MUSIC IS A BIRTHRIGHT.
The mission of Mile of Music’s Music Education Team is to help all people unleash their inner musician in order to build a community of active music explorers, music makers, and music lovers. We are committed to providing dynamic music-making opportunities for people on the Mile to set them on a path of discovering and developing their musical selves.
At Mile of Music, people don’t just hear the music, they are the music!
View the Workshop Schedule Here!
Read more about our Music Education Team HERE!
FEATURED WORKSHOPS:
 Acoustic Guitar Workshop – Saturday 8/5 2:30-3:20 – Heid MusicLearn or improve your skills on one of the most versatile musical instruments – acoustic guitar! Beginners to intermediate players welcome. Bring your own guitar or play one of ours! |
| All Abilities Inclusive Music-Making – Friday 8/4 2:30-3:30 – PAC Thrivent Hall Embracing all abilities, ages, and populations! Expressive Therapies will be leading us in drumming and making music TOGETHER with live music performed by Mile artists! Get up close and personal with these musicians while you create your own interpretation of the music. |
| Americana: Sing, Step, and Play – Saturday 8/5 4:40-5:30 – Lawrence Conservatory Green Grab your dancing shoes and an instrument as we make music with our hands, voices, and feet! We will focus on exploring rhythmic dance as an integral instrument in the American folk tradition. |
| Balinese Gamelan: Gongs, Drums, and Metallophones – Friday 8/4 5:10-6:00 – Lawrence Conservatory Green; Saturday 8/5 10:30-11:30 – PAC Thrivent Hall Learn to play music from Bali! Join Balinese Gamelan master teachers and members of the Lawrence Community Music School’s community Gamelan group for this perennial Mile favorite. Patterns played on ornate percussion instruments interlock to create a mesmerizing, shimmering sound that has found a home here in Appleton. (All ages – bring the whole family!) |
| Brazilian Samba Drumming (ages 10-adult) – Saturday 8/5 5:40-6:30 – Lawrence Conservatory Green Come and groove with us in this powerful aural drumming tradition from Brazil. No drumming experience necessary! Learn about and play the different “voices” of the bateria – or samba band – that combine to stir the soul and make you want to move. (Ages 10-adult) |
| Didjeridu Workshop – Sunday 8/6 12:10-1:00 – Lawrence Conservatory Green Learn to play the Australian aboriginal didjeridu! A universe of sounds, all from a log hollowed out by termites. All welcome, no experience needed, didjeridus provided. (All ages – bring the whole family!) Sunday 8/6 12:10-1:00 – Lawrence Conservatory Green |
| Drumming & Dance from Ghana – Friday 8/4 10:30-11:30 – PAC Thrivent Hall, Saturday 8/5 2:30-3:30 – PAC Thrivent Hall, Sunday 8/6 2:30-3:20 – Lawrence Conservatory Green Dance and drum with us in a powerful, highly rhythmic style from Ghana – led by master Ghanaian musician Nani Agbeli! You will learn dances that move in response to the Ewe drum language. The best part is that it is exhilarating and fun for people of all ages and experience levels. (All ages – bring the whole family!) |
| Drumming & Dance from Guinea – Friday 8/4 11:50-12:50 – PAC Thrivent Hall; Sunday 8/6 11:00-11:50 – Lawrence Conservatory Green “Nafaya” from the Sousou language means “You are welcome here!” We welcome people of all ages and backgrounds to come join us and share in this dynamic cultural art form. We are committed to honoring and sharing the vibrant traditions of Guinea, West Africa through engaging workshops, performances, and educational programs. |
| Hip Hop Workshop with MxL – Friday 8/4 4:10-5:00 – Heid Music Who’s got rhythms? Who’s got rhymes? Come practice/learn more about the basics of beat making & loop shaping as we explore together the boundless space of Imagination. |
| Los Ritmos de Mariachi – Friday 8/4 3:00-3:50 – Heid Music, Saturday 11:50-12:50 – PAC Thrivent Hall Ya llego el Mariachi! The Mariachi has arrived! Now’s your chance to dance, sing and experience the driving rhythms and soaring melodies of Mariachi music! Come dance to the music and fill your hearts and voices with joy as we explore Mexico’s most iconic music. Become a member of the MET Mariachi Ensemble and be part of bringing Mariachi to the Valley! (All ages – bring the whole family!) |
