Annette Bauer is a professional recorder player with a diploma in historical performance practice from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland, and an MA in music from UC Santa Cruz. She completed her AOSA Orff certification from 2004-2006 at the Francisco International Orff Course with teachers and mentors Doug Goodkin, James Harding, Sofia Lopez-Ibor, Rick Layton, Paul Cribari, Christa Coogan, and Martha Crowell. After graduating from level III, Annette taught recorder and recorder pedagogy in the SF Orff Course from 2007-2017. She was an internationally touring musician with Cirque du Soleil for 8 years, and now lives in Montreal.

Dr. Nathan Beeler holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Boston University. His research includes engaging with Indigenous music in settler classrooms, repertoire for multicultural musical experiences, and methods for secondary music education. 

Dr. Beeler is a sought-after clinician, guest conductor, and adjudicator across Canada. He is vice principal of Halifax Regional Arts, one of Canada’s largest publicly funded arts programs. 

Nathan authored “Everything Matters: 50 Essays on Music Education,” and several scholarly works, including his dissertation, “Stepping Toward a Culture: Mi’kmaq Music in Settler Instrumental Music Classrooms.” In 2010, he received the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence

You can learn more about Dr. Beeler at www.nathan-beeler.ca 

Cindy Cain is an 8th Generation Indigenous Black Canadian well known for artistic achievements, upstanding presence, and participation in the community-at-large. Cindy discovered her passion for Stomp and Juba dance in high school, learning alongside girls from the Caribbean and Africa who shared their rhythms, stories, and cultural pride. Cindy immersed herself in the percussive footwork and body rhythms rooted in African diasporic traditions. These early experiences deepened her connection to movement and music sparking a lifelong appreciation for the power of community, heritage, and expression through dance. Today, she honors those roots by continuing to dance, teach, and celebrate the legacy of her ancestors. 

Christa Coogan is a teacher educator who has worked extensively in schools, refugee shelters, universities and also in theaters, creating dance and music performances with and for children and youth. She taught at the Orff Institute 1993-2002 and later at the University for Music and Theater in Munich until 2023. Christa is an active presenter throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas as a movement specialist in Orff-Schulwerk. Vice-president of IOSFS, team member in both International Mentorship Programme in OSW Pedagogy and Levels training for San Francisco (AOSA), Madrid (Orff Spain) and Singapore (SingOrff). BFA degree in Dance, The Juilliard School, NYC; MA in Dance Studies and Musicology, University of Salzburg, Austria. 

Bethany Ellen Elsworth is a music teacher from Australia now residing in Canada.  She completed Level 4 Orff training in New Zealand and is a graduate of the 2014/15 Special Course from the Orff Institute in Salzburg. Bethany has been a levels presenter for the Australian National Orff-Schulwerk Association since 2011.  In Canada, Bethany teaches the BC Orff Intro course and the movement strand of the levels courses. In 2019 she published her first book “As simple as you make it” and recently “Hey you, make that sound!” Bethany has presented sessions in Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Japan and Singapore. 

Fran is a music educator with the Halifax Regional Centre for Education. In addition to teaching music at Citadel High School, she is also a choral specialist with the Halifax Regional Arts Program. An active choral clinician, Dr. Farrell has worked with groups from across Canada offering workshops in choral improvisation, vocal technique, and most recently, the Alexander Technique as a certified teacher of this work. Fran has also published articles in Anacrusis, the Teaching Music Through Performance Series, and the Canadian Music Educator. Her choral compositions have been published by Cypress Music and Hinshaw Music. 

As an elementary music specialist, Sue has defined her work with students and teachers as a combination of joyful music and learning. She has her post levels training in Orff-Schulwerk and holds her Master of Education (Elementary Music) from the University of Alberta. Sue has presented workshops across Canada and the U.S and teaches Orff Level I at the University of Alberta. Sue has published several resources for teachers including F-U-N ‘n Games Galore (2014.) She is currently on the writing team for Playful, Arts and Learning and serves as editor for Carl Orff Canada’s professional journal, Ostinato. 

Andréanne currently teaches music from Kindergarten to Grade 8 within the Francophone South School District (DSF-Sud) in New Brunswick. She discovered Orff-Schulwerk while teaching in Winnipeg, which led her to serve on the board of the Manitoba Orff Chapter as Workshop Coordinator. She has contributed to the organization of Intersections 2022, Constellation 2024, and Passages 2026. A board member of COC as Francophone Liaison since 2022, she is also involved in the Ostinato and Publication committees. Holding Orff Level II certification (University of Manitoba, 2022), she has presented at regional events and is honoured to offer a workshop in Halifax. 

Heather Nail has been an Orff Music Specialist for the Calgary Board of Education for 24 years. She holds Orff level three certification, and has a Master of Education degree from the University of Alberta, specializing in Elementary Music. Heather co-teaches the Introductory Orff level in Calgary, and in 2010 she was a semi-finalist in the Alberta Excellence in Teaching awards. She presents regularly at music conferences in western Canada and beyond, and in her spare time conducts the Westside Junior Concert Choir. Heather mentors emerging music teachers in Calgary, and is currently serving as the president of Carl Orff Canada. 

Shawnee Paul is a musician and music educator from Eskasoni First Nation. Her musical journey began at age six, when she first sat at the piano. Inspired by her grandfather, she began fiddle lessons at age seven. Her musical interests expanded leading to studies at Acadia University earning degrees in Music and Education. 

Now teaching elementary and middle school music, Shawnee is passionate about weaving Mi’kmaq language and culture into her music curriculum. Her work aims to create meaningful, culturally rooted learning experiences for her students. Outside the classroom, she performs with Alan Syliboy and the Thundermakers and The Blue Moose Band. 

Naomi Pierrard is the Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) consultant at the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. 

She joined the department in 2020, where her responsibilities have been to support, guide, and grow the understandings of Mi’kmaw knowledge by allowing the Guiding Principle, Etuaptmumk to lead her work. She uses the gift of multiple perspectives to ensure that all worldviews are brought forward in the development of resources/curricula and professional growth and are authentic, accurate, and sacred. 

Naomi has taught students from elementary to adult. She continues to use her gift of song/music to make powerful connections with her work and with individuals she meets.

Josh Southard teaches K-5 Music at Smoky Row Elementary in Carmel, Indiana. He was a recipient of the Smoky Row Teacher of the Year and Indiana Elementary Music Teacher of the Year awards. He has served as President for the Indiana Orff chapter, and is currently the Past-President for AOSA.

Josh is a featured presenter at Orff workshops around the US, as well as Level I, II, and III Basic Pedagogy at various teacher education summer courses. He has had articles published in the Orff Echo, and authored “Sing and Play, Stories All Day” and “One Brick at a Time” from Beatin’ Path Publications.

Dr. Patrick Ware is an American Orff-Schulwerk Association Teacher Educator for levels I –III movement and recorder and levels I & II basic pedagogy. He is currently the President-Elect of AOSA and a Past President of the Virginia Music Educators Association.  Patrick teaches PK-5 Music in Woodbridge, Virginia in the United States and is published through Beatin’ Path Publications.

Dr. Corina-Maria Zosim is a lecturer at UQAM and the principal of a public elementary school. She holds degrees in music, teaching, and education, and completed a Ph.D. in Arts Studies and Practices (UQAM, 2023) focusing on continuing teacher education. An active member of the Orff-Schulwerk movement, she has pursued training in Salzburg and with the Orff-Québec Association (Levels I and II). Since 2017, she has led professional development workshops for music and vocal teachers in Canada and Europe.