“I think the most important thing is: we need to make sure that we encourage music, and arts in general, solely for the sake of music and art. Because it’s the other part of human life that needs to be stimulated.
If all we give our kids are “how many AP classes can we cram into our high school schedule, how many activities can we do throughout the day,” and never give them the side of artistic stimulation that allows them to express and process them world around them, we’re really doing them a disservice.
Whether that happens at their school - if they don’t have the time to do it in school band, I know sometimes their schedules get full - outside of school. Let them engage music."
Sean Jefferson is a drummer and music teacher, who is the founder and director of the Rochester Contemporary School of Music. You'll hear him featured on the radio along with other music teachers and students as part of our celebration of "Music in Our Schools Month" throughout March. You can hear our full conversation at the audio link below.
