MacPhail at the MMEA Mid-Winter Convention
MacPhail at MMEA Schedule
Thursday, February 15
| 1:00 PM | WARMUP! The MMEA Get-Together Ballroom A |
| 2:15 – 3:15 | Sarah Hruska Olson: “The Creative Traveler” – Pathways Through Multiple Musical Communities 200FG |
| 2:15 – 3:15 | Roque Diaz*, Progressing Forward: A Conversation about DEI in Music Education M100JI |
| 3:30 – 4:30 | Brandi Waller-Pace: Headliner Session: U.S. Old Time Music M101ABC |
Friday, February 16
| 10:00 to Noon | Michael Cain: Introducing EKWE: A Unique Music Creation App for All Ages MacPhail booth 407,506 |
| 1:00 | MacPhail Northside Youth Orchestra (MNYO) Performance 101ABCHIJ |
| 2:15 | Roque Diaz: Creating Your ‘Why?’ – A Conversation with MMEA’s DEIA Task Force M100JI |
| 3:30 – 4:30 | Brandi Waller-Pace: Headliner Session: Who Built the Banjo? Blackness in American Roots Music M101ABC |
| 5:00 – 6:00 | Brandi Waller-Pace: Headliner Session: Culturally Responsive Song Selection 101FG |
| 5:00 | The Paper Clips Trombone Quartet M101ABC |
Saturday, February 17
| 1:00 PM | Isaac Rohr and Kevin Huseth: Integrating Music Production into Your High School Music Program 101FG |
Brandi Waller-Pace
Brandi Waller-Pace (she/they) is a Fort Worth-based artist, educator, and scholar/activist. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit Decolonizing the Music Room. Brandi holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music in Jazz Studies from Howard University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Music Education at the University of North Texas. She has completed full Orff Shulwerk certification, Kodaly I, and Music Learning Theory I and II. An 11-year veteran music educator, Brandi has co-written district elementary music curriculum.
In 2019 and 2020 Brandi served on the Texas African American Studies Course Curriculum Advisory Team that helped to formulate curriculum standards for the first state-approved African American History course. As a singer and multi-instrumentalist, she performs primarily jazz, neo-soul, and American roots music. She is the Founder and Organizer of the Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival, which highlights blackness in American roots music. Brandi publishes and presents on many topics, including decolonizing and antiracist philosophies, Black roots music, and culturally relevant practices. Brandi sits on the board of directors of Folk Alliance International.
Sessions Lead by Brandi
Attendees will learn basic history and conventions of U.S. old time music making. Attendees should bring ukes or guitars (uke basses and acoustic basses are welcome as well). We will learn a couple of tunes!
Thursday, 3:30 – 4:30 pm, Room M101ABC
This session introduces the central place of blackness in American roots music. It will feature prominent Black figures whose work can be shared with music students.
Friday, 3:30 – 4:30, Room M101ABC
How do we decide whether or not to use a song with our students? Attendees will learn basic approaches to evaluating repertoire choices in the classroom. We will do this through the lens of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian voices.
Friday, 5:00 – 6:00 pm, Room 101FG
If you miss Brandi Waller-Pace’s sessions, we hope to have the video recordings up on our Read.Watch.Listen page shortly after the event.
MMEA Community Music Educators of the Year
MacPhail proudly congratulates our two MMEA Music Educator of the Year Award recipients!
L.A. Buckner
Arthur “L.A.” Buckner‘s deep infatuation with music began at an early age. At age 3 he would practically go an entire church service without looking away from the drums. His father took notice and shortly thereafter purchased his first drum kit.
L.A. Buckner is a performing musician, teaching artist, and producer from the Northside of Minneapolis. He holds a Master’s degree in Music Performance from McNally Smith College of Music, and is a community partnership instructor for the MacPhail Center for Music. His artistry is full of energy, excitement, culture and excellence.
Elizabeth Winslow
Originally from Denver, Colorado, Elizabeth (Liz) Winslow moved to Minnesota to earn her undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in Instrumental Music Education with honors in composition, magna cum laude. After graduation, Elizabeth served as assistant director at Brooklyn Center High School and then moved on as director of band and choir at Marshall County Central High School. She worked with the Richfield Marching Spartans from 2012-2021 and was the Richfield High School director of bands from 2016-2021.
Find Us at Our Booth
These MacPhail staff & faculty members will be attending the MMEA conference. Drop us a word!
Learn more about what is happening at MacPhail
MacPhail School Partnerships
MacPhail provides customized and innovative music education programs for K-12 schools.
Project Amplify
Project Amplify provides transformational programming that nurtures creativity, honors students’ backgrounds, and provides tools and resources to support K-12 education at no cost to schools or music educators.
EMRA (Electronic Music Recording Arts)
MacPhail’s EMRA program delivers instruction in a wide range of skills, concepts, and techniques associated with contemporary music-making and traditional styles.
Ekwe
Ekwe™ is a mobile-based music platform bringing a new level of ease to digital music creation. By combining a library of 150 sampled authentic musical instruments from around the world with contemporary electronic loops and instruments, accessed through an intuitive compositional canvas, creators can easily explore, edit, create, collaborate, and share their compositions. A free one-year Ekwe subscription is available to all members of the MacPhail community. (This means you!)