When our students start to feel frustrated by that which doesn’t come easy, by that which is a profound challenge, by that which makes them question their efforts, I can think of no better lesson, no better words than those of Eloise Ristad when she wrote, “…it is such a luxury to know that it is not only permissible to fail part of the time, but an essential ingredient of being human. And we find that the failing is not failing after all, but merely learning.”

Peter Loel Boonshaft, Director of Education
KHS America

About the Author

Dr. Boonshaft is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. Dr. Boonshaft is currently on the faculty of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, where he is Professor of Music and Director of Bands. He has also been named Director of Education for KHS America. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.”

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