American Orff-Schulwerk Association

The American Orff-Schulwerk Association annual professional development conference offers continuing education opportunities to aosa membership to expand the teaching of the creative music and movement approach developed by carl orff and gunild keetman. Presented annually in november, the conference historically serves more than 1,000 registrants attending 120+ workshops,presentations, and performances. Conference attendees may also visit music education vendors to learn more about products and services relating to orff schulwerk. The fye 2024 aosa professional development conference was held in albuquerque, nm. Aosa provides digital/virtual training and resources via the aosa website. Aosa is committed to supporting a diverse and inclusive membership, promoting an understanding of issues of diversity and inclusion, and providing teaching and learning resources that respect, affirm, and protect the dignity and worth of all.

Publications by the American Orff-Schulwerk Association provide on-going materials, research, and information to promote the orff schulwerk approach to music and movement education. The print publication, the orff echo is a quarterly journal dedicated to providing research and practical knowledge relating to music education through the schulwerk. Reverberations is a bi-monthly electronic newsletter containing learning opportunities for classroom and community use. A monthly newsletter, the aosa essentials, keeps members informed of organizational activities while the aosa website/app/social media offers timely and relevant information to membership and the greater community regarding orff schulwerk and music education. Additional stand-alone publications are also produced to support the mission of promoting orff schulwerk to the greater community.

In partnership with approximately 100 chapters, the American Orff-Schulwerk Association supports workshops that provide continuing education in orff schulwerk. These 250+ annual workshops are presented by approved aosa members. Additionally, aosa provides endorsement to more than 50 continuing education/certification programs presented by colleges, universities, school districts, and aosa chapters. A standing aosa-approved curriculum and aosa-sanctioned instructors are used by these programs to ensure membership receives consistent and equal training in the approach which can ultimately lead to aosa certification upon completion of the three levels of curriculum. Aosa also provides members access to a resource library containing various recordings, articles, lesson plans,and resources relating to teaching orff schulwerk in various settings. Through several endowments and organizational monies, grants are offered to aosa members to support attendance at levels courses or international orff schulwerk training opportunities, instrument purchase for the classroom use, and research activities. Finally, aosa chapters qualify for grants relating to their growth and needs in presenting the schulwerk in their community

Research grant the research grant encourages research in varied applications of orff schulwerk, promoting the orff schulwerk philosophy and process. Awards up to 8,000 may be granted for selected research proposals. Research partnership grant the research partnership grant encourages collaborative research projects between a school music teacher as the primary investigator/team leader and a university-based researching teacher. Aosa's black,brown, indigenous, and asian outreach scholarship provides up to 1,400 funding for a person of a these backgrounds to attend the aosa professional development conference to receive training in orff-schulwerk.