Thomas J. West Music

Pennsyvania Governor Tom Corbett (R) is halfway through his second year in office, and the cuts that he and his majority friends in the state legislature have made to Pennsylvania public programs last year are now starting to show their devastating effects in many public programs. Corbett's 2011-2012 budget cut $27.3 billion, which included a $550 million cut to public eduatio...

People who know me well know that there is little in the wide world of music that I don't enjoy in some fashion. There is value and notoriety in even the simplest and most hastily constructed musical ideas. I find something to enjoy in every kind of music, even...

I've been a public school teacher for 13 years, and 3 years before that, I served as an instructor on the staff of a community youth band. In that time, I have taught full-time in 4 school districts, taught in 2 different states, and taught part-time in an additional district. I also worked with that youth band for 10 ye...

Thanks to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (No Child Left Behind Law) and Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks, children in America's public schools have had to suffer through regular standardized testing for the past 11 years. ...

In this age of nearly instant information, it is easy to drown in a sea of noise. It's equally easy to be distracted and unfocused. On the flip side, it's now easier than ever to connect with people who not only share common interests, but can help you to chart your own course.

The real power of online networking is that it i...

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett continues to cut public education funding in Pennsylvania, and school districts continue to devalue public education by cutting music programs from their schools. The latest music program under fire is Cumberland Valley School District, which is planning on cutting the band and string programs at their seven elementary schools as part of an e...

This image is making the rounds among my music education friends on Facebook right now. It is well-timed, as Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett (R) is planning to announce more devastating cuts to public education without considering sources of income such as taxing smokeless tobacco and t...

One of the topics that I have pondered the most as a professional music educator is the role of music-making in our modern culture. As a young man in college charting my future, I had an epiphany during a bowl trip with the Penn State Marching Blue Band that this, indeed, this marching and concert band thing, was what I wanted to do. But how does one do that ...

I was a middle school and/or high school band director in public schools in central and southeast Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey for the first nine years of my teaching career. I still teach middle school and high school instrumental music, but I no longer am directly involved on a daily basis with a marching band and concert band program.

Separation from that lifestyle has br...

In America and other cultures, Christmas is one of the most anticipated and revered holidays om the calendar. The festival of light five days after the winter solstice has been a celebration of the days becoming longer since ancient druids in years B.C. There are at least a dozen different celebrations that occur during this season in all manner of religions and cult...