If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to pass them onto , MICCA's All-State Clinics Coordinator.
Micca All State sessions for 2025
Ensemble Rehearsal Techniques
March 27, 2025
9:00 AM-9:50 AMET
DCU Center - Meeting Room C
This session will explore score study and subsequent rehearsal techniques, using the methodology found in Dr. Boysen's book entitled "Developing Rehearsal Techniques Through Active Listening". It will focus on how to turn score study into practical use by giving timely and specific feedback to ensemble members, thereby making the rehearsal process more engaging and deepening student understanding of the music making process. It not only advances the student's performance, it provides an opportunity for all students to progress through the use of targeted and specific feedback that can then be generalized for the entire ensemble.
Jeffrey Leonard
Berklee College of Music, Boston University
Andrew Boysen
University of New Hampshire
Teaching High School Band in a Single-Ensemble Format
March 27, 2025
3:30 PM-4:20 PMET
DCU Center - Meeting Room E
Although it can be most effective to have multiple ensembles at the high school level which are grouped into similar levels of experience/ability, the reality in most schools is that all students in a particular type of ensemble are in one large ensemble setting. This variety of ages/abilities/experience is almost never experienced in other disciplines/subjects, and can lead to focusing on a sub-set of students who are in the "center" of the group and not meeting the needs of many other students. This session will target teaching/rehearsal strategies that can be used to effectively engage an ensemble that spans grades 9-12, with a variety of ability and experience levels.
Jason Bielik
Medfield Public Schools
Programming Latin American Folk Music in the High School Choir Classroom
March 28, 2025
8:00 AM-8:50 AMET
Hilton Garden Inn - Perennials B
In this interactive session, we will discuss several styles of folk music from various parts of Latin America and their Indigenous, African, and European traditions. We will investigate how these influences created distinctly unique music styles and the correct performance practice for each. Participants are invited to participate in an introduction/ reading session for pieces from each region that was discussed.
Sara Durkin
North Andover High School
Conducting as Communication
March 28, 2025
9:00 AM-9:50 AMET
DCU Center - Meeting Room C
This session will focus on ways to make our conducting more intentional and focused, including methods it improve our ability to better help our own ensembles through our gestures. The session will be interactive, as participants will look at a score together and vote for a particular moment in the music that they would want to focus on. Depending on which moment is selected, we will jump to one of a number of techniques that can be used to improve the necessary conducting gestures. The goal will be to develop more musical, artistic, and helpful conducting that can be applied immediately when we return to our classrooms.
Andrew Boysen
University of New Hampshire
Develop Relationships and Advocate!
March 28, 2025
3:30 PM-4:20 PMET
Hilton Garden Inn - Picknelly Room
Do you have ideas that you would like to bring to the administrative table in your district but are not quite sure how? This session is for you! We will discuss developing relationships with the decision makers in your district and how to bring your ideas to the table. Session attendees are encouraged to bring an idea of yours, and we will workshop some strategies so that you can feel confident beginning a discussion when you return to school.
Cami Tedoldi
MICCA
Developing a Leadership Program for your High School Music Program
March 28, 2025
4:30 PM-5:20 PMET
DCU Center - Meeting Room D
Developing a student leadership program can be daunting but will pay dividends for your school's music program for generations to come. Hear about the benefits of a student leadership program and what it can do for your program. You will hear the benefits of an established program as well as a program that is in its infancy.
Arthur Thovmasian
Longmeadow HS
Cami Tedoldi
MICCA