Music In Schools International Symposium on Music Education in Public Schools, 2007 The first International Symposium on Music in Education, hosted by the Yale School of Music, sponsored by our class's permanent Endowment to the School of Music, was timed (Wednesday and Thursday, May 30-31) to coincide with our 50th reunion. This symposium will be a bi-annual gathering at Yale of music education professionals and outstanding public school music teachers from across the country. Classmates will be invited every two years to nominate music teachers for recognition at the symposium, and to attend themselves. Click on the links below for photos of the events. At this first symposium, 44 music teachers received the first Yale Distinguished Music Educator Awards. They were nominated by 35 classmates, and by YSM, and they represented school districts in 20 states and the District of Columbia -- from California to Vermont, Nebraska to Florida. They were recognized at the Awards Dinner on Wednesday night. The inspiring keynote speaker was Roberta Guaspari, the violin teacher played by Meryl Streep in the movie, "Music of the Heart." On Thursday morning, the teachers (and some classmates) attended Curricular Workshops presented by four distinguished music educators, on improving rehearsals, folktale and spiritual singing, presenting choral music, and tapping into "The Joyful Musical Impulse." On Thursday afternoon, classmates and teachers participated in a panel discussion on A Vision for the Future of Music Education. Panelists included Ms. Guaspari, Wang Cizhao, President of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Clifford Madsen, Director of The Center for Music Education Research at Florida State University, Joseph Polisi, President of the Juilliard School of Music, and Michael Yaffe, Associate Dean of the Yale School of Music and the interface for our class endowment with YSM. To cap off the festivities, teachers, presenters, classmates, and the Yale community were treated to a marvelous concert in Sprague Hall on Thursday evening by acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax. (Coincidentally, just three days earlier Mr. Ax was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music by Yale.) He contributed his time and unsurpassed talents for the concert to our class and the music project. His gorgeous playing included two Beethoven sonatas and several Schumann pieces. A standing ovation ended only when Mr. Ax came to the front of the stage, expressed his appreciation for the Class of 1957's music project, and waved goodbye. Stay tuned for future exciting events as our music endowment, under the fine leadership of Dean Robert Blocker, Michael Yaffe, and the rest of the Yale School of Music, continues to bear fruit. June 13, 2007 -- Malcolm Mitchell and Don Roberts The schedule for the Symposium was as follows: 6:00pm Reception and Welcome to Symposium Participants 7:00pm Dinner, Presentation of Awards and Keynote Speaker: Roberta Guaspari - Founder, Opus 118 Music Center, Harlem, NY Thursday, May 31, 2007 9:00am - Welcome Robert Blocker - Dean, Yale School of Music Reginald Mayo - Superintendent, New Haven Public Schools 9:30am - Clifford Matson: Director, The Center for Music Education Research, Florida State University - Promoting Music in Public Schools Curricular Workshops for public school teachers, with: René Boyer Professor, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati THE QUILT, FOLKTALE AND SPIRITUAL SING OF FREEDOM! Anthony Leach Professor, Pennsylvania State University CHORAL Music EDUCATORS: WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG OF TRICKS? Deborah Sheldon Chair, Department of Music, Temple University FOLLOW THE LEADER: ENHANCING YOUR REHEARSALS William Westney Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor and Browning Artist-in-Residence, Texas Tech University THE JOYFUL MUSICAL IMPULSE - AND SIMPLE WAYS TO TAP INTO IT 12:00pm - Lunch l:30pm - International Panel of distinguished educators and cultural leaders, including: Clifford Madsen - Panel Chair Wang Cizhao - President, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing Robert Guaspari - Founder, Opus 118 Music Center Joseph Polisi - President, Juilliard School of Music, New York Michael Yaffe - Associate Dean, Yale School of Music 8:00pm - Concert by world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax A List of the Distinguished Music Educators and their Nominators Click here for report of previous Symposium in 2005. Return to home page.