How do you start an Orff chapter?
Who started POSA and why?
What milestones shaped the journey from the earliest days to today?

This year’s chapter share takes a special turn as we celebrate Seeds to Blooms: POSA’s Anniversary Chapter Share. Long-time and current members come together to share the story of POSA’s fifty-plus years through music, movement, and personal reflections.

From the first seeds of an idea to the vibrant chapter we are today, this Chapter Share honors the people, moments, and experiences that helped POSA grow. Through shared memories and music-making, we’ll reflect on where we’ve been, celebrate how far we’ve come, and look ahead to what continues to bloom.

Whether you are a long-standing member or newer to POSA, this Chapter Share is an opportunity to connect, reflect, and celebrate our shared journey.

Join us for our third and final featured presenter workshop of the season as we welcome coauthors Dr. Paul Cribari and Dr. Rick Layton for an in-depth exploration of elemental composition.

The five original volumes of Music for Children capture Orff and Keetman’s vision of the elemental style—but they offer little instruction on how that distinctive sound was actually created. Drawing from their books, THE ELEMENTAL STYLE: A Handbook for Composers and Arrangers (Part 1 and Part 2), Cribari and Layton will guide participants in analyzing these source materials, uncovering the techniques and structures at the heart of elemental music-making. Participants will walk away with practical ideas and inspiration to begin composing in the elemental style themselves.

Whether you're a seasoned music educator or new to Orff Schulwerk, this workshop will deepen your understanding of composition in the elemental tradition.

About the Presenters:

Dr. Paul Cribari is a Colorado-based music educator with over 20 years of experience teaching preschool through high school students. He holds degrees in piano, vocal music education, Orff Schulwerk, and music education, and has taught at multiple universities and national conferences across the U.S.

Dr. Rick Layton teaches at the University of Maryland and the Key School in Annapolis. He holds advanced degrees in music theory and is a certified Orff Schulwerk educator and international clinician, with teaching experience in Austria, Australia, Canada, and more.

SONGS OF THE SUN: Filipino Folk Songs for the Musical Classroom

Join us for an inspiring workshop that brings the warmth and vibrancy of the Philippines into your classroom! In this session, we’ll explore Filipino folk songs and games that can be used with students of all ages. Presenter Tiffany Unarce Barry will guide us through the music, culture, and history behind these pieces while sharing practical teaching strategies from her book.

Whether you’re looking to expand your multicultural repertoire, bring new energy to your lessons, or deepen your understanding of Filipino traditions, this workshop will leave you with a wealth of new ideas and materials to use right away.

Tiffany Unarce Barry is a vocalist, violinist, music educator, author, and Orff presenter based in Northern California. A second-generation Filipino-American, she teaches PreK–8 music at Casa di Mir Montessori and serves as an adjunct lecturer at San José State University, where she earned her BA and MA in Music Education. Tiffany is Orff-certified and a Level I Teacher Educator. A two-time “Teacher of the Year” in the Cambrian School District, she is also a published author of Songs of the Sun: Filipino Folk Songs for the Musical Classroom. Her work has been featured in The Orff Echo, Teaching Music Magazine, and more. Tiffany performs with the swing band Symphonia Phonotone and serves on several arts and cultural boards, including the Filipino American National Historical Society Museum.

Kick off the season with a powerful and inspiring workshop led by Jeaneau Julian. Using children’s literature, the Orff process, and personal storytelling, Jeaneau will guide participants through narratives that confront difficult truths—such as the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921—while celebrating moments of Black joy. This session invites educators to reflect, grow, and explore meaningful ways to bring inclusive storytelling into their classrooms.

Whether you’re preparing for Black History Month or striving to teach with more empathy and honesty all year long, this workshop offers valuable tools and inspiration.

Jeaneau Julian is an educator in Washington with a B.A. in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Oklahoma and an M.A. in TESOL from Arkansas Tech University. She is certified in Orff Schulwerk and currently serves as Vice-President of the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement (ACEMM).

Thank you for attending this workshop!

We are excited to invite you to the 4th Annual KodOrff Day at PSU on Saturday, May 10th, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM.

Join members of Southern Washington & Oregon Kodaly Educators and Portland Orff-Schulwerk Association, as we come together for a day of collaboration and community. After a little folk dancing to warm up, each group will offer a lesson using our traditional approaches, then we will end the day with a Mash-Up to demonstrate how the same song can be taught two ways.

We will meet in Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University, please use the Broadway Entrance on the corner of Broadway and Market St.

Best of all, it's free!

Please register by clicking the link below.

