Endorsed Teacher Trainers
FAME-Endorsed Teacher Trainers are highly experienced and deeply committed music educators who have been formally approved by the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME) to lead official certification courses in First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege. These trainers play a vital role in expanding access to the Feierabend approach by equipping other teachers with the skills, understanding, and inspiration to bring tuneful, beatful, and artful teaching to their own students.
To become endorsed, candidates must first complete certification in First Steps in Music, Conversational Solfege Levels 1 & 2, and Conversational Solfege Upper Levels. They are then invited to apprentice for one to two weeks in a summer certification course, working alongside Dr. John Feierabend or another experienced FAME-Endorsed Teacher Trainer. This apprenticeship serves as a practicum experience, where candidates observe, assist, and refine their ability to present and model the pedagogy with clarity and fidelity.
Upon successful completion, the candidate is formally endorsed by FAME and authorized to lead certification courses independently. Endorsed Teacher Trainers are added to a FAME-maintained directory that connects schools, organizations, and individuals seeking high-quality training in Feierabend’s music education methods.
In addition to leading certification courses, FAME-Endorsed Teacher Trainers often present workshops and sessions at schools, universities, and professional conferences. They are recognized leaders within the FAME community and frequently contribute to forums, newsletters, and the Biennial FAME Conference. Their work helps sustain the integrity of the Feierabend approach while adapting it to meet the needs of today’s music educators and learners.
FAME-Endorsed Teacher Trainers are more than presenters—they are mentors, collaborators, and advocates for joyful, musical learning.
Apply to be an Endorsed Teacher Trainer
Current Endorsed Teacher Trainers
Conversational Solfege Books 1 and 2
Conversational Solfege Upper Levels
Current Active Teacher Trainers
John Crever
John Crever is a driven educator with over 30 years of experience in music coaching, conducting, composition, instruction, production, management, and community organizing. His ability to connect with students and teachers of diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds has enabled him to successfully teach general music and choir in communities ranging from those ravaged by urban blight to suburban public and private settings to overseas students in the international school system in the Arabian Gulf. He has carried his love of vocal education from Westminster Choir College (’93, ’97) to these diverse venues. John now leads training on the Feierabend Approach to music education worldwide.
While deeply in the Feierabend camp, John Crever transitioned from teaching with Music Learning Theory and the Kodaly approach to adopting the Feierabend philosophies in 2008, which brought joy and satisfaction to him and countless students in the inner city and beyond. In addition to his classroom work, he is an endorsed teacher trainer for Conversational Solfege™️ all levels and First Steps in Music© curriculums. He now leads workshops and certification courses nationally, bringing the Feierabend curricula and pedagogy closer to where teachers teach. John hopes to help others share their own love of music through interactive learning with songs and movement. John lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and three daughters, where he plots his Tuneful, Beatful and Artful take-over of the western states.
John Crever
Portland, OR
Email: [email protected]
Sandra Doneski
Sandra Doneski has been a teacher of music to students in Kindergarten through graduate school. She is Associate Professor of Music at Gordon College and Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Music Education. She teaches courses in music education methods, learning theory, assessment, curriculum development; supervises student teachers; and conducts the Gordon College Children’s Choir.
In 2009, Dr. Doneski was the recipient of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Lowell Mason Award and the Society for General Music in Massachusetts Excellence in General Music Award. In 2012, she was awarded the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award and in 2013 she received the Administrators in Music Education Visionary Leadership Award.
Dr. Doneski has published articles and conducted workshops on choral literature and techniques, curriculum development, assessment and mentoring. She recently co-authored a chapter in the MENC Handbook: Research on Teaching and Learning in Music Education titled Research on Elementary and Secondary School Singing.
She is a graduate of Gordon College and received her Master’s and Ph.D. in Music Education from The Hartt School, University of Hartford. She is a First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege Level 1 Teacher Trainer and was the first President of FAME from 2012 to 2015.
