This professional development opportunity is a hybrid course that focuses on specific experiences and resources for your instrumental music program. Learning opportunities are coordinated with attendance at the Iowa Bandmasters Conference, featuring over 35 clinic sessions and 30 concerts covering various topics for music educators from beginning band through the collegiate level. The AEA Learning Online Moodle platform will be used for the online portion of the course. 

Participants MUST attend a minimum of 10 hours during the conference at the Downtown Des Moines Marriott. This can be a combination of keynote address, clinics, exhibits, and concert sessions during Thursday, May 15, 2025, Friday, May 16, 2025, and Saturday, May 17, 2025, that will equal 10 hours. Sessions may have different time commitments, but total time must be 10 hours. You may count one exhibit time but it must connect to planning and instruction. 

Participants will maintain and submit a Journal/Learning Log documenting attendance by writing a brief paragraph (2 - 3 sentences) describing and reflecting on each of the sessions during the conference. Participants will extend their learning opportunity by participating in an online course. The focus of this coursework will be planning and instruction, connected with the Fine Arts Standards.

The Iowa Bandmasters Conference provides rich content, participant choice, and personalization for professional development. It also provides the exposure to top-notch experts in the field of music education not otherwise available at this affordable cost. The course becomes more rigorous and valuable because of the very practical, direct application for the music classroom.  

Music educators are constantly looking for professional learning that has a direct application to their classroom. This is an excellent resource that provides that opportunity for instrumental music educators.