A New Way to Experience “Dalcroze Connections”

Welcome to the fall 2026 issue! On the heels of the 2026 National Conference in Dix Hills, NY, we’ve hit the ground running, welcoming many new members, volunteers, and educators to our community.

If this is your first time reading Dalcroze Connections, we’re glad you’ve found us! Now in its eleventh year of publication, Dalcroze Connections is the official magazine of the United States Dalcroze community. It seeks to inform, inspire, and educate Dalcroze practitioners at all levels. The magazine is prepared by the Publications Committee and released twice yearly.

If you’re a longtime reader, however, you’ll notice that things are a little different with this issue. Beginning with vol. 11, we’re embracing a digital-first format that opens up new possibilities for Dalcroze Connections.

Dalcroze is an experiential, musical, and embodied practice. It isn’t something we can fully capture in words alone. Until now, our magazine has largely been designed around the conventions of print publishing. But what if an article could include a musical example you can hear, a demonstration video you can watch, or a link that takes you directly to a related resource? What if readers could share their own questions and ideas right alongside an article?

That’s the direction we’re heading. By making our website the primary home of Dalcroze Connections, we can bring together writing, music, video, and conversation in ways that simply aren’t possible in a traditional print magazine.

In the old format, readers could download a complete issue as a PDF, order a hard copy, or browse individual articles on our website. We found that designing for all these different formats was challenging and limited our vision for what this online magazine could become. (Not to mention the rising costs of printing!)

The best way to experience this and future editions of Dalcroze Connections is right here, on our website.

This doesn’t mean the print version is going away. Instead of printing the fall and spring issues separately, we will make one combined print edition available in the spring, containing both vol. 11 no. 1 and vol. 11 no. 2. In the meantime, there’s no need to wait for ordering, printing, packaging, and shipping. You can simply click the print button on any page.

A More Interactive Magazine

This isn’t simply a digital version of a print magazine. We’ve reimagined the magazine with new opportunities that invite you to listen, watch, share, and participate.

Here are a few things you can explore as you browse this issue:

• Hear musical examples and watch videos right within the article. No need to look things up separately or navigate away from what you’re reading.
• Follow references and related resources more easily. When authors cite foundational texts by Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, for example, you can find it immediately in our Resource Library. When an author mentions a third-party source (think JSTOR or a peer organization’s website), you can follow a link to find the reference.
• Print or save individual articles. If you prefer to read on paper, we’ve greatly enhanced the print function. There’s a button on every page that generates a clean print- or PDF-ready version. (This works best in the Chrome browser.) Try it on this page!
• Share articles and resources with others. Find an especially interesting article, video, or lesson plan? Help us get the word out! You can share directly to Facebook, X, LinkedIn, or email using the buttons on any page.
• Join the conversation. Leave a comment on any article to start a conversation with other readers or pose a question to fellow Dalcroze educators. Have a clarifying question about an article? You might even hear directly from the author!

What You Can Find in This Issue

• We’re very pleased to finally publish this substantial article, Improvisation in the Private Piano Lesson, authored by Anne Farber and Sean Hartley. It features dozens of improvisation games organized around four overarching goals, along with selected examples demonstrated by members of the Publications Committee and our own students. Even better, most of these exercises can easily be adapted to any private instrumental lesson!
• In Adaptation: A Conversation on the Dalcroze Principle, Bill Bauer and Jeremy Dittus reflect on something that is “in our bones” as musicians. But what does adaptation look like in a specifically Dalcrozian context? Look forward to a deeper discussion of this Dalcroze principle in a future issue.
• In Dalcroze for Healthy Aging: A Community-Based Research Project, Elda Nelly Treviño describes a scientific study and shares some Dalcroze Activities for Older Adults drawn from her own classes.
• 2026 DSA Memorial Scholarship recipient Angela Thompson shares Reflections on Summer Dalcroze Training, including photos from her studies.
• Looking for improvisation ideas to use in your classes? Improv Exchange #8: Playing for Walking and Marching, written by our newest committee member, John Paul Velez (welcome!), features videos of John improvising using the frameworks described in the article.

Most importantly, we want to hear from you! What articles or topics do you find most valuable? What would you like to see more of? As we continue developing this new format, your feedback will help shape the spring 2027 issue and the future of Dalcroze Connections.

The Vol. 11 No. 1 Publications Committee

• Katie Couch, managing editor
• Aaron Butler
• Michael Joviala
• Alex Marthaler
• Elda Nelly Treviño
• John Paul Velez