards based lessons using the Orff process.
Hall B
Dr. Whitney Mayo
Panel Discussion for Collegiates. This panel discussion will be for college students. Come with questions, come to listen, come with an excitement to start your own job soon! This session might be just what you need when you begin your first job in North Dakota!
6:00 - 6:50pm Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
Dr. Matthew Arau
Edge of Your Seat Rehearsals: Engage All Students Always. Discover rehearsal strategies that will actively engage, energize, and elevate the level of performance of every student, leading to successful recruitment, retention, and personal fulfillment. Edge of Your Seat rehearsals are fun, exciting, and filled with growth and inspiration. Students are empowered to contribute, collaborate, and lead. Be prepared to add to your rehearsal techniques toolbox, find meaning and purpose in your repertoire, welcome more students into your music program, and reimagine how music can be taught. Get ready to implement many of these ideas at your next rehearsal.
Prairie Rose 104
NDACDA Meeting
North Dakota Choral Directors Association Meeting
Maple Linden
Blair Williams
Analyzing String Instrument Playing Skills to Improve Repertoire Selection. How can we best select repertoire based on the string instrument playing skills that our students have, are refining, and need to develop? During this session we will adapt the Playing Skills Checklist (Gillespie, Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, vol. 2) to best prepare our students for success using backward design for repertoire planning and sequence of skill development. We will also analyze playing skills in common pieces and evaluate their listed grade level to make more informed decisions for your repertoire plans for the school year and beyond.
Pine Spruce
General Music Meeting
General Music Meeting
7:30pm
Concert Hour I – Exhibit Hall D
University of North Dakota Vivo Choir – directed by Melanie Popejoy
University of North Dakota Wind Ensemble – directed by Dr. James Popejoy
Friday, March 27 , 2026
8:00 - 8:50am Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
Craig Skeffington
It Didn’t Start With Us. A look at the development of jazz from pre civil war New Orleans to the present time.
Prairie Rose 104
Angela Kasper
​​From Screen to Score, Part 1: Creative ways to teach performance repertoire to our choristers that enhance focus, participation, and skill building. Find effective tools and strategies for introducing pieces to your choirs that bring immediate engagement and interest! Distributing scores and asking students to sing new material without the necessary skills and experience may cause frustration for learners and teachers. In this session, participants will experience new “ways into a piece” that begin with fun activities on a screen and then lead directly to learning passages in performance repertoire.
Maple Linden
Katie O'Hara LaBrie
Randall Standridge Music Orchestra Reading Session. Bring your Instruments and come explore new music from Randall Standridge Orchestra! Join editor, Katie O’Hara LaBrie, Along with many of our composers as we take a deep dive into some of the educational elements of the new catalog. Come for the music, stay for the prizes.
Pine Spruce
Dr. Jeremy Dittus
Dalcroze Eurhythmics: Musicianship from the Inside Out! In this session, we will explore musical concepts from a physical point of view. Using the body as the instrument for learning, we will address elements of rhythm and pitch in different ways that will culminate in a deeper understanding of a piece of music. Participants will leave with new ways of thinking about musical meaning, including many ideas on how they might consider applying purposeful movement to their own teaching or practice. Experience new ways of embodying music and sharing the joy of music making together!
9:00 - 9:50am Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
Craig Skeffington
Teaching Improvisation - A Practical Approach. This session deals with starting from the beginning using motivic cells and pentatonic scales. This is for any educator looking to incorporate improvisation in concert band, orchestra or jazz band.
Prairie Rose 104
Angela Kasper
From Screen to Score, Part 2: Creative ways to teach performance repertoire to our choristers that enhance focus, participation, and skill building. Find effective tools and strategies for introducing pieces to your choirs that bring immediate engagement and interest! Distributing scores and asking students to sing new material without the necessary skills and experience may cause frustration for learners and teachers. In this session, participants will experience new “ways into a piece” that begin with fun activities on a screen and then lead directly to learning passages in performance repertoire. This session includes pieces and techniques that were not included in “From Screen to Score, Part 1.”
