Ithaca College

Dr. James Mick, Assistant Professor of Music Education, and three undergraduate students recently presented two sessions at the national conference for American String Teachers Association (ASTA) held in Providence, RI. 

Delivering presentations titled "Strategies for Teaching Composition to K-12 String Students" and "Best Practices in the National String Project Consortium," Mick and his students presented among more than 200 top-notch education sessions. 

This is the first time that Ithaca College students have participated in the conference. Student presenters included Elizabeth Benz ('14), Jessica Chen ('13), and Margaret Dagon ('13), who are all current String Music Education majors and members of the Ithaca College ASTA Student Chapter.

In addition to the presentations with his students, Mick also presented a session titled "Beginning Strings: Developing Sustainable Success During the First Year of Instruction" and a juried-research poster titled "The Effect of Adjudicator Experience on Music Majors' Evaluations of String Orchestra Performances."

The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is the premier organization for the strings community. ASTA members include K12, university, and private studio teachers--as well as orchestra directors, administrators, performers, students, and other string enthusiasts.

The ASTA national conference is a yearly gathering of ASTA members and is held at a different location in the US each year. 

Fantastic work James, Elizabeth, Jessica, and Margaret!