Why Music?
-"Music is meaningful as an artistic expression. The act of making music engages one's mind, body, and soul." (Campbell 2008)
-"[John Blacking] believed that music making was a profound artistic experience and that music listening could also be a powerful and all-encompassing event. Musicality is a human phenomenon...and all possess the capacity to listen to, respond to, and make music." (Campbell, 2008)
-"Music is a social phenomenon and a cultural tradition that can be shared and transmitted." (Campbell, 2008)
-"[John Blacking] believed that music making was a profound artistic experience and that music listening could also be a powerful and all-encompassing event. Musicality is a human phenomenon...and all possess the capacity to listen to, respond to, and make music." (Campbell, 2008)
-"Music is a social phenomenon and a cultural tradition that can be shared and transmitted." (Campbell, 2008)
Why Orchestra?
The Value of Orchestra Programs in Our Public Schools
1) "Hands-on learning is one of the most effective ways children master new skills and knowledge." (Hamann 2009)
2) "A wide array of music classes is necessary to meet the varied interests of students. Not all students are attracted to the sounds of band instruments, marching , or singing...Therefore, an arts or music curriculum designed to reach the largest number of students is not complete without offering string instrument instruction." (Hamann 2009) (argument works in reverse, not all kids like the sound of strings, so we need band, and choir as well)
3) Great composers wrote for orchestra, this is a unique chance to play some of their works. "...the orchestra offers students a hands-on opportunity to recreate some of the master works by those composers considered the greatest in music, such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart...experience firsthand what what the great composers intended." (Hamann 2009)
4) "...orchestras should be a part of the school music curriculum to help meet the national standards. To meet those standards, the Music Educators National Conference states that schools should offer a varied music curriculum, including band, chorus and orchestra." (Hamann 2009)
5) The orchestra can also be used to enhance other school music programs/ensembles by working together with the choir to perform literature for orchestra and choir and to provide a pit orchestra for school drama productions and musicals. The orchestra can also raise the performance standard of the band by utilizing wind players who will in turn develop additional solo, expressive skills and students' musicianship because they are virtually soloists playing with an orchestra. There is usually a much smaller number of individuals per part.(Hamann 2009)
6) Increases Value of a School District - "Not all school systems have orchestra programs. One that does shows the serious commitment to excellence in education... have a unique opportunity to touch their communities through performance...and offer one way for the community to be reminded of the results of their support of their schools system." (Hamann, 2009)
Donald L. Hamann, Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building a Successful String and Orchestra Program 2nd Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)
Patricia Shehan Campbell, Musician & Teacher: An Orientation To Music Education (New York, London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2008)
1) "Hands-on learning is one of the most effective ways children master new skills and knowledge." (Hamann 2009)
2) "A wide array of music classes is necessary to meet the varied interests of students. Not all students are attracted to the sounds of band instruments, marching , or singing...Therefore, an arts or music curriculum designed to reach the largest number of students is not complete without offering string instrument instruction." (Hamann 2009) (argument works in reverse, not all kids like the sound of strings, so we need band, and choir as well)
3) Great composers wrote for orchestra, this is a unique chance to play some of their works. "...the orchestra offers students a hands-on opportunity to recreate some of the master works by those composers considered the greatest in music, such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart...experience firsthand what what the great composers intended." (Hamann 2009)
4) "...orchestras should be a part of the school music curriculum to help meet the national standards. To meet those standards, the Music Educators National Conference states that schools should offer a varied music curriculum, including band, chorus and orchestra." (Hamann 2009)
5) The orchestra can also be used to enhance other school music programs/ensembles by working together with the choir to perform literature for orchestra and choir and to provide a pit orchestra for school drama productions and musicals. The orchestra can also raise the performance standard of the band by utilizing wind players who will in turn develop additional solo, expressive skills and students' musicianship because they are virtually soloists playing with an orchestra. There is usually a much smaller number of individuals per part.(Hamann 2009)
6) Increases Value of a School District - "Not all school systems have orchestra programs. One that does shows the serious commitment to excellence in education... have a unique opportunity to touch their communities through performance...and offer one way for the community to be reminded of the results of their support of their schools system." (Hamann, 2009)
Donald L. Hamann, Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building a Successful String and Orchestra Program 2nd Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)
Patricia Shehan Campbell, Musician & Teacher: An Orientation To Music Education (New York, London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2008)
Famous People on the Importance of Music
T.S. Eliot - "You are the music while it lasts."
"Music expresses, at different moments, serenity or exuberance, regret or triumph, fury or delight...It may even express a state of meaning for which there exists no adequate word in any language." - Aaron Copland Albert Einstein (In speaking about his theory of relativity), "It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition.My discovery was the result of musical perception." "I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ..I get most joy in life out of music." - Albert Einstein |
King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) - "To me, music is something fine and beautiful. It is a part of everyone, an essential part of us all. I think we should recognize the value of music in all its forms."
"I just want to make good citizens. If a child hears good music from the day of his birth, and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart." - Shinichi Suzuki Yo-Yo Ma "I want to investigate different cultures, to see how their identities and values affect their music." |