Andrew Ellingsen leads an Orff Schulwerk class.

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MA in Music Education Orff Schulwerk Concentration

About the MA in Music Education Orff Schulwerk Concentration

The MA in Music Education Orff Schulwerk Concentration features a broad range of courses that apply to your work with children using the Orff Schulwerk approach to music education. By experiencing music through movement, song, speech and instrument playing, your students will become active, creative participants in their education.

Contact

music@stthomas.edu

Curriculum Details

Program Overview

Core Courses

Orff Schulwerk Concentration Courses

Orff Schulwerk Electives

Other Degree Requirements

Program Overview

The Master of Arts degree with a concentration in Orff Schulwerk features a broad range of core courses balanced by requirements that apply to the general music teacher's work with children using the Orff Schulwerk approach.

In the Orff Schulwerk music concentration, you learn how to create an environment in which children become active, creative participants in their musical education by experiencing music through movement, song, speech and instrument playing.

The Master of Arts in Music Education curriculum requires 33 credit hours and consists of three elements:

Core courses covering a variety of topics.
A concentration to develop specific skills.
A master’s thesis or final project to conduct applied research in music education.

Core Courses

Core courses provide opportunities for all master’s students to place their specific skills within a broader musical and educational context.

Required Core Courses (17 credits)

GMUS 600 Introduction to Scholarship and Research Methods in Music Education, 3 cr.
GMUS 601 Teaching and Learning, 3 cr.
GMUS 608 Foundations of Music Education, 3 cr.
GMUS 611 Perspectives in Music Theory, 3 cr.
GMUS 612 Topics in Music History, Literature and Theory, 3 cr.
GMUS 750 Musicianship, 1 cr.
GMUS 890 Master of Arts Final Project, 1 cr.

Orff Schulwerk Concentration Courses

The University of St. Thomas Orff Schulwerk program is a model of innovation for Orff Schulwerk certification courses offered in the United States. Our curriculum features education in subjects required by the American Orff Schulwerk Association: technique and improvisation, analysis and arranging, pedagogy, movement and recorder – all of which are highlighted in individual classes and integrated through literature study. A distinctive feature of the St. Thomas program is the opportunity for students to engage in practical application of ensemble work in a daily pedagogy hour at each level of study.

Orff Schulwerk Concentration Courses (11 credits)

GMUS 731 Orff Schulwerk Level I, 3 cr.
GMUS 732 Orff Schulwerk Level II, 3 cr.
GMUS 733 Orff Schulwerk Level III, 3 cr.
GMUS 735 Curriculum Development, 2 cr.

Orff Schulwerk Electives

Elective credits provide students opportunities to expand skills in their areas of interest.

Orff Schulwerk Electives (5 credits)

GMUS 517 Developing the Child Voice in the Classroom, 2 cr.
GMUS 518 Teaching Choral Music to Young Singers, 2 cr.
GMUS 532 Orff Master Class, 2 cr.
GMUS 536 Smithsonian Folkways Certification in World Music Pedagogy, 3 cr.
GMUS 537 Latin American Music, 1 cr.
GMUS 544-xx Topics in Music Education, credits vary (advisor approval required)
GMUS 651 Dalcroze Musicianship, 3 cr.
GMUS 671 African Music Ensemble, 2 cr.
GMUS 726 Intermediate Choral Conducting, 2 cr.
GMUS 741 Kodály Level I, 3 cr.
Other courses considered for elective credit (advisor approval required)

Other Degree Requirements

All students admitted to the Master of Arts in Music Education program with a concentration in Orff Schulwerk will complete the following non-credit requirements:

Music Diagnostic Exams
Oral Comprehensive Exam

Program Overview

The Master of Arts in Music Education curriculum requires 33 credit hours and consists of three elements:

Core courses covering a variety of topics.
A concentration to develop specific skills.
A master’s thesis or final project to conduct applied research in music education.

Core Courses

Core courses provide opportunities for all master’s students to place their specific skills within a broader musical and educational context.

Required Core Courses (17 credits)

GMUS 600 Introduction to Scholarship and Research Methods in Music Education, 3 cr.
GMUS 601 Teaching and Learning, 3 cr.
GMUS 608 Foundations of Music Education, 3 cr.
GMUS 611 Perspectives in Music Theory, 3 cr.
GMUS 612 Topics in Music History, Literature and Theory, 3 cr.
GMUS 750 Musicianship, 1 cr.
GMUS 890 Master of Arts Final Project, 1 cr.

Orff Schulwerk Concentration Courses

GMUS 731 Orff Schulwerk Level I, 3 cr.
GMUS 732 Orff Schulwerk Level II, 3 cr.
GMUS 733 Orff Schulwerk Level III, 3 cr.
GMUS 735 Curriculum Development, 2 cr.

Orff Schulwerk Electives

Elective credits provide students opportunities to expand skills in their areas of interest.

