Bright Morning Stars Are Rising

This 50th Anniversary Anthology of the Kodály Center at Holy Names University reflects the significant role the Kodály Center has played in implementing Zoltán Kodály's vision for music education in the United States and around the world. The 26 articles included were chosen from more than 125 articles by Holy Names faculty and alumni which have appeared in the Bulletin of the International Kodály Society and the Kodály Envoy (the quarterly publication of the Organization of American Kodály Educators) since 1975. The articles reflect on the basic tenets of Kodály's vision: that music is for everybody, that music literacy is a universal right and not a secret language for a select few, that singing is the most human and universal of instruments, and that folk music and art music are the most beautiful and lasting of musical forms.

The anthology reflects the depth and variety of experience of the authors in their efforts to realize and implement Kodály's vision. It begins with reflections by Sr. Mary Alice Hein, founder of the Kodály Center, on her work to bring Kodály's ideas to American classrooms, along with articles that investigate Kodály's life and thought, and what these mean for us today. It ends with writings of some of the many Hungarian master teachers who have worked with Holy Names faculty to develop higher levels of musicianship, excellent materials and clear pedagogical goals in music teacher education.

Because folk songs provide the basic material for beginning instruction in Kodály classrooms, several articles are included that deal with specific songs or genres, such as The Cuckoo in Mythology and Sea Shanties: The Hardy Survivors. Others describe folk song research projects and efforts to implement Kodály's ideas in other countries, for example, Sweet Betsy from Smithfield and The Kodály Concept Finds Eager Students in Malawi.

Also included are articles on art music (Britten's Noye's Fludde) and musicianship (Good Intonation: Ear or Voice), and on pedagogical issues (Teaching Students to Hear, Sing, Play, Identify and Enjoy the Modes).
About the Author: The mission of the Kodály Foundation for Music Education is the advancement of music education based on the vision of Hungarian composer, scholar and educator Zoltán Kodály, by supporting the Kodály Center founded in 1969 at Holy Names College (now University) in Oakland, California. The Foundation received nonprofit status in 2021, and seeks to support the Center by sponsoring scholarships for study, events and publications. Through its fundraising efforts, it hopes to build an endowment to sustain the Kodály Center in its mission of educating music teachers to build a more musical culture in the United States and around the world.Anne Laskey is a former director of the Kodály Center at Holy Names University in Oakland, CA where she taught pedagogy, practicum and folk music and supervised student teaching in neighboring schools. She is the co-developer (with Gail Needleman) of Holy Names' online American Folk Song Collection. Her previous positions include twelve years as Music Specialist at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco and five years as Assistant Conductor of the San Francisco Boys Chorus. Anne served three terms on the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) board and was the program chair for the 2004 OAKE National Conference in San Francisco. She received OAKE's Outstanding Educator Award in 2008, and HNU's Faculty Award in 2011.Gail Needleman taught musicianship at Holy Names University for twenty years and was the creator of HNU's integrated undergraduate music curriculum, based on the Hungarian model of music education. She was the co-developer (with Anne Laskey) of Holy Names' online American Folk Song Collection website, which is used by thousands of teachers and musicians throughout the world. Gail presented papers and workshops on folk song and musicianship at regional, national and international conferences, and was a keynote speaker at the 2017 International Kodály Symposium in Alberta, Canada. She received the Organization of American Kodály Educators Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.