Music, Education, and Technology

With more than 14,000 unfulfilled music education positions in the United States today, there are lots of opportunities for aspiring music educators.

Non-conventional career opportunities beyond the classroom also abound. They include starting a private teaching practice; licensing a music education franchise like Music Together or Kindermusik, writing and arranging instrumental or choral music; authoring music education methods and materials for music education publishers; writing articles on new approaches to music education; writing reviews in trade publications for new products and services in the field; serving on music industry boards to forge innovative partnerships; presenting sessions at State and National music education conferences; consulting and advising for music industry manufacturers and publishers who develop music education products but are removed from the daily classroom experience; and the list goes on.

The late Sandy Feldstein, CEO of PlayinTime Productions and a well-known luminary in the field of music education, shared his thoughts on opportunities available to aspiring music educators in this interview filmed in August of 2006.

As Andrew Surmani, Vice President of Alfred Publishing explained in his interview with Artists House Music, there are many kinds of positions a music educator could fill at his company including sales, marketing, finance, production, editorial, and licensing. Click here for Andrew’s interview.

Music educators are skilled, resourceful and very effective communicators. These traits combined with a strong foundation in music and music education is a powerful set of attributes that will open the door to many career opportunities along the way. Be open to these opportunities—in the classroom or beyond—as trained music educator, you have the skills to succeed!

Sandy Feldstein was a legend in the music education industry. He was also my mentor and my uncle. Sandy authored more than 700 musical compositions and method books in all educational areas, and held leadership positions throughout the industry, including the executive Vice President of Alfred Publishing, the President of Columbia Pictures Publications and Belwin Music Inc., the President of Warner Bros. Publications and the President of Carl Fischer Music before devoting his full time to his own company, PlayinTime Productions, Inc. More on Sandy’s life and career can be found here. Sandy helped to mentor and accelerate the careers of so many in the music education industry. He led by example and everyone lined up to be on his team.

In the following interview, shot in August 2006, Sandy discusses different types of career opportunities there are for music educators beyond the classroom including writing, arranging, and consulting. Sandy had a very successful career in the music education publishing industry and offers insight and an entrepreneurial spirit into the possibilities and opportunities available to aspiring music educators today.

For more interview clips with Sandy, click here.