Music brings much more than joy to the heart...

“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.” -- Dr. Laurel Trainor, Director of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, 2006.

“Ask a CEO what they are looking for in an employee and they say they need people who understand teamwork, people who are disciplined, people who understand the big picture. You know what they need? They need musicians.” – Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, 2007

“Schools that have higher levels of student participation in the fine arts receive higher academic ratings and have lower drop out rates.”– Analysis conducted by the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education and the Texas Music Educators

 “Students in high-quality school music programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the school or school district in schools with low-quality music programs.” – Music in Education National Consortium, Journal of Research in Music

“The Georgia Project found that school districts in Georgia that made staffing and funding of their arts programs a priority tended to have higher overall rates of student participation in the arts, and higher rates of arts student retention… the arts are an important factor in achieving academic excellence.” –The Georgia Project: A Status Report on Arts Education in the State of Georgia, 2004