Music is a Form of Beauty

Music stirs the memory of our people. It connects us to our history, our traditions, and our heritage. It is a dominant force in the world, shaping every culture’s senses as well as the values of its children as few other forces can.

It is critically important that our children understand their place in today’s world by making these connections. In the folk songs of Appalachia, in the emotional reverberations of the blues, in the soaring spirituality of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, in the vigor of Aaron Copland’s Rodeo, our children can awaken knowledge of themselves, their community and their world in ways that cannot be duplicated. We want our children to know and understand music precisely because it has intrinsic value on these and many other levels.