I recently attended an impressive classical music concert in the beautiful auditorium at Charleston’s School of the Arts. The occasion for the presentation was a regional workshop for high schoolers who play instruments typical of a symphonic orchestra: violin, viola, cello and bass.
There were two different groups; one was called the Junior Orchestra; the other, the Senior Orchestra. The latter, of course, involved mostly older, more advanced students playing harder music. Each of the orchestras consisted of at least 75 youngsters who had been chosen, by competitive audition, to participate in this event. They represented public high schools from throughout the Coastal Region of South Carolina.
Two different girls, one in each orchestra, who were performing: my wife and I were there to support and encourage them. As their former pastor, I’ve known them since they were born, I baptized them both and, with joy and gratitude, have followed the growth and development in their young lives.
As I sat there, listening to the significant accomplishment of so many young musicians, I found myself reflecting on the importance of an educational experience that includes music. This, at a time when–certainly in public schools–funding for the arts has often been, if not eliminated by budget cuts, at least minimized.
Here, then, are some of my reasons for advocating music education among our nation’s children and youth.
1. The research seems conclusive: the correlation between academic achievement and intellectual development involving math, science and the humanities on the part of youngsters who have also benefitted from an education that includes music.
2. Due to economic circumstances, my parents were not formally educated; my mother never went to high school, and my dad never finished; their intelligence, character and purpose in life, however, exceeded their opportunities. Consequently, they were devoted to providing for their children what they had been denied. And this “providing” included not only encouragement and support, it also involved the demands of discipline. Some kids just love to practice musical scales and other technical exercises on whatever the instrument; but most–in case you hadn’t noticed–don’t.
In our family, school was as important as church. And if sports may have been just as important, so were piano lessons, playing in the band and singing in the choir. If, for my parents, the funding of such represented their priorities and discipline, their children were also included in the enterprise. And because of who they were, we experienced this less as demanding than as merely a reasonable expectation. Indeed, most good things in families seem to work best when that is the agenda.
3. That public school students would not only be exposed to classical music, but engaged in the demands involved in performing such an important expression of western culture–this is remarkable. Most kids are pretty good at connecting with and appreciating popular music, even jazz, in its varied forms, but for them to embrace classical music–to use a rather strained analogy–it’s like the difference between an exclusive diet of pizza, popcorn, candy and Coke, and eating a balance of more nutritious food that includes fruit and vegetables.
4. I’ve worked with adolescents and young adults for many years, as a youth minister, teacher, coach and choral director. And I’ve noted a distinctive: those who have participated in organized, school-related symphonic, band or choral activities tend to respond more positively and reasonably to the demands of such, when it’s necessary, at times, to lean on kids, asking more of them than usual, in order to improve their level of performance. I suspect the integrating of such discipline in their young lives not only serves them well in other kinds of classrooms, where academic and athletic achievement are involved, but will characterize even more profoundly their later, even more adult endeavors.
5. Not unlike participation in athletics, most children who learn to play the piano, or another instrument, and/or are engaged in other forms of musical education will not likely ever perform professionally. Some may, but most won’t, even though some may become music teachers. Nor will most likely even continue their musical involvement when/if they pursue higher education. But children who have been engaged musically in their primary, intermediate and secondary school years–their lives will be enriched immeasurably. They will have developed a broader and more sensitized appreciation for various important expressions of the arts and culture. And they will enjoy music more fully in their personal, family and social lives, perhaps even enhancing the lives of others. They may play, in later years, in a community orchestra or band, sing in a choir, chorus or other vocal ensemble or participate in amateur musical theater.
Not to mention, their involvement in their children’s lives where music is concerned. I once, for example, accompanied my son on the piano. He was in the eighth grade and was performing a saxophone solo in a state-wide public school music competition. It stands as one of the highlights of my rather modest musical career. For when it comes to playing the piano, I could practice eight hours a day throughout my lifetime and still not be anywhere near as good as those kids I listened to, with such appreciation, the other night at the School of the Arts.
