Our Faculty - University of Houston

About the Kodály Approach

The Kodály approach to teaching music is an internationally recognized, highly sequential and experiential method for teaching music developed by Hungarian composer, musicologist and educator Zoltán Kodály. At the heart of the approach is the belief that music education is a core subject that is the birthright of every child. It is a complete and comprehensive approach to music education that begins in early childhood.

Meet Our Faculty

Susie Fergus

Susie Fergus is a lifelong music educator specializing in youth choirs in both school and church settings. Over the course of over 17 years, she has conducted youth and children’s choirs in Arlington, Fort Worth, Colleyville, Cleburne, Bedford and Granbury. She currently teaches private voice in her Fort Worth home as well as in the Burleson ISD. Fergus earned a master’s degree in music education with a choral emphasis from University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Auburn University. She is a Kodály specialist who trains music educators in solfege, conducting, pedagogy and ensemble singing with school districts in the Houston area. She is a member of OAKE and TMEA. Fergus’s personal mission is to help students fall in love with music for a lifetime.

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Kevin Pearson

Kevin Pearson is the director of vocal music at Memorial High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has served as the vice president of OAKE since 2014, the co-chair of the 2014 OAKE National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia and is the current president-elect of Oklahoma Kodály Educators. He received his master’s in music education in Kodály concept from the University of Oklahoma, and his bachelor’s in music education from the University of Tulsa.

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MaryElla Neeley Stevens

With 39 years of experience teaching elementary music, MaryElla Neeley Stevens brings the joy of music-making to the children at Mendel Elementary School, a Title I school in the Aldine Independent School District. During the summer months, she is an instructor for the Kodály teacher training programs at Aldine Independent School District and the University of Houston. She holds a Master of Music in music education with Kodály emphasis degree from Holy Names University, Oakland, Calirfornia and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa. As a clinician, she has presented several music and arts-integrated sessions at district, state and national levels. She currently serves as the secretary for the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Stevens was selected as Aldine ISD 2007 – 2008 Teacher of the Year. She has performed in Houston-area music organizations, including Houston Grand Opera and Chorus Angelorum.

Stevens believes the greatest reward as a music teacher is simply making music with children in the community of song — the little world created in the music classroom. If someone enters the music classroom, they are immediately invited to join this community as part of an ancient rite. There is nothing more beautiful. There is nothing more powerful. There is nothing more meaningful. It is civilization in its purest form.

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