BHV AOSA Receives Equipment Grant from ACEMM
BHVAOSA Receives ACMEE Instrumentarium Grant
by Stephanie Dykeman, BHVAOSA Past-President
In November of 2018, I traveled with my BHV colleagues to Cincinnati, Ohio for the 50th anniversary AOSA National Conference. We attended some incredible professional development sessions and met tons of inspiring Orff teachers from around the country. Our mission in attending the conference is not only for our own professional development, but also to be on the lookout for all-star presenters whom we can contract to come and present for our chapter.
It is so enriching to participate in a community network event where we all speak the same language and value this pedagogy of music education and discovering this was life-changing for me. I had my first taste of this feeling about halfway through my first Orff Teacher Education Course back in 2010. By the end of the first week, I was in awe that a community like this existed and that I had found this niche where I could connect with others like me. The more I learned about the Orff Approach to music education, the more I was inspired to continue to invest in this training and develop my skills as both a musician and an educator.
Back at the National Conference, in between sessions, I found a quiet spot in the conference center to take a snack break and check my email. Our BHVAOSA Gmail had a message from the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement (https://acemm.us) describing an “extraordinary opportunity to secure an ensemble of high-quality Orff instruments for the chapter at virtually no expense.” I forwarded the message to my BHV friends asking them, “Is this too good to be true?” Needless to say, we were all in agreement that this was something we should pursue.
The application asked our board members to share their input about the chapter’s goals and ways the ensemble would be used. We wrote about our area Title I schools and how beneficial the use of a mobile ensemble would be in our high-needs communities. We also mentioned BHVAOSA’s 50th-anniversary celebration coming up in 2022. A mobile ensemble would be a wonderful tool for our chapter members to collaborate and celebrate the practice of Orff-Schulwerk in our schools as a community. We shared an idea for an “all-city” concert where we bring our students together to sing, say, dance, play and create. A mobile ensemble would surely help make this a reality.
I have to admit, I was pretty starstruck when I got a call from Steven Calantropio a few weeks later. Steve is a published author (I own his books!) and veteran educator who teaches Orff-Schulwerk Teacher Education “Master Classes” for those who have finished level 3. He called to interview me about how our chapter intended to use the mobile ensemble and why we should be awarded the grant. I spoke to him about the strong institutional relationships we have with SCCC and St. Rose and how the ensemble could not only be used for BHV workshops but with pre-service teachers as well. We discussed the opportunity our members would have to inspire their school communities by bringing a mobile ensemble to their school; the goal being to build momentum to advocate for their own instrumentarium. I believe school communities need to see and hear what an Orff-Schulwerk program has to offer students to buy-in and make the investment. The ACEMM mobile ensemble would be perfect for doing just that.
I am so happy to share that Mr. Calantropio called again a few weeks later to say that we had been selected for the grant. He even gave us a choice over which instruments we wanted! The instruments were delivered June 15th and have a temporary home thanks to Dr. Campbell at the College of St. Rose. The ACEMM mobile ensemble will make its debut at our first workshop on September 28th, 2019. We will be holding an information session before the workshop at 8:30 AM for members interested in signing out the ensemble for part of the 2019-2020 school year.
Our hope in acquiring this grant is to bring awareness to and advocate for elemental music-making by giving students and teachers the resources to make it possible. We hope the ACEMM Mobile Ensemble will allow teachers to advocate for the Orff Schulwerk approach to music education and show administration, school board members, parents and other community stakeholders how beneficial it is to give children access to a complete music education.
