choral
A Piece of Advice for Your Body, Mind and Soul
Lynn Seidl, WMEA State Chair, Choral
Every time the email from Kevin Thays, WSM editor, arrives, I find myself dread- ing the too quickly approaching dead- line and pondering the course and direc- tion of my article. Writing is far from
my favorite pastime, but when this par- ticular theme, “Music for Body, Mind and Soul,” was given to me, I really was confounded. Where do I go with this idea? Practical, with lists of choral octavos and textbooks that would be useful to the readers? Emotional, with uplifting stories about the importance of music and singing in our schools and our lives? Intellectual, with statistics and research about music and its effect on the brain and the benefits of studying and listening to music? I re- alize that when I write my articles that I am literally “preaching to the choir” that comprises the readership of WSM. You are doing what you do because you understand the practical, emotional, intellectual ben- efits of music, and in my particular area of education, choral music. I don’t think I can give you any nuggets of information that you don’t already know or have right at your fingertips with your computer and the Internet.
Instead of passing along information that you can readily access, I am instead going to give you a piece of advice that will make a difference in your lives. My advice is this: Come to the Wisconsin State Music Conference in October. For those of you who attend every single year, without fail, I think you understand what I am talking about. For those of you who have never attended, please do so, if even for one day. For those of you who have attended a long time ago and have not been back, please try to attend again.
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I had the pleasure to talk with many teach- ers at last year’s conference and many of them expressed gratitude for the break from school and the chance to recharge their batteries, even though it was only October and relatively early in the school year! Life has been tough in education and I can think of no better place than a music conference to connect with other music educators and to make yourself feel better about the nobleness of the job that you do every day for your students. Those couple of days in October can give you the ideas and the energy to keep going for the rest of the school year. Attending the Wisconsin State Music Conference is for YOUR body, mind and soul, in order to attend to your student’s body, mind and soul. I can say without hesitation, that at- tending conferences has molded me into
the teacher that I am today, and I am will- ing to risk a small wager that many music teachers would agree with me.
After digging through the file cabinet where I keep back issues of magazines, I found the September 2011 WSM issue and an article by the esteemed Wisconsin music educator, Connie Kramer. Connie, who passed away this past year, never missed the conference, starting in Janu- ary of 1972. That was over 40 years of conference attendance! Her article, titled “Why I Love to Go to the State Music Conference” states the many reasons why attending is good for the body, mind and soul of the music teacher. Here are a few quotes from Connie’s article: “Being with people that share your passion is addict- ing.” “My goal every year is to leave with at least one new idea or future project.” “I have met vendors in the exhibits that have helped guide me through challeng- ing times.” “I have heard and seen new and old things that changed how I look at what I do.”
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Lynn Seidl teaches music at Luxemburg Casco Middle School.
Email:
lseidl@luxasco.k12.wi.us
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SIMPLIFIED CONCERTO
I think we need to take care of our own bodies, minds and souls before we can attempt to make an impact on our stu- dents’ bodies, minds and souls. I strongly encourage you to come to Madison for the Wisconsin State Music Conference and connect to others who can help you with whatever you need for your own teaching life. Just seeing friendly faces and folks who understand the world that we live in is worth it to me. We are all together in the profession of music education. I hope you can make it to Madison in October. Be there for YOUR body, mind and soul!
September 2013
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