We Mean Clean! 2020

The content below was developed by the We Mean Clean project task force for use by music educators and student musicians across Texas. These resources are intended to be helpful in response to COVID-19 concerns and general instrument hygiene practices. For twenty years, the Texas Center for Performing Arts Health (TCPAH) has focused on studying, treating, and preventing various health problems associated with learning and performing music. As a result of this work, the Texas Education Agency now requires that all band, orchestra, and choir directors teach our young artists about vocal, auditory, and musculoskeletal health. With this unique mandate, Texas is taking the lead on encouraging student musicians to practice healthy behaviors that will benefit them throughout life. The NIH is currently funding the TCPAH in order to partner with Denton Independent School District in an effort to help all music educators across Texas take on this new role. Because the TEA requirements include a focus on musical instrument hygiene, this agenda becomes urgent and well-suited for these extraordinary times.

Project Team

Texas Center for Performing Arts Health

• Kris Chesky, Founding Co-Director
• Sajid Surve, Co-Director
• Meghan Taylor, Project Manager
• Nabeel Zuhdi, Research Assistant

UNT-HSC School of Public Health

• Tracy Barnett, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Denton Independent School District

• Jackie deMontmollin, Director of Fine Arts
• Eddy Russell, Assistant Director of Fine Arts
• Amy Woody, Director, Guyer High School Band
• Travis Harris, Director, McMath Middle School Band

UNT College of Music Instrument Repair

• Ann MacMillan, Coordinator and Repair and Education Specialist
• Justin Cooper, Repair and Education Specialist

UNT Mayborn School of Journalism

• Sara Champlin, Health Literacy and Communications

UNT College of Engineering

• Sheldon Shi, Engineering

UNT Texas Academy of Math and Sciences

• Lilia Chesky, President, Dull Roar Student Association

NIH National Network of Libraries of Medicine

• Brian Leaf, Executive Director South Central Region

Center for Disease Control

• Jeffrey W. Mercante, Research Microbiologist, WASH Team, Community Interventions Task Force, COVID-19 Response
• Matthew Dahm, Research Industrial Hygienist
• William J. Murphy, Research Physicist