Lotus Music Professional Development Institute

At Lotus Music, our mission is to provide adaptive music experiences that nurture growth, creativity, and connection for individuals with diverse learning needs. We believe that equipping teachers and other educational professionals with the knowledge and skills they need to incorporate adaptive methods is essential to this mission. That’s why we founded the Lotus Music Professional Development Institute, a digital hub for training in adaptive music education.

Our goal is to provide both classroom and studio music teachers with skills, strategies, and resources they can use when teaching neurodivergent and disabled students. We offer a wide variety of training opportunities so that you can grow at any point in your career. As more and more students and families seek music education that is adaptive and appropriate for diverse learning styles, these skills are highly valuable and will help you continue to grow your teaching practice for years to come. We look forward to walking with you as part of our community of educators, supporting each other in our learning and teaching along the way.

Our Programs:

We offer three types of programs: Free webinars, Mini courses, and Certification courses. Check out our course listings below to see what we are currently offering!

Free Webinars

Our free 1-hour webinars allow music teachers to learn about different topics in adaptive music education. Each webinar focuses on an aspect of teaching neurodivergent and/or disabled students, providing knowledge, skills, and activities to build teacher toolkits.
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Mini Courses in Adaptive Music Education

Offering a more in-depth look at topics in adaptive music education than our webinars in an accessible format for practicing music educators. Each mini course includes a 3-hour session where participants will develop tools and strategies to strengthen their teaching, as well as an instructional guidebook for reference. 
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Certification Courses in Adaptive Music Education

For music educators who are looking for in-depth learning and would like to develop high-level skills in adaptive music education, we offer three levels of certification courses. Each 10-week certification course includes weekly lectures, discussion groups and readings in an interactive setting. Courses must be completed in order. Participants should be able to commit approximately four hours per week to the course. Certificates will be provided on completion of each level.
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Check out our courses!

About Lotus Music

Lotus Music is internationally recognized as a leader in adaptive music education. We’ve been providing adaptive music experiences for the neurodiverse and disability communities in our home city of Ottawa, Ontario for more than a decade, with a focus on delivering programs that are evidence-informed, community-oriented, and led by specially trained teachers. The Lotus Music Professional Development Institute, founded in 2019, aims to share this expertise with other educators, further expanding access to adaptive music education for the communities we serve.
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Benefits

Control how you learn & progress

Various levels of engagement, from mini-courses to certification courses
Gain skills in adaptive music education that can be applied to studio, group or classroom teaching
Courses led by experienced and esteemed experts in special music education
Learn to work with students of all ages with a wide variety of learning profiles 
Join the Lotus Music community

Sign up for our mailing list to receive biweekly resources and course updates

Thank you!

Learn more about Adaptive Music Education:

Check out an interview with Dr. Erin Parkes on the Music Teacher's Podcast, hosted by Tim Topham: 
TESTIMONIALS

What our learners say about us:

"Thank you SO much to the Lotus Centre for this wonderful webinar! I am always looking for any opportunity to learn and support my students on their journey!" 
- Melissa MacNeil
“I really enjoyed the webinar, and genuinely look forward to doing more training through the Lotus Centre.”
- Lindsay Inkster

Meet our team

Erin Parkes, PhD

Founder AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dr. Erin Parkes received her Bachelor of Music, Master of Arts in Musicology, and Graduate Certificate in Piano Pedagogy Research from the University of Ottawa. She completed a PhD in Music Education from McGill University in 2015, where she researched how to effectively train studio music teachers to work with students with autism. Erin has been teaching music since 1996 and has worked with students of all ages in a variety of settings. She presents at conference and guest lectures throughout North America and internationally on teaching music to students with special needs and other issues in music education.
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Olivia Adams, PhD candidate

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
Olivia Adams is a music educator, researcher, and pianist. Her current doctoral research on music performance assessments for neurodiverse musicians is at the intersection of Music Education and Critical Disability Studies and she is involved in numerous studies in the field of music and health research. Olivia holds a MA in Music and Feminist Studies from the University of Ottawa, and an Honours B.Mus. in Piano Performance from Western University. Olivia has over a decade of teaching experience in piano and choral classrooms. She is the author of Loud and Clear: A Guide to Levelled Piano Music by Women Composers in the 20th and 21st Centuries, which is used in music studios and classrooms in numerous countries. Olivia teaches piano, voice, and general music lessons and leads the Singing Collective and Caregiver Chorus at Lotus Centre.

Jeff Sabo, PhD candidate

Professional Development Coordinator
Jeff Sabo received his Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College. He completed a Graduate Certificate and Master of Arts in Piano Pedagogy Research from the University of Ottawa. Jeff began teaching piano in 2013, and he has worked with students ranging from young beginners to adults at a variety of levels. He currently works for the Lotus Centre for Special Music Education as a music teacher and professional development coordinator.
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