Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
May 25, 2006

Carnegie Mellon School of Music Hosts International Dalcroze Conference and Summer Workshops

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music will host the third International Dalcroze Conference, July 10-14, and the 31st Summer Dalcroze Eurhythmics Workshops, July 10-28. Both events will take place on the Carnegie Mellon campus.

The Dalcroze method, known as eurhythmics, is a unique approach to music learning developed by Swiss composer and educator Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. Dalcroze's innovative approach adds to the learning process by showing how meaningful rhythmic movement, associated with ear-training and improvisation, facilitates and reinforces the understanding of music concepts, enhances musicianship and focuses awareness on the physical demands of artistic performance.

Carnegie Mellon's School of Music was the first school in the country to establish Dalcroze eurhythmics training in the curriculum for all music students. Today, all undergraduate music majors must take a four-semester sequence of Dalcroze eurhythmics as part of the core curriculum.

In 1968, the Carnegie Mellon School of Music was accredited by the Jaques-Dalcroze Foundation of Geneva, Switzerland, as a professional training center able to grant the Dalcroze Certificate and the Dalcroze License. Since its inception, the training center, founded by the late Marta Sanchez, has attracted students from around the world. The center has established satellite programs in Taiwan, at the Nagoya School of Music in Nagoya, Japan, and in Korea through the Dalcroze Research Center of Korea.

At the close of the International Dalcroze Conference, students, friends and colleagues from around the globe will gather to pay tribute to Sanchez, their beloved teacher and friend who died this past April. A memorial celebration of her life will be held at 4:30 p.m., July 14. More details will be available at www.cmu.edu/music.

Faculty attending the conference include Jean-Marc Aeschimann, Switzerland; Ruth Alperson, U.S.; Marie-Laure Bachmann, Switzerland; William Bauer, U.S.; Silvia del Bianco, Switzerland; Nicole Brockmann, U.S.; David Frego, U.S.; Herb Henke, U.S.; Annabelle Joseph, U.S.; Marja-Leena Juntunen, Finland; Sylviane Lentin, France; Louise Mathieu, Canada; Stephen Moore, U.S.; Stephen Neely, U.S.; Tom Parente, U.S.; Iramar Rodriguez, Switzerland; Seung-ji Ryu, Korea; Toru Sakai, Japan; Julia Schnebly-Black, U.S.; David Vinski, U.S.; Jean Wilmouth, U.S.; Joy Yelin, U.S.; and Hiroaki Yoshida, Japan.

Events will begin at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 9 in Carnegie Mellon's Kresge Recital Hall followed by a reception in the Great Hall in the College of Fine Arts building. Special events will include folk dancing on Monday and a riverboat cruise on Thursday.

The Dalcroze Eurhythmics Workshops (Workshop I and Workshop II) will include performers, conductors, music educators (preschool through college), studio teachers, music therapists and movement specialists who will teach practical applications of the Dalcroze principles related to performance and teaching. Classes in both workshops are offered at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

Workshop I, which will feature distinguished faculty from around the world, is an introductory course for newcomers and a refresher course for those who have had previous experience in the Dalcroze approach. Workshop II is designed for those interested in pursuing the Dalcroze Certificate, as well as for those who would like a more in-depth experience in the Dalcroze approach. For those interested in pursuing the Dalcroze Certificate during the summer, two three-week summer workshops (six credits/18 units) must be successfully completed before applicants take the required exam for the Dalcroze Certificate.

The School of Music is one of the nation's most distinguished degree-granting music conservatory programs and is one of five schools within Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts, a community of nationally and internationally recognized artists and professionals organized into Architecture, Art, Design, Drama and Music, and their associated centers and programs.

For more information on the Dalcroze Conference, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa/dalcroze/intro.html. For more information on the School of Music or the College of Fine Arts, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa or contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.