Come learn from the Portland Orff Community! Join us March 15 at PSU for our FREE Chapter Share. Join us at Portland State University from 9 AM - 12 PM.

Join us for our February Workshop, Saturday February 8th, with Victor Lozada at Orchards Elementary, in Vancouver, WA. The address is 11405 NE 69th St, Vancouver, WA 98662.

Multilingual Learners and Orff Schulwerk

Explore the rich potential of integrating multiple languages, cultures, and creative modalities in the Orff Schulwerk classroom. This workshop will offer innovative strategies for embracing diversity and fostering inclusivity through music and movement.

Join us for our October Workshop, Saturday October 12th for a workshop with BethAnn Hepburn. We will meet in Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University, please use the Broadway Entrance on the corner of Broadway and Market St.

Invitations for Creativity.

Manipulatives and children's books serve as invitations for students to unleash their creativity. The lessons shared will inspire your students to work together to create movement and music that is their own. Discover ways to use manipulatives to spark creativity to create movement and music. You will be invited to explore objects hands-on to inspire rhythmic speech to develop larger ensembles. The lessons will be focused on both primary and upper elementary classrooms. Join us and put creative ideas right in the palms of your hands! Please bring a recorder to use on Friday.

Join us Saturday, August 24th for a back to school workshop to get your year started off right. We will meet in Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University, please use the Broadway Entrance on the corner of Broadway and Market St.

Come and play for the day with creative connections in music, movement, literature, and visual art. Together we will share beautiful experiences exploring these connections that foster musical learning through unusual manipulatives, beautiful books, and fun music! Be prepared to move, sing, play recorder, and explore the art in play!

We are excited to invite you to the 3rd Annual KodOrff Day at PSU on Saturday, May 4th, from 9-12:30!

Join members of Southern Washington & Oregon Kodaly Educators and Portland Orff-Schulwerk Association, as we come together for a day of collaboration and community. After a little folk dancing to warm up, each group will offer a lesson using our traditional approaches, then we will end the day with a Mash-Up to demonstrate how the same song can be taught two ways.

If that's not enough community for you, stroll down the block for happy hour at Rogue Hall.

We will meet in Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University, please use the Broadway Entrance on the corner of Broadway and Market St.

Best of all, it's free!

We will be hosting a Chapter Share with a Potluck to follow! The Chapter Share will take place 9:00 am- 12:00 PM with the Potluck to follow.

The POSA Potluck will be a great time to relax, connect, and learn from each other. We are excited to see you there!

And, it’s free to all!

If you would like to present at the chapter share, please follow the link to fill out an application. Our board will review applications and notify those who are selected the following week!

Application

Stay tuned for more info regarding Potluck information.

We will meet in Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University, please use the Broadway Entrance on the corner of Broadway and Market St.

Join us Saturday, February 3rd February Workshop with Michelle Przybylowski. Our workshop will take place at Crestline Elementary in Vancouver Washington. Crestline is located at 13003 SE 7th St, Vancouver, Wa.

Imitate, Explore, Create!

Imagine.
Choose your journey.
Where will you go?

Soar beyond all possibilities. Imagine, wonder, and explore. Begin your journey with a simple rhythm through body percussion.  Travel through the process begin by adding movement. Accompany your movement with melodic and or rhythmic improvisation, and continue your journey by adding a harmonic accompaniment.  Explore beyond all possibilities. 

Transport new life into your music-making.

Take a deep breath, take flight, and invite the music to flow through you.

Just imagine.

DEI WORKSHOP DISCOUNT

WE AT PORTLAND ORFF ARE COMMITTED TO OUR ASPIRATION OF AN INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE MEMBERSHIP. WE BELIEVE THAT REPRESENTATION OF THE STUDENTS WE SERVE, ESPECIALLY OUR STUDENTS OF MINORITIZED POPULATIONS, IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE. 

Therefore we are creating a Diversity Equity and Inclusion workshop discount for any teacher who self identifies as an educator as color. When checking out, enter the code DEI10 you will receive 10% off your purchase

Join us Saturday, October 14th at Crestline Elementary for our October Workshop with Dr. Patrick Ware.

Dr. Patrick Ware will be presenting: Creative Movement, Big and Small

Looking for ideas for creative movement? Help us tell a story without words. Join us as we explore the world of movement in the Orff-Schulwerk classroom. We will take our inspiration from visual art, literature, music and more! From five-minute warm-ups to full performance pieces, come play, come move.

