A SOCRATIC DIALOGUE WITH LIBBY LARSEN ON MUSIC, MUSICAL EXPERIENCE IN AMERICAN CULTURE, AND MUSIC EDUCATION

This article represents conversations with the American composer Libby Larsen in which she described her beliefs about music, music education, and the dilemmas that our current system faces as we seek to provide relevant and meaningful music education to our students. Our conversation explores such topics as cognitive psychology, music theory, cultural practices and developments in American culture, and current music education practices. Larsen brought up many questions about music education in America, providing some suggestions for the future and posing problems for which the solution may require a great deal of imagination by music education teachers. The article is structured as a Socratic dialogue, in which Larsen constructs an inductively strong argument for making radical changes to current music education practice.