If there were ever a time to be cutting back on arts and culture in this country, now is just about the worst time to consider it. Recently my wife and I watched Bowling for Columbine, the Michael Moore documentary about high school gun violence, and not so much as a day later the tragic events of the Perry Hall high school shooting unfolded. Add to that, an 8/25/2012 post from Norm Lebrecht highlighting the quote from jazz musician Byard Lancaster used as today’s headline and you have the makings for some profound realization.
Education
Build a Private Teacher Outreach Program You Can Be Proud Of
Bill Eddins posted an excellent article called “The Missing Piece” on 12/13/2009 which espouses the idea that in conjunction with significant financial gifts (think eight figures) “each and every member of the orchestra commits to going into the community and teaching deserving students for four hours a week…for free.” In response to Bill’s piece, I posted a comment suggesting that in order to promote the study of musical instruments (as he suggests) but in the absence of significant financial gifts, there is a great deal of untapped opportunity for orchestras to build meaningful relationships with existing private music teachers…