erin little

Dr. Erin Little is a Los Angeles–based music educator and cellist with over 15 years of experience teaching in public and independent school settings. She serves as the Lower School music specialist and orchestra director at Sinai Akiba Academy, where she teaches early childhood and elementary general music and directs beginning and intermediate string ensembles. She also works with Elemental Music as the Prelude conductor and program director.

Originally from Detroit, Dr. Little holds a B.M. in Music Education (with honors) from Michigan State University, an M.M. in Music Education from the University of Michigan, and both an Ed.M. and an Ed.D. in Music and Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has pursued additional training in the Suzuki Method, Music Learning Theory (Early Childhood Music; Elementary General Music Levels 1 & 2), and Responsive Classroom pedagogies, and has presented at state and national conferences including the Michigan Music Conference, SCSBOA events, and the National ASTA Conference.

A lifelong learner and passionate educator, Dr. Little’s teaching practice is grounded in designing instruction that empowers students to participate actively, think critically, and develop musical skills they can carry beyond the classroom. Her doctoral dissertation investigated sustained engagement and motivation in young string musicians using Self-Determination Theory and Flow Theory. Guided by the Mosaic approach, the study centered children’s voices through participatory, multi-method qualitative inquiry, illuminating how motivational supports are experienced from the child’s perspective within real-world instructional settings.