DEI WORKSHOP DISCOUNT

WE AT PORTLAND ORFF ARE COMMITTED TO OUR ASPIRATION OF AN INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE MEMBERSHIP. WE BELIEVE THAT REPRESENTATION OF THE STUDENTS WE SERVE, ESPECIALLY OUR STUDENTS OF MINORITIZED POPULATIONS, IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE. 

Therefore we are creating a Diversity Equity and Inclusion workshop discount for any teacher who self identifies as an educator as color. When checking out, enter the code DEI10 you will receive 10% off your purchase

Join us Saturday, August 19th, at Portland State University for our August Workshop with Deb Navin.

We will meet in Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University, please use the Broadway Entrance on the corner of Broadway and Market St.

Getting Serious About Play: Games, Recorders, & Assessment" 

Play is the work of childhood, and music is naturally playful! Come and see how play-based music instruction can promote a variety of curricular goals. This workshop highlights fun games for teaching content, a playful approach to recorder instruction, and ways to assess student learning in grades PreK through 5th Grade.

New this year, Workshop Bundles!

If you are a member of AOSA you can purchase the Workshop Bundle: AOSA Member rate and pay for all of this seasons workshops for a discount.

If you are not an AOSA member you can purchase the Non-AOSA Member bundle .

DEI Workshop Discount

WE AT PORTLAND ORFF ARE COMMITTED TO OUR ASPIRATION OF AN INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE MEMBERSHIP. WE BELIEVE THAT REPRESENTATION OF THE STUDENTS WE SERVE, ESPECIALLY OUR STUDENTS OF MINORITIZED POPULATIONS, IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE. 

Therefore we are creating a Diversity Equity and Inclusion workshop discount for any teacher who self identifies as an educator as color. When checking out, enter the code DEI10 you will receive 10% off your purchase.

Orff and Kodály together at Portland State!

We are excited to invite you to the 2nd Annual KodOrff Day at PSU on Saturday, May 6th, from 9-12:30!

Join members of Southern Washington & Oregon Kodaly Educators and Portland Orff-Schulwerk Association, as we come together for a day of collaboration and community. After a little folk dancing to warm up, each group will offer a lesson using our traditional approaches, then we will end the day with a Mash-Up to demonstrate how the same song can be taught two ways.

If that's not enough community for you, stroll down the block for happy hour at Rogue Hall.

We will meet in Lincoln Hall on the campus of Portland State University, please use the Broadway Entrance on the corner of Broadway and Market St.

Best of all, it's free!

Register Here

Scaffolding Movement in Your Music Classroom/Curriculum

This workshop will present ideas of layering movement activities through the grades to build and reinforce music and movement concepts and skills, including traditional dances with creativity and creative dance with traditional music forms. Move and think through possible processes from young ones to older students.

A retired music and dance educator of 44 years, Judy continues to work with children and adults. As a life-long learner, she dwells in the world of possibilities. She mentors working educators as invited. 2012 Michigan Music Educator of the Year, she has taught in many Orff courses in the U.S. and served in leadership locally, state-wide and in AOSA nationally. She is the past Treasurer and a member of the Ad-Hoc Restructuring Committee. Judith is the 2021 AOSA Distinguished Service Award Recipient.

We are adjusting our membership structure this year to support the national Orff chapter AOSA. We will no longer have a local membership fee, instead we encourage you to invest in becoming a national member. Students, you can receive a free membership! A membership to AOSA will not only give you a discount to our workshops, but will give you access to a plethora of resources.

Become An AOSA Member Here

If this is your first Portland Orff workshop, you may attend for free. Please use the First Time Registration.

*** A $10 Fee will be added to walk-in registrations on February 4th***

We’re excited to off Graduate Credit for our workshops. Please click the link for information, or email Stephanie Holtman at stephanie.holtman@gmail.com

Learning through Play

Children play. Games with rules, games of make-believe, games they create, games they learned from their brothers or sisters. And by playing, children learn. They make sense of the world, they learn to work together, they learn to think strategically, they learn to apply what they have learned in other situations to the game they’re playing now.

Music teachers have only a limited amount of time with our students. We can harness the power of play in our curriculum to maximize the learning that happens in our classrooms. Hopefully, we can also expand the number of minutes a week our students spend making music by teaching games that they want to play on their own.

Participants will learn traditional singing games and movement games for students of various ages. In addition, participants will explore how to help students create their own games for use in the classroom.

We are adjusting our membership structure this year to support the national Orff chapter AOSA. We will no longer have a local membership fee, instead we encourage you to invest in becoming a national member. Students, you can receive a free membership! A membership to AOSA will not only give you a discount to our workshops, but will give you access to a plethora of resources.

