Conductor/composer Jonathan Allentoff will lead a dynamic Virtual Pop! 10 Session on celebrating popular music in the studio orchestra setting with community-wide collaborations. The presentation will highlight insights from Allentoff’s collaborative concerts with the Eastman Summer Studio Orchestra, Brockport Symphony Orchestra, and the Flight 584 Big Band.

Songwriting often includes expressing personal thoughts and feelings in music form, and it can also be a scary experience when sharing, as ideas can feel like an extension of yourself. This presentation explores both the connection and the protection of sharing original songs with specific ideas for implementation in classrooms.

The book “We Got Our Own Thang: A Look At Hip Hop In The 914” came about because I noticed one region that was often overlooked and underrepresented was the 914. Therefore, I present this literary offering  to celebrate the role of 914 Hip Hop.

Vasil (2015) notes that access to conducive physical spaces is a vital consideration for teachers choosing to employ methods associated with PME. In her discussion of ‘utopian’ music education Wright (2019) highlights that the ideal music building for teachers employing PME methods may include access to quality equipment, additional break-out spaces, and soundproofing. However, not all schools are able to provide ideal music spaces, and teachers must negotiate their pedagogical aims within the physical limitations of their environment. This research explores the ways in which physical space informs the teaching practices of seven educators employing PME methods in Victoria, Australia. These educators took part in semi-structured interviews, and were asked to engage with arts based methods during an activity in which they drew their “ideal” music building. These interview transcripts and artworks are analyzed to explore the ways in which the pedagogical aims of educators are aided and/or mediated by the spaces in which they work. Additionally Schmidt’s (2020) concept of policy knowhow is utilized to explore the ways in which these educators have facilitated changes and alterations to physical spaces to aid in their implementation of PME methods. PME is linked to higher levels of engagement (Wilson, 2018) retention ( Jeanneret, 2010) and student cohorts more inclusive of marginalized populations (Byo, 2018; Claus, Beard & Chadwick, 2017). Consequently, exploring ways in which physical spaces may aid or inhibit the implementation of these practices is increasingly necessary as PME advocacy continues to influence the practices of music educators.