Unlocking Potential: RCM Smart Start Symposium Reveals How Early Music Education Shapes Young Minds

It was fitting that there was a cerebral moment in the opening minutes of the Music and The Mind symposium at The Royal Conservatory of Music on October 31. Before starting her presentation, celebrated soprano Renée Fleming directed everyone in Koerner Hall to focus their attention by all singing together in harmony. Fleming was a featured guest and moderator of the day’s first panel, which was focused on neuroscience and its role in early childhood music education. The panel kicked off the event, aptly named Music and the Mind: A Smart Start to Early Childhood Education.

The symposium marked the global launch of the innovative RCM Smart Start program, which is focused on music education for babies and toddlers. Building on over a decade of success with more than 5,000 children in Toronto, it’s now expanding globally, empowering educators everywhere to deliver its innovative, research-driven curriculum.

Almost 400 people – including teachers, daycare operators, academics and business leaders – were in attendance for the symposium, which featured leading figures in neuroscience, education, and the arts. Across the day’s thought-provoking programming, attendees were invited to explore and reflect on music's impact on cognitive and emotional development in children.

Other panelists on the first panel included Dr. Indre Viskontas, renowned neuroscientist and operatic soprano; beloved Canadian children’s musician Raffi; and Alexandar Brose, Michael and Sonja Koerner President and CEO, The Royal Conservatory of Music. Their conversation covered the overwhelming benefits of participatory music education for children as young as 6 months, where babies who make music with other people are shown to build interpersonal trust and focus.

Raffi noted that the first instrument a newborn hears is their parent’s voice, and shared stories from his childhood growing up in a multilingual home in Cairo. As well, the panel discussed how music education continues to benefit children into their teen years, as loneliness and lack of ability to focus are becoming endemic in post-secondary students. “Maybe we need to create a new AI – artistic intelligence,” Raffi mused, to the receptive crowd.

Digital insights on AI and music

The second panel, Digital Innovation & Public Policy: Transforming Music Education for the Future featured Evan Solomon, Federal Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, and Kevin Chan, Global Policy Director at Meta. Joining them were Angela Elster, President and CEO of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Eric Radford, Olympic figure skater, composer, and RCM honorary fellow.

Moderated by journalist Steve Paikin, panelists discussed how AI-infused technology will impact the future of music education. Chan and Solomon both fondly recalled their childhoods studying music at The Royal Conservatory of Music, while Elster, who was instrumental in developing the RCM Smart Start program, believes that new technologies democratize access to this education. Radford, who composed music for his own Olympic medal-winning routines, noted the conflict he would feel using AI to create art, though remained open to new discoveries. Regarding AI, Solomon remarked with optimism, “What’s happening now in the early part of AI, it’s a bit like jazz. We are learning to play along with this technology.”

The day then shifted to Mazzoleni Hall for a live taping of the popular podcast Sing for Science, hosted by musician Matt Whyte. The first pairing of guests saw Raffi being interviewed about his hit song “Bananaphone” alongside Jennifer Stellar, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the director of the Health, Emotions, and Altruism Lab. Next, Renée Fleming spoke with Dr. Sean Hutchins, Director of Research at the RCM, dissecting her famed performance of the Puccini aria O mio babbino caro, and the remarkable vocal technique required.

Importance of play-based learning

The day closed out upstairs in Temerty Theatre, with a presentation: RCM Smart Start: Building Brighter Futures Through Music and Science. There, Dr. Hutchins was joined by Catherine West, the Pedagogy Leader for the RCM, who led the assembled educators through a series of joyful musical exercises demonstrating Smart Start’s ability to engage children through sound  and a science-based curriculum. The teachers in attendance stomped their feet, shook drums, and learned how Smart Start develops cognitive skills which support future academic study.

The Royal Conservatory’s Music and the Mind symposium was an exciting and thoughtful day, filled with insights on science, early music education, technology, and public policy. “If there's one thing that could be taken away from today,” notes Brose, “it’s for people to understand the direct connection between education, music, cognitive development, and preparing our kids for a rapidly changing world.”