John Feierabend

Director of Music Education Division, Chair, Undergraduate Music Education, Professor of Music Education


Email: feierabend@aol.com

Biography: Dr. John Feierabend is considered one of the leading authorities on music and movement development in early childhood. He is a Professor of Music and the Director of the Music Education Division at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford and is a past President of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Dr. Feierabend makes frequent presentations both in the United States and abroad and is the author of over 60 books, CDs, and DVDs.

A music educator for over thirty years, he continues to be committed to collecting, preserving and teaching the diverse folk music of our country and to using that folk music as a bridge to help children understand and enjoy classical music. His research has resulted in two music curricula; "First Steps in Music", a music and movement program for infants through early elementary aged children and "Conversational Solfege", a music literacy method for use in general music classes. Dr. Feierabend also helped develop the PBS children's television series Lomax: The Hound of Music, which is based on his First Steps in Music curriculum.

Dr. Feierabend has been honored by the National Association for Music Education (MENC) as a Lowell Mason Fellow, received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) and was the first American recipient of the international LEGO prize, an award given annually to someone who has "helped to make the world a better place for children to live and grow."

Please visit John Feierabend's publications web site.