My name is Eric Bluestine, and I am currently teaching general music at the Stephen Decatur School in Philadelphia. I am retiring at the end of this year, but I still actively seek out books (and blogs) about music education. I came across your blog this evening (!) and I definitely intend to explore your work, particularly your thoughts on creativity.
I also maintain a blog (thewayschildrenlearnmusic@wordpress.com) and have written a book called The Ways Children Learn Music: An Introduction and Practical Guide to Music Learning Theory.
I’m writing to you because I’m dying of curiosity: Are you, by any chance, related to Rudolf Flesch? If you are, I want you to know that he is one of my heroes!
Thank you for the work you have done in music education.
Hi, thank you for your nice email. I will be checking out your blog and your book – I’m always interested in ideas about music and young children!
Yes, my father was Rudolf Flesch.
It’s about the mixed feelings we music teachers tend to have about measuring our students’ musical growth.
I come out on the side that measuring student achievement can help us teach better, but we have to do it with awareness — very much like the way we measure the readability of our writing!
Your father’s work comes up frequently in this article (and in lots of my writing). I never met your father, but I feel like I know him through his writing. I cannot overstate how profoundly his books have influenced my writing, my thinking, and even, in subtle ways, my outlook on life.
I have recently retired from the School District of Philadelphia, where I taught general music for 35 years. With all that behind, I am free to focus more time on my writing; and I will hear your father’s voice over my shoulder, reminding me to talk about people, using short sentences with many root words.
Music (and Science) For Young Children 
Dear Ms. Connors,
My name is Eric Bluestine, and I am currently teaching general music at the Stephen Decatur School in Philadelphia. I am retiring at the end of this year, but I still actively seek out books (and blogs) about music education. I came across your blog this evening (!) and I definitely intend to explore your work, particularly your thoughts on creativity.
I also maintain a blog (thewayschildrenlearnmusic@wordpress.com) and have written a book called The Ways Children Learn Music: An Introduction and Practical Guide to Music Learning Theory.
I’m writing to you because I’m dying of curiosity: Are you, by any chance, related to Rudolf Flesch? If you are, I want you to know that he is one of my heroes!
Thank you for the work you have done in music education.
— Eric
Hi, thank you for your nice email. I will be checking out your blog and your book – I’m always interested in ideas about music and young children!
Yes, my father was Rudolf Flesch.
Hello Ms. Connors,
Here is a link to an article I wrote that you might find interesting.
It’s about the mixed feelings we music teachers tend to have about measuring our students’ musical growth.
I come out on the side that measuring student achievement can help us teach better, but we have to do it with awareness — very much like the way we measure the readability of our writing!
Your father’s work comes up frequently in this article (and in lots of my writing). I never met your father, but I feel like I know him through his writing. I cannot overstate how profoundly his books have influenced my writing, my thinking, and even, in subtle ways, my outlook on life.
I have recently retired from the School District of Philadelphia, where I taught general music for 35 years. With all that behind, I am free to focus more time on my writing; and I will hear your father’s voice over my shoulder, reminding me to talk about people, using short sentences with many root words.
Take care,
Eric