We want to wish all of our readers a Happy Purim and a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Remember March is “Music in Our Schools Month” so start your day right by listening to Classical music which has the power to improve your mood, make you smarter, help you work faster with more accuracy, improves health and healing, grows healthier plants in fewer days, increases sales in stores, soothes your mind and preventing crime. If school cafeterias and school buses played Classical Music, the students would be calmer and more focused without violent tendencies.
If anyone has an experience they would like to share with our readers on the benefits of classical music please send it and it will be include it in the April 2009 newsletter!
Madeline’s Musical One Minute Radio Show for March 2009.
March 2009 Feature Question:
How was Classical music an intricate part of Aleksander Borodin’s life?
Click to listen: https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/madelines-one-minute-radio-show/Aleksander Borodin (Nov. 12, 1833- Feb 27,1887) was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the illegitimate son of a Georgian, Prince Gedeanov and a doctor’s wife. He “acknowledged paternity and provided the mother and the boy with a name. The name Borodin was that of a retainer to the Prince Gedeanov.”
http://www.answers.com/topic/borodin-aleksandr-porfirevich
He was raised as a traditional European gentleman “with many of the privileges of nobility” and an education which included musical training and training for the profession of medicine. Borodin trained as a Russian medical doctor, chemist, and composer. He worked as a surgeon for the Second Military Hospital in 1856 (Blom, 1954, p.819). In chemistry he published important papers on aldehydes and amarines and was appointed professor of chemistry at St. Petersburg in the Medico-Surgical Academy in 1862 (Millar & Millar, 1996, p.40). Besides conducting research and teaching chemistry and composing music he helped start a medical school for women in 1872.
Blom, E. (Ed.) ., (1954). Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Frank, M. (1997). The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music. Virginia: Frank Publishers.
Schullian, D. & Schoen, M. (Eds.). (1948). Music and Medicine. New York: Henry Schuman, Inc.
“Melrose People: John Elias ‘Eli’ Kaynor” (Jan 29, 2009) by Carol Brooks Ball from the Melrose Free Press. John Elias Kaynor is both a scholar and a musician playing the cello and piano since the age of six. His “list of academic commitments and accomplishments during his four years at Melrose High School (MHS) is impressive: Student Action Board representative for the Melrose Alliance Against Violence (MAAV); vice president of the Melrose High School National Honor Society; senior representative for the MHS German Club; president of the Latin Club; and captain of the Chess Club. In athletics, Kaynor serves as captain of the MHS Cross Country team and captain of the Outdoor Track team.” His list of music activities is equally as impressive, “Kaynor sits as principal cello with the New England Conservatory (NEC) String Chamber Orchestra; performs with NEC’s Baroque Ensemble String Chamber Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra; performs with the Melrose Symphony Orchestra; and participates in the Senior District Orchestra Festival, the All-State Orchestra Festival and the Eastern States Orchestra Festival.”
“Classical as a Crime Fighter” (Feb 4, 2009) by Cody Shepherd from the spector.com.
“When most people think of crime prevention, most people don’t think of classical music. However, recent research has found that Mozart might be the answer to mugging, Bach the solution to break-ins, and Tchaikovsky the quick fix for inner city shootings.” Jaqueline Helfgott, chair of Seattle University’s Criminal Justice department, “will give a talk at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. about the use of music as a tool in situational crime prevention techniques” on March 13. Her talk is title is “Halt or I’ll Play Vivaldi! Classical Music as Crime Stopper,” is part of a two-year series of lectures at the Library of Congress about music and the brain. Helfgott has spent a great deal of time researching the relationships between popular aesthetic conventions and criminal behavior.”
http://media.www.su-spectator.com/media/storage/paper948/news/
“Exploring the Mind Through Music” (March 27-29, 2009) at Rice University. “The conference will bring together distinguished scientists, composers and musicians to discuss music’s role in human cognition and behavior.”
http://www.rice.edu/mindandmusic/
“World Doctors Orchestra Performs U.S. Debut in Benefit at Severance Hall:Ensemble Performs Health-Care Benefit” (Feb 10, 2009) by Donald Rosenberg from the Plain Dealer Reporter. “Physicians happen to be high on the list of blissfully afflicted, as the World Doctors Orchestra trumpeted Sunday at Severance Hall, where the ensemble made its U.S. debut. Along with exploring great repertoire, these devoted amateurs send the message that everyone deserves quality health care. The orchestra, which raises money through benefit concerts, was born last year in Berlin. Proceeds from its Severance performance will go to the Hugo Tempelman Foundation in South Africa and the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland.”
