The music community: Nurturing young musicians #musiceducation

Historically, young musicians always had a chance to listen to, interact with and perform alongside more seasoned musicians. Today there are fewer jam sessions where this might occur and band traditions, like the Art Blakey band, where older leaders routinely hire younger artists. What we do have is plenty of community bands, some of them that perform at a high level. I would like to ask music teachers to encourage their students to perform in these community ensembles. The young artists will learn from some great players and the youthful enthusiasm will a real boost to the local groups. Sure, this will not be for everyone, but the student who can not get enough music would love another opportunity to play with an inspired group.