Presentation for the International Kodály Society Conference

Nancie and I are honored to be among the featured presenters at the 26th International Kodály Society Symposium, which will take place at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, July 31 – Aug. 4, 2023.  It will also be a celebration of the Golden Anniversary of IKS. The theme of the conference is Humanity Through Music and our workshop is entitled Making Connections: History Through Song. Our session will be held on Tuesday, August 1st at 11:00 a.m.

IKS was founded in 1973 during an international music conference at Holy Names College in Oakland, California in 1973. 50 delegates and invited guests gathered from around the world to meet and to present sessions. The purpose of this first symposium was to provide the opportunity for an international exchange of ideas among worldwide Kodály experts and to further interest to American educators in the Kodály approach to music education. Chairs were Sister Mary Alice Hein, founder of the Kodály Center at HNC and Professor Erzebet Szonyi, Dean of Music Education at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. 

The Kodály approach to music education was inspired by Hungarian composer and educator Zoltan Kodály. This methodology, used worldwide, teaches music literacy through the folk songs and singing games of each country (Mother Tongue music).  Musical concepts, such as in-tune singing, melody, rhythm, dynamics and form are taught sequentially using moveable do solfegge and rhythm names.

Nancie Kester and I have been presenting workshops on History through Song for over three decades at the local, state and national level. We were also active members of the Calicanto Singers, who performed at many historical events throughout the state of California. This is our first involvement in an international conference and we are looking forward to it.