The organisation, administration and implementation of an educational chamber music concerts series in an elementary school : a case study

• Main Author: Tempest, James Edward
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/3963

Educational concerts for public school children have occurred for over a century in North America. During that time, they have evolved from orchestral concerts presented in symphony halls to chamber music concerts presented in school gymnasiums to highly interactive musician-in-residence programs. Each phase of their development has reflected popular education theories of the time and current economic influences on arts education. In addition, a central argument over whether music appreciation should be taught as experience or analysis has been at the heart of the many approaches developed to teaching music appreciation. The researcher was interested in how historical developments in music education theory and practice might have influenced musicians and teachers; the discovery of cultural and social issues that may have influenced decisions made by educators; administrative factors, past and present, that may have affected how educational concerts are conducted; the description of current educational chamber music concerts practices; the determination of the degree of integration these concerts have into the curriculum; discussions with musicians, teachers, and administrators regarding their reasons for making choices about how they conduct educational concerts; and finally, determining which of these factors, or combination, accounts for the success or failure of an ensemble's presentation. In attempting to study such things, a case study was carried out in one elementary school. The results of this study confirm findings of previous researchers. Data collected indicate that practices found in the contemporary classroom in support of educational concerts have not changed significantly. Although various projects have been instituted to test new approaches and theories using educational music concerts as the vehicle, none have survived for any length of time. Once research funds have been exhausted, these programs ceased and such developments appear to have had little effect on educational concert organisation and administration. At the heart of the situation is the contrast in attitudes towards music and music education held by educators and musicians. Educators' attitudes are similar to those of the general public in that they are primarily derived from popular music and culture. Attitudes of musicians reflect a a belief in the educational value of an in depth study of music. The conflict in attitudes leads to inefficiency in the use of school based concerts.