“You are part of a new movement,” said Jim Ward. “It’s something not being done anywhere else in the country.” He was speaking to students, families and educators who gathered Tuesday evening inside their school auditorium at ASU Preparatory Academy. His remarks followed those by State Senator David Lujan, chief administrator for the Phoenix charter school. Ward is President and CEO of The Phoenix Symphony, which partnered with ASU Preparatory Academy for the launch of a new initiative called Mind Over Music, which is designed to integrate music with something Arizona educators call STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Symphony officials note that teachers will be working side by side with symphony musicians to design curricula and team-teach integrated music lessons in order to provide students with new and creative ways to learn and succeed.
“We’ve focused on reading and math to the detriment of the arts,” shared another speaker, State Superintendent of Instruction John Huppenthal. “And to the detriment of reading and math,” he added. Huppenthal noted that the state’s laser focus on test scores, and emphasis on particular subjects to the exclusion of others, is actually leading to lower performance in many cases — and called for “amplifying” math, science and language arts with arts, physical education and career training. Students “only get half an education without the arts,” insisted Huppenthal, who cited Steve Jobs as someone who capably integrated arts with technology. Huppenthal also asked the crowd what Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Lady Gaga have in common — then shared that it was the fact that they’d all started music training by the age of six. Knowing young brains often learn music better or faster than their adult counterparts, Huppenthal is a strong proponent of music education for students in early grades and beyond. “We at the Department of Education have to support it every way we can,” says Huppenthal.
Students Tatiana (L) and Fernando (R) help Mark Dix as he explains sound transmission. Photo by Daniel Friedman.
After opening remarks, Mark Dix introduced The Phoenix Symphony String Orchestra. Dix is a violist with The Phoenix Symphony, active chamber musician and private teacher who lives in Phoenix with his wife and two children. Turns out he began studying music at age six as well. Before the orchestra played “Winter” from Vivaldi’s ”The Four Season,” Dix had two students come on stage to sit near the musicians, asking them to think while the music played about what was causing all the sound. He confirmed the answer afterwards by using a large wooden embroidery hoop covered with foil placed against a large speaker (his version of an eardrum) to demonstrate the role of vibrations in creating sound. The orchestra played additional pieces, and different pairs of students joined Dix on stage. The last two student volunteers were asked to remember principles Dix shared earlier in the demonstration, and each was rewarded for a job well done with a pair of tickets to see a concert by The Phoenix Symphony. Dix’s presentation made clear the value of music in teaching principles of science, math and related fields.
The Phoenix Symphony has decided to move beyond field trips to provide arts education through the curriculum-based Mind Over Music program, eager to take a leadership role in strengthening music education in our state while implementing a program that will yield qualitative data about the importance of music. They describe Mind Over Music as a STE[+a]M (STEM plus arts) centered professional development model in which classroom teachers, symphony musicians, music specialists and resource specialists are trained to integrate music into STEM concepts through both live and digital music. Teachers at ASU Preparatory Academy, which is piloting the program, will learn how to use iPods and iPads as tools for music-related instruction. Mind Over Music also incorporates integrated music instruction in classrooms, mainly through an interactive music education website (Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music) that features webisodes exploring music fundamentals, interactive games, and ways for students to compose and share music.
Mind Over Music includes opportunities for students to perform in side-by-side concerts with symphony musicians, enjoy classroom music performances, and take master classes led by a conductor or musician. Students, parents and faculty will receive free admission to all Symphony for the Schools concerts and certain mainstage concerts as well. Mind Over Music is a three-year program, and The Phoenix Symphony reports that it will be evaluated by an independent, external evaluator. But that was the farthest thing from students’ minds Tuesday night, as they watched music teacher Kristal Ramsey play Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” on the trombone and listened to choral performances by fellow students — including one featuring a song from the movie “Brave.” The evening closed with a rousing number dubbed “ASU Dynamite,” performed with exuberance by students called on to fill up the aisles so they could “rep the Prep.”
Click here for information on ASU Preparatory Academy. Click here to learn more about family-friendly concerts being performed this season by The Phoenix Symphony and here to learn more about the symphony’s education and outreach programs.
Tags: art and technology, art in schools, Arts Education, ASU Preparatory Academy, David Lujan, John Huppenthal, music education, music in schools, Phoenix Symphony, STEM
