Advocacy/Leadership

All too often band and orchestra directors find themselves "preaching to the choir" (literally!), trying to convince the "already converted" of the value of music in our schools. The audience enthusiastically agrees, everyone leaves with…
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New Data Overwhelming Although I have been previously asked to document music education’s relationship to the general curricula, previous data while interesting, did not address a more broad set of variables influencing academic success.…
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Mentoring the Leaders of Tommorow: The NBA Composer/Conductor Mentor Project Composer Roy Magnuson got more than he bargained for when he applied and was accepted for the NBA Young Composer/Conductor Mentor project this summer.…
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Telling the Story: What Administrators Can Do Your administrative team—principal and superintendent—allocate time and resources for instruction. Their support is critical to developing a climate in which your arts program can grow.…
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FIRST PERFORMANCE NATIONAL DAY OF CELEBRATION COMPLIMENTARY MATERIALS Download your complimentary materials NOW to prepare for your First Performance National Day of Celebration. The First Performance National Day of Celebration is a…
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Music programs are faced again with cutbacks as states across the country grapple with huge budget deficits. These reductions have already been felt in many Michigan districts. Utica Community Schools, the second largest school district in…
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FOUNDATION OF CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP By Tim Lautzenheiser   The entire realm of leadership training has taken a dramatic shift over the last three decades. The strong-armed approach to leadership success has given-way to the concept…
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Music advocacy is not a complicated agenda requiring extensive research and the ability to quote lofty phrases or speak in platitudes. To the contrary, it is the chance to share the wonderful awareness; music makers enjoy a better life.…
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In his State of the State address this past January, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed $100 million to create a new Arts and Music initiative to support standards-aligned arts and music instruction in kindergarten and…
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A Closer Look at Writing Course Handbooks Concise, informative, and well-written course handbooks are among the most effective tools teachers - band directors in particular - have at their disposal. Directors have a chance to put, in…
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Developing Positive Practice Habits A Message from Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser Executive Director, Division of Education, Conn-Selmer, Inc. …the pathway to quality music making… Remember the first time you tried to ice skate, or water…
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Have you ever played a brilliant piece of music, taken a perfect golf swing, or given an inspiring speech...when no one else was around?
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Attitude Oliver C. Boone, Ph.D. If anyone were to ask me what I believed to be the greatest single factor that would determine the success of any individual, I would reply without a moment's hesitation, attitude. To clarify this…
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With the reduction of funding for educational programs on many levels, and with the unprecedented pressures put on schools, districts and states by the No Child Left Behind Act, responsibility for retaining arts programs rests with every…
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Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development finds that the arts provide critical links for students to develop crucial thinking skills and motivations they need to achieve at higher levels. The research studies further…
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