April06/ 2015

Spreading the Music with Facebook, Twitter, and More!

My goal of 30 blogs in 30 days for Music In Our Schools Month failed, ...

March17/ 2015

Blog Lovin

I've just added myself to Blog Lovin, so you can follow me there as well. Check out other areas of interest and follow their blogs as well! Follow my blog with Bloglov ...

March08/ 2015

Everyone Can Help a Music Student! #MIOSM

I'm not sure if this commercial is universal, but I often hear on the radio ...


For those who have watched Glee, you've seen how apparently simple it is for the group to pass through Sectionals, Regionals and on to Nationals without a hitch. The truth is every step toward Nationals is extremely difficult.

With the television show, Glee, the choir magically makes it to nationals after only two years in existence. The James Logan High School Advanced Concert Choir began at JLHS in 2000 under the direction of Erin McShane. Fifteen years later, still under her direction, they have advanced to the National Competition in New York. This speaks to the degree of difficulty in competition, rather than the quality of this choir. Consider, for example, the JLHS Advanced Concert Choir placed ninth at the state competition in May of 2014, the first time they ever competed at that level. And, in 2013, the same choir received a gold rating (combined score of 90 or higher) at the Anaheim Heritage Music Festival.

And one final difference, the TV show's group, at most, has about twenty members. The JLHS Advanced Concert Choir started with 20 members and now has 90!

Before I continue, I invite you to take a look at some of their performances:



JLHS Advanced Concert Choir at the Winter Concert, 2014 
Across the Vast, Eternal Sky 
Erin McShane, Director



JLHS Advanced Concert Choir, 2013 
The Ground
Erin McShane, Director



JLHS Advanced Concert Choir at the Capitol Music Festival, 2009 
Sicut Cervus 
Erin McShane, Director

So, now as they're perfecting notes and gargling with lemon, could you participate in their efforts by donating to their trip? Of James Logan High School in general, almost 50% of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. That is the average for most districts with the same enrollment numbers throughout California.

What better time than now, during Music In Our Schools Month, to help this one choir continue its success at James Logan High School? The teacher/director, Erin McShane can only do what she does based on the funding she receives from the district and the community. You can make your donation at their GoFundMe site.

The Advanced Choir competes in New York later this spring.

March06/ 2015

Black Stax on #MIOSM

Black Stax is a band I've blogged about quite a bit. You just need to do a quick ...

March05/ 2015

Vitamin String Quartet on #MIOSM

About six months ago, I was searching for instrumental versions of pop/rock music ...

March04/ 2015

Always Sing for #MIOSM

One component of National Association for Music Educators' Music in Our Schools ...

March03/ 2015

L*A*W and Rob Lewis on #MIOSM

I plan on writing about various music in our schools advocacy groups as this month ...

March02/ 2015

8th Grade Popular Music with Matt Warren

I know my goal is to speak about music education in early childhood programs; however, ...

March01/ 2015

Save the Music with VH1

You might know VH1 as MTV's little sister. Of course, MTV once known to be the ...

February20/ 2015

Profiles in Neuroscience: Oliver Sacks

When I think about my passion for music and neuroscience, I realize I owe that ...

January21/ 2015

Calling All Homeschooling Families And Preschool Teachers!

Homeschooling families, are you busy with lesson plans for a child between the ...

January21/ 2015

Music Cognitive? Why Me?

If you’ve read my first blog of 2015 or my about page, you know that music cognition ...

January19/ 2015

Learning Styles: Myth or Fact?

In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned learning styles. This is one of the ...

January12/ 2015

Profiles in Music Cognition: Daniel Levitin

In the field of music cognition as related to early education, there are no competing ...

January10/ 2015

Illiteracy and Third Grade

I was not aware, but there are a significant amount of students who are not able to read by the time they reach third grade, or rather there are a significant number who can’t read ...

January08/ 2015

The Importance of Early Education

During one of my first classes in my master’s program in educational psychology, I interviewed one of the directors of University of Washington’s Institute of Language and Brain Sciences ...

January07/ 2015

What is Music Cognition?

Music cognition might be a new phrase for you. It was for me. I was working toward my PhD in educational psychology while working for an online radio station. I knew I liked psychology, ...

September03/ 2014

Writing Wednesday - Movin' On, Part 2

So, which will it be? California or Illinois? I have always loved Chicago. In 2006 and 2007, I traveled there four times – twice for work and twice for school. It is an absolutely ...

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