Role(s) at Shipley: Lower School Music

BM, Mannes College of Music

MM, University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music 

Orff Method Certification, Villanova University 

Greene Street Friends School 

Mastery Charter School 

St. Francis De Sales School 

Former Director, Tune Up Philly, Educational Outreach Program of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra 

American Orff-Schulwerk Association

I’m a clarinetist - you might catch me out playing in the world! 

My grandmother was a pianist and music teacher, and my parents were both folk musicians. There was always music playing in my house, there were instruments everywhere, and my dad was always on the porch honking something out on the Cajun accordion. Not playing music wasn’t really an option. My parents were friends with a well-known jazz clarinetist who would stay with us, and I would listen to him practice. I knew that was the instrument for me. Settlement Music School was like my second home growing up.

I believe in active music-making at all times in the music room, I want students making music from the minute they enter until the minute they leave. I hope that when you come to my classroom it is lively, loud, and joyful! I believe in the inherent ability of all children to be musicians and that they all have something special to contribute to our class. I strive to expose children to the wide and varied world of music. I hope that they leave the Lower School understanding how deeply music and culture are intertwined everywhere in the world. 

I always find this question hard to answer. I think they would say that I’m funny. I love cracking jokes… who doesn’t want to hear a 5-year-old laugh?! But I’m also demanding, kids making music is serious business and requires commitment. 

I have so many it’s really hard to narrow down! Bessie Jones is a big inspiration for me. Step it Down - Games, Plays, Songs and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage, is a book I go to almost weekly. She collected and annotated material for children that would have disappeared otherwise and the songs she preserved are at the root of so much American music. She was an amazing musician, singing in the Georgia Sea Island Singers her entire life, and when I use her book I feel like I am connecting my students to American cultural heritage. 

I listen to everything! I’m a fan of many genres, I love Bach and Miriam Makeba and everything in between. Recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of Chimurenga (the Shona word for liberation) music from Zimbabwe. If you don’t know Thomas Mapfumo, I highly recommend checking him out. 

I do yearly reading challenges, usually on a theme. One year I read 100 books written by women, one year I attempted to read a book from every country… I’m 20 books into this year’s challenge – we’ll see if I make it. Also, My middle name is Anemone, like the sea creature! 

I’m also a Shipley mom and mom to two kitties, Bagel and Muffin!