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socio-cultural Issues

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

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!

Current Events & Copyright

Today in my secondary general music methods class we discussed how one can use current events as a springboard for classroom discussion and lessons. In the spirit of that discussion I figured  I’d write about a recent set of issues relating to the discourse of copyright and the presidential election. I’ve written here about copyright several times before and I always look forward to updates on James Frankel’s “Copyright or Copywrong” series because it’s an issue that I think plays… Read More »Current Events & Copyright

Responding to Representations in Musical Theater

Thanks to Jeff Chang for pointing out a recent article in the New York Times that discusses David Henry Hwang’s new musical “Yellow Face.” His new play addresses some of the issues of race, ethnicity and stereotypes that he also dealt with in his musical M. Butterfly in response to Miss Saigon. This reminded me of Julia Eklund Koza’s chapter Unhappy Happy Endings: Cultural Politics in the Broadway Musical Hit Once on This Island (1997; revised 2001) in her book… Read More »Responding to Representations in Musical Theater