Music alumna, Gabriela Ocádiz Velazquez (Master of Music, Music Education Specialization, Kodály Option, 2015), accepted a tenure-track assistant professor of music education position at the University of Arizona in Aug. Among several topics, Dr. Ocádiz Velazquez is an expert on transcribing and preserving Mexican folksongs and has returned to CSU's Colorado Kodaly Institute to present on the topic.
"To have one of our master’s alumni join our rank as a higher education faculty member is significant news, and speaks to the work we are doing in our own degree program to prepare students to be future leaders in our field," said Dr. Bonnie Jacobi, associate professor of music education, and director of Colorado Kodály Institute.
Dr. Ocádiz Velazquez continues to teach the International Education Seminar on arts teaching and learning at Colorado State University's Todos Santos Center in Baja California Sur, Mexico. As a master's student, and following graduation, Ocádiz Velazquez taught in the Kids Do It All – Musical Theatre program at the Center for several years (pictured above). Read about her experience here.
"It is very special that she remains connected to CSU," Jacobi added.
About Gabriela Ocádiz Velazquez
Dr. Gabriela Ocádiz is a music teacher educator, researcher, and scholar. Her teaching experience is founded on building community through her practice as an educator everywhere she goes. Having lived in four different countries (Mexico, Colombia, the United States, and Canada) has provided her with ample and diverse professional experience which includes teaching a Kodaly-based early childhood program, and elementary, middle school, and high school general music; conducting children’s and women’s choirs; and designing, developing and implementing community music programs with students of immigrant and refugee backgrounds.
Her university research is firmly grounded in social justice and equity-seeking to contribute to the current development of music education in theory and practice. Her ongoing research interests are related to understanding the role of reflexivity in the openness of music teachers and pre-service music education students to integrate multiple ways of knowing, being, and thinking about music in their professional practice. This includes the conceptualization and implementation of approaches to land-based music education and the Indigenization of music pedagogies and curricula.
Gabriela received her bachelor’s in music education from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico, her master’s in Music and Kodály certification from Colorado State University in the United States, and her Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.