Level I This course includes the basic study of Orff techniques such as the pentatonic scale, simple borduns, the ostinato, and playing pitched and unpitched percussion instruments and the soprano recorder. Topics and skills in this highly participatory course will also include vocal and rhythmic training, movement, and improvisation. A degree in music or strong musicianship is required.

Level II This course builds on the foundations laid in Level I. Folk melodies, all diatonic modes, mixed meter, and rhythms from many parts of the world are included. Accompaniments, musical forms, and improvisations are more complex. Both alto and soprano recorders are studied. Music, movement, and speech are synthesized in cooperative learning lessons. Successful completion of an AOSA approved Level I course is required.

Level III Participants will continue to engage and develop skills in the principles of the Orff Schulwerk approach. Introduction of the following concepts: arranging and composing pieces via polymeters and functional harmony, further developing deeper creative movement vocabulary/technique using uneven steps and asymmetrical meters in dance, and the use of both soprano and alto recorders (and additional consort sizes) as instruments and instructional tools in the musical classroom. Written homework will be assigned nightly to help participants reflect and synthesize material. 

For more information about Orff Schulwerk

For Nazareth Students:

1. Complete the Orff Levels Courses registration/screening form. If you are not sure that the course is the right fit for you, please e-mail Dr. Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu
2. Also complete the usual Naz course registration process

• Level I: MED550-50 MED550, Summer B, 2025
• Level II: MED560-50, Summer B, 2025
• Level III: MED570-50, Summer B, 2025)

Tuition: $1045/credit hour x 3 credits = $3,135*
Graduate Supplemental Fee: $110/semester
Total: $3,245

*Rate is subject to change. For details, please reach out to Dr. Keith Koster or Kathleen Sullivan or Al Heary

For non-Nazareth Students:

1. Complete the Orff Levels Courses registration/screening form. If you are not sure that the course is the right fit for you, please e-mail Dr. Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu
2. Complete the top half of the Nazareth University Graduate Non-Matriculated Student Approval Form and email that form to Dr. Keith Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu, or send the form to Dr. Keith Koster, Program Director, Graduate Studies in Music Education, School of Music, Nazareth University, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618
3. The Nazareth University Registration & Records Office will send you confirmation along with information about how to register for either
   • Level I: MED 550-50 MED550, Summer B, 2025
   • Level II: MED 560-50, Summer B, 2025
   • Level III: MED 570-50, Summer B, 2025

Tuition: $1045/credit hour x 3 credits = $3,135*
Graduate Supplemental Fee: $110/semester*
Total: $3,245*

*Rate is subject to change. For details, please reach out to Dr. Keith Koster,  Kathleen Sullivan or Al Heary 

Registration opens December 7.

Payment: Pay by credit card online or by a check or purchase order made payable to Nazareth University, mailed to Dr. Keith Koster, School of Music, Nazareth University, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. Check or purchase order is preferred.

Once payment has been received, you will be officially enrolled in the course.

For Nazareth Students:

1. Complete the Orff Levels Courses registration/screening form. If you are not sure that the course is the right fit for you, please e-mail Dr. Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu
2. Also complete the usual Naz course registration process for either:
   • For Level I: MED 550-50 MED550, Summer B, 2025
   • For Level II: MED 560-50, Summer B, 2025
   • For Level III: MED 570-50, Summer B, 2025

Tuition: $1045/credit hour x 3 credits = $3,135*
Registration Fee: $35
Total: $3,170

*Rate is subject to change.  For details, please reach out to Dr. Keith Koster or Kathleen Sullivan or Al Heary

For non-Nazareth Students:

1. Complete the Orff Levels Courses registration/screening form. If you are not sure that the course is the right fit for you, please e-mail Dr. Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu
2. Complete the top half of the Nazareth University Graduate Non-Matriculated Student Approval Form and email that form to Dr. Keith Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu, or mail the form to Dr. Keith Koster, Program Director, Graduate Studies in Music Education, School of Music, Nazareth University, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618.
3. The Nazareth University Registration & Records Office will send you confirmation along with information about how to register for either
   • Level I: MED 550-50 MED550, Summer B, 2025
   • Level II: MED 560-50, Summer B, 2025
   • Level III: MED 570-50, Summer B, 2025

Registration opens December 7.

Payment: Pay by credit card online or by a check or purchase order made payable to Nazareth University, mailed to Dr. Keith Koster, School of Music, Nazareth University, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. Check or purchase order is preferred.

Once payment has been received, you will be officially enrolled in the course.

Cost (includes registration fee $35):

Note: If you are an undergraduate student at Nazareth University OR at another institution, get approval from Dr. Koster (kkoster8@naz.edu) by completing step 1, before you pay.

1. Complete the Orff Levels Courses registration/screening form. If you are not sure that the course is the right fit for you, please also e-mail Dr. Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu
2. Pay by credit card online or by a check or purchase order made payable to Nazareth University, mailed to Dr. Keith Koster, School of Music, Nazareth University, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. Check or purchase order is preferred.

Cost (includes registration fee $35)

Complete the Orff Levels Courses registration/screening form. If you are not sure that the course is the right fit for you, please also e-mail Dr. Koster, kkoster8@naz.edu

Pay by credit card online or by a check or purchase order made payable to Nazareth University, mailed to Dr. Keith Koster, School of Music, Nazareth University, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. Check or purchase order is preferred.

• All required materials will be available in the Orff Levels Bookstore located near your classroom. Information about purchase options will be sent to students on June 1.
• One source is Music Is Elementary which has a page for this Nazareth course that includes an offer for free shipping. (Order by June 15 to be sure your order arrives in time.)

