Please email LACAOSA about membership packages for District/Music Education Institutions:
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CHAPTER SHARE with KASC
~*FREE* workshop~ Saturday, September 6th, 2025 9:00 am - 1:00 pm We will be joined by KASC, the Kodaly Association of Southern California, for a joint Orff/Kodaly Chapter Share! Presenters: Members from LACAOSA & KASC |
*No need to register online to attend the Chapter Share. You can just show up! However, please consider becoming a LACAOSA full member! |
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Saturday, October 11, 2025
9:00 am - 1:00 pm Jennifer Bhooshan Orffing with All Students Have you ever felt like you struggled to meet the needs of your unique students? Come and discover lessons, tricks, and tips specifically designed to easily differentiate Orff with your students with disabilities, students who have high needs, as well as your students who musically excel. |
Jennifer Bhooshan has been sharing her quirky love for music, kids, and education with K-4 students since 2005. She has completed her master’s level Orff Certification and was awarded Teacher of the Year for southwest Illinois in 2020. Jennifer specializes in teaching a wide variety of students including several self-contained classes of non-verbal students with Autism, self-contained classes of functional life skills, and mainstream blended classes with students with disabilities. Her favorite pastime is raising her beautiful and spicy daughter named Nora and she currently serves as the president of the St. Louis Orff Chapter.
Click below to register:
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Saturday, January 24, 2026
9:00 am - 1:00 pm [UPDATED] David Thaxton Rainbows of Rounds, Songs of Science (and Bigfoot is Real!) Participants will be creating science-based musical and movement explorations based on the layered harmonies, melodies, rhythms, and textures of original, composed rounds. Movement, Barred Percussion, Props, Singing, Ukulele (bring one if you can!) and above all, your own human creativity and sense of wonder becomes the many colors of paint on a smooth canvas of possibility! |
David Thaxton is from Sparks, Nevada where he is currently in his 31st year teaching Elementary music to pre-K through 6th grade, and holds a B.M.E. Degree from the University of Northern Colorado, and an M.M. from Eastern Washington University. As an AOSA certified teacher trainer for Orff Level I, II, and III pedagogy and Level I and II recorder, David currently teaches Summer Courses in Birmingham, Chicago, and Portland. He has presented workshops and clinics at local, state, and national levels and presents to Orff chapters throughout the country.
David is also a Past President and current Treasurer for the Sierra Nevada Chapter of AOSA where he was co-founder of the Sierra Nevada Orff Festival. At the national level, he has served on the Editorial Board of The Echo Journal of the American Orff Schulwerk Association and the monthly online publication, Reverberations. He is currently the Treasurer for the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement and was also awarded the ACEMM Spotlight Educator Award. His book “Making Tracks: Recorder Explorations, Creations and Improvisations” published through Sweet Pipes is used in elementary music classrooms across the country as an improvisatory approach to recorder instruction. His most recent publication, “Rounds all Around” through F-Flat books features a collection of original rounds in addition to “Sasquatch,” an eBook for elementary students due for release in 2026.
David is also a Past President and current Treasurer for the Sierra Nevada Chapter of AOSA where he was co-founder of the Sierra Nevada Orff Festival. At the national level, he has served on the Editorial Board of The Echo Journal of the American Orff Schulwerk Association and the monthly online publication, Reverberations. He is currently the Treasurer for the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement and was also awarded the ACEMM Spotlight Educator Award. His book “Making Tracks: Recorder Explorations, Creations and Improvisations” published through Sweet Pipes is used in elementary music classrooms across the country as an improvisatory approach to recorder instruction. His most recent publication, “Rounds all Around” through F-Flat books features a collection of original rounds in addition to “Sasquatch,” an eBook for elementary students due for release in 2026.
Saturday, March 14, 2026
9:00 am - 1:00 pm Richard Lawton Developing the B Section: Incorporating Student Compositions One of the hallmarks of the Orff Schulwerk approach is the use of student- composed B sections that can be added to teacher-provided musical ideas. Nothing motivates children like having a creative say in their musicking, and the development of a B section or a sequence of B sections (often presented as a rondo) is a great way to give students a chance to contribute to the final product, as well as opportunities to collaborate in pairs and small groups. This workshop will focus on strategies using all Orff media — movement, singing, playing — to fill up these windows of creative opportunity with student work. |
Richard Lawton is the recorder instructor in the Los Angeles County Orff Course. He also teaches general and choral music for the Los Angeles Unified School District, is an adjunct faculty member at California State University, East Bay, and a curriculum contributor for Quaver Music. Richard is a past-president of the Los Angeles AOSA Chapter Board. He received his M. Mus. and Orff certification at Cal State LA and has done post-level III work at the Arizona State, Villanova, University of St. Thomas, and University of Missouri, St. Louis Orff courses. In his classroom he has made improvisation and the use of popular music learning
techniques a primary focus of instruction.
techniques a primary focus of instruction.
Click below to register: