Tag Archives: Music Education

Primary school teachers mentors program to boost music in state schools

Arts Minister George Brandis and Education Minister Christopher Pyne are soon to announce a new mentoring program, which will partner primary school music teachers with professional musicians and university music educators, so they can hone their skills for the classroom. The $594,000 pilot program has been designed in consultation with prominent music conductor and director Richard Gill and is intended to help close the gap between the quality of music lessons taught at cashed-up private schools and those at states schools, reports news.com.au today.

“There are inequalities all over the country in music education, particularly between private school kids and state school kids,” Mr Gill told News Corp.

Expert advice ... the program has been designed in consultation with music conductor Rich

Expert advice … the program has been designed in consultation with music conductor Richard Gill. Source: Supplied

“There are hundreds of state schools where there are no music teachers whatsoever, and the kids are lucky enough to listen to a CD, the gap is phenomenal.”

Read the news article here – http://www.news.com.au/national/primary-school-teachers-to-get-elite-mentors-to-boost-music-in-state-schools/story-fncynjr2-1227095452462

AMA Receives NAMM Foundation Grant

 

 

THE NAMM FOUNDATION AWARDS AUSTRALIAN MUSIC ASSOCIATION A GRANT TO SUPPORT MUSIC-MAKING PROGRAM

Grant Aims to Increase Exposure to Participatory Music Programs

Melbourne, Australia (September 1, 2014) — The Australian Music Association is one of 21 recipients selected for to receive grant support from The NAMM Foundation. The funding will allow Musical Futures Australia to continue to offer participatory music programs, including teacher training and student participation that increase exposure to music making and its myriad benefits to the Australian community. The NAMM Foundation annually allocates $500,000 in funding to support innovative music learning programs, with the goal of expanding access to active music making.

“NAMM Member support through participation at the NAMM Shows and membership in the association allows the NAMM Foundation to provide funding to worthy community–based music-making organizations,” said Mary Luehrsen, executive director of the NAMM Foundation. “We are honored to support this important program as together we work to expand opportunities for all persons, at every age to know the joys and benefits of making music.”

The program funded by the Australian Music Association is Musical Futures Australia – an approach to teaching and learning that is reshaping the way in which students around the world are engaging with music in school in the classroom.

Musical Futures Australia (MFA) can provide training and continuing professional development for Australian teachers and schools wishing to establish Musical Futures in their classrooms.

The Australian Music Association is excited about the continued development of the Musical Futures concept said CEO, Rob Walker. This new method of engaging students and teachers in the schools where sometimes there was not any music program is market development at the very grass roots. We acknowledge and thank the NAMM Foundation for its foresight”.

“Musical Futures has proven its worth over the last 4 years”, said MFA’s Harvey.  “Now around 30% of the school attending are primary schools, something that was pioneered here in Australia and, schools are reporting better engagement with school music amongst their students, increased numbers of students wanting to take instrumental lessons and significantly more students opting for music in years 9 and beyond where music becomes an elective in most schools.  Teachers also report that they are ‘ reconnecting with their own musicianship’, the very thing that took them into teaching in the first instance.”

This grant is a portion of the National Association of Music Merchant’s (NAMM) annual multimillion-dollar reinvestment into the music products industry. These funds help to provide access to innovative, collaborative programs for all segments of the population. Since 1994, the NAMM Foundation has championed worthy music-making programs around the world with more than 14.2 million dollars in grant-making support.

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About Australian Music Association

 Australian Music Association is the Voice of the Music Products Industry – wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers and associated services for musical instruments, pro audio, print music, lighting and computer music. It’s strives to grow music making in Australia and provide events and programs that stimulate growth and development of the Music Products Industry in Australia.

 For further information visit www.australianmusic.asn.au

 About Musical Futures Australia

 Musical Futures focuses on providing teachers around the world with the training, support, networks and resources to deliver practical, engaging, developmental music programs in the classroom.

For further information visit www.musicalfuturesaustralia.org

About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit organization with the mission of advancing active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs from the international music products industry. For more information about the NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org.

 

International Coalition of Music Associations

The AMA is a member of the International Coalition of Music Products Associations which includes representatives from around the world including associations from USA, China, UK, Germany, India,  Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Slovenia, Ukraine, Portugal, Italy and Spain. We contribute with industry statistics and sharing successful initiatives with the group, as well as meeting annually at the NAMM Show.

Musical Futures Australia

Musical Futures is an approach to teaching and learning that is reshaping the way in which students around the world are engaging with music in school in the classroom.Musical Futures Australia believes music learning works best when young people are making music, and when their existing passion for music is reflected and built-upon in the classroom. The AMA has facilitated significant funding for MFA over the past 4 years to enable the program to gain traction in Australia.

www.musicalfuturesaustralia.org

NAMM National Association of Music Merchants (US)

The AMA is proud to have a close working relationship with NAMM – the International Music Products Association, based in the US. NAMM is the leading music products association and organiser of the highly successful Winter NAMM and Summer NAMM trade shows, which attract many thousands of visitors from around the world. It is also the driver behind highly successful market development programs, several of which they have facilitated for Australia, including funding for the establishment of the Musical Futures program from the NAMM Foundation.

www.namm.org