lifelong engagement in music
Well-Rounded for a Lifetime of Music Engagement
Steve Kurr, WMEA State Chair, Lifelong Engagement in Music T
The benefit of music education for school-aged students is not in doubt. A well-rounded education including music is important for all students, and for life beyond school. One of the goals of all mu- sic educators is that our students continue to engage in musical activities after they leave the hallowed halls.
There are many ways in which people engage in music after their school years are over. An obvious way to continue music engagement after school is through profession. Wisconsin has hundreds of professional musicians, music instructors in public and private schools and colleges, private lesson instructors, and wedding and church musicians. In addition, music employs people in such careers as compos- ers, instrument sales, therapists, recording engineers, publishers and engravers, radio announcers, luthiers, stage managers, wedding DJs and bloggers. Resources such as
www.careersinmusic.com and
www.berklee.edu/careers-music have listings of dozens of careers that include music.
A more common way that people engage in music after school is through contin- ued performance. Many people keep up their school-learned music skills through church ensembles and other volunteer community groups. A quick Google search for “Wisconsin community ensembles” reveals dozens of groups. Wisconsin Mu- sical Groups, found at http://my.execpc. com/~regent/, attempts to maintain a listing of hundreds of community-based bands, orchestras and choirs throughout Wisconsin. With contact information and links to websites, this resource shows a vi- brant and active music scene for Wiscon- sin performers of any experience level.
Musicians (and adults with little to no mu- sical experience) also immerse themselves in performance activities by exploring new
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avenues. Picking up a new instrument, either on one’s own or with instructor as- sistance, is very popular as indicated by the increasing numbers of continuing edu- cation courses, New Horizons bands and how-to videos (Type “learn to play the” into the YouTube search bar and see just how many different instruments pop up). For the fall semester, UW-Madison Con- tinuing Studies (http://continuingstudies.
wisc.edu/music) lists beginning courses in banjo, guitar, Latin percussion, piano, voice and all bowed string instruments.
While we often focus on performance routes to continue musical engagement, the most frequent manner in which people continue to engage in music after their school years is as consumers. Thousands of people attend concerts of all kinds, lis- ten to radio and streaming Internet broad- casts, purchase commercial recordings and even take music enrichment courses (for example, check that UW-Madison Continuing Studies link to find the current offerings there).
And, of course, these people are also eventually our potential allies. Through monetary support as consumers, parental support for their children and political sup- port at the ballot box, our former students have a very real affect on the future of music education.
One of our goals as music educators is to prepare our students for a lifetime of music engagement at any or all of these entry points. But perhaps the most important take-away here is that most of the people who continue to participate in music after school are not the ones reading this publication. This means that we as music educators have a double duty in terms of encouraging lifelong engagement in mu- sic. First, we nurture the love of music in our students so that they have the desire to keep up their involvement in music by being musicians and enthusiasts. But we also have the responsibility to create and advocate for access points to continued engagement. You might teach a course at the local library, offer beginner lessons for new musicians, or start a new community ensemble. Through presentations at the Wisconsin State Music Conference and future articles in WSM, I hope to explore some of these possibilities that might work for you in your community. Do you have success stories about engaging adults in lifelong learning of music? Please send them my way!
Steve Kurr teaches music at Middleton High School. Email:
skurr@mcpasd.k12.wi.us
facebook.com/WSMAmusic September 2017
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