Expert Instructors Invited to Apply for Accelerate
Put Your Exceptional Teaching Skills to Use at the Inaugural Music Teacher Guild Conference, July 29-30, 2026 | Hosted Online for Maximum Accessibility
APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 28, 2026
This Is Not a Typical Conference—and This Is Not a Typical Call for Presenters
Music Teacher Guild Accelerate was created in response to a clear, research-backed reality:
Many of the most pressing challenges music educators face today have emerged alongside changes in the profession and are not always addressed in depth through formal training or traditional conference models.
This event is designed to change that.
We are building a professional learning experience that treats music educators as skilled practitioners—and treats presenters as architects of transformation.
If you have spent years developing expertise that actually works in the real world, this conference was built with you in mind.
Presenters are not selected for novelty, trends, connections to sponsors, or surface-level tips.
They are selected because they:
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Are experts in the topic they are applying to instruct
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Are dynamic, master teachers who know how to engage learners, even through a screen
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Understand the realities of time, funding, equity, burnout, and retention
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Want to share work that changes practice, not just inspires ideas
Educators who present with us are often motivated by:
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A desire to teach at depth, not rush through slides
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A sense of responsibility to pass on hard-won knowledge
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The opportunity to contribute to something foundational, not derivative
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Professional recognition among peers who take the work seriously
This 2-day workshop is not about exposure for exposure’s sake.
It is about belonging to a small group of educators shaping the future of the profession.
Music World Mourns the Passing of H. Robert Reynolds
Internationally recognized conductor, educator, author, and orchestrator H. Robert Reynolds died peacefully at home in Ann Arbor on Jan. 30, 2026. He was 91.H. Robert Reynolds
When Robert was 9, his grandfather gave him his first instrument, an E-Flat alto horn, and music lessons. Later, Robert was guided by his middle school and high school music teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Inglefields, a married couple, and he spent a summer studying at Interlochen. During Robert’s senior year, Mr. Inglefields asked if anyone wanted to conduct the band. Robert raised his hand.
After high school, Robert attended U-M, earning a bachelor’s in music education (1956) and a master’s in wind instruments (1958). During that period, he also studied conducting with Elizabeth A. H. Green, whom Robert would later say was “the greatest teacher I ever had.”
Robert began his music career as a high school band director in Onsted, Michigan, then moved to California’s Anaheim High School. He began his collegiate career in 1962 at what was then Long Beach State College, and he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 1968, he headed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to become director of bands.
In 1975, he accepted the storied director of bands position at his alma mater in Ann Arbor, a role he held for 25 years. He also served as the Henry F. Thurnau Professor of Music, director of University Bands, and director of the division of instrumental studies. Robert had a lasting impact on the university’s band program, expanding the number of student performance opportunities and establishing a fund that commissioned or co-commissioned nearly 40 works during his U-M tenure. The fund continues to be used for new commissions today.
Following his career at U-M, Robert accepted a position as principal conductor of the wind ensemble at the University of Southern California, where he held the H. Robert Reynolds Professorship in Wind Conducting for 19 years.
Robert also served as conductor of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings for 35 years, and, for 20 summers, served as conductor of the Young Artists Wind Ensemble at the Tanglewood Institute, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Over the course of his career, Robert conducted performances all over the world, including at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Holland Festival in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and at the Sydney Opera House. In May 1984, in a historic tour with the Michigan Symphony Band, he gave the premiere performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera “Samstag aus Licht at La Scala Opera” in Milan, a work he and his students recorded for Deutsche Grammophon.
Dr. Tim Given High Honor by National Band Association
Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser was presented with the Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts (AWAPA) award. This award was established for the purpose of recognizing those individuals who have made truly significant and outstanding contributions to furthering the excellence of bands and of band music. The nine inch silver “AWAPA” figure is designed to be the “Oscar” of the band world.
