Kodaly in Action – The craft of teaching
Join Us for an Inspiring Teaching Seminar!
Discover the power of Kodály in Action: The Craft of Teaching
A seminar designed to bring teaching theory to life. Explore how a sequential Kodály program looks in action and dive into practical strategies for engaging older beginners and integrating instrumental programs.
With expert teachers from primary to secondary, strings, band and choral, we’ll explore:
- What great teachers do in action
- How the theory of Kodály teaching looks in practice
- Strategies for aligning instrumental programs with a sequential Kodály curriculum
Don’t miss this opportunity to refine your teaching and connect with fellow educators.
Join us and elevate your teaching craft!
Registration includes morning tea and lunch
Presenters
- Primary
- Ruth Friend
- Stefania Miller
- Alex St Vincent Welch
- Secondary
- Jenny Gillan
- Stefania Miller
- Alex St Vincent Welch
- Instrumental / Choral
- Lisa Grosman (Strings)
- Amy Young (Band)
- Juliana Kay (Choral)
Primary
Ruth Friend is an experienced facilitator in training teachers in the Kodály approach to music education and is serving as President of the Kodály Victoria. Currently teacher training at the Australian Catholic University, she has over 40 years of broad teaching experience and expertise encompassing classroom music and movement, instrumental and choral programs from kindergarten to university.
Her first publication, ‘Put the Beat in ya Feet’ for flute, focused on developing independent, creative young musicians. Ruth has since co-authored the highly successful ‘Take Note Music’ series of student and teacher books along with outstanding resources for the music classroom.
As a music education consultant, she leads professional development for music teachers, and provides coaching and mentoring to assist in maximising their teaching effectiveness. She passionately supports teachers and encourages quality music and movement education in Australia.
Secondary
Jenny Gillan has taught at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in Melbourne since 2007. She taught in London and studied at the Kodály Institute (Hungary), majoring in Advanced Conducting. She holds a Master of Music Studies (UQ). Jenny has taught musicianship and music analysis at all levels of education and has conducted many choirs. She is an experienced examiner and guest lecturer who has presented at many national and international conferences. Jenny has written the textbooks – “Listening Beyond Hearing” (music analysis) and “Progressive Musicianship 1 and 2” (musicianship). She enjoys writing challenging games and songs for her students.
Instrumental: Strings
Lisa Grosman was the Director of the Viola Programme at Monash University. She has recently been appointed Head of Strings at Camberwell Grammar School. Lisa is also on the faculty of the Melbourne Conservatorium Young Artists Academy at the University of Melbourne.
For 15 years, Lisa was a member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, during which time she toured extensively throughout Europe, America and Asia. Lisa was also the Director of Strings for the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s Education and Outreach Project, “Sing Out with Strings” – an El Sistema inspired programme involving more than 300 children from under resourced communities.
Lisa has been performing with the Australian World Orchestra since 2011.
Since returning to Australia, Lisa has performed with ensembles such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria.
With the Fidelio Quartet she has performed the entire Beethoven String Quartet Cycle at the Melbourne Recital Centre, as well as making numerous broadcasts on 3MBSFM.
Lisa began learning Suzuki Method violin at the age of five, and went on to be the Concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra. She studied with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Australian Institute of Music before receiving a scholarship to study viola with Professor Bruno Giuranna at the University of Limerick, where she completed her Master of Arts in Classical String Performance. She continued her studies with Professor Giuranna for a further two years at the Walter Stauffer Institute, Corso di Perfezionamente, in Cremona.
Lisa plays a viola made by Giuseppe Vignali, purchased with assistance from the E.V.Llewellyn Memorial Fund.
Primary
Stefania Miller has taught classroom music for 12 years and is currently the Classroom Music Specialist (Prep- Year 6) and Choral Conductor at St. Cecilia’s Primary School in Glen Iris, Melbourne.
Stefania’s enthusiasm for Kodaly based music education comes from her love of singing and musical theatre. She completed the Australian Kodaly Certificate in 2018 and since then has been passionate about creating fun and exciting musical experiences for her students which are engaging and inclusive of all abilities.
Choral
Juliana Kay
Equally at home working with children, community groups and professionals, Juliana strives to create musical experiences that are both engaging for singers and memorable for audiences. A trained secondary school teacher and Kodaly-inspired educator, she has been conducting choirs and teaching in schools since 2016, while maintaining her own practice as a singer and award-winning composer. She is regularly commissioned to write new music for chamber choirs, amateur choirs and school choirs across Australia, and in 2024 was one of four finalists for the Australian Art Music Awards: Choral Work of the Year. In 2018 she founded innovative chamber choir Choral Edge, which saw her regularly experimenting with multimedia performances and collaborations with comedians, visual artists and theatre directors. Outside of Australia, Juliana has led singing and musicianship workshops in Chile through the Global Leaders Institute, observed and learned from conductors in New Zealand, USA and Cuba, supported by the Sydney Symposium Choral Foundation Conducting Scholarship, and conducted Exaudi on tours to Scotland/Ireland, Italy/Spain and New Zealand.
Primary
Alex St Vincent Welch teaches Music at Camberwell Grammar in Melbourne. He has taught in Queensland, Canada and the UK. He has just completed studying Educational Neuroscience at the University of Melbourne and has a keen interest in the intersection of how we teach music and how the brain learns.
Instrumental: Band
Amy Young graduated from the University of Melbourne with a B. Mus/B.Teach. (Hons.) in 2000. She currently teaches at St Joseph’s College, Geelong, a Catholic boys’ school with approximately 1,900 students. Since 2022, she has held the role of Director of Music, teaching years 7-12 and directing ensembles.
Amy’s interest in Kodály pedagogy began at university during a guest lecture by Deborah Smith. This sparked her passion, leading her to enroll in the first Level 1 secondary course taught in Victoria. Inspired by many eye and ear opening moments and wishing she had been taught this way herself, Amy continued to explore the Kodály method. She completed Level 1 again at the Cuskelly Summer School and Level 2 with Deb Smith in Victoria.
Amy loves integrating Kodály principles into every aspect of her music teaching and ensemble direction. She is always seeking new ways to incorporate musicianship skills into each lesson, viewing it as an ideal entry point to music education for students from diverse backgrounds.
