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music education

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…

Thank you Ben Folds & Shawn Stockman! "The Sing Off" and music education…

I became intrigued with the new reality show “The Sing Off” after hearing about the A Capella focused show on NPR’s Here & Now. However you feel about the groups on the show or the contemporary A Capella scene in general, this show offers tremendous potential for creative music educators and our students. In particular Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman, two of the three “judges” on the show, proved tonight that intelligent, specific, articulate, and insightful feedback can work on… Read More »Thank you Ben Folds & Shawn Stockman! "The Sing Off" and music education…

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

Rest in Peace Frances Blaisdell

I learned today that Frances Blaisdell recently passed away. The New York Times has an obituary featuring her historical accomplishments as a flutist who was one of the “early women to play a woodwind instrument with the New York Philharmonic”. I was also upset that before reading this obituary I didn’t know of Ms. Blaisdell or her career with and beyond the New York Philharmonic.  Though we have come a long way in music and music education in recognizing gender… Read More »Rest in Peace Frances Blaisdell

Practicing, Composing, & Thinking Creatively in Music

Dave Douglas recently posted a thought provoking email from one of his readers raising questions about practicing, composing, and thinking creatively in music. Both the post and the comments are worth reading and thinking about. While the email deals with a university context it could easily be applied to public school music programs. The lingering questions I’m left with are: “To what extent do we provide opportunities for our students to think creatively in/with music? And for instrumental programs: How… Read More »Practicing, Composing, & Thinking Creatively in Music