MusicFriends Survey—The Results are In!

Advocacy News, Action, and Alerts
March Is Music In Our Schools Month! (MIOSM) Each year during March, music becomes the focus in schools across the nation. Started in 1973, MIOSM has grown into a national phenomenon, touting the importance of music education while showcasing the value of school music programs from coast to coast. For exciting ideas on how to get students and teachers involved in MIOSM, visit Activity Ideas For MIOSM.

Music In Our Schools Showcase
The Music In Our Schools Showcase is a program designed to spotlight school music programs, recognize superior performances, and to promote the importance of music education during March, Music In Our Schools Month. See what schools across the country are doing to promote music education, watch the finalist videos, and vote by visiting MIOSM Showcase. Voting ends on March 15th.

Why Music? Radio Public Service Announcements
New Public Service Announcements highlighting the many benefits of music education and featuring renowned recording artists Trisha Yearwood and Al Jarreau are now available. You can help encourage your local radio station to play the PSAs! Visit Why Music? for more information.

The National Anthem Project Update
The Finale Is Coming!
From June 14-17, 2007, The National Anthem Project finale will transform the grounds of the Washington Monument into a shining beacon of patriotism and song, a living tribute to our national anthem. If you cannot be with us in person in Washington, DC during that time, please find a way to participate from afar. Music teachers across the country will be holding satellite performances in their cities timed in conjunction with the larger performance in the nation’s capital. Contact your local music teacher to find out if a performance will be taking place in your city, or, gather your friends and loved ones and create your own celebration!

For Your Teacher
Cable In The Classroom
Set your VCR! VH1’s 2006-2007 Cable in the Classroom series will air “Ice-T’s Rap School” commercial-free beginning Tuesday, March 6, 4:00 AM EST/MT/PT, 3:00 AM CT (11:00 PM HST -- Monday night). In honor of Music In Our Schools Month, March’s VH1 Music Studio will feature a program every week, highlighting the entire six episodes of VH1’s hit series “Ice-T’s Rap School.” Rap legend Ice-T teaches a class of 7th and 8th graders from Manhattan’s Upper West Side how to express themselves lyrically using hip hop as an art form, showing skeptical parents and faculty that hip hop can be a positive force in children’s lives. For lesson plans written by MENC members, go to VH1 Music Studio.

For Music Students
A Career Guide To Music Education
Is your child interested in becoming a teacher? A Career Guide To Music Education is a highly valuable resource for the music education career seeker. The free eBook includes everything from resume preparation all the way down to the interview process. Visit the web site for more information.

2008 All-American Marching Band
In conjunction with SportsLink, MENC will nationally recognize the finest 90 student marching musicians from around the nation to formulate the “2008 All-American Marching Band.” Application materials for this once-in-lifetime opportunity are available online. Deadline: April 6, 2007.

Music Vocabulary
Rubato — “Borrowed time,” common in Romantic era music, in which the performer speeds or slows the pace of the piece by imparting flexibility to the notation values and emotion to the overall musical experience. Rubato, even when not notated, is used liberally by many singers for added musical effect by singing at a slightly different tempo than that of the accompaniment. Also known as tempo rubato; in Italian it means “stolen.”