The Arts Times
artstimes.com
February
12, 2012
Music Educators Have Potential to Save
the Orchestra Industry
By
SARAH WILLIAMS
It is widely agreed within the Arts
Community that the Orchestra Industry is dying. Orchestra halls used to be
lively, packed places on concert nights, and today many halls do not even have
a hope of experiencing a full house. Today’s Orchestras face issues of
government funding cuts and a growing lack of public support with each new
generation.
Some believe the issue is occurring due
to the majority of the public not being educated on the arts. “The illiterate need to become literate,”
said Corbin Huber, a Music Education Major at Illinois State University. He continued by saying, “The majority will
not show an interest in anything they do not understand. The community needs to have interaction and
inclusion to the music making, and with time, people will notice the depth that
music has to those who can ‘hear’ it.”
Julie Donnell, a local Music Educator at
Washington Middle School, stated, “So many people have no idea what good,
quality music is because most of them are only exposed to what they hear on the
radio or television.” She also believes
another reason that orchestras are dying is because schools put a high priority
on sports programs which takes the focus off of all other extracurricular
activities. Because music programs have
been given a perception of less importance, it is often seen as acceptable for
those programs to be the first to get cut when schools are struggling
financially.
It is getting harder for newly graduated
Music Education Majors to find jobs, due to many schools lacking programs. Schools that cut their music programs further
remove their communities from being able to learn to appreciate the arts.
There still is hope though for this
trend to be reversed. Today’s Music
Education Majors have the opportunity and the ability to help their communities
and school districts begin or continue to appreciate and support the arts, but
they do not often know where or how to begin this process.
“Start with your students,” is where
Donnell advises Educators to begin. She
recommends choosing ‘fun’ pieces for the students to listen to. Educators that only work with concert bands
can use this advice by finding band arrangements of these pieces and having
their students listen to the band arrangement and then the original orchestral
work. Donnell says to follow this by, “gradually
introducing other orchestral music.”
To begin to educate and reach the
community is to touch the parents of the students first. “Create a listening assignment that the
students have to do at home and email it to the students and parents,” is
advice that Donnell offers as the beginning stepping stones to educating the
parents. She says that often the parent
will listen to the recording, and they will sometimes even work alongside
younger children to complete the assignment.
“Email information out about upcoming
professional or college orchestra concerts and the works that they are playing
(as well to the child and their parents), and to, “give the kids extra credit
for attending,” are also other ideas Donnell suggested to use to increase
interest. She finished this portion of
the topic by saying, “You reach the kids, most will share with their parents
and therefore you reach the parents.”
Donnell warns those that are about to
get their own Music Educator jobs to not fall into the traps that many do. Many Educators fall into the trap of not
exposing the students to a variety of musical styles. If students are exposed to playing different
styles, the Educator will have a higher chance of sparking and holding a higher
percentage of students’ interest.
Gaining more students’ interest will, of course, aid in growing the
music program. She encouraged that
Educators pick a few pieces and let the students vote on which of those they
would like to perform.
She discussed how students will often
work harder if they are trying to prove the Educator wrong about their ability
to do well on a more challenging piece, so she suggests picking at least some
music each concert cycle that will challenge them.
“Lastly, have fun with the students and
let them know that it is okay to make a mistake. Let them know you will never get mad at them
for trying,” was the finishing advice that Donnell had for Illinois State
University Music Education Majors.
Orchestras may be struggling, but there
are things that can be done to make the future brighter. Music Educators have not only the opportunity
but the responsibility to do everything they can to educate their community in
regard to appreciating and supporting the arts. As Julie Donnell stated, “You reach the
kids…you reach the parents,” which will begin an even bigger chain hopefully
leading to good health of all programs from the elementary general music
classrooms to the professional orchestras across the nation.
Corbin Huber: (815)-419-7083
Julie Donnell: (309)444-9680
No comments:
Post a Comment