Dr. Joanne Rutkowski retired in 2015 from The Pennsylvania State University where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Music Education and early childhood music classes at childcare centers on campus. Her interests and research have focused on singing development, including the development of the Singing Voice Development Measure, early childhood music education, curriculum, and learning theory. Joanne has shared her research at numerous conferences and symposia; presented many workshops for teachers; been an invited visiting professor at several universities; and published in a variety of journals and books. She held leadership and editorial positions with ISME/ECME, NAfME, ECMMA, and PMEA, and was the music advisor for the children’s television series, “Pinkalicious and Peterrific”, developed and produced by WGBH Boston. Joanne was ECMMA’s Hall of Honor inductee in 2018 and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Music in Early Childhood.

Bio:

Mary Ellen Pinzino is Founder and Director of the Come Children Sing Institute, a center for research and development in music learning. She is the author of Unveiling Artistry in Early Childhood Music: A Guide for Music Teachers and Giving Voice to Children’s Artistry: A Guide for Music Teachers and Choral Conductors. Pinzino is also the composer of the Come Children Sing Institute Song Library, an online resource of over 500 original songs for early childhood, elementary school, and children’s chorus. She has taught students at all levels from infants to graduate school and leads the Institute’s Online Teacher Education Center. Her work empowers music teachers to cultivate artistry in children of all ages.

Why do you teach music? What sparked your interest, and what keeps you going? For many of us, joy and a sense of fulfillment are central.

Yet when you began your journey, you may not have imagined working with young children or felt fully prepared to teach children with disabilities in music. If you have ever felt uncertain, underprepared, or simply curious about how to meet children’s needs, you are not alone. Many music teachers share these feelings—and I am one of them.

Today, the importance of joy and play in learning across the lifespan is increasingly recognized. For example, the Universal Design for Learning 3.0 guidelines (2024) explicitly highlight this very idea. Whether you are a music provider, classroom teacher, special educational professional, or music teacher educator, this session is designed to support you in nurturing joy and play in your work with young children with disabilities and their families through music.

Together, we will explore how joy and play can foster and sustain learning–and how these ideas already appear in our work. We will consider supports for children with disabilities under age five, the experiences of their families, and the roles music can play in their lives. I will share examples and resources informed by my experiences teaching PK–12 learners, co-coordinating an Early Childhood Music Lab, and creating a custom GPT tool to help music teachers meet individual needs. This session is also a space to learn from one another, and I invite attendees to bring resources, questions, and strategies to share.

Participants will leave with specific resources and actionable ideas to expand and deepen joyful, playful musical engagement for young children with disabilities and their families—and to nourish their own joy as educators.

Bio

Mara E. Culp is Associate Professor of Music Teaching and Learning at the Eastman School of Music. She earned a PhD from Penn State where she specialized in elementary general music and music for students with disabilities, particularly in the area of communication. She has also completed Kodály (Level I), Orff (Levels I and II), and Music Together^® Teacher Training, and earned a microcredential in “Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning.” Over her career, she has taught general, choral, and instrumental music and worked with or facilitated music experiences for learners of nearly all ages, from infancy through adulthood. At Eastman, she teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework, and co-coordinates an Early Childhood Music Lab, which she co-founded through a collaboration with the Eastman Community Music School.

Her scholarly interests include music and communication, music for students who receive special education and related services, interprofessional collaboration, intersectionality, music for young learners, and choral music. She collaborates regularly with professionals in and outside of music education, and has presented at state, national, and international conferences. Her co-edited book, Toward Equity in School Music: Ideas for Practice in Music Teacher Education, is under contract with Oxford University Press and scheduled for release in 2026. Her work has also been published in International Journal of Music in Early Childhood, Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Voice, Music Educators Journal, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Journal of General Music Education, Music Therapy Perspectives, and The ASHA Leader, among others.

She serves on the editorial committee of Music Educators Journal and chairs the New York State School Music Association’s Research Committee. Formerly, she served as Vice President for Convention Programming for the ECMMA 2021 Biennial International Convention, and as Membership Committee Co-Chair (West) for the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Visual and Performing Arts.