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 70 publications.Dr. Feierabend’s research has resulted in two music methods; 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.Among his recognitions 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.”Dr. Feierabend’s teaching has provided thousands of teachers and their students with the materials and techniques to help build community through music by evoking enthusiastic participation of all people. To that end his approach strives for all people to become tuneful, beatful and artful through research based and developmentally appropriate pedagogies that use quality literature. In the summer of 2012 a group of dedicated and like-minded educators honored Dr. Feierabend’s 30 years of innovation with the formation of the Feierabend Association for Music Education. For more information go to: www.feierabendmusic.org and www.giamusic.com/feierabend.