On February 5-7, I had the enormous pleasure of serving on the faculty of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, PlayUSA workshop. Carnegie Hall’s PlayUSA supports partner organizations across the country that offer instrumental music education programs to low-income and underserved K–12 students. These organizations receive funding, as well as training and professional development for teachers and arts administrators, in addition to guidance from Carnegie Hall staff to help address challenges and build on best practices.

The workshop served as one of the many professional development offerings to partner organizations. The theme was “Empowering Students to Lead” and I offered an interactactive session entitled “Cultivating Successful Teacher-Student Relationships.” I was joined by fellow faculty members Thomas Cabaniss, César Cruz, Margaret Jenks, Dennie Palmer Wolf and Randal Swiggum, along with the wonderful staff of Weill Music Institute.

Alongside serving as a faculty member, I was lucky enough to also participate in all of the other sessions. The amount of expertise in the room was inspiring and I walked away with many facts, stories, and teaching techniques to digest. It was wonderful to get to know all of the organizations, as they are doing powerful and meaningful work in music education throughout the country.