ORFF AND MOVEMENT CLASSES
Orff and Movement will be taught daily by experts in each field. Students will attend both classes at the beginning of the week, and will choose a class to specialize in. Each class will share what they learned during the week at a public performance.
ORFF INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Gary Ritcher
Dr. Ritcher is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Music Education at James Madison University, where he has taught undergraduate and graduate vocal music education classes since 1996. He taught elementary general music in Colorado public
schools for 10 years and has taught at the college level for 19 years. He received his Ed.D. from the University of Illinois in 1989. He holds Level III Orff Certification and is the founding director of the JMU Orff/Kodály Ensemble & Friends. He is the founder and past director of the Southern Illinois Children’s Choir. He has served as a guest conductor and presented sessions at state, divisional, and national conventions of MENC, AOSA, and ACDA.
MOVEMENT INSTRUCTOR: Ms. Melissa Largent
Melissa Largent is an instructor and choreographer with Vostrikov's Academy of Ballet and Virginia Youth Ballet and Theater in Winchester, Virginia as well as a primary directress at Apple Valley Montessori School, where she also teaches early childhood music and movement. Melissa's classical ballet training began with Gennadi and Susan Vostrikov and continued with The Pennsylvania Ballet in Philadelphia and Richmond Ballet in Virginia. She holds a BA in Arts Education from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York; Montessori Certification through the American Montessori Society; and Orff Level One training at James Madison University.
