Talking Up Music Education is a podcast from The NAMM Foundation about music education. Recorded live from The 2017 NAMM Show, episode 33 includes interviews with The New York Times columnist, David Brooks, and Kathy Fletcher, director of Turnaround Arts.
“When Plato taught about education, it was the latter of the beauties, and he knew that the arts were very much intermixed with the intellectual and the spiritual,” said David Brooks. He said, ‘just find beautiful things and climb that ladder.’"
The podcast, Forward With the Arts: The Role of the Arts in Connecting us ALL! is a discussion with Brooks and Fletcher about the important work Turnaround Arts does through the strategic use of the arts.
Sound Bites From the Podcast
“Bernie Williams [spoke] about a child at his school who came here from another country, and he wouldn't speak. Then he got one of the leads in Willy Wonka, the school musical, and now you cannot shut the child up. He's got the most beautiful voice, and he's made friends and he's popular. We hear that over and over again. [Music is] another way for people to come out of their shells.” – Kathy Fletcher
“The emotional enticement you get from music or from any performing art is what keeps you vivid and makes your mind open for memorization. Plato was third-century B.C. guy. He said the first thing you should do is introduce [students] to a beautiful face, and then say, ‘Oh, that's beautiful,’ and then say, ‘Well, there's a better kind of beauty, which could be musical beauty or just a beautiful song or a beautiful piece of art,’ and then you could say, ‘Oh, but there's an even better kind of beauty, which is a beautiful idea.’ Then you can teach them about the beauty of an idea; and then there's an even better kind of beauty, which is justice, social justice; and then there's an even better kind of beauty, which is the perfect beauty of the world.” - David Brooks
“I loved the Grand Rally [at The 2017 NAMM Show], and listening to Keb’ Mo’ and Bernie Williams talk about how without music, who knows where [they] would be. Look at what they've contributed to our world. I think we have to keep telling our story, building the evidence, and then get organized to make sure that we don't lose any ground.” – Kathy Fletcher
Talking Up Music Education is a podcast produced by The NAMM Foundation about music education. Host Mary Luehrsen chats with teachers, parents, students and community leaders who share stories about what they are doing to create music learning opportunities. Please download, share and subscribe to keep up with the stories that make a difference in music education advocacy.