To pass on the arts to young people is a moral obligation for the 21st-century artist. We know, through study after study, that kids excel in math, reading, social surroundings, and in all aspects in life when they are exposed to the arts or are inspired to learn an instrument. Today's demanding, test-centric, highly distracting world calls for the arts and culture to inspire youth now more than ever.
The arts expand a student's understanding of what civilization can be. The need to stir the soul, at all ages, has never been more essential. For kids not to know classical music is to be cut off from one of the greatest sources of human expression ever created. Life can often be superficial. Digging deep into history, into culture, into the past are no longer exemplified as traits worth cultivating. Love, tragedy, ecstasy, and the overall human condition are experienced through music in ways children can grasp and feel deep within their souls, even when they cannot effectively articulate these emotions. Sometimes music and art become the only means by which they can fully express themselves. This is why music education and outreach is not only a mission, but one of my greatest joys and rewards in life: To have the opportunity to give back what I not only cherish, but to also help shape a young person's future.