Response to following statement from the letter headed In support of saving PAM: “It would be very sad, indeed, if this calibre of musical education ends, and this faculty is scattered to the winds.”
Many of the teachers at PAM also teach at other locations. Students and parents can also find a list of outstanding local teachers of piano, strings, woodwinds, voice and theory by logging into the website of the Lancaster Music Teachers Association. This organization, founded in 1970, has a membership of 38 teachers, some of whom are faculty members at local colleges and schools of music while others teach in private studios. The LMTA provides recitals, festivals and competitions for its students and workshops for its member teachers. It is affiliated with the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association and the Music Teachers National Association.
Regardless of what happens with PAM, music education is alive and well in Lancaster County. As the public schools reduce and/or eliminate music education from their curriculums, more parents will be seeking out experienced and qualified private teachers to teach their children how to play a musical instrument.
It’s one thing to take lessons from a music instructor.
It’s quite another to attend a school that can prepare a student for a career in music. If PAM’s doors close, this community will lose that type of instruction and preparation for its youth, not to mention the group classes, seminars, and festivals, the camraderie and friendships developed between students and faculty.