Recorder Proposals

This is a letter to the American Recorder Society that includes three proposals and rationale for trying to increase awareness and interest in playing the recorder:

Proposals to the American Recorder Society to Promote an Enhanced Awareness and Appreciation of the Recorder

July 2010

Proposal One: That the American Recorder Society (ARS) actively, deliberately, and rigorously encourage the appropriate state music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations that host solo and small ensemble competitions to include and encourage early music competitors (including recorder soloists, duets, consorts, and early music mixed consorts, as well as early music recorder consorts and mixed consorts as accompanists for solo and small group choral competitions.)

Proposal Two: That the ARS create a competition nationally as well as regionally or statewide for those states and regions that do not have music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations willing to host such competitions. Ideally, these competitions could include scholarships as prizes for encouraging strong, active participation.

Proposal Three: That the ARS and many of its local affiliates offer free annual membership for one or two years to a small, select group of top high school and college students as recommended by their music teachers – selecting strong musicians and inviting them to add playing the recorder to their musical repertoire. In addition, the ARS or its affiliates will either donate (or loan) both soprano and alto recorders to these select students during the time of their membership.

Rationale: I suggest that the targeting of our top high school and college musicians to learn the recorder and/or other early music instruments has the best chance of changing and enhancing the image and awareness of playing the recorder.

Goal: To create an atmosphere where top young musicians view playing the recorder as a legitimate, and challenging instrument, and where other high school students look up to these top musicians and also become interested in learning to play recorders for individual, consort or mixed consort playing.

Origin: In response to ARS’s Play the Recorder theme in March, the ARS successfully extended the World’s Largest Concert annual elementary school concert to include recorder accompaniment.

Problem: Unfortunately, while I applaud this effort, it has the disadvantage like a double-edged sword of reinforcing also the notion that the recorder is basically an elementary pre-band toy music instrument.

Solution: The three proposals above attempt to counter the notion that the recorder is basically for elementary students only, and to create an interest among the best of our young musicians to include early music and the recorder specifically into their music preferences, with the compound effect that these musicians would then serve as role models in creating an awareness and appreciation by their peers and parents.

Key Components:
1. Encourage strong music students to add the recorder to what is already a strong music base, rather than trying to hope that elementary students will continue playing the recorder.
2. Seek to create musical recognition for the recorder by establishing or adding recorder competitions for top high school musicians.
3. Emphasize importance in the minds of high school musicians by attaching recorder abilities to scholarship money for college.
4. Students be actively recruited annually to join local ARS chapters – and framing this invitation as a reward for high musical achievement .
5. That student membership in local ARS chapters be aided by initial suspension of membership fees and help in obtaining access to recorders – particularly beyond the soprano.

Challenges to ARS:
1. Develop working relationship on a state-by-state and region-by-region basis with music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations to set up to include and encourage early music competitors. (Proposal One)
2. Establish early music competitions for high school students in states and/or regions where music teacher associations and/or interscholastic activities associations are not willing or able to do so. (Proposal Two)
3. Establish a national early music competition for high school students based on regional and/or state winners. (Proposal Two)
4. To encourage/direct/facilitate local ARS chapters working with their local public and private high schools to invite top musicians to their local ARS chapter. (Proposal Three)
5. To find financial support to fund scholarships and providing of recorders. (Proposals Two and Three)