Teachers often conceive of improvisation, arranging, or composition as culminating steps of a learning experience that was developed solely to showcase the student creativity through performance. While this is an excellent way to demonstrate student-centered skills, another approach involves eliciting smaller creative responses everyday throughout daily learning experiences for which the final product may not feature the improvisation. Sometimes the magic of “everyday improvisation” exists only in the classroom and may—or may not—make its way to the stage, but it is still equally important toward students’ development. Participants in this workshop will experience learning activities that include such choices and opportunities to elicit everyday student choice and creativity through movement, body percussion, untuned percussion, recorder, and mallet instruments.

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Dr. Michael Chandler is currently an Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Music Education at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in music education and supervises student teachers. Dr. Chandler taught elementary general music in Texas public schools for 16 years, where his student groups performed as invited ensembles at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) conference in 2013, 2007, and 2005. He was a collaborative pianist for the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas for 10 years and is the current founding conductor of the Clarksville Children’s Chorus, which was recently featured as an invited choir at the 65th annual convention of the Tennessee Music Educators Association. Michael teaches all three levels of Orff Schulwerk basic pedagogy and recorder in AOSA-approved teacher education courses at the University of Memphis (TN), Southern Methodist University (Dallas), and in the San Francisco International Orff Course. His work has appeared in The Southwestern Musician, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, The Orff Echo, and Orff-Schulwerk International.

Music begins inside human beings, and so must any instruction (Carl Orff, 1932). Using the Principles of Orff Schulwerk that center the humans involved in collaborative musicking while ensuring creativity in improvisation and composition, the workshop demonstrates the interplay of process and product. It proposes to place the artistic and pedagogical spirit of the Orff-Schulwerk as developed by Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman within the context of current 21st century and intercultural music education practice. This workshop provides multiple access points for students to sing, say, move, play, experiment and create within the philosophy of Orff Schulwerk and for teachers and students to engage in joyful, elemental music making.

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Manju Durairaj was born and raised in India. She was involved in graduate research projects on comparative pedagogical practices of Indian (Carnatic) and Western Music at Middlesex University, London, UK. She graduated with her second master’s degree and K-12 certification from VanderCook College of Music, Chicago. She is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Manju is the Lower School Music Teacher at the Latin School of Chicago. She is president for Illinois Music Educators Association (ILMEA) elementary general music division, vice president of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Access (DEIA) of American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA), and a board member of the International Orff Schulwerk Forum, Salzburg (IOSFS). Manju is a certified Orff Schulwerk Levels Teacher Educator and a certified Arts Integration specialist. She is an adjunct professor at VanderCook College of Music and at Lakeland University.

Manju is a frequent clinician at state, national, and international conferences. She has been published in the Orff Echo, Reverberations, Illinois Music Educators Journal, General Music Today, and the Journal of the Council for Research in Music Education. Her publications with Hal Leonard include InterAct with Music Assessment Levels 1 and 2, InterAct Levels 1&2 Student Activities for Devices and Print, Technology in Today’s Music Classroom and Dancing Around the World with Music Express Magazine.

Celebrate the season with an engaging, hands-on workshop that weaves together music, movement, and the spirit of autumn. Participants will explore classroom-tested activities that can be easily adapted for a variety of grade levels. Whether you’re preparing for a fall-themed sharing or simply looking to refresh your lesson plans, this session offers practical ideas grounded in the Orff approach. Along the way, we’ll also discuss process-based lesson planning and share strategies for creating meaningful, student-centered experiences. Come ready to move, make music, and gather inspiration for the season ahead!

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Matt McCoy teaches elementary music at the Emerson School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Prior to his time at Emerson, Matt taught in various educational institutions and programs including public and independent schools, children’s choir organizations, and universities in both the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. As a clinician specializing in process-based teaching, he has been a clinician at AOSA National Conferences and local chapter meetings across the country.