Talent Show?

 

This morning our story comes from the Howard  County School System.

Our students are so talented! Learn about four of them who have been chosen to participate in @carnegiehall's prestigious National Youth Orchestra programs this summer.

#CelebrateHCPSS 

HCPSS Students Selected to Participate in Carnegie Hall National Youth Orchestra Programs

Briefly, the article is about four HCPSS High School students - - three from Atholton, one from Centennial - - who will be participating in highly competitive summer programs for student orchestral musicians. The part I’m interested in is here in the tweet:

Our students are so talented!

There’s that word again. Talent. Scholars must study, and persevere. Athletes must practice to prevail. But musicians (and other artists) have “talent.”

Why do we do that? Why do we use words that make it seem as though achievement in music is different than in academics or in sports? 

Sure, it’s easy for them.They have talent. 

The potential for interest and success in academics, or sports, or music, or in any of the arts, is within every student. If it is awakened and nurtured that student may connect and work hard to learn more and participate more. Yet too often we think “academics are for everyone” but set aside music as something for those with “talent.”

This is the time of year where we often hear graduation speeches that remind us that it has taken a village to bring us to this moment - -  family, teachers, counselors , coaches - - combined with the hard work of the students themselves. That is equally true for music.

Terry Eberhardt, Music Coordinator for the Howard County School System, knows this. 

“We continue to be awed and inspired by the accomplishments of our young musicians,” says Terry Eberhardt, HCPSS’ Music coordinator. “These accomplishments are a testament to the outstanding ecosystem of private teachers, music educators, and community partners committed to musical excellence. Congratulations to the students, teachers and families.”

• Accomplishments 
• Ecosystem
• Private teachers
• Music educators 
• Community partners
• Families 

When we look at an excellent performance or student composition and chalk it up to talent it is almost as though we are complimenting someone for having blue eyes or for being tall. What is worthy of our attention and admiration is something different. The excellence we are inspired by comes from hard work, passion, engagement, perseverance, and all those parts of the “outstanding ecosystem” that formed a net to support that growth and achievement.

Without that the potential remains untapped. That’s true in academics, sports, and in the arts.

Three cheers to Mr. Eberhardt for telling it like it is. 

In case you’ve feel like you’ve heard me sing this song before - - you have. Here it is from June 10th, 2014:

Got Talent?

Village Green/Town²

What a thrill it is to read good news in the paper these days.

I loved Blair Ames' article in the Sun about "We Here", the graduation anthem created by Long Reach High School students. After you read the article, you can listen to the song itself on YouTube. Whether or not this is the style of music you like best, you've got to admit: these kids have talent.

Talent. What does that mean, anyway? Is talent some magic fairy dust sprinkled on a chosen few at birth? Or is it like the 'talents' in Matthew 25:14-30--worth nothing unless you work to do something with it, worth less than nothing if it lies buried.

Consider this: when kids read well, or do math well we often credit excellent instructors, creative curriculum and teaching methods, but when they do music well we often say, "oh, they're so talented!" as though their knowledge, skills, and mastery came from nowhere. Poof! Like a rabbit out of a hat.

Yes, these students are talented, but they wouldn't be able to do what they love most without educational support. The kids involved with "We Here" didn't come out of nowhere. All were current/former students in hcpss music courses and ensembles. I got in touch with teacher Chris Fyhr to confirm this.

"D'Ante Colbert, Nabil Ince, Nate Lobdell, and Ramsey Carroll are all alumni of my Music Tech program. Nate Lobdell had also previously taken my guitar class. Jocelyn Peña sang with the LRHS Madrigals her junior year. The specifics have escaped me by now, but all of these students did mention that they had previously participated in instrumental music at the elementary and middle school level."

At a time when cuts are being made to music programs in our own school system and elsewhere, I wonder if people just don't make the connection: this is what happens when you have an excellent music program at all levels. It bears fruit in many wonderful ways.

"Talent" isn't enough. You start with talent. Then, you need:

Opportunity

Encouragement

Instruction

Knowledge

Support

Challenge

Mentors

What comes through this process? Self-motivated students who:

identify and achieve goals

create and perform individually and with others

plan

persevere

develop a healthy capacity for enjoyment

Wow. It sounds like these are qualities we hope to instill as we educate students to be "college and career ready."

Vocal/General music, Music Technology class, Guitar class, Instrumental and Choral ensembles were the places where these students brought their talent. They invested themselves, and the Howard County Music program invested in them.

It's amazing. It's awe-inspiring. But it's not magic.

It's education.

(This post was dedicated to Rob White, Howard County Instructional Facilitator for Music, upon his retirement after thirty-six years of service to our students, teachers, and families. Mr. Eberhardt succeeded him.)