{"id":14405,"date":"2016-10-03T07:06:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T13:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=14405"},"modified":"2016-10-03T07:06:45","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T13:06:45","slug":"montana-ethic-project-lets-harness-the-power-of-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2016\/10\/montana-ethic-project-lets-harness-the-power-of-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Ethic Project: Let’s harness the power of music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Music\"<\/a>

Joey and Libby Early<\/p>

Ilse Mari-Lee, a performer and musical educator, talks about the importance of encouraging music programs in Montana schools.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the 31st chapter of the 32-part video series \u201cThe Montana Ethic Project.\u201d This chapter features Ilse Mari-Lee, the dean of the Honors College at Montana State University in Bozeman and a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, talking about \u00a0on “Music: An Integral Part in the Lives of Montanans.” You\u00a0can watch the whole video below. Here is an edited transcript of how it begins:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Hello. I\u2019m Ilse Mari-Lee. I\u2019ve lived in Montana longer than anywhere else in my life actually. I\u2019ve been\u00a0here for 22 years now after I moved from South Africa, where I was born. I love Montana because of the\u00a0high plains and the open skies and, you know, maybe the Dutch people in Manhattan resonate with me.\u00a0If I go to their farmers market they look like my cousins!<\/p>\n

“But today I would like to talk to you about the power of music.”<\/p>\n

Here is another, edited excerpt from Mari-Lee’s\u00a0presentation<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“We know that music can uplift, and music can make\u00a0you feel good, and music can bring you to tears, and music can be the soundtrack of your life in many,\u00a0many ways. But now we are beginning to understand what music can do as an educational tool. The\u00a0statistics are out there. Rather than have me bore you with numbers, just go to the Music Educators\u00a0National Conference website and look at the statistics at what will happen if a student has the\u00a0opportunity to take music in school. Suddenly their SAT and ACT scores will sky rocket. It\u2019s just incredible\u00a0what a gift it is to the development of the brain, of critical thinking, firing across both hemispheres of\u00a0the brain, with music.<\/p>\n

“Nothing else can do it like music.\u00a0Music provides the enjoyment of actually living in a piece of art. You don\u2019t have to go to a museum to\u00a0experience Beethoven, you go to the symphony orchestra, you listen to it on you mp3, or you play it on\u00a0your cello. You experience the art. This is very important. We know that music can uplift. We know that\u00a0it has great benefits intellectually in the development of our students. As stewards of the land and as\u00a0stewards of the future generations of Montanans, please don\u2019t let that fall away in your school district.”<\/p>\n