On Wednesday, the Utah Music Educators Association will rally in the Utah State Capitol rotunda during their annual “Day on the Hill.” Their goal: to meet with Utah lawmakers and draw attention to music educators and the important role they play in young students’ development.
“Most kids aren’t going to fall in love with calculus," said Michael Huff, the founding conductor of the Utah Voices. "But they fall in love with the process of being together, and music is one of the most broad and effective ways to get more students involved in some kind of a group, a collective activity that inspires them.”
Huff, who is also a member of the Utah Music Educators Association, thinks music can help students in all facets of their lives.
“It makes them aspirational, that makes them want to be better people just because of the experience of getting to do something great together,” Huff said.
He said there is plenty of solid evidence showing that students who are involved in music outperform their peers in all other difficult academic areas including science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
“When we add the arts, we’re not taking away the STEM stuff, we’re just adding to it,” Huff said.
Some of these added benefits he cites are: increased creativity, better critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and better social and cross-cultural skills than the exclusively STEM-driven students.
“We can see from the research that being involved in the arts really does have a positive effect on all the outcomes so many of us care about,” Huff said.
The Utah Music Educators Association rally will take place Wednesday at noon. For more information visit their website.