Student Voices from Around the Globe Join Together in the World’s Largest Concert® March 10, 2011
Popular Event Sponsored by MENC: The National Association for Music Education Raises Awareness of the Importance of Music in School, Features School Ensembles from Around the World
RESTON, VA (January 26, 2011) — MENC: The National Association for Music Education presents the World’s Largest Concert® (WLC®) in March 2011. The World’s Largest Concert has been a highlight of Music In Our Schools Month® (MIOSM®) since 1985. A sing-along concert linking students around the world through music, the World’s Largest Concert reached an estimated 6 million students, teachers, and music supporters in recent years. This year’s program features themes of U.S. and world cultures, and music’s power to transform lives. The concert will be hosted by Michael A. Butera, Executive Director of MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
A DVD of the program, featuring video recordings of school ensembles from around the nation, is available for purchase from MENC at www.menc.org/wlc. (The school ensembles are listed at the end of this release.) Teachers are encouraged to play the DVD at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 10, and to invite the rest of their school and members of their communities to attend and sing along. However, the World’s Largest Concert can also be shown at other times during March. Local public access channels are also encouraged to request the DVD and broadcast the show on March 10. (Check local listings.)
The 2011 concert program is “El Quelite”, “Make a Song For My Heart to Sing”, “Music and Me”, “Soldiers’ Joy”, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Tue, Tue”, “We the People”, and “When Music Plays”. A free 2011 World’s Largest Concert Teacher’s Guide is available online at www.menc.org/events/view/world-s-la rgest-concert.
Once again, the Hal Leonard Corporation of Milwaukee, WI, provides the vocal and piano accompaniment scores, full performance and rehearsal tracks, and lesson plans for use in preparation for the concert. The recording of “The Star Spangled Banner” was generously provided by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
The WLC DVD packaging will contain certified green components such as certified 100% Green Forestry Practices Board, minimum 10% post-consumer recycled content; biodegradable, recyclable packaging; all vegetable inks; and minimal plastic use.
The MENC members whose school ensembles are featured in the concert are (in order by state):
- Carrie Brooke, North Broward Preparatory School, Coconut Creek, FL
- Mary Jackson, Oak Park Elementary School, Titusville, FL
- Catherine Pickren, Duval Charter School, Jacksonville, FL
- Francesca Veglia-Dansky, Emma E. Booker Elementary School, Sarasota, FL
- Gina Royal, Ben Hill Primary School, Fitzgerald, GA
- Vicki Szillage, General George Patton School, Riverdale, IL
- Patricia White, Gard Elementary School and Brick Elementary School, Beardstown, IL
- Shequez Morman, North Side Intermediate Elementary School, Anderson, IN
- Mary Jo Wyss-Treadwell, Brookside Elementary School, Indianapolis, IN
- Janet Barkley, Holy Name School, Henderson, KY
- Sally Hermann, Bains Elementary School, St. Francisville, LA
- Elizabeth O’Brien, Sligo Middle School, Oakland Terrace Elementary School, Silver Spring, MD
- Nancy Bennett, Willow River Elementary School, Willow River, MN
- Charlene Strand, Paynesville Area Elementary School, Paynesville, MN
- Nylah Beach, Salisbury R-IV, Salisbury, MO
- Karen Spalding, Christian Ott Elementary School, Independence, MO
- Torris Bell, Baker Elementary School, Jackson, MS
- Sharon Pratt, Northeast Lauderdale Elementary School, Meridian, MS
- Susan Wester, Forsyth Elementary School, Forsyth, MT
- Sally Barnes, Guy B. Teachey Elementary School, Asheboro, NC
- Cheryl Burford, Clyde Erwin Elementary Magnet School, Jacksonville, NC
- Justin Harper, Jefferson Elementary School, Shelby, NC
- Samantha Mudge, Sunnyside Elementary School, Fayetteville, NC
- Eleanor Nesbitt, Alamance Elementary School, Greensboro, NC
- Jan Courtney, Cozy Lake School and White Rock School, Oak Ridge, NJ
- Susan Redvanly, Clarendon School, Secaucus, NJ
- Paul Kosak, Birchwood Intermediate School, Melville, NY
- Catherine Leon, William E. Cottle School, Eastchester, NY
- Jennifer Bohach, Powhatan Elementary School, Powhatan Point, OH
- Elizabeth Dick, Western Reserve Middle School, Berlin Center, OH
- Alice Lemle, Greenwood Elementary School, Toledo, OH
- Beth Lewis, Oswayo Valley Elementary School, Shinglehouse, PA
- Barbara Burns, Carolina Springs Elementary School, Lexington, SC
- Christina Mento, H.E. Corley Elementary School, Irmo, SC
- Sally Utley, Forest Heights Elementary School, Columbia, SC
- Cathy Ashanky, Stanley Elementary School, Stanley, VA
- Marsha Barley, Daniel Morgan Middle School, Winchester, VA
- Stephanie Clark, F. W. Kling, Jr. Elementary School, Buena Vista, VA
- Maritza Sadowsky, Jamestown Elementary School, Arlington, VA
- Patricia Deming and Sharon Johnson, Grass Lake Elementary School, Kent, WA
- Anne Uimonen, Neely-O’Brien Elementary School, Kent, WA
- Shana Josephson, Grantsburg Middle School, Grantsburg, WI
- Mary Karls, Stockbridge Elementary School, Stockbridge, WI
- Sharon Tenuta, S.C. Johnson Elementary School, Racine, WI
For more information, visit www.menc.org/events/view/world-s-largest-concert.
MENC: The 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, MENC serves millions of students nationwide through activities at all teaching levels, from preschool to graduate school. MENC’s mission is to advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by all. Since 1907, MENC 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. MENC’s 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. MENC is located in Reston, VA.
Hal Leonard is the world leader in the music print industry. The company produces sheet music, songbooks and method books for piano, voice and all instruments, as well as band, orchestra and choral arrangements, music reference publications, children’s music products, accompaniment audio CDs and instructional and performance DVDs, all totaling over 85,000 distributed titles. With music education as a major focus, Hal Leonard remains dedicated to providing outstanding educational products for music classrooms everywhere.
