A large emphasis in music at QAE will be given to a Kodály-based approach. Zoltan Kodály was a Hungarian ethnomusicologist and music educator who advocated for quality music education in schools. The approach to teaching includes incorporating singing, movement, strong literacy components in a sequential spiral-based approach to teaching. Emphasis is put on the “made conscious” concept – much like we learn to speak before we learn to read, we should be able to sing and describe music concepts before they are given a name and made conscious. Developmentally appropriate sequencing is emphasized as we develop our singing voices, music vocabulary and engage our bodies.

Queen Anne Elementary is so fortunate to have Alex Dugdale as our Instrumental Teacher for our fourth and fifth grade students. Alex Dugdale is a graduate of Roosevelt High School and holds a B.M. degree in Jazz Performance from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree in education from Seattle Pacific University. He first performed with SRJO in 2006 in the Duke of Ellington Sacred Music Concert and has done that every year since then. In 2016, he received the Earshot Jazz Emerging Artist of the Year award. Alex teaches band and orchestra at the elementary level in Seattle public schools. He is a faculty member at Jazz Port Townsend. He also works as a private instructor and frequently performs in Seattle and western Washington with his group FADE.