Symposium on the Moral Imperative of Music Education

Televised by AETN - Little Rock. Watch it now!

 

The cameras were rolling at our inaugural Symposium on the Moral Imperative of Music Education. Not only ours, but those of Little Rock's PBS station - AETN

 

In addition to footage of the event, the producer visited with Todd and Dr. Nina Kraus and did a terrific job of reporting on the importance of our mission,

 

Check out their coverage and the segment, which will air on AETN this coming weekend in Little Rock. 

 

Full article and video >>                                                             Video only >>

 

Music in a Word

 

The Moral Imperative for Music Education - A Call To Action

by Mark H Cohen, April 25, 2015

Spirit of Harmony Board Member

  

As economist Dr. George Ford stated during his presentation in Little Rock, AK this past weekend, "The optimal amount of arts in education is most likely not zero." And so the stage was set as speaker after speaker set out to prove the moral imperative for music education. I almost wrote that they spoke "in defense of music education," but what they really did was establish a common platform emphasizing how critical is the teaching of music to children.


 

Speakers included researchers, practitioners and advocates who presented research findings, real world results, and the establishment of a business case. That's right, a return on investment (ROI) for the value of music education, not simply music for the sake of music. Not that we aren't cool with that, but as a foundation trying to incite change, an honest-to-goodness business model has us tickled pink.


 

We can't possibly do justice to the topics covered by our panelists. My gosh, even they could only scratch the surface of their research and experience. Over the coming weeks, some of the speakers will provide us with blog posts with additional and deeper insights. In the interim you can find out more about them below.


 

As you take this all in, Todd and the board of directors would like to ask you to consider what YOU can do to help us build upon the momentum of the Symposium and specifically to:

  1. Keep and support music education in our elementary schools.
  2. Work with supplemental and complimentary elementary level music programs.

So what can you do?

  1. Check out our new advocacy site.
  2. Spread the word about us to your friends and colleagues via email, social media or whatever floats your boat. Remember we are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus and YouTube. Please use the hashtag #SOHF everywhere!
  3. Make a one time or recurring monthly donation to the Foundation to enable us to fight this fight for our children, our future, and the love of music! 
  4. Contribute to this blog.

Interested in learning more about the Symposium panelists? Read the full blog post here.