Newest Classroom Music Techniques, Taught By Elaine Gates Of LI University And USDAN
 
(Long Island, N.Y.) Elaine Gates, a distinguished vocal music educator and a member of Usdan’s faculty, will again offer workshops for classroom music teachers at the Center. This season’s 2-day workshop will be offered on July 19 and 20, and again on July 28 and 29. The topic is Differentiated Instruction and Rubrics—Oh MY!! A certificate of completion will be provided for in-service credit. Mrs. Gates will explore new techniques designed to maintain a music teacher’s focus on traditional classroom music methods (such as Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze, or Gordon) while also accommodating current practices in Differentiated Instruction. Her course will provide strategies for incorporating this method into vocal music teaching, at the same time reinforcing each teacher’s commitment to the joy of classroom music.
 
Elaine Gates’ career as a vocal music teacher, choral conductor, and festival clinician has taken her from the Huntington School District to teaching at the college level. She was the Director of Undergraduate Music Education at New York University, and is currently on the faculty of Long Island University. Mrs. Gates has served on Usdan’s faculty since 1968.
 
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE (8:30 AM to 3:30 PM each day):
 
Monday & Tuesday, July 19–20 OR Wednesday & Thursday, July 28–29
 
Workshops are $95. Each. For information and registration materials, call: 631-643-7900
 
Usdan Center, now entering its 43rd season, has introduced the arts to more than 50,000 Tri-State Area children since its founding in 1968. The Center, on a 200-acre woodland setting at 185 Colonial Springs Road in Huntington, is open to all young people from age 6 to 18. No audition is needed for most programs – rather, admission is based on an expression of interest in the arts. Each summer, 1,500 students are transported to the Center in air-conditioned buses every day. One-third of Usdan’s students attend on scholarship.  Although the mission of the Center is for every child to establish a relationship with the arts, the unique stimulation of the Center has caused many to go on to arts careers.   Alumni include singers Jane Monheit and Mariah Carey, actresses Natalie Portman and Lisa Gay Hamilton, and members of major music, theater, and dance ensembles, such as the New York, Boston, and Los Angeles orchestras, to the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater.
 
The 2010 season of Usdan Center opens on June 28, and continues through August 13. For more information about programs at Usdan Center, visit www.usdan.com, write to info@usdan.com, or call (631) 643-7900.
 
In addition to its regular programs, Usdan offers special opportunities for advanced high school age performing and visual artists. These include Music Staff Internships, a Summer Ballet Intensive, and the Usdan Honors Art Intensive. Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York.