The art of teaching the art
This evening I will be giving the keynote speech at the 2009 Gold Star Awards for Outstanding Teaching ceremony in Cedar Falls. I am deeply honored to be presenting at this event, particularly since my own many wonderful teachers and mentors inspired me to make engagement with young people a major focus of my professional work.
The most notable example of that work is the series of youth concerts I direct each season with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony for 4000 Cedar Valley students. These performances represent the culmination of a variety of in-school programs, and this year featured an inside look at Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. The most popular segment of April’s concerts involved student volunteers – most of whom had a conducting ‘lesson’ with me in their classrooms – leading the orchestra in sections of Tchaikovsky’s Scherzo:
There is no one more qualified to comment on the impact of these programs than the teachers who attend them with their students. Here is an educator’s perspective on our approach:
I am always so impressed with Jason’s professionalism as he interacts with our children. I marvel at the respect that he shows them. He honors all their questions and really excites them about music. I chuckle when, on the day of the symphony, he goes out to the crowd before the concert and stops at each school’s section. The kids think that he remembers each and everyone of them. I appreciate that respectful rapport. The kids smile from ear-to-ear as they clap for him… he’s like a ‘rock star’!! Because Jason has a pre-concert visit with them, I think they feel more involved with the performance because of the ‘bond’ they’ve formed with the conductor. Knowing that for some kids this could be a first and unfortunately last experience with this genre of music, Jason and the CF schools music department do their best to make the opportunity positive so that they’re likely to want to return. Jason’s genuine love of his craft and his desire to educate the young are admirable.
Even though I’ll be paying tribute only to a select group of teachers tonight, I’d like to take the opportunity here to express my gratitude to all the teachers who facilitate our work in the schools and encourage their students’ encounters with symphonic music.
