A cappella charity

Boston Globe: With one voice, they sing for a cause: A cappella groups seek aid for school music programs. Six local groups are using their a cappella vocal powers for good, raising money to support Boston-area school music programs.

The story also provides a really good example of the side effects of unfunded mandates like No Child Left Behind. With no curricular time or money remaining for music lessons, kids never get to experience high school band or orchestra programs. Even choruses, which require little more than sheet music and a rehearsal piano, get left in the dust.

I learned to sing in a church choir, rather than a high school chorus. In fact, it wasn’t until almost my senior year that I admitted to anyone at school that I sang. But it would be a shame to see music totally disappear from the curriculum, especially when, properly taught, it can reinforce math and physics instruction.