Special Needs --- Incredible Deeds: How To Institute an Inclusive Musical Experience for Students of All Abilities
Clinic Synopsis:
We will present a successful music enrichment program for special needs students.
Students of all abilities love to perform! With a customized approach, you can provide a fun, active musical experience for students with different abilities. The players follow a mentor and play to backing tracks, mirroring the movements and rhythms.
Students grow in many ways, learning rhythms and dynamics, and developing motor skills. Best of all, the participants have a truly JOYFUL music experience!
Bret Kuhn
- Biographical Information
Bret Kuhn – Clinician/Arranger and Performing Artist
Bret is a 2022 DCI Hall of Fame Inductee.
He is currently the Director of Education for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. Bret has served as Caption Head and Percussion Arranger for the World Champion Cavaliers who won 6 World Championships and 5 High Percussion Awards during his tenure. He also consulted with the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps 2006-2008. In 2010 he
was the Program Coordinator for the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps and from 2014-2016 he was the Battery Arranger with the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. Bret is adjunct faculty at Northern Illinois University and
very active as an arranger for various high schools and universities throughout the US and Japan as well as adjudicating for WGI since 2013.
For more online resources from Bret, please visit his continually growing library of videos and classes for students and directors covering beginning percussion, marching percussion, drumset, and more! Now available on Ensemble Block at https://ensembleblock.com/bret-kuhn/
Clinician/Artist for Yamaha, Zildjian, Remo and Innovative Percussion.
Dale Hallerberg - Biographical Information
Dale is the Director of the King Cobras Drumline, A program of Cavaliers Arts, Performance & Education.
Dale is a former marching member of the Cavaliers, the University of Illinois Marching Illini, the Chicago Bears Drumline, The Chicago Bulls Stampede Drumline, and is a current performer with the Crystal Lake Strikers. He has taught percussion, patented drum equipment, and directed a WGI Indoor Drumline.
In 2019, prompted by a request from a parent of a non-traditional drumming student, Dale created a drumming program for all abilities, including students with special needs. In 2022, this program inspired the King Cobras.
Dale is a retired Electrical Engineer, having spent his pre-retirement career evaluating Medical Devices for safety.
Matthew Janus - Biographical Information
Matt Janus has been passionate about and involved in music education for over two decades. Teaching junior high band for 14 years, his concert and jazz bands regularly earned 1st division ranking at band festivals for IGSMA, Music in the Parks, Jazz in the Meadows, Nortshore Jazz, and more. His bands had the honor of performing for the 2013 Illinois Music Education Conference and his junior high jazz bands have recorded several studio albums. Matt also has an extensive background in drum corps, having worked on percussion and music staffs for the Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment, and Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, as well as with several indoor drumlines and numerous marching bands. For the past six years, Matt has had the pleasure to serve as a school music representative with the Quinlan & Fabish music company, where he gets to work with countless amazing band directors and programs.
Matt continues to work as a freelance percussionist in the Chicagoland area, but his true current passion lies with groups like the King Cobras Drumline and helping to make music accessible for students of all abilities.
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