Carmen Mettig Rocha
Vice President Brazil
Educator, musician, composer and author, Carmen Maria Mettig Rocha holds a degree in pedagogy from UCSal – Catholic University of Salvador, and a degree in music, specializing in piano and music theory from UFBA – Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. She was a professor at the UFBA music school, teaching the disciplines of Musical Initiation I and II, and Didactics / Teaching Practice until 1991, when she developed important projects linked to musical initiation and choral singing for children.
In 1992, she set up her own school in Salvador, the Institut d’éducation musicale – IEM, which became a benchmark in human education through music for children, young people and adults in Bahia.
Her musical training included renowned teachers: Pierre Klose, piano; H. J. Koellreutter and Ernst Widmer, composition; Trudy Zollinger, harmony; Johann Höemberg, analysis and practical harmony, among others.
Professor Edgar Willems came to Salvador three times in his life to give lessons, and today the Bahian capital is the main center for disseminating the Willems© method in Brazil. Carmen received her certificate in musical preparation for children from Willems© himself and, years later, her professional teaching diploma from pianist Jacques Chapuis, then President of the Willems© International Association. Thus directly trained by them, Carmen Mettig Rocha uses their teachings in the musical education of children and adults at the IEM. For her, the direct guidance offered by the great master Willems is the main milestone in her professional life.
She has also developed an important body of work at the Faculdade de Educação da Bahia, teaching the discipline of music in education in the classes of pedagogical orientation, school management and school supervision. She is constantly invited to give courses on Willems© music education in several Brazilian states, and in recent years has also developed courses on digital platforms for musical initiation.
With the Choir of the Institute of Musical Education – IEM, she has given major concerts in churches, gongresses, audiovisual productions and musicals in major theaters, and participated in special concerts under the baton of renowned conductors, such as: Henrinque Morelembaum (Castro Alves Theater – BA); Ricardo Castro (Concha Acústica de Salvador – BA); Teruo Yochida (Castro Alves Theater – BA); Cícero Alves Filho, with the work “Voices of the Holocaust” (Castro Alves Theater – BA and Cecilia Meireles Hall in Rio de Janeiro); Russel Shelley (at the Theater of Culture in São Paulo), among others.
She was guest conductor at the 2nd Gran Finale (São Paulo), an event created by educator and conductor Lilia Valente, where she led a workshop for music educators and prepared the children for the traditional closing concert. With this maestrina, she also coordinated the Grande Finale Nordeste, held at the Teatro Castro Alves in Salvador.
Author of several books on music education, children’s choir, piano, solfeggio and pedagogical songs for music initiation classes, she is the representative of the Willems Method in Brazil and also one of the vice-presidents of the Willems International Federation. She has taken part in four international Willems congresses, three in Lyon and one in Lisbon.
Carmen was one of the founding members of the Bahia Music Education Teachers’ Association (APEMBA), which for two decades organized annual music education and choir meetings for educators from all over Brazil, an initiative that brought many benefits to the country’s music movement.