Orff and Kodály Faculty

Joyce Stephansky teaches music and movement in the Fairfax County Virginia Public Schools and Undergraduate Music Methods at George Mason University. She has experience as a choral, music, and movement teacher in kindergarten through sixth grade in the Prince George’s County, Maryland public schools, and the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia. She completed her Master of Arts Degree and Orff Certification at George Mason University, with additional work in Orff studies and a Master Class at St. Thomas University. Ms. Stephansky has presented at AOSA National Conferences, and for Orff chapters in the areas of integration and Orff process.

Shoshanah Drake teaches general/vocal music Head Start – 5th grade and writes general music curriculum for Montgomery County Public Schools where she has taught for more than 25 years. She is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of AOSA and an active member of MMEA. Ms. Drake presents workshops at local, state, and national conferences and teaches Level I Orff Schulwerk certification classes at George Mason University.

Betsy Sebring has taught general music classes and directed children’s choirs since 1998. She has taught early childhood, elementary, and middle school students in public and private schools in Maryland and Virginia. Ms. Sebring has served on the board of the MAC-AOSA chapter in many capacities. She serves on AOSA’s National Board of Trustees as one of the Region IV Representatives. She presents workshops for local chapters, national conferences, and teaches Orff Levels I and II. Ms. Sebring spent the 2010-2011 school year at the Carl Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria studying Advanced Topics in Music and Movement Education. She currently teaches in Washington D.C.

John Barnes currently teaches general music to students in grades two through eight at Georgetown Day School after spending nine years teaching in Loudoun County Public Schools. He has served in several capacities on the board of MAC-AOSA and is currently a member of the AOSA Advocacy Subcommittee. Mr. Barnes enjoys working with fellow teachers, presenting workshops for various local chapters of AOSA, and teaching recorder pedagogy in summer Orff-Schulwerk Certification Programs. He completed his Orff-Schulwerk certification and Level IV coursework at George Mason University and apprenticed at The University of St. Thomas. Mr. Barnes earned a bachelor of science degree in music education at Duquesne University and a master’s degree in saxophone performance at the University of Florida.

Victoria Redfearn Cave, M.Ed., Artistic Director, graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education with a piano concentration and received her Masters in Education Leadership from Mary Baldwin College where she received the award for top graduate student. She is a graduate of the Special Course at the Orff Institute, and has been teaching music and movement and choral studies for over 30 years.

She has taught at the Orff training program at George Mason since 2004 and is a frequent presenter and author. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia where she is the Artistic Director of Mosaic Children’s Choir, the director of the Youth Chorale at the Virginia Consort, and the Director of Performing Arts at the Field School, a middle school for boys.  

Diana Hawley has worked in education as a music teacher, curriculum coordinator, and instructional design strategist in public, international, and charter schools for over twenty years. Additionally, as a nationally recognized teacher educator of the Orff Schulwerk approach, Diana has guided the professional learning of hundreds of U.S. and international music educators to better serve the needs of their students and communities.

Diana’s work in music education has taken her around the world and back again. Her first steps as a music teacher took place in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she founded the music program at Achieve Language Academy, a Hmong and Spanish language-focused charter school on St. Paul’s East Side. Eager to broaden her worldview and grow in her practice, after four years Diana shifted into international school teaching and landed at highly regarded International School Bangkok (ISB). Her two sons—now nearly 16 and 18—were born in Thailand.

Since returning to the U.S. and settling in the vibrant arts community of Iowa City, Diana has flourished as a music teacher and teacher leader. Currently, Diana leads cross-team collaboration between teachers, curriculum coordinators, school counselors, and district administrators to ensure that all students access meaningful curricular and co-curricular experiences in Music, Art, Physical Education, World Languages, and Career and Technical Education in the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD). Prior to her current role, Diana served as the ICCSD K-12 Music Coordinator and an Instructional Design Strategist of Innovation.

