As part of a larger project, I have been reading a book by Harvard scholar Christopher Boyd Brown entitled Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005).  An entire chapter is devoted to the intersection of Lutheran theology, education, and music in the Bohemian settlement of Joachimsthal, a place the book examines in various respects in its many chapters.  I hope this will provide a refreshing look at the shape of the curriculum at that time.

It is available for purchase at Amazon here: https://amzn.com/0674017056.  Don't forget to use Amazon Smile to make your purchase and support your congregation.

"How would I teach music if I didn't have to compromise?"  This question is pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking for some people, but it's not an unimportant question.

David Vandewalker, assistant band director at Georgia State University, as part of a presentation to the Smith Walbridge Directors Clinics, lamented that when he started teaching music, he didn't know the definition of a "music educator:" a "Special events administrative manager for a community-oriented small business with a serious music problem."  This is a hard pill to swallow for students in music education preparatory programs who think they are going to spend more of their professional lives "doing music."  I would estimate that in most cases, only 10-30% of the "job" involves music.

Does it have to be this way?  How would you teach music classically if you did not have to compromise?  Please comment below.