APME Miami 2026: Full Schedule

Welcome to the APME Miami 2026 Conference!
Here you can register and update your Sched profile. A draft schedule will be available March 1, when you’ll be able to explore sessions and build your agenda.

Questions? Visit our website or email [email protected].

Join us June 4–6 at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, as we celebrate the rhythms, relationships, and revolutions shaping popular music education.

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

11:20am EDT

Going from “good job” to useful insights: Helping young pop musicians give better feedback and feedforward to their peers

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT

Volpe 203 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

This session shares a three-year action-research project on improving peer feedback in pop-band ensembles for 16–19-year-olds in Singapore. Findings highlight students’ growing critical-listening vocabulary, the social dynamics shaping their feedback, and practical strategies (scaffolds, modelled critique, and iterative performance–response cycles) to strengthen collaborative musicianship.

Speakers

Patrick Olsen

Assistant Professor of Music (Education), College of Integrative Studies, Singapore Management University

Patrick Olsen is an Assistant Professor of Music (Education) at Singapore Management University. He has experience teaching pop music to students ranging in age from primary to university. Patrick's research explores learning cultures, meaning-making, and student–teacher perceptions. Prior... Read More →

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT
Volpe 203 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55), Instrumental Pedagogy/Practice

11:20am EDT

Helping Music Students Find Their Ikigai

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT

Volpe 203 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

Ikigai is the Japanese concept of finding your reason for being. It brings together what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. It helps artists discover direction, meaning, and sustainable purpose in their creative lives.

Speakers

Cassandra Claude

Founder, Artistic Freedom Mentorship Program

As the visionary founder of the Artistic Freedom Mentorship Program, Cassandra Claude has dedicated her life to nurturing the creative spirits of emerging artists. She is not only an inspiring mentor but also the author of, "A Singer's Compass". As a writer, Cassandra's dedication... Read More →

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT
Volpe 203 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55), Business/ Entrepreneurship

11:20am EDT

Increasing Student Engagement in Popular Music Ensembles

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT

Volpe 203 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

This session will present research-informed strategies to strengthen student motivation in popular music classes. We’ll look at how choice, collaboration, and informal music-making can increase engagement. Participants will walk away with an understanding of how student motivation and techniques they can apply to their own classrooms.

Speakers

Dr. Kevin Coyne

Music Teacher, Waltham Public Schools

Dr. Kevin Coyne is a public-school music teacher in Massachusetts with more than 25 years of experience. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he also holds a master’s degree in music technology from Indiana University and a doctoral degree in music education from Boston University. Throughout... Read More →

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT
Volpe 203 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55), K-12

11:20am EDT

Song Structure Simplified!

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT

Volpe 203 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

Nickname’s for verse, pre-chorus, chorus and bridge to remember how they function both lyrically and musically. Analogies like the “Dramatic Roommate” and “Couch Therapy Session” to explain how verse and chorus connect. These song structure principles help pave a clear path forward for the incredible song ideas inside of you.

Speakers

Taylor Miranda

Private Music Teacher, Self-employed

My name is Taylor Miranda. Since the second grade I have been all in for songwriting and I have never stopped. I studied commercial music at BYU, have released 6 EPs of original music, and have had an incredible journey over the last 15 years in the world of custom music, writing... Read More →

Thursday June 4, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT
Volpe 203 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55)

11:20am EDT

Can You Hear the Difference? Music Education Students’ Perceptions of AI-Generated and Human-Made Music

Friday June 5, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT

Volpe 203 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

Through a blind listening study, 43 music education majors compared live, digitally produced, and AI-generated songs. Results highlight the growing importance of AI literacy and critical listening in music teacher education.

Speakers

Alena Holmes

Professor, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Dr. Alena Holmes is a professor of music education at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where she coordinates the music education program and teaches courses in music technology and music education. She is an active composer, lyricist, and librettist, having written family and children’s... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT
Volpe 203 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55), HPME

11:20am EDT

Lessons from the first AI Songwriting course. Berklee students take on the future.

Friday June 5, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT

Volpe 203 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

In Berklee’s first AI Songwriting course, I welcome both skeptics and superusers. The class centers on tough conversations: validating fears and ethics while zooming out to the bigger picture. Students leave ready to create with AI on purpose, and to compete in a world where everyone else will, too.

Speakers

Ben Camp

Professor of Songwriting, Berklee College of Music

Ben Camp is a professor of Songwriting at Berklee College of Music, and an advisor at Suno. Ben has taught over 2,000 students, is a gold record writer and producer, and has amassed over 300 million streams with songs for Tiesto, Brice Fox, Victoria Justice, and on networks like HBO... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT
Volpe 203 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55), Songwriting/Production

Audience Culture and Belonging

11:20am EDT

Past as Palette: Historically Informed Covers as Pedagogical and Artistic Innovation

Friday June 5, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT

Volpe 203 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

This session presents a contemporary model for combining creative work and research through historically informed cover albums. Using our Glastonbury retrospective project, we show how reinterpretation can serve as a rigorous scholarly method, deepen student engagement, and bridge academic inquiry with modern music production.

Speakers

Stephen Gleason

Lecturer, University of Miami

Stephen Gleason is a New York born musician and educator with over 25 years of performance, composing, and academic achievements. With heavy roots in both jazz and popular music he’s carved-out a unique career arc that has spanned across 25 years.
Most recently he has contri... Read More →

Raina Murnak

Head of Contemporary Voice and Performance Artistry, University of Miami

Dr. Raina Murnak serves as President of the Association for Popular Music Education and as Assistant Professor and Studio Director of Contemporary Voice and Performance Artistry at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, where she also leads the MA in Popular Music Ped... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 11:20am - 12:20pm EDT
Volpe 203 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55), Songwriting/Production

10:30am EDT

Student-Led Ensembles in Middle and High School

Saturday June 6, 2026 10:30am - 10:55am EDT

Volpe 102 @ Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

Middle school students love forming their own bands. If we aren’t careful, the enthusiasm can be sucked out of the project before it gets started. In this session, Eric Songer will show how to make these bands shine. Philosophy, scheduling, collaboration, rehearsal techniques, and performance will be discussed.

Speakers

Eric Songer

Middle School Music Educator, Chaska Middle School West

Eric Songer has taught music in Chaska, Minnesota since 1997. He has a Music Education degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His middle school program includes jazz, rock, country, hip hop, and marching. Mr. Songer teaches privately, composes and arranges music, and... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 10:30am - 10:55am EDT
Volpe 102 Volpe Building, San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, FL, USA

🎈Pop 10! (55)