In addition to her full-time work in Iowa City, Diana is an accomplished music teacher educator of the Orff Schulwerk approach. Diana teaches graduate-level courses at several universities, including the University of St. Thomas, University of Kentucky, and George Mason University. Course participants teach in a variety of settings, including public and independent schools, community music centers, and private studios.

To further support music teachers, Diana co-edited/authored Artful-Playful-Mindful in Action: Orff-Schulwerk Classroom Projects for a New Generation of Learners (2015), a resource that provides “authentic stories of real teachers in real classrooms who have undertaken the adventure of introducing a new Orff Schulwerk curriculum to their students.”

Diana serves on the Editorial Board of The Orff Echo, the Associate Editorial Board of The International Journal of Education & the Arts, and Music Educators Journal’s Advisory Committee.

Diana earned a BA in Music and Sociology/Anthropology from St.Olaf College, an MA in Education from the University of St. Thomas, and is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Music Education at Boston University.

Beth Anne Young, is a Choral and Classroom Music Specialist.  Recently retired from the public  schools, she was  a middle school choral and classroom music specialist for the majority of her teaching career.  Beth Anne is currently the Choral Director at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island  Beth Anne worked at the Longy School of Music as a Choral Methods Instructor and as a  Supervisor of Student Teachers in the Master of Music Education Program. Beth Anne  is the Director and Choral Studies Instructor for the Kodály Levels Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA .  She has a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA and a Master of Music in Music Education from the University of Connecticut with an emphasis in Choral Conducting. She completed both her Orff and Kodály Certification at George Mason University. Beth Anne has presented workshops about the Kodály- Inspired Choral Setting at MMEA, and at Regional and National OAKE Conferences.  She currently serves on the OAKE Teacher Education Committee and is on the Executive Board of BAKE (Boston Area Kodály Educators) serving as the Treasurer. 

Nicole Anderson-Morgan teaches music at Mason Crest Elementary School in Annandale, VA. Nicole attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for both undergrad and graduate school. She holds a Bachelors of Music and a Masters of Arts in Teaching. Over her twenty year teaching career she has taught at every grade level from Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade in New York City, District of Columbia Public Schools and Fairfax County Public Schools. Nicole received her Orff Schulwerk and Kodály certifications from George Mason University.

Ginger Albertson teaches a Kodály inspired program at Eagle View Elementary, part of the Fairfax County Public School system.  She teaches Kindergarten through 6th grade General Music, and directs a 5th and 6th grade Chorus.  Ginger holds a BS in Music Education from West Chester University in Pennsylvania, where she as a voice major.  She earned her MA in Music Education from the University of Hawaii, Manoa.  Ginger earned her Kodály Certificate at George Mason University.  She currently serves on the faculty of the George Mason Summer Program teaching Methodology.  Outside of her teaching Ginger is an active member of Sweet Adelines International, and sings tih the Vienna-Falls Chorus in Fairfax,  She is the Associate Director for her barbershop chorus and sings in a competing quartet.  Ginger is married and the mother of three grown children.  She enjoys spending time at the family beach house in the Outer Banks. 

Kelly Burcher is a middle school choral director in Virginia, where she directs a program including mixed, tenor/bass and treble choirs.

In 2018, Kelly earned her MM in Music Education from George Mason University and is a 2014 graduate of James Madison University with a BM in Music Education and piano.

Her work stems from teaching middle school singers in a participatory choral program while working towards completing her certification in Kodály teaching.

Kelly’s arrangements and compositions are designed to integrate a sequential plan of Kodaly activities leading to music literacy for beginning-level choral students and music readers.  

Beth Anne Young, is a Choral and Classroom Music Specialist.  Recently retired from the public  schools, she was  a middle school choral and classroom music specialist for the majority of her teaching career. Beth Anne is currently the Choral Director at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island Beth Anne worked at the Longy School of Music as a Choral Methods Instructor and as a  Supervisor of Student Teachers in the Master of Music Education Program. Beth Anne  is the Director and Choral Studies Instructor for the Kodály Levels Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. 

