UMass Lowell Summer Music Institute

Register for a music class at UMass Lowell this summer!

The Yoga of Sound - Meg Ruby
Intro to the 5-string Banjo - Tom Malone
Mandina East African Xylophone - Tom Malone
Music, Technology & Creativity - Alex Ruthmann
Technology, Arts, & Learning - Alex Ruthmann
Vocal Jazz Intensive - Mimi Rohlfing
Practical Instrument Repair - Blair Bettencourt

Week 1 classes - July 1-3
Week 2 classes - July 22-26

Graduate credits available.

More information at: http://www.uml.edu/summermusicinstitute.

Music Technology Educator Meetup

http://umlmusicedtech.eventbrite.com/

Held every first Saturday of the month
October 6, November 3, December 1, January 19, February 2, March 9, April 6, May 4, June 1
10am-1pm
UMass Lowell Coburn Hall Room B7
Hosted by the UMass Lowell Department of Music

Want to learn more about music technology?
Want to meet other music technology educators and share ideas?

Join us at UMass Lowell for a three-hour BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) meetup for music technology educators, where we will:

• share strategies for integrating music technology into classroom practice
• explore a variety of music technologies, including iPads, music software, audio recording equipment, and new, emerging technologies.
• self-organize into different interest groups and hands-on activities
• explore strategies for promoting students' creativity through technology
• provide hands-on experiences to share and explore mobile apps for iPads

The meetup is open to all Massachusetts and New Hampshire-area educators interested using music technology in their teaching. We welcome all interested educators and students including K-20 school educators, community music instructors, and private music teachers.

Music Technology Educator Meetups are held every first Saturday of the month during the 2012-2013 school year. Feel free to join us once a year or once a month! The workshop is free, includes lunch, and may count towards PDP hours. We particularly encourage educators from the same school, program, etc. to attend together as a group.

Meet up with us!

REGISTER HERE: http://umlmusicedtech.eventbrite.com/

Summer Music Workshops and Courses at UMass Lowell

Sign up now for summer music workshops and courses at UMass Lowell!

Introduction to Audio - 18 PDPs - June 20-22 & August 1-3.

This 3-day hands-on workshop will guide music educators through the fundamentals of recording, sound reinforcement, and sound systems. Sessions will include experiences in choral, instrumental and popular recording and reinforcement, fundamentals of acoustics and their impact on audio systems, and digital audio recording and editing.

Creative Music Technology Projects - 12 PDPs - June 30-July 1 & August 4-5.

This 2-day workshop will engage music educators in exploring and designing creative technology projects for music learning and teaching. Sessions will take place in UMass Lowell's iMac lab, with a focus on freely available software and mobile iPad technologies.

Taking the Mystery Out of Woodwind, Brass and Percussion Repairs - 18 PDPs - June 27-29.

This 3-day hands-on workshop will cover how to evaluate instrument problems and perform simple repairs. Ares of discussion and demonstration include: woodwind key structure, pad issue, corks, brass valves, restringing, water keys, stuck slides, replacing percussion heads and snares, pedal tuning, preventative maintenance and tools and supplies every music educator should have.

MICCA Summer Institute and Instrumental Music Workshop - July 14-15, 2011 at Hopkinton High School.

The UMass Lowell Music Education program is partnering with the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) in providing graduate credit for attending the 2^nd Annual MICCA Summer Institute and Instrumental Music Workshop. Clinicians this year include John Culvahouse – Kennesaw State University and Anthony Maiello – George Mason University.

Registration and more information at http://miccamusic.org.

Special Topics: Technology, Arts & Learning - MWTRF July 12-29 - 3 graduate credits

This course will explore educational and creative processes at the intersection of music, visual art and technology. Participants will interact with local artists, musicians and culture bearers, and engage in hands-on experiences making, creating and learning with technology. Drawing on the processes of digital curation and production, participants will work collaboratively using mobile and creative technologies, such as iPads and Flip video cameras, to collect, organize and produce learning materials, developing skills in mutual learning, reflective practice, and creativity. This course is offered as part of the UMass Lowell Summer International Institute drawing students from all of the world.

Registration information and full brochure can be downloaded here: http://db.tt/Q9SesOb.

If you have any questions, please email Alex Ruthmann at Alex_Ruthmann@uml.edu.