Sandra Doneski
Waltham, MA 02453
Email: [email protected]
Lillie Feierabend
Lillie Feierabend
Simsbury, CT 06070
Email: [email protected]
Betsy Greene
Betsy Greene teaches K-5 general music in Burlington, VT. She also started and helps manage a First Steps in Music program for the community at her school (since 2000).
Betsy holds a B.M.Ed. from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam and a M.M.Ed from the Hartt School, University of Hartford. She is both Orff-Schulwerk and Kodaly certified (all three levels).
In addition to teaching children, Betsy is a frequent clinician for general music and music literacy workshops in Vermont School Districts and local music education conferences as well as a teacher of graduate courses for music educators in the summer (Conversational Solfege and First Steps in Music). She is a FAME endorsed teacher trainer.
In 1998, Betsy was awarded Outstanding Arts Advocate by the Vermont Alliance for Education and the Burlington City Schools. She received the honor of Vermont Music Teacher of the Year by the Vermont Music Educators Association on 2008.Betsy is a member of the Vermont Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, the American Orff-Schulwerk Association as well as a founding member and currently the President-Elect of FAME.
First Steps in Music with Orff Schulwerk information
Betsy Greene
Burlington, VT 05408
Email: [email protected]
Connie Greenwood
Connie Greenwood has been teaching First Steps in Music at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Community Division since 2007. She has a B.Mus. from the Hartt School, and has taught in the West Hartford Public Schools. She graduated from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School with a Masters in Music Education degree. Connie also completed her Kodaly levels, Conversational Solfege levels, and received her First Steps in Music certification. She is an officially certified teacher trainer in the First Steps in Music method and is a founding member of the FAME organization. Connie currently teaches First Steps in Music in several preschools in the greater Hartford area as well.
Connie is featured in the documentary Music and Early Childhood, produced by Connecticut Public Television and has been conducting a children’s choir in South Windsor since the fall of 2001. She also served as the University of Hartford’s program director for The Lullaby Project, an outreach to young parents in the community, in conjunction with Carnegie Hall.
Connie has a passion for unleashing creativity and curiosity in children in a playful, musical manner. She has taught voice, guitar, piano, and recorder, and enjoys accompanying herself on folk guitar, autoharp, ukulele, and dulcimer. She loves teaching the First Steps in Music program, not only because of its educational benefits to children, but also because of its authenticity in folk music and how it connects generations.
Connie Greenwood
Bloomfield, CT
Email: [email protected]
Andrew Himelick
Andrew M. Himelick has been an elementary music teacher in Carmel, Indiana, for 32 years and has served as an assistant choral director with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir for 26 years. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Butler University in 1993, where he was recognized as Outstanding Student Teacher.
In 1999, he completed the Kodály Certificate of Music Education at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. He also completed Orff-Schulwerk Levels I and II at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota (2001–2002), and Level III at Anderson University in 2005.
Mr. Himelick was honored with the Martha Lea and Bill Armstrong Teacher Educator Award from the Indiana University School of Education in 2006. More recently, he received the Indiana Music Education Association’s Outstanding Elementary Music Educator Award in 2021 and was named Teacher of the Year at Towne Meadow Elementary in 2022.
A founding member of the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME), he has served as Treasurer and is currently President-Elect. He is an Endorsed Teacher Trainer in both First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege. With GIA Publications, he contributed to Feierabend Fundamentals, demonstrated lessons in First Steps in Music: In Action, and served as a choral arranger for Sing in Parts, Vol. 1.
