With these principles in mind, my Somerville Public Schools (SPS) colleagues and I, under the supervision of SPS Music Director Rick Saunders, have developed an alternative model for music listening, dubbed “Te Musician of the Month.” Since implementing this strategy, I can confidently say that it has become one of the most popular and successful elements of my curriculum, among both students, other staff, and fam- ilies. Te basic features of this model are as follows:


• Each month, a different composer, performer, or ensemble is featured.


• Troughout the year, different styles that exist in the American musical tapestry are explored.


• Musical styles oſten repeat from year to year, though the featured musicians change.


• Tere is an equal balance of genders, races, and cultures represented.


• Tere is a balance between living and deceased musicians presented.


• Special consideration is given to musicians who reach across cultural boundaries and/or who have overcome significant challenges.


• Te whole school or district studies the same musician at the same time, with different listening activities modified by grade level.


• Students and families are provided with some means of engaging with the Musician of the Month at home (such as through a website or playlist).


• Students review the “Musicians of the Month” at the end of the school year and vote on their favorites.


• Music both in and out of the teacher’s comfort zone is taught.


In Somerville, every student in every school, district-wide, studies the same musician at the same time. Tis builds a cul- ture and excitement around that musician. Siblings, cousins, and friends connect about the musician outside of school. To plan the year of featured musicians, all the general music teachers coordinate via a Google doc, working to balance styles, genders, and cultures represented. Each of us takes charge of one month to choose a musician, develop materials, and suggest classroom listening activities for different grade levels. Tis allows each of us to share our expertise, and it also spreads the workload across the whole team. Table 2 shows one possible formula for a sequence of styles and a sample year of featured musicians.


TABLE 2: A WORKING FORMULA AND A SAMPLE YEAR OF FEATURED MUSICIANS Month


September October


November December January February March April May June


Style or category Latinx Folk


European classical


Civil rights/protest music Pop


Blues/R&B


Wildcard (based on student or teacher interest) Jazz


Musician with special needs Review


Musician (sample) Celia Cruz


The Chieftains Yo-Yo Ma


Sweet Honey in the Rock Pentatonix B.B. King


The Wailin’ Jennys Trombone Shorty Evelyn Glennie


Vote for “Musician of the Year”


I maintain a website (tinyurl.com/escsmusic) where I include some links to music clips featured in class. I hear all the time that our students are listening at home, and some classroom teachers even play the music for the students during choice time or other appropriate moments. Tis independent enjoy- ment of this great music is the biggest indicator to me that the program is working. One parent, a professor at Harvard, wrote to me: “Every month, my son informs us who the latest ‘Musician of the month’ is and we’ve been astounded at the diversity of musicians this includes: German classical com- posers, African-American jazz artists, Latin singers, current a cappella groups, etc.” Another parent spoke at a school committee meeting, remarking, “A few months ago, [my son] came home and told us that he had listened to the most beau- tiful music that made his body want to dance. He said that the music was performed by ‘Te Queen of Salsa’ Celia Cruz. He said his ears had fallen in love that day. So we listened to Celia Cruz day in and day out. A month later, he came home and said that his ears had fallen in love yet again and this time it was with Yo-Yo Ma. He was so moved by the beauty of the cello that he spent the following month begging for cello lessons. With Mr. Epstein’s guidance, we rented a cello for [my son] and enrolled him in cello lessons.”


I would argue that the purpose of music education in public schools is to inspire all students to become life-long, inde- pendent music-makers. Te “Musician of the Month” model is an essential component of this mission because it presents diverse music to feed the souls of students who come from many different cultures, and it provides musical role models with whom students can identify.


ry and Secondary Education (http://profiles.doe.mass.edu, accessed 12/30/17). 2


3Ibid.


quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045217, accessed 12/30/17). 5


4Estimates as of July 2017 from the U.S. Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/ General music listening curricula surveyed included: Althouse, Jay and Judy


O’Reilly. Accent on Composers. Alfred, 2001. Burton, Leon, et al. Adventures in Mu- sic Listening. Alfred, 1996. Eisen, Ann, and Lamar Robertson. From Folk Song to Masterworks. Sneaky Snake, 2010. Gagne, Denise. Listening Resource Kit. Temes


and Variations, 2001. Kennedy, Rosemary. Bach to Rock. Rosemary Corp, 2002.


Adam Epstein’s article is reprinted with permission from the Massachusetts Music Educators Journal, Vol. 66, No. 3 Spring 2018.


21


Adam N. Epstein, M.M.Ed., teaches K-8 general, vocal, and instrumental music at the East Somerville Community School in Somerville, MA. A professional percussionist, Adam is a graduate of Skidmore College, Te Boston Conservatory, and the Kodály Music Institute of Anna Maria College. He is the current president of Boston Area Kodály Ed- ucators and has presented at numerous music education conferences at the local, state, and national levels. Adam lives in Newton, MA with his wife and two sons. He can be con- tacted at AdamNEpstein@gmail.com.


1Data for 2016-2017 school year from the Massachusetts Department of Elementa- Ibid.


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