UIC School of Theatre and Music Welcomes New Music Education Professor, Tiffanie Waldron

Tiffanie Waldron is equally comfortable teaching music in an elementary classroom and at the university as she is singing with the Detroit Opera or presenting at an academic conference. This comfort comes from being a versatile and experienced musician, teacher, program builder, and scholar pushing for access and equity in spaces where individuals like her have historically been pushed to the margins.

Next week, Waldron will begin teaching her first classes in the School of Theatre and Music at the University of Illinois Chicago. Prior to her appointment at STM, Waldron taught courses on vocal methods and elementary music at the University of Michigan and comes to the music department at UIC having taught general music in public, private, and charter schools in urban settings across Southeast Michigan. For the past thirteen years, Waldron has served as the Music Director of Ypsilanti First Congregational United Church of Christ, and has also been involved with Crescendo Detroit, a community music program developed for children aged 5-18 to promote artistic excellence.  
 
Tiffanie’s research examines the representation of Black and Brown students within P–12 music curricula and the experiences of music teachers of color with racial microaggressions. A frequent presenter, her scholarship has been featured at various researcher and practitioner conferences regionally, nationally, and internationally, including the NAfME National Biennial Music Research and Teacher Education Conference, American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education (ISPME). Tiffanie is actively involved in professional organizations, such as the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), National Education Association (NEA), Michigan Music Education Association (MMEA), and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). And is very excited to join the community of practitioners and scholars of the Illinois Music Educators Association this year. In fact, she just learned that her proposal, “Black Joy: Promoting Black and Brown Faces in the Music Classroom Through Storybooks” was accepted to be a featured presentation at their annual conference in Peoria this January. With over 2600 attendees each year, it is the largest gathering of music teachers in the state and positions Waldron well to meet new colleagues and forge new partnerships with the university.

Tiffanie Waldron is excited to bring her expertise in music education to UIC and to be working with Dr. Brent Talbot, the head of music and a leading voice for change in music education, in realizing a vision for growth that builds on the strength of the current music degree programs, the commitment of the campus to its diversity and the arts, and the City of Chicago. Said Waldron, “I am thrilled to join the music faculty at UIC and am looking forward to being part of this historic time as we welcome future teachers into the new music education degree program! My hope is to encourage preservice music teachers to rely on their creativity and musicianship to build enriching school music programs for their future students.”

When asked about the new music education program, Talbot said, “There is a lot of enthusiasm within our department and across the city for the launch of our highly anticipated Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree! Two years ago, I moved to Chicago with my husband and took this job because we both saw the great potential the School of Theatre and Music held for supporting a robust music education program fit for its urban context. Other music education programs have existed in cities across the US, but they have not historically been crafted in consort with students, families, and teachers from their locales, and thus have rarely reflected nor met the longterm needs of the contexts in which their students live. At STM we believe strongly in our mission to meet students where they are and to take them where they want to go. Our faculty have been working hard over the past few years to craft a program to meet this mission—one that can have a true impact on changing the way populations in Chicago experience music in schools. We are uniquely positioned in ways other universities are not to draw from a broad and diverse population who come directly from the Chicago Public Schools. In fact, over 45% of our students come from CPS. We also hold no majority population at UIC—our largest plurality in the music department is our Latino/a/e population, which makes up about 38% of our student body. Our plan is to continue to recruit from the city, support the diverse ways our populations make and experience music, help them develop into stronger musicians and teachers, and to populate the city with music teachers who hold the cultural, linguistic, and musical codes and who know and understand the communities. As a professor of music education, I am proud of the program we have developed. It is a highly flexible, adaptive, and responsive program—the kind of program that will benefit Chicago’s musicians and teachers and reflect and support the lives of its citizens. Professor Waldron will be a key part in bringing this program to fruition and I cannot wait to collaborate with her on this ambitious project. Together, with the support of our colleagues at UIC and across the city, the future is very very bright.”

Christine Dunford, director of the UIC School of Theatre and Music, is elated to welcome Tiffanie Waldron: “As a former music teacher with well over a decade of experience teaching students in schools similar to those with whom we partner, Professor Waldron recognizes not only who we are at UIC, but what is necessary for the next generation of music teachers to succeed. She understands our music students, the distinctive nature of our program, and the opportunities that being in Chicago affords us. Her commitment to welcoming students from widely different musical and cultural backgrounds, and educating and preparing them for careers in music teaching, will help us become a national leader in urban music education. It’s a truly exciting time in our School.”

Learn more about Tiffanie Waldron here.