The following post was written by Susan Gedutis Lindsay, Associate Director for Instructional Design (Online Learning) and author of “See You at the Hall: Boston’s Golden Era of Irish Music and Dance” (University Press of New England, 2004). It was originally posted in the Boston Irish Reporter. She plays Irish traditional music on flute, whistle, and (gasp!) saxophone.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, and HONG KONG – In August, the Malaysian Ministry of Education announced its Education Blueprint (2013-2025), a plan built upon six attributes, one of which is national identity. Earlier in the week, while in Malaysia on an educational/business visit with the Berklee College of Music, I sat beside Tuan Haji Zainudin Abas, Malaysia’s Director of the Department of Curriculum and Arts, at a press conference luncheon at the International College of Music. In informal conversation, he pondered one of his charges under this new plan. He wondered aloud, “How can Malaysia establish formal performance and learning benchmarks in the study of its native traditional music?”
May I humbly suggest: Look no further than Ireland, Minister. Therein may lie your answer.