On September 9, 2009, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that officials from Everett School District #2 in Mill Creek, Washington did not violate student Kathryn Nurre's constitutional rights to free speech by denying the Jackson High School Wind Ensemble the opportunity to perform an instrumental version of Franz Biebl's Ave Maria at the district's graduation ceremony. This philosophical study addresses implications of this legal case regarding religious music and free speech in public school music programs within the United States. Two questions are investigated: the issue of defining religious music and its relationship to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the issue of whether students have a right to musical expression protected by the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. Conclusions suggest that some music in the Western classical tradition cannot be easily categorized as exclusively sacred or secular, and that performances of such music can be supported on both philosophical grounds and through the precedent of traditional performance practice and usage. Further, when students are allowed a choice of repertoire, schools should foster good citizenship by respecting the free expression of students as long as choices are not unduly influenced by the teacher and such performances occur within the context of a respectful and neutral environment that does not overtly demand a religious response from audience members.