Finding Your Way Chautauqua Workshop with Dr. Deforia Lane & Michael Shirtz

This fall, Lakeside Chautauqua welcomes musicians and educators Dr. Deforia Lane and Michael Shirtz to lead a ‘Finding Your Way’ Workshop from Sept. 23-24.

The turmoil of our world today has unraveled human’s ability to process, think and connect. Our professions have let us become exhausted with work. Our passions have become less of a focus as our attention has been redirected to stress, confusion and uncertainty.

Using stories and interactive exercises, explore through music therapy and artistic creativity the work that helps people examine their pathway to healing, hope and renewal. Learn the tools to help engage with family, colleagues, and most importantly, yourself. No prior music experience is required.

Dr. Lane has an extensive background in music therapy. She is the Associate Director of the Seidman Cancer Center and Director of Music Therapy at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Seidman Cancer Center and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.

Shirtz is a singer, producer, composer, conductor, vocal coach and music director for educational, repertory theatre, collegiate and pops music productions. He is a former assistant professor and dean at Terra State Community College and now teaches at Heidelberg University.

The Finding Our Way through the Arts Series is made possible by the Ohio Arts Council’s 2022 ArtsNEXT Grant. The Ohio Arts Council is funded in part by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

REGISTRATION 

The cost to enroll in all sessions is $175 per person and includes participation in two days of workshops, materials and art supplies. The deadline to register is Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Groups: Organizations attending the workshop as a group should contact Lakeside’s Programming Department about group registration fees for five or more participants. Contact Nancy Linn at (419) 798-4461, ext. 342 or programassist@lakesideohio.com for more information.

Lodging & Meals are not included in workshop registration. Hotel arrangements can be made by attendees. Lodging at Hotel Lakeside and the Fountain Inn, both located within Lakeside, include a continental breakfast. In September, Lakeside has select shops and restaurants open during the fall, as well as activities.

Click Here to Register

Schedule

Friday, Sept. 23
3 p.m. Networking/Check-In: “Getting to Know You”
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall
Get to know other participants and the workshop leaders, Dr. Deforia Lane and Michael Shirtz.

3-4:30p.m. Session I: “The Deceptive Cadence”
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall
Using music, explore the concepts of resolution, suspensions, modulations and cadences. Comparing life challenges with musical composition and engaging in listening to the relationships of unity in variety within the sounds of music.

4:30-5:30 p.m. Session II: “Life is Music”
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall
Participants will work in both sessions to explore the concepts of lyrics and songwriting and how to use those lyrics to work through their own life challenges and goals. This includes exploring the freedom of improvising and engaging in the soul of the combination between the music and the text.

5:30-7:30 p.m. Dinner Break

7:30-8:45 p.m. Session III: “Life is Words”
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall
What we read and what we say can connect us in every way. Using language and poetry, creative expression through writing can connect, heal and rejuvenate, as well as provide humor and fun to our souls. Activities include multiple experiences that can be used in self-care and centering with various occupations or at home with family and friends.

Saturday, Sept. 24
9-10 a.m. Session IV: “Life is Rhythm”
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall 
Using various genres, participants explore the movement in the music, learn to find their groove, develop a sense of energy regulation, and use the sounds and rhythm to connect to their own spirit. Activities include multiple experiences that can be used in self-care and centering with various occupations or at home with family and friends.

10-11 a.m. Session V: “Life is Art”
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall 
Humans connect over creativity. Discover a series of new experiences that engage your soul, thoughts and connection with others using art. Learn the practice of making art a part of discussion, reuniting and healing. Activities include multiple experiences that can be used in self-care and centering with various occupations or at home with family and friends.

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Lunch Break

12:30-2 p.m. Creating Art Session
Rhein Center
Join Jennifer Wertz at the Rhein Center for an open creative art session and use your skills to create a painting, drawing or project. As a group or as an individual, put into practice the concepts already experienced in the previous workshop sessions.

2:30-4 p.m. Creating Music Session
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall
Participants create their own blues composition and have them performed as a ‘personal theme’ to take with them and use as a source of entertainment, rejuvenation, fun, engagement and healing.

4-4:30 p.m. Sharing
Wellness Center – Drackett Hall
Join a brief wrap-up of the day’s activities and share the opportunities discovered during the workshop’s experiences.

