Gunild Keetman

German Composer and Music Educator

The German educator Gunild Keetman (5 June 1904, Elberfeld – 14 December 1990, Breitbrunn) was the primary originator of the approach to teaching music known as Orff Schulwerk. As a young woman, Keetman came under the ideals and dance/music instruction of Dorothee Günther and Carl Orff at the Güntherschule in Munich, Germany. She began to teach at the Güntherschule after being a pupil for many years; however, the school was bombed during WWII. At that point, Keetman and Carl Orff began the development of the Orff Schulwerk approach, for which she is best known today. Keetman was responsible for most of the actual teaching that was done in the early stages of the movement, perhaps most prominently as the teacher for the radio and television broadcasts that popularized the Schulwerk throughout Germany in the 1950s.