Early nonsectarian Sunday Schools provided instruction in spelling, reading, writing, and singing in the years prior to the introduction of free, public education in the United States. This study explores the Sunday school as a laboratory for public school music education. Several of the first Sunday school tunebooks included theoretical…

Choral singing was embraced by many missionaries as a means of attracting potential converts to Christianity. A principal choral singing method in 19th century Britain, Tonic Sol-fa, was introduced by missionaries and others to the Indian subcontinent where it was used as both a pedagogical method and a music notation system. Building on the…

The history of female piano teachers, especially those working with children, remains largely unstudied. Estelle Philleo (1880-1936) is one example from the early 20th century who specialized in group lessons for beginners. A New Woman who never married, she began as a junior piano teacher at the Michigan Female Seminary before graduating in 1902.…

The Tygerberg Children's Choir (TCC) is rooted in South Africa's Afrikaner culture. Its transition to a multicultural children's choir, within a drastically changed political dispensation, furnished a rich subject for a historiographic choir identity investigation. From its establishment in 1972 until 2019, Hendrik D. Loock was the conductor.…

This article is devoted to studying the musical and educational activities of the Yekaterinoslav Theological Seminary in the context of Russian spiritual education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Seminary's role in regional culture is considered in detail, with a specific focus on the development of music education and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the sociocultural roots of folk songs from the perspective of renowned folklorist Henry Glassie. Dr. Henry Glassie holds the rank of Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, where he previously served on the faculty for the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. Primary sources included Glassie's…

Commodore Perry and his "Black Ships" opened Japanese harbors for foreign shipping in 1853 and 1854. Music was important for this Japan Expedition that obtained a treaty between the United States and Japan. Bands and singers performed music for parades, impressive ceremonies, religious services, and entertainment for the sailors and…

The presence of popular music education in schools has expanded significantly in the past two decades within the United States in part due to the expansion of modern band programming. Initially developed and propagated by the non-profit organization Little Kids Rock (LKR), modern band is a term used to describe school-based ensembles that use…

Many of the first public school music teachers in the United States came from the singing school tradition and taught from the same tune books that had been used in singing schools. After the war, renewed interest in education and the establishment of graded schools soon led to the introduction of music series that were designed to serve the…

Zadok Adolu-Otojoka (b. 1932) is one of the prominent music educators and professional performers in the recent history of arts education in East Africa. A Ugandan by nationality, Adolu-Otojoka has served in different professional capacities as music educator, opera singer, folk musician, dancer, composer, and education/culture administrator, at…

In this study I examined archival material relating to music lessons that aired on the "Indiana School of the Sky" during its inaugural season in the 1947-1948 school year. The "Indiana School of the Sky" was an educational radio program intended for use in the public schools and produced by Indiana University students and…

In the 1840s, massed singing classes led by charismatic pioneer music educators such as Joseph Mainzer (1801-1851) sprang up across the United Kingdom. Mainzer was a much respected composer, music journalist, and music educator. Born in Trèves (Prussia), he traveled across Europe and settled in Paris, where he was part of the revolutionary…

The Australian mezzo-soprano Ada Beatrice Bloxham (1865-1956) was the inaugural winner (in 1883) of the Clarke Scholarship for a promising musician resident in the Colony of Victoria to study at the Royal College of Music in London. She was the first Australian to enrol at the Royal College of Music and to graduate as an Associate of the College…

Anthony Johnson Showalter (c. 1853-1924) was a music educator, gospel composer, publisher, and considered a pioneer in gospel music and education in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Showalter is notably mentioned in numerous texts and studies related to gospel music; however, little data has been collected regarding the…

Recognizing the broad potential of singing as a facilitator of moral instruction, academic learning, and societal participation, New Hampshire native Asa Fitz (1810-1878) was committed to advancing music and music education. A prolific publisher, editor, and author, he was involved in the production of dozens of works filled with songs and music,…