Orff Schulwerk Electives (5 credits)

GMUS 517 Developing the Child Voice in the Classroom, 2 cr.
GMUS 518 Teaching Choral Music to Young Singers, 2 cr.
GMUS 532 Orff Master Class, 2 cr.
GMUS 536 Smithsonian Folkways Certification in World Music Pedagogy, 3 cr.
GMUS 537 Latin American Music, 1 cr.
GMUS 544-xx Topics in Music Education, credits vary (advisor approval required)
GMUS 651 Dalcroze Musicianship, 3 cr.
GMUS 671 African Music Ensemble, 2 cr.
GMUS 726 Intermediate Choral Conducting, 2 cr.
GMUS 741 Kodály Level I, 3 cr.
Other courses considered for elective credit (advisor approval required)

Other Degree Requirements

All students admitted to the Master of Arts in Music Education program with a concentration in Orff Schulwerk will complete the following non-credit requirements:

Music Diagnostic Exams
Oral Comprehensive Exam

Our Students and Alumni

Miller LaMotte

Miller is a current student and received a SONOR scholarship and use of a special edition xylophone in honor of the American Orff Schulwerk Associations 50th anniversary. Miller teaches K-5 music in the Anoka-Hennepin school district.

"I truly cherish my time in both Levels courses and in general MA courses. St Thomas is an amazing place to learn and grow with amazing people!"

Lydia Petersen '20

"I have many favorite St. Thomas memories, but most of them involve my Orff Levels cohort. They are some of the kindest and most entertaining people, and I miss them dearly. I am continuing to teach K-5 music at Mid Valley Elementary in Odell, Oregon."

Dan Gullick '17

Dan teaches K-5 music at Liberty Ridge Elementary in Woodbury, MN. He co-directs a fourth and fifth grade extra-curricular choir and has founded a fourth and fifth grade Orff ensemble at his school. Dan is a past President of Minnesota Orff.

Students perform during an Orff Schulwerk Sharing Concert.

Annual Orff Schulwerk Celebrations

Orff Schulwerk graduate students and faculty conclude their course work with celebrations on their last day of classes. They gather for breakfast and skits in the morning and host an Orff Schulwerk Sharing concert in the afternoon.

Faculty

Our Orff Faculty are considered to be among the most creative and talented team of teacher educators in the country. You will have the opportunity to learn about the approach from those who apply it in their own classrooms each and every school year. You will also gain insights from their experiences of sharing Orff Schulwerk all over the world

Mary Beth Alexander, Level I

Mary Beth Alexander (she/her) teaches K-4th grade music and movement at The Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City. In addition to her ongoing work in the elementary music classroom, she teaches a middle school drumming elective and serves as a member of the Lower School leadership team.

In addition to teaching Level I Basic at the University of St. Thomas, Mary Beth teaches movement in levels I, II and III in the Memphis Orff Course. She is committed to addressing issues of equity and inclusivity in the music classroom through culturally responsive and anti-bias teaching practices. In addition to her work as a teacher in the Orff approach, Mary Beth is a singer and violinist with an active performing career in New York City.

Mary Beth Alexander

Megan Tietz, LevelII

Meg Tietz teaches K-5 movement and music at Saint Paul Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. Meg completed her Master of Arts Degree with a concentration in Orff Schulwerk at the University of St. Thomas. She is an active presenter for local and national workshops and conferences and teaches summer Orff Levels at Southern Methodist University, Metro State University, and the University of St. Thomas. Meg has served the American Orff Schulwerk association as a member of various subcommittees and also as a Trustee on the National Board.

Megan Tietz

Jay Broeker, Level III

Jay Broeker serves as Director of Visual and Performing Arts at Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Broeker holds Kodály and Orff Schulwerk certification, and is a frequent clinician for national and state music education organizations in the areas of musical creativity, curriculum development, and effective teaching practice. During the summer he is an instructor in music teacher education courses at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. His choral arrangements are published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing and by Boosey & Hawkes.

Jay Broeker

Andrew Ellingsen, Movement

Andrew Ellingsen works as an Education Program Coordinator at Vesterheim Folk Art School. Ellingsen taught elementary music and worked as an instructional coach in Iowa and Minnesota for nearly twenty years. He earned his B.A. at Luther College and his M.A.M.E. at the University of St. Thomas with a dual concentration in Kodály and Orff Schulwerk. Ellingsen has taught movement in the Orff courses at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN and has presented at both OAKE and AOSA national conferences.

Andrew Ellingsen

Mona Mann, Recorder

Mona Mann currently teaches K-4 general music in River Forest, Illinois. She leads Recorder Clubs in her school district, and plays regularly with her own group, Recorder Disorder.

Ms. Mann completed her Orff-Schulwerk levels at the University of Saint Thomas and the University of Kentucky. She has presented for the Fox Valley and Heart of Illinois Orff chapters, and at the 2015 AOSA National Conference, as well as for the Junior Music Educators conference in northern Illinois, and the 2018 summer Orff course in Pasadena, CA. She serves on the recorder faculty for the Whitewater Early Music Festival in Whitewater, Wisconsin. She has recently completed training for Suzuki Recorder Units 1, 2, and 3.

Mona Mann

The Arvida Steen Orff Schulwerk Studies Scholarship

The Arvida Steen Orff Schulwerk Studies Scholarship was established in 2003 to recognize her extensive and generous support to music education. Arvida taught in the St. Thomas Certificate Program from 1972 to 2003, serving as director for four years.

Application Instructions

Graduate Tuition and Aid