ABOUT MS. JU

(Juliana Cantarelli Vita)

I was born and raised in Recife, Pernambuco (Brazil), and moved to the United States in 2014 to pursue a master's degree in Music Education. My main instrument is violin, but I love to play drums, guitar, recorders, piano, and anything else that makes a sound :)

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I am currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Music Education with an emphasis in Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, and a General Music Teacher at Laurelhurst Elementary School in Seattle, WA. I am certified in Orff Schulwerk (Levels I-III), have completed Kodaly Pedagogy Level I, and worked at the Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy Course at West Virginia University (2015-2020), and at the University of Washington (2018-2020).

Blending my interests in music education and ethnomusicology, I have had the opportunity to present papers and given clinics at several national and international conferences in North America, South America, and Europe. As a researcher, I have published papers at Orff Echo (Winter 2017, Fall 2020 upcoming) and Perspectives: Journal of the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association (Volume 13:1, 2018), with a chapter on children's communities of practice in the maracatu de baque virado tradition on the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Early Childhood Learning and Development. As a clinician, I have given more than 50 professional development workshops in the United States, Brazil, and Europe.

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(PS: I go by Ms. Ju because I have way too many last names. Can you imagine yourself / your child trying to call me "Ms. Cantarelli de Andrade Lima Araújo Vita"? That would take up our whole music class time! Also, "tia Ju" is what I would have been/used to be called as a teacher in my home country... so this is also an effort to bring a little piece of home with me.)