On closing music programs and Programs of Choice in the Vancouver Public School System and province-wide

An Open Letter to the Vancouver School Board and the Government of British Columbia.

On the subject of closing music programs and Programs of Choice in the Vancouver Public School System and province-wide.

I write to you today, on "Music Monday" May 3 (link to press release below), to argue against the closure of music programs and Programs of Choice in BC Schools. My name is John Oliver. I am a full-time freelance composer whose works have been commissioned by major Canadian musical institutions, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Canadian Opera Company. My composition, "Five-ring Concerto," was commissioned by Vancouver's Turning Point Ensemble as part of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Cultural Olympiad. As part of my collaboration with Turning Point Ensemble, I am working as an invited guest with young composers at a Metro Vancouver secondary school. This music program is so vibrant that there are over 20 young composers eager to learn from a professional composer. I am also the father of two daughters, aged 11 and 13, enrolled in French Immersion programs in the New Westminster school District and active in the school music programs.

I attended Lord Byng High School from 1973-77. At that time, the Byng Band did not have a string section, but it was a respected band program. When I was growing up, there were no band programs in elementary schools at all, but most high schools had music programs with concert band at the core. Because I had demonstrated music talent early, my family paid for private guitar and clarinet lessons while I was in elementary school, though we had to pinch pennies to do so. It wasn't until I entered the high school band program that I was able to explore other instruments, such as flute, the various saxophones, bass clarinet and percussion.

In grade twelve I designed a special "directed-study" course, investigating music notation history from the earliest examples of music being written down to the most avant-garde and contemporary music notation. I was able to do this because during grades ten and eleven I had taken part in a satellite program for gifted, self-motivated students at Byng called "Self." This self-directed studies program encompassed English, History, and Physical Education. Students were required to design their own course of study in these subjects, picking their own activities and topics for study and essay-writing. We also produced our own theatre productions and planned educational trips.

I owe a great deal to the program offerings at my high school. I became a composer because of the breadth and depth of experience I gained within the Vancouver public school system Programs of Choice.

If the Vancouver School Board decides to close the band and other Programs of Choice, they will do irreparable harm. They will deprive our children of a hopeful, bright, interesting, and engaging school experience. They may save some money this year and next, but we will all pay for it in the end, including the cost of servicing the social ills that come with bored youth.

I believe that the BC government must stop funding private schools and put the savings into the public education system. Why should scarce public dollars fund private schools? Why should the wealthy be able to benefit from the mixture of public and private funding that will allow their private school to afford to offer a music program, while kids in public schools have their music program taken away from them?


Music Monday Press Release:
http://weallneedmusic.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/music-monday-2010-press-release/


[Link to this article using tinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/28wj8ut ]

Tovey on cuts to band programs at Vancouver School Board

Click on the title to read the article. EXCERPT:

The proposal to cease investing in the Band and Strings Program is one that the VSO strongly urges the VSB to withdraw. In many Vancouver schools we have witnessed first hand the benefits of the VSB supported band and strings program.  The option of a user-pay or school funded program does not embrace the inner city child whose only connection with live music may be the saxophone or drum set that has been offered to them. The saving of half a million dollars is paltry when  considering  the life enhancing benefits of this contact with the world of music.  In fact, I doubt this amount would even buy a family home within 10 blocks of the illustrious VSB building on West Broadway. When I heard the actual figure I found it hard to believe so much had been achieved with so little.

I do not bring these remarks to you from a lofty aesthetic perch. I grew up in England in the East End of London – my father died when I was a boy. Without the band and orchestra experience that I benefitted from in the state school education that I received, I would never have been able to compete and succeed in the music profession.  As a single parent my mother could not have afforded the cost of these activities.  I have a personal motive for standing here tonight – I don’t want a kid like me to fall through the cracks because of this proposal.

CALLING ALL PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS - PLEASE WRITE LETTER TO SUPPORT BAND IN VANCOUVER SCHOOLS

Click on the title to read the article. EXCERPT:

[BACKGROUND: The BC government is requiring BC schools to "meet their budget targets" with far less resources than ever before.]

"The budget shortfall affects all school districts in BC. Band programs across the board are on the chopping block. If children don’t have access to art programs in school, many will not have access, as parents can’t afford private lessons. What state is this province going to be in 5, 10, 20 years if children aren’t exposed to quality artistic practices through school? Please pass this call-out onto anyone who has a story to tell, we need them all."

Peter McKnight argues art and music essential in education

Is this wonderful article of today's date, Peter McKnight argues that contemporary sidelining of art and music in public education has a negative impact on society and productivity. He argues that the arts are often viewed as "ornamental" by those governments seeking to raid funding for the arts to fund "more essential" sectors. But, he argues, it is insufficient to put forward evidence – as many defenders of the arts do – that the arts are instrumental in supporting more technical pursuits such as math, science, law and politics.

"This impoverished view of the arts recognizes some of the benefits of an artistic education, but only by obscuring its deeper benefits, by concealing the fact that art helps us to engage, not only with math and language, but with life."

It is well worth the read for those defending the arts to consider elaborating the argument beyond the economic benefits and secondary educational benefits that are so often cited.