Instructors |
Hedi Salanki (Musicianship/Solfa) is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of West Florida, where she teaches piano performance, harpsichord performance, keyboard interpretation, ear training (Kodály -method solfege), musical structure and style, and chamber music. A native of Hungary, Ms. Salanki has appeared with the New Jersey Symphony, the New York Chamber Orchestra, I Solisti New York, the Syracuse Symphony, the Pensacola Symphony, and numerous chamber ensembles. She has performed solo recitals in Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan. Among her recordings on the Pantheon, Priceless, Laserlight, and Prince Productions labels are many significant works of Bach, including the Goldberg Variations (nominated for Ovation Magazine¹s Debut Artist of the Year Award), the Concerti, and the complete English Suites. She has also recorded Scarlatti Sonatas, Telemann Overtures, and a French Baroque program. Recent career highlights include a return engagement at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music Summer Festival, performances and master classes at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, master classes at the Beijing Conservatory, and recitals at the University of West Florida. Ms. Salanki earned a Doctorate in Harpsichord Performance from the Juilliard School, as well as degrees and diplomas in piano performance from the Liszt Academy, the Bartok Conservatory, and Rutgers University. From 1994 to 1998 Ms. Salanki served as founding Artistic Director of the Four Seasons Baroque Ensemble, garnering critical acclaim for artistic excellence and innovative programming. Ann Sights Leffard, NBCT (Program Director, Pedagogy, Chorus, Conducting) is currently the Music Specialist at Holley-Navarre Primary School in Navarre, Florida. She earned her Kodály Certification at the University of Oklahoma and at the Kodály Institute of Texas (UNT). Her major teachers include Dr. Joy Nelson, Dr. Susan Brumfield and Dr. Jill Trinka. In 2002, she was a recipient of the OAKE Jenö Ádám scholarship. She is a founding member and current President of the Kodály Educators of Northwest Florida (KENF), the first chapter affiliated with OAKE located in Florida. She holds a Masters in Flute Performance from the Florida State University and a BSED in Instrumental Music and Performer's Certificate from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She was Principal Flutist of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra in 1996-2007 and was a member of PSO for 20 years. In February 2006, HNPS second graders became the first students in the area asked to perform with the Pensacola Opera Artist-in-Residence program - performing Mozart's music in The Three Little Pigs, by John Davies. In the 2006-07 school year, her first and second grade students were chosen to pilot another Pensacola Opera project entitled "From Words to Music", where the students wrote and composed an original opera based on stories in their language arts curriculum. Prior to becoming a Kodály-inpired educator, Mrs. Leffard was band director at Alfred B. Maclay School in Tallahassee for grades 5-12 during the school year 1984-85, and at Ferry Pass Middle School in Pensacola for 12 years. She currently serves on the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra Education Committee and is District VI Chairperson for the Florida Elementary Music Educators' Association. Her professional affiliations include the Organization of American Kodály Educators, International Kodály Society, Music Educators National Conference, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Elementary Music Educators Association, and the Florida Flute Association. Mrs. Leffard has been married to PSO bass trombonist Lee Leffard since 1989. Their two daughters have participated in many musical endeavors, including choral and instrumental activities. |
"Music belongs to everyone." ~ Zoltan Kodály |
Pensacola Kodály Institute Level One, Pensacola, Florida, July 20 - 31, 2009 |
