Joanne May

Joanne May, retired Assistant Professor of Music Education and Director of Orchestras at Elmhurst University in Illinois, founded the annual Elmhurst University World Music Festival, assisted in writing the course String Improvisation for Educators, helped to hire four new string faculty members to the department, and sat on several committees including the writing of the Music Performance degree curriculum for the University. She conducted the Elmhurst University Philharmonic for performances at the Illinois Music Education Conference and in Chicago’s Millennium Park for the Chicago World Music Festival, and she developed and toured with the orchestra for annual performances in several states in the U.S. Prior to teaching at Elmhurst University, May retired after 33 years of public school teaching of string classes, orchestra, band, and general music.

A student of Paul Rolland for three years as an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, May has incorporated Rolland pedagogy into all areas of her teaching. She has presented on Rolland pedagogy at several national and international conferences and is currently a member of the Rolland Certification Planning Committee and Treasurer of the Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Society. For two years she was co-director of the annual University of Illinois Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop and has written curriculum for and taught Rolland Presenter and Mentor Training courses. May received various awards for teaching, including the Mary Hoffman Award for Teaching Excellence by Illinois Music Educators Association, Educator of the Year and Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois American String Teacher’s Association, and Teacher Recognition Award for the Presidential Scholar Program in Washington, D.C. by the U.S. Department of Education. She is past national Orchestra Council Chair of the National Association for Music Education, and presents regularly at state, national, and international conferences.

May’s is author of the book Music for Homeschoolers, editor of String Teacher’s Cookbook, Creative Recipes for a Successful Program, and she will soon be releasing Skills, Scales, and Tunes, Developing String Technique with Paul Rolland Pedagogy.