Mr. Holland Opus Foundation and Movie
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@MusicRising #Music #Rising, which puts instruments in schools after disasters, whose donations are distributed by the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation , which Felice runs.
MUSIC IN SCHOOL COUNTS Prince played trumpet in the junior high school band
The Mr. Holland's Opus
Foundation has launched a web site at for jeopardized music
programs and underprivileged students seeking assistance,
according to Entertainment Wire. Inspired by the acclaimed motion
picture "
Mr. Holland's Opus
," the foundation that supports school music programs and students
was founded by actor
Richard Dreyfuss
, film-score composer
Michael Kamen
and director Stephen Herek.The site was donated to the foundation
by the New York-based Web design firm radical.media.
After breakfast at Mother's, Marty, Felice and myself took a cab
deep into the French Quarter to the
McDonogh School
, where the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation was presenting the music
program with a slew of instruments.
That's what the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation does, grant
instruments to school music programs
. It was started by Michael Kamen, who composed the music for the
movie. He wanted students to have the same opportunity he had, to
learn an instrument in school, to be fulfilled, to be enriched.
Felice runs the Foundation.
I'd been hearing about all the great work the Foundation had been
doing in New Orleans for two years. And on a site visit a couple
of months back, Tricia had encountered Kelvin Harrison and his
program. She believed they were worthy, they deserved the
instruments. The program had started after Katrina with no
instruments. Mr. Harrison had taught his students on recorders
when the ordered instruments hadn't arrived. But now he was up and
running, he needed more. And that's why we were there.
The environment in the building was completely different from my
educational experience. Instead of sterility, I found vibrancy.
Silhouettes graced the cafeteria, with explanations of each. One
student said his creation was as big as the 24" rims on his older
brother's car. That cracked me up. But I loved the banner on the
far side of the room: "Climb the mountain to college." There were
aphorisms all over the place. Informing the students to pay
attention now, to apply themselves now, to prepare, for otherwise,
in the future, they'd be left out.
And after reading the display about
Black History Month
, learning exactly who Booker T. Washington was, we ascended the
stairs to the third floor, where Mr. Harrison was warming up the
band. Brass members were playing notes. I prepared myself. This
was going to be awful. An endurance test. You know what it's like
being in the vicinity of someone learning an instrument. You want
to support them, but the sound is grating, you can't read, you
can't watch television, you just want the noise to stop.
After quieting everybody down, Mr. Harrison looked at the
assembled multitude and said the band was going to play a couple
of numbers. They were going to start with "Oye Como Va". Oh, I
know it wasn't a Santana original. But that's where I heard it.
Coming out of John "Muddy" Waters' room in the dorm all of
freshman year. I've come to love "Abraxas". I bought it on vinyl.
And have a gold CD. I've got all the MP3s. I love "Oye Como Va". I
was trepidatiously excited. Then the two players on keys rolled
out the intro, the drummers started hitting the accents, the horn
players lifted their instruments to their lips and the band
started to swing!
I couldn't believe it! Fifth graders? My high school's band wasn't
this good. This was good enough for college! The flutes are
wailing. I notice the drummer is a girl. And yes, that tiny figure
behind the keyboard, she's hitting every note. Trombone players
got up and soloed. Tears started coming to my eyes. This was
education! If I could play in a band like this, I'd want to come
to school! And when they finished, there was raucous applause. And
then they lit into Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man". These little
kids, they had soul!
Then we went back to the cafeteria. Where the curtain was parted
and the students saw the sousaphone, the tympani, the other
instruments the Foundation was granting. The excitement, the
whooping, it was not something learned on MTV, it was not the
fakery of the peanut gallery standing in front of the stage at a
televised awards show, it was genuine. They were excited for the
school, for themselves.
Then Felice said they weren't done. That our mission wasn't
complete. We had another item on our agenda.
To honor Mr. Harrison's greatness, he was being awarded a Mr.
Holland's Opus Foundation Teacher Award. Which granted him
$10,000 to spend as he pleased. And that the check would be
delivered in a ceremony, in April, on the stage of Carnegie
Hall.
Kelvin Harrison was in shock. You should have heard the shriek
when the dollar figure was announced. To little kids ten grand is
a million! Kelvin kept rubbing his nose, trying to keep his
composure. But he couldn't. Tears were welling in his eyes.
As they were in mine. A veritable waterworks. Who knew such great
work was being done, especially in an area almost totaled by a
hurricane. And sure, Mr. Harrison wanted to get paid, but it
wasn't about the money. The sense of accomplishment, the glow on
his students' faces was enough.
Eventually, the kids went back to class. School business resumed.
I wandered the halls. I had an urge to stay. The work being done
here was so important. Not only were children being educated, they
were being given hope. Because people cared.
National Children's Folksong Repository Watch the Video
Includes Standing in the Shadows of Motown Producer Alan Slutsky and Lead Vocalist Carla Benson. Learn why you should participate.
Music Makes Your Smarter
Benefits of Music Education
93% of Gallup Survey respondents agreed music is a part of a well-rounded education.
1994 Gallup Survey
Educators and psychologists have documented that music education is an influential tool for cognitive development as well as an indispensable element for a complete education. The following facts validate the important role of music/arts education:
1) There is a direct correlation between improved SAT scores and the length of time spent studying the arts. Those who studied the arts four or more years scored 59 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on math portions of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts.
2) Music lessons have been shown to improve a child's performance in school. After eight months of keyboard lessons, preschoolers tested showed a 46% boost in their spatial IQ, which is crucial for higher brain functions such as complex mathematics.
3) My musical life experiences were just as important to me, in terms of forming my development, as my political experiences or my academic life.
Bugg Elementary in North Carolina is one of 27 schools in North Carolina experimenting with ways of using the arts to improve basic skills. School officials say there is already plenty of evidence that integrating music and poetry into the curriculum stimulates kids' interest in other subjects. "Attendance is up and behavior problems are down," says Jim Fatata, principal of the Bugg School."
1994 Gallup Survey on American's attitudes towards music revealed the following:
- 93% of Gallup Survey respondents agreed music is part of awell-rounded education
- 86% felt all schools should offer instrumental music as part of a regular curriculum
- 88% believe music helps a child's overall intellectual development
- 70% believe school music program participation corresponds to better grades & test scores
Newsweek, April 14, 1997
- Fine motor skills improved dramatically when children studied instrumental music.
- A recent study of 78 preschoolers in California found that individual piano lessons did a better job of improving abstract reasoning skills than computer instruction.
- The US Department of Labor issued a report in 1991 urging schools to teach for the future workplace. The skills they recommend (working in teams, communication, self-esteem, creative thinking, imagination and invention) are exactly those learned in school music education programs.
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