I’ve been fortunate enough to have had many music educators as my students and they tend to respond very strongly to the book we read in my class, The Art of Possibility by Conductor Benjamin Zander and Psychologist Rosamund Stone Zander. The following video was brought to my attention via one of my students’ blog posts and speaks very specifically to the importance of music as a means to connect across time and across cultures. How important is Music Education? It cannot be measured and those who attempt to put a number to it show how little they understand about what music represents to our culture and being human. Instead of thinking about what we need to cut, we need to think about ways to support those who will write and perform the songs of the future.

Uploaded by TEDxTalks on Aug 12, 2009
Finale: Creating Hemispheric Unity through the Arts. Benjamin Zander conducts the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. How bringing together young, energetic musicians in the pursuit of excellence and the celebration of cultural diversity can serve as a powerful model for creating unity and catalyzing social change.
Presented at the 1st TEDxBoston on July 28, 2009 (http://tedxboston.org).

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