Melissa Fuller Flores - Level 1 Pedagogy & Literature
Melissa Fuller Flores holds a Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Alabama and a Master’s in Clarinet Performance from the University of North Texas. Her professional journey began at the Houston Symphony, where she played a pivotal role on the Education & Community Programming Team, orchestrating concerts for over 120,000 students. Witnessing the transformative power of music in fostering a sense of belonging inspired Melissa to transition to the classroom.
Melissa has sung and danced with PK-5th graders in her elementary general Music Classrooms in Texas, Iowa, and soon-to-be Missouri. Her commitment extends beyond the classroom as she mentors pre-service teachers, supports newcomers to the field, and actively engages in DEIC committees at district, state, and national levels, advocating for inclusive music education.
Melissa's passion for continuous learning is reflected in her Kodály certification from the Southeast Texas Kodály Certification Program in Houston, TX. A dynamic presenter, she has conducted workshops and conference sessions across Iowa, Alabama, Texas, Illinois, and Missouri. Driven by the belief that music serves as a safe haven, Melissa provides music as a source of peace and joy for all learners, fostering growth and empowerment in their lives.
Larena Code Boyle - Level 2 Pedagogy & Literature
Larena Code Boyle is a full-time elementary music teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and national recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Emerging Educator award from the Organization of American Kodály Educators. She frequently presents workshops at the local and national levels on topics such as inclusive repertoire, Kodály-inspired teaching, and culturally relevant pedagogy. Larena holds a Master’s degree with a concentration in Kodály from the University of St. Thomas (2021) and Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from DePaul University (2015). She is fully certified in both Kodály (2016, 2021) and Orff-Schulwerk (2018) from DePaul University, University of St. Thomas, and University of Kentucky. Larena has presented at professional conferences and published articles on elementary music curriculum in music educator journals across the country. Taking her passions into the community, Larena serves as an active member on various music education committees - including past-president of Chicago Area Kodály Educators - as an advocate for creating just, liberating, and joyful spaces for all students.
Jana Martin - Level 3 Pedagogy & Literature
Jana Kitamura Martin has over 20 years of teaching music, with experiences in PK-12 vocal and general music. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado and Masters in Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She completed her Kodály Certification at New York University, and Orff certification at DePaul University. She also had the opportunity to participate in the 2017 Kodály Seminar at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary to learn more about the methodology in the birthplace of Kodály and to study with world-class musicians and continue her musical learning.
Martin currently teaches general music at Highcrest Middle School in Wilmette Public Schools District 39, and directs the Wilmette High Five Junior Choir for students of all abilities. She is also a member of the faculty at the DePaul University Summer Kodály Institute, where she has taught musicianship classes since 2016. Martin is a Member At Large on the OAKE Board of Directors, serves as Chair of the OAKE Equity Committee, is a member of the OAKE Teacher Education Committee, and serves on the board for the Chicago Area Kodály Educators. She has presented professional development sessions for ILMEA (2018, 2020, 2022) and OAKE (2022) conferences, as well as local workshops in Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia for teachers and university students.
Matt Hanne - Musicianship 1, 2, & 3
Matthew is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at California State University - Bakersfield, where he teaches courses related to elementary music and voice, and serves as the University Supervisor for intern schools in the local school districts. He previously served as the Director of Fine Arts at The Independent School and was on the faculty of Newman University, both in Wichita, KS. Matthew earned his Kodály Certification from Wichita State University, and has studied at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét during multiple summer sessions. In 2017, he was privileged to participate in a conducting master class with Péter Erdei, and was selected by Mr. Erdei to conduct in the final concert. Matthew has consistently been placed in the highest level of solfege class offered during each summer session, studying with Marianna Spiegel, Judit Varga and Nóra Keresztes. Matthew recently served as the English Language Translator for “Classical Harmony”, a translation from a Hungarian textbook co-authored by Ms. Keresztes. Matthew has presented at local, state, regional, and national conferences on topics related to choral rehearsal techniques, vocal improvisation, and the Kodály approach to teaching. He has presented at national conferences for NAfME and OAKE. Matthew headlined the 2019 MKMEA regional conference in Omaha, NE. He has presented at state conferences for KMEA and KCDA, and has led workshops for school districts in Kansas, Missouri, and California. Matthew is pleased to have directed elementary honor choirs for SCKMEA, SWKMEA, and USD 308 school district. Matthew was selected to present at the February 2023 CASMEC conference in Fresno, and the 26th International Kodály Symposium in Los Angeles during the summer of 2023. Matthew is currently serving as the Secondary Choral Chair for the OAKE National Board, and has previously served as president of the Kodály Music Educators of Kansas, and High School Choir Chair for the South Central Kansas Music Educators Association. He is pleased to have served on the faculty of Kodály training programs at WSU (Conducting, Level III Pedagogy and Folk Song Research, and Level I and II - Secondary Track Pedagogy and Song Research), CSUB (solfege), Morehead State University (Solfege) the University of Central Missouri (Solfege).
