Featured Sessions &
Professional Learning that Transform Music Classrooms

For music educators across disciplines, programs, and communities.

Professional Learning that Meets the Moment

I work with conferences, districts, and music programs across the country to deliver featured sessions and keynote professional learning experiences that are practical, trauma-informed, and grounded in how the brain and nervous system actually work.

My work is focused on equipping music educators with tools they can use immediately to support student motivation, retention, and long-term success. I specialize in helping teachers understand how learning, regulation, and sound interact, and how music classrooms can be structured in ways that support both cognitive growth and emotional safety, especially in Title I and low-SES schools.

Alongside this work, I bring decades of experience in beginning strings and string pedagogy, building programs from the ground up. My sessions are hands-on, engaging, and designed to translate directly into classroom practice. Teachers consistently leave feeling energized, confident, and equipped with strategies they can implement right away.

“Teachers walked away energized, confident, and equipped with tools they could implement immediately.”
— Jenna Day, Owner, Day Violins

Areas of Focus

  • Trauma-Informed Music Classrooms

  • Creating Thriving Title I & Low SES Programs

  • Motivation, Engagement & Retention

  • Structure, Safety, & Classroom Systems

  • Beginning String Pedagogy & Sequencing

  • Performance Anxiety Solutions for the Music Classroom

  • Teaching Music Through the Nervous System

  • Sound Production, Emotional Regulation, and Accelerated Learning in the Music Classroom

  • Disability & Inclusion

Let’s Work Together

Interested in hosting professional learning with Nicole Melrose? Use the form below to share a few details about your schools, district, or event.