Music In Our Schools: Student Stories on the Impact of Music

In anticipation for Music in Our Schools Month this March, I assigned my choirs an essay with the topic “The Impact of Music in My Life.” Though this is my twentieth year of teaching, I was unprepared to read some of the stories my students submitted. I had anticipated that, though some students would take the assignment seriously, I would have the usual number of perhaps somewhat superficial high school musings about music and life from students who just wanted to complete the assignment; however, the reality was far different. There were no thoughtless assignments submitted. As students poured out their hopes, their longings, their joys, and their pain, I was overwhelmed by how deeply music had not only infiltrated their heads, but it had also penetrated their hearts at a level of which I had been unaware.

The Impact of Music in My Life

“School choir is like a family. It’s a fun and warm place where you won’t be judged.”

“Choir is a place I can go to relax and not be stressed about anything. I can go in there and forget about what’s going on outside of music and just sing and have a good time.”

“I have always enjoyed choir because once you walk into the classroom, you know you are in a judge-free zone.”

“I started getting bullied in elementary school. In high school, it got way worse. I started cutting myself. I gave up. Then I met my choir class. They have become my family. And now I’m in three choirs and singing takes the stress out of my day.”

“When me and my brother were little, my parents got divorced. We would spend every other week with one parent, switching back and forth. I was always sad, but singing in music class at my elementary school made me happy. Now, I don’t associate with my father anymore. He’s not a good parent, but I go into choir and take my mind off of things and focus.”

“At the beginning of the school year, I was assaulted by someone I was close to. This sent me into a depressed and suicidal part in my life. In choir, we were singing about hope, and this helped me see that as long as I had a supporting “family” environment, I would be fine. I just had to remember that my hope is a thing with feathers that is perching in my soul.”

“It all started when my best friend was stabbed to death. That was when I started to do bad things and got in trouble more. So in 8th grade, my friend told me to try choir, so I gave it a shot. And it turned my whole life around. I finally found a ‘why’ to get out of trouble and away from the bad things I had done. I’ve been in choir ever since.”

“Choir has always been my safe place.”

As I continued reading essay after essay, I saw common threads of a sense of belonging, a place of safety, the feeling of family, and the promise of hope. Even the topic of sight-reading made the essays! Now, I am well aware that sight-reading is usually not on students’ top ten list of “Why I Love Choir,” but even as students confessed a love-hate relationship with sight-reading, they admitted that the skill has boosted their self-confidence and helped them become more competent musicians.

How Music Connects Us

There are so many more excerpts I could include, but I would like to share the story of three students in particular who exemplify this bond of family—students whose friendship has been born of shared musical experiences and strengthened through song. I will call them Bryan, Grace, and Diego.

Bryan

When Bryan joined Men’s Choir as a freshman, he had no choral experience. He had come from a middle school that did not offer choir as an elective, and he had never been exposed to solfege. He had never sight-read before, but he was determined to learn. That year, the choir traveled to St. Louis, and Bryan went with us. We sang in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, and Bryan later said it was an experience that changed his life. He began auditioning for every singing opportunity that presented itself: madrigals, district honor choir, state honor choir, solo festival, and a summer choral institute at one of the state universities. He began taking theory every semester where he also honed his piano skills. By the end of his sophomore year, thanks to a supportive family and incredible ambition, he had participated in both district and state honor choirs, earned a one at both regional and state solo festivals, and had been awarded a full scholarship to participate in the aforementioned summer choral institute. I encouraged him to audition on the piano for jazz band to further his accompanying skills and experience being a part of an instrumental ensemble. His junior year, he auditioned for and was accepted to the NAfME National Honor Choir where his clinician was Anton Armstrong. It was another experience that changed his life. Bryan is now a senior. He is president of Choir Council, president of our Tri-M Chapter, and he will be attending St. Olaf in the fall to pursue a degree in music education, and sing under the direction of Anton Armstrong.

Grace

When Grace joined choir her freshman year, she already possessed strong music skills. She was a competent pianist, played the violin in the school orchestra, could sight sing, and showed great skill in the area of part independence through her experience of being a member of the local chapter of Sweet Adelines. Grace is a very intelligent and very driven young lady, and she applied for and was accepted into the International Baccalaureate program at our school. However, due to the nature of block scheduling and the IB schedule, students are usually unable to take band, choir or orchestra. At the end of her first semester in the IB program, Grace found herself very stressed and missing choir and orchestra. I encouraged her to talk to her parents, and together they decided that IB wasn’t a good fit for her. But because of IB, Grace’s academic schedule had been accelerated, so she found herself with many elective opportunities. She joined every choir, including the non-auditioned choirs, and took the theory and vocal music instruction courses offered at school. She began leading sectional rehearsals and taking solos to festival. Grace, too, is now a senior, is Vice President of Choir Council, historian of Tri-M, and wants to pursue a degree in music therapy.

Diego

Diego came to choir with an orchestral background. He had played cello in middle school and was now a part of the high school orchestra. He enjoyed singing and sang bass in choir. Like Bryan, Diego did not come to his high school choral experience with a strong sight singing or solfege background. However, he, too, pushed himself to excel. He continued to sing in choir, play in orchestra, and take theory classes. He took a broadcasting class and began showing an interest in audio production. He then started working with the orchestra teacher who has experience in that field, and now, as a senior, he leads sectionals and plans to pursue a degree in audio production.

Friends for Life

The three of them—Bryan, Grace, and Diego—had taken choir together for some time when they began coming to the choir room after school to hang out before one or the other one had to leave for work. Last fall, the fall of their senior year, I was working in my office when Bryan sheepishly poked his head into my office and asked if I’d like to come sight read with them since they were missing a soprano. I admit I did a double-take, but how could I possibly say no to an invitation such as that? Fast forward to February. The trio comes to the choir room almost every day after school, to chat about their respective days, to discuss their college plans, and yes, to sight sing. All three hold positions of leadership within the choir and are fast friends.

Yesterday, madrigals participated in an all-day choral festival at a local university in which several other high school choirs also performed. After our portion of the concert, we went back to our green room, and I looked over to see Bryan working on roman numeral analysis at the chalkboard, Diego in a friendly arm-wrestling match with a fellow bass, and Grace watching everything with tears standing in her eyes. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was just sad that this is one of the last events of this kind in which she will perform with madrigals. I gave her a hug, then lightened the moment by reminding her that we still had a March concert, multiple festivals in April, a May pops concert, and baccalaureate and graduation to go, not to mention one final choir trip to Washington, D.C., in June! They will be leaving and going their separate ways soon, but I have a feeling they will keep in touch and remain friends for life.

Theirs is not an isolated story. I believe it happens in music classrooms all over the country and all over the world. Each music educator has stories of students whose lives have been changed through this powerful medium of music and through the discipline, teamwork, creativity, and friendships that are fostered in their classrooms. Music education matters. I can think of no greater privilege than to be a part of it.