As you all know, I’m deeply passionate about arts education for children. It’s how our industry has it’s biggest chance to ride high into the future. Without them, without their passion and love of the arts, we won’t have new stewards of music in 20 years. It’s so necessary for us to band together and demand that arts be an essential part of a child’s destiny. Not only do we know that arts make individuals more well rounded; we know that the arts enhance the creative veins in each child’s body, that it stimulates their minds to think critically and from other perspectives; and we know that if they have access to music and dance from a young age, the likelihood that they will NEED to give back to society when they become adults is far more likely than if they aren’t participating in the arts at a young age. I take it a personal duty to hammer home this message…kids are the future. Force the government’s hand on arts education…force them to bring arts into the spotlight and if public schools fail our kids, then we prop them up from charter schools or other programs (i.e. vouchers) that allow kids to go to other schools where they can have the opportunities at arts and music. This is not a game; this is about the future of opera and frankly the future of our country. When kids are excited to go to music class, they’ll show up to math class. If they graduate, they’re more likely to be good solid citizens, and thus participants in a society who pay taxes and remain responsible to themselves.

And that’s what’s key…being responsible for oneself. If we give kids the tools they need to graduate, to be stimulated to do work, in every possible way, their dependency on others for their own sustenance and livelihood will be lessened. America will be stronger and more secure when that happens. They will want to be their own creative beings, that feel the responsibility themselves to participate and give back to society; they won’t be dragged down or pushed around by others and they certainly won’t seek handouts. Our country is founded on the principle that every person can have the opportunity to freely express themselves, without incursion from others. If we give kids the tools at a young age to have success through as many pathways as possible, we are doing a wonderful service to our kids.

The teachers who dedicate their lives to helping kids succeed and find their individual ways at success through art and music should be commended and rewarded because being a music or arts teacher is an even tougher job than others in today’s time, especially when states are slashing funding from arts across the board. Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota,  a Democrat from Minnesota, and Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican from Nebraska, both should be ashamed…they have been pioneers of budgetary cuts that have hit hard at music and arts programs for public schools and we should be repudiating them. They need to be educated about why arts matter and why they are fundamental, and they should be held to account, now. It’s true that we live in a difficult era, where our country is struggling financially and where Americans at large are desperate to get back on track; cutting the arts at the foundational level for kids is not the solution. I’m not going to lay out my plan for revising the national budget and fixing America’s economic concerns, today. We know that there is abuse in every area of government; we know that their is abuse in the private sector; we know that our greatest days are ahead of us and we’re not there yet. But, this conversation is for another time. My mission is to inform my generous friends and fans that the arts count for so much more than they are given credit and we should be marching together for our kids’ sake.

This session with the great students of La Villa School was the first of many for me. I will be participating in Q and A sessions and masterclasses this year with kids and undergraduate collegiate students and I relish every opportunity.

Take a look at the video below of my class with the wonderful children from La Villa School in Jacksonville, Florida.

Hope you enjoy!