Dr. Mary Ellen Cavitt

Dr. Mary Ellen Cavitt

Professor of Music Education and Assistant Vice President
Texas State University

  Biography

Mary Ellen Cavitt is Professor of Music Education and Assistant Vice President for Academic Services at Texas State University where she recently received the Texas State University Alumni Teaching Award of Honor, Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Teaching Award, Presidential Awards of Distinction in Service and Teaching, and the College Achievement Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activity. Dr. Cavitt received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in horn performance from The Juilliard School and Ph.D. in music education from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a 2013 graduate of Harvard University’s Management Development Program for higher education leaders. She has served as Director of Graduate Studies in Music, Associate Director of the School of Music, and Associate Dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Texas State University.

During her tenure in the Texas public schools, she was named Outstanding Young Bandmaster of the Year at the Texas Bandmaster Convention in San Antonio. Dr. Cavitt has served on the music education faculties of Michigan State University, The University of Arizona, and The University of Texas at San Antonio and as an administrator of instrumental music for North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. She is an active clinician and adjudicator, and her research has been presented at regional, national, and international conferences. She served as editor for the Texas Music Education Research Journal for 13 years and is past Chair for the Instructional Strategies Research Interest Group for the National Association for Music Education. Dr. Cavitt compiled and edited On Teaching Band: Notes from Eddie Green published in 2012 by Hal Leonard and Music Theory for Beginning Instrumentalists: A Scripted Curriculum published in 2017 by RBC Music (JWPepper.com).

  Session Titles

Beginning with the End in Mind: An overview of beginner band

Teacher

A comprehensive review of beginning instrumental wind pedagogy, sequences, and strategies.


Best Practices for Teaching Beginning Instrumentalists

Teacher

Assessment, grading, recruiting, organizing the teaching environment, instrument selection, and a review of individual instrument pedagogy and intonation/tone are discussed. Provides an overview of mastery teaching, sequencing instruction, social skills, music literacy, and performance.


Self-Evaluation in Your Ensemble: Do you hear what I hear?

Teacher

Goal imaging, Unified Performance Plans, Hierarchical Listening, Musical Roles, Balance, Pulse, Style, Intonation, Musicality and Self-Monitoring are discussed.


Understanding Chord Tuning, Balance, and Intonation

Teacher

Just Intonation, Equal Temperament, Tone Quality, Audiation, Ear Training, Harmony Director, Balance, Tuning Resources, and Intonation Adjustments needed for Chord Tuning are discussed.


Using Heuristics to Improve Instrumental Tone Quality

Teacher

This clinic explores the prerequisites to good tone; note shapes; growth mindset; repertoire of responses; variables to effect tone quality change; assessment of tone quality; and experimentation.