Music education offers young people a path to resilience, empathy and hope

Right now, it’s far too easy to find another reason to wake up scared, resentful or angry.

The start of a long-slogging election year. The horrifying images that roll in across our social media feeds from the Middle East. The price of literally anything at the grocery store ($7 for a dozen eggs? I’m seething).

Public polling tells us we can’t get along across differences, we don’t trust our government, and we feel more socially isolated than ever. Some suggest that democracy is at stake and our planet is on fire.

Whoa — this all feels very apocalyptic! Perhaps I should do less late-night doom scrolling.

Truth be told, these issues worry me. What kind of planet and human experience are we leaving for the next generation? I think often of my nieces, 19 and 12. I think of all the kids I spend time with as an honorary uncle.

What also worries me is how we’re treating one another, kids and adults alike. I worry about how our daily interactions as humans move us toward or away from cultivating an appreciation for our shared humanity.

This all makes me wonder: What does our world need most from us, right now?

I’ve been thinking about this for some time, working as I have at the intersection of music, education and social impact for 22 years now.

So, I’ve developed a hypothesis:

What’s needed most is more integrity and honesty. More attention to our internal and collective moral compasses. More authentic care. More empathy.

What I mean to say is: more development of our uniquely human qualities of character and more appreciation for our shared humanity.

It turns out that music education is a powerful tool to teach and model this.

Cultivating kids and adults committed to developing strengths of character and finding our shared humanity is part of the personal mission I bring as someone new to Delaware.

On Feb. 5, I began as the new president and CEO of The Music School of Delaware. This role is an incredibly special opportunity to steward the Music School into its next century of impact.

At The Music School of Delaware, we connect with thousands of kids and adults in six locations across Delaware — from Newark and Wilmington to Milford, Seaford, Hockessin, and Lewes. Through music classes, ensembles, lessons, concerts and other creative experiences, we bring people together across differences to listen and learn about themselves, each other, and the world around them.

While it’s true that we teach guitar, violin, voice, orchestra, music history, strings for pre-K kids and more, that’s not all we practice and teach at the school.

I believe that a core part of what we teach and practice at The Music School is developing qualities of personal character.

Not only what it means to be creatively curious and artistically excellent, but also what it means to be kind and resilient. To be selfless. To be a generous helper. To be brave.

What does generosity look like when you’re creating music with other humans? What does bravery feel like when you’re tracing an improvised melody over a complex jazz chart? What do kindness and resilience look like when you try and fail at a new song?

Futurists predict our most in-demand human capabilities to power the 21st century are digital literacy, data literacy, and critical thinking. Let’s make sure our young people index strongly in these areas.

But those capabilities alone are not enough.

Our young people also must be equipped with a sense of right and wrong; with a strong moral compass and commitment to honesty and integrity; with well-developed hearts and souls.

At The Music School of Delaware and in all communities of learning and formation, we must support this type of intentional development of qualities of character: this fostering of an appreciation for our shared humanity. We must talk and think about it.

And — hardest for us all, especially today — we must model it.

Stephen Beaudoin is the new president and CEO of The Music School of Delaware. He has a 20-plus year career in organizational transformation and change in the performing arts and holds a bachelor of music degree from New England Conservatory of Music and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

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