2026 Maine Music Educators Association Conference

Programming a concert is more than just picking the music. In this session we will look at some guidelines, practices and philosophies for putting together a program which meets your educational goals and is musically satisfying and fun for both the students and the audience.

In our ensemble classrooms, we aren’t given a curriculum book that tells us what to teach. This session will provide practical strategies for building and expanding your own curriculum, from scaffolding lessons to selecting musical concepts and repertoire. You’ll explore an approach that validates your teaching while encouraging students to actively engage with the concepts you present. Fully developed unit examples, along with free lesson plans and resources, will be shared for immediate use and adaptation. Leave equipped with tools to design a program where every rehearsal fosters musicianship, student engagement, and deeper connections to music.