NAfME & Diversity: Let’s talk about it

05/12/16 • 6 min

Marketing Music Education with Kathleen Heuer

There has been a stunning turn of events in the world of music education this week, and they concern diversity. The National Association for Music Education has replaced their CEO after allegations of possibly racist statements made at a NEA event.

Join me tomorrow, May 13, 2016 at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time as I host my first Blab to discuss what happened, why, and where we go from here.

If you can’t be there in person, leave me a 90-second voicemail here, or share an mp3 file with me. You can also leave me your thoughts here in the comments or on social media, and I’ll be glad to read them.

The post NAfME & Diversity: Let’s talk about it appeared first on Kathleen Heuer.

Join me tomorrow, May 13, 2016 at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time as I host my first Blab to discuss what happened, why, and where we go from here.

The post NAfME & Diversity: Let’s talk about it appeared first on Kathleen Heuer.

Previous Episode

Jeff Grogan, 2017 MFA Honor Orchestra of America conductor

Photo credit Fred Stucker

Read the full article about Jeff Grogan I wrote for the Music for All Orchestra America Newsletter here. Learn more about the Orchestra America National Festival here, and how students can apply to work with Jeff Grogan as a member of the 2017 Honor Orchestra of America here.

Don’t forget: subscribe here on Google Play, here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher to get each episode as soon as it’s available!

Jeff Grogan serves as conductor and artistic director of the InterSchool Orchestras of New York as well as the Greater Newark Youth Orchestras and music director and conductor of the New Jersey Youth Symphony. He is in his sixth season as the education and community engagement conductor for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra , where he leads the NJSO in a variety of concerts each season.

In addition, he spends a large portion of each season working with school music programs, festivals, and conducting All State Orchestras throughout the country. Prior to his appointment with the NJSO, Grogan was director of orchestras and associate professor at the Ithaca College School of Music. Grogan was previously on faculty at the University of Michigan and Baylor University. He taught public school in the Desoto (Texas) Independent School District. Grogan is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University and the University of Michigan.

Resources from my conversation with Jeff Grogan

InterSchool Orchestras of New York

Greater Newark Youth Orchestras

New Jersey Youth Symphony

Orchestra You at the New Jersey Symphony

NPR’s coverage of Orchestra You

Get Some Grit podcast with Bruce Faske:
Episode 16 – Spring Break? Or Spring Repair?

The post Jeff Grogan, 2017 MFA Honor Orchestra of America conductor appeared first on Kathleen Heuer.

Next Episode

NAfME President Glenn Nierman

Glenn Nierman is the current president of the National Association for Music Education. A blog post was published alleging that NAfME CEO Michael Butera made controversial comments about race and diversity at a recent event hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts. That’s when Dr. Nierman found himself near the eye of a public relations firestorm.

Halftime Magazine has a great recap of the timeline of events here.

Dr. Nierman was kind enough to join me Friday afternoon to talk about the week’s turn of events, and what comes next for NAfME. Here’s what we discussed.

Questions for NAfME president Glenn Nierman

How are board members selected?

How can NAfME’s current policies be adjusted to encourage increased diversity?

What was the selection process for the new CEO? Why was interim leadership not appointed?

What kind of experience does new CEO Michael Blakeslee have with diversity?

Where do the issues with diversity in music education begin? Are we not recruiting diverse students into music ed to begin with?

What would you tell people about what happened this week and what comes next?

How can music educators nationwide help increase diversity?

Ready to discuss?

So were we. Check out this Blab roundtable featuring Matthew Stultz of Together We Can, Olin Hannum of the AMusEd podcast, Bruce Faske of the Get Some Grit podcast, and via chat, Scott Lang of Scott Lang Leadership.

About NAfME President Glenn Nierman

Glenn E. Nierman, NAfME President for 2014-2016, is currently a member of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music faculty. He teaches graduate classes in research and curriculum development, as well as a non-major popular music guitar class. His public school teaching experience includes work with middle school general music and choir, as well as high school band and orchestra. Glenn, a Past President of NAfME’s North Central Division and a Past President of the Nebraska Music Educators Association (NMEA), also served his state as the Chairperson of College/University Affairs and Chairperson of the Coalition for Music Education, the advocacy arm of NMEA. In these positions, he organized the state’s first Music Mentor Program for beginning music educators and helped to draft legislation debated before the Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee to promote the need for standards in the arts.

Dr. Nierman has authored many journal articles, made numerous presentations at NAFME Conferences, and given addresses at World Congresses of the International Society of Music Education (ISME) around the world. He has authored chapters in NAFME’s Benchmarks in Action and Spotlight on Assessment publications. Honors and awards include recognition for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching and receipt of the Steinhart Distinguished Endowed Professorship in Music Education. He holds a B.M. in Music Education from Washburn University (Kansas), and M.M. and D.M.E. degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Read Glenn Nierman’s resume.

Thanks to fellow podcaster Jason Heath for the recent ...