Since the inception of Mile of Music, music education has been at the very heart of the festival’s mission, and Lawrence has been the driving force behind this mission. Leila Ramagopal Pertl, '87, Instructor of Music Education is the Music Education Curator for the Mile of Music. Her passionate belief that music is a birthright for everyone sets the stage for everything the Music Education Team does. The Music Education Team is made up of 24 Lawrence musician-educators. Some are current students and some are graduates working professionally as teachers and performers.
The Music Education Team provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring the creativity and joy of music making into the community in a very real way. This year there were over 50 hands-on music education events that engaged over 5,000 community members of all ages. Through workshops on samba drumming, hip-hop, songwriting, didjeridoo, mariachi, guitar, salsa dancing, funk band, Balinese gamelan and many more, the Education Team strives toward bringing music to everyone, and spread the inspirational vision of the team, ‘music is a birthright’. Our Lawrence team members consider the four days of sharing their passion for music one of the highlights of the year!
