I Music and the Arts If the level of

I

Music and the Arts

If the level of participation in last weekend’s Bland Concert sponsored by the Rappahannock Lions’ Club is any indication, the state of vocal and instrumental music in the county public schools is dismal. J

A total of five public school students participated, Tucker Rogers playing the saxaphone, and four high school girls singing solos that could hardly be heard over the piano accompaniment by vocal music teacher Melinda Russell.

The other five competitors, one vocalist and four instrumentalists, were students at Wakefield Country Day School, which does not seriously claim to have a music program.

Nevertheless these WCDS students took first place in both instrumental and vocal categories, and their presence was needed to have the contest proceed at all.

It has not been many years since the county had many well qualified participants in both categories from the public schools. It is sad to see this deterioration.

We hope next year that many more public school musicians will plan to participate in this contest, that their music teachers will encourage them by helping them select musical pieces that are suitable for individual performances and by providing them the opportunity to practice in school, and that our singers will learn to project their voices knowing that in many contests they can’t rely on the assistance of a microphone.

In the meantime we congratulate Miss O’Bryon and Miss Nilan on their first prize winnings and hope they will continue their musical studies.

Furthermore, we are concerned that the contest results are indicative of a general disregard for the arts in our public school system and an inability on the part of many school personnel to take advantage of the rich resources of this community to further the arts in public education.

From an elementary school schedule which treats education in art and music as a frill available only to students not in need or remediation, to the failure until this year to offer more than one period of art at the high school, to the failure year after year of the high school to provide advance notice of its plays and art exhibits, the picture emerges of a system that treats the arts as less than essential.

We support the emphasis on the basics in education. However, a truly educated person knows and appreciates the arts. The best door to that knowledge and appreciation is experience in making art. And for many students the arts also provide the door to the rest of knowledge.