A few months ago I was interviewed by a former student of mine for his podcast, “The Shami Beni Show”. It was such an honor to sit down with Mr. Shami Beni and discuss how to be an effective music teacher. We covered topics such as what we are learning from our students and how to apply that in the classroom, as well as musicianship, notation, and how children learn to play music. Shami is a great interviewer and has spoken with a variety of musicians on his show. Check him out on Spotify! Here is our interview on YouTube.
Inspiring reads for music teachers
When the Saints go marching in has never sounded so good
I have the privilege to work with some amazing musicians. Here is there arrangement and production of When the Saints go marching. They also happen to be father and son.
Podcasts
Good podcasts are those that are not only enjoyable but also where I learn something new that I can apply to my teaching. I do a lot of driving during the school year between student-teacher observations and just my weekly commute. Podcasts have made this experience a lot more enjoyable. I don’t miss an episode from Katie Wardrobe at Midnight music. I highly recommend her show if you work with music education and technology. Here is a link to her podcast called, Music tech teacher podcast. I also recommend this exhaustive list of music education podcasts from Evan Tobias. Happy listening!
Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo
The workshop at UNASP was a fantastic closing workshop! This is the University of several other exchange students, Jéssica and Rennen. The workshops began in the beautiful chapel where Dr. Moorman-Stahlman gave an organ master class and the girls performed many handbell pieces. The afternoon I presented boomwhackers and bucket drums but we also started off with a crowd favorite, “Two by Two” No matter where we went everyone caught onto the English words to this song rather easily and it was a lot of fun watching all ages from children to college students creating motions.
The students in this workshop embraced everything that we taught them and they were so talented. At the very end of the workshop, they worked together on a group percussion piece and it was indeed the highlight of the day for me! The images and video below share some additional highlights and a little glimpse of this gorgeous chapel.
Campinas
UNICAMP in Campinas. Our workshop at the University of Campinas was very special as it is the school where Rafael, one of the Brazilian exchange students attends. Rafael and his brother Rennan, traveled to LVC last year as part of the cultural exchange group. Fun fact, Rafael, and Rennan are from a large family and are also part of quadruplets! We gave handbell, boomwhacker and drumming workshops here. Bruna (another exchange student) also joined us here and helped so much by bringing her handbell tables and covers. 
In the afternoon we visited an after-school music program, funded as a government project in partnership with a professor we met at UNICAMP. This music program buses in kids from different area schools for the afternoon, which is unheard of because they don’t typically do school buses in any district. We lead two different music classes of 6-7-year-olds, combining elements of both our handbell and boomwhackers/bucket drums workshops. The children were delightful and we had a lot of fun teaching handbells and singing games.
Jundiaí
From Porto Velho, we traveled to Jundiaí where we stayed with the beautiful Gonzales family. Dr. Moorman-Stahlman became friends with Helena Gonzales through one of her concerts in the city and since that time Helena and her family have opened their home to LVC students traveling and giving workshops in the cultural exchange program. As you can see from these photos, we had a little play time in the morning before our workshop. We visited the botanical gardens nearby and had a lot of fun along the way.
In the evening we went to the Jundiaí, Christian School of Music (Casa Deus) where we gave workshops in handbells, tone chimes, bucket drumming and boomwhackers. We were very moved when the children all reached out their hands and prayed for us at the end of the service and then graced us with several beautiful songs. We then had a great question and answer period where they asked us all sorts of questions from our birthdays to what kind of food we liked most in Brazil. By the time we left that school, we felt very connected to these Brazilian students. Music makes community!
Food in Brazil is Surpreendente!
Today we were treated to the sights of São Paulo! We visited the Cathedral and the oldest church in São Paulo the Basilica José de Anchieta. This church was built in 1554. We then visited the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) which displayed beautiful works of art from International artists such as Renoir, Gauguin, and Gainesborough alongside masterpieces by Latin American greats like Diego Rivera, Candido Portinari, and Anita Malfatti. These wonderful works of art were displayed by hanging on large crystal likes frames. It was really spectacular. Afterward, we went to the market where we enjoyed some of the most fantastic combinations of fruit such as luscious figs with ripe strawberries on top! Yum.
Piano Recital and Handbell Concert!
Tonight Dr. Moorman-Stahlman performed a selection of recital pieces at the Teatro Estadul Palácio das Artes Rondônia in Porto Velho Brazil. Her handbell students, Abby Stoner, Robin McAnally and Rachel Schulz performed beautiful pieces demonstrating many handbell techniques and artistry. At the conclusion of the concert the entire audience stood in line to greet them and take pictures with them. They are true rock stars and madeLebanon Valley College very proud tonight! #LVC.
Workshop Day 1&2
Yesterday we finished a two-day workshop at the Primeira Igreja Batista De Rondônia (PIBRO). The mornings started with a piano master class given by Dr. Moorman-Stahlman with assistance by Robin. This was followed by a handbell/tone chimes workshop where the participants really learned the techniques of handbell playing and performed some compositions that they will continue with tomorrow. Rachel Schultz was busy teaching a string workshop and Abby was working with a percussion workshop. At the conclusion of each workshop, all participants received a beautiful certificate which we presented along with a photo with each one. What a beautiful way to conclude two days of sharing music together.
Sharon G. Davis 