March 14, 2008
Impact on music program loss for the entire school Claire Shean
High quality of music studies at Greeley soon to be a memory
Alynne and Albert Krull
Thank you to Greeley volunteers
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
Was the mystery solved?
Suzanne Keay
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Letter to the Editor: Impact on music program loss for the entire school
Dear Editor,
“Greeley’s respected band teacher Lucia fears demise of music program,” (NewCastleNOW.org, 3/07/08) highlights that the impact of the new schedule on the music program will be a loss for the entire school.
For a significant number of Greeley students, the music ensemble program provides not only excellent training but also daily interaction with peers in a non-competitive, productive endeavor and with faculty members who serve as teachers and mentors over a four-year period. The frequent collaboration between the ensembles adds to the social and musical complexity, and should be a model for other departments. Students entering Greeley have immediate access to this “rich forest” and to the sense of connection that accompanies it.
As Dr. Lucia points out, this community connectedness is what administrators purport to encourage with the new schedule. However, when we reduce the music ensemble program to the status of electives, what will be the effect of the loss of connectedness and collaboration for this large group of students? What will replace it? Will it result in a school-wide shift in the elusive and admired Greeley ethos, i.e., is Greeley’s music ensemble program merely unique, or is it something that helps make Greeley unique?
And because the value of any endeavor is not simply in its end, the losses to the music program cannot be reduced to the effect on the performances. To be sure, if the music is less challenging, the performances will be “less wonderful.” But, in reality, the entire experience is diluted. It is akin to telling the athletic teams that they will no longer be able to practice daily, or telling the English department that they will no longer be able to assign books that exceed an eighth-grade level. I assume that neither of these would be tolerated. As well, the losses to the students would be more profound than the end result of “a less-winning season” or “less-excellent SAT scores.” Whether or not our children were directly affected, we would consider this a loss for all Greeley students.
An article from the September/October 2007 issue of Psychology Today touched on the importance of daily ensemble playing for musicians:
The musical conversation becomes deeper and more satisfying the more often one plays with the same partner or small ensemble, says Mathews [a conservatory student]. ‘When it clicks emotionally, everyone rushes with it, everyone understands what’s happening, and it just takes off.’
The excitement that musicians experience in such a moment may be rooted in esprit de corps, says Daniel J. Levitin, a professor of psychology at McGill University. Collective music making around the campfire, he argues in his book This is Your Brain on Music, may have historically served to promote feelings of group togetherness. ‘Evolution favored those people who took pleasure in synchronized behavior because ultimately that helped us build societies.’
The administrators who supported the growth of the music department to its present richness understood this well. To dismantle it diminishes the community as a whole.
Sincerely,
Claire Shean
Claire Shean has lived in Chappaqua for 15 years and has a sophomore at Greeley and a seventh grader at Seven Bridges. Both are involved in their respective school music programs.
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Letter to the Editor: High quality of music studies at Greeley soon to be a memory
Dear Editors:
Having a son who is a now a professional in the music industry, and a daughter who may be professionally bound, we are saddened that the schedule change at Horace Greeley High School is probably going to make the high quality of music study and performance a memory. It is regrettable that Principal Andrew Selesnick has made it clear that the implementation of the new schedule, as proposed, is a “done deal.” That the new block schedule could not have been designed to accommodate a schedule of music classes more closely resembling the current format is extremely unfortunate. One of Greeley’s strengths has always been the challenging, yet nurturing environment that it provides its performing arts students. It is evident that this is now considered a lower priority.
As a community, we are so fortunate to have the Greeley performing arts faculty to work with our children. Ray Lucia, Maureen Callan, Davis Knobloch and Kim Meade are all extremely hard working teaching professionals and musicians along with their talented theatre colleague, Chris Schraufnagel. Our children’s artistic development has been greatly influenced by these creative individuals.
Our daughter participates concurrently in the chorus, band and orchestra, the three major Greeley music organizations, something she would not be able to do with the schedule change. She also performs with most of the smaller ensembles and in the Greeley theatrical productions. She has flourished under the current schedule. We are saddened that this will not happen for the next generation of Greeley music students.
Alynne and Albert Krull
Alynne and Albert Krull have lived in Chappaqua for more than 24 years. Alynne is a professional director and actor; Albert is an architect who has played trumpet for years with the Chappaqua Orchestra.
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Letter to the Editor: Thank you to Greeley volunteers
Thanks to all of the volunteers and chaperones from Horace Greeley who spent
their spring break rebuilding our community and our spirits. We have a
renewed belief in the kindness of strangers.
Freddie, Dania, Charmaine, Randy, Jessie & Pam
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
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Letter to the Editor: Was the Mystery Solved?
Dear NewCastleNow.Org:
I just read Rosheen Taylor’s wonderfully amusing piece about being the
“other wife.” What a riot! She had me falling off my computer chair in
stitches. I know “Rocky” Taylor, and if her husband has another wife, I
hope she has a sense of humor as good as Rocky’s. What I want to know is:
Did you ever find out if there’s another Mrs. T around, Rocky?!
Suzanne Keay
Copyright 2009 NewCastleNOW.org