Maple Linden
Katie O'Hara LaBrie
How to Win Rehearsals and Influence Students. Keeping students engaged while they are used to the buzz of social media and a constant influx of information can be challenging these days. While spoofing Dale Carnegie’s book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," this session will present tried and true ways to mix up your typical rehearsal, earn your students’ attention, sneak in technique, and assesses progress. Most importantly, it will bring your ensemble together as one cohesive group as they engage with each other and the music, to achieve a winning rehearsal!
Pine Spruce
Dr. Jeremy Dittus
Dynamic Learning through Dalcroze Strategies and Techniques. Dalcroze Education is powerful because it uses a non-verbal means to teach a non-verbal art. This session is designed for all instruments; we will survey ways to make Dalcroze pedagogy work for your group and private lessons at home. Come ready move and explore how Dalcroze Strategies and Techniques can bring vibrant energy to your studio and deepen the musicianship and imagination of your students, too!
10:00 - 10:50am - Exclusive Exhibit Time
11:00 - 11:50am - Keynote Speaker
Hall D
Dr. Matthew Arau
Upbeat! The Power Within. Music crosses every societal barrier around the globe; it is often coined THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. As music educators, we have the opportunity to avail our students of an artistic vocabulary, availing them to an endless treasury of expression that extends beyond the logical mind and connects to one’s heart-’n-soul. For many, we hold the key to guiding our students to tap into their endless creative potential; the teacher who “makes the difference.” Let’s focus on where we can have the greatest positive impact in our rehearsals and classes as we continue to build a culture of excellence.
1:30 - 2:20pm Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
Craig Skeffington
What’s Old is New Again. A look at older concert band and jazz band repertoire that is still relevant today.
Prairie Rose 104
Angela Kasper
With Humbleness, Curiosity, Respect, and Courage: Sharing World Music in a Choral Setting. Participants in this session will explore approaches to finding and sharing world music with their choirs. Specific pieces will be taught using techniques that improve chorister musicianship skills while honoring the musical and cultural traditions represented in each song.
Maple Linden
Katie O'Hara LaBrie
Practice with Purpose: What’s the Big IDEA. Practicing is not an inherent skill; it is something that must be learned. The Big IDEA is a tried and true 4-step method designed to teach the art of practicing and enhance musical understanding. During this session we will explore The Big IDEA along with a variety of practice strategies and activities designed to help students of any age practice with purpose at home and in the classroom. Teachers will leave this session with a wealth of resources to foster independent thinkers.
Pine Spruce
Dr. Jeremy Dittus
Solfège with a Smile. Dalcroze Solfège champions the body as a musical instrument; it provides engaging ways to cultivate inner hearing and embodied rhythm. This session will explore ways to cultivate the mind-body connection for students through Dalcroze Solfège. Let’s sing, move, and explore the JOY of Dalcroze Solfège!
2:30 - 3:20pm - Exclusive Exhibit Time
Hall B
Dr. Whitney Mayo
Music Research Poster Exhibition
3:30pm
Concert Hour II – Exhibit Hall D
Fargo North Symphony Orchestra – directed by Greg Schultz
St. Mary's Central High School Wind Orchestra – directed by Anne Chambers
4:40 - 5:30pm Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
Craig Skeffington
Things They Didn’t Teach Us In Music School. A look at practical solutions and workarounds for modern problems. This includes scheduling, booster club relations, student leadership, grading, etc.
Prairie Rose 104
Angela Kasper
Choir Without Risers. At a time when most music performances involve dance, lighting, costume changes, and variations in setup and positioning, we ask a lot of our audience members to sit and observe a static choir on risers for the length of an entire concert! In this session, we explore simple ways to add visual interest to our choral concerts by positioning and moving our choir to enhance the music they are performing. We will utilize entire concert spaces to explore transitions, groupings, traditional movement, and composed movement.
Maple Linden
Katie O'Hara LaBrie
Beyond D Major: Unlocking Great Intonation. Teaching string players that there is more to life than D Major can be a major hurdle—but it doesn’t have to be! Come explore a fresh approach to finger patterns, known as "gears,” as we unlock 5 keys to great intonation. Bring your instrument along to this interactive rehearsal style clinic, giving you a front-row seat to strategies that build intonation & resonance through creative exercises and games.
