"Music enhances life. When I go to a concert, I am transported into a number of new worlds: the era of the composer, the feelings of the composer, conductor, and musicians, and a world of my own emotional reactions to what I hear. In this stressful world I am soothed and taken away from cares for a while. I am taken to the mountain tops, to the battlefields, to the ecstasy of love and the pain of loss. I cry as well as soar with the notes. I watch children as they sit in awe at the beauty of music or dance to the tunes. Where else can I have such experiences?

If we give up on arts and music in the schools, we will leave our world to a void of pleasure and with no outlet for feeling and expression for many people who can help to fill the world with wonder."