Feel-Good Inspiration

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Derelict School becomes a national leader by making a surprising subject compulsory.  Article from  www.ideapod.com

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How Music Saved Venezuela's Children  (video)

The remarkable accomplishment of a great humanist, José Antonio Abreu, who dedicated his life to set up the 'Sistema' in 1975, an extraordinary music and social project which has been running in Venezuela in an attempt to transform the lives of the nations poorest children.

It has been using classical music to tackle the social problems of a country where 60% of the population live below the poverty line. By offering free instruments and tuition through a network of after-school centres all over the country, the Sistema has kept thousands of children away from the drugs, alcohol and gang-related violence of the streets and has led to the creation of 30 professional orchestras in a country that had only 2 before it started. Currently, 275,000 children attend the Sistemas schools and many of them play in one of the 125 youth orchestras.

At the pinnacle of the system stands the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela under its music director Gustavo Dudamel who is himself a product of the Sistema and is also the musical director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

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Incredible high school musicians from Venezuela! (video)

The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra contains the best high school musicians from Venezuela's life-changing music program, El Sistema. Led here by Gustavo Dudamel, they play Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, 2nd mov't, and Arturo Márquez' Danzón No. 2.

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How playing an instrument benefits your brain by Anita Collins  (video)

When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What’s going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians’ brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.

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Landfill Harmonic - Amazing and Inspirational  (video)
An orchestra for kids with instruments made from trash?  A cello made from an oil can and pieces of wood, that were thrown in the garbage; a saxophone made of spoons and buttons. These instruments are crafted by Nicolas, a 'recycler' with no previous experience making musical instruments, who is living 'hand-to-mouth' by the garbage dump in Catuera, Paraguay. Inspired by this initiative and creativity, Maestro Luis Szaran, director of "Sounds of the Earth," formed the 'recycled orchestra,' with children living near the dump. "Our main goal isn't to form good musicians, but to form good citizens." Now 30 members strong, (and looking for more, for a full orchestra) listen to the sweet sounds of these 'recycled' instruments and the hopes and dreams of the children who play them. ... Be Amazed and Inspired!
 

Advocacy Materials - From the Coalition for Music Education - They have put together some helpful resources that will help you promote music education, assess your music program, and facilitate advocacy and discussion.  You can download these documents directly, OR we’ll send them to you for FREE* (*reasonable quantities) AND we’ll even pay for shipping up to $50.00.

Added to Awareness and Advocacy page.

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Putting the "A" in STEAM  This is a wonderful presentation about the value of including the "A" for Arts as an equal partner in 'STEM' education.  If you want to share the importance of this idea with coworkers, administrators, parents or board trustees then this presentation will surely give you a great place to start. 

 

Big Picture Music Mind and Medicine

Document - Teach about how music can impact on your mind. This magazine from the Wellcome Trust might be useful when teaching music in school. You can explore how music can impact on mind and body and also teach about technical terms such as tone, octave and harmony. There are some interesting interviews with people who have very different experiences of music to reflect their personal perceptions of music’s wider role in society.  Created: February 16, 2011 | Updated: October 16, 2017

This magazine is about music, a popular and important accompaniment to our lives. We explore what music is, and how it can have such a powerful impact on mind and body. More at www.wellcome.ac.uk

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60 minutes - The Recyclers: From trash comes triumph (video)

The incredibly inspiring story of how a impoverished community in Paraguay turn garbage into beautiful music and a whole new way of life for their children.

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Japan 2009's top elementary school symphonic band performance  (video)

Narashinodai Daiichi elementary school band performance.
1. Slava!  2. Takarajima (treasure island)

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TEDxSydney - Richard Gill - The Value of Music Education (video)

Music educator Richard Gill argues the case for igniting the imagination through music and for making our own music. In this talk, he leads the TEDxSydney audience through some surprising illustrations of the relationship between music and our imagination.
 

What if every child had access to music education from birth? (video)

Anita Collins shares how learning music influences our brain development, and what this means for musical education.

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Learning through music and art: Doug Goodkin at TEDxConejoSalon  (video)

Doug Goodkin is an internationally recognized teacher of Orff Schulwerk, a dynamic approach to music education. He is currently in his 38th year at The San Francisco School, teaching children between three years old and eighth grade. He also has trained teachers having in 39 countries worldwide. teaches regularly at The Orff Institut in Salzburg, directs The San Francisco Orff Certification Course and teaches his own course on Jazz and Orff Schulwerk throughout the world.

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Stuff to Get You Thinking: You are not alone

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Do Schools Kill Creativity?  (video)

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. 

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People for Education   (website)

People for Education is an independent, non-partisan, charitable organization working to support and advance public education through research, policy, and public engagement.  Here you will find several studies and reports that reveal the real challenges and systemic roadblocks that music education is facing in Ontario. 

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Coalition for Music Education (website)

The Coalition for Music Education was founded in 1992 when representatives of more than 20 music education organizations came together to share ideas to improve the state of music education in Canada. The Coalition quickly began working with parents and other concerned citizens to address concerns about music in schools.  Their four key areas of focus are Public Awareness, Resources, Research and Community Connectivity.  You will find all sorts of useful information here.

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Why Music Matters (website)

The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs.  This American organization has a nicely laid out page detailing the why music learning is beneficial for all people regardless of age.

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A Delicate Balance: Music Education in Canadian Schools (PDF report)

Prepared for the Coalition for Music Education in Canada

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OMEA....supporting quality Music Education for ALL (website)

Through its professional development, resources, publications and leadership, the Ontario Music Educators’ Association advocates for, promotes and encourages quality music education for every child.  OMEA provides a substantial collection of resources both for advocacy and  the classroom.  Check them out.

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CMEA  (website)

The Canadian Music Educators’ Association/l’Association canadienne des musiciens éducateurs serves and connects those interested in music education including current and future educators, students, parents, and members of the community. The CMEA/ACME fosters the advancement of teaching and the lifelong learning of music. Our purpose is accomplished through publications, a dynamic website, advocacy, collaboration on key initiatives, applied research and regular communication with our members, provincial and territorial affiliates, partners and the international community.

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Fewer Ontario students get music classes due to lack of funds, staff, report says (article from the Star.com)

For many elementary school kids, music class will be the only chance to fall in love with the tuba, discover they love singing alto in a choir, or to experience the rewards of learning and performing as a group.  But those opportunities are continuing to decline in Ontario classrooms because fewer schools have the trained teachers, instruments or spaces to teach music, says a new report released Monday. 

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Top 10 TED Talks For Music Education suggested by www.funmusicco.com (10 videos)

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The non-profit conference program, TED, aims to bring together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Talks from TED’s two annual conferences have included the creative talents of musicians as well as innovators who have channeled music as their life inspiration. The following video clips stand out with illuminating ideas about music and the human experience.

 

 1.  Charles Hazlewood: Trusting the Ensemble  – Conductor Charles Hazlewood demonstrates that “where there is trust, there is music” and “by extension, life.” The educational basis of the talk stems from Hazlewood’s experience of being a young conductor, when distrust between him and the players was detrimental to the music. As opposed to the idea of conductor (or teacher) as dictator, Hazlewood provides examples of how mutual respect engenders art. He conducts the Scottish Ensemble onstage to express his ideas, and also refers to clips of his inspirational works– Hazlewood formed an opera company in South Africa that performed a version of Carmen, and established an orchestra made up of disabled musicians called, Paraorchestra.

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2.  Claron McFadden: Singing the Primal Mystery – Soprano Claron McFadden performs an experimental piece (John Cage’s “Aria”) as well as a traditional one, and in the process, enables us to consider the mysteries of breath and song. Most notable is McFadden’s description of being asked to sing during a retreat in Thailand. In response to the request, she spontaneously sang a line from “Summertime” (Porgy and Bess) and found that creating those sounds embodied the “calmness, alertness, focus, awareness, and being in the moment” that she was looking for at the retreat. The physical creation of music as a meditation in the act itself.

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3.  Robert Gupta: Music is Medicine, Music is Sanity – Violinist Robert Gupta of the Los Angeles Philharmonic discusses meeting Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, the Julliard-trained double bassist whose career was cut short by his affliction with schizophrenia (Ayers’ story was told by L.A. Times columnist, Steve Lopez, in his book, The Soloist, which was also made into a film). Gupta received an e-mail request for a violin lesson from Ayers after they met briefly at a concert. The encounter, in which Gupta helped quell Ayers’ state of agitation by playing Beethoven’s violin concerto, is a profound example of the healing power of music.