Lindsay Jackson
Lindsay has taught general music and choir since 2005. She holds a B.M.Ed. from Westminster Choir College, Rider University (2005) and a M.M.Ed from the Hartt School, University of Hartford, CT (2012). While at Hartt, Lindsay served as the graduate assistant for Dr. John Feierabend. She is certified in Kodály (Levels 1-4), FAME (First Steps and Conversational Solfege), and is a FAME endorsed Teacher Trainer (First Steps and Conversational Solfege). In addition to teaching children and training teachers, Lindsay is very active in the Organization of American Kodály Educators and is the recent Past President of the New Jersey chapter (Kodály New Jersey). She is also a founding member of the Feierabend Association of Music Education and currently serves on the FAME board as Member at Large. Lindsay is featured in the DVD “First Steps in Music for Kindergarten and First Grade: In Action” and is a contributing author in Feierabend Fundamentals both by GIA Publications. She was featured as a FAME Teacher Spotlight in February 2015, and was also interviewed on the Tuneful, Beatful, Artful Music Teacher podcast in 2019 (S1, E08). In her spare time, Lindsay enjoys practicing yoga, gardening, and cooking lots of delicious food.
Lindsay Jackson
Cranbury, NJ
Email: [email protected]
Craig B. Knapp
Craig B. Knapp has been teaching Classroom Music and Chorus, grades 3 through 5, at the Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School in the Rocky Point School District since 1998. A graduate of the Crane School of Music, Mr. Knapp has also studied with distinguished educators and musicians including John Feierabend, Jos Wuytack, Henry Leck, Francisco Núñez, Janet Galván, Will Schmid and Bobby McFerrin. Craig is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hofstra University where he teaches “Conversational Solfege.” and he is the co-author of the book, “First Steps in Music with Orff Schulwerk: Sing, Say, Dance, Play.” Craig is also the director of the Early Childhood Community Music Program at Stony Brook University, where he instructs children in Pre-K through 3rd grade. Mr. Knapp is a FAME (Feierabend Association for Music Education) endorsed Teacher Trainer for Conversational Solfege.
With his innovative and energetic approach to music education, Craig Knapp directs the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York’s Children’s Treble Choirs, where he has conducted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He has conducted several commissioned pieces by renowned composers including Nick Page, Jim Papoulis, Melissa Keylock and Jill Friedersdorf. Craig has presented elementary classroom music and choral workshops at various music education conferences, including national conferences for NAfME (National Association for Music Education), ACDA (American Choral Directors Association), OAKE (Organization of American Kodály Educators), and FAME (Feierabend Association for Music Education). Craig is a sought-after clinician and choral conductor and has guest conducted for the Connecticut Music Educators’ Association Elementary Honors Choir, KONY (Kodály Organization of New York) “Voices United” Festival and Pennsylvania Music Educators’ Association Elementary ChorusFest. He has also guest conducted various All-County chorus groups for the county music education associations throughout New York State. Mr. Knapp’s choral ensembles have performed annually at NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) Major Organization Evaluation Festivals since 2003, where they have received consistent “Gold” and “Gold With Distinction” ratings.
Mr. Knapp is a Past-President of SCMEA (Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association). Craig is actively involved with NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association), currently serving on their Curriculum Committee. He is also the Administrative Program Coordinator for the Orff-Schulwerk Summer Studies Program at Hofstra University and recently completed two terms as the Membership Chairperson for LIAOSA (Long Island Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association). Craig is a Lifetime Member of OAKE. He is also a Lifetime Member of ACDA and has served three terms as chairperson for the ACDA Eastern Division Elementary Honor Choir, and two terms as Long Island Regional Representative for the New York Chapter. Mr. Knapp is also a founding member of FAME where he is a Lifetime Member and has served on their Board of Directors as Member at Large. Craig is the only educator to simultaneously hold Lifetime Memberships in ACDA, FAME and OAKE.
First Steps in Music with Orff Schulwerk information
Craig Knapp
Ridge, NY 11961
Email: [email protected]
Bron Lawson
Bron Lawson is an experienced and passionate early childhood music educator based in Geelong, Australia. After completing an Honours degree in Music Therapy at the University of Melbourne and a postgraduate Bachelor of Education at Deakin University she developed a particular interest in teaching the very young.
