Like every other choir director I know, I am concerned about enrollment in secondary choir programs post-pandemic.
I’m concerned because short-sighted administrators might reduce teaching assignments or the number of classes offered; this would kneecap the ability of choir directors to do their completely consuming jobs well.
I’m concerned because leaders at local, state, and national levels do not seem to have taken this pandemic to rethink the high-stakes high-requirement high-pressure approach to secondary education that drives 14-year-olds to think about career prep classes instead the experiences that bring them joy and increase their humanity.
I’m concerned because teenagers everywhere are hesitant to enroll in performance classes and extracurriculars, for fear of having to repeat the experience of loss that they had in 2020 and 2021.
I’m concerned because it’s harder to get kids back into music than it is to keep kids in music.
But here’s why I’m not concerned. Music is fundamental to human experience. It is enriching, uplifting, and endlessly rewarding. Making music in school not only increases student investment in their schooling, it also increases their investment in society, in their own lives, in their own humanity.
It’s going to take a while, but they’ll be back. Together, we can weather the intervening time.