MBF wrote:
>>My point, overall, being, that we as teachers, educators and performers, need to not isolate or elevate one style of music over another. Musical style is one of musical choice and personal preference as it refers to ones self expression. A well rounded education involves embracing all styles of music and deciding for oneself what is quality and what is not.
I don't believe anyone has been trying to elevate one style over another. Perhaps you have a preconceived notion about the academic world, but I think the only point we professors have been trying to make is that the body of classical music is a major component of a college education. Upon that firm foundation may rest many other styles of music, and no one is putting them down or calling them second class. We are simply saying that a person would not have a solid college education if he/she had not trafficked with classical music to a significant degree. I am all for students (and others) being well rounded. I teach in a liberal arts college, after all, and it is what we are about! But a person with a liberal arts education can be counted on to have brushed elbows with the classics in a number of fields. I don't know that I agree with you that a person must "embrace" all styles of music. There are some I don't really care to embrace. But I can acknowledge quality in a variety of genres, and that I am happy to do.
|\ Dr. Diane M. Clark, Assoc. Prof./Chair of Music Dept., Rhodes College | 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112, 901-843-3782, dclark@r... () http://gray.music.rhodes.edu/musichtmls/faculty/dclark.html
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