Become An AOSA Member Here

*** A $10 Fee will be added to walk-in registrations on October 15th.***

Andrew Ellingsen works as an Education Program Coordinator at Vesterheim Folk Art School. Ellingsen taught elementary music and worked as an instructional coach in Iowa and Minnesota for nearly twenty years. He earned his B.A. at Luther College and his M.A.M.E. at the University of St. Thomas with a dual concentration in Kodály and Orff Schulwerk. Ellingsen has taught movement in the Orff courses at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN and has presented at both OAKE and AOSA national conferences.

Join us Saturday, August 6th from 9-3 for a workshop with the amazing Maria Vanessa Utz.

Join us in our exploration of the Latin American repertoire with musical circles and games, and social-emotional activities.

The workshop will take place at Columbia Valley Elementary School.

If you were a POSA or AOSA or any other AOSA-Affiliate Chapter Member during the 2021-22 season, you may use the member registration option, if you are unsure of your status, feel free to email us, at ptldorff@gmail.com

* A $10.00 fee will be added for walk-in registrations.*

Orff and Kodály together at Portland State!

We are excited to invite you to the first ever Day of KodOrff at PSU on Saturday, March 12! Join members of Southern Washington & Oregon Kodaly Educators and Portland Orff-Schulwerk Association, as we come together for a day of collaboration and community. After a little folk dancing to warm up, each group will offer a lesson using our traditional approaches, then we will end the day with a Mash-Up to demonstrate how the same song can be taught two ways. If that's not enough community for you, stroll down the block for happy hour at Rogue Hall.
Best of all, it's free!

Register Here

All participants must show proof of vaccination per PSU policy

Join us Saturday, February 26th, 9AM-3PM Pacific, for our in-person workshop with Paul Weller. Paul is our Level I Pedagogy teacher during our Summer Levels Course.

Enjoy a day full of melody making, reading, and improvising! Beginning with pitch exploration and the very basics of the voice, we will use a sequential literacy based process to grow understanding of how to read, write, and improvise melodic content. Learn how to lead your students to connect and use extractable patterns to read new material and create their own songs from bi-tonic to diatonic pitch sets.

This is a great opportunity to renew your POSA membership for the 2021-2022 Season. If you are not a member, you can become one today and register using the Member Rate to this and future workshops. If you need to check the status of your membership, please reach out to us at ptldorff@gmail.com
*If you joined us for our 2021 Levels Course, you are a member.

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Join us Saturday, October 9th, 9AM-12PM Pacific, for our online workshop with Ben Torres and Michael Chandler.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created unique challenges for music teachers nationwide, especially those who frequently use Orff Schulwerk with their students. Participants in this workshop will experience activities and engage in discussions that can help guide student creativity using a variety of musical media combined with simple instruments and current technology.

Please have a hand drum, soprano recorder, and soprano or alto xylophone with you!
(Don't worry, you can still participate if you don't have them)

Zoom link and workshop information will be sent out to those who register on the evening of Friday, October 8th.

This is a great opportunity to renew your POSA membership for the 2021-2022 Season. If you are not a member, you can become one today and register using the Member Rate to this and future workshops. If you need to check the status of your membership, please reach out to us at ptldorff@gmail.com
*If you joined us for our 2021 Levels Course, you are a member.

Any other AOSA-affiliated Orff Chapter may also use the Member Registration.
Students may join any of our events for free!

(AFTER CLICKING ADD TO CART, SCROLL UP TO FIND CART TO CHECKOUT)

Join us this Thursday, October 7th and 7PM Pacific for our October Cyber Social. We will be joined by David Adee, who will share some Latino Game Songs, which can be done with non-contact. We will also open sharing up to anyone else who would like to share what they are doing in their classrooms.

Our Cyber Socials are open to anyone and are always Free.

Join Zoom Meeting Here

Meeting ID: 842 2705 3329
Passcode: POSA

Music and Games from Paraguay!

Join us this Tuesday, from 4-6 PM Pacific (7-9 Eastern) for our August Cyber Social, with Music and Games from Paraguay with our special guest María Vanesa Utz.

This Cyber Social is starting earlier so we can have more people join us.

Join Cyber Social

Meeting ID: 814 1167 5258
Passcode: POSA

We will see you then!

Fauna Woolfe

Creative Connections: Music, Movement, Art, and Color!

Join POSA online for a live Zoom workshop with our member Fauna Woolfe on Creative Connections: Music, Movement, Art, and Color!

Zoom information will be sent out the evening before.

If you have any questions please reach out at ptldorff@gmail.com.