Common Sounds: Music Education for a Shared Society in the Jezreel Valley

Abstract

Over the years, the Music Center at the Jezreel Valley Center for the Arts has initiated many programs for peace education through music.  Developing a child’s identity as an artist and a musician requires long term engagement. When children spend time making music together they have the opportunity to build a shared identity. This article presents past programs and analyzes the difficulties that occurred in their implementation. Conclusions include the need for a candid evaluation of success versus failure, and the need to better define the means and methods for each project’s implementation and evaluation.