Extract from the Keynote Speech:

MUSIC FOR LIFE: IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND WELLNESS FOR ADULTS

Roy Ernst

Professor Emeritus, Eastman School of Music & Founder of the New Horizons Band Program

The focus of music education is mostly on the pre-school and school-age population, while the adult population is vastly underserved. Although we see many adults participating in community music groups, nearly all of these people developed the basic music skills needed for participation in school. They represent some of the residual benefits of school music education.

We know that during the last 50 years about fifteen percent of high school students in the United States participated in music (and this percentage is probably similar in Canada). That means that about 85 percent of adults need beginning instruction in order to become active music makers. They need an appropriate entry point, or re-entry point for those who participated in high school, but have been inactive as musicians for many years. For most people, the last entry point to learning music in a group setting was elementary school. That doesn’t make any sense. If music educators are to serve more of the adult population, new entry points will need to be created for adults of all ages. That is the main purpose of a New Horizons Band or Orchestra, and the characteristic that sets it apart from other community bands or orchestras.

Adults buying instruments and taking private lessons is not new. But in the absence of an opportunity to play in an ensemble, very few are attracted and many loose interest and discontinue. Before the New Horizons Band started at the Eastman School of Music in 1991, there were typically a small number of adults enrolled in the community education department. Within a few years of starting the New Horizons program, the number exceeded 100 and is now about 180.

The good news for music educators is that adults want music education that is very much like music education in elementary and secondary schools, and given the right opportunity, many will enthusiastically participate. Programs for adults create classic win-win situations.

For adults, and especially retirees, music making provides creative involvement in the world of music. The endless challenges and opportunities for accomplishment and being part of a group support both good mental and physical health. Music helps people make connections to life. They develop close friendships with people who share a common interest. They connect to life in the past by playing music that evokes memories of the past. They connect to the present through the music they are playing now, and they connect to the future through performance goals in the future such as concerts and special events. In short, music can vastly improve quality of life in important ways for many people.

For music teachers, teaching adult students is an ideal experience in many ways. Adults (including older adults) are fast learners because they have a lifetime of listening to music in their minds. They know how a lot of music should sound and they even have refined taste. They just need to be taught how to play it, and in some cases, to read it. They also have a developed value system, so they usually cherish the opportunity to make music. And for music teachers who are not fond of some aspects of school music--like grades, discipline problems, competitions, and dealing with difficult parents--teaching adults is a real joy. Increasing music education opportunities for adults will also require development of a professional network--this conference is an important step in that direction--research, and age-appropriate publications.

When I was thinking about developing a model music education program for retirees in the late 1980s, which became the New Horizons Band, I thought that the participants would enjoy it, but who would come to hear them play? I was so wrong.

New Horizons Bands and Orchestras play for many events in the community, and large audiences are common for important concerts. The spring New Horizons concert at Eastman usually draws well over 2,000 people, with many flying in from all around the country. Grandma or grandpa in the band probably went to every concert that involved their kids or grand kids, and now it’s payback time.

Although I have enjoyed teaching music at all levels for more than 40 years, I have never loved it as much as I do now that I am spending much of my time teaching retired adults. And the value of music education has never been clearer to me than it is now, as I see how it benefits the adult participants.

The papers and presentations presented at this conference have expanded my own knowledge of music education, and they will hopefully help others to see new opportunities for teaching music. Together, they are a much-needed contribution to developing the knowledge base in support of music education for adults.