December 15, 2022
Meghan O'Toole
Music faculty to present at prestigious conference
One of the largest music education conferences in the world brings guests from all 50 states and more than 40 countries to Chicago. This year, Associate Professor of Music and Chair of Music Scott Edgar, Teaching Associate in Music Max Briggs, and Teaching Associate in Music Natalie Grana are presenting.
The Midwest Clinic International Band, Orchestra and Music Conference brings together more than 18,000 attendees to discuss music education in an array of clinics and exhibits. The conference allows experts to network with one another, learn and share ideas, as well as promote and make music.
Participation in a conference of this size is competitive, and the Midwest Clinic in particular is a prestigious space in the sphere of music education. For Lake Forest College and Edgar, having three faculty members presenting is a point of pride.
“Every December, the band and orchestra world centers itself on Chicago, where the best in the field are highlighted,” Edgar said. “This is why it's so incredible that three faculty members from the College are on this year's slate of learning.”
Edgar will be presenting in the “Humanity in Instrumental Music Education: Driving Toward the Future” clinic on December 21, which considers questions of access and relevance in music education. The session will draw from mindfulness, social-emotional learning (SEL), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and diversity, with a goal of reaffirming humanity in instrumental music education through a focus on purpose, diversity, belonging, and well-being.
Edgar’s work focuses on SEL, a learning process by which students develop healthy identities and manage emotions in order to help them achieve individual and collective goals.
“The whole team of panelists will be thinking about how to serve the student more wholly as people in addition to teaching them rhythm and beats,” Edgar said.
Briggs is a featured soloist at the conference and will be performing the first movement of Edward Gregson’s Tuba Concerto.
“This is exciting for me because it will be my first time performing as a featured soloist at a major conference, and I get the opportunity to show off the soloistic capabilities of the tuba,” Briggs said. “I hope to gain knowledge, insights, and professional connections that I can use in my performance and teaching, and to advance my career.”
Grana, a French Horn player and instructor, will be presenting a clinic called “Building Better Ears in your Brass Section,” which will focus on training brass players to “hear the music on the page.”
“The session is not a lecture, but more of an interactive session and workshop,” Grana explained. The session is based on the knowledge Grana gained while studying the Kodály method as a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary.
The conference is additionally important due to the access it provides for networking opportunities. For Grana, this also means promoting her new book, A Singing Approach to Horn Playing.
“This is my chance to share the pedagogy from the book, and I hope I can spread the word a bit on that and get feedback from educators who are using it,” Grana said. “Great educators are always evolving and going out of their way to learn new methods. At the conference, I can also learn from sessions and meet like-minded people who just want to become better teachers.”
The conference will take place December 19–22 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.
“Everyone comes to get recharged and take part in meaningful professional learning,” Edgar said of the meeting. “It’s an honor to be part of a panel and work with some of the leading experts in the field across the world.”
Related links
- Discover music education at Lake Forest College
- Learn more about music at Lake Forest College
- Get in touch with our music faculty