After Hours: Conversations for Music Educators
After Hours: Conversations for Music Educators is a music education podcast from Amro Music Stores, Inc. Our After Hours podcast host, Nick Averwater, facilitates engaging conversations each week with band directors, private music teachers, general music educators, orchestra directors, and other music industry professionals just like you. Each podcast guest shares practical advice on things like classroom management in your band program, placing beginners on instruments, band and orchestra recruitment strategies, band boosters, fundraising, and more. The goal of After Hours is to provide a podcast for band directors, orchestra directors, and music educators with strategies for both "on-podium" and “off...
Adapting To The Different Ways Students Learn Music
This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Gillian Desmarais, who teaches Music Production and Engineering at Harmony Learning Center in Maplewood, MN. Gillian is the founder of Sound Tech Ed, a website that provides resources for music programs that allow students to learn and grow with music technology. She has also been named to the 2024 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of music educators, and was named 2024 Teacher Of The Year by TI:ME.
In this episode Gillian will tell us more about Harmony Learning Center, the students she teaches there, and the ways in which she customizes the curriculum...
More Ideas To Easily Bring Music Technology Into Your Classroom
This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Gillian Desmarais, who teaches Music Production and Engineering at Harmony Learning Center in Maplewood, MN. Gillian is the founder of Sound Tech Ed, a website that provides resources for music programs that allow students to learn and grow with music technology. She has also been named to the 2024 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of music educators, and was named 2024 Teacher Of The Year by TI:ME.
In this episode Gillian will share some ideas for music educators who want to introduce music technology into their classroom, or expand upon what they are...
Using Digital Audio Workstations and Web Apps To Teach Music
This week we continue our look at using technology in music education, as Nick Averwater talks with Gillian Desmarais, who teaches Music Production and Engineering at Harmony Learning Center in Maplewood, MN.
Gillian is the founder of Sound Tech Ed, a website that provides resources for music programs that allow students to learn and grow with music technology. She has also been named to the 2024 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of music educators, and was named 2024 Teacher Of The Year by TI:ME.
In this episode we'll be learning about Gillian's early interest in music technology, and how that...
More Practical AI Resources For Music Educators
This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Theresa Hoover, a music educator, clinician, author, and podcast host.
In the last episode, we learned about how technology, particularly AI, can benefit music educators with things like writing lesson plans and recruitment. This week Theresa will talk about other AI resources that are useful to music educators. We'll also find out more about the concepts behind her book, Empowering Ensembles with Technology, which can be downloaded at the website for F-Flat Books.
Our conversation was recorded August 5, 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part...
Making The Most Of AI In Music Education
This week Nick Averwater talks with Theresa Hoover, a music educator, clinician, author, and podcast host.
In this episode, we'll be learning about how technology, particularly AI, can benefit music educators with things like writing lesson plans, recruitment, and more. Theresa is the author of the book, Empowering Ensembles with Technology, which can be downloaded at the website for F-Flat Books.
Our conversation was recorded August 5, 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.
Here's Theresa's website
Here's Theresa's "Pass The Baton" podcast
Envisioning Success As The New School Year Begins
This week Nick Averwater talks with Dr. Matthew Arau, Chair of the Music Education department at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and author of the book, Upbeat! Mindset, Mindfulness and Leadership in Music Education And Beyond, published by GIA Publications. Dr. Arau is also the founder of Upbeat Global.
As the 2024-2025 school year gets underway, Dr. Arau will share his ideas for starting the year off right, including ways of defining success, setting realistic goals for yourself and your students, and more.
The Importance Of Diversity In Repertoire, Ensembles, And Instrumentation
We've been away for a few weeks while we finished up a two-year renovation project here at Amro Music. We're thrilled with the results, and excited to serve our education partners more effectively than ever. We've posted a video on our YouTube channel that shows some of the improvements that we've made to the store, our repair shop, and our Director Services department, but there's nothing like seeing it all in person, so if you're ever in Memphis, we hope you'll take some time to stop by. We would love to see you.
This week we have...
"Everyone Is Musical And Music Education Is For Everyone"
This week Nick Averwater talks with David Davis, Music Teacher at Park Spanish Immersion Elementary School in St. Louis Park, MN, a city of around 50,000 people just west of Minneapolis. David was named to the 2023 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of Music Educators.
In this episode we'll learn about the people and experiences that inspired him to become a music educator, and we'll find out about some non-traditional approaches to keep students interested, and increase enrollment and retention in his music ensembles.
Our conversation was recorded in January 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part o...
Being Positive And Proactive When Advocating For Your Music Program
This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Dr. Emily Williams Burch, Professor of Music at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. Dr. Burch was also named to the 2023 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of Music Educators.
In this episode we'll learn about the work she has done with the American Choral Directors Association to provide advocacy resources to fellow educators.
Our conversation was recorded in November, 2023. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.
Looking At The Business Of Choir To Build And Maintain A Successful Choral Program
This week Nick Averwater talks with Dr. Emily Williams Burch, Professor of Music at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. Dr. Burch was also named to the 2023 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of Music Educators.
In this episode we'll learn about the book that she co-authored with Alex Gartner called The Business Of Choir, A Choral Leader's Guide For Organizational Growth.
Our conversation was recorded in November, 2023. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.