Features

History Repeats: Florida’s Teacher of the Year, Dr. Dakeyan Chá Dré Graham, Directs the Band at His Alma Mater

When the Florida Department of Education chose its Teacher of the Year for 2019/2020, it could be seen not only as an achievement for the individual, Dr. Dakeyan Chá Dré Graham of C. Leon King High School (Tampa, Florida), but also as a win for music teachers throughout the state.

Welcome to America, You are Welcome Here! Buffalo String Works

Buffalo, New York is known for many things, including Buffalo Wings that are rapidly replacing the hot dog as the All-American food at baseball games and other sporting events. In [my home-base of] Moultrie, Georgia, the director of the local sports rehabilitation center (a Buffalo native) proudly displays his signed Buffalo Bills football and helmet.

The Accelerando Overture

During the first week of June 2019, the Nashville Symphony hosted the 74th annual National Conference for the League of American Orchestras.

The Musicians of Summer: Rowan University Offers Music Camps that Echo the College Curriculum

For any child, summer camp can be a formative experience: a chance to enjoy the great outdoors, meet new friends, and develop new skills and a sense of independence. But for musicians, camp is also an essential part of their education and training.

United Sound: The Sound of Joy

SBO has featured a wide variety of groups that work with music and music education not simply as an art form to be enjoyed or practiced/performed, but as a tool, a weapon, and a form of life itself to make social and community change and take down barriers.

What We Know About Teaching Music Theory from 4 Million Drills

Finding Practical Solutions for Performance Programs

As a band, choir or orchestra director, it’s your job to get —and keep— kids engaged and bring them together as an ensemble, so they each understand their part and sound good as a group. That’s not an easy task for a multitude of reasons.

And the Winners Are…. The PlayUSA 2019-20 Grants from Weill Music Institute of Carnegie Hall

PlayUSA announced its grant recipients for this next school year, 2019-20, on July 16. Seventeen recipients were named, including five first-time grant partners.

Rhoda Bernard: Creating Resources and Opportunities for Students with Special Needs to Receive Arts Education

As director of the Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs, Rhoda Bernard is training the next generation of music teachers to serve a diverse population, including students with learning, developmental, and physical differences.

Instrument of Hope: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s Response to Tragedy and Gun Violence

Art frequently finds its inspiration in the events of despair. The vast majority of these art works focus on the hope that arises out of the horror rather than the pain of the actual event. The few words that follow will focus on that hope and the possibilities that can, and do, and have risen from it.

Percussion Ensembles Are A Hit!

The April SBO editor’s “Perspective” addressed the fact that the vast majority, perhaps 80%, of students are not involved in their school’s instrumental music programs.

Learning Through Relaxing Music: Singer, Songwriter, and Teacher Barbara Milne Proves that Early Education Can Be Musical Education

Parents everywhere sing to their little children at bedtime. It’s a loving ritual that eases the transition from waking to sleep. But educator and singer/songwriter Barbara Milne has taken tender melodies in new directions, exploring the potential that bedtime music has as a learning tool.

The Orchestras of Afghan National Institute of Music: The challenge of re-establishing music, education, and performance in Afghanistan

In a previous article, “School Music in Nepal,” I wrote about how, due to the lack of money, instruments, teachers, and practice time, live music is a rarity in many poor countries.