Reading sessions at any level are, in my opinion, the second-best hands-on method of learning new material. (The first is taking your group there, which usually doesn't work:-). The best way to find out about reading sessions is to contact your nearest music store. Most of the larger stores will hold sessions themselves, or can direct you to one. See if you can take purchase orders along. These reading sessions are usually sponsored by stores, so you can bet that they'll not only have copies galore of the material featured in the sessions, but plenty of supplementary material, too! If you're lucky, some sessions will feature the actual composers, which can give you a first-hand look at what the composer had in mind.
Maybe you're ready to either begin advanced training or expand your training in a specific discipline in teaching music. A list of approved courses offering Orff levels can be found at the American Orff-Schulwerk website. If you're looking for Kodaly training, check the Organization of American Kodaly Educators training calendar.
Did you finally get that MIDI and never really have time to explore how to use it, or find what software would work? Summer's a great time to download some demos and try before you buy! One you can check out is Freestyle, a composition/orchestration program that displays the orchestration in a graph style as well as standard notation, and picks up on the voicings of your keyboard. For theory, try out the highly recommended and award-winning Music Ace. My students , from grades 2-6, absolutely love it. I've even heard from a college instructor that his music appreciation and beginning students love it! Plus, Harmonic Vision has come out with Music Ace 2! And, Music Ace can be configured for MIDI. If you go to J.W.Pepper, you can also download selected programs for preview, including Cakewalk and Finale.
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