She has a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA and a Master of Music in Music Education from the University of Connecticut with an emphasis in Choral Conducting. She completed both her Orff and Kodály Certification at George Mason University. Beth Anne has presented workshops about the Kodály- Inspired Choral Setting at MMEA, and at Regional and National OAKE Conferences.  She currently serves on the OAKE Teacher Education Committee and is on the Executive Board of BAKE (Boston Area Kodály Educators) serving as the Treasurer. 

Matt McCoy teaches elementary music and choir at the Emerson School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Prior to his time at Emerson, Matt taught in various educational institutions and programs including public and independent schools, children’s choir organizations, and universities in both the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. As a clinician specializing in process-based teaching, he has been a clinician at American Orff-Schulwerk Association National Conferences and local chapter meetings across the country.

Shoshanah Drake teaches general/vocal music Head Start – 5th grade and writes general music curriculum for Montgomery County Public Schools where she has taught for more than 25 years. She is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of AOSA and an active member of MMEA. Ms. Drake presents workshops at local, state, and national conferences and teaches Level I Orff Schulwerk certification classes at George Mason University.

Victoria Redfearn Cave, M.Ed., Artistic Director, graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education with a piano concentration and received her Masters in Education Leadership from Mary Baldwin College where she received the award for top graduate student. She is a graduate of the Special Course at the Orff Institute, and has been teaching music and movement and choral studies for over 30 years.

She has taught at the Orff training program at George Mason since 2004 and is a frequent presenter and author. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia where she is the Artistic Director of Mosaic Children’s Choir, the director of the Youth Chorale at the Virginia Consort, and the Director of Performing Arts at the Field School, a middle school for boys.  

Mary Evans teaches elementary Music and Movement in Charlottesville, Virginia. She is a Movement TE, and has taught Orff Levels courses in Virginia and New Mexico. Mary holds Orff certification from the University of St. Thomas, and attended the year-long Special Course at the Orff Institute in Salzburg.

Roger Sams retired from the music classroom in 2013 after 31 years of teaching music in public and private schools. He has served as adjunct faculty, teaching methods courses and supervising student teachers at Cleveland State University and has been on the faculty in teacher education programs at the University of St. Thomas, Cleveland State University, Akron University, Texas A&M University—Kingsville, the University of Montana, University of Missouri-St. Louis, VanderCook College of Music, the Portland OR Orff course, and other venues throughout the US. Roger is a regular presenter at state, regional, national, and international conferences and has served on the AOSA National Board of Trustees.

He has worked with teachers and children in Canada, China, Croatia, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Poland, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Vietnam, and throughout the US. Trained in Gestalt therapy, Roger works with the power of choice in the artistic process, pedagogy, and in life. He is the co-author of Purposeful Pathways: Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom, Percussive Play, and Elemental Ukulele, and has published works for children’s choirs in the Crooked River Choral Project series.

Roger is the owner of Soulwerk Sanctuary, a digital platform supporting your highest and best expression of yourself as an artist, a teacher, and a human. Visit his website at SoulwerkSanctuary.com.

Ginger Albertson teaches a Kodály inspired program at Eagle View Elementary, part of the Fairfax County Public School system.  She teaches Kindergarten through 6th grade General Music, and directs a 5th and 6th grade Chorus.  Ginger holds a BS in Music Education from West Chester University in Pennsylvania, where she as a voice major.  She earned her MA in Music Education from the University of Hawaii, Manoa.  Ginger earned her Kodály Certificate at George Mason University.  She currently serves on the faculty of the George Mason Summer Program teaching Methodology.  Outside of her teaching Ginger is an active member of Sweet Adelines International, and sings tih the Vienna-Falls Chorus in Fairfax,  She is the Associate Director for her barbershop chorus and sings in a competing quartet.  Ginger is married and the mother of three grown children.  She enjoys spending time at the family beach house in the Outer Banks.