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Welcome to the APME Memphis 2025 conference. Here, you’ll be able to register for the conference and update your Sched profile. The conference schedule will be available in late spring 2025. At that time, you can view the schedule and select the presentations you’d like to attend. If you have any questions, please visit our conference website or contact us at conference@popularmusiceducation.org We look forward to coming together as a community June 4–7, 2025. 
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Building Bridges: Integrating Traditional and Popular Music in Education
Friday June 6, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
SPAC - Hodges Choral Room
This panel assembles a group of music educators, scholars, and practitioners to critically examine the complex landscape of music education, focusing on the critical intersection between traditional academic approaches and popular musical forms. By bringing together diverse perspectives from ethnomusicology, contemporary pedagogy, and performance practice, the panel aims to deconstruct long-standing barriers that have traditionally separated classical and popular music curricula. Participants will delve into the historical contexts that have shaped music education, exploring how institutionalized approaches have often marginalized non-Western and contemporary musical expressions. The discussion will address the evolving nature of musical literacy in a globalized, digitally connected world, where students increasingly engage with hybrid and multicultural musical experiences. The panel will highlight innovative pedagogical strategies that embrace musical diversity, emphasizing collaborative learning, interdisciplinary approaches, and student-centered methodologies. Practical recommendations will be presented for developing inclusive curricula that recognize the value of multiple musical traditions, from classical symphonic works to jazz, rock, electronic, and world music genres. By challenging existing paradigms, this panel seeks to inspire educators to create dynamic, responsive learning environments that reflect the rich complexity of contemporary musical culture.
Speakers
avatar for Sarah Rector

Sarah Rector

Professor, Porterville College
singer-songwriter, community college professor, DMA candidate (Boston University)
avatar for Heather Trussell

Heather Trussell

Teacher, The Soulsville Charter School
avatar for Michael Parsons

Michael Parsons

Director of Instrumental / Commercial Music, Briarcrest Christian School / The Univ. of Memphis
Michael Parsons, serves as the Director of Instrumental and Commercial Music at Briarcrest Christian School. Michael directs the Briarcrest Symphonic Band, Briarcrest’s commercial music ensembles, SoundScape and 76-South, Studio 73 Record Label and oversees all aspects of Briarcrest’s... Read More →
avatar for Shaman McGowen

Shaman McGowen

Director of Bands, The Soulsville Charter School
High School Modern Band Practices
TL
SS
Friday June 6, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
SPAC - Hodges Choral Room 3800 Central Ave, Memphis, TN 38117
  Higher Popular Music Education (HPME), Panel

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