Delivering the early childhood program at the Geelong Youth Choir since 2001, she now also works tirelessly within vulnerable communities to bring the joy of First Steps in Music to young families through parent-child classes for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
In addition to her extensive work with parents and children, Bron facilitates classroom singing programs and co-directs the NORTH Children’s Choir. Created to provide a pathway of musical excellence, the choir provides training in music theory, vocal and performance skills. The young choristers and their families represent a wide range of cultural backgrounds, including Vietnamese, Liberian, Ghanaian, Karenni, Sudanese, Maori and both Indigenous and white Australian. Families embrace the opportunity to see their children blossom in a musical environment that is nurturing yet challenging.
In 2010, Bron was a founding member of Bluebird Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that delivers quality arts programs that make a real difference in people’s lives. As the Program Manager, her work touches more than 1,000 participants from marginalised communities in the regional city of Geelong, Australia each and every week.
Bron completed the First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege accreditation at Silver Lake College with Dr John Feierabend. She has been instrumental in supporting the work of the Feierabend Association for Music Education in Australia, hosting the Feierabend Summer School in Geelong, Australia in 2017 and 2020.
Bronwyn Lawson
Geelong, Australia
Email:[email protected]
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Emily Maurek
Emily Maurek
Valparaiso, IN
Email: [email protected]
Chris Anne Powers
Chris Anne Powers has been a music educator since 1995. She currently teaches K-5 General Music, Band, Chorus, and Theater in Greenwich, Connecticut. Chris received her undergraduate degree in Music Education as well as her Kodály Certificate from The Hartt School, where she first met and studied with Dr. John Feierabend. She is now the director of the Kodály Certification Program at the Hartt School, as well as the Methodology II and III professor. She also holds a Master’sDegree in Education from Sacred Heart University. As an Endorsed Teacher Trainer for the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME), Chris presents professional development workshops and FAME certification courses at universities and school districts around the country. Chris is a contributing author to the Feierabend Fundamentals book and is the author and curator of the Feierabend Repertoire Database published by GIA Publications. She has worked as a mentor and sponsor teacher assisting beginning and uncertified teachers in the TEAM program for the State of Connecticut Department of Education. She is also one of the conductors of the Fairfield County Children’s Choir and the Greenwich Public Schools Honor Choir. In 2019, Chris was the proud recipient of the Greenwich Distinguished Teachers Award.
David Rankine
David Rankine has been teaching music in schools, community organizations, and historic sites for more than 20 years. A certified Teacher Trainer in First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege with the Feierabend Association for Music Education, David completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University where he was an apprentice conductor with Dr. Mark Sirett, and his Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University where he received the L.W. Copp Teaching Award. He has presented throughout Canada and the United States including at the Ontario Music Educators Association Conferences, Music Conference Alberta, the Royal Conservatory of Music, Music-Ed Amplified Podcast, and the 2022 National Association for Music Education National Conference.
David is the former Artistic Director of the Gananoque Choral Society and was the Drum Major and Company Captain of the Fort Henry Guard where he received the Colonel Truman Crawford Cup, USMC, for Excellence in Music. A recipient of several scholarships from the Royal Canadian College of Organists, David has both Piano and Organ certifications from the Royal Conservatory of Music, is a Church Organist and Music Director, as well as the former Organist for the Kingston Frontenacs OHL Hockey Franchise.
In addition to his classroom work, he has received numerous grants and donations under the umbrella of ‘Building Community Through Music.’ Surmounting his belief that to build community one must go into the community, these proceeds have enabled more than 800 K-6 students to annually take part in and host Folk Festivals, May Day Festivals, and Family Folk Dances. During the COVID Epidemic, GIA Music published 8 Episodes of ‘Mr. Rankine’s Music Cabin,’ all based on the First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege curricula to help create a more Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful society.
David lives in a forest just north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and two children, Eva and George.
