April 29, 2009 marked the date of the first Quincy Jones Music Consortium. The summit featured about 50 outstanding music educators and organizations from around the country. I represented The Berklee City Music Network located in Los Angeles at A Place Called Home. Many have asked me if Q was really involved - or was he there only in name. He certainly was involved! He sat amongst the guests and contributed comments and appreciation to all of us who are out in the trenches. It was so wonderful to meet everyone and to listen to performances by some very talented and hard working students.It is a complete honor and privilege for me to be involved in this summit and to be recognized for excellence in music education. As I shared with others at the conference, my original aspirations in music were not to be a music educator. After teaching (almost against my will) for a year or two, I realized that not every student would 'get it.' I dug deeper to figure out what I had gotten out of my many years of music lessons. Through music lessons, I learned discipline, responsibility, and also excelled academically at an alarming rate. Given such a powerful vehicle, youth involved in music gain focus on positive activities rather than those that could be potentially detrimental.
In advocating and promoting the benefits of music education, there is a huge task of ensuring all youth have access to the arts. Not that everyone needs to become a musician, but understanding the science of music is critical to development in many ways. I will continue to keep you posted and hope you will join in on discussions and events regarding this important developmental component.
