Imagine that you're visiting a music classroom for the first time. There is no teacher's desk: instead, a stand and a musical score. There are no rows of desks and chairs: the seating arrangements change for every group to suit its needs. There is no textbook: an ever-changing array of music fills the folders.
It's obvious from these physical matters that you haven't stepped into just any classroom. Musical education demands a very different set of tools. And music students themselves need a very different set of tools to succeed. While the immediate result of a musical education may be vocal or instrumental proficiency, students learn more than good musicianship.
School musicians are pillars of perseverance; discipline; loyalty (to their ensemble, to their director, and to the program); cooperation and collaboration (with other musicians); and independent study, important factors in all fields of study and in an increasingly unpredictable workforce. Some degree of interdisciplinary study is believed to be important by many universities, and candidates with diverse academic backgrounds are valued.
Consider these facts:
- Students with a music major are more likely to be accepted to medical school (66% of applicants are successful) than those with any other academic background. By contrast, only 44% of biochemistry majors were accepted. (1)
- Music participants received more academic honors and awards than non-music students, and that the percentage of music participants receiving As, As/Bs, and Bs was higher than the percentage of non-participants receiving those grades.(2)
(1) Phi Delta Kappan. (2) National Center for Education Statistics, Washington DC. Data compiled by MENC.
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In the last ten years, Woburn Music alumni have won spots in top-ranked schools outside Canada - MIT, Yale, and the Juilliard School among them - along with internationally respected programs here at home in the legal, medical, scientific, humanities, music, and engineering faculties of Canada's top universities (recent grads to U of T, Western, Queen's).
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This last fact has been shown to be true at Woburn, where music students regularly win many awards and are often involved in other leadership and service commitments such as SAC, Robotics, Prefects, and YCA. Within the Woburn Music program, students have the opportunity to participate in ensembles that are in demand across the city and are respected in competitions and festivals.
As the classroom you're imagining fills with dedicated, enthusiastic students, imagine yourself among them.
Choose music »
