Since the late nineties, composition projects inviting artists and contemporary composers into schools and communities became more established and written about in German speaking countries (see for instance Henze, 1998; Schneider, Bösze & Stangl, 2000; Schneider, 2000; Schatt, 2009; Schlothfeldt, 2009; Schneider, 2012). Additionally, music…

This article explores the ways in which a musical learning project acted as a space for critical artistic and relational engagements in two middle school (ages 11-14) music programs. Drawing from work on cultural production and border crossing pedagogies, this project invited students to create soundscape compositions that explored the question…

This column presents an outline for the secondary general classroom. The project, called a "soundwalk," requires students to use music, sounds, and technology to create immersive, cinematic audio tours of their school and community. The author argues that the soundwalk is a perfect opportunity for students within secondary general music courses to…

Music education scholars and veteran teachers often assert that composition is an essential part of a child's participation in music, but like many music educators, the author was reluctant to include it as part of her daily beginning band curriculum. Time and money were limited, and she wanted to be sure to cover all the material that beginners…