About Me

Amy L. Sierzega (she/her/hers) is a PhD student in music education at the University of Maryland. An active presenter and guest-lecturer, Amy facilitates practitioner and research sessions for regional, national, and international conferences. She enjoys providing professional development workshops for pK-12 school districts and guest-presenting in collegiate music education courses across the United States. A trained Responsive Classroom teacher, Amy’s pedagogical approach involves using teacher language that aims to honor student identities.

Amy received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music education from Michigan State University. Prior to moving to Maryland, she taught pK-5 elementary general music and beginning band for eight years at Lakewood Elementary School in Ann Arbor, MI. During that time, she served as a saxophonist, assistant conductor, and interim conductor & music director for the Washtenaw Community Concert Band. Committed to supporting musicians across ages and abilities, Amy also has over ten years of experience teaching early childhood music classes for children (birth-5 years old) and their caregivers. She has led early childhood music classes through Michigan State University’s Community Music School, Eastern Michigan University’s Community Music Academy, and, currently, the Hatchling Community Music Program at the University of Maryland.

Amy holds a Level I certification in early childhood music and Level I & II certifications in elementary general music through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML), and currently serves on GIML’s board of directors as chair of the membership commission. In recognition of her committee-oriented service as an early career teacher through the Michigan Music Education Association, Amy was the recipient of the Hilda Humphreys Service Award in 2019 and the MSU Cynthia Taggart Fellowship Award in 2020.

Specializing in early childhood and elementary music teaching and learning, Amy’s research examines intersections of culturally responsive pedagogies, musicianship identity development, and trauma-informed education. Her research has been published in the Psychology of Music Journal and the Journal of Research in Music Education.