I recieved a surprising amount of pushback from a small minority of students. They didn't want to miss their "core classes." Physics, Geometry, etc. They asked if this concert attendance was mandatory. It was.
Aside from the fact that according to federal law, music is a core subject, there is a deeper point here. As educators we are supposed to be getting our students "college and career ready." But the world is changing so fast that in fact we are training them for jobs that do not yet exist.
Young people have no idea what kind of jobs will be available when they enter the work force in a few years, and neither do we.
But we do know that whatever the job, it will require skills like an ability to collaborate, a creative sense of innovation, and the ability to make decisions quickly, among others. These are all qualities intrinsically developed by the study of music.
So, in fact, I believe music to be not just equally important to my students' "core classes" but actually more important.
So yes, nerds, we're all going to the show. Missing one day of math class isn't going to kill you, and you'll still get that good grade and get into that good college to train for the job that doesn't yet exist. We're going to hear something beautiful and important.