| Mindful Music-Making: Sing, Explore, and Contemplate – Friday 8/4 1:40-2:30, Saturday 8/5 1:20-2:10 (Both at Heid Music) How do you engage in mindfulness so that you can be open to the messages that music shares with you? How do you create space for contemplation? Join Mile Artists and siblings Sarah Olson & Erik Larson as they lead us into a mindful musical space where we will experience the power and joy of connecting together through song. |
| pBone Jam – Saturday 8/5 3:40-4:30 – Heid Music No experience necessary to jam out on these plastic, brightly colored “brass” instruments! |
| Songwriting Workshop with Wade Fernandez –Saturday 8/5 12:10-1:00 – Heid Music Join award-winning songwriter and performing artist Wade Fernandez and learn how to bring your own songs to life. Be part of a creative space cultivated by this master multi-instrumentalist where you can embrace and express your own story through song. |
| Sound Together: Song Circle for Community & Belonging – Saturday 8/5 3:40-4:30 – Lawrence Conservatory Green Lift voices and hearts together as we sing songs of healing, belonging, compassion and community. This is a welcoming space for harmonizers, improvisors, movers, dancers and those who may be timid about singing in the circle to experience the powerful connectivity of singing together within our community. (All ages – bring the whole family!) |
| Southeast Asian Dance Workshop – Friday 8/4 1:10-2:10, Saturday 8/5 1:10-2:10 (Both @ PAC Thrivent Hall) Southeast Asian Dance Program (SEADP) will be performing cultural dances from different regions and/or ethnic groups of Southeast Asia and teaching the audience some fun dance routines. We will also be speaking about our cultural identities and history! Make sure to mark your calendars to come do some twists and turns with us. |
| String Band Jam (Intermediate/Advanced) – Friday 8/4 12:30-1:20 Heid Music Grab your string instrument and come on down to the Mile 10 String Band Jam! We will focus on tunes from the American Fiddling tradition (Bluegrass, Oldtime, and other fiddling traditions). Fiddles, violas, cellos, basses, mandolins, banjos, guitars, ukuleles, bouzoukis…if it has strings, we’ll make them sing! |
| Ukulele Workshop (ages 10-adult) – Friday 8/4 2:00-2:50 – Lawrence Conservatory Green; Saturday 8/5 11:00-11:50 – Heid Music; Sunday 8/6 1:20-2:10 – Lawrence Conservatory Green The sounds of Hawai’i in Appleton! Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned strummer, experience the joy of the ukulele with this workshop led Lawrence Community Music School (Friday) and Greg Forton of Forté and the Pianissimos (Saturday & Sunday). Within 50 minutes you will learn to play the ukulele and enough chords to play over 3000 popular songs. If you have your own instrument, bring it! If you don’t, there will be some ukes available at the workshop. (Ages 10-adult) |
| First Steps in Music (ages 0-5 & caregivers) – Friday 8/4 10-10:30, Saturday 8/5 11:10-11:40 (Both @ Harper Hall Lobby – Lawrence Conservatory) Join Ms. Nell (teacher of Early Childhood Music classes at the Lawrence Community Music School) with your littles 5 and under for singing, playing, and moving to great music! Let’s get tuneful, beatful, and artful together! (Ages 0-5 and caregivers) Friday 8/4 10-10:30 – Harper Hall Lobby @ Lawrence Conservatory; Saturday 8/5 11:10-11:40 – Harper Hall Lobby @ Lawrence Conservatory |
| Stories that Move (ages 2-10 & caregivers) – Saturday 8/5 10:20-10:50 – Harper Hall Lobby @ Lawrence Conservatory Do you like Stories that Sing? Then you will love Stories that Move, where you will help picture books come to life through movement and dancing. Get ready to Be the Music and get your groove on! |
| Stories That Sing (ages 2-10 & caregivers) – Friday 8/4 10:50-11:20, Saturday 8/5 9:30-10:00 (Both @ Harper Hall Lobby – Lawrence Conservatory) Watch, listen, and interact with our lively musician storytellers as they bring our picture books to life with song, dance and tons of fun! (Ages 2-10 and caregivers) |
Thank You to our 2023 Music Education Partners:
Partners:
