Music Department

2005-2006 Calendar of Events

Concert review rubrics and pre-writing organizer

News:

Yo-Yo Ma talking to Mt. Greylock students at Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, September 10, 2004

Silk Road Project
Thirty Mt. Greylock students and parents observed a rehearsal of works composed and performed for Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project at Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall on Friday, September 10. The project was well described in the September 6, 2004 Berkshire Eagle article. Our visit is mentioned in this follow-up Berkshire Eagle article.

A free download of Finale NotePad, the company's entry-level music notation program is available from the Finale site. The program is available in Windows or Macintosh formats.

If you have a high speed internet connection, you might be interested in listening to a streaming download of Wynton Marsalis' September 22, 2003 address to the National Press Club. Marsalis brought his message of support for education, the arts, music, and especially Jazz to a national audience, and the message seems more important now than ever. The Real Audio file is here:

And if you don't have a high-speed connection, here is the link to a PDF file of the Marsalis transcript.

High School music students are reminded that a concert review is due at the end of each of the first three quarters of the school year. Need help finding a concert to attend? Remember to check the posters and bulletin boards in your classrooms, but you might also want to check out the Williams College Music Department schedule online. As always, their concerts are free to Mt. Greylock students!

                      Concert dress:         males - shirt, tie, slacks, shoes
                                                            females - choice of dress, skirt and blouse, or dressy slacks
                                                            NO jeans, mini-skirts, sneakers, or boots
                                                            Orchestra members - black and white

We are visited each week by two music companies who deliver supplies, take instruments for repair, and administer many of our instrument rentals. You may access them online to place orders, send e-mail, or just to browse. Music & Arts Centers (formerly American Music) stops by every Tuesday, and John Keal Music visits us on Wednesdays.

We belong to the following organizations:

• Music Educators National Conference
• Massachusetts Music Educators Association
• Massachusetts Music Educators Association -Western District

Music Advocacy Links:

• MusicFriends.org
• American Music Conference
• The Music For All Foundation documents the policy discussions about the role of music in education and society. Here's a recent quote from the site by Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas and the Education Commission of the States Chairman:

"These days one often hears the question asked: "During this age of No Child Left Behind, can states really be expected to focus on the arts when there is such pressure to improve student performance in 'core academic' subjects such as reading and math?" The answer, of course, is yes. In fact, the answer must be yes...

The message that my ECS initiative can and must deliver to policymakers across the country is that the arts are as crucial to a student's development as any other subject taught in our schools today. We must do all we can to mobilize, inform, educate and inspire education leaders to recognize the vast potential returns that can be realized by investing now in arts education."

• an excellent set of articles on the importance of music education

• The BBC Parents' Music Room, containing research-based suggestions for supporting musical talent in children of all ages            

•    Remember Mr. Holland's Opus? Click on the link to see what he's done since the movie ended.

•   VH1 Save the Music restores and supports public school music programs nationwide.
  
•   Did you watch the Grammy Awards on last February? American Express has committed to support music education through its Blue for Music program.

• The International Music Products Association provides materials to support music education.

• Don't forget to stay in touch with our own Mt. Greylock Friends of the Arts organization. Your help is always appreciated.

This page was last updated on February 10, 2006

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