Performer-teachers are defined here as performers for whom instrumental teaching is integral to their professional identity. This study explores the careers of performer-teachers who are alumni of a UK conservatoire. Performer-teachers emerge as focused 'career performers' who fall among those experts known as 'accomplished novices', rather than…

We have devised and implemented a DNA fingerprinting module for an upper division undergraduate laboratory based on the amplification and analysis of three of the 13 short tandem repeat loci that are required by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Combined DNA Index System (FBI CODIS) data base. Students first collect human epithelial (cheek)…

The name of Manos Hadjidakis is probably unknown to contemporary musicians and music educators. After all, the Greek composer achieved his international fame back in 1961 when he won an Oscar for his soundtrack of the movie, "Never on Sunday." Numerous other awards followed from England, Krance, Germany, and of course, Greece. After his…

The choir is a community with rules, relationships and purpose. When located in a prison, it takes on the therapeutic function of providing a protected space for expression and a context for reframing, even when its manifest goal is educational. This paper documents the establishment, by a professional musician and music educator, of a multi-vocal…

The commercially successful movie Mr Holland's Opus tells the story of a high school music teacher throughout his thirty year career. It offers the general public a picture of what it is to be a music educator. This article outlines a critical reading of the film from the perspective of a practising high school music teacher. Three broad themes…

This article describes an experience the author had in July. He was the guest of honor at the fortieth class reunion of the 1965 graduating class of Shawnee Mission West High in Overland Park, Kansas, where he taught. These "kids," many of whom were in the band or orchestra, are now fifty-eight years old! Some had already retired but…

In the minds of some music teachers, school bands and orchestras are divided into two camps: the talented and the musically challenged. Considering their conventional methods of introducing rudiments to their young percussionists, it's no wonder that some students struggle. Take the snare drum as a classic example. First, the percussionist must…

The world of classical music, says the writer, has always been international, and has now become truly global. Opera is perhaps traditionally, and most conspicuously, global. At any performance of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, for example, one encounters several different nationalities on stage, back stage, and in the orchestra pit. But the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of the learning experiences of gifted young string players in Taiwan. Nine musicians under the age of 40, who had been accepted into music programs for the gifted, were invited to discuss their experiences and the development of their careers. Thorough interviews were conducted and then…

Over the last forty years, popular music in America has consistently shown great variety, originality, and evolution. While American music has clearly flourished and evolved over the last several decades, it is difficult to say the same for American music education. Although there are important reasons to preserve long-standing traditions of…

Written for juveniles, this biography of Leonard Bernstein, the master musician, conductor, composer, and music educator, provides a resource for students of his life and work. Particular attention is paid to the influences that inspired Bernstein's work, his U.S. education, and his love for teaching. Bernstein's pride in his Jewish heritage is…

The author, long associated with the school jazz movement, called for the teaching of improvisation rather than cued-in transcribed solos. (Editor/RK)

College-level history courses can be improved by including instruction about social history, particularly the leisure time activities of the dominant cultural group. Paris of the late 19th century had the well-deserved reputation of being the pleasure capital of Europe. This reputation developed in spite of the disparity that existed between the…

Through interviews with ten conservatoire students and ten professional orchestral musicians teaching at conservatoires, this paper seeks to establish whether young people regard the orchestral music profession as a worthwhile ambition. If so, are teachers preparing students sufficiently for their careers and passing on the benefits of their…

While most of the students who graduate each year from the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London build performance-based portfolio careers that include some teaching, very few of them enter secondary school class music teaching. This article describes how young musicians' concerns about the career of secondary class music teacher develop as they…