Welcome back to another great year in Music! I look forward to seeing all the kids this year and having some wonderful explorations of the many facets of music.

About the music program at Aurora Academy:

I think it is important that students get a wide variety of musical experiences while they're still young. Therefore each grade can expect to experience something new while practicing things they have already learned:

Band: See the band section in the after school activities for more information and documents.

8th Grade: 8th graders have the opportunity to learn about opera and put on their own 5    minute opera for their classmates (there's never a dull moment). Once we've gotten used to the idea of singing, we start getting ready for the 8th grade musical! A great treat performed during the school day for their fellow peers. Parents are encouraged to come!

7th Grade: Students have a more in-depth experience with music from the Romantic era and get to know a few more composers and their work. Then we move on to the progression of music in the United States starting with Spirituals and going on to blues, jazz, and music of present day. In our final couple weeks we learn about music from different cultures and discuss how music and culture interact.

6th Grade: Music history is the subject! Students learn about Baroque, Classical and Romantic era music through a wide variety of experiences and activities. The block ends with a research project that turns into their very own composer talk show. What would happen if Mozart got together with Elvis?

5th Grade: Another great year and new challenges on the recorder. 5th graders learn more in depth about composing and music reading, musical inspiration and creativity, and get to record their own picture inspired compositions.

4th Grade: Our second year playing recorders to get students ready for learning a new instrument if they choose to go that route next year. Our big focus this year is instruments! Students learn in depth about all of the families of instruments, how to make their own, and they get to try instruments such as the flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, violin, guitar, and various percussion instruments.

3rd Grade: Our first year of recorder! Learning how to coordinate those small muscles in our hands and train our ears to be better listeners and possibly future musicians. We continue to learn how to read notes and rhythms and sing many songs and play many games.

2nd Grade: This year is full of songs and fun games! We also learn about composers like Mozart and Bach, create our own Carnival of the Animals, practice our dance moves, and continue playing instruments and learning to read and listen to music.

1st Grade: The first year of music in the music room! We have lots of new instruments to learn about, how sounds work, learning basic rhythms, new dance moves, playing instruments and how music affects our lives. And of course we learn many new songs and music games to share with friends and family.   

Choir: See the choir section for more information and documents

A little bit about your music teacher:

I was born and raised here and Colorado. When I graduated highschool I knew that I just wanted to do something great in music, and found myself at the University of Denver for my Bachelor's in Music Performance on flute. During the time I went to DU I had the great opportunity to study in Australia at the Queensland Conservatory. After returning home, I toured with a few ensembles to places Ireland, England, Austria, Hungary, and Argentina and then continued on with my masters in education at DU.

My two greatest passions are traveling and music. Thanks to music, I've had many opportunities to travel and I believe those experiences have shaped who I am as a musician. I absolutely love to play music and still play flute with a local group called the Gossamer Quintet as well as various other groups around Denver. I feel that teaching has enhanced my love for performing and performing enhances my love for teaching.