“By not giving children music, you disadvantage them. Music is important for what it does for them physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.”

Gill was commenting on calls from sections of the Australian music industry for a major boost in teacher music training programs and opportunities for greatly increased student tuition.

“Children should have music because it is good. It’s the only art that functions in the abstract, and what it does for the heart and the mind and the souls of children is immeasurable and priceless.

“People forget that children go to school to learn how to learn, and to learn how to think. And music, mathematics, geography are accesses to the brain and thinking in different ways.

“Music provides brain development and habits of listening, and intensity in the habit. The evidence is in that the brain responds phenomenally to music, more so than any other activity.

“It raises the level of listening so they develop powers of aural discrimination…being able to hear the differences in sounds, the combinations of sounds, when sounds function in different ways like a bass line works in a particular way, and a treble line works another way.

“They’re very complex activities for the brain to do, and I don’t mean children who are played Mozart in the class while they are doing their arithmetic, or children who sing pop songs, I don’t mean that.

“I’m talking about serious education, genuine learning. Those children are advantaged in every way.”

Gill believes generalist classroom teachers 100 years ago had to be a lot better equipped than many specialist music teachers today. “Something was going really well in 1902 and we’ve slipped into the abyss since, and I don’t know why.”

Read entire release: http://tinyurl.com/ny6pg6

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The decline in music education in Australian public schools

David Worrall, Polymedia blogspot, 20 July 2009

We don’t need any more investigations and reports, we need action from our politicians. You’d think, even on the basis of the known positive effects of MAKING music (not just passively listening to it) on learning on other subject areas, they’d make sure all children have a decent access to such training.

But no, for whatever reasons (and one could tender a few–to do with the state of emotional atrophy many seem to exist in) they prefer to blame teachers for the system in which they work and produce numerical assessments without context.

Currently, an infant/primary school teacher is responsible for teaching music to children in six years of their development and they receive, on average as little as 23 hours of instruction on how to do so. How can anyone be expected to perform adequately in such circumstances? The obvious truth is, they can’t. So they avoid it as much as possible. And who suffers? - the children, of course. More (disembodied - long live Descarte!) ‘instruction’ type learning, and less creative exploration and, yes, you guessed it, less (l)earning!

Read more at http://tinyurl.com/l9khvb

David Worrall is an experimental composer and sound artist working in sound sculpture, immersive and interactive polymedia as well as traditional instrumental composition. Born in Australia, he performs and exhibits internationally.

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Who stopped the music?

Stephen Crittenden, “Background Briefing” ABC Radio 19 July 2009

The parlous state of music in public schools means not only are our children missing an important dimension in life, but they miss out on something that promotes brain function and social skills.

China and Venezuela understand the value of music very well, and so do Australian parents, but our politicians are tone deaf.

Listen online, download the audio in MP3 or read the transcript: http://tinyurl.com/mb5efm

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Will it again be just all talk, with no real action on arts promises?

Steve Dow, Sydney Morning Herald, June 15, 2009

Australian schoolchildren have been promised an "arts rich" education in the coming national curriculum, but arts advocates fear there will now be an opt-out clause for students who lack "aptitude" or simply choose to skip such subjects.

There is also concern the Federal Government has failed to seize the wider potential of arts and the creative industries for future economic innovation.

Last year, the Creative Australia stream at the 2020 summit in Canberra called on the Federal Government to mandate the teaching of creative, visual and performing arts subjects in the new national curriculum, which will cover kindergarten through year 12.

The subjects proposed for this mandate were indigenous storytelling, film, philosophy, Asian culture, music, design, art and drama. There should be "appropriate reporting requirements for schools" and cultural institutions must be made "compulsory elements of the arts curriculum".

The arts community seemed to have scored a victory on April 17 this year, when federal, state and territory education ministers meeting in Adelaide voted to include arts as part of the second stage of the national curriculum.

The federal Arts Minister, Peter Garrett, immediately declared he was "thrilled" by the decision, saying that international studies had found that arts education is "important to the development of young minds and positively influences learning in other areas". The ministers' decision "guaranteed" an "arts-rich education", he said.

But five days later, the Prime Minister's office responded to the 2020 summit proposals and issued this heavy qualification on the matter: "It is … important to consider student choice and aptitude, and mandating some of these subjects may not be appropriate in that context."

Read entire article: http://tinyurl.com/mg68qv

Read the Hon Peter Garrett's media release of 17 April: http://tinyurl.com/cv69ne

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RESEARCH

Chorus Impact Study

Chorus America, 2 June 2009

According to a new study by Chorus America, children who sing in choruses have greater academic success and more advanced social skills than children who don’t sing, as reported by large majorities of both parents and educators surveyed for the study. Additionally, both parents and educators (from every discipline) attribute a significant part of a child’s academic success to singing in a choir.

