Dr. Robert Gillespie
Professor of Music
Ohio State University
Biography
Robert Gillespie, violinist and professor of music, is Chair of Music Education at Ohio State University where he is responsible for string teacher training. Ohio State has one of the largest and most extensive string pedagogy degree programs in the nation. Under Dr. Gillespie’s leadership, Ohio State University received the 2015 Institutional String Education Award as the premier string education university in the country.
Dr. Gillespie is a past national President of the American String Teachers Association. He is a frequent guest conductor of All-State, region, and festival orchestras. Dr. Gillespie has appeared in 47 states, Canada, Asia, and throughout Europe. He is a co-author of the Hal Leonard string method book series, Essential Elements for Strings, the leading string instrument teaching series in the country with sales of over ten million copies. Also, he is a co-author of the college text Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building A Successful School Orchestra Program, the String Clinics to Go DVD series, and the Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra texts for GIA publications. He received the Distinguished Scholar award for 2002-2003 in the School of Music at Ohio State University. In summers, Gillespie directs the OSU String Teacher Workshop, the largest string/orchestra teacher-training workshop in the country. In Columbus, he conducts the Columbus Symphony Chamber Strings Youth Orchestra. He is a performing violinist in the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra. During the 2017-2018 academic year, Gillespie gave string pedagogy and research presentations and conducted orchestra performances in Ohio, Maine, Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Alabama, Missouri, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, and Oregon. In the 2018-2019 he once again will be working with students and teachers throughout the United States, including a weeklong professional residency in Switzerland. In addition, he will be conducting concerts in LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall and Chicago’s Orchestra Hall.
Session Titles
Bowing Styles for the Ages: How to choose and play bow strokes for Baroque, Classical, and Romantic era music
Teacher
Is it long, short, short followed by a long, released, heavy, accented, stopped, articulated, legato? What is the right bow stroke for Baroque vs. Classical vs. Romantic Era music? How do I know? How do I mark it in the music? I do I teach it? How do I play it for my students? How do I diagram it for my students? Removing the mystery from different bow strokes.
Reel ‘em in and Ratchet ‘em Down! Recruiting: What we know from research and how to use it to attract and retrain string students in the schools
Teacher
An explanation and demonstration of research and how effectively apply to get the most students and to keep them.
Should It Be Higher or Lower? Teaching Students to Play in Tune!
Teacher
One of most challenging tasks is to teach students how to consistently play in tune. This 1-2 hour session presents general principles, technology, rote strategies, and printed resources to help students hear what you hear: The Art of Playing in Tune.
The Real Goal - Playing Expressively: Teaching musical expressiveness in the school orchestra
Teacher
Getting our students to feel and play expressively is one of the most important purposes of being a successful string teacher. This session will present general principles, rote teaching strategies, rehearsal techniques, repertoire, and video clips of students learning how to play expressively. It can be done. It will make your day when it happens! Go Music!
You Be the Judge: Evaluating and designing warm-ups for school orchestras
Teacher
A video demonstration of 10 different school orchestra for evaluating the level of their performances. Following the rating, warm-ups designed to develop the playing level of the orchestras is presented and discussed