Minnesota Music Educators Association is a long standing, state-wide association of music educators hoping to serve the mission through innovative, progressive, thoughtful, and comprehensive resources for students and teachers. We have direct student programs through All-State ensembles and elementary/mid-level music festivals. We have professional development opportunities through online content and an annual, in-person, state-wide convention. We offer advocacy resources to promote music education support in our schools and community learning environments. COVID has been a challenge for our organization like many nonprofits and businesses worldwide. Mission impact has been compromised by limited resources and organization capacity challenges post-pandemic. Your support at a critical time is much appreciated.

Mission: The mission of MMEA is to develop, promote, and support equitable and comprehensive music learning and teaching in Minnesota.

Vision: MMEA believes that music is core to the human experience. We support Minnesota Communities by affirming and further developing aesthetic sensitivity, self-expression, and creativity of music learners. MMEA strives for equality and excellence in music education by honoring and preserving lived experiences through intentional and informed practices.

We print a variety of materials annually, namely a resource book for attendees to a professional development conference. We provide a resource book with QR codes that direct to materials for music teachers state wide. This book has links for hundreds of learning resources for a variety of ages and music disciplines. We provide links to the resource book digitally also, but it is a necessary resource to provide access. We would print more if our budget permitted. Nonprofit work is always a compromise between the work we wish we could do and how to afford efficient mission impact. Printing grant program such as yours would be so appreciated.

The Midwinter Convention is MMEA’s annual professional development convention. The state’s largest gathering of music educators features nationally-recognized headliners, a wide variety of performances and informances, sessions from area clinicians, an Exhibit Hall, and tons of networking.

Social justice is a recurring motivic theme developing in music education curriculum, pedagogy, and research. Across Minnesota, there are examples of music learning and teaching where tones and textures of justice are leading to a sociocultural form of melodic and harmonic consonance. In our development phase, however, there continues to be some dissonances, albeit consequential or undesirable, leading us to believe that our magnum opus is still unfinished.

Nevertheless, our progress through change has a rhythmic ostinato that gives us hope for a brighter day. Equality is the pulse and pattern of time and space that creates motion for social justice in music education. The idea of equality can be realized when liberty, expression, and access to opportunities are activated for all people.

This year’s theme for the 2023 Midwinter Convention, “The Rhythm of Equality,” requires all of us to move together. The rhythm guiding our movement is freedom– disrupting oppressive structures in music education that continue to promote discrimination, racism, and prejudice. In this year’s convention, our “drum circle” promotes freedom–for all people– regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, religion, or ability.