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.

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.

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.