Professor Jeanne Bamberger in residence at UML Nov. 12-14, 2009

Click on image to enlarge.

UMass Lowell Music Education Sessions at the 2009 Massachusetts All State Conference

Teacher-Student Feedback Loop for Technology Training in the Classroom
* Dr. Gena Greher & Dr. Alex Ruthmann - UMass Lowell
* Pat Fitzpatrick - Lowell High School
* Thursday, March 26 - 12:15-1:15pm - Beacon Hill 2 & 3

UMass Lowell Alumni Reception
* Thursday, March 26 - 8 to 10pm - Beacon Hill Complex

Preparing the Next Generation of Music Educators: How Well do Colleges do the Job?
* Dr. Gena Greher - UMass Lowell
* Dr. Rhoda Bernard - Boston Conservatory
* Dr. Sandi Nicolucci - Boston University
* Friday, March 27 - 3-4pm - Harborside Room

Technology, Composing and the Arts: Student Projects from the Classroom
* Dr. Alex Ruthmann - UMass Lowell
* Tony Beatrice - Pentucket Regional Middle & High School
* Saturday, March 28 - 11:45am-12:45pm - Waterfront 1A

Session handouts will be posted here shortly!

Conference details can be found at http://www.mmeaonline.org/.

UMass Lowell Music Ed students work with local middle school students

Over the past year, senior music education majors have been taking General Music Methods I and II with Dr. Gena Greher and me at UMass Lowell. Since October of 2008 these students have spent Wednesday mornings teaching 3rd, 6th and 7th grade classes at the Bartlett Community Partnership School here in Lowell, MA. Last week one group of our students invited the 7th grade class from the Bartlett School to spend the day at UMass Lowell recording a song the class arranged in the UMass Lowell recording studio.

Students spent the morning rehearsing their arrangements and taking turns leading peer-conducted free improvisations. Once rehearsed, they spent the balance of the morning laying down the vocal tracks, classroom instrument and guitar tracks followed by the piano accompaniment.

The rehearsing and recording was facilitated by UML graduate sound recording technology major Tim Brault and UML music education majors Jo Price, Lindsey Sherman and Zach Cooper.

After the recording session, the Bartlett School students experienced a rare treat... a live lecture demonstration of vintage Edison wax cylinder recording. UML Sound Recording Technology Professor Alex Case made arrangements for Gerald Fabris, curator of the Edison National Historical Site in West Orange, NJ, to visit and present the lecture/demo. Virgin wax cylinders were flown in from the United Kingdom and UMass Lowell SRT major Brian Corey composed a piece to be used in one of six live takes directly to wax cylinder.



Each of the takes were recorded directly to wax cylinder as well as digitally in mono, stereo and surround sound mic-ing. After each take, the composer listened back to the wax cylinder performance and physically readjusted the placement of the musician's closer or further away from the recording "horn." We take for granted today that we can simply move a microphone to achieve a different sound. Back then you had to move the musicians!

I am told that all of the wax cylinder recordings from the session will be digitized and the audio will be posted side by side with the digital mono, stereo and surround sound versions on the Edison National Historical Site webpage in the near future. I'll be sure to post a link when that goes live.

Click here for the article and more information about the project in the Lowell Sun.

UMass Lowell CMENC Composition Festival deadline near!

The University of Massachusetts Lowell Collegiate Chapter of the Music Educators National Conference is proud to announce our Ninth Annual K-12 Composition Festival. We are inviting you to send in audio recordings of your students’ compositions. Submissions from students in grades K-12 are once again eligible and encouraged.

Please send each composition on a separate CD recording. We ask that you limit composition lengths to ten minutes to allow us to include as many pieces as possible. Please also send four copies of the score on standard letter-size paper with the CD. Compositions will not be considered without scores. Four copies of the attached form should be included with each submission for each of our four adjudicators. Only one composition may be submitted per student. The Youth Composition Festival will be held in May of 2009 in UMass Lowell’s Fisher Recital Hall.


Send CDs, Scores, and Application Forms by February 1st, 2009 to:

UMass Lowell Dept. of Music
Dr. Gena Greher, Composition Festival
35 Wilder Street; Suite 3
Lowell, MA 01854

If you have any questions/comments/concerns, please contact Marissa Broe, the Composition Festival Chair, by phone at (978) 934-3881, or by e-mail at uml_menc@yahoo.com.