Pine Spruce
Dr. Jeremy Dittus
Move It! Plastique Animée offers a physical way of interpreting, analyzing, and
understanding a piece of music. Plastique motivates and inspires so that the student begins to really own the score and embody it with joyful freedom of expression. We will explore specific and practical ways to represent repertoire in movement that will teach important musical concepts to students of all ages and levels.
Saturday, March 28, 2026
8:00 - 8:50am Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
Dr. Martin Van Klompenberg
Strategies for Teaching Better Bassoons. Young bassoonists are often at a disadvantage to their band peers. Often, they are the only player in their ensemble, making it difficult for band directors to give them proper attention when larger sections also need additional attention. Bands can often go years between bassoonists, causing directors to get rusty in terms of specifics on this odd instrument. In this session, I hope to ease these concerns, by adding common issues, giving advice on improving your bassoonists sooner in their development, and answering your questions about all topics bassoon.
Prairie Rose 104
Dr. Whitney Berry
An Energetic Approach to Aural Skills. Mention “aural skills” and most teachers (and students) turn up their noses. Teachers want their students to develop aural recognition and sight singing skills, but don’t know how to integrate opportunities in a meaningful way. Students want to have a good ear but find traditional aural skills exercises boring. This session will demonstrate several short, easy, high energy exercises that can be easily integrated into any curriculum. Be ready to move, sing and clap your way to a new perspective on aural skills!
Maple Linden
NDSTA Meeting
North Dakota String Teachers Association Meeting
Pine Spruce
Sarah Jensen
The Magic of Music For the Littles. The Magic of Music for the Littles Step into the joyful world of PreK and Kindergarten music, where singing, moving, and playing come together to create pure magic! In this class, you’ll learn how to nurture a love of music in your youngest students through playful exploration and discovery. We’ll focus on what matters most at this age—keeping things active, hands-on, and full of wonder. You’ll learn how to teach steady beat, pitch matching, and simple rhythms through songs, games, and movement activities that make learning feel like play. Your littles will also have opportunities to create and explore with real instruments—strumming ukuleles, discovering patterns on xylophones, and experimenting with unpitched percussion to make their own musical ideas come alive. These experiences help children build confidence, coordination, and creativity while having a whole lot of fun!
9:00 - 9:50am Sessions
Prairie Rose 103
John Bisbee
Sarah Harlow
Antoine Poitras
How to use the Ipad in the Ensemble Classroom. We will explore the uses of an iPad in the large ensemble classroom. We will discuss apps such as ForScore, iReal Pro, and other useful music education apps, as well as how to project from the iPad in a classroom using an Apple TV (with included equipment and logistic set up), and how best to scan and store PDF files. Along with that, we will briefly talk about how to get funding for purchases of an iPad, including tips on grant writing and/or asking booster clubs for funds. We hope to show educators a useful way of incorporating technology in the classroom, without trying to fit a square peg into a round hole!
Prairie Rose 104
Kathy Ring
Vocal Diction and IPA Boot Camp. Our session will focus on diction for the solo and choral singer. We will spend time on Latin, Italian, German and French with a focus on steadfast pronunciation rules and the international phonetic alphabet (IPA). The session will be tailored to those in attendance, to include discussions and questions about singing in these foreign languages and practical applications they can use in the rehearsal room.
Maple Linden
Pine Spruce
Maria Draper
Hey, Hey, Pre-K! Teaching Pre-K music is a responsibility many music teachers hold. Although the expectation of quality instruction looms over our heads, we frequently don’t know how to give this type of instruction to our youngest students. If you’ve ever said, “I know what I’m supposed to teach them, but how do I do it? They are much too squirmy, talkative, and silly,” then this is the presentation for you. This presentation will discuss the importance of demeanor, give quality management resources, and most importantly, demonstrate classroom management techniques that incorporate music in every step, so you can actually teach, instead of herd cats.