Elginburg, Ontario, Canada
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Jeffrey A. Rhone
Jeffrey A. Rhone holds a Master of Music Education (Early Childhood Emphasis), and a Kodály teaching certificate from The Hartt School, University of Hartford. His independent research includes field and archival collecting at Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC, and The Archive of Folk Life Studies in Washington, D.C. Rhone has collaborated with The Yale School of Music Graduate Student Composer Outreach Program and published articles on folklore in The Kodály Envoy. Mr. Rhone taught grade K-5 vocal music for over 15 years in North Haven, CT public schools. Currently, Mr. Rhone teaches courses in Folksong Research in the Kodály certification program at The Hartt School where he is enrolled as a full-time doctoral student in music education.
He is an Endorsed Teacher Trainer for BOTH First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege Level 1 & 2.
You may check him out on Youtube here.
Jeff Rhone
Hamden, NJ 06518
Email: [email protected]
Stephanie Schall-Brazee
Stephanie Schall-Brazee is an elementary general music teacher for the Traverse City Area Public Schools where she also directs the select Women’s Choir, Bella Voce. As a choral director, Stephanie’s choirs have consistently earned first degree ratings at festivals, and have been invited to sing at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2022 and 2023, Bella Voce was selected as one of 10 small ensembles to perform in the MSVMA All-State concert on the campus of Michigan State University. In addition to her public school teaching, Stephanie is the Artistic Director of the Northwest Michigan College Childrens’ Choir Program where she also directs the Intermezzo Choir.
Stephanie’s training includes a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Central Michigan University, and a Master of Music Education from The Hartt School, where she was a graduate assistant to Dr. John Feierabend.
As an endorsed Teacher Trainer for First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege, Stephanie has presented courses and sessions on “Singing Development in Young Children”, “First Steps in Music”, “Music and Movement in Preschool” and “Conversational Solfege”. In 2018, Stephanie co-authored a chapter in the book, Feierabend Fundamentals.
In 2018, Stephanie was selected as an Outstanding Educator by the Traverse City Area ISD. She has served two terms on the board for the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME) and is still actively involved in this important association serving as President-Elect.
Stephanie Schall-Brazee
Traverse City, NI 49686
Email: [email protected]
Leslie Weaver
Leslie Weaver has been a public-school music educator in the state of Pennsylvania since 2005. She began her career as a Class Instrumental Music Teacher for grades 3-8 in the School District of Philadelphia before accepting a position in the Hamburg Area School District in 2009. In the HASD, Leslie has taught K-5 General Music, 7th Grade General Music, 3rd Grade Recorder, 4th and 5th Grade Chorus, Elementary Autistic Support Adaptive Music, Elementary Life Skills Support Adaptive Music, and High School Life Skills Support Adaptive Music.
Leslie graduated from Lebanon Valley College with a Bachelor of Science degree in music education and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music performance in 2004. She earned a Master of Science in Educational Development and Strategies from Wilkes University in 2011 and a Master of Music degree in music education from Boston University in 2016.
In addition to teaching elementary school, Leslie is an Endorsed Teacher Trainer for the First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege curriculums. She presents professional development sessions at the local, state, and national levels. She is a member of the Music Educators of Berks County, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, NAfME, Feierabend Association for Music Education, and is a member of the 2023 PMEA Strategic Planning Committee. She enjoys reading, visiting the U.S. National Parks, rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles, and spending time with her husband and dogs.
Email: [email protected]
Emily Woock
Emily is a daughter of two music educators so has never known life without music. She was first introduced to Dr. Feierabend’s work when she attended a conference as an undergraduate, and hearing about the “30-year-plan” forever changed how she approaches music education. Emily has spent her career teaching music to children of all ages from infants to high school, and is passionate about introducing other teachers to Dr. Feierabend’s philosophy and curriculum.
She currently serves at Concordia University Chicago, where she teaches courses in both music education and church music. She also serves as chapel organist and teaches applied organ. In addition to her work at the university, she works part-time as music director and organist at her church in Elmhurst, Illinois. She currently serves on the FAME board as treasurer.