Summer Music Professional Development Workshops 2026

August 10, 2026

Over 100 music educators attended a series of five professional development workshops last week, hosted on the Perpich Center campus. The sessions appealed to a wide variety of educators, including elementary classroom teachers, arts administrators, general music teachers, band, choir, and orchestra directors, and retired music educators.

The first session, led by recently retired music educator Doug Bakkum, offered a practical seminar for music educators learning Dorico music notation software, with a particular focus on long-time users of Finale. Day two featured Dr. Kevin Droe from the University of Northern Iowa, who led a hands-on workshop for music educators interested in inclusive practices.

On day three, Dr. Chris Russell presented a ukulele educator’s boot camp designed to bridge the gap between “playing” and “pedagogy”. Perpich Dance Instructor, Mary Harding, got participants moving on day four as they learned a variety of vernacular jazz movements exploring shapes, levels, pathways, and timing connected to current popular dances.

The week wrapped up with Qorsho Hassan and Becca Buck, who designed a culturally-relevant approach to music education and culturally-responsive teaching. They shared information about Somali culture, practices, and values, while also discussing the importance of using global music to connect with students and their lived experiences.

Following each session, the music educators were asked if they were leaving with ideas they could transfer into their teaching practices. Here are some of the comments they shared:

“The professional development provided met an immediate and valuable need for implementing new software within our district. Perpich workshops are so beneficial to our districts, staff, and students!”
“It’s important to have real world professional development for music teachers in the state during the summer months that is affordable. We can’t all afford to pay big bucks for graduate school tuition, especially once we’ve maxed out our lanes on salary schedules. We want to be lifelong learners – I’m still acquiring new skills after 40 years of teaching in Minnesota’s public schools.”
“Perpich for the win! They brought in another national educator for a meaningful and relevant professional development opportunity for arts educators. Thank you! It is so appreciated!”
“As a young music educator, these workshops have given me a lot of inspiration of what I can do in my classroom for the upcoming year. It was also a nice opportunity to get to know more educators in the field and talk shop.”
“I would not have made it through the school year with all the new contents I am expected to teach. The support I have received through 1:1 conversations and the trainings in August make me feel that I can deliver content to students in a way that they will be engaged and enjoy music again.”
“I am a veteran teacher using my music certification for the first time in years. Getting the support and refreshers, learning new things while being valued for my experience, was amazing.”
“What an incredible experience! As someone who is new to elementary music teaching, I was so inspired by what could be possible in my music room!”
“Having these free, music-specific professional development opportunities is invaluable to my practice as a music educator. I appreciate that Perpich brings in well-respected, knowledgeable presenters who are on the leading edge of current music education thinking and pedagogy and makes these learning opportunities available to all music teachers in the state.”
“Dr. Russell gave me many new tools to put into my ukulele teacher tool box…thank you!”
“The workshops I attended at Perpich this week have allowed me to enter the school year with a fresh sense of optimism. I also feel better prepared for and have creative ideas on how to meet the benchmarks of the Create strand, which is the strand I have the least amount of experience with.”
“Music educators are in need of relevant professional development. The August days of professional development are a great asset to music educators. I have attended several in recent years and have walked away with a lot of knowledge and skills that I have been able to incorporate into my classroom. The August professional development days are some of the best professional development I have access to, beyond the MMEA Convention in February. It is great that they are of no cost, which eliminates the financial barrier for everyone.”
“I really appreciate the interweaving of history with the development of music and dance.”
“I feel very fortunate to have access to such high-quality professional development that directly impacts my teaching for FREE! What an amazing gift!”
“This class was so much fun! It was also very informative.”
“From the Charleston to line dancing, the Jazz Inspired Dance class provided a non-threatening, joyful, and culturally-responsive setting to help even the most timid movers feel more confident in their skills.”
“I have enjoyed a week of professional development classes sponsored by Perpich. EVERY class has been valuable to arts educators with relevant and timely information to incorporate into the classroom. Perpich keeps moving our instruction forward and knocks it out of the park!”
“Gathering with teachers from across a wide range of schools and experiences is so beneficial; especially for those of us who don’t have colleagues within our school system who are in the same discipline.”
“This particular workshop was especially helpful because we were able to hear from two ‘culture bearers’ who’ve done the hard work of collecting songs from a culture many of us wouldn’t have access to in other ways. It’s a helpful way to break down barriers of understanding between all of us.”

We look forward to providing additional professional development opportunities through online and in-person workshops. Check out the calendar of PD events sponsored by Perpich Center and other professional community organizations. Plans are underway for a 2027 Midwinter Convention Relicensure Bundle and another Summer (August, 2027) Music Professional Development week. Watch for additional programming announcements from Perpich.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.