Artists House Music contains a wealth of resources on Music Education Advocacy. Here now is a guided tour through this prism of impassioned ideals on how best to advocate for music education programs. Active participation in music making by communities at large, proactively marketing the benefits of music making for the developing child, promoting the excellence of one’s own program, and leveraging parental support are just some of the many ideas contained within the advocacy resources on Artists House Music.

David Elliot, Professor at NYU, notes in his Music Education and Advocacy article that we must engage more and more people of all ages, in all walks of life, in the joys of musical “particip-action” so that the concept of “advocacy” will include but also go beyond words.

Dr. Elliot states that long before he studied advocacy statements or scholarly discussions about the nature and value of music, he experienced the powers of music through music making and music listening during his childhood and adolescent years. Our future strength and security depends on our ability to combine our best words about music education with our best actions aimed at wider and more varied approaches to extending music instruction inside and outside schools.

Music Education and Advocacy

Danny Rocks, former VP of Sales and Education at Alfred Publishing, believes to save music programs from budget cuts, music educators must be able to communicate effectively, much like an entrepreneur, about the real benefits of music education. Be a highly visible resource in your community and in constant contact with administration and funding groups. Danny believes that it is extremely important to continue to build and nurture your support team at all times.

Sandy Feldstein, music education guru, believes music educators must not only leverage parental support for their programs but to actually fight budget cuts with a great music program. In this interview clip, Sandy provides lots of useful examples that can be applied to any program’s advocacy plan.


John Gilbert from NYU discusses the numerous intellectual and personal benefits that come from a student’s involvement in music making. Dr. Gilbert cites studies regarding the benefits of music making and brain development.

I recommend that music educators take matters into their own hands and become grass roots, proactive public relations and marketing machines for their own school music programs. Music educators must create their own music education advocacy campaign to promote their program’s benefits to students, the school system, and the community at large.

Music Education In America

This is just a small sample of the vast music education advocacy resources available on Artists House Music. For more, type ‘advocacy' in the search box in the upper right hand corner of every page. I hope the ideas presented here will arm you with the tools you need to advocate for your music education program.