Congratulations to the 2026
Level III Graduating Class!
Orff Schulwerk Levels
Orff Schulwerk Levels 2026
Chicago, Illinois • July 6 – 17, 2026
Monday – Friday • 8AM – 4PM
Workshop will be hosted at the De La Salle Institute: 3434 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60616. Free parking is available.
Spend two weeks at VanderCook College of Music, in the beautiful city of Chicago, learning the fundamental principles of the Orff Approach. This child-centered way of learning music will encourage your students to enjoy music-making while enhancing their awareness of space, time, form, line, color, design and mood. Both individually and in groups, children must learn important concepts by doing hands-on activities that allow them to explore and create.
On-campus housing reservations are available.
Tuition & Credits
The tuition cost of $1,580 includes all books and recorders (a $70 value), and students will earn 4 semester hours of graduate credit, which equates to 60 Professional Development hours.
Housing
Meet our Instructors
Ben Torres - Orff Schulwerk Levels Coordinator , Orff Schulwerk Levels: Movement Instructor
Ben Torres is in his 12th year in the Richardson (TX) school district and his fourth year as the K-6 music specialist at Brentfield Elementary in Dallas, where he also directs the Brentfield Singers, the Rhythm Cats Orff Ensemble and serves as the JJ Pearce Area Team Leader. Prior to this, he was the K-6 music specialist at Richland Elementary, where he also directed a choir and an Orff ensemble, the latter of which was selected to perform at the 2011 TMEA Convention. Torres received his bachelor’s degree in music education from West Texas A&M University in Canyon. He teaches movement in the Orff Schulwerk training course at Trinity University in San Antonio, movement and recorder in the Orff Schulwerk course at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, and other courses across the country. He is currently the president of the North Texas Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association.
Christine Ballenger- Orff Schulwerk Level I Pedagogy
Christine Ballenger currently teaches general music (PK-4) in Spring, Texas, north of Houston. She holds degrees in music education from the University of New Mexico (M.M.) and the University of Puget Sound (B.M.). Christine teaches Level I movement and recorder for the Gwinnett County Orff Course outside of Atlanta, and Basic Pedagogy for summer courses at VanderCook and UNC-Wilmington. Since 2017, Christine has served as a member of the editorial board of The Orff Echo. She has presented at AOSA National Professional Development Conferences, as well as for a variety of AOSA chapters across the country. Christine has also had training in Kodaly and World Music Drumming, and completed the “International Summer Course” in 2018 at the Orff Institute, in Salzburg, Austria.
Ardith Collins - Orff Schulwerk Level II Instructor
Ardith Collins teaches music at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in Manhattan and is adjunct faculty at Montclair State University. Ardith completed Orff Levels at Villanova/University of the Arts, Kodály Levels at Westminster Choir College, Beginner Level Dalcroze Eurhythmics at Anderson University, and is finishing her EdD at Rowan University. She is an avid folk dancer, performer, rounds singer and Balkan music enthusiast. Ardith is past president of the Northern New Jersey Orff chapter and serves on the AOSA CORS Curriculum subcommittee.
Cyndee Giebler - Orff Schulwerk Level III Instructor
Cyndee Giebler lives and teaches in northeast Wisconsin. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and completed her master’s degree at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. She has presented workshops for American Orff-Schulwerk Association chapters around the country as well as state, regional, and national conventions. In her spare time, Cyndee enjoys composing and arranging music for classroom use, children’s chorus, and elementary strings.
Rachel Aupperle - Orff Schulwerk Levels Recorder Instructor
Rachel Aupperle teaches K-12 general music, and choir at Ridgeview CUSD #19, in Central Illinois. Rachel holds a bachelor of music, master’s in music education, and certification in all three levels of Orff Schulwerk training. She is a Level I, II, and III movement and recorder instructor and has received training in Feierabend FAME Curriculum Certification: Conversational Solfege I and First Steps of Music.
Rachel currently serves as President of the Heart of Illinois Orff Chapter and President of the Elementary General Music Division for the Illinois Music Education Association. She is an active presenter and guest clinician who has presented at local, state, and national conferences. Mrs. Aupperle strives to share her love of music education with all teachers by providing a welcome, and safe learning environment for all.
Highlights from 2026
Chicago is our campus!
Just minutes from downtown Chicago’s world-renowned music culture, VanderCook College of Music is located on the northwest corner of the campus of the highly ranked Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).