"Music Works" Makes Partners of NAMM and Sesame Workshop

As part of Sesame Street's upcoming curriculum focus on music and art, Sesame Workshop and NAMM-International Music Products Association launched a multimedia music education initiative, "Sesame Street Music Works," at Winter NAMM 2001 in Anaheim.

The program, which has its roots in a symposium NAMM and Sesame Workshop held in New York in February 2000, will use video, print, the Web and other media to help children make music, help parents and educators understand the role of music in children's development, and create opportunities to use music to help children learn. All materials will be duplicated in both English and Spanish. NAMM is the program's founding sponsor, and the project is receptive to additional sponsors and strategic partners.

At the NAMM convention, Sesame Street's Bob McGrath and Big Bird delighted attendees with a live performance to introduce the new initiative.

"Many parents and caregivers are not aware of the key role music can play in their child's development and the ease with which they can facilitate their child's growth through the use of music," says NAMM's President and CEO Larry Linkin. "This project is NAMM's largest investment in promoting music to help children learn, and we couldn't have chosen a better partner than the creators of Sesame Street and so many other time-tested programs."

Sesame Street Music Works is planned as a three-year initiative, centering on children birth to five years old and their adult caregivers and employing Sesame Street motifs, music, and characters to convey specific themes: that children grow and learn with music; that everyone, everywhere can celebrate with music; that we express ourselves through music; and that children learn about music by enjoying and making music.