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Audrey J. Adair is an author who composes music. She conceived the idea for her current book after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The patriots who put their lives on the line to help others left an imprint on Ms. Adair’s life, and at that moment in history, she formed the idea for a patriotic activity book. She aimed to share traditions, customs, and values that America was built on that protect our democracy. With her mother, Leah Solsrud (1913-2010), a fellow educator and commercial artist, they developed this timely, hands-on book with topic pages and correlating activities, originally called How Americans Celebrate.
After a year of working on the book, Ms. Adair raised her family and continued her teaching career. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was compelled to update the contents while seeing public outrage with police brutality, racial inequality, a divided country, a war on truth, and the tragic loss of life with the pandemic. She also created a more suitable title, PATRIOTIC ACTIVITY BOOK for All Americans. Ms. Adair and her partner, Walter D. Lazear, technical editor, project manager, and webmaster, self-published the book, making it available on Amazon and Ms. Adair’s website
www.audreyjadair.com. Sadly, my mother passed away before seeing her book published.
Ms. Adair is no stranger to writing activity books. Her first publication, Ready-to-Use Music Activities Kit, was the all-time best seller for Parker Publishing Company’s Music Educators Book Club. Her following project, published by Parker, was Music Curriculum Activities Library, a series of seven units featuring 350 activity sheets to develop basic music concepts and skills in grades 3-8. Then came her next book, START with SONG! 201 Ready-to-Use Interdisciplinary Activities for Young Learners. The expression, ‘Ready-to-Use,’ originated with her first book and is still a popular phrase in titles by other non-fiction authors. In 2020 Ms. Adair updated all of the activity books. With Mr. Lazear’s know-how, they created downloadable pages and reprinted the books, now exclusively available on Amazon and Ms. Adair’s website.
Ms. Adair is a composer and arranger of thirteen EZ-PZ DUETSTM for soprano recorders and four for flutes, and all featured exclusively on Amazon and Ms. Adair’s website. The duets focus on beginner and intermediate performers. The two student volumes of 20 Études EZ-PZ DUETSTM for recorders include a guidebook for the music teacher, called Teaching Études.
Ms. Adair is a graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, with a bachelor of arts degree in music education and elementary certification from the University of Houston, Texas. Before becoming a full-time writer and composer, she was a life-long music educator and classroom teacher. She is also a published author of ten books and twenty songbooks. Visit her website at www.audreyjadair.com to read more.
Audrey J. Adair was born in Wisconsin and raised in the Midwest. She graduated from St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, with a BA Degree in Music Education. After graduation, she was awarded an elementary education teaching certificate from the University of Houston, Texas, and continued her education throughout her teaching career. Ms. Adair is an award-winning veteran educator, having taught in Florida, Texas, and Virginia public schools. Now, as a full-time author and songwriter, her days can be fairly solitary. Nonetheless, when she’s not composing or writing, she can be found playing (masked) tennis outdoors, creating new spicy plant-based recipes, and performing on open mic and interactive concerts through Zoom. Audrey J. Adair resides in the greater Washington DC area and is working on her next book.
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- Born: 1944 (Ladysmith, Wisconsin)
- Current Residence: Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area
- Children: Allison Adair Alberts (1980). Ryan Adair (1983)
- Parents: Leah Solsrud (deceased), Marvin Solsrud (deceased)
- Siblings: Betsey Elling, William Solsrud
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Books:
- PATRIOTIC ACTIVITY BOOK for ALL Americans.
(USA: FUNDAY PRESS, 2021)
- Music Curriculum Activities Library. 7 Units
(West Nyack, NJ: Parker Publishing Company, 1987)
(USA: FUNDAY PRESS, 2020)
- Ready-to-Use Music Activities Kit.
(West Nyack, NJ: Parker Publishing Company, 1984)
(USA: FUNDAY PRESS, 2020)
- Start with Song!: 200 Interdisciplinary Activities.
(West Nyack, NJ: Parker Publishing Company, 1991)
(USA: FUNDAY PRESS, 2020)
Songbooks:
- 20 African American Spirituals: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Beloved Hymns: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Beloved Hymns: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Flutes.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Bubbly Tunes: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Celtic Tunes: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Celtic Tunes: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Flutes.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Chit-Chat Tunes: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Christmas Carols: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Classicals: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Classicals: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Flutes.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 December Songs: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Earth Day Songs: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Emoji Songs: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 20 Études VOL 1: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Études VOL 2: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- Teaching Études: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Familiar Tunes: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Patriotic Songs: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Patriotic Songs: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Flutes.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Quarantunes: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 40 Rounds: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
- 20 Soothing Songs: EZ-PZ DUETSTM for Soprano Recorders.
(USA, Funday Press, 2020)
Articles in National Magazines:
- "Take a Turn," Teaching Music, February 2002
- "Idea Bank," MENC Journal, 1994, 1988
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- BA in music education, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
- Elementary education certification, University of Houston, TX
- Graduate work at Shenandoah University, Winchester, VA; Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL; Saint Leo University, Saint Leo, FL; Florida International University, Miami, FL
- Continuing Education/Inservice Classes at School District of Hillsborough County, FL
- Computer technology certification from Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA
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- Japan Fulbright Memorial Teacher Program Participant, funded by the Japanese Government — 3 weeks in Japan. October 2006, one of 200 US Educators
- Mozart’s Worlds Institute University of Dayton/ National Endowment for Humanities — 5 weeks in Vienna, Austria June-July 2006, $3,600 stipend, one of 20
US Educators.
- Toyota International Teacher Program Participant, funded by Toyota
— 2 weeks in Costa Rica. March 2007, one of 20 US Educators
- Earthwatch Institute, Climate Change at the Arctic’s Edge "Live from the Field" Fellowship — 3 weeks in Churchill, Manitoba Canada, September 2008, one of 15
US Educators
- National and State Grant Awards
Muzak Corporation, Planet Orange Grant, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grant, NCLB Immigrant Refugee Special Initiative, Wal-Mart, Albertsons Food Store, Country Market, Publix Supermarket, Youth Service America and Disney, Florida Elementary Music Education Dorothy Land Past Presidents Grant.
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- ARS (American Recorder Society)
- NAfME (National Association for Music Education)
- NVUS (Northern Virginia Ukulele Society)
- NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International)
- SAW (Songwriters' Association of Washington D.C.)
- Washington DC Write to Publish Meetup Group
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