Summer Music Courses

Discover the universal language of music—at Boston University.

Whether you are a musician or a musicologist, an educator or someone who simply loves to listen, music is a source of inspiration, pleasure, and enlightenment. This summer at Boston University, engage your mind through a wide array of music courses, and explore all aspects of the art form—from historical and cultural to communicative, educational, and therapeutic.

Along with courses in Music Education, TI:ME Certification, Music Theory, and Applied Music, we offer Orff Schulwerk Teacher Training—available only during the summer. Our Orff Schulwerk courses feature renowned faculty and focus on the Orff Schulwerk philosophy, pedagogy, techniques, and theory.

Andrew Shenton

Utterbackanalia features BU Professor Shenton playing works by jazz composer Joe Utterback on a very large Mander organ at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in New York. Works are based on English organ voluntaries, brief chorale preludes, and gospel jazz.

Deep River

Nativity Song on Greensleeves

Summer Music Courses

View music course descriptions and dates:

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Orff Schulwerk Teacher Training

Bring new vision to your classroom and enhance your students’ relationship with music through the Orff Schulwerk philosophy. This powerful and inspirational methodology—focusing on movement, singing, improvisation, and instrumentation—enriches the music classroom with new possibilities for learning.

Renowned visiting instructors will guide you through a curriculum that follows American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA) guidelines, and put you on course for national certification.

  • Develop comprehensive resources to use in a K-6 general music curriculum
  • Gain confidence teaching music in a process-oriented program, using student-tested materials
  • Experience a multifaceted approach that integrates movement, dance, and instrument playing with singing and chanting
  • Learn innovative ways to teach musical skills using poetry, children’s literature, folk songs, pitched and non-pitched instruments, creative movement, and drama
  • Benefit from practicing pedagogy, movement, recorder, and other skills with AOSA-approved instructors who are current Orff Schulwerk practitioners

Courses are open to music educators, music education students, and to others interested in music methodology. Students receive a certificate upon successful completion of Orff Schulwerk courses.

About Orff Schulwerk

Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman developed a new approach to music and movement education based on the unity of music, movement, and speech. Orff Schulwerk, as it is known, encourages musical creativity based upon solid pedagogical principles and is structured on a sequential development of knowledge and skills. In Orff Schulwerk, improvisation and composition are important fundamentals. Children explore sound using spoken words, melodies, and accompaniments. Movement and dance are integral to the whole process. Orff Schulwerk is a child-centered approach to music education that makes use of children’s natural affinities for moving, singing, and improvised play. Orff Schulwerk builds musical concepts and skills through speech, poetry, song, games, movement, and use of the Orff instrumentarium. The emphasis is on students as improvisers and performers in this exciting approach to teaching and learning music.

Visit the American Orff Schulwerk Association for information on Orff Schulwerk methods and certification.

View Orff Schulwerk course descriptions and dates:

CFA MU 433 and CFA MU 446 are 2 credit undergraduate courses for those not seeking graduate credit. CFA MU 633 and CFA MU 646 are 4 credit graduate courses.

On-campus housing is available for the two weeks of the program. If you have any questions, please contact us.