Musicians plead for increased arts funding
source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arts1-2009apr01,0,7805824.story
-
-
- St_Alia_10191
- added this
"Concerned about possible cuts in a tough budget year, the stars (Linda Ronstadt, Wynton Marsalis, and Josh Groban) told their stories in hopes of convincing politicians of the importance of maintaining funding for the arts, which they say is instrumental in helping youths succeed.
Involvement in the arts has been shown to improve overall performance in school. High school students who take four years of art and music scored 85 points higher on their SAT exams last year than their peers who did not, according to data from the College Board.
"Increasingly, people's experience with music is passive," Ronstadt said. "We need to teach our children to sing their own songs and play their own instruments, not just listen to their iPods."
"Including the arts in academics was so profound in getting me to focus on the other elements of my education," Groban, a former student at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, said in between handshakes and photographs.
One of the greatest dangers the U.S. faces is producing a generation lost on the meaning of music, Marsalis said. To demonstrate the role Americans must all play in educating youth, he told a story about jamming with older jazz players.
One of them commented on how loudly Marsalis' group of twentysomethings played. "So we started thinking, 'Why are we playing so loud?' " he said, seeming to still be pondering the question. "Why are we playing so loud?" No one had ever taught them any differently."
Involvement in the arts has been shown to improve overall performance in school. High school students who take four years of art and music scored 85 points higher on their SAT exams last year than their peers who did not, according to data from the College Board.
"Increasingly, people's experience with music is passive," Ronstadt said. "We need to teach our children to sing their own songs and play their own instruments, not just listen to their iPods."
"Including the arts in academics was so profound in getting me to focus on the other elements of my education," Groban, a former student at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, said in between handshakes and photographs.
One of the greatest dangers the U.S. faces is producing a generation lost on the meaning of music, Marsalis said. To demonstrate the role Americans must all play in educating youth, he told a story about jamming with older jazz players.
One of them commented on how loudly Marsalis' group of twentysomethings played. "So we started thinking, 'Why are we playing so loud?' " he said, seeming to still be pondering the question. "Why are we playing so loud?" No one had ever taught them any differently."
-
- groups:
- Music, Art and Style
-
- tags:
- Music, Art and Style, Education, Congress, 9 more
