THE CAREER THAT LED

TO WRITING BOOKS

Barbara A. Moir is a graduate of Ithaca College School of Music in Ithaca, New York. At Ithaca, she majored in clarinet and was a member of the legendary Walter Beeler Concert Band, as well as Don Craig's Concert Choir. She studied instrumental methods and vocal methods at Ithaca. She was also involved in the reinstatement of Lambda Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon on the Ithaca College campus and is a Charter Member of Lambda Chapter.  She holds two permanent teaching certificates in New York State--one for Vocal and Instrumental Music, K-12 and one in General Classroom for Nursery, PreK, and K-6th Grade, with a specialty in reading.

Barbara taught in public and private schools for thirty-one years. As a music instructor for 28 years, she taught band, chorus, and general music in seven school districts in New York State and Florida.  In addition, she taught early childhood education for three years in private nursery schools in New York and Florida. Some unique experiences included teaching the Manhattanville Music Curriculum as well as Phyllis J. Weikart's Whole Body Coordination. During the 1990s, Barbara wrote four music articles published in the Florida Director (magazine for music educators) and conducted a workshop for Elementary General Music at the state music conference in Florida.

After retiring from full-time teaching, Barbara worked for the Piano School of New York City, teaching afterschool piano programs in Rockland County, NY for five years. During those same years, she directed and developed an evening program for adults in beginning, intermediate, and advanced piano instruction  in Goshen, NY as part of Orange-Ulster BOCES, Newburg, New York.

Over the years, Barbara's interests in the arts expanded beyond music. She is an award-winning oil artist, primarily specializing in urban and rural landscapes of the Northeast and Europe. www.MoirFineArt.com  She is an artist member of the Salmagundi Art Club on 5th Avenue in lower Manhattan;  the Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme, CT; Oil Painters of America; and the ARTery Gallery, Milford, PA where she is a featured artist for one month each year. 

Barbara is also a Letters and Art member of the National League of American Pen Women, an organization that supports professional women artists, writers, and composers. She is a past two-term president of the Manhattan Branch, NYC (2006-2010) and a past member of the national board for Pen Women in Washington, D.C.

Today Barbara teaches piano lessons for adults in her music studio in Barnegat, New Jersey on the Jersey Shore while continuing to develop books and teacher resources for elementary general music. She lives with her husband, Jim Gagnon, and their two standard-sized Goldendoodles (Arlo and Bailey) in their historic Victorian home--a restoration project they greatly enjoy.

The Neuroscience of Reading Music is Moir's first major book project emanating from more than ten years of writing and researching the subject of music education.