Francisco Borja-Prieto

Parents are busy and tired of fighting with their kids, students can't remember everything to practice and as a teacher, you know you can't move on until technique is correct. Sometimes technique feels like an uphill battle and can be very discouraging to students and parents. There are so many teaching aids, common and uncommon, to use to help with this exact scenario and this session will focus on what can be used to help the many different technique pitfalls our students succumb to. These teaching aids help the student focus on what's really fun about learning music: The Music!

Looking to dive deeper into the content of the session? Check out these supporting materials:

• Session Presentation Slides

How can you and your students elevate your performances from accurate to artistic? This session seeks to answer this relevant and vital question by providing alternative strategies that will enhance your listening skills and empower your students to engage with the rehearsal process. We will explore new methods to create your personal aural image and heighten your expectation for student performance. By using examples from a variety of scores, we will examine how to quickly process and study the printed score to make informed decisions that will determine your performance expectation. Most importantly, we will explore ways to energize your rehearsals and empower your students’ listening. It will be our goal to turn ensemble rehearsals into exciting and creative spaces where students take risks, explore the unknown, and become collaborators in the artistic pursuit.

This session explores the concepts of how embouchure compression, air volume, mouth/throat shape, and rolling affect intonation on the flute. Once educators know the four main influences of flute intonation, they can more readily empower their flutists with the tools to adjust their intonation based on each student’s individual tendencies. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will come away with the skills to create a "prescription" for each flute student's intonation while maintaining tonal integrity.

Looking to dive deeper into the content of the session? Check out these supporting materials:

• Session Presentation Slides

• Megan Lanz's Educator Resources

Are you happy with your school music program? Is it moving toward your vision of success? None of us creates great programs alone. This clinic will give you strategies to communicate and involve your school administration, techniques help grow your program, and pathways to improve school culture in your building.

In this session, I will provide further insight into the creation of, as well as intended performance practices for, some of my most popular works.

Orchestra is a performance-based class, so let’s perform well! Come experience specific strategies for transforming the sound of your orchestra in just one rehearsal! This clinic will be filled with reminders for experienced teachers and is a must-see for young string teachers who need rehearsal ideas ready for Monday!

This session will provide content and techniques to better teach the fundamentals of bassoon pedagogy to beginning and intermediate bassoon students, including common pitfalls and misconceptions. The session will address posture and holding the bassoon, embouchure, tone production, air velocity and air pressure, intonation, articulation, acceptable and necessary alternate fingerings, vibrato, reeds, and switching students from other instruments.

Looking to dive deeper into the content of the session? Check out these supporting materials:

• Session Presentation Slides