A reflection from our classrooms on how music education shapes the way students learn long before outcomes are measured.
Kaufman Music Center opened its doors for the first time almost 75 years ago as a community arts school open to anyone, with the belief that music is essential to the human experience. We still lead with that belief in everything we do. From the beginning, we centered our efforts around music because it’s a powerful, accessible and inclusive art form that uplifts and transforms. As Kaufman Music Center has expanded to become one of New York City’s most prominent music institutions, building innovative programs at our community arts school and concert hall, and the nation’s only K-12 public school of its kind to prioritize music education into the school day, we have seen the powerful impact on the lives of students and audience members of all ages and backgrounds. The unique power and promise of music education is still the foundation of everything we do.
When students have musical training from the very beginning, they’re able to tackle things that are unfamiliar and complex, observes middle school science teacher John Moore, who teaches at Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School. They learn to focus, to stay with a challenge, break it down, and return to it over time.
“Music from the early stage helps them pre-amp up academics in giving them strategies and confidence,” he says. “So when they get something new or challenging in a classroom, they have the understanding that they can do it, they can work their way through a problem, whether it’s trying to figure out something in science class or how to play a particular piece.”
Special Music School middle school history teacher Kerri Hook notes that music offers students an additional framework for understanding new material. “Music has an amazing influence on the way that kids learn other subjects because they have a whole other framework to draw from that helps them to make connections and build their understanding across disciplines.”
Fourth grade teacher Abby Rappoport, see this transfer daily. “Learning and working through new pieces of music takes perseverance, patience and self-compassion,” she notes. “It takes feedback and self-reflection to see which areas you want to set as goals to improve.” She draws on the students’ musical experiences to help them grasp concepts across disciplines, from understanding sound and energy in science to recognizing patterns in math and literature.
What emerges from music education is not just technical skill, but a way of engaging with learning itself. “Anyone who engages directly in music knows it is transforming,” says Rappoport. “Making music gives us joy, comfort, engagement in the present moment, deep connection to others, collaboration, a celebration of our humanity, the satisfaction of creating something, and the satisfaction of hearing the fruits of our labors. Every child deserves access to the avenues to engage in music.”
At Kaufman Music Center, we believe something simple and profound: music education is not an extra — it is education, and it belongs at the center of every child’s life.
Kaufman Music Center’s President & CEO Tony Mazzocchi and Special Music School fourth grader Alexander Zhou recently appeared on ABC News to discuss how music can transform public education. Watch the interview.
