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| The Voice of Chorus America Newsletter - Spring 2001 | |||
| Arts Education, A Distant Planet | |||
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by Tom Hall
Musically literate, artistically engaged children will make for a decidedly brighter future--let's join together and make our voices heard on this issue. Education is in. Very chic. Very now. Politicians remind us, ever so earnestly, that "Children are our future." (Is there a safer, more self-evident proclamation?) Mayors and governors promise that "educating our young people" is their top priority. Police officers tell us that "education saves lives." President Bush wants to be known as "The Education President." Those of us in the arts have an even duller ax to grind, because within the solar system of education, arts education is in many jurisdictions a distant planet, unwarmed by the sun, and all too often cannibalized by ignorant administrators who don't realize what seems perfectly obvious to us: that training in the arts has intrinsic, proven value. "Step aside," these nitwits tell us. "We've got reading and math and science to teach." (Real subjects with real test scores.) The arts education community has reacted somewhat defensively to this argument, which I think is a mistake. Music's place in the curriculum is now sometimes solely justified on the basis that it helps students in "academic" subjects. This is undoubtedly true, but if we allow music to be used only as an excuse to teach math and reading, we are missing the opportunity to let music and the arts stand on their own as valid, worthwhile, invigorating disciplines. When we teach people about the music we love, we are reminded how much music has to teach us. Vibrant choral and instrumental programs do very much to improve schools in a myriad of ways. The question is, how do we, as independent choral organizations, best use our time and talent to make a meaningful contribution? As Heidi Waleson's cover story discusses ["Education Programs: Partnership with our Future" Spring issue], for Chorus America members, children are not only our future, they are very much our present. Many choruses spend a significant amount of time and resources on educational outreach activities. The reasons for this attention to education are varied and all good. Outreach helps build not only the audiences of the future but a pool of qualified singers, conductors, and administrators as well. Outreach often meets needs that schools are not able to meet, and it shares the multi-dimensional talents of performers with members of the community who do not regularly frequent concert halls. In addition, especially for some larger organizations, these programs attract funding from sources that may not be interested in music, per se, but who are happy to support programs for children. But it's not just the large organizations that are doing interesting things with educational outreach-many fine programs are being offered by small and mid-sized organizations. To highlight these efforts, this year's Chorus America Education Outreach Award will be presented to a member chorus whose educational program is not only excellent but also relatively inexpensive to produce. In addition, the Chorus America Education and Outreach Program Listings, a compendium of different outreach activities, lists page after page of ideas for programs that you can tailor to the particular strengths of your organization and the needs in your community. Even if your chorus is not equipped with the expertise, human resources, funding, or time to offer education programs, there are steps you can take to make your presence felt in the community. Concert program books are a great place to advocate for support of music in the public schools. The audiences at our performances have an interest in choral music and some loyalty to our chorus. They will be receptive to the notion that choral music should be an important parameter of any child's education. As artistic directors, executive directors, and board members of independent choruses, we should encourage them to voice their support for the arts in our public schools. At the very least, we should take every opportunity we have to applaud those who have dedicated their careers to teaching music and let them and our listeners know that we value their important work and stand ready to help them any way we can. There are choruses all across the U.S. and Canada with wonderfully imaginative school partnerships and/or independent programs that have a lasting impact on kids. Not to be overlooked are the many programs and techniques for educating adults as well. All of these efforts are designed to increase the number of people who are involved with choral music and to nurture the development of discriminating, knowledgeable listeners and performers who will enjoy and appreciate our art form. No one disputes the idea that children are our future. But there are those who still need to be convinced that musically literate, artistically engaged children will make for a decidedly brighter future. Let's join together and make our voices heard on this issue. The music we perform and the process in which we engage to perform it represent the very best of the human spirit. Our challenge is to give our audiences, young and old, the tools they need to appreciate that. There is an educational outreach dimension to everything we do. Every concert we give, every program note we publish, every partnership we form is an opportunity to participate fully in the artistic life of our community, and to make a difference not only for our children's future, but also for the future of the choral art.
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