Band and Orchestra music has a long and rich tradition, and learning to play an instrument is a truly rewarding way to experience music. Studies also continually show an increased level of achievement on standardized testing for students who learn to play an instrument, and that the longer the student plays the instrument, the higher the achievement will be.

Data show that high earnings are not just associated with people who have high technical skills. In fact, mastery of the arts and humanities is just as closely correlated with high earnings, and, according to our analysis, that will continue to be true. History, music, drawing, and painting, and economics will give our students an edge just as surely as math and science will.

-Tough Choices or Tough Times:

The report of the new Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, 2007

Music is one way for young people to connect with themselves, but it is also a bridge for connecting with others. Through music, we can introduce children to the richness and diversity of the human family and to the myriad rhythms of life.

-Daniel A. Carp, Eastman Kodak Company Chairman and CEO

Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training. Musically trained children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, visiospatial processing, mathematics and IQ.

-Dr. Laurel Trainor, Prof. of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behavior at McMaster University, 2006

The things I learned from my experience in music in school are discipline, perseverance, dependability, composure, courage and pride in results.... Not a bad preparation for the workforce!

-Gregory Anrig

President, Educational Testing Service