AT’s music department put on the Music in our Schools assembly on March 2 to promote the music department throughout AT.
March is national music in our schools month which is a month to promote music education within schools.
The Music in our Schools assembly consisted of performances from Wind Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, Concert Choir, Guitar Ensemble, and select pieces from students enrolled in a music production class.
The assembly was put on twice throughout the day during a 3a/3b schedule, and it was also live streamed to be watched online as well.
AT has been putting on the Music in our Schools assembly for close to seven years, always at the beginning of March as a way to kick off Music in our Schools month. It is also put on as a way to give students who are not in music a chance to see a live performance of music they may not be experienced with.
“We need to give out students that are not in music an opportunity to hear a live performance of what is potentially, not necessarily popular music but more music that is focused on more aesthetics,” said Music Department Chair Mark Corey. “Although we will be playing some pop music, but the fact of the matter is that nobody goes to see a live performance that is not pop music. So we started doing the Music in our Schools assembly as a way for students to engage in live music in a more traditional way.”
Not only does the assembly allow students in music to promote what they have learned through being involved in the music education programs offered at AT, but it also opens up a new side of music to the students in the audience who may not be as familiar with the type of music that is performed.
One of the goals with the assembly is to teach students to be active listeners and engage with the music on stage.
“The students very quickly learn to engage in becoming active listeners so we present a very broad set of different kinds of music to all the students at the assembly, this is a concert where they will be sitting down and listening,” said Corey. “It is hard to do, to sit still and really let the sound sort of engage you and your hearing, and let your imagination run wild and listen to music rather than having the music tell you what to feel.”
The Music in our Schools assembly also allows students to see the different music programs that are available to them through the AT curriculum.
The Music in our Schools assembly started through a compromise with administration with the music department wanting to give the students of AT who are not enrolled in a music course a way to hear the types of music that is learned and made in the different music courses.
The assembly is used as a way to promote musical education in AT at the start of a month that is meant to promote music throughout schools.
