CounterPoint

As the caravan of Presidential candidates withers in number and each one heads for your state, how can the issue of a well-rounded, complete education that includes the arts continue to reach the next President of the United States? I have a few observations to make and hope they will help you feel empowered to ask questions of the candidates as they appear in your state.

Consider this: as we race willy-nilly through adulthood, today’s five year old children are right behind us; they’ll reach retirement age in 2070. If you’re like me, you have little time to consider what our global human society will truly be like so long from now – yet our actions today will absolutely shape our children’s well-being, productivity and life experiences. So it is our responsibility and privilege to help young people prepare today for their future success in work and life.

Why is it that research studies that seem so strong, so convincing, don’t always help us make our case for music education programs?

As advocates, we need to use every tool at our disposal to defend our programs, including the resources on this website. However, arguments that convince one group of the value of music may not affect another group. This is why our advocacy arsenal must include valid research that speaks to many different perspectives, including financial, philosophical and psychological.

As orchestras look to the challenges in their future, we cannot afford to overlook our natural allies. Whether in matters of public policy, the education of our country’s youth, or the deepening engagement with our communities, we must work closely with our partners in other music disciplines and the other arts, both locally and nationally. As we develop our agenda we need to pay increasingly close attention to how our communities are changing, and to their shifting priorities and new ways of engaging with the arts.