I had good Music Appreciation teachers in public school.  However,
more important were my parent's love of classical music (and many forms
of popular music and jazz) and the fact that from an early age, I was
given the opportunity to MAKE music: singing, singing in choirs, playing
instruments like piano and recorder, and so on.  We were even given
little lessons in composing.  That, I think, really cinched it for me.
The Music Appreciators became adjuncts to the main business of making
music.  It was good to know about first subjects ("The storm broke forth
in all its fury"), second subjects ("Then came a gentle drizzle"),
development ("Should I take an umbrella?") and recap ("There's that storm
again, but the sun may be peeking through") because that helped us
understand what we were playing.  In elementary school, the choir sang
Ernest Bloch's "America" anthem.  In junior high, we did Messiah choruses,
Mozart mass movements, and the easier Brahms choruses -- not very well,
I admit, but we did them.  My high-school choir did the Poulenc Gloria
the year after it premiered.  We felt we were tackling the Real McCoy,
rather than some stupid little anthem approved by music educators
everywhere.  I think this attitude essential: the idea that the music
matters, becomes a part of your body, even.  That's what I miss about
music programs I encounter in many schools today -- the rare ones that
haven't been co-opted into the athletic department's marching band.

Steve Schwartz