Connie Greenwood

Connie Greenwood has been teaching First Steps in Music at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Community Division since 2007. She has a B.Mus. from the Hartt School, and has taught in the West Hartford Public Schools. She graduated from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School with a Masters in Music Education degree. Connie also completed her Kodaly levels, Conversational Solfege levels, and received her First Steps in Music certification. She is an officially certified teacher trainer in the First Steps in Music method and is a founding member of the FAME organization. Connie currently teaches First Steps in Music in several preschools in the greater Hartford area as well.

Connie is featured in the documentary Music and Early Childhood, produced by Connecticut Public Television and has been conducting a children’s choir in South Windsor since the fall of 2001. She also served as the University of Hartford’s program director for The Lullaby Project, an outreach to young parents in the community, in conjunction with Carnegie Hall.

Connie has a passion for unleashing creativity and curiosity in children in a playful, musical manner. She has taught voice, guitar, piano, and recorder, and enjoys accompanying herself on folk guitar, autoharp, ukulele, and dulcimer. She loves teaching the First Steps in Music program, not only because of its educational benefits to children, but also because of its authenticity in folk music and how it connects generations.

“First Steps in Music has changed my life. From the moment I bought Dr. Feierabend’s first book and used it with my 10 month old, 27 years ago, I knew it was just what I was looking for.
I have always been interested in early childhood music but I was trained as a professional music teacher for K-12 only. I remember asking seasoned teachers what to do with a one- year- old or a four- year- old but no one could answer. I even had the opportunity to go to Hungary to watch Katalin Forrai teach in her classroom. I knew there was something more than what we were experiencing in America.
 
Since using the First Steps in Music curriculum I have seen first hand its benefits, not only for children but for families as well. The collection is based on folk material and can be enjoyed by generations. Parents are looking for interactive activities to do with their birth to
five – year- olds and First Steps offers  them the opportunity to become tuneful, beatful, and artful together.
 
I am currently teaching in community preschools as well. With or without the parents, this 8- part curriculum offers children just the right menu to develop their musical appetite. Now, as the mother of four grown musical children, I am experiencing the results and  I am thankful for Dr. John Feierabend and the gift he has given me to be a First Steps in Music teacher.

Connie Greenwood
Bloomfield, CT

Email: ckgreenwood@gmail.com