Three members of the Catawba College Music Department participated in the plenary session, “Musical Inclusiveness: the Catawba College Initiative,” at the College Music Society – Mid-Atlantic Chapter annual meeting held March 19 at West Virginia University.

For that session, Dr. David Fish, associate professor of music, presents a paper entitled “Creating a Musically Inclusive Curriculum that Embraces Contemporary Popular Music.”  Dr. Julie Chamberlain, assistant professor music and director of the Catawba College Community Music Program, presented “Rethinking Traditional Piano Teaching Practices.”  Dr. Renee McCachren, professor of music and chair of the music department, presented “Musical Inclusiveness in the Early Music History Survey.”

Pedagogical strategies developed by these faculty members are part of a departmental initiative to include a broader range of musical styles within its curriculum, an effort supported by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning awarded by the College.