We have been working hard on updating the CMIE NewsBlog so it’s more content-friendly. We’re expecting many readers this year to be visiting specifically for info on our Atrium School partnership—so, we added a big button in the top menu that will automatically show only Atrium stories! Reporting on our Atrium School Violin Program will be our two program co-teachers: the esteemed Pennsylvania Ballet music director (and Atrium parent) Beatrice Affron and NEC MIE alumna Dr. Helen Liu, as well as MIENC guided practices consultant Randy Wong (also documentation specialist for Atrium), MIENC Executive Director (and Atrium parent) Larry Scripp, and Atrium music director and NEC MIE alum Mike Glicksman.  

This semester, we also have a robust team NewsBlog contributors, some of whom who have already begun sharing their stories and documentation with you. Jenny Giardina, Justin Stanley, and Diana Ortega are all conducting guided internships this semester at the Josiah Quincy Upper School. Justin is also Documentation Specialist for Larry’s MIE 501 – Introduction to Music-In-Education course, and some of his blog posts will pertain to that. We are also proud to announce our first official guided intern from the Harvard Graduate School of Education Field Experience Program, Ms. Ruyi Lu.

Dear Music-In-Education students, faculty, research associates, and NewsBlog readers alike: 

This is just a quick note to welcome you to our new year, and to thank you for your continued readership of the CMIE NewsBlog. A number of projects, like the NEC Focus School project at The Atrium School (Watertown, MA), are continuing this year, and by reading this NewsBlog, you will learn of their endeavors, successes, and triumphs. Michael Glicksman, who just graduated from NEC in the Spring is now heading up the Atrium School’s music program as its Music Director. Michael is taking the reins of the Atrium project from Jessica Reed, a MIE Concentration alum whom will be moving back to California late this Summer. 

You will also be hearing more from our MIE Documentation Specialists, who will be giving us a bird’s eye view of the discussions and work surrounding Concentration courses and students’ Guided Internships. Though posting to the NewsBlog was a recommended part of the Documentation Specialist internship in the past, it is now a required component. 

We will be enhancing the Digital Portfolio section of our website and also be adding the capability for readers to view Powerpoint slides without having to launch the application. This should save some time and hassle for those who are unable to visit class, yet want to see presentations made by their teachers and peers. 

Finally, this will be the first semester that readers will gain insight into Anne Hallmark’s Teaching Music History class—a MIE cross-listed course. Both myself (Randy Wong, CMIE Program Coordinator) and Charles Morgan (CMIE Documentation Specialist and 2007-’08 MIE Guided Intern Fellowship Recipient) are taking the class; we’re eager to post our experiences and share documentation from the course with you. 

Hope everyone has a great year and be sure to continue reading the CMIE NewsBlog!

-Randy Wong

CMIE Program Coordinator & Research Associate

Director, Guided Internship Programs

A position statement by CMIE graduate student Hermann Hudde has been printed today in El Universal, a Venezuelan newspaper. Hudde, a guitar performance major and CMIE Concentration student, plans to graduate from New England Conservatory in Spring 2008.

Read Hudde’s article, via Google Translate, here:
El Universal Article – September 1, 2007 – Computer-translated (into English)

Read Hudde’s untranslated article here:
El Universal Article – September 1, 2007 – Untranslated (in Spanish)

Since the Spring Semester of 2007 is now well underway, I thought I’d take this time to highlight some new relationships with schools and arts organizations being explored under the guise of the Music-in-Education Guided Internship Program. We have several guided interns pursuing teaching opportunities within the Boston Public School system.

With thanks to George Simpson, we are developing a relationship with the Roland Hayes School (a middle school in Roxbury, near Roxbury Community College), where two of our MIE Guided Interns (Kathryn Wigger & Amanda Romano) will be teaching group harp lessons and coaching a lap harp ensemble. The Roland Hayes School is Boston’s first public school for music. It also serves students from the Madison Park Vocational High School and other nearby schools. A collection of lap, lever, and pedal harps were donated to the Boston Public School system several years ago, and the Hayes School has kept them since; these harps will be the basis of the MIE Guided Internship.

Also, this semester, our partnership continues with the Boston Arts Academy! Haruka Horii, one of our graduate students in the MIE Concentration is back to teach jazz improvisation and is also coaching a jazz string ensemble.

Graduate vocalist Jessica Reed, of the NEC Opera Program, is using her MIE Guided Internship to start an after school choir club at the Hurley Elementary School. Jessica is also the recipient of a NEC Performance Outreach Fellowship.

Finally, this semester is also seeing a reinstatement of internships hosted by National Public Radio’s “From The Top” (FtT) radio show. Bianca Garcia, a FtT alum and current NEC grad student, is helping FtT to design its outreach component such that FtT’s young alums receive training for future artist-residency opportunities.

There are, as always, a number of Guided Interns working in the MIE Research Center … but since most of them are also Documentation Specialists (and thus, NewsBloggers), I figured I’d focus on students whose guided internships are off-campus.

- Randy

Randy Wong is Program Coordinator for the Center for Music-in-Education and Information Architect for the Music-in-Education National Consortium