Leo Sakomoto, DMA - Conducting
Leo Sakomoto is Director of Instrumental Studies at California State University, Bakersfield. He conducts the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and CSUB/Bakersfield College Joint Orchestra, directs the Pep Band, and teaches courses in music education and conducting. Under his leadership, the CSUB instrumental music program has received several honors, including recognition from the College Band Directors National Association. He is also the founding advisor of the CSUB Collegiate Chapter of the National Association for Music Education. Dr. Sakomoto maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator at the middle school through university levels. Recent guest conducting engagements include honor bands and orchestras in Texas, South Carolina and California, and orchestral rehearsal clinics in Ecuador. He previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Inland Valley Symphony Orchestra of California. He is active as a conference presenter, previously lecturing on wind band repertoire and conducting, and most recently presenting a clinic on rehearsal efficiency through conducting at the California All-State Music Educators Conference. Awards received include Outstanding College/University Music Educator and Music Educator of the Year, both from the Kern County Music Educators Association. He was an invited participant in the Nordic Wind Band Conducting Competition in Helsinki, Finland. Dr. Sakomoto completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from California State University, Los Ángeles. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in conducting from UCLA under the mentorship of Thomas Lee. He has also studied with conductors such as Richard Floyd, Jerry Junkin, Craig Kirchhoff, Allan McMurray, and H. Robert Reynolds. As part of his continued professional development, Dr. Sakomoto completed three levels of study in the Kodály Method through the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Dr. Sakomoto currently serves on the boards of the Kern County Music Educators Association and Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the National Association for Music Education, California Music Educators Association, California Band Directors Association, Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association, American String Teachers Association, and the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.
Ángel Vázquez-Ramos, Ph.D - Conducting
Ángel M. Vázquez-Ramos, a native of Carolina, Puerto Rico is Director of Choral & Vocal Studies and Associate Professor of Music at California State University, Bakersfield. He teaches undergraduate courses in music education, choral conducting, and conducts the University Singers and Chamber Singers. Dr. Vázquez-Ramos is the co-founder and co-director of the CSUB Kodály Institute, and founding artistic music director of Meridian Voices, a chamber choral ensemble based in Bakersfield. He maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the state and western region. In addition, he established La Voz Music Publishing, a music publishing company dedicated to Latin American choral music.
Before completing his doctoral studies at Florida State University, Dr. Vázquez-Ramos taught secondary choral music at Pinellas County Schools in the Tampa Bay Area. Previous music director positions have included congregations in both Florida and California. Currently he is serving as a board member on the California Choral Directors Association Board, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and Organization of American Kodály Educators Western Region. Dr. Vázquez-Ramos also keeps current memberships in the following professional organizations: American Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the International Kodály Society.
He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education at the University of Puerto Rico. Studying with Judy Bowers, Rodney Eichenberger, Kevin Fenton, Clifford Madsen, and André Thomas, he holds Master of Music Education and Ph.D. in Music Education degrees from Florida State University. Research interests include: teacher preparation, rehearsal techniques, adolescent choirs, and Latin American choral music. Dr. Vázquez-Ramos has presented nationally and published articles on assessment in music education and teacher preparation in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing and the Florida Music Director.
Tess Shaw - Accompanist
Tess Shaw is a collaborative pianist at California State University, Bakersfield. She has performed with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, the Bakersfield Master Chorale, and the Northwest Civic Orchestra and at the College Music Society Conference, the New Music Cafe series at Illinois Wesleyan University, and the 21st-Century Piano Composition Competition Concert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned the Bachelor of Music cum laude in piano performance and pedagogy from Brigham Young University, where her mentors included Robin Hancock, Jeff Shumway, and Jerry Jaccard. Additionally, she sang in the BYU Women’s Chorus and played in master classes with Yefim Bronfman, Nelita True, and Logan Skelton.
René Ferrell, Ph.D - Co-director
René Ferrell holds the Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of North Texas, the Kodály certificate from Silver Lake College, Orff certificate from the University of Memphis, and she studied with Howard Swan and Frauke Hassemann at Westminster Choir College. Ferrell retired from California State University, Bakersfield, as an emeritus, having held the positions of Director of Music Education and Conductor of the CSUB Women’s Choir since 1999. She served on the IKS 2023 Symposium Organization and Program Committees and now continues as co-founder and co-director of the CSUB Kodály Institute.
Dr. Ferrell’s teaching experience spans from elementary general music to conducting prize winning middle and high school choirs in Texas and ultimately to the University. She has adjudicated and conducted choral and vocal competitions, honor choirs, workshops, conference sessions, in-service, and reading sessions from Maine to California and has taught Pedagogy, Conducting, Kodály for Middle School, and special topics sessions at institutes in Texas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and California. She held offices in national, state, and local music organizations, and most notably, she served in several capacities on the OAKE Board and assisted in the creation of the OAKE Archive located at the University of Maryland. The professor has been presented numerous awards, including Kern County Music Educators Association (KCMEA) Outstanding College/University Educator of the Year twice, and induction into the Kern County Music Hall of Fame.
Ferrell’s major focus of research centered on interpersonal influence in music education beginning with that of Katinka Daniel. Her later research into Zoltán Kodály’s influence took her to Budapest, Kecskemét, London, Southampton (ENG) and around the US, where she interviewed some of the professor’s first and second generation associates and students. At Erzsébet Szőnyi’s invitation, Dr. Ferrell presented that research at the Budapest IKS Symposium. She has since produced articles, papers, workshops, and poster sessions on that and other topics at IKS Symposia in Leicester (ENG) and Columbus (OH), as well as OAKE, NAfME, AOSA, CASMEC, KASC, NCDA, etc. Her articles on English diction and the I.P.A. were reprinted as chapters in the first edition of Ken Phillips’ “Teaching Kids to Sing.” Additionally, Ferrell recorded countless hours of interviews with Denise Bacon documenting her life story, the transcripts of which now reside in Bacon’s archive at the University of Maryland.
Dr. Ferrell’s teaching experience spans from elementary general music to conducting prize winning middle and high school choirs and ultimately to the university. She has adjudicated and conducted choral and vocal competitions, honor choirs, workshops, conference sessions, in-service, and reading sessions from to Maine to California and has taught pedagogy, conducting, Kodály for Middle School, and special topics sessions at institutes in Texas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and California. She held positions in national, state, and local music organizations, most notably she served in several capacities on the OAKE Board and assisted in the creation of the OAKE Archive located at the University of Maryland.