“Rafael, a third grader at PS 107 in the South Bronx, marched onto the stage with his classmates for his first recital, took his seat, held his clarinet in rest position, and trained his eyes on the conductor,” writes Anne Fitzgibbon, founder of the Harmony Program, in last Monday’s (3/26) New York Daily News. “As he did, his school principal leaned toward me and gasped, ‘I can’t believe it! … I’ve never seen that group of children sit quietly and take instruction from anyone!’ The principal’s reaction was one I have come to expect from educators who witness, for the first time, the potential breadth and power of music’s impact on their students. I often wonder how our educational priorities might shift if our policy makers and school leaders could all experience firsthand what decades of research have shown, and what the Harmony Program—which I founded to provide music education to under-served students throughout the city—has shown me again and again over the past 10 years. Namely, that music-making is not just creative entertainment; it is effective at promoting in children improved behavior, academic achievement, healthy social development, and long-term success.”
Posted April 3, 2018
