OMEA CONFERENCE 2021

It’s a Wrap!

Kristina Stingle OMEA 2nd Vice-President

My tenure as the OMEA 2nd Vice-President and 2021 OMEA Conference Chair has now concluded. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served in this capacity, for your patience, and your trust.

In its initial planning phase, the 2021 OMEA conference “Music is Key” aimed to bring us together as an integral academic discipline. As the summer of 2020 carried on and the school year began, we saw the need to run an online conference, not just for the sake of having a conference, but for us to have the opportunity to connect as a community in the middle of a very difficult year. We added sessions to focus on ways to meet the needs of this year’s classroom, including Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in the music classroom, Project Based Learning, technology, learning from others teaching online, and roundtable discussions where we could connect with colleagues with all levels of experience, listen to others and have our voices heard. I am hopeful that you found inspiration or had an idea resonate with you from our Keynote and session speakers as well.

Thank you to the OMEA executive team for their relentless work and flexibility, the amazing leadership from our conference area chairs to bring sessions to life, and to the volunteers that helped during the conference. They were full of ideas, willing to put in extra time to ‘make it work!’, and eager to serve OMEA. I could not have done it without their support. Getting involved in OMEA is a great way to get to know people from around our state, and I am so glad I did!

Since the conference in January, change has started to happen in many of our schools. Staying connected and sharing ideas will continue to be of utmost importance, and I see great efforts happening online. As we learn more about the needs to shape our music programs for the future, please be thinking of our next OMEA Conference, slated for January of 2022. Ben Lawson, OMEA President-Elect, will be organizing the conference. I have heard some of his ideas and I’m already looking forward to the OMEA conference in January 2022! Please reach out to him and to your OMEA area chairs if you have a presenter or a topic you would like to have addressed at our next conference. If you know of someone that may be a great presenter, please encourage them to submit a session application.

With access to small classes, talented professors, quality academics, and the city of Portland, University of Portland’s nationally accredited music program and liberal arts curriculum will prepare students for the future they want.