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/don_rosenberg
“Program Helps Cancer Center Patients Paint Away the Pain” (Jan 28, 2009) by Jeremy Tramer from Georgetown University Newspaper, the hoya.com
“We have vocal concerts out in the lobby, and we have people who come in and play musical instruments. We take them upstairs to the in-patient areas and we knock on a door and ask if they would like some music. One of the women especially plays for people who are at the end of life. She really connects with them. We have nurses telling us that the patients were breathing easier afterward, that their heartbeats were more regulated. It’s really miraculous what the arts will do. “
Question of the Month: What did Mozart think about Mathematics?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on January 27, 1756 and died on December 5, 1791 .His father was a skilled violinist and music teacher and encouraged his young son to play many instruments from the tender age of three; instruments ranging from the violin to the organ. He was one of the greatest prodigy’s ever known and as a child loved to write mathematical equations in the margins of his compositions and wrote on the walls mathematical equations. His sister, Nannerl said, “Wolfgang talked of nothing, thought of nothing but figures” during his school days. By the age of five, Mozart had started composing music. By the age of 6, Mozart and his sister, Nannerl toured Europe with their father playing concerts for the Crowned heads of Europe. If you look at any Mozart score you can turn it in to fractions measure by measure and each one will be equal to the next one.
http://ijustwanttocelebrate.blogspot.com/2008/01/math-behind-music-of-mozart.html
“Benjamin Puchaski, 87, PR Executive and Violinist” (Feb 3, 2009) by Walter F. Naedele from the Philly.com. Benjamin Puchaski entered Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh before World War II, on a music scholarship. His widow Sandra said, “He wanted to pursue life as a concert violinist.” When WW11 began, “the school persuaded him to rethink his future ” and “he persuaded his college to continue his scholarship, though he changed majors.” Mr. Puchaski graduated in 1943 “with a degree in aeronautical engineering, and went straight into designing wartime aircraft for Curtiss-Wright Corp.” His wife said “he continued as a violinist, privately” and played with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra throughout his life. “At Curtiss-Wright, in Columbus, Ohio, she said, Mr. Puchaski not only designed warplanes but became a test pilot for carrier-based airplanes.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20090203_Benjamin_Puchaski
This March if you have a question about the power of music for education and healing … what would your specific question be? Send me an email and share what’s on your mind!
Evidence & Articles supporting the benefits of classical music in your daily life, in the Public School Classrooms, and while doing homework after school:
Mrs. S teaches 7th grade Math at Davis Middle School in Hampton, VA.: “Students perform better on tests and quizzes while listening to Mozart Symphonies in the background..” (Dec 1, 2008)
Mrs. I’s fourth grade reading, writing, and math class in the York County Public School District in Virginia. “During the summer of 2008, I taught students from all the schools in the county. About the middle of the term, I decided to start playing classical music while students worked independently. I noticed that students were more focused on tasks than they had been previously while doing independent work. They also talked to each other less. One day, when I forgot to turn on the music, a number of the students came up to me and reminded me to turn it on. At the end of the term, all the students had reached their academic goals in both subjects, (reading and math) and most had gone way beyond their goals. (Most of the student’s scores went up 15% to 36% higher.) I know that the atmosphere that was created by the classical music contributed a lot to this.” (Sep 24, 2008)
Mrs. C’s high school math class in Colorado: “The students asked for music in class. I told them I wouldplay only Mozart. At first they objected but soon decided they liked the music, because it made them feel better and able to focus more on their lessons. Consequently, not only did the grades get better, so did the discipline. Then the students began requesting Mozart. “
Mrs. G had her fifth grade students listening to classical music, played softly, while the children did creative writing assignments and when they did problem solving in math. It created a calm atmosphere conducive to problem solving and creative thinking as well as an appreciation of music that they might not have experienced. The results were so good that she incorporated this into her teaching for the last five years of her teaching career.
Mrs. JC had her fourth grade reading class of 22 students, listening to Mozart and other classical music during class for the entire school year .The children have consistently made 100’s on tests and work. These are just average students not exceptional.
Mrs. J has 3 children, ages 16, 12, and 8 who have been listening to Mozart and other classical music while doing their homework after school since March 05. She has seen them become more focused and relaxed, finishing homework quicker, with more accuracy which has led to higher grades.
Northside Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia is using classical music in halls and class rooms with very good success. “Classical Music Plays at Norfolk School”