Klarinet Archive - Posting 000680.txt from 2002/06

From: w7wright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: [kl] Schools (was: Vibrato REDUX)
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 12:09:28 -0400

<><> James=A0Snell wrote:
as is being done right now in my town's school system as they cut
instrument budgets.

A year ago, I posted that we (a teacher/student/parent group in my area)
fought this battle and won a reprieve for instrumental music. *This*
year, our school budgets remain underfunded, and they had to cut
programs again. They decided to dismiss at least one librarian and to
leave instrumental teachers alone this year.

So music is not undervalued everywhere. (It's a sad day, however, when
it comes down to choosing between literacy and art, and one of them must
be sacrificed.)

Obviously performance makes a difference. One or two of our local
bands & choirs won national competitions last year, and I'm sure that
this fact has figured into the school board's decisions. In this
respect, music resembles athletics. If you want to survive, you must
win.... survival of the fittest.... competition, competition,
competition! I recognition the importance of natural selection, and
some people crave competition more than others do.... them that has the
skills, does....

Cheers,
Bill

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=

What is the purpose of a language? =A0 To be beautiful or wise or
pleasurable in itself? Or to describe many different things ---
beautiful or not --- to other people? This is why the question of
whether music is a 'language' is relevant.

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