Music Makes Us Young

Classical music stimulates young minds By Pablo Tariman Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 07:53:00 11/10/2008 Music teachers in the cities of Oroquieta and Ozamiz City have urged the return of music lessons in the curriculum of public schools to help stimulate young minds. The teachers issued the call after learning from Professor Reynaldo Reyes that listening to classical music produces more brain cells and makes young minds more active and intelligent. Reyes, a full-time professor at the Towson University in Baltimore, said he was saddened that music was no longer part of the public school curriculum. He said scientific studies showed that making or listening to classical music developed more neurons. Education Undersecretary Fe Hidalgo said music was scrapped from the curriculum to give learners more time to acquire functional literacy, numeracy, orderly thinking and questioning. The Batangas-born Reyes, who graduated with top honors from the Paris Conservatory, noted that Korea, Japan and Singapore used classical music to produce better citizens and promote their countries. Pianists Reyes and Ingrid Sala Santamaria were in the two Mindanao cities recently to perform. Teacher Elizabeth Iyog said the dropping of music from the curriculum resulted in young musical talents not getting the basic training and doing more pop music than classical. Dipolog’s prodigy During Reyes’ visit, concert lovers were treated to an impromptu performance by Mishael Romano, an 8-year-old piano prodigy from Dipolog. Reyes stressed the enduring appeal of classical music. He pointed out that despite all kinds of economic and social upheavals over the years, classical music still managed to keep its universal following. Santamaria said classical music did not require fuel for people to enjoy. People could listen to it at home or go to free concerts like the ones she had been giving in the last seven years. “Classical music is something that will be with us because music makes a Filipino a total person in mind, heart and soul,” she said. Reyes and Santamaria have logged a total of 333 concerts from Aparri to Davao, playing an average of two to six concertos per performance. The only places the pianists have not yet visited are Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Batanes.