Students need support for artistic opportunities
What prompts an advocacy effort? My answer is the welfare and rounded educational experience for all students.
I am Dr. Ronda DePriest, Fine Arts Department Chair and Director of the Music Program at Waynesburg University. I am writing on behalf of the student leadership of the Symphonic Band at the university, Ms. Brittany Nimal, President, who feels compelled to bring a concern to your attention: support for the fine arts in our American educational system.
Five students recently participated in the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band at Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pa., and were blessed with the opportunity to work with an outstanding clinician and conductor, Lt. Col. Alan Bonner, United States Air Force (Retired) and over 100 of their collegiate instrumental colleagues.
Some members of the ensemble are pursuing music degrees, but a large number of these young people are pursuing other majors and are merely looking for a music making avenue for their lives.
These students were both convinced and convicted in their belief that music is an absolutely invaluable part of their lives, so much so that they are pursuing an advocacy campaign for the arts in Pennsylvania.
Many years ago, I invited an administrator to band rehearsals to see students engaged in active learning. He later chose to accompany the band to a festival experience and was astounded at the sight reading phase of the festival. The band was seated in a rehearsal space and handed a piece of music new to us all.
After five minutes of guided discussion and ‘air playing,’ the ensemble performed the work for an adjudicator as if the work were an old friend. This administrator’s response was one of marvel; his eyes were opened to the possibilities of the human mind at work for a collective goal. What a wondrous set of thoughtful and thought-provoking experiences music can provide!
This letter is intended to substantiate the importance of music education, as well as all the fine arts, for every child in our public and private schools in America. Building a strong, vital, quality music education program is our goal as music educators. Budgetary concerns are a reality, and the arts are worth both your time and financial support.
Students at Waynesburg University and schools in surrounding counties are counting on you to keep artistic opportunities open for their lives and the lives of their children.
Fine Arts Department Chair
Director of Music Program
Associate Professor of Instrumental Music
Waynesburg University
Waynesburg, Pennsylvania