biography

  • Dr. Sandra Sanchez Adorno is an assistant professor of music education and area coordinator of the music education department at Florida International University. She teaches courses in elementary general music, assessment, modern band, and music psychology, supervises student teaching interns, and advises graduate research. A native of Florida, she holds degrees in music education from the University of Florida (B.S.) and the University of Miami (M.M., Ph.D.). Prior to her current appointment, she was a visiting professor at Stetson University, adjunct professor at Florida International University, graduate assistant at the University of Miami, and general music teacher in Palm Beach County Schools, Frost Music Reach, and the Stetson University Community School of Music.
    Dr. Adorno’s research aims to understand children’s musical cultures and identity development, highlight the voices of minoritized populations in music education, and enhance professional learning in music teacher education. Sandra has presented her research internationally and nationally, including the International Society for Music Education World Conference, the National Association for Music Education Biennial Music Research Conference, the Society for Music Teacher Education National Conference, the Mountain Lake Colloquium, and the Desert Skies Research Symposium. She has been published in the Journal for Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, and Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education and has written chapters in Music, Words, and Nationalism and The Modern Band Handbook. Dr. Adorno previously served on the editorial board of The Orff Echo and the evaluation team for the Early Childhood Music Education Pilot Program Grant supported by Florida Senate Bill 156, which has since become an established incentive program in the state. Currently, she serves on the board of directors for the Association for Popular Music Education and the Florida Music Educators Association. She is president of the Florida College Music Educators Association and is a member of FMEA’s research committee and editorial board of Research Perspectives in Music Education.
    Dr. Adorno is also recognized for her teaching at the collegiate level. In 2023, she was nominated and selected as one of the FIU Rewarding Excellence in Teaching Incentive Award recipients, which recognizes faculty who employ student-centered, inclusive, evidence-based teaching in their courses. Sandra teaches fully online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses and has designed and implemented new undergraduate courses in Assessment and Modern Band Techniques. Further, she created a new certification track for FIU’s music education graduate program to provide an avenue for musicians without a music education degree who wish to become certified music teachers in the state. Dr. Adorno also co-advises FIU’s NAfME Collegiate chapter, a student organization focused on preparing future music educators. Since joining FIU’s faculty, Sandra has worked closely with the university’s accreditation office to ensure the music education programs remain accredited through the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and recognized by the Florida Department of Education as state-approved educator preparation programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The music education program at FIU has nearly a 100% job placement rate and is currently one of the largest and highest-performing teacher preparation programs in the university.
    Sandra is certified in Orff-Schulwerk, World Music Pedagogy, and Modern Band and has presented teaching workshops nationally, regionally, and locally at the American Orff-Schulwerk Association National Conference, Association for Popular Music Education National Conference, Mountain Lake Colloquium, Modern Band Summit, Florida Music Educators State Conference, Orff Chapter workshops around the state, and in-service district workshops in South Florida. She has organized, presented, and facilitated numerous music teaching workshops for Arts@FIU Day, a college-sponsored county-wide professional development day for all arts and performing arts teachers in Miami-Dade. Sandra was a visiting scholar at Converse University in October of 2023 and a faculty member of the Tennessee Arts Academy in 2017. She also directed the Florida Elementary Music Educators Association Southern Regional Orff Ensemble and the Miami-Dade Superintendent’s Honors Orff Ensembles in 2019 and will direct Volusia County’s Orff honors ensemble in January 2025. In 2018, Adorno was awarded a Modern Band Fellowship in Higher Education, which has led to over $10,000 in funding to support her efforts to advance popular music education and modern band in music teacher training in Miami, FL, namely, through creating a university Modern Band Techniques course, a modern band university outreach program for 4th-5th graders, and a teaching pipeline between university and K-12 programs.

selected scholarly works & creative activities

full name

  • Sandra Adorno

visualizations