Judy Ransom

RESEARCH & ARTS INTEGRATION ACTIVITIES

• Proposed NAfME conference session: 
  “Combining Music and Drama to Create a Middle School Original Music-Theatre Mash-Up”. This proposal outlined a project that combined story writing with songs. Students collaborate to create a story and research songs to help tell the story. 
• Creative Writing/Story sequencing and sound effects (7-8)
  Piano 7-8 students created a Halloween story and used keyboard sound effects to dramatize the performance.
• Music & Science/creative writing (G3): The story of Clover the Rabbit
  G3 students researched an animal and created a story about the animal that included original music to characterize individuals and events in the story.  
• Music & ELA (G7/8): The Martian Chronicles – The Earth Men
  Students read the short story and created a soundscape that depicted the Martians, arrival of the Earth Men, the conflict, and the end, where all traces of Earth men were gone and life on Mars continued as if nothing had ever happened. They used keyboard sound effects and wrote a synopsis that outlined the story and described each of the sonic events. 
• Music & Math (G7): Ratios and tempo 
  Students created ratios to illustrate how the manipulation of tempo (increased by predetermined bpm) affected the number of rhythm patterns that could be played within a specified time. (Video and other materials are available)

HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS

1. “National Standards for Music meets the School Music Program: Music Learning and Critical Thinking Takes the Stage,” a research project that proposed building choral rehearsals around analysis of each choral piece. Chord progressions, audiation, voice leading, and other factors were considered.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS / ACTIVITIES

• Church pianist, accompanist, music director
• Keyboard performances with Theatre Tuscaloosa, Actor’s Charitable Theatre, Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Dr. Ransom’s teaching philosophy is informed by decades of experience in the classroom and the rehearsal. In choral music education, she identifies student strengths and interests and encourages them to explore these areas to better inform their approach to teaching in the elementary classroom. In the choral rehearsal, she seeks to understand singers in the ensemble and chooses appropriate high-quality, challenging repertoire rich with learning potential. She especially prefers repertoire that speaks to the human experience and causes students to reflect and connect with their community.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Judy Ransom is a lifelong musician who began studying piano at age 7 and has since accompanied choirs, soloists and musical theater productions for more than 40 years. She holds a terminal degree in Music Education and is certified in K-12 music. As a professional musician, she has also directed and sung in numerous choirs throughout her career and taught most courses in the undergraduate music degree. Dr. Ransom came to Tuscaloosa in 2015 and became active at Christ Episcopal Church, Prentice Concert Chorale, Theatre Tuscaloosa and the Actor’s Charitable Theatre. She currently teaches middle school choir and piano classes at The Alberta School of Performing Arts (TASPA) and a Music for Elementary Classroom Teachers course at UA. She enjoys biking, running and listening to audio books.