Required Materials Level I

All Level I's will need a Baroque fingered soprano recorder. These will be available for purchase in the bookstore.

• Beginners & Intermediates: Sweet Pipes Soprano Recorder Book I, Burakoff & Hettrick and Sweet Pipes Duet Time, Vol. 2
• Intermediate: In addition to above, Descants in Consort, Simpson
• Advanced: Hugh Orr Soprano, Vol. II
• Music For Children Vol. 1-Murray Edition
• Elementaria-Gunild Keetman
• Bring to class: rhymes, pentatonic folk song collection, and a computer with notation software.
• Comfortable clothes for moving all day 

Required Materials Level II

• Music for Children Volume I. Murray Edition
• Music for Children Volume II. Murray Edition
• Music for Children Volume IV. Murray Edition
• Rhythmische übung, Gunild Keetman, Schott Publications
• Spielbuch fur Xylophone Book II by Keetman-published by Schott
• Bring to class: rhymes, pentatonic folk song collection, and a computer with notation software.
• Beginners and Intermediates: The Recorder Guide, Kulbach and Nitka
• Advanced: Hugh Orr Alto Volume II
• Level II student will need baroque fingered sopranos and altos. These will be available for purchase through the bookstore.
• •In addition, students may bring other voices of recorders, such as tenor or bass. Other voices of recorders will be available in the bookstore as well.

Required Materials Level III

• Music for Children Volumes I, II, III, IV, V Murray Edition. NOTE: If you completed Level II at Nazareth, you should already own volumes I, II, and IV
• Rhythmische übung, Gunild Keetman, Schott Publications
• Spielbuch für Xylophon, Volume 1, Orff/Keetman
• "In the Modes" by Chris Judah Lauder
• All Level III small recorder ensemble music will be provided by the instructor; feel free to bring additional ensemble music.

Daily Schedule 2024

BethAnn Hepburn, M.A. Music Education, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. BethAnn teaches general music and choir for Streetsboro City Schools. BethAnn is the music mentor for the Ohio Department of Education Fine Arts Cohort for new teachers. She serves as the Ohio Music Education Association’s Professional Development Chair for General Music and is on the NAfME General Music Council. She is a frequent presenter and Teacher Educator for AOSA.
She is a former National Board Member for the American Orff-Schulwerk Association and on the AOSA Mentorship committee. BethAnn is co-author of Purposeful Pathways: Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom Books 1 -4. She is a Ph. D. candidate in Music Education at Kent State University.

Connie VanEngen is the music specialist at Bell Prairie Elementary and was named Teacher of the Year in 2013 for North Kansas City schools. She has served as AOSA Region III Representative and Recording Secretary. Connie is an active presenter and also teaches Level II Orff Schulwerk Basic Pedagogy at Trinity University, Baker University and also Nazareth University School of Music in Rochester, NY.

Chris Judah-Lauder taught elementary and middle school music for 40 years. She is a consultant and regular presenter at state, national conferences, Canada, China, and South Korea. She is a Past President of AOSA and was the AOSA National Conference Chair for the 2009 and 2017 AOSA Conferences and chaired the AOSA Mentorship Committee. She also directed the 2023 FEMA All-State Orff Ensemble. Chris teaches AOSA approved Teacher Education Levels Courses and Masterclasses in Orff Schulwerk at various universities across the United States, has 16 publications including Drum with a Passion and Games, Groups & Gems, In the Modes, and Hand Drums on the Move.

Karen Medley has over 40 years’ experience teaching children in public elementary school music programs in the Pentucket Regional School District (MA), Clark County Schools (Las Vegas, NV), Memphis City Schools, and Rochester City Schools (NY). She earned a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music with a Concentration in Orff Studies from the University of Memphis where she also completed her Orff Teacher Education Levels I-III and Master Class. 

Presenter at more than a dozen AOSA National Conferences, Karen is a frequent presenter for workshops, residencies, in-services and teacher education courses across the United States, including Hawai’i and Alaska. In addition to Nazareth University, Karen teaches in summer teacher-education programs through the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) and the University of Alaska (Anchorage). Karen has taught many courses and workshops introducing classroom and preschool teachers to Orff-Schulwerk. In 1983 and again in 1995 she was a guest lecturer in New Zealand, presenting courses and workshops through the Teacher’s College of Auckland University and throughout the country. 

Karen has directed several children’s choruses whose performances include singing Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, opening the National Blues Awards, performing at the 1989 AOSA National Conference in Atlanta, and singing Carmina Burana and The Nutcracker with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. A recipient of the Rotary Award for Teacher Excellence in Memphis City Schools, the Homegrown Heroes award, Clark County Schools, and the Sachem Award from Pentucket Regional Schools. Karen is a contributing writer for Music and You (Macmillan/McGraw-Hill), and her arrangements have been featured in The World Sings: International Folk Songs (Memphis Musicraft Pub.) and Las Vegas Writes III.

Karen served on the AOSA National Board of Trustees for more than thirteen years as Regional Representative for two terms, as Chair of the Post Level III Committee, as a member of the Guidelines Revision Committee, and as National Conference Chairperson for four AOSA National Conferences.

Ben Torres teaches K-5 general music at Woodlawn Elementary in the Clarksville Montgomery County School System. Prior to this, he taught K-6 general music at Brentfield Elementary in Dallas, TX where he was chosen as teacher of the year and his choral and Orff ensembles were selected to perform at TMEA and AOSA Professional Development Conferences.