Orff and Kodály instructors

Mary Lynn Berti, movement

Mary Lynn Berti has been an arts educator for more than 30 years. A graduate of The Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional Division, she taught ballet and creative movement for the RWB School and Arts Umbrella in Vancouver. Berti returned to Winnipeg to pursue her Music and Education degrees from the University of Manitoba as a voice major specializing in early years music education. 

Mary Lynn has taught K-8 Music in Seven Oaks School Division for 16 years. In 2015, she graduated with a Master's degree in Education from the University of Manitoba, and in 2019, she was the recipient of the Morna-June Morrow Award for Excellence in Music Education in Manitoba.  

Carolyn Boyes, choral

Carolyn Boyes has taught music at the elementary, middle and senior levels, in English, French immersion and milieu programs. She worked as the Winnipeg School Division’s performing arts consultant and currently teaches high school choral music at École Sisler High School. She is artistic director and conductor (treble choruses) of the Winnipeg Boys' Choir. She earned her Master of Music (choral conducting) from the University of Manitoba.

She is most proud of earning her Level III Carl Orff Certificate from UM and continuing to collaborate with the Manitoba Orff Chapter and Orff community to promote teaching children through the Orff approach. 

Jewel Casselman, recorder

Jewel Casselman is a K-5 music specialist at Lakewood School in Winnipeg. She teaches an Orff-based program, running Orff and handbell clubs along with primary and intermediate choirs. She teaches the grade 4/5 science curriculum, where she incorporates the arts into her science teaching. Casselman has completed her post baccalaureate and master’s degree in Education with a focus on the arts. She has been teaching the recorder component of the Orff Levels courses at the University of Manitoba since 2000.  

Amanda Ciavarelli, Basic Orff 2

Amanda teaches kindergarten to grade 6 students at École South Pointe School in Winnipeg, MB. Her program includes Orff ensembles, recorder ensembles, and choirs, and her students have many opportunities to perform during the year at school concerts and assemblies, at divisional music festivals, at the Winnipeg Music Festival, and with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.  

Amanda is a graduate of the University of Manitoba and holds an Orff Level III Certification.  She is passionate about elementary music education because of the important role music plays in educating the whole child.

Marcelline Moody 

Marcelline Moody (B.A., University of  Western Australia), is an Orff graduate of the University of Manitoba, Canada, and has her diploma in Advanced Studies in Music and Dance Education from the Special Course at the Orff Institute, Salzburg. She has taught the Orff Levels Summer Courses for many years at the University of Manitoba and has also taught workshops across Canada, in Australia, Salzburg, China, France, and England. In addition to teaching elementary music, Marcelline served as a consultant with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for 20 years. Since retiring from the school system, Marcelline has taught an Orff programme for children from birth to 10 years at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and also directs recorder ensembles for Seniors. 

Ms. Moody has been awarded the Morna-June Morrow Award for Teaching Excellence and the Arts in Education Award from the Manitoba Foundation for the Arts in honour of her contribution to music education in Manitoba, and in 2017 she was honoured by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. 

Karen Tole-Henderson, Basic Orff 1

Karen Tole-Henderson holds a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba. She is an Elementary Music Specialist at Shamrock School in the Louis Riel School Division. She has her Orff Specialist Certificate and has completed the Orff Levels Teacher Training Mentorship Program through Carl Orff Canada. Tole-Henderson is actively involved with many music education organizations and is the co-chair for the Manitoba Music Educators' Association's annual Tempo Conference.   

Cathy Horbas, pedagogy and material

Cathy is one of the first Manitoba graduates of the Kodály program at Brandon University. She was a founding member and president of the Kodály in Manitoba and is super excited to see Kodály teacher education being offered again in Manitoba. 

Cathy has been a music teacher (K-12), music consultant, workshop leader, choral director and school administrator over the last thirty years. She is a passionate advocate for arts education and has been involved in both choral and instrumental teaching and administration. Cathy has been a sessional instructor at the University of Manitoba in the Music and Education Faculties and is currently a Practicum Advisor for music education students as well as the registrar for the Kodály Society of Canada. 

David Stark, musicianship

David Stark began his Kodály music education at the age of five in his hometown of Nanaimo. He has studied piano, composition, and English literature, and has earned a Bachelor of Education and a Masters in Ethnomusicology. He also completed a three-level Kodály music education program at the University of Calgary with Lois Choksy. 

A long-time music educator, David has taught elementary music in BC, Alberta, and now works for the Louis Riel School Division teaching early-years music and guitar. David is currently working on a Ph.D. in Music Education at the University of Manitoba where he plans to study truth and reconciliation in the music classroom. 

Dr. Jody Stark, pedagogy and material

Dr. Jody Stark is an award-winning music educator who is passionate about making quality music education available to every child. In addition to teaching courses in music education, Dr. Stark coordinates the U of M music education program, and the summer Orff-Schulwerk and Kodály programs in the Desautels Faculty of Music.

Andrea Wicha, conducting and ensemble

Andrea Wicha teaches choir, drama, and musical theatre at Shaftesbury High School, and she also conducted several choirs in Pembina Trails Voices over the span of 20 years. Over her career, Andrea has taught music in English and French immersion programs from elementary to high school. She has a B.Mus./B.Ed. degree and level 1 Kodály certificate from Brandon University, and a level 3 certificate in Orff-Schulwerk, a Post Baccalaureate in Education and a Masters of Music (Choral Conducting) from the University of Manitoba.   

Andrea is a well-known choral conductor who is often in demand as an adjudicator and clinician.