As summer starts to wind down and with school starting soon, it’s time to let you know about Texas Music Partners’ Summer Facebook Fundraiser taking place on August 1-9, 2020.

This year we are trying to raise money to purchase necessary supplies to help us move forward with our projects of combining creativity, music and STEM education, better known as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) to help central Texas students learn to think outside the box and find a creative passion.  We are also raising money to purchase supplies for our teachers to go into the schools to teach our courses once it is safe to go back.

We are asking if you would be willing to help with our Facebook fundraising drive starting Saturday, August 1st.  You can do this by either donating a modest amount on TMP’s Facebook page or hosting a Facebook fundraiser of your own benefiting Texas Music Partners.

To find out more about our Facebook Fundraiser and how you can help click here or on the picture.

Thank you for your time and we hope that you will consider participating.

Previously, people believed that education in science, technology, and mathematics was the only way to achieve success. Everyone wanted their children to become engineers and doctors. While that is all well and good, we are living in the 21st century, and things are no longer the same.

Students have the autonomy to pursue degrees in arts, humanities, social sciences, or history. These career paths also present worthwhile opportunities and hold great importance in society.

In today’s world, there is a growing need for well-rounded knowledge fields rather than limiting it to science and technology only.

Studying arts is all about creative thinking, broadening mindsets, and feeding the soul. Unlike technical skills that can be acquired, soft skills are developed over time.

Unsurprisingly, employers and organizations are increasingly looking for individuals with adequate soft skills, which are highly valued in the labor market today.

Thus, engaging with arts is essential to the human experience, allowing people to communicate through artistic expressions.

To read more click here or on the picture.

-Nurturing creativity will help build a strong future workforce-

In the same way that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is fast becoming part of our everyday language, STEAM, which is the integration of STEM and Art, is also rapidly expanding, bringing new opportunities for learners to express their creativity while also learning technical skills. Like STEM education, STEAM education approaches a problem from multiple perspectives with the goal of finding the best solution.

There are many possible STEM and art connections to explore: music can be used to teach math, dance can be used to teach the physics of motion, and painting can be used to teach chemistry. By infusing elements of art and design into STEM, STEAM fosters creativity and innovation, which are the building blocks for entrepreneurship and help fuel new business growth.

STEAM education has been shown to generate interest in learning among students who may not initially be drawn to math and science. In my own work as an educator, it is not unusual to hear a young person say, “I am not a math person,” even though math is all around them and is fundamental to the technology they use every day. STEAM is important because it can engage and motivate students to learn by presenting information in a fun way.

To read more click here or on the picture.

GOOGLE’S NEW SMART TEXTILE TECH LETS YOU CONTROL MUSIC BY PINCHING A CORD

Google has been actively exploring ways to expand virtual interactions beyond touchscreens and voice assistants. After pioneering touch-sensitive denim jackets and hands-free radar phone controls, Google’s research division is now experimenting with weaving technology into fabrics.

Called “E-Textiles,” the concept takes advantage of textile braiding techniques to enable cords to sense gestures. This could potentially allow people to, for instance, control their music by pinching the wire of their headphones or skipping the track by twisting their hoodie’s strings. Google says the research, for now, exclusively focuses on “drawstrings in garments and as wired connections for data and power across consumer devices,” since they’re commonly used.

Instead of using three or more material strands to form a braid, Google’s project involves interweaving a series of electrically conductive textile yarns. When the user performs an action like pinching a wire, these yarns transmit signals that tell the connected device to perform the assigned task. In addition, this design is interlaced with fiber optic strands that can display color and offer visual feedback whenever someone interacts with the cord.

To read more and watch the video demonstration click here or on the picture.

On many digital music services, transitions between songs can vacillate between two unpleasant extremes: ear-splitting ads, and seconds of sterile silence. Some of the world’s best-known media and entertainment brands are calling on Super Hi-Fi, a Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence company, to solve this problem.

Super Hi-Fi’s highly specialized AI technology creates smooth transitions and crossfades between songs. It also can stitch ads, news updates and other audio content into music as it plays. The overall effect can make digital music services sound a lot more like live radio stations.

“Broadcast radio seems like a dinosaur, but it actually has many desirable features for streaming services,” said Zack Zalon, co-founder and CEO of Super Hi-Fi. “There is no technology to bridge those silos, so that’s what we set out to build: an AI with the same depth and dexterity as a human DJ.”

To read more click here or on the picture.

Fiscal year 2020 has passed and it’s time to report on the events of Texas Music Partners in the past year.  It’s a relatively short read so you don’t have to shy away.

To read or download the annual report click here or on the picture.

Listen to innovators, change agents, entrepreneurs, creators, and researchers who all are making big leaps, nudging change, creating differently, or watching what is happening from a unique point of view.  Dr. Gigi Johnson from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music explores with her guests how tech is transforming how we create, collaborate, and create communities around music in a connected age — in our home towns and in communities across the globe.

Guest, Akira Nakano studied at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in both piano and percussion.  Mr. Nakano spent over twelve years working as a video editor, writer, producer, and live event director at TRW Space & Electronics and went on to have 20+ years of video marketing/communications and film producing experience which will dovetail into the LA Inception Orchestra’s Virtual Reality/360 music education program.  Mr. Nakano talks about music, technology and VR technology.

To read more or check out the podcast click here or on the picture.

A Guildford-based company, M:Tech Education, has created a free interactive learning resource called ‘Team Tutti’ that is available to all schools and children immediately.

Hoping to encourage creativity and support music education for children in KS2 during this challenging period, Team Tutti is a self-guided learning experience using animated characters to deliver fun and engaging lesson content whilst promoting a deep dive into composition and technology.

Presented in a series of weekly modules, it aims to deliver a combination of musical concepts, creative challenges and an interactive quiz to assess learning. As the lessons progress, the content becomes more challenging.

The Team Tutti team is available to answer questions via its parent-guided teacher chat feature.  Children can take advantage of the interactive features including videos, animations, audio buttons and the sketchpad sequencer to explore new and exciting music topics.

Weekly lessons discuss musical concepts including…rhythm, tempo, texture, timbre, harmony, melody, pitch, dynamics, structure and basic musical notation.

To read more click here or on the picture.

A wealth of district technology is helping Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools elementary music teacher Eric Joslin to provide his students with fun educational lessons each week.

Joslin, who also teaches band to students in fifth through 12th grade, teaches music to each of the elementary grades. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he no longer has direct contact with these students, but he has worked hard to continue to educate them with 20-minute videos that he creates weekly for each grade.

“I find that I’m really enjoying do that,” Joslin said. “It’s just fun to make them and share the music with the kids.”

Joslin said he has developed a schedule where he spends the first two days of the week scripting the videos and then makes two each day for the rest of the week. When it comes to the lessons, he does incorporate curriculum, but he said he also wants to include singing and dancing fun that reinforces the lesson.

To read more click here or on the picture.

NOTRE DAME PREP STUDENTS USE LOVE OF MUSIC TO STAY CONNECTED DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

With the doors at Notre Dame Prep closed for the rest of the year, there will be no more performances.  But the spring is usually a busy time for students, with performances and senior recitals.

To showcase the students’ talents, starting last month, every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, they’re asked to submit a short music clip of their choice to share with the community.  Although students aren’t able to practice with the full ensemble in-person, they’re making the best of the situation.  Overall, students said this goes to show music is truly a universal language that can unite people on any given occasion, no matter the circumstances.

To read more and see the video click here or on the picture.