 

4.  Eric Whitacre: A Choir as Big as the Internet – Human expression and musicianship collide with technology to form this moving musical performance of Eric Whitacre’s composition, “Lux Aurumque,” which unites hundreds of tracks individually recorded and posted to YouTube. Whitacre conducts this virtual choir, which includes 185 voices from 12 countries.  The concept stimulates discussion of broad themes, such as the future of music and communication across time and space.

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5.  Evelyn Glennie Shows How to Listen – Composer and percussionist Evelyn Glennie demonstrates that hearing music is not just about listening with our ears. Deaf since the age of 12, Glennie discusses how the vibrations and physicality of music influence her performances. Just as Glennie challenged the preconceived notions of music institutions during her lifetime, her talk pushes us to consider a broader spectrum from which to tap into when creating music.

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6.  Emmanuel Jal: The Music of a War Child – Hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal has shared his turbulent story of how his family life in Sudan was shattered as a result of the Sudanese Civil War. He was swept up in the turmoil as a child soldier, and adopted years later by aid worker Emma McCune. In this talk, Jal’s impassioned rap performance pays tribute to his adoptive parent, appeals to rebuilding nations through education, and shows us how music can be a gateway to survival.

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7.  Itay Talgam: Lead like the Great Conductors – Conductor-turned seminar leader Itay Talgam samples clips of six different conductors to discuss styles of leadership. Talgam’s musical foundation has inspired him to promote the values of musicianship—collaboration, intuition, and listening—to leaders in a variety of different fields. Analysis of the conductors’ styles in this talk reveals how the best conductors “let go” and enable the musicians to tell their “story.”

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8.  Maya Beiser and her Cello – Maya Beiser performs radical new work for the cello through collaborations with visual artists and video artists. She discusses how her childhood in Israel was influenced by the sounds of Muslim prayers from the neighboring village, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday, and Bach. “It all became music to me. I didn’t hear the boundaries,” she says. The amalgam of melodic styles, technology, and art inspires new ways of conceptualizing musical performance.

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9.  José Abreu on Kids Transformed by Music – Pianist, politician, and activist José Abreu discusses his creation of El Sistema Orchestra, which is comprised of impoverished children from all across Venezuela. Abreu’s vision has helped thousands out of poverty and continues to empower young people to work toward a common goal and promote justice in the world. His work is a living example of the transformative power of music.

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10.  Pamelia Kurstin Plays the Theremin – Pamelia Kurstin moves her hands through the air to produce strikingly harmonious music. What is she doing? She is playing the theremin, an electronic instrument composed of two antennae that control either tone or pitch through vibrations. She describes playing it as a “yoga instrument,” since even her breath is detected by the instrument. Kurstin’s performance and her description of playing it reveals the strange and wonderful confluence of human and machine.

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Julian Treasure: The 4 ways sound affects us (video)

Playing sound effects both pleasant and awful, Julian Treasure shows how sound affects us in four significant ways. 

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Julian Treasure: 5 Ways to Listen Better (video)

In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, "We are losing our listening." In this short, fascinating talk, Treasure shares five ways to re-tune your ears for conscious listening -- to other people and the world around you.

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I Listen to Colour (video)

Artist Neil Harbisson was born completely color blind, but these days a device attached to his head turns color into audible frequencies. Instead of seeing a world in grayscale, Harbisson can hear a symphony of color -- and yes, even listen to faces and paintings.  Fascinating and different.

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Bobby McFerrin - Hack Your Brain with MUSIC (video)

Listening to Bobby McFerrin sing may be hazardous to your preconceptions. Side effects may include unparalleled joy, a new perspective on creativity, rejection of the predictable, and a sudden, irreversible urge to lead a more spontaneous existence.

 

How to translate the feeling into sound | Claudio | TEDxPerth (video)

How can a song - written by a perfect stranger - feel as if it were written about you? Composer/artist/producer Claudio explains her art, purpose and technique, and finishes with an exclusive unveiling of her new track: "I was a Rockstar".

In her solo live performances, Claudio creates and orchestrates songs with complex layering in real-time using music technology. To her, the art is in making sure both the technology and technique are driven by the heart - and achieve a delicate balance between control and instinct.
 

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