CHRISTINE BALLENGER

Christine Ballenger currently teaches general music and chorus for Georgetown Day School in Washington D.C. She holds a Master of Music degree in Music Education and Clarinet Performance from the University of New Mexico and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Puget Sound. She received her Orff Schulwerk certification from George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia. Christine is on the American Orff-Schulwerk Association list of approved instructors for Basic Pedagogy Level I, Movement, and Recorder, and is a member of the editorial board of The Orff Echo. Additionally, she taught courses in music for elementary education majors at Bismarck State College and Dickinson State University. Christine has also received training in Kodaly and World Music Drumming, and completed the “International Summer Course” in 2018 at the Orff Institute, in Salzburg, Austria. She performed regularly with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony on clarinet, bass clarinet, and alto saxophone. While in college, Christine never expected to be an elementary music teacher, but upon taking her first job, realized that general music was the perfect place to focus on developing creativity in music, as well as fostering a love for music-making in students while ensuring the "basics" of music are addressed in a developmentally appropriate (and fun!) way.