Sweet music
Look at students performing in After-School Strings, taking piano lessons or playing in the school band. You may see the leaders of tomorrow.
While playing an instrument goes a long way toward giving musicians a feeling of self-fulfillment, studies indicate it might also provide important skills like creative problem solving that can help lead to higher education and incomes.
A poll of 2,565 adults surveyed in October 2007 by Harris Interactive points that way. The higher the level of education respondents had, the more likely they had studied music at some point. Almost nine in 10 of the respondents with a post-graduate education participated in music while in school. Income levels follow.
Children here are fortunate to have the After-School Strings Program, a joint project of the Rowan-Salisbury School System and the Salisbury-Rowan Symphony Society. Not every community has the resources to teach children how to play the violin. Not every school board would support continuing such a program during a recession. Let’s hope the symphony and the schools have the resources to keep the music playing.