Friday's sessions at the convention were preceded by soundchecks for a number of youth ensembles from NYC which also included an elderly saxophone player.  After this, a young songwriter played and sang her own composition that spoke of singing out to let your voice be heard.  These were good preparation for the session to come on Celebrating Diverse Musical Voices.

This session was very interesting as a woman who worked for the mayor of New York City (left above) in a position dealing with funding and promotion of the arts in NYC led a panel discussion with a member of the Berklee faculty (right) and two others who were involved with youth music programs in the city.  Attendees were given a real world view of what is involved in starting and continuing programs in popular music in communities and schools.

Other sessions I attended on Day 2 included case studies in artist development (which is actually more relevant than might be thought to our students and teaching), a session on integrating popular music into existing transfer curriculum and a breakdown of the book Popular Music Education:  Perspectives and Practices which was written by members of the association who were there to elaborate on their chapters in the book. 

Sometimes the unplanned moments on these trips are the best.  As I was venturing out to eat lunch in Greenwich Village, I happened upon Cafe WHA?, another iconic venue where Bob Dylan supposedly first performed in NYC. Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen also performed here along with numerous comedians. Nice to see some of these Greenwich Village establishments are still around and featuring new talent on a nightly basis.