Jenny L. Neff, Ed.D joined the University of Delaware’s music education faculty in Fall 2024. Prior to this, she was Professor and Program Director of Music Education at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia for six years. Additionally, she brings 25 years of public-school teaching to higher education, with experience teaching music (primarily bands and orchestras) at all levels in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Dr. Neff was one of 10 writers on NAfME's Teaching with Primary Sources project through the Library of Congress in 2016. She continued to share music education ideas for the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) website, as a blogger for the UArts/LOC partnership, and was a lead writer for the teacher resource project entitled Amplifying Our Voices, created through a UArts and Library of Congress grant. She applies her curriculum expertise working with area school districts on curriculum writing and audits.
Dr. Neff is the State Representative for Pennsylvania for Women Band Directors International. She also serves on the organization’s grants and scholarship committee. Previously, she served two terms as the Eastern Division Representative for NAfME’s Council for Band (2016-2020) and in roles of advocacy and professional development for PMEA districts 11 and 12. She is part of the PMEA Teacher Mentor Program and serves as a trainer for PMEA’s online Model Curriculum Framework tool. Dr. Neff is one of four co-founders for the group Women Banding Together (WBT); a group created in May 2020 to mentor female band directors, and to provide support to those of any gender who mentor female band directors. The group provided webinars on a variety of topics during the pandemic. She continues to be an advisor and mentor for the Key of She Jazz organization that supports girls and women in jazz.
Dr. Neff has presented sessions for music educators in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington D.C., and Delaware on a variety of topics, including: national music standards, mindfulness, curriculum, advocacy, assessment, instructional strategies, student engagement, time management, embracing change, creating a collaborative culture, teaching after the pandemic, creating a culture of belonging (DEIA), and teacher evaluation. Two conference highlights include presenting a workshop session on Supporting Girls in the Group at the International Society for Music Education (ISME) in Helsinki, Finlands in 2024, and co-presenting at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December 2017.
Dr. Neff’s doctoral research study on teacher evaluation was published in the peer-reviewed Pennsylvania Educational Leadership Journal. She has written articles for the PMEA State Journal, Teaching Music Magazine and Band Directors Talk Shop, as well as blog posts for Alfred Music, NAfME's Music in a Minuet, Zeswitz Music, and J.W. Pepper. She has also been interviewed for the Everything Band, Working Musicians, and Marching Roundtable, Music Ed Mentor/SmartMusic Podcasts, and the GRAMMY Music Education Coalition.
She conducted the Concert Band at New England Music Camp for four summers (2013-2017), and has been a guest conductor and clinician in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Previously, she toured Europe for five summers (2008-2012) with high school musicians as Symphonic Band Director and String Ensemble Director for American Music Abroad. She continues to be a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician.
Dr. Neff received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Immaculata University. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education from Michigan State University where she studied horn with Douglas Campbell and Neill Saunders, and played under the batons of Eugene Corporon, Kenneth Bloomquist, and Leon Gregorian in MSU's top bands and orchestra.
Certifications: Pennsylvania: Music K-12, Instructional II; Principal K-12, Administrative; Supervisor – Music; Previous certification in CT (PK-12, Music); Advanced Placement Music Theory Certification, Summer 1999; University of Southern Florida DEI Certificate
Technology-assisted teaching and instructional design using: Zoom, Canvas, SmartMusic, Blackboard, Edmodo, Google Suite, and Canva.
Dr. Neff was one of 10 writers on NAfME's Teaching with Primary Sources project through the Library of Congress in 2016. She continued to share music education ideas for the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) website, as a blogger for the UArts/LOC partnership, and was a lead writer for the teacher resource project entitled Amplifying Our Voices, created through a UArts and Library of Congress grant. She applies her curriculum expertise working with area school districts on curriculum writing and audits.
Dr. Neff is the State Representative for Pennsylvania for Women Band Directors International. She also serves on the organization’s grants and scholarship committee. Previously, she served two terms as the Eastern Division Representative for NAfME’s Council for Band (2016-2020) and in roles of advocacy and professional development for PMEA districts 11 and 12. She is part of the PMEA Teacher Mentor Program and serves as a trainer for PMEA’s online Model Curriculum Framework tool. Dr. Neff is one of four co-founders for the group Women Banding Together (WBT); a group created in May 2020 to mentor female band directors, and to provide support to those of any gender who mentor female band directors. The group provided webinars on a variety of topics during the pandemic. She continues to be an advisor and mentor for the Key of She Jazz organization that supports girls and women in jazz.
Dr. Neff has presented sessions for music educators in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington D.C., and Delaware on a variety of topics, including: national music standards, mindfulness, curriculum, advocacy, assessment, instructional strategies, student engagement, time management, embracing change, creating a collaborative culture, teaching after the pandemic, creating a culture of belonging (DEIA), and teacher evaluation. Two conference highlights include presenting a workshop session on Supporting Girls in the Group at the International Society for Music Education (ISME) in Helsinki, Finlands in 2024, and co-presenting at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December 2017.
Dr. Neff’s doctoral research study on teacher evaluation was published in the peer-reviewed Pennsylvania Educational Leadership Journal. She has written articles for the PMEA State Journal, Teaching Music Magazine and Band Directors Talk Shop, as well as blog posts for Alfred Music, NAfME's Music in a Minuet, Zeswitz Music, and J.W. Pepper. She has also been interviewed for the Everything Band, Working Musicians, and Marching Roundtable, Music Ed Mentor/SmartMusic Podcasts, and the GRAMMY Music Education Coalition.
She conducted the Concert Band at New England Music Camp for four summers (2013-2017), and has been a guest conductor and clinician in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Previously, she toured Europe for five summers (2008-2012) with high school musicians as Symphonic Band Director and String Ensemble Director for American Music Abroad. She continues to be a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician.
Dr. Neff received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Immaculata University. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education from Michigan State University where she studied horn with Douglas Campbell and Neill Saunders, and played under the batons of Eugene Corporon, Kenneth Bloomquist, and Leon Gregorian in MSU's top bands and orchestra.
Certifications: Pennsylvania: Music K-12, Instructional II; Principal K-12, Administrative; Supervisor – Music; Previous certification in CT (PK-12, Music); Advanced Placement Music Theory Certification, Summer 1999; University of Southern Florida DEI Certificate
Technology-assisted teaching and instructional design using: Zoom, Canvas, SmartMusic, Blackboard, Edmodo, Google Suite, and Canva.
Jenny L. Neff Ed.D ~ Music Educator and Educational Leader
Jenny's Creative EDge Created 2018 ~ Jenny's Creative EDge L.L.C., established 2020
Jenny's Creative EDge Created 2018 ~ Jenny's Creative EDge L.L.C., established 2020
