2026 MMEA Fall In-Service Conference

Start the school year with repertoire that builds both musicianship and community. This reading session highlights accessible and engaging SAB and SATB selections designed to foster connection, confidence, and artistic growth in developing choirs. Participants will explore music that is pedagogically sound, culturally responsive, and immediately usable in middle school, high school, community, and collegiate settings. Whether rebuilding an ensemble, strengthening vocal independence, or cultivating a sense of belonging, these selections provide meaningful opportunities for singers to grow musically and personally. Discover repertoire that is accessible enough for success and beautiful enough to inspire singers throughout the year.

Explore exceptional repertoire for intermediate and advanced treble choirs. Drawing from a variety of styles and traditions, this session features carefully selected works that will challenge and inspire your singers. Discover new gems for your next concert program.

Are you a new choral director or do you have beginner-choral students in need of vocal exercises that are simple yet effective, accessible yet expansive, and usable for elementary, middle and high school choruses? Wherever you may fall, a common question you may have is “Where Do We Start?!?” In this session, we answer that question with a series of warm-ups that address vocal onset, head voice activation, ear training, vowel unification, range extensions high and low, and tongue twisters for diction and articulation. Attendees will be provided with printed descriptions of warm-up exercises and titles of recorded music.

Drawing on the work of Stronge, Danielson and van Manen, and predicated on Dewey’s statement that “learning improves to the degree that it arises out of the process of reflection,” this session provides an overview of the philosophical foundations of reflective practice and facilitates an exploration of a wide variety of reflective practice tools that can be implemented by music teachers at all stages of the professional experience continuum. Once we begin this process, we begin to see and hear what we really do – or don’t do – not just what we think we do. It will lead us to be more reflective and to be comfortable leading our students into reflective activity by example.