WORKSHOP LEADERS

Dr. Deforia Lane serves as Associate Director of the Seidman Cancer Center and Director of Music Therapy at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Seidman Cancer Center and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. With early intentions of pursuing a singing career, she completed her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and began graduate studies at the Curtis Institute of Music.

She attended Cleveland State University for her master’s degree and earned her Ph.D. in music education from Case Western Reserve University. She holds board certification as a Music Therapist and is certified by the American Music Therapy Association for Faculty Authorization.

Dr. Lane has designed and implemented music therapy programs for such diverse populations as the mentally handicapped, abused children, geriatric clients, behaviorally and psychiatrically disturbed, adult and pediatric cancer patients and the terminally ill. Among the institutions that she has served as a consultant are the Ohio Department of Mental Health, Mayo Clinic, Ohio Hospice Organization, the National Department on Aging, and Sesame Street (Children’s Television Workshop).

Dr. Lane is a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society for which she composed and recorded the song “We Can Cope.” Public notice of her work extends from recognition in publications such as Reader’s Digest and Coping Magazine to forums such as National Public Radio, Cable News Network, “CBS This Morning,” Wall Street Journal TV and “ABC World News with Peter Jennings.”

Some of her many awards include the first grant from the American Cancer Society to investigate the “Therapeutic Effects of Music on Oncology Patients,” the Oncology Nursing Society’s Mara Mogensen Flaherty Lectureship Award, and the Cleveland Negro Business & Professional Women Award. In 1994, Dr. Lane received honorary membership into the Oncology Nursing Society, the highest honor they confer.

Dr. Lane is distinguished by her ability to empathize with her clients because of her personal struggle with cancer. She is married to Cleveland architect, Ernest Luther Lane, and they have two sons, Curtis, an engineer in Cincinnati and Martin, an engineer in Chicago.

Dr. Lane regularly gives workshops on the use of music in teaching Christian concepts to ages 2-10. She is a member of the Board of Trustees at Cleveland’s City Mission, at Cedarville College, and at the Board of Directors of International AID, a Christian relief organization that supports hospitals, churches and missionaries around the world.

Michael Shirtz, a performer, producer, composer and conductor, is known for his versatility with jazz, contemporary and classical music. Credited as a “songsmith” for his vocal interpretations and arrangements, Shirtz is an active singer, vocal coach and music director for educational, repertory theatre, collegiate and pops music productions. He has worked with such artists as Dave Brubeck, Kevin Mahogany, Melissa Manchester, and Elizabeth von Trapp, among others, and currently performs and serves as music director/producer for Maureen McGovern. As a performer Shirtz incorporates his interests in composing and arranging music with jazz, blues, funk, gospel and singer/songwriter material. Shirtz released his first solo album, Blue Skies in 2018.

Shirtz has served on the faculty of the Conservatory of Music at Capital University, American Music Academy, Music Faculty Chair and Dean of Business, Arts & Communications at Terra State Community College, guest director with Pellissippi State College, and Associate Director/Project Manager of the Tri-C JazzFest.

Through education, he has focused on the methods of creativity, innovation and performing arts to build cultural enrichment and opportunities of economic and community development. Shirtz was recognized by Ohio Magazine for Excellence in Education, Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award, and the Jazz Education Network’s President’s Service Award for developing programs that provided experiential learning and impacted regional communities through the arts.

Currently, Shirtz teaches music composition and arts entrepreneurship at the Heidelberg University School of Music & Theatre, conductor of the Symphony Chorale and Firelands Symphony School of Music, and artistic producer of the Jazz@8 Series presenting jazz concerts and workshops with artists-in-schools programs. Shirtz has written music for choirs, orchestras, jazz bands and theater, including the musical Headliner. Shirtz received a Bachelor of Music in jazz studies from Capital University and Master of Music in conducting from California State University, Los Angeles. Shirtz is a member of ASCAP, African American Jazz Caucus, American Choral Directors Association, Jazz Education Network, and an advocate for mental health awareness.

Directions to Lakeside

Lakeside Chautauqua is located in Ohio on the Marblehead Peninsula, halfway between Toledo and Cleveland on Lake Erie’s south shore. It’s easily accessible from the east or west via Interstate 90, Route 2 and Route 163. View directions and important information about the Route 163 roundabout construction detours on your way to Lakeside.