2009 Arizona Music Educators Association In-Service (Conference)

I just returned from the 2009 Arizona Music Educators Association In-Service (conference). I had a great time attending sessions, and meeting many wonderful people.

At the conference it was announced that MENC has started the following petition, available online:

Be it resolved that we, the undersigned, agree that all Americans should work to enhance and support music
education in our nation’s schools. To that end, we call on the U.S. Department of Education and all American
leaders to:
• Mandate that music and the other arts be part of every child’s core curriculum;
• Ensure music and the other arts are included as a part of a balanced education addressing the whole
child, to prepare them for the creative thinking necessary for success in the work force of the future;
• Ensure qualified music teachers and sequential curricula be recognized as the basis for providing
all students with substantive education in music and the other arts;
• Ensure programs in music and the other arts provide rigorous instruction, monitor progress and
performance through meaningful assessment, and take place within a structure of accountability to
school officials, parents, and the community.
Be it therefore resolved that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known
as No Child Left Behind, not only identify music as a core subject, but also recognize music education as a
mandatory component of every public education curriculum in the United States of America.

Consider printing it, signing it, and distributing it to colleagues, friends, members of the community etc.

I really enjoyed presenting two different sessions at the conference. I posted handouts in the presentations section of the blog under “AMEA 09”

Four quick bits of information related to my sessions.

First related to the session “Improvisation, Exploration, & Experimentation in General Music”

Someone pointed out to me today that R. Murray Schafer’s book “A Sound Education” is not available on most online book sites.

You can purchase “A Sound Education” directly from Arcana books. The site doesn’t take advantage of an online shopping system so you’ll need to click on “order,” download and print out a form, and then mail it in.

Second, related to the same session. A couple of people were trying to remember the names of some of the electronic instruments we used. The small yellow electronic devices/instruments that were scattered around the room were Korg Kaossilators, the larger black one that was processing the signal from the microphone was a Korg KP3 (Kaoss Pad), and the large electronic drum pad in the back of the room was a Roland HPD-15. Since I adopted the spirit of improvisation, exploration, & experimentation and refrained from providing  directions on how to use them – here’s a video from YouTube that outlines some basic functions and timbres available on the Kaossilator. It’s worth it to search through YouTube for additional videos to get an idea of what they are each capable of beyond the ways you used them or saw/heard them being performed in the session :

Third, here’s a link to the Chihuly exhibit I mentioned at the Desert Botanical Gardens in AZ. If you can’t make it  you can always make use of photography of Chihuly’s work with creative commons licensing.

Fourth, related to the session “From bytes to beats: Popular music pedagogy through web-based technology”:

I spoke briefly about Lawrence Lessig and Creative Commons when discussing issues of copyright. I just found out that Lessig was recently “interviewed” by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report about his newest book “Remix”. You can watch original interview footage and a series of remixes of the footage in the spirit of his “discussion” with Colbert on Lessig’s blog.

If you end up applying any of the ideas/concepts in your classroom I’d love to hear about how it works out. Also feel free to contact me with any questions/comments about the sessions. You can find my contact information on the top of the handouts.

Happy New Year!!!