Talking Up Music Education is a podcast from The NAMM Foundation about music education. Recorded live from The 2017 NAMM Show, episode 22 includes an interview with Bill Pelto, executive director of The College Music Society.
“[The College Music Society] is an organization about music that draws from every sub-discipline of music - music historians, music theorists, composers, performers, music-education history, ethnomusicology, and music business,” said Pelto. “It is an organization [that] brings musicians from all of those walks of musical life together.”
Pelto, and The NAMM Foundation’s Mary Luehrsen, have a conversation about the NAMM GenNext program and how it helps support and train the next generation of music teachers.
Sound Bites from the Podcast
“The College Music Society is a national and international organization of about seven thousand members. They’re primarily connected directly with university and college music programs- primarily faculty but also administrators and students, [and an] increasing number of students.” - Bill Pelto
“We're very, very proud of our programs. We have music education. Our second largest program is music-industry studies, so that's why NAMM is such an important part for us. We have programs including music products. We have a concentration in music merchandising, and so many of our students are involved directly with the sorts of things that happen at [The NAMM Show]. - Bill Pelto
“Name the student who wouldn't benefit from the experience [at The College Music Society]. Even if they've got a career path that is about being a professional in music that is not specifically related to the industry in terms of products and the like, everyone uses the materials that are presented here.” - Bill Pelto
Talking Up Music Education is a podcast produced by The NAMM Foundation about music education. Host Mary Luehrsen chats with teachers, parents, students and community leaders who share stories about what they are doing to create music learning opportunities. Please download, share and subscribe to keep up with the stories that make a difference in music education advocacy.