Voices from Around the Globe Will Sing Along with the World’s Largest Concert® on March 12, 2009
Popular Event Sponsored by MENC: The National Association for Music Education with Support from GATEWAY4M and Hal Leonard Corporation Raises Awareness of the Importance of Music in School
RESTON, VA (October 6, 2008) – MENC: The National Association for Music Education will once again produce the World’s Largest Concert® (WLC®) in March 2009. The World’s Largest Concert has been the 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, GATEWAY4M, producer of the animated TV series Wunderkind Little Amadeus® – The Adventures of Young Mozart (distributed by American Public Television and premiering this fall) lends financial support to the World’s Largest Concert. “The overall mission of Wunderkind Little Amadeus is to inspire a strong appreciation of classical music among children and to encourage them to make music an active part of their lives — whether through playing an instrument or singing,” said Peter Will, CEO of GATEWAY4M. “Our mission dovetails perfectly with that of MENC and its efforts to realize the World’s Largest Concert, an extraordinary event which demonstrates in a unique way the power of singing.”
“MENC, as the National Association for Music Education, is always pleased to see the development of high-quality materials that bring the joys of music and music study to life,” said John J. Mahlmann, Executive Director, MENC. “That is why we have decided to work with GATEWAY4M on their show, Wunderkind Little Amadeus, as it airs across the United States. We hope and believe that Wunderkind Little Amadeus, like the World’s Largest Concert, will be a significant element in the delivery of knowledge about music — and excitement about music — to the children of America.”
Once again, the Hal Leonard Corporation of Milwaukee, WI, provides the vocal and piano accompaniment sheet music for use with the concert. “Music has an extraordinary power to make us feel joy, courage, energy, and even sadness, but what’s even better is that music has the power to bring people together,” said Emily Crocker, vice president of choral publications for Hal Leonard. “Hal Leonard supports teachers, students, and music education, and we are honored to be part of MENC’s World’s Largest Concert.”
A DVD of the program, featuring video recordings of school ensembles from around the nation, is available for purchase from MENC. Teachers are encouraged to play the DVD at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 12, 2009, 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. The 2009 WLC will not be televised on PBS. Local public access channels may carry the show (check local listings).
The 2009 concert program is “An American Song,” “Ev’rybody Say Peace,” “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” “J’entends Le Moulin/I Hear the Windmill,” “I’ll Make the Difference,” “It’s Our World,” “The Star Spangled Banner,” “There’s Magic in the Music,” and “Ulili E/The Sandpiper.” A free 2009 World’s Largest Concert Teacher’s Guide, including the vocal and piano music, lesson plans, rehearsal tracks, and more, is available online at www.menc.org/events/view/world-s-largest-concert.
The school ensembles featured in the concert, all of which are directed by MENC members, will be announced in February 2009.
For more information, visit www.menc.org/events/view/world-s-largest-concert.
MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the world’s largest arts education organization, marked its centennial in 2007 as the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. More than 142,000 members and supporters represent all levels of teaching from preschool to graduate school. 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.
GATEWAY4M – more fine music & media GmbH is an internationally-active production and distribution company for innovative music, TV and film projects. The Hamburg-based company is part of the HABIS Group, a venture capital company involved in various media projects. GATEWAY4M is licensing Wunderkind Little Amadeus worldwide on behalf of the LAR Little Amadeus Realisierungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.
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.
