Rethinking your rehearsals – strategies to build engagement in ensembles and choirs
This workshop will provide classroom teachers and music specialists practical tips for planning and delivering engaging rehearsals for school-based choirs and ensembles. Activities will focus on developing listening and musicianship skills rather than just ‘playing the dots’. The session will also explore the way ensemble conductors captivate students through a sense of fun and creative music making.
Participants will be introduced to a variety of engaging warm-ups and rehearsal strategies that can help to address common challenges faced by conductors of school ensembles and choirs. Such challenges include balance, blend, intonation, dynamic range, following the conductor, rhythmic accuracy, and ensemble cohesion.
The workshop will also include an overview of the programs offered by The Arts Unit, elaborating on how these programs can extend and enrich school instrumental and choral programs.
About the presenter: Luke Wallace
Luke Wallace is a dynamic and enthusiastic music educator who is passionate about improving access to quality arts opportunities for all students. He has over a decade of experience teaching classroom music and running instrumental and choral programs in public primary schools. Luke has worked at The Arts Unit since 2023 and is currently relieving as Music Programs K-8 Officer. He is a co-founder of Symphonia Jubilate and has been a teacher mentor with Music In Me in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Luke has a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a Graduate Diploma in Education from ACU.
