Popular “World’s Largest Concert” Has a New Name and Format for 2012
RESTON, VA (October 1, 2011) –The National Association for Music Education announced that the 27-year-old World’s Largest Concert®, a popular highlight of March school music celebrations, will be called the “Concert for Music In Our Schools Month” in 2012. The event will feature format changes instituted in response to requests and input from music teachers.
The Concert video will be available on the NAfME website during the entire month of March, for participation at any time, rather than at the one half-hour designated time as in the past. With participation no longer limited to one specific day and time, teachers can use the Concert for Music In Our Schools Month songs as a month-long performance opportunity for students and a chance to shine the community spotlight on the importance of school music programs. The Concert’s availability online instead of in DVD format will make it more easily accessible to teachers, as well.
In addition, the Concert repertoire was chosen to challenge and appeal to students through middle school and high school. Now music teachers at all levels have the opportunity to participate. The 2012 Concert repertoire includes songs in a variety of languages and instrumentations, with one song including full choreography.
Music In Our Schools Month® (MIOSM®), sponsored each year by NAfME, is the time of year students, teachers, families, and community members focus on school music programs. For more than two decades, the World’s Largest Concert provided an opportunity for schools around the nation and world to sing a 30-minute program together at one designated time during March.
“Members repeatedly advise us that they want to connect with other teachers and students in celebrating the value and power of music in student’s lives. Teachers of older children also wish to add their students’ participation,” said Michael Butera, NAfME Executive Director. “At the same time, ever increasing demands on everyone’s time make a 30 minute one time activity more difficult. Thus we have altered our tradition of the World’s Largest Concert to meet this challenge and forge a new chapter in MIOSM activities – with greater flexibility, more engagement and a better way to fit the concert into our members’ and students’ very busy school schedules.”
The traditional date and time of the concert has been the second Thursday in March at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, and teachers may still choose to participate at that time on March 8, 2012.
The 2012 Concert songs are:
- Discussin’ Percussion – arr. Tom Anderson
- Dona Nobis Pacem – Cristy Cary Miller
- El Vito – arr. Emily Holt Crocker
- Everlasting Melody – Rollo A. Dilworth
- Feel the Beat – Roger Emerson and John Jacobson
- Rock Island Line – arr. Jan Klevberg Day
- The Star-Spangled Banner – 1st verse only, Francis Scott Key, attributed to John Stafford Smith
Downloadable sheet music and rehearsal tracks are available free of charge to NAfME members at www.nafme.org. The Hal Leonard Corporation generously supports the 2012 Concert by providing the sheet music and audio files.
For more information, visit www.nafme.org, or contact Susan Lambert at SusanL@nafme.org or at 800-336-3768, Ext. 311.
National Association for Music Education, among the world’s largest arts education organizations, marked its centennial in 2007 as the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. Through membership of more than 75,000 active, retired, and pre-service music teachers, and with 60,000 honor students and supporters, NAfME serves millions of students nationwide through activities at all teaching levels, from preschool to graduate school. NAfME’s mission is to advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by all. Since 1907, NAfME has worked to ensure that every student has access to a well-balanced, comprehensive, and high-quality program of music instruction taught by qualified teachers. NAfME activities and resources have been largely responsible for the establishment of music education as a profession, for the promotion and guidance of music study as an integral part of the school curriculum, and for the development of the National Standards for Arts Education.
