Dr. Catheryn Shaw Foster currently serves as Assistant Professor of Practice and Program Director for Graduate Studies in Music Education at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Her responsibilities include working with graduate students in the Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction program. Foster received her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, her Master of Music Education (MMEd) from Valdosta State University, and her Bachelor of Music Education (BMEd) from Columbus State University. Prior to her appointment at Virginia Tech, she served on the faculty at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, as the Program Coordinator for Music Education and Lecturer in Music Education. Dr. Foster also served as the Associate Director of Bands at High Point University (NC). She taught public school in Georgia, serving as the Director of Bands at Lowndes Middle School in Valdosta and the Assistant Director of Bands at Perry High School in Perry. Foster serves as a clinician, adjudicator, professional development facilitator, and guest lecturer throughout the southeast. Her research has been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, and Qualitative Research in Music Education. She has presented her research at state, regional, and national conferences. Her professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education and the Virginia Music Educators Association.

Workshops

Predicting the Future: How Error Prescience Can Aid Detection - Music Education

In this session, we discuss the error detection cycle and focus on predicting common errors that occur throughout the wind band. It is through error prediction that we are able to correct errors before they occur in the repertoire. This can be accomplished through incorporating these common errors in the warm-up sequence or isolating the most probable errors in the repertoire.

What I Didn’t Hear: Detecting Errors in the Rehearsal Setting - Music Education

When novice directors step up on the podium, they are many times met with a “wall of sound.” They know there are things that did not sound right, but they don’t know where to begin. In this session, we approach error detection through a systematic approach which allows the director to have a plan before they start rehearsal.

Preparing for Teacher Licensure: Learning to Detect Errors - Music Education

The majority of teacher licensure exams require the teacher candidate to complete a section on error detection. While this is an important skill for any future band director to possess, it is often hard to practice. In this session, we discuss strategies for listening and detecting errors.