. oS WXQcN RN NN IW Praises Sung For The World’s Largest Concert (NAPS)—Aone-of-a-kind, nationally televised event featuring children of all ages making music together is epected to sound a responsive chord with the eight million people around the world who will actively hear and participate in it via PBS and The Armed Forces Network. The World’s Largest Concert (WLC), held in March, 2001, is a highlight of the nationally-celebrated Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM) sponsored each year by MENC: The National Association for Music Education. “Celebrating MIOSMis a great way to bring the importance of school music to the attention of people in the community,” says Dr. John Mahlmann, MENC Eecutive Director. “We hear from our members, who are music teachers, that when they participate in the WLC, student enrollment in choral programs increases the following year. There’s a lot of new research showing that learning music helps kids in their other studies by increasing spatial 1.Q. The WLC, because it gets kids involved in their school music programs, is an important education event.” This year’s MIOSM themeis Music...Pass it On! “We chose this theme to signify how much music is passed along from person to person and from culture to culture, through oral traditions and through teaching, most often from adult to child,” says MENC President, Mel Clayton. The WLC features a performance taped at the America Gardens Theatre at the Walt Disney World Resort with additional Pass It On! @ ON THE DOWNBEAT—Eight million people are epected to participate in the World’s Largest Concert. video taped segments of young singers from schools around the world. On the day of the broadcast, students gather in their school choir rooms, assembly halls, gymnasiums, lunch rooms and classroomsall across America to sing along with the concert. PBS broadcasts the concert on more than 90 percent of its stations each year. The launch of a new membership program, “MusicFriends,” was recently announced by MENC. The program welcomes parents, community members, and citizens interested in supporting music education. The benefits of the study of music are becoming increasingly clear and more and more citizens are interested in making sure kids have access to quality music programsat school. More information about MusicFriends is available at www. musicfriends.org. Note to the Editor: The world’s largest concert will be held March 8, 2001.
