If students couldn’t come to teacher Kanata Soranaka’s classroom, she’d bring the classroom to them.

Now Soranaka and her music cart are a common sight in the halls of Belmont Elementary as she stays connected musically with hundreds of students in 19 divisions.

The cart is a mobile office containing the technology, instruments and accessories she needs during the school day, including a home-made Plexiglas shield that allows students to be near her safely.

The cart is just one of the ways Soranaka, who has worked in the Langley School District since 2005, devised to outwit the coronavirus and keep students learning, and one factor in why the music teacher has been chosen as a Langley Advance Times Hero in Education.

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The College’s School of the Arts and Communication partnered with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) to build upon the hospital’s existing holistic arts programs. The program, which currently includes wellness treatments such as art therapy, meditation, pet therapy and reiki, is now expanding its branch of music therapy.

The nine students enrolled in the College’s interactive multimedia and music course “User-Centered Musical Design” are utilizing innovative online music therapy experiences for cancer patients. Alongside Associate Professor Teresa Nakra, students are working together to design an app for musical exploration that cancer patients can use while undergoing chemotherapy infusions.

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Almost 35 years ago, a small cadre of journalists and musicians held a series of secret confabs at the offices of the Austin Chronicle, the city’s venerable alternate weekly newspaper. They recognized the city and surrounding Hill Country’s bounty of singing and songwriting talent, the burgeoning and independent filmmaking streak emerging from the University of Texas, and the nascent technology industry taking root with the founding of Dell Computers.

Within a year the group went public, announcing the first South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. Music served as the uniting force, but enriching the community was part and parcel of its DNA. Within seven years film and technology joined the mix, and the little festival-that-could had grown into one of the world’s premier incubators for ideas and creative careers. What’s more, the appeal of the Central Texas region’s rolling landscape, outdoor recreational opportunities, indie vibe, and mix of history, museums, food, and cultural touchstones drew new residents and billions in investment.

Coastal Georgia has all the makings for a similar art-music-technology hub.

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The coronavirus pandemic has brought a variety of drastic changes to how we proceed with our daily lives. One of the most prevalent areas it has affected is the education system, and more specifically, the music education system.

Extracurriculars such as band, orchestra, choir, and private music lessons are all being forced to become virtual.

Teachers are quickly having to change the way each class proceeds and develop a better understanding of technology. This all must happen immediately, in order to continue with the classes they are currently teaching.

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The Playground at Fraser Valley Regional Library’s (FVRL) has grown again with its newest lending experience – Sphero Specdrums!

Place a hold on a Specdrums kit and expand your musical horizons without the need for instruments. Specdrums’ app-enabled rings pair music and technology by turning colors into sounds. Connect to the Specdrums app and tap on anything – your clothes, drawings, or the included play pad – to create and mix any sounds, beats, and loops that all play through your mobile device.

“All skill levels, from curious-minded kids to seasoned musicians, can create their own masterpieces with hundreds of instruments, loops, and sounds. Anyone can express their creativity and play music in a new, open-ended way.”

Jam on your own or with friends, anytime and anywhere.

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When we picture hands-on learning, usually a computer screen is nowhere in sight. But for the team behind MIT Full STEAM Ahead, “hands-on remote learning” may become the great new frontier for delivering quality K-12 online learning at scale.

Full STEAM Ahead began as an online resource hub to provide robust curated content to K-12 students, teachers, and parents during the first surge of the Covid-19 pandemic, when schools around the world started to shut down in rapid succession. With support from the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) and a monumental effort of coordination, the hub has grown into a vibrant learning community. Six months, 10 custom-created interactive learning packages, and two highly successful online summer programs later, the Full STEAM team has a lot to share about what makes engaging, effective remote learning experiences. Spoiler alert: it’s not high-tech gadgetry.

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Harmony Helper, the premier app that provides singers the convenience and control of a 24/7 digital rehearsal room anytime, anywhere – announced the launch of their group portal today. In response to the global pandemic and the immediate need for vocalists to go virtual, this new generation of the Harmony Helper app includes a state-of-the-art feature that enables music directors, coaches, and teachers to seamlessly share songbooks and sheet music with performers and group members. Performers will receive their music via the app and can easily isolate their part so they can practice on their own time, not just when the director or accompanist is available. This update is the first of several tools being developed to assist teachers/choir directors with connecting and interacting with their constituents through the group features set within the app.

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Dropped calls, poor internet connection and the ever so frequent lag between conversation has become the new normal for a majority of people, who — due to the pandemic — have switched from in person interactions to online. However, the School of Music and the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design are providing assistance in changing the connectivity of online interactions.

Marc Ainger, an associate professor in the School of Music, has worked with the school and ACCAD since March to develop a software that reduces connection lag and allows music students to practice and perform simultaneously over the internet, according to the School of Music’s website.

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Are you tired of staying at home with nothing to do?  Are you ready to go stark raving mad if you have to endure one more episode of Law and Order: SVU?  Do you feel like going outside and running through a crowded group of people, with your mask off, just because it’s something different to do?  Then maybe it’s time for TMP’s Charity Game Night on December 5th from 7-9 PM.

Sign up for Texas Music Partners’ Charity Game Night, or tune in to Facebook, Twitch, or YouTube to participate as an audience member (links announced closer to the event).  We will have lot’s of fun playing Jackbox games and the audience can participate as well.

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On Oct. 6, 2020, renowned guitarist Eddie Van Halen passed away after battling cancer. As the namesake for the electrifying band Van Halen, Eddie was more than a musician. He was a moment — one that defined and defied genres.

His out-of-the-box thinking catapulted him into fame. On stage, his smile was just as infectious as his guitar melodies and rhythms. You could spend hours listening to the band and hear Eddie’s influence no matter what. From the iconic “You Really Got Me’ to the earth-shattering solo on “Eruption,” Eddie Van Halen made strides few have reached before.

He was 64 years old and his legacy continues to live on through his impacts on music technology.

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