Michael O’Bryan and Frank Machos on Creative Education to Shape the Future

Welcome to Tacet No More: where we are asking the questions that need to be asked, and saying the things that need to be said about classical music.

This is a landing pad for positive discussions about our belief in the power of music to better humanity, and we will invite voices - from all sectors - to inspire us and the work we do on and off the stage.

In this episode, our guests are:

• Michael O’Bryan, a practitioner and researcher in the fields of community development, organizational culture, and human well-being. Michael is the founder of management consulting firm humanature, and a Distinguished Resident Fellow at Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation.
• Frank Machos is Executive Director, Office of The Arts & Creative Learning at the School District of Philadelphia. He has a PhD in Creativity from the University of the Arts, served as a music educator before his administrative roles, and is an active saxophonist in the Philadelphia music community.

In the episode, we discuss:

• How to advocate with a united voice for access to arts education in schools.
• The problematic history of public schools that has decentered humanity and prioritized inequitable outcomes.
• Reenvisioning school systems that utilize creativity to support all types of learners and future life paths beyond school.
• How education can see possibility in and partner with AI.
• What opportunities for change in education systems there might be in this moment of volatility.
• How to approach audience development in a way that doesn’t just prioritize building future paying customers.
• Real talk about the problem with allowing some arts organizations to fail while others are bailed out.

Mentioned in the episode:

• Drexel University’s The Wealth + Work Futures Lab
• Humanature
• Philadelphia School District’s Office of Arts and Creative Learning
• Origins of school testing - “The Vexing Legacy of Lewis Terman”
• The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Landmark Pa. school funding case decided: The state’s system is unconstitutional”
• Preview of Khalil Munir’s 1 Pound 4 Ounces
• Resilience Theory

Interact with Tacet No More

Tacet No More is produced by Joseph Conyers, Yumi Kendall, Andrew Mellor, Lindsay Sheridan, and Brenda Hernández Jaimes.

Follow the podcast:

Instagram

X

YouTube