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Contemporary Issues

Music to Benefit the People of Haiti…

I’m sure there are many efforts similar to the following, but this just arrived in my email box and I’ll post it below: Online Contemporary Classical, Experimental Electronic, Improvisational and Sound Artists release New Music Haitian Relief CD to Benefit Food For The Poor’s Haitian Relief Efforts Sanibel, Fla., January 17, 2010 – Nineteen composers, improvisers and sound artists from diverse online experimental and contemporary classical communities have teamed up to release a compilation CD targeting all the proceeds to… Read More »Music to Benefit the People of Haiti…

American Idol, Judging, & The EveryFan Sensibility

Just as the NAEP provides a national assessment of 8th graders’ music and arts education, I think the commentary surrounding Ellen DeGeneres’s role as the newest judge on American Idol is also worth looking at in terms of assessing the state of music education in the US. In articles across the Internet such as this one from Craig Berman for MSNBC, the notion of an “EveryFan Sensibility” is lauded in terms of average people not having the knowledge or desire… Read More »American Idol, Judging, & The EveryFan Sensibility

Expanding the voice… From T-Pain to Tuvan Throat Singing

The electronic music foundation is presenting a series of FREE concerts titled “The Human Voice In A New World“. (The New York Times has a review of the first one.) The strand tying the various concerts together is the way the voice can be altered, processed, modified etc. When I first found out about the series I immediately began thinking about the many ways it could serve as a springboard for lessons and forms of musical engagement in both general… Read More »Expanding the voice… From T-Pain to Tuvan Throat Singing

Fascinating Arts-Education Dialogue on ArtsJournal…….

A fascinating “Debate on Arts Education”, hosted by ArtsJournal’s Douglas McLennan took place on an artsjournal blog from Dec 1st-5th. The entire dialogue is archived on the blog. It is especially interesting to get a sense of where each contributor is coming from and consider their perspectives within the context of the roles they play in the arts. Unfortunately it does not seem that any public school arts educators or students were involved as invited bloggers. Of course, since everything… Read More »Fascinating Arts-Education Dialogue on ArtsJournal…….

Congratulations to the Lesbian and Gay Band Association for making history!

Music has always played an integral role throughout history in dissolving barriers and bringing people together. The Lesbian and Gay Band Association , with musician members from across the country, will be the first LGBT group in the history of the United States to march as a contingent in an inaugural parade.  Along with many other bands across the nation, the LGBA was invited by Barack Obama’s Presidential Inaugural Committee to march in the upcoming innaugural parade. This is not… Read More »Congratulations to the Lesbian and Gay Band Association for making history!