Fairfield University's highly successful "Music for an Urban District" receives funding from Dana and ASCAP Foundations

May 6, 2008

Thanks to the generous renewed funding of $50,000 from the Dana Foundation and $2,500 from The ASCAP Foundation, Fairfield University's highly successful Music for an Urban District: Curricular Innovation will continue to bring music innovation to teachers and students in Bridgeport public schools.

Begun in 2003 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Music for an Urban District has allowed faculty from the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Fairfield to mentor Bridgeport teachers while providing year-round professional development, including multicultural and technology workshops, needed equipment, and an intensive weeklong summer institute.

The ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) grant supports the purchase of sheet music for use in Bridgeport classrooms, while funding from the Dana Foundation will provide 12 music teachers with the training, supplies, and instruments necessary to create and deliver an innovative, multicultural music curriculum tailored to the needs and interests of urban students.

With the renewed funds, teachers will participate in two summer workshops, one devoted to core curriculum development and another to instrument techniques, song, and traditions of each culture. Teachers already participating in the program will recruit, mentor and work with new teachers, thus expanding the project by developing interdisciplinary connections and encouraging contributions from different cultures. The ultimate goal of the project is to take the students to the next level in their music education and have a positive impact on their other studies.

The program has already proven its value. Mr. Joe DeGroate, a high school band teacher, used thematic ideas from a professional development workshop to engage his students in a year-long study of Duke Ellington, an initiative that crossed over into English and history classes, where the curriculum included the Harlem Renaissance. Ms. Fran Russell, a middle school general music teacher, started an African drum circle at her school that became so popular she had to hold auditions for it and add practice times before school. Ms. Russell's drum circle will be going to Washington, D.C. for the second year in a row, representing Connecticut in the June 12-15 national showcase on best practices in music education.

Dr. Laura Nash, director of classical music and supervisor of music education at Fairfield University who spearheads the program, says, "Studies show that the study of music has a positive effect on social and psychological growth and encourages learning in all disciplines." Teaching is key, she says, and so a major emphasis is on providing music teachers in Bridgeport with the tools they need.

For Fairfield University, the program helps to fulfill a commitment to serve the wider community through service and academic activities. Dr. Nash says, "Fairfield brings a very personal approach to this. We have a responsibility to educate because everyone deserves to learn."

In the Dana Foundation's publication, Transforming Arts Teaching: The Role of Higher Education, Fairfield's innovative program was one of 24 selected for recognition.

Media Contact: Nancy Habetz, (203) 254-4000, ext. 2647, nhabetz@mail.fairfield.edu

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Vol. 40, No. 257