Blog: Catalysts & Connections

The grassroots campaign to save internet radio and audio streaming sites took an interesting turn the other day when many organizations that host these types of resources held a day of silence to draw focus to the change in royalties that may mean the end to these resources. This has interesting implications for music educators and music students who benefit from these sites and tools for exploring music. As more members of the general public begin to understand the wide… Read More »Saving Net Radio Update

With the summer here and a ton of links I have bookmarked to write about over the past few months it’s time for another music education mixtape…… Track 1 – Not all of our top percussionists will end up as principal percussionists in symphony orchestras, and even those that do might end up leaving to start their own rock bands. Have you spoken to your students about Ted Atkatz? Track 2 – A professional harpist gives her perspective on music… Read More »A Music Education Mixtape V6

A Chicago music teacher who revitalized a music program is facing deportation. According to news reports Anand Sukumaran was promised by the Chicago Public Schools that they would assist him in making sure his work visa was taken care of. Apparently this did not happen and they are now trying to remedy the situation. The deportation of Sukumaran would be a great loss to his students and to our field. We need more excellent music teachers in inner city schools… Read More »Chicago music teacher faces deportation

The International Society for Improvised Music (ISIM) just issued a call for proposals for their second annual conference. I attended the first conference last year at University of Michigan and it was phenomenal. There were great performances (the performances by Paul Berliner and Pauline Oliveros will stand out in my mind for a very long time), interesting papers and excellent conversations that took place throughout. The conference is a great opportunity for music educators to learn more about improvisation and… Read More »International Society For Improvised Music (ISIM) Call for Proposals

About a year ago I wrote about the possibility of robots appearing in school music ensembles. With The League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR) still at it, a set of concerts are being performed by robots with music commissioned from composers ranging from Morton Subotnick to the group They Might Be Giants. Is it possible that at some point our society might face a situation where robots, rather than human beings, are used to perform music in certain places?… Read More »Robots Performing Music