I am very seriously considering separating my blog into two distinct parts: those postings that are entirely "personal" and those more geared to the "professional." Whether or not I accomplish that soon will remain to be seen; first of all, I'm trying to come up with a catchy title for the professional (conducting, music, etc.) blog. "Rantings" seems that it will remain the same although I may be limiting access to it so as not to scare away potential employers, players in ensembles, etc.
In my reading today, I came across a very compelling defense for the arts in our schools. The entire article can be found here.
"For me, kids need the arts. They need the arts in order to be healthy. The arts are built into our DNA and power the imagination, self expression, and all sorts of other capacities from cognition to emotion. The kids have it in them and it's our job to provide pathways to explore what is theirs by right, and if their parents cannot afford it, then the public schools must supply it, for the kids will never be whole without it. Student achievement is more than just test scores in ELA and math." Richard Kessler.
My kid is lucky (at the moment at least) because she has parents who believe in the value of arts education and have provided opportunities for her to explore her own talents. But this year she will be changing from the protective walls of the parochial school (where we had her enrolled because of its unique bilingual educational program) to the blackboard jungle of the public system. In many ways she has found her own path to some of the music he enjoys (including knowledge of the operas and Requiem of Mozart). I only have to hope that they don't suck the creative life out of her.
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