Music training leads to greater gains in auditory and motor function when begun in young childhood; by adolescence, the plasticity that characterizes childhood has begun to decline. Nevertheless, our results establish that music training impacts the auditory system even when it is begun in adolescence, suggesting that a modest amount of training begun later in life can affect neural function. ~ Adam T. Tierney, Jennifer Krizman, Nina Kraus, “Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015.

“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” ~ Ludwig van Beethoven quoted in “Music Is a Potent Source of Meaning,” Tom Jacobs, August 20, 2015.

“Arts education aids students in skills needed in the workplace: flexibility, the ability to solve problems and communicate, the ability to learn new skills, to be creative and innovative, and to strive for excellence.” ~ Joseph M. Calahan, Director of Cooperate Communications, Xerox Corporation.

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.” ~ Plato

“Whoever has skill in music is of good temperament and fitted for all things. We must teach music in schools.” ~ Martin Luther

“Students of all ages – that includes adults – generally find that music helps them focus more clearly on the task at hand and puts them in a better mood for learning.” ~ Chris Brewer, founder of LifeSounds Educational Services, quoted in “Boost Memory and Learning with Music,” pbs.org, Cheri Lucas.

“Music is freakin’ magical. In 40-some years I have never gotten over it — you take some seemingly random marks on a page, you blow air through a carefully constructed tube, and what comes out the other side is a sound that can convey things that words cannot. And you just blow air through a tube. Or pull on a string. Or whack something. And while we can do a million random things with a million random objects, somehow, when we just blow some air through a tube, we create sounds that can move other human beings, can reach right into our brains and our hearts. That is freakin’ magical.” ~ Peter Greene, “Stop ‘defending’ music education,” The Huffington Post, June 11, 2015.

“Music is about communication, creativity, and cooperation, and by studying music in schools, students have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives, and experience the world from a new perspective.” ~ Bill Clinton, Former President of the United States

“Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them – a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.” ~ Gerald Ford, Former President of the United States

“I must study politics and war, that my sons may study mathematics and philosophy…in order to give their children the right to study painting, poetry, music and architecture.” ~ John Q. Adams

“The ability to focus is a key skill developed through ensemble work. Keeping a balance between listening and contributing involves a great deal of concentration and focus. It requires each participant to not only think about their role, but how their role contributes to the big picture of what is being created. Recent research has shown that participation in the arts improves children’s abilities to concentrate and focus in other aspects of their lives.” ~ Lisa Phillips, “The artistic edge: 7 skills children need to succeed in an increasingly right brain world,” ARTSblog, Americans for the Arts, 2013.

“When a child picks up a violin for the first time, she/he knows that playing Bach right away is not an option; however, when that child practices, learns the skills and techniques and doesn’t give up, that Bach concerto is that much closer. In an increasingly competitive world, where people are being asked to continually develop new skills, perseverance is essential to achieving success.” ~ Lisa Phillips, “The artistic edge: 7 skills children need to succeed in an increasingly right brain world,” ARTSblog, Americans for the Arts, 2013.

“Being able to think on your feet, approach tasks from different perspectives and think ‘outside of the box’ will distinguish your child from others. In an arts program, your child will be asked to recite a monologue in 6 different ways, create a painting that represents a memory, or compose a new rhythm to enhance a piece of music. If children have practice thinking creatively, it will come naturally to them now and in their future career.” ~ Lisa Phillips, “The artistic edge: 7 skills children need to succeed in an increasingly right brain world,” ARTSblog, Americans for the Arts, 2013.

“A kid with a music degree isn’t limited to a performance or teaching career. Musicians are everywhere. We are project managers, marketers, Finance folks, IT people and engineers. In my twenty-some years as a corporate HR person, I was always impressed by the way musical people excelled at logic and non-linear thinking, both.” ~ Liz Ryan, “Let the kids study music, already!” Forbes, September 3, 2014.

Researchers from Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center looked at how different types of music and silence were processed in the brains of 21 people with epilepsy. Whether listening to classical music or jazz, all of the participants had much higher levels of brain wave activity when listening to music, the study found. Brain wave activity in the epilepsy patients tended to synchronize more with the music, especially in the temporal lobe, the researchers said. ~ Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 10, 2015

“You have to understand what it means for a combat veteran to be agitated in the waiting room. Their pupils are dilated. They are angry or waiting for something to happen. But when we have live music that day, they come to me far more relaxed. It’s like an amazing miracle, and I don’t say that lightly.” ~ Dr. Hani Khouzam, quoted in, “Live music at Fresno’s VA Hospital makes a big difference,” by Diana Marcum, Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2013.

“Look carefully and you’ll find musicians at the top of almost any industry. Woody Allen performs weekly with a jazz band. The television broadcaster Paula Zahn (cello) and the NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd (French horn) attended college on music scholarships; NBC’s Andrea Mitchell trained to become a professional violinist. Both Microsoft’s Mr. Allen and the venture capitalist Roger McNamee have rock bands. Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, played saxophone in high school. Steven Spielberg is a clarinetist and son of a pianist. The former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn has played cello at Carnegie Hall.” ~ Joanne Lipman, “Is Music the Key to Success?” The New York Times, October 13, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html?_r=0