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Today’s Monday Mix:

Why music education is important in the valley:   “…music educators are the best vehicle for delivering this instruction to students. We are proud of our elementary music programs, as well as the middle- and high-school-level choir and band programs. The elementary schools feed into the secondary schools, and so a reduction or elimination of instruction at the elementary level would have a direct effect on the quality of what happens in the later years.”

Choir member gather to sing their old songs: An interesting article about enduring friendships and a love for music that had a lifelong impact on those who were involved in school choir program.

Freddy Fresh Named to Faculty of New Hip-Hop Diploma Porgram at the McNally School of Music:  The McNally Smith College of music has added a music offering in the very “non-traditional” sense of music higher-ed academia.  You can check out the details of their Hip-Hop program here: http://www.mcnallysmith.edu/academics/hiphop.aspx

My view: Community Bands not “frivolous”:  Here is an op-ed piece about using public founding grants to help keep area community bands alive. 

The Sounds of Learning: Studying tthe Impact of Music on Children with Autism:  “The power of music affects all of us and has long appealed to our emotions. It is for this reason that UCLA researchers are using music to help children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), for whom understanding emotions is a very difficult task. This inability robs them of the chance to communicate effectively and make friends and can often lead to social isolation and loneliness.”

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