$60 for all four workshops Special Discount for BAKE Members

Choose BAKE as your affiliation!

$25-50 sliding scale per Workshop for OAKE members from different chapters and non-OAKE members.

Free for pre-service educators who are student members of OAKE/BAKE (also free!)

Deepening Musicianship in Choral Ensembles

Presented Online & In-Person at East Somerville Community School, located at 50 Cross St., Somerville, MA 02145.

Georgia Newlin
September 23rd, 9 AM - 1 PM

How can musicianship be developed in a group of singers with differing technical levels?

This workshop will examine a part-singing sequence designed to guide singers toward a higher level of personal musicianship in choral ensembles. By using the tools of solfège, learning to sing in parts independently, and understanding the meaning of "listening to others", musicianship can be fostered and developed in all choral ensembles. Appropriate for directors of Elementary-, Middle-, and High School, Church, and Community Choirs.

The school year provides many opportunities for our students to become involved with music. When we provide experiences outside the classroom, we also make them available to our faculty, school and community. When the community is invited to participate in our music programs, they become invested in the child’s development and the growth of the music program, as well. It is our job to create opportunities for all the members of our community to become involved with music on a continuous and consistent basis throughout the day, the month and the year. Participants will be introduced to a dozen ways to enrich the musical growth and development of their students, their school and their community.

Participants will be introduced to a dozen ways to enrich the musical development of their students. These include Morning Music, Grade Level Dance Program, All School Sing, Weekly “Ask Me” Notes, Family Folk Dance, Parents and Babies Classes/Pre-K Music, Parent Participation Classes, May Day Festival, Summer Music CD, Music Lending Library, Classroom Teacher Resources , and Individual Student Portfolios.

In this workshop, you will learn Senegalese rhythms and bàkks (musical phrases) from master Senegalese drummer, Lamine Touré.  In learning traditional sabar drum rhythms and bàkks, along with songs, spoken-word, and dance, you will explore the relationship between polyrhythms; the relationship between spoken word and drummed word; the relationship between rhythm and dance steps; and you will also learn about Senegalese history and culture, directly from the mouth of a Wolof griot who comes from a family that has passed down this important knowledge for generations. 

The tradition:

Sabar is a vibrant drum and dance tradition of the Wolof people of Senegal, West Africa. In Senegal, sabars are played exclusively by griots, a caste of hereditary musicians. Sabar drum troupes perform at a variety of events, from neighborhood dance parties to baptisms, weddings, wrestling matches, and political meetings. The sabar ensemble consists of numerous parts that come together to create complex polyrhythms. Accompaniment parts create the fabric upon which the lead drummer solos and the rest of the ensemble plays rhythms and bàkks (musical phrases, many of which were composed by Lamine Touré or passed down from older generations in his family). Some bàkks are derived from a tradition of rhythmically declaimed spoken-word, called taasu. In this workshop for music educators, Lamine Touré will teach the rudiments of sabar drumming rhythms and also teach the concept of the bàkk. In addition to sabar drumming, Lamine will also teach some sabar dance steps as well as traditional Wolof song. We hope you will join us in this deep exploration of Senegalese music and culture!

Keys to the Magical World of Kodály

Presented Online from London, UK

Esther Hargittai
December 2nd, 2 PM - 6 PM EDT

The Kodály Way:  holistic, sequential, step-by-step musicianship. 

The Key to the Magical World of MUSIC

Find the key for the door that leads us to the magical world of  'MUSIC' through the Kodály Way:'. Develop your own musicianship and learn how to use the Kodály way in your own teaching.

This programming is supported by the Somerville Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.