The 2009 study, commissioned by Chorus America, benchmarks a study in 2003 to evaluate the benefits of choral singing and its impact on communities. The results from this latest research support and advance earlier findings that adult choral singers exhibit increased social skills, civic involvement, volunteerism, philanthropy, and support of other art forms, when compared with non-singers.

The 2009 study included a new component that explicitly examined the effects choral singing has on childhood development. The results show children who sing in choirs display many of the enhanced social skills found in adult singers, substantiating earlier conclusions that singing in childhood is likely to have an enormous influence on the choices individuals make later in life.

Read entire Release at: http://tinyurl.com/mxt3vo

Read the executive summary of the report: http://tinyurl.com/nnv62o

Read the entire report: http://tinyurl.com/l4rpu2

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Beethoven or Britney: The Great Divide in Music Education

Dr Robert Walker, April 2009

School music education in Australia is in crisis, according to The National Review of Music Education (http://tinyurl.com/lduy2a). Most children have little or no access to quality music teaching. And nothing is being done about it.

Why is this, when we have overwhelming evidence of how music-making enhances the core disciplines of mathematics, languages and a mastery of English?

In music teaching you get what you can afford. A few, mostly private, schools are centres of musical excellence, the majority offer little beyond recordings of popular music. Primary schools fare the worst: 80% have no trained music teacher on staff. The knock-on effect in secondary schools is clear.

Meanwhile, children are ‘educating’ themselves through their iPod, internet, and mobile phone. Few learn to play an instrument or to sing properly.

The root causes, writes Walker, lie in the paucity of specialist teachers and disdain of the classical music tradition. He calls on Minister Guillard urgently to address the recommendations of their National Review; the alternative is a nation of passive consumers with no conception of music as a profound art.

Read the first three pages of the paper: http://tinyurl.com/dz7bvf

Order the complete paper online: http://tinyurl.com/lxadq7

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RESOURCES

Musical Futures to be launched in Australia

The US-based NAMM Foundation, the trade association of the International Music Products Association, has made a grant to fund the launch of Musical Futures in Australia.

The grant is made to the Australian Music Association, which will introduce [the UK-based program] Musical Futures as part of a campaign to renew music education in Australia's public schools.

While the techniques developed through Musical Futures have been adopted overseas before, the grant in Australia marks the first time a formal system has been launched to promote the programme abroad.

NAMM Foundation (formerly the National Association of Music Merchants) is this year spending almost US$850,000 on 31 projects across the USA and in other countries, to support innovative music education programmes.

The Musical Futures journey began in 2003 when the Paul Hamlyn Foundation instigated an initiative to find new and imaginative ways of engaging all young people, aged 11-18, in meaningful music activities. The starting point for Musical Futures was to try to understand the factors affecting the disengagement of young people with sustained music-making activities, at a time in their lives when we know music is not only a passion for many young people, but plays a big part in shaping their social identity.

Musical Futures: http://tinyurl.com/nczmld

Australian Music Association: http://tinyurl.com/ntc2bw

NAMM Foundation: http://tinyurl.com/d2o6bn

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MusicEducationZoneAsia

This is the new home of music education for the Asian region. You will find information about music education in the region as well as details of study opportunities in the UK.

The site will include directories of educational institutions and services across each territory as well as key information from UK examining boards, music colleges, university music departments, schools and colleges.

During the first year of the project the site will focus on Hong SAR, China and Singapore, with other territories being added during the second phase.

Fond out more: http://tinyurl.com/noepbc

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Sing Australia

Sing Australia Pty Ltd was established in 1985 by Colin Slater OAM, an accomplished singer and singing teacher, to promote singing, Australian compositions and Australian artists.

High among the organisation's priorities has been the encouragement of people to sing using a unique style of teaching for large groups.

Sing Australia community singing groups do not require people to audition or to attend regularly. They are groups that offer the opportunity to learn songs - be it in unison or in parts. The Sing Australia network also uses a fixed repertoire especially compiled for the network - promoting unity in song, and ensuring copyright laws are adhered to.

The concept also accepts that not everyone can read music, not everyone can sing in tune, and not everyone has yet made contact with their singing voice. However, by being accepting of everyone as individuals who are all equal in their desire to sing, the concept has proven that most people acquire singing skills at least to a level where they can enjoy themselves immensely in a group singing environment or simply for their own enjoyment at home.

Find out more: http://tinyurl.com/mqyv3q

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AWARDS & PRIZES

2009 National Awards for Excellence in School Music Education

Thirteen awards for excellence and leadership in school music education were awarded to teachers and school leaders at the ASME National Conference in Launceston, on Saturday 11th July 2009 by Ms Jodie Campbell MP, Member for Bass, for The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Minister for Education.

The awards recognise exceptional contribution to enhancing the status and quality of music education in their school and community. Each award provided a grant of $5000 to enable the recipients to further their professional learning related to music education.

School Leader Awards
Mrs Christine Ritchie Deputy Principal East Victoria Park Primary School East Victoria Park, WA
Mr Neil Spence Principal East Victoria Park Primary School East Victoria Park, WA

Teacher Awards
Mrs Loretta Simmonds, Music Specialist, Moil Primary School, Moil, NT
Ms Melissa Alexander, Music Teacher, Weetangera Primary School, Weetangera, ACT
Mr Daniel Crump, Music Specialist, Mt Alvernia College, Kedron, QLD
Mrs Gail Elliott, Teacher and Music Coordinator, Devonport High School, Devonport, TAS
Mrs Gail Ann Godber, Music Specialist Teacher, Spring Gully Primary School, Bendigo, VIC
Ms Lee-Anne Harrison, Music Teacher & Coordinator, Cronulla High School Cronulla, NSW
Mr Stephen King, Coordinator & Band Conductor, Scotch Oakburn College, Launceston, TAS
Mr Shain Kurelja, Music Teacher, Aspendale Gardens Primary School, Aspendale Gardens, VIC
Ms Nicole Mengel, Coordinator, ANU Music Education Program, Aust National University, Acton, ACT
Ms Christine Narroway, Music Specialist Teacher, Rose Park Primary School, Rose Park, SA
Miss Maria Natoli, Classroom Music Teacher, Indooroopilly State School, Indooroopilly, QLD
Mr Michael Newton, Music Teacher and Band Master, Inaburra School, Bangor, NSW

We congratulate each of these award recipients – and all other nominated teachers and leaders - for their great contribution to music education for their students and communities.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/lwaax4

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Music in Communities Awards 2009

They’re on again and this time the theme is Community Wellbeing

Entries close 4 September 2009

We know that active involvement in music and singing can help counteract many negative aspects of modern life such as alienation, isolation and depression by promoting mental health and physical well-being. Everyone who is actively engaged in music-making in their local community understands the benefits – and it is no surprise that all the research around the world strongly illustrates the range of potential benefits for people of all ages and the ways in which this can make a difference in all kinds of community settings.

So: How does being musically active improve life in your community? Tell us about what you do, how you do it, who’s involved and who benefits and you could win a chunk of the 2009 $20,000 prize pool.

The Awards are open to:

all forms of music groups including choirs, bands, orchestras, uke groups, drum circles, etc
community and volunteer organisations delivering and supporting music programs in communities
local Councils
Schools
individuals and others

Community music programs must have been running for at least three years to be eligible for entry.

Full details of criteria, online entry process etc at http://tinyurl.com/lewddh

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Australian Children’s Music Foundation: National Song-writing Competition

Categories for children from Kindergarten to Year 12

Entries close 25 September 2009

The ACMF conducts a National Song-writing Competition for every Primary, Secondary and Specific Purpose School across Australia. The competition has been running for seven consecutive years.

Entry to the competition is free and entry forms are mailed to 8,500 Primary & Specific Purpose Schools and 3,000 Secondary Schools, both public and private each year. This program is endorsed by the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training and sponsored by the APRA, Ampal, MIPI and Roland.

The competition is divided into several categories to provide opportunities for children of all ages, from Kindergarten through to Year 12. This competition has proved to be successful on a number of levels, with many students entering the competition year after year, demonstrating improvement with each year.

There are some fabulous prizes in the form of musical equipment or tuition for you and your school as well as a fantastic range of musical experiences.

Details and entry forms: http://tinyurl.com/krsjtj

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NEWS FROM HERE & THERE

Australia: Finding relief in the joy of song

Andra Jackson, the Age, June 13, 2009

AFTER facing and fleeing war, killings and rape in Sierra Leone, and spending up to 15 years in refugee camps in neighbouring Ghana and Guinea, it might be assumed that the women of the Kankelay choir have little to sing about.

The trauma of those experiences didn't get left behind in those countries, but accompanied them when they came to Australia as humanitarian refugees. Nearly all members of the choir still nurse the grief of family separation, often not knowing where sons, daughters or siblings are, or even if they are still alive.

To help them adjust, they were referred to Foundation House, which provides services to people from refugee backgrounds who have survived torture or war-related trauma. A House staff member, Anna Rose Reiner, thought that a choir might be healing.

Ms Reiner put them in touch with Therese Virtue from the Boîte, the Melbourne music organisation that for 30 years has tapped into the talent